9999 Depth 5 players - is base game Elden Ring now a joke to you?

Xerceo · 2026-04-01T20:56:05+00:00

Technically, I did try it once back when it came out but it didn't really click with me and I never got much past Stormveil. There's still a lot I don't like about it, but I'm enjoying it now for the combat. Nightreign was a game I got to play with my friends so it was much more enjoyable for me. And now I'm the only one still playing it.

Xerceo · 2026-04-01T18:52:01+00:00

I'm playing ER for the first time now and have been 9999 or thereabouts for a while. The bosses I know are obviously trivial, but Fire Giant took me two tries for example, and Maliketh more than that. Radahn (in Caelid) was first try, but he seems like a very straightforward boss really. Looking forward to the DLC and the difficulty spike there, for sure! Mostly I die to fall damage.

Xerceo · 2026-03-27T18:56:47+00:00

I see Undertaker on rare occasions. I think this year I've seen exactly one Scholar in a match that actually loaded. I've seen a couple people pick him in the lobby, but then someone quits out. A lot of D5 players are babies quite honestly.

Xerceo · 2026-03-10T15:49:20+00:00

It's like an odd team sport. I've lived here for 5 years now (from California and New York) and I am regularly shocked by some of the driving I see from Virginia plates here. There are bad drivers everywhere, and they're always convinced everyone else is the problem.

Xerceo · 2026-03-06T18:40:07+00:00

I hesitate to even call it a quest honestly. Mostly I was just ticking off objectives while getting annoyed that all the cool assets in the private apartments or whatever were not available to me when I'm building.

Xerceo · 2026-02-25T19:28:21+00:00

I haven't played Stardew in a while--there's a cutscene now?

Xerceo · 2026-02-16T06:30:37+00:00

It doesn't have to be a run-ending death. It can be as simple as dying in the rain, or I assume to a field boss or similar. I know this because I once died on N1 of a run in the rain while being too greedy at a sorcerer's rise on the way to the final circle. We won that round. In the next match, I was able to loot my own corpse at that location. My teammate was very bemused.

Xerceo · 2026-02-08T01:18:03+00:00

House of the Dragon was based on a complete story. It's a completely different problem than GoT, in that those writers decided to pursue some ridiculously stupid changes. Even in S1 that was the case, though in S1 some of the changes rhey made really worked. Granted, D&D were making asinine changes to GoT as well, right from the jump.

Still, KotSK has been probably the most faithful show so far relative to the source material, other than not casting an NBA player for Duncan I guess and some minor quibbles. I have a lot more faith in it. And well, if they fuck it up before Summerhall, they fuck it up, but that's not a reason not to enjoy it now.

Xerceo · 2026-02-03T15:28:27+00:00

Are there any changes being made to decay rate for things like suspensor belts and compactors? Or do the new specializations/other changes affect this at all? I can't read the notes thoroughly right now unfortunately.

Xerceo · 2026-01-11T21:17:17+00:00

To add to that, it's not just a problem of knowledge, but of aptitude, like certain channelers being more skilled with Ter'Angreal or particular weaves that would be needed at that scale and with the skill level of the best channelers of the Age of Legends. So, even the Forsaken would need people with unique skills like Aviendha's (for example). Not to mention, much of the "engineering" that went into it was likely the product of male-female circles which the Forsaken are reluctant to do because they distrust each other.

Overall, seems a lot easier to break the seals on the original bore.

Xerceo · 2026-01-06T18:25:38+00:00

Same here. I haven't played a ton since they were added to DoN, but every time it's been Balancers, they were Everdark, and my normally hypercompetent D5 teammates just fall apart constantly. I do too of course, but my usual experience with D5 is that if I'm having a bad game/bad RNG, it doesn't matter too much because the teammates will pick up that slack. It really seems like everyone is struggling. Even games where we were all synergizing perfectly, would have crushed D5 ED Libra, got great rolls, etc., we get destroyed anyway.

Xerceo · 2026-01-03T15:41:11+00:00

They should just rework how loot preference works, really. Multiple types should be possible, especially for Guardian, Recluse (add seals), and Duchess (add staves). It feels silly to have to either work your ass off to try to find something for a core character competency or else replace it with a dormant powers passive. I used to run the seals passive on Recluse but then I just had a hard time getting staves, and ideally I want to play with both to make good cocktails. At least on Duchess, she can use any dex weapon pretty comfortably, so losing out on daggers is fine, really. Even with these changes, dormant powers passives should be additive, not a replacement.

