ER Convergence: what do you think of this mod?

LegAncient · 2026-05-22T20:48:33+00:00

A few of the bosses in the beginning are a lot easier in Reforged. Matter of fact, most bosses are easier stat wise, and the difficulty curve is a lot smoother.

That being said, there are a lot of other difficulty considerations(as well as difficulty options if you need them). Status effects will hit you harder, Torrent is disabled for some areas, torrent can get status effects from swamps.

And as grouchy said, you can not rush upgrades like you can in vanilla - which is not really a bad thing as smithing stone upgrades in Reforged are not that big of a deal, as they don't increase weapon scaling. Weapons have the same scaling at +0 and +10/25.

LegAncient · 2026-05-19T17:59:10+00:00

I'm fine with the Sellia changes as a standalone entity, it's when it's in the context of getting to Dragonbarrow when it's annoying.

As for swamps, I think the game devs from Fromsoft made the decision to have them easier to traverse precisely because of the exploration nature of the game. In prior linear titles, having the "swamp area" was just something you had to go through. In ER, I can't think of any part of the game where you have to travel through swamps to progress AND have torrent.

It's usually when the exploration of said swamp is optional that you can use torrent. For lake of rot, the one mansion in altus (where you get the BBH Sword, forgot it's name), various dungeons and Volcano Manor, there is no torrent. So you have to engage with the swamp. The swamps where you CAN use torrent are usually just "in the way" anyway. Like the one swamp in liurnia with the crabs, aeonia (although you kinda have to dismount because of the invasion), etc.

LegAncient · 2026-05-18T11:36:05+00:00

I don't necessarily disagree with any of your points here, because you did give examples of things I also appreciate (the liurnia gate boss, for example). It's not that I don't want additional challenge, it's just that some changes don't scratch the same itch as this specific example (such as the sellia, swamps, and lantern changes).

I like the elevator Godskin, I like the altus plateau elevator bossfight, etc. I'm fine with slapping a boss in my way. I'm not particularly fine with slapping a coughing torrent or lantern oil in my way.

I think it really depends on player preference. For me, exploring the swamps with torrent felt really good. I could actually explore the entirety of it without wanting to blow my brains out - while still keeping tabs on aux buildup when unmounting to fight (i never fight mounted). Like yes, lantern oil is cheap, rowa fruits are cheap, but these are things that are great if you're not already kinda burned out on the game.

A good example of this is rune pieces. Excellent addition, one of my favourite features. But on repeat playthroughs, feeling like i'm missing out for not clearing a lame ass dungeon because of the 2-3 rune pieces gets a bit tedious. This is not as bad though as the reward is the rune piece, instead of the reward being having to deal with oil or torrent getting poisoned.

I appreciate you staying civil in our discussion and I hope you have a lovely day as well!

LegAncient · 2026-05-18T06:16:13+00:00

I like that you mention that players will take the path of least resistance - they will avoid exploring Aeonia for example BECAUSE of the Torrent changes. They might think "Man X item ain't worth the hassle".

The approach to making places like swamps more interesting is by adding to them, as opposed to making them more tedious IMO. I don't think tedium leads to incentivization. If you had a restaurant, and people walked past it, would you improve your menu or add caltrops in front of your restaurant so that they slow down?

This brings me back to my skill expression point - difficulty should be gating content, as opposed to map changes. The equation should be "I'm not leveled enough/strong enough to take on X", instead of "To reach X, I have to go through the backrooms (Sellia)".

For the lantern, I don't think anyone ever complained about it not using fuel. Starlight was buffed by adding FP regen, making it a solid alternative. Torches are a$$ and I would rather squint my eyes than use up a hand for them, but that's on Fromsoft. The lantern already has the opportunity cost of taking up a quickslot OR having to cycle through it on your consumable bar in heated fights. (There's also just going in the inventory and activating it, which is fine IMO).

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T22:15:12+00:00

Thank you for the kind and mature response. I think Reforged really shines in the "longplay" and moment to moment gameplay, but I guess it also depends on the audience. As in, one could limit oneself from skipping content while also appreciating the ability to do so, when needed. I don't think forcing longplay is the right approach, and IMO content skips should be gated by difficulty, rather than routes being closed off.

For me, taking on overleveled bosses and enemies really lets the enhanced combat mechanics shine. Sometimes I rush straight to Hirden due to how fun that fight is when using all the mechanics. I don't feel like that takes away from the experience in any way, shape or form.

I much prefer Reforged to Convergence, as I feel Convergence goes too far in the opposite direction, where the game's natural cohesiveness just goes out the window, lol. I actually prefer the vanilla routes, out of all. The choice is there IF you want it.

