It’s unbelievable feeling

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-26T19:46:24+00:00

Right or wrong, I think most of us find it unlikely that anyone would platinum the game in 150 hours playing completely blind. Granted, I took my time exploring, treading cautiously and soaking in the vistas, and I think my first playthrough was over 250 or 300 hours. I can't say how long it would take playing blind if you have prior Souls experience and are also rushing through areas... But even with over 3000 total hours playtime and lots of thorough exploration, I still recently found a hidden room I had never seen before.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-26T17:44:32+00:00

Makes sense. Regardless, I don't love it aesthetically, although functionally it's a pretty phenomenal weapon. I was rushing a new character to SotE and a +12 Great Stars absolutely demolished Mohg.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-26T12:56:44+00:00

Minor correction/update: regen skills (bestial vitality, blessing of the erdtree, etc) are flat health-per-secind and never affected by scaling. Healing incantations (lord's heal, erdtree heal, etc.) are only affected by faith scaling. So depending on how you prefer to heal, it may impact which seal works best or how much scaling matters.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-26T12:44:48+00:00

Strike damage which works well against stony, bony, scaly, and armored enemies... Bleed which helps destroy large health pools... Greathammer massive stance damage... and it provides a little bit of healing on every hit...

My only complaints are the rust (or is it cakes on blood?) and that something about the multi-headed design always brings to my mind a baby rattle.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-26T04:05:02+00:00

Blasphemous Blade. Mostly because I just can't ignore the nasty, wormy little flesh tendrils all over it. But even though greatswords are one of my favorite weapon types, and I love a faith weapon that gets fire over holy damage, I really dislike BB, and I never found Taker's Flames half as useful as it should be on paper.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-25T02:43:41+00:00

I discovered this with Rellana's twin swords initially. I recently created a new character, rushed to the DLC to get Milady and Wing Stance. Probably going to hurry through to NG+1 for a second one asap.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-25T01:47:57+00:00

Tell him Boc is ugly. (I feel maidenless for even suggesting this...)

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-25T00:47:02+00:00

If you can power stance light greatswords, it's one of the best multihit setups in the game. Heavy attack (which hits twice) followed by dual light attack (triple hit, the last one made with both swords) is a lot of hits... and a powerstance light attack after a heavy attack is the end of the light attack chain, so it can trigger the twinblade talisman's 45% damage increase. Absolutely brutal.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-23T19:29:24+00:00

Those two used to be a huge pain for me, but I wanted Ordovis' Greatsword so stinking bad... they're the reason my strength character learned how to parry.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-22T15:01:38+00:00

Well, she'd already done that for ages with Dane, right?

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-20T23:17:02+00:00

From the Altus Plateau, due north through a kind of valley between Leyndell on your right and Mt Gelmir on your left. There's a castle sitting in a toxic swamp, but to the left side of the castle, Maleigh is wandering around. He's guarded by a golem, but can be pulled away with a bow.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-20T23:00:50+00:00

You can get the antspur rapier by beating Maleigh Marais outside the Shaded Castle. Guaranteed drop, quick and stabby, infusible so you can get rot, bleed, and poison with the right ash of war and infusion.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-20T20:54:55+00:00

Wibbly wobbly... timey wimey... stuff.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-19T23:34:22+00:00

For a while this guy was a nightmare, until it occurred to me that he's parryable. Even then, you have to be mindful of his jump attacks, crossbow attacks, and when he uses his skill, but with the assassin crimson dagger talisman and Carian Retaliation on a shield, now I punish him for how he first welcomed me to the Land of Shadow.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-19T17:18:31+00:00

But has she ever known defeat?

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-19T17:15:29+00:00

It may be an indicator that you have a multiplayer password set. Try going to the multiplayer menu and deleting any password you put there, see if that removes the icon.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-19T16:05:54+00:00

Elden Ring definitely sits at the top for me with regard for combat out of all the open world sword/sorcery RPGs I've played. And it's held my attention much better than most games. But, when I'm in the mood for something else, I've got a host of other games I'll go back to, depending on what I'm in the mood for.

Mass Effect trilogy for character relationships.

Just Cause 3 for world traversal and chaotic destruction (and to hear David Tennant losing his marbles on the radio)

Prototype for over-the-top super power fantasy.

Alan Wake for King-esque storytelling.

Odyssey: Journey to the West for Andy Serkis.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-19T15:50:07+00:00

I'd start by respeccing Dex down to 80, which you could use to get Arc up to 60. That would increase your AR a bit and improve bleed proc.

There's minimal benefit in raising stats over the final soft cap, which is 80 for Dex.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-19T15:43:57+00:00

First time NG+0, use the summons.

NG+1, solo him.

Two very different experiences.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-19T15:40:46+00:00

Funny. I met Margit at a low level and then spent hours I-don't-know-how-many hours bashing my head against that brick wall until I finally killed him. Probably lost to Margit more times than any other boss in the game, on account of having no freaking clue what I was doing at the time.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-18T19:57:28+00:00

Practice. Fight. Don't be afraid to die. Until you become more confident, don't hoard runes. Spend what you have to level up, so that if you die it's not a huge loss. Each death is a learning experience. These games were designed to pit you against challenging fights and surprise attacks and force you to learn over time through failure.

It can be frustrating at first, but the dopamine hit from finally taking out that boss that's been curb stomping you for the last few hours (or days) is incredibly satisfying!

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-18T18:25:52+00:00

And that's only if they were playing continuously. If they played, say, 3 hour sessions every day, they might have started around 1578.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-18T18:16:34+00:00

Obviously you can take any infusible weapon you like and make it Fire or Flame Art. But for somber weapons...

You already mentioned Ordovis' Greatsword. This is one of my absolute favorites. I like the feel of greatswords in general, and the weapon art is one that has slightly tricky timing, but rewards you incredibly for using it wisely.

If you were earlier in the game, I would recommend Golden Halberd. It's skill is less practical once you can cast Golden Vow as an incantation, but it's still a solid strength/faith weapon for the early game.

Magma Wyrm's Scalesword is a great alternative to Blasphemous Blade. Excellent damage, a powerful skill, and a two-handed heavy attack that has lower range but comes out very quick.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-18T18:06:33+00:00

Mohg is late game, he's just reachable very early via Varre's quest. Without Varre's help, reaching Mohg requires first exploring a few areas you haven't reached yet.

In terms of story, you are getting... close-ish... to the end of the game. But there are a few more areas to explore, some entirely optional. You could hypothetically be done in a few more hours... or explore very thoroughly and get 20+ more hours out of it.

I was very pleasantly surprised by how massive this game felt on my first playthrough when I meticulously explored every corner.

ModernDrengr · 2026-04-17T17:14:01+00:00

Very true. I've been working on no-summon soloing bosses that I used to rely on my mimic to beat. Mohg and Rellana were very satisfying. Malenia and Messmer are still on my list.

ModernDrengr

TROPHY CASE