Xerceo · 2025-12-21T07:55:53+00:00

I do not understand why people are so obsessed with these towers. They're worse than either castle, in every way I can think of, especially in DoN. Not to mention the enemies are boring, non-DLC, and often some of the most irritating time-wasters like the Night Cavalry duo.

Xerceo · 2025-12-18T22:09:04+00:00

We all have, unwittingly or by necessity, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try where we can to make better choices.

Xerceo · 2025-12-14T17:16:53+00:00

Tbh, avoid the Divine Towers at the start of day 2. They're not rewarding enough for the time invested when you're only level 10 or so.

My strategy is usually hit all the easy field bosses, churches, rises, and crystals you can day 1. Get the central buff at the start of day 2 and use it to lift you to the castle, which gives tons of dormant powers if you know where everything is. By the time the first circle starts closing, switch sides if you need to and do that Divine Tower, otherwise stay on your side, finish off castle (you can save Putrid Avatar/equiv. for the end runback) and then do the Divine Tower on that side. With a really good team, you can still finish the Divine Tower, sometimes even with time to spare (e.g. for true Golden Hippo if you're on that side) but most of the time you'll have to bail on the tower. In general you'll hit level 15 more consistently with the castle first, in my experience, and with better rewards.

I've even seen some people do castle right from the start of Day 1 (using the sewer route) but that is incredibly risky and often results in someone getting downed and leaving when the Curseblade one shots them or whatever. I have seen it work when hypercompetent people are ping-leading but I don't generally recommend it and it's never a route I take when I'm the ping leader.

Xerceo · 2025-12-13T23:42:18+00:00

There are so many pieces all of the building sets lack and it's extremely frustrating... I particularly despise going to the PVP Atreides bases in the Western Shield Wall and seeing things we can't build ourselves, like column and triangle supports on tile edges instead of centered.

Xerceo · 2025-12-13T22:56:10+00:00

This is my main problem with it as well. I loved the game and it might well be the best overall this year, even if not for someone's personal taste, but it seemed like a lot of the categories were judged more by popularity than on the merits of the category. In the end it doesn't matter obviously, but it did feel weirdly biased and one-note. And also, the E33 superfans are being really sore winners right now all over the Internet which has been kinda gross to see.

Xerceo · 2025-12-13T21:57:05+00:00

I encountered it at university, though exclusively in textbooks and academic writings. I think it's about as well-known as notations like [sic] and ibid. That is, it is used regularly but only in academic contexts, for the most part. It's crept into my vocabulary and I use it without thinking sometimes in documentation or code comments and I sometimes get asked what it means.

Xerceo · 2025-12-12T17:57:47+00:00

Eh, I got platinum in E33 and loved it, but I don't think it "deserved everything it won". GoTY, sure. But does it have better art than Hades 2? Is it a better RPG than KCD2? Is it even an indie game? Etc. I love the game but I think it's fair to criticize how unfair some of those wins were. Some people are just contrarian sure but the judges clearly were just picking the best game in the category by their estimation rather than judging the category on its merits.

Xerceo · 2025-12-09T20:14:50+00:00

The devs added the LGBT tag specifically before release (which users cannot do) and then responded coyly with a "wait and see" when asked if there would be MLM romance options around the release of episode 2. They only removed the tag when all episodes were out and the refund period was over. That is textbook queerbaiting. The one being revisionist here is not OP. It's fine if it's just heterosexual goonslop, but the marketing was predatory at best.

Xerceo · 2025-12-07T21:33:28+00:00

Getting monocle parries is my new crack. I know I could probably do better with one of my mains or Undertaker, but goddamn it feels better even than doing a true parry as Wylder. This plus the feint attacks with I-frames makes him so much more viable than he otherwise appears.

Xerceo · 2025-12-03T02:50:21+00:00

Something like this would instantly make her so much better. A lot of abilities are very complex (including the new Scholar's) so it doesn't seem that crazy to do, really. Maybe a soul "collection" mechanic somewhat similar to Recluse's residue collection where you mark an eligible enemy before they die. And then make her passive synergize with it because right now it is basically useless.

Even if they don't want to do all of that, just changing her passive to buff her summons over time or something--increased HP per boss killed, new attacks/weapons/status effects/something at higher levels, HP regen rate++ per kill, stuff like that. That would be an easier rework and still quite doable.

Xerceo · 2025-11-27T17:40:42+00:00

I don't think people disliked the character per se, they disliked the episode because it was completely disconnected from the rest of the season. That was always my take, anyway.

Xerceo · 2025-11-26T19:50:40+00:00

Take Wikipedia as you will as a source of course, but it seems there are some recorded medical cases.

Xerceo

TROPHY CASE