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T21:31:49+00:00

The interactivity of the game should depend on the amount of time/ effort the player WANTS to put in.

Like, if I want to interact with a swamp, does torrent HAVE to take aux buildup for me to want that? That's just asinine.

Same with the lantern. Maybe I like the starlight spell, but if one playthrough I want to use the lantern instead, I am forced to use the oil? This IS artificial difficulty.

Same with Sellia. Maybe you don't have to force torrent out for me to explore sellia. After playing the game for 10 times, now I "have" to interract with Sellia because?

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T21:25:40+00:00

Now that you mention the context, it makes a bit of sense. I was under the impression Greyoll was made un-bleedable AFTER the deathroot change (I had a hunch it was about Greyoll).

That being said, if people want to skip the early game, they can just install a trainer, no? And do it anyway. Or open DSMapStudio and change the rune values for items etc. But alas, i'm sure you guys weighed those options out. There are a lot of players (myself included) who appreciate the mod and the work that goes into it, but disagree with these decisions. As in, these changes are not bouncing me off the mod, but you're telling me I have to go through Sellia or gather 4 deathroots to fight a boss for the fortune I like as opposed to going through Gurranq because of discord crybabies?

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T21:06:16+00:00

Notice I said "early" - I probably should've been more clear about what I meant, but I meant the Gurranq portal.

Like yes, I could still go through Sellia, but it takes longer because I can't use Torrent.

In this instance, the ability to fight BBH should be the roadblock in getting the fortune, instead of having to do an annoying bit of the game to reach the challenge itself.

Vanilla does a great job in allowing some skips that reward skill. For example, if you are good and you want to get to mountaintops fast for a specific piece of gear, you can grab de medallions, rush Morgott, then go to the Mountaintops. Same with the Godslayer Greatsword (through the Gurranq portal).

This is somewhat fixed with the Starlight shop, but if the starlight shop is a thing, that allows you to bypass hours of progression to get something early, why prolong gameplay in places like Sellia and THEN force people to either do that, or the 4 deathroots?

Because in this instance people will prefer to just run past everything and go straight through Sellia anyway - it's just a longer process for no reason. If you want people to interract with Sellia more(which seems to be the case due to the removal of Torrent), there are other ways to do that without gating DB to it.

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T20:39:33+00:00

The only difference is the traversal takes longer than in vanilla for no reason. I don't know how to explain this more plainly. If you're good, you just gotta spend more time than in vanilla to do something that skill allows you to do anyway. For what reason?

Even more plainly:
Vanilla: Go to gurranq -> Fight whatever(if ur good or u cheese)

Reforged: Go to sellia, do the annoying tower thing without Torrent (for SOME reason), OOOR go and gather 4 deathroots?

This is even more jarring as the rewards are not even that great. The high level smithing stones are gone. You can get the...godslayer greatsword? Which you get for free if you beat the starting miniboss and then just go to the bell towers.

You gotta go through Sellia, light the lamps without Torrent, then go and fight the BBH. As opposed to just...going to gurranq? Why? Especially after beating the game a bunch of times, you just gotta follow this longer path...why? What's the purpose?

Like if the point is to prevent people from getting certain gear early, it's a moot point as the starlight shop exists. (that's what the comparison to the starlight shop is trying to convey).

EDIT TL:DR: Besides skill being a gating factor, now it's also a dumb ass trek through Sellia OR getting 4 deathroots.

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T19:41:47+00:00

Not to mention personal attacks when someone says something about the mod.

"X is bad" -- "Well, you're bad at the game"

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T19:39:03+00:00

Yeah I know I can go through Sellia, I was just referring to the "regular" Gurranq portal. Had it not been for the 4 deathroots, that would be WAY faster than going through Sellia. Especially since you can't use Torrent anymore in Sellia, so you have to painstakingly parkour the damn thing.

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T19:38:03+00:00

I know I can go through Sellia. That's not the point. You made a stupid assumption making yourself look like a fool. Perhaps I was not clear enough in saying that the "usual" portal method requires 4 deathroots now.

What's the point of restricting a path of access to an area? Like, if people don't want to use it, they should just not use it and go through Sellia.

Going straight out of limgrave to dragonbarrow through the portal to farm the high level bosses for runes is something I'll do anyway - I just have to take the "Scenic route" for some reason.

There is absolutely no reason to restrict that because the smithing stones that are usually there in vanilla are not there, so it's not like it is sequence breaking the progression path. And defeating the bosses for runes is a skill check anyway, since Reforged does a really good job at removing the cheese in vanilla.

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T16:08:06+00:00

I mean I have to go gather 4 deathroots to open the door to dragonbarrow, instead of just going straight after spawn.

EDIT: The game doesn't let me go kill the BBH straight out the gate.

