ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree |OT| Foolish Ambitions

[SunBroDave]

This video made me appreciate the DLC so much more. So many cool details that give context to the world and characters of the Realm of Shadow:

View: https://youtu.be/StWOECzhSik?si=5HG1u0WPYlI9OpL5

Is it just me or are the open areas (especially in the second half) just set dressing?

Gravesite plains and Scade Altus very fairly decent, but all of the others

Ruins of Rauh
Jagged Peak
Cerulean Coast
Hinterlands
Abysmal Abyssal Woods

Are super empty and underwhelming? I guess this was a big problem in the base game too, but they didn't seem to want to address it in the DLC.

Don't want to sound hyperbolic, but I hope they never make an open-world game again, I miss the cool dungeon designs.

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Not all areas in the DLC are trying to accomplish the same thing. Of the ones you mentioned:

1. This one is basically its own legacy dungeon
2. This one is basically its own scripted little specific type of experience
3. This one is similar to Limgrave in that it has lots of cool little things to find
4. This one has enormous lore implications and also has a certain type of area that is central to one of the questlines
5. Similar to #2, this one is its own scripted little specific type of experience

Yeah, they are different than Gravesite Plains and Scaldu Altus, but I'm cool with areas having different goals and different experiences. I like the variety. There's room for every area to not just be the same type of thing. If anything, the major zones of the base game - Limgrave, Liurnia, Caelid, Altus, Mountaintops, etc. - all being so similar in terms of what they were and how you experienced them, could, by the end of the game, cause the game to get stale for a lot of people.

 

[fantalas]

This video made me appreciate the DLC so much more. So many cool details that give context to the world and characters of the Realm of Shadow:

View: https://youtu.be/StWOECzhSik?si=5HG1u0WPYlI9OpL5


Not all areas in the DLC are trying to accomplish the same thing. Of the ones you mentioned:

1. This one is basically its own legacy dungeon
2. This one is basically its own scripted little specific type of experience
3. This one is similar to Limgrave in that it has lots of cool little things to find
4. This one has enormous lore implications and also has a certain type of area that is central to one of the questlines
5. Similar to #2, this one is its own scripted little specific type of experience

Yeah, they are different than Gravesite Plains and Scaldu Altus, but I'm cool with areas having different goals and different experiences. I like the variety. There's room for every area to not just be the same type of thing. If anything, the major zones of the base game - Limgrave, Liurnia, Caelid, Altus, Mountaintops, etc. - all being so similar in terms of what they were and how you experienced them, could, by the end of the game, cause the game to get stale for a lot of people.

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It just hurts to see the huge amounts of (virtually) empty space that they crafted for the DLC. I appreciate the huge vistas sure, but I'd trade it all for a couple of good dungeons in an instant.

 

[Sanox]

Jagged Peak should have been the equivalent of a legacy dungeon where you slowly make your way up with some new small drake enemies to fight or something

 

[MeltedDreams]

Hopefully From do new OW IP after few smaller games. ER has best exploration in their games and they proved with the dlc top tier level design in open world is possible (imo obviously). None of the others have that sense of adventure.

 

[Diogo Arez]

4h on Malenia just because of the stupid grab and point blank Waterfowl RNG

 

[fantalas]

Hopefully From do new OW IP after few smaller games. ER has best exploration in their games and they proved with the dlc top tier level design in open world is possible (imo obviously). None of the others have that sense of adventure.

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I disagree strongly, there's no tension or sense of danger in running around on a horse. It's just boring for the most part.Ruins of Rauh straight up gave me a headache too

 

[Sadnarav]

I loved the Abyssal Woods, probably the one of the best areas in the DLC to me. It's the best horror in a recent From game to me. They redid one of the worst enemies from Bloodborne in a fun stealthy way, the dungeon is great and creepy. Even the sheep in the area are funny in the way they are always looking to you. And the message you get when you try to summon Torrent is so funny. I don't get when people say that these games are self serious and without humour

The Shadow Keep is probably my favourite From dungeon, but I loved the open world. It was my favourite part of the base game and in the DLC a super dense version, with a lot of layers like there are 3 or 4 Limgraves on top of each other to explore and soak in the world and the great art direction

One of the biggest strenghts of Elden Ring to me is how the open world give the setting a sense of place that in Demon's and the Dark Souls games you have to abstract a lot because you are going to like 3 buildings of Anor Londo or a part of the Boletarian Palace. Dark Souls 2 is the closest of feeling like a lot of settings and Bloodborne also works in that way because it's like some parts of one city and it's surroundings

 

[generic_orb]

There really are a lot of offshoot areas which have absolutely nothing of interest in them, though. I've decided just to stick to the path and look for any obvious 'there's something heres' (usually helped by messages), because there's been so many times both in open world and dungeons when I've gone explore some nook to find yes, there is space here. There is nothing in it. Maybe a smithing stone. The opposite of 'rewarding exploration' most of the time.

 

[MasterChief]

This final boss.

Spoiler

I can't even get through phase 1. I'm so fucked

 

[laura-palmer]

I'm split on this, I actually think learning its first phase was pretty fun. By the end I got pretty good at it (my successful run actually didn't go that well though lol), but the second phase has so much happening that it feels impossible to even see what is the boss doing or timing it right. It's just a mess.

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I definitely liked the first phase too. I struggled at first too lmao but once I got the movesets down, the first phase went by quick. The second phase was like what you said, a mess. It brought down the overall experience of that boss fight for me.

 

[Muffin]

Finally finished the last boss yesterday.

Took me only half an hour, lol. Was kinda expecting more after the discourse online

 

[BrightLightLava]

Question about NPCs:

Spoiler: Thiollier/Leda

So eh, if Thiollier turned hostile down in St. Trina's Garden because she got the silent treatment from Trina while I didn't, does that mess up some other questline? I notice Leda is talking a lot of shit lately, so I'm halfway expecting her to be hostile as well the next time we talk

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I believe that's just part of Thiollier's quest line. He should be back in front of St Trina after the fight.

 

[Majin Boo]

Reached the final boss in NG+7, prepared 2 Rotten Battle Hammers just for him, hehehe

 

[StrangeInStereo]

Finally finished the last boss yesterday.

Took me only half an hour, lol. Was kinda expecting more after the discourse online

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This was me the entire DLC, took my time expecting to hit a roadblock at every turn but nothing felt absurdly difficult.

It was like the Godskin Duo discourse all over again with people rushing through the content.

 

[MeltedDreams]

I disagree strongly, there's no tension or sense of danger in running around on a horse. It's just boring for the most part.Ruins of Rauh straight up gave me a headache too

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Each with their own. I can take another dlc too.

I think i have hard time going back to more linear Souls now. Lies of P was good, but painfully linear. :(

 

[ThatWasAJoke]

Kind of disappointed in who the final boss is...

 

[Zera Bloodwinter]

😂



Sometimes I wonder if the people who were designing these fights forgot that this was a stamina based combat lol

Especially when it comes to the last boss.

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That's exactly where I am bro. My gosh, he's relentless.

 

[elenarie]

Okay that dragon is all over the place, camera goes bonkers. I'll come back here before the end boss, can't be bothered to deal with him now. Got him to about 20% hp on my 2nd try, but need bit more damage to make it easier.

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Killed him on my next try, that didn't take long. And with that, South and Southeast maps are clear.
Abyssal Woods next! Last part of the map I've left before doing some end game events.

 

[Diogo Arez]

Finally done with Malenia, basically needed perfect RNG to get through with the Chicken Leg, took more hours than the other bosses combined LMAO

 

[Salty Catfish]

*deep breath*

Spoiler: Jagged Peak

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYLLEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

Whew. What a fight. Did it first try as a sorcerer but there were a lot of nervy moments and I was nearly fucked at the end but my boy Igon drew aggro in the clutch and I was able to finish him. The entirety of Jagged Peak was awesome.

 

[Sande]

Poetic. Radahn succumbed to scarlet rot after killing me.

That's no FP/summon/shields run done an dusted. Most DLC bosses were surprisingly easy when maxