Not gonna someone a mimic. Not gonna someone a mimic. Runs into first real boss who is a pretty bad counter to my build. Summons mimic. No regrets.
Overall it's more elden ring. Same quality and same feeling. Although I will say they seem to be way more generous with save points and stakes of Marika. Like some mini field bosses have them. Unusual but did save my bacon.
I played for about 4 hours and at least 2 of those were fighting an optional boss in a gaol who I still haven't beat. I'm level 175 using a bleed/flame build. Goddamn, this dude is insanely difficult - hits like a truck, long melee range and ridiculous timing.
I played for about 4 hours and at least 2 of those were fighting an optional boss in a gaol who I still haven't beat. I'm level 175 using a bleed/flame build. Goddamn, this dude is insanely difficult - hits like a truck, long melee range and ridiculous timing.
I know the one you're talking about... I'm using him as a gauge with how well the scadutree blessing is helping.
I'm only +3 blessing and i can get him under 50% now and take 2 hits without dying now...
I’ve dipped my toe into the DLC.
Just a generalised note about the pacing of the first few minutes. Probably ott to spoiler it:
I really appreciate the fact that you aren’t immediately seeing or fighting enemies. It makes it feel more like a real place and ups the anticipation.
I adore the atmosphere already. There’s something incredibly special about having an entire game like this stretched out ahead of you and starting to explore it not knowing what you’ll see or be pummelled to death by over the next hill or around the next corner.
Edit: CD Project Red have created some incredible artwork to celebrate the release of the DLC.
I played for about 4 hours and at least 2 of those were fighting an optional boss in a gaol who I still haven't beat. I'm level 175 using a bleed/flame build. Goddamn, this dude is insanely difficult - hits like a truck, long melee range and ridiculous timing.
Pretty sure I know who you are taking about. The trick for me was the boss was super staggarable but not when two handing their weapon. Still died a ton. Good refresher.
High Vit seems super important. Or else everything will oneshot you.
Powered thru beating Radahn and Mohg last night on NG+ in order to play the DLC, after deciding to pick the game back up and beat the final boss on Father’s Day. Hadn’t played in over a year. So rusty. But such an amazing game.
Been making steady progress in the DLC since last night. A few surprises, the bosses are definitely tough, but I've only died a handful of times so far. Curiously, the most surprisingly tough encounter I've had was the very first enemy I ran into. It was almost too fast and aggressive for me to get any hits in.
Been making steady progress in the DLC since last night. A few surprises, the bosses are definitely tough, but I've only died a handful of times so far. Curiously, the most surprisingly tough encounter I've had was the very first enemy I ran into. It was almost too fast and aggressive for me to get any hits in.
Same. The very first enemy that jumped in the first area was really tough.
I've mostly been exploring the first open area so far. Found a couple mini dungeon-y areas. Probably will be off to the first legacy dungeon soon.
I'm not very good about trying out the new weapons though. Having been duel-wielding greatswords for quite a while, so it's hard to switch to something else. Will probably keep on unless I find some really cool Str/Fai weapons.
Been making steady progress in the DLC since last night. A few surprises, the bosses are definitely tough, but I've only died a handful of times so far. Curiously, the most surprisingly tough encounter I've had was the very first enemy I ran into. It was almost too fast and aggressive for me to get any hits in.
I lost a 2/3 of a level to souls to that f*cker. I could have just run around, but I tried five times and finally killed him.
Elden Ring is back, baby!
Yup that was my first encounter. My thought process was basically. I'll just drive by the guy. Damn my horse is gone. Ow Ow Ow whats block again. Dead.
93_confirmed wrote:I played for about 4 hours and at least 2 of those were fighting an optional boss in a gaol who I still haven't beat. I'm level 175 using a bleed/flame build. Goddamn, this dude is insanely difficult - hits like a truck, long melee range and ridiculous timing.
Pretty sure I know who you are taking about. The trick for me was the boss was super staggarable but not when two handing their weapon. Still died a ton. Good refresher.
High Vit seems super important. Or else everything will oneshot you.
I struggled alot more than I want to admit but finally beat him with the tried and true Bloodhound Fang. That weapon skill is so good.
Been making steady progress in the DLC since last night. A few surprises, the bosses are definitely tough, but I've only died a handful of times so far. Curiously, the most surprisingly tough encounter I've had was the very first enemy I ran into. It was almost too fast and aggressive for me to get any hits in.
The one who is wondering amongst the deer if you stick to the right coming out of the cave after transporting into the expansion area?
If so he killed me about 4 or 5 times, very fast & aggressive. I'm craving a new weapon type & those might be the ones that tick all the boxes!