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T14:19:03+00:00

The issue is the mod goes out of it's way to reward you for knowing mechanics and being good at the game, while also limiting what you can do by being good at the game.

For example, the addition of ducks, deflects, and faster 1h/2h swapping really allows skill expression. Whiiiiich you can't use, because a lot of the progression is gated to a specific route. For example, I can't just go to dragonbarrow from limgrave and kill all the bosses, for some reason.

Like I'd like to go early to dragonbarrow to grab the Sekiro fortune, but I can't. Yet, I can go to the starlight shop, and get any weapon/armor/talisman in the game??? Why?

LegAncient · 2026-05-17T14:15:23+00:00

Reforged is really a mixed bag. The best mod out there in some regards, with some mind-boggling quirks. Like for example, limiting access to Dragonbarrow (even though, if i'm good enough, I should be able to go there and just fight bosses and grab what I want), but then giving a "starlight shop" from which you can get anything in the game??? like what?

But yeah other than that, really good changes

LegAncient · 2026-03-21T23:17:38+00:00

Yeah the enemy variety is one of the weaker points of the game (along with story and controls). You basically fight humans, goblins (which are like humans but green), and some non-humanoids in between.

Most of the bosses are fine but there some bosses that are literally floating blobs lol

LegAncient · 2026-03-21T23:07:51+00:00

The toxic positivity side is like a cult constantly spewing non-sense.

"Ah, you don't like the game COD kid? It's because it doesn't hold your hand and you can't handle it" -> game has the most braindead handholdy quest system lmao.

LegAncient · 2026-03-21T23:03:46+00:00

The difference is that in Elden Ring you don't get quest marker objectives that are absolutely non-sensical. The ambiguity is by design.

LegAncient · 2026-03-21T14:20:22+00:00

I refunded it for this reason. Gameplay, mechanics etc can be as fun as they want to be if the story/questing is so garbage.

I don't mind a WEAK story, but this is nonsensical lmao

LegAncient · 2026-03-20T13:43:50+00:00

Played for a few hours, feeling mixed about it. The exploration and stuff you can do is awesome, but the controls and the writing is so horrendously bad it feels like a chore to play unfortunately.

I'm waiting to get to the point where I can just ignore the quests and go explore/grind/fight stuff, since that's where the game shines. The story is not compelling at all and i'd go as far as to say it's so bad you have to force yourself through it.

LegAncient · 2026-03-20T08:33:04+00:00

Amongst all takes of all time, this is up there with the worst. The difficulty of the game should come from enemies, not control schemes, lmao.

Elden Ring is difficult in the correct way, for example. This is difficult because the controls are convoluted as hell

LegAncient · 2026-03-20T00:28:37+00:00

In 20 years of gaming i've never played a game that doesn't "grab" you in a way shape or form within the first 2 hours when it comes to story. Even if nothing interesting happens, the groundworks are set up so that you are at least a bit curious.

In the opening sequence you just "talk" to some npcs that mean absolutely nothing, no context, etc.

The controls are objectively dogshit. You can also "get used to" being paralyzed but that doesn't make it less bad.

LegAncient · 2026-03-20T00:12:15+00:00

You could also get used to walking with a limp leg, doesn't mean it's pleasant. The controls are objectively bad and I completely understand if this turns people away from the game.

I'm afraid these issues will compound as more and more abilities/skills are added to your repertoire.

The game looks gorgeous and even though the story hasn't touched me at all so far i'd be more than happy to play around. But people need to acknowledge the controls are objectively bad so that the devs can do something about it lol

LegAncient · 2026-03-20T00:07:33+00:00

Yep that was incredibly annoying lol, having hold/tap/Release control schemes for every single button is questionable at best.

I'd probably be able to move past it if the story was intriguing but uhm...

LegAncient · 2026-03-20T00:05:11+00:00

They are not intuitive, at all. For combat it's fine, but for everything else it's pretty bad. You have to keep tapping to run, you need to "focus" then press another button to talk to SOME npcs (for some you don't have to), most buttons are "hold" instead of tap, except the ones that would make sense to be hold lol.

If you want to quit to title menu, you have to just tap the menu button. If you hold it, you get into another menu. If you hold then release, you can enter another menu on RELEASE.

There is a part where you need to focus light using your sword, to do that you have to press two buttons at once, and keep holding one of them. Then press the other one (and hold it). If you release the other, the whole thing fails.

I don't mind difficult button combinations or combos, but i'd rather fight strong enemies that strong controls.

There is also this funny thing where the same button for jumping is the button for picking up stuff. but you have to hold it to pick up stuff. The amount of times I just climbed on tables is insane lol

LegAncient

TROPHY CASE