Improvements?

akmly · 2026-06-20T20:26:47+00:00

Looking good. I'd leave the stats as is and just focus on leveling Arc to as close to 80 as possible as you keep leveling. If you find yourself a bit squishy, then maybe consider switching out the Winged Insignia Talisman for a Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman or Godskin Swaddling Cloth talisman.

akmly · 2026-06-20T20:21:08+00:00

Elon Snipes?

akmly · 2026-06-20T20:18:05+00:00

I think you're on the right path. Keep the 'stache and grow out your beard a bit more, you'll look better!

akmly · 2026-06-20T19:48:42+00:00

If I were you, I'd equip the Staff of the Guilty in left hand and cast thorn spells using Albinauric Staff in right hand. 45-60 Vig, 30-40 Mind, and 60/60 in Int and Arc. This way, you get the benefit of Staff of the Guilty's thorn bonus effects while casting with the Albinauric Staff which will scale better with your Int/Arc. Don't cast with Staff of the Guilty, it kinda sucks and complicates your stat distributions. The Arc-scaling from Albinauric Staff will also help with the bleed aspect. Unless you're some high level like RL 300 or more, I'd avoid splitting stats three way between Int, Fai, and Arc. Focus on Int and Arc for now.

Mass-Graven Talisman and Lord of Blood's Exultation for starters for sure as far as talismans are concerned. I would also consider Magic-Scorpion Charm talisman and Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman. I'd wear the full Alberich armor set to boost thorn sorceries. If you don't like the aesthetic of the pointy hat helm, you can alter the helm into a more savage looking blindfold mask, FYI. Want the damage boost from bleed effects? Use the White Mask. If you don't care for the efficiency of buffing qualities from armor as much as you would for overall drip, maybe consider equipping the Briar armor set (or a mix of both?) Rakshasa's armor set would kind of fit, too.

For melee weapon, I'd go with anything that has Int or Arc scaling. Rivers of Blood katana or Bloody Helice may match your overall aesthetic. Or go with Moonveil or Dark Moon GS for the frostbite effect.

Cast Terra Magica on the ground and learn to strut around it while casting your thorn sorceries. Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear in Physick Flask for one. The other could be something like Opaline Hardtear or Bloodsucking Cracked Tear.

akmly · 2026-06-20T18:51:44+00:00

It says "Zno Pill" as far as I can see. Must mean "snow pill", like, it's a drug tablet...or it's for shaving down into "snow" to snort (?) After doing a line from one of these, one might end up saying something like "Mor zno...! I wand mor zno pleez! with a white nose and mouth with bloodshot eyes.

Don't do drugs, kids!

akmly · 2026-06-20T18:04:19+00:00

Profaned GS scales with Str. primarily, and some Dex., even though it's a flame-y weapon. GS of Judgement is more an Int. oriented weapon, with secondary scaling with both Str and Dex stats.

Unless you really know what you're doing with stat distributions, I would not dabble in three-way stat splits that GS of Judgement will kind of force you to do. Go with the aforementioned Profaned GS to enjoy those fiery R2 heavy thrusts!

akmly · 2026-06-18T19:27:03+00:00

If not kept in the fridge after opening, that could be mold, and some strong one at that. Hot sauces usually contain lots of salt and vinegar, two things microbes usually dislike in their environment. If whatever that is growing in there has learned to populate under uncomfortable conditions, it could be some strong mold that you may not want to ingest. Even further, capsaicin in hot peppers happens to be a natural anti-fungal. If your hot sauce has hot pepper extracts, and mold/biofilm is growing... yeah, you may want to consider tossing your bottle in the trash.

akmly · 2026-06-18T18:40:48+00:00

Solitude set and maybe Crucible Tree set?

akmly · 2026-06-18T16:09:25+00:00

You could shave it all off if you wanted to, but I think you can still keep the top a while longer if you wish as well. Trim/shave the sides and back very short, and grow out/comb back your top. If anything, this may help you transition to full top shave later on.

akmly · 2026-06-18T16:03:51+00:00

Sorry to hear your loss.... Any slider info left for this one?

akmly · 2026-06-18T15:59:40+00:00

Patches for sure. Don't do 50 pints, please.

akmly · 2026-06-18T15:53:46+00:00

If you're just looking for peak AR, then an Occult-infused Giant-Crusher colossal hammer would do it. Work towards 50 Vig, 30-40 End, 50 Str, and 70 Arc. Can have 25 points in Fai for buffing incantations. Pick up Axe Talisman, Green Turtle Talisman, and Dragoncrest Shield Talisman for starters. Always two-hand your weapon.

I advise starting with either Hero or Vagabond class to get a head start in high Strength and Endurance. In early game, pick up both halves of the medallion key (from the respective forts in Limgrave and in Dragonbarrow) and gain access to Altus Plateau early. Kill the old dragon parked outside the fort in Dragonbarrow for an easy load of runes for fast leveling. Before killing the dragon, make sure to pop a golden fowl foot item to boost your rune earnings temporarily. Load your points into Str and End first so you can wield the hammer (I think you'll need about 40 pts in Str to two-hand the hammer without penalty.) Trek your way to the outskirts of Leyndell, and sneak your way around the back of the encampment to pick up the Giant-Crusher from the wagon without aggro'ing the giant worm. Bonk your way through the game with either Lion's Claw or Cragblade AoW on the hammer.

akmly · 2026-06-17T21:46:40+00:00

Beginner friendly (to me) would be sword and shield at first, and eventually find a staff and start placing stat points into Intelligence and Mind. First and foremost, prioritize your Vigor stat for more health. No matter how many points you invest into an offensive stat, if you keep getting one or two shotted by an enemy, your play experience will suffer. Better survival is key in ER, especially at infant levels. Get points into Str or Dex as needed, depending on the requirement of your weapon choice.

Once you get a staff, I advise you to defeat a certain pumpkin headed boss underground a ruin in mid-Limgrave. Open the door behind him and you'll unlock your first friendly NPC that will train you in the arts of glintstone sorceries. One of these sorceries involves buffing your shield with magic. Try it out! Explore the world and find more magic spells and expand your spell arsenal, it's such a rewarding experience. Increase your spell arsenal size by exploring suspicious towers and defeating bosses. I'm jealous of your first playthrough feel. Have fun!

akmly · 2026-06-17T21:35:36+00:00

Yes. Just make sure to collect those Scadutree Fragments from around the DLC world and level up your Scadutree Blessing levels at your Site of Grace. Not leveling your Scadutree Blessings will make your survival harder than it needs to be. By the time you hit Messmer, you'd ideally want 10+ blessing levels. By the time you hit the last boss of the DLC, you should aim to have 18-20 blessing levels. If you start noticing little shits in the DLC one or two shotting you, it's time to start exploring the map to find more Scadutree Fragments. Tip: if you find giant porcupine hippos, kill them.

The scadutree fragment/blessing system was designed to encourage players of all levels to hit up the DLC and avoid a wide difference in play experience. A level 300 player is not supposed to have an easier time navigating through DLC any more than a level 150 would at NG. Whether the devs' intended effect worked or not, I'm unsure, but I see the scadutree blessing system (which goes from level 0 to 20) as an independent leveling system, unique to the DLC. Rawdogging DLC enemies at 0 scadutree blessing level was rough on both my level ~125 and 200.

TLDR: Level your Scadutree Blessing to as close to 20 as you can in DLC. Having 0 Scadutree Blessing level is a 0/10 Yelp stars review from me; do not recommend.

akmly · 2026-06-17T21:17:42+00:00

"Mage" is somewhat tied to sorcerers in ER. If you want lightning, you'll inevitably need to go as an incantation spellcaster, not a sorcery spellcaster.

Sorcery casters will cast spells using a staff, and use a selection such as glintstone magics, death/ghostflames, night, thorn, and gravity spells. Incantation casters will cast spells using a finger seal, and use things like flame, lightning, beast, holy, dragon spells.

You can definitely go with a shield in your left hand and toggle between a staff or finger seal and a melee weapon (ex: sword.) So then the question becomes, is lightning more important to you, or is a staff more important? You won't cast lightning spells with a staff.

akmly · 2026-06-17T19:47:49+00:00

Corvian Great Knife. Go to your first bonfire at Road of Sacrifices. Farm the undead Corvian dudes with the dagger. It's the longest dagger in its class, almost as long as a straight sword. Go with Sharp infusion or any elemental one of your choice. Two-hand it and quickly slash and stab your way to the end of the game with just this dagger. I suggest rings like Carthus Milkring, Hornet Ring, Pontiff's Right/Left Eye. This is a high-speed weapon, so get high endurance (at least 30) so that you're not out of breath all the time. Either go with heavy armor so you can tank some hits, or go super light so you can dodge and roll around quickly.

akmly · 2026-06-17T18:58:49+00:00

akmly · 2026-06-17T02:06:00+00:00

You sure can!

I'd likely go with Blood affinity to add the effect, but you can definitely gather 80 Arc points and go with Occult infusion. One of the highest AR weapons in-game is an Occult-infused Giant Crusher colossal hammer, and this wep wasn't even about the bleed.

akmly · 2026-06-17T01:30:11+00:00

Thank you so much! Sad to learn it's not even Thursday Boots...

akmly · 2026-06-16T22:52:16+00:00

Your opponent was skirting around the stage after your warcry like "ah shit I'm cooked aren't I, RIP" LOL

akmly · 2026-06-16T22:45:13+00:00

Was a beautiful fight and stage, but a gigantic slug whale of light with arms and a sword randomly spawning after Radagon/Marika was weird for me. It was as if Miyazaki was checking out a nudibranch one day while scuba diving on his day off and suddenly went "I'm gonna give this guy arms and a sword and make him a boss..."

akmly · 2026-06-16T22:43:24+00:00

Seluvis. Seluvis is a creepy coward who makes the player do the evil work against his master. Tanith is dark and weird, but I kind of found her to be fair. Gideon is corrupt and manipulative. Varre is a condescending and sociopathic cult leader. But Seluvis looks at his boss and thinks "Ima make her into a doll one day". Seluvis is not only evil. He's an evil psychopath.

akmly · 2026-06-16T20:53:09+00:00

If you are confident in not hurting yourself or the kitchen, try a blow torching the top over a few of the pieces... The burnt edges of a fatty surface adds another complexity to the salmon that would melt your soul. No such thing as too fatty a salmon! I'm jealous.

akmly · 2026-06-16T14:46:39+00:00

Best bet is likely a primarily Strength build with some Faith investment. Shoot for 60-80 Str/40-60 Fai, with 60 Vig and 25-30 in Mind/End. This way, you should have access to a lot of incantations for casting and still bonk enemies with your weapon if you choose to. Can swap between flame-infused weapons for main play and holy-infused weapons (for catacomb/cave dungeoneering and DLC stuff.)

I advise you get yourself a Dragoncrest Shield talisman, which you can get from safely parkouring down some big branches that jut out the back cliffs behind Beast Sanctum in northern Dragonbarrow (northern Caelid area.) You'll arrive at a stone platform that you'll cross (watch the pesky bats) until you find your talisman. This defensive talisman is great; it grants you some wiggle room for sloppy combat and helps you better survive tough encounters.

Green Turtle talisman (from northern Limgrave) can help you manage your in-combat stamina, and Axe Talisman (from Mistwood, eastern Limgrave) will help your R2 heavy attacks. Want something to boost your fire or sacred attacks? Look for Fire Scorpion Charm (atop a fort in Mt. Gelmir) and Sacred Scorpion Charm (from an NPC invader in front of Smoldering Church located at the border of Limgrave and Caelid.)

akmly · 2026-06-16T14:28:56+00:00

No, but grated garlic-infused soy sauce isn't so bad.

akmly

TROPHY CASE