I love the expansiveness of Shadow Of The Erdtree so far, it feels huge & like Higgledy mentioned there is a lot of space to just take in the magnificent scenery & structures. The initial areas at least are perfect for riding around on Torrent just taking the world in.
Two questions for anyone. Is there a place to smith weapons in the dlc? And how does the recent items found tab work? Can't find it.
You have to go into Settings first and turn it on. Which of course they don't tell you in the popup telling you about the new feature.
Two questions for anyone. Is there a place to smith weapons in the dlc? And how does the recent items found tab work? Can't find it.
Still need to go back to the Round Table to get stones applied
You have to go into Settings first and turn it on. Which of course they don't tell you in the popup telling you about the new feature.
Yeah, that was odd. It does show up in your inventory as a document/scroll, and the instructions are there. But it's definitely odd.
SO, I've made a ton of progress, have made it to Shadow Keep in two ways -
one of which takes me to what appears to be a flooded city through which I cannot make much progress by jumping from roof to roof; smells of a puzzle somewhere that I've yet to find
- and I managed to beat this huge beast which I won't spoil. Loved the battle mechanics and attacks of this beast and it definitely gave me a run for my money since it packs quite a punch.
I am now, however, at that inevitable moment with all FROM games of this sort, the one where I seem to have drawn myself into a corner and am unsure about where to go next. Been revisiting sites of grace and talking with the NPCs there, who have now changed their previous tunes in a manner of speaking, and have found a strange library that's a bit labyrinthine, but seem to be stuck there as there is a ladder that I cannot get to atop a solid book case with no apparent platforms from which to reach it. I may take a breather to ease off the Elding Ring mentality and come back to tackle it later on.
Still loving the crap out of this, of course. Have already put in over 20 hours since Thursday night and, at this rate, I may well complete the expansion by next weekend.
EDIT: Had a Eureka moment in library, which is called the Specimen Storeroom, btw. Will post in spoilers below so as not to spoil anyone but to leave it there if anyone got stuck like me.
It would appear that the ladder I was looking at might be a bit of misderection; I completed shadowkeep from the main entrance and there was no area that lead to that ladder as far as I could find. In any case, there is a gigantic statue suspended on the same story as the ladder in question and one can use it as a platform to reach a higher area in the Specimen Storeroom.
A couple of sites of grace, a lever, and a set of new platforms up on high later and I was up against
Messmer the Impaler, the big bad from all the promo material. It turns out this is not the last boss of the DLC story-wise, but he does drop a key item to what I assume is the area where the real end boss is. It took me three tries to beat this guy and the summoned NPC Hornsent - that mummy/bandaged guy that hangs out in some of the overworld sites of grace - was pivotal. My first attempt I went in alone and could barely make an attack of mine hit as this boss is easily the most aggressive of them all so far. Send attempt I saw the summon sign and didn't hesitate. It still was difficult to get to it as it's in the boss arena itself and can only be activated mid-fight. This second time I got to the boss' second phase; talk about a bump up in difficulty. Third time was the charm, however, and I made it by the skin of my teeth.
Really satisfying all around. What a freakin' ride so far!
I'm liking the expansion a lot more than I thought I would. There is still a ton of exploration. There are tough enemies, but they are not the norm. I have all my usual tools and I am adding more.
The first night I was hitting my head against the wall, but once I did the Elden RIng thing and started looking around, the game became much more interesting.
God, got to the boss of the shadow keep and it was brutal. Died with him at a sliver of health multiple times. Two big complaints. First the usual grab move the kills you no matter what. I'm a freaking tank build and I basically never survive a grab. But that's normal. What's new was that a bunch of the bosses are very jumpy and the camera can't keep up. Several times I had my shield pointing the wrong way because of this and dieing. I doubt that its intended case half the time the shield worked fine. Oh and too many special effects while jumping too.
Still beat the guy now and gonna take a break.
I’ve respeced to a faith build to complement my mates builds in co-op. I really wasn’t sure at first because I was trying to use too many incantations but now I’m having a ton of fun and killing tough enemies more easily than I was with my old build.
Have managed to find my way through some of the harder to get to areas of the map and so far found my hardest boss fight so far: General Gaius. Won't go into detail, but this over world boss wrecked me more times that any other boss in the DLC so far. You do get a nice reward in the area after getting through him, so it's worth the trouble.
Managed to make it to the southernmost part of the map and went down a huge hole into some very creepy ruins. They really went all-in on the verticality on both sides of the spectrum.
Taking a break for a few hours to catch the Euro and America's football cup games, but am looking forward to more exploration and hair-pulling bosses in the evening.
Got to the same boss and he was tough. Lost a bunch of souls cause he hit me through my shield while bouncing around again. Third or fourth boss who could do that.
That said not a crazy hard pattern just hits super hard and spongy. Taking a break after clearing out a lot.
So, this evening has been one hell of a tale. I'm trying to put my thoughts in order because I have gone far and beyond anything I expected. I have had to make two leaps of faith to get to bosses that I never expected - real bangers - and finally found a hint of a quest from an NPC I had found during my exploration which seemed to trigger a quest, which in turn lead to a series of dragon boss fights that culminated in the most challenging and amazing fight I've had in a soulsborne game ever. I feel like I just vanquished Godzilla if it was as nimble as a ballet dancer. Holy freakin' hell. It took me well over ten attempts. It was simply overwhelming most of the time and I am still wondering how I actually got through it. I was also doing the quest I mentioned and I never summoned the NPC tied to it. Apparently the gold summon sign is found mid-fight - much like with others - but I could not possibly have found the sign with so much going one in this boss fight.
I am so glad to be avoiding anything that reeks of main quest after getting through Shadow Keep. I seem to have missed a few quests and triggers - typical in a game by FROM - but don't feel like I've really missed out. From what I've read, one doesn't get locked out from any major boss or encounter.
It's been a heck of a ride so far, about 30 hours in, I think. It's easily the best piece of DLC I have ever played, or it feels like it for the time being.
I'm at the end of what I think is the first legacy dungeon and ithe boss it's very difficult, even with a spirit ash AND NPC summons. It's insane. I'm close to beating it, just need to get the right combination of talismans and level up a bit.
I'm at the end of what I think is the first legacy dungeon and ithe boss it's very difficult, even with a spirit ash AND NPC summons. It's insane. I'm close to beating it, just need to get the right combination of talismans and level up a bit.
Reminder that leveling up for the DLC is not the same as the regular game... If you're 150 now and level to 170 you're still going to have issues if you don't level up your scadutree fragment levels
I am so glad to be avoiding anything that reeks of main quest after getting through Shadow Keep. I seem to have missed a few quests and triggers - typical in a game by FROM - but don't feel like I've really missed out. From what I've read, one doesn't get locked out from any major boss or encounter.
From what i've seen is that you shouldn't clear the shadow keep unless you've completed all the side quests that you want because clearing that will prevent those from being finished.
If you're interested in only the main bosses and that's it then no big deal, but lot of outlets are putting out warnings about the potential cut off from other stuff
I’m actually a bit underwhelmed by the expansion so far. It’s more Elden Ring, which I do think is the best game of all time, IMO. Not necessarily my favorite but I do think “best.”
But it feels like a step back from what I was doing most recently in Elden Ring. The underworld, the capitol, Malenia… going from those back to a pattern of open field, nondescript castle, open field, nondescript castle just was a bit deflating. Enemy variety also felt lacking. Fodder, soldier, dog, knight, repeat.
The lab in the Shadow Keep shows there’s some promise. I am hooked again so hopefully there’s more variety to come.
Starting the DLC after playing Lords of the Fallen reaffirms my opinion about original Elden Ring. It is an absolutely amazing game, but I prefer the tighter closed area designs of the previous Souls games over the open world of Elden Ring. Feels like a more handcrafted, intense, balanced experience.
Both styles offer something different though. Maybe the perfect balance for me, would be having a classic "Dark Souls" map in the center of the game world, with interconnected, but otherwise closed off zones, and then all around that, an open world "wasteland" you can also explore, as you leave those main zones.
Fewer of those classic maps being different versions of castles/keeps would be nice too.
I agree with both posts. This dlc feels more dark souls then elden ring in some ways. Tighter level design but also less exploration. Overall I'm having a good time but it's not as good as the original. More yes but lacking in some ways. Honestly I think they could have designed something better if you started completely naked in the DLC. Having 15 flasks for instance breaks at lot of things. All the enemies suffer from the endgame issue of high damage and sponginess. Which happens due to everyone being max level.
Still itching to go back in though.
I agree with both posts. This dlc feels more dark souls then elden ring in some ways. Tighter level design but also less exploration. Overall I'm having a good time but it's not as good as the original. More yes but lacking in some ways. Honestly I think they could have designed something better if you started completely naked in the DLC.
That is essentially what they did... You have to take part in the fragment system to level up. That determines the difficulty of the game. Sure just out of the gate things feel spongey and hit hard. You get a few levels of fragments under your belt and things feel more normal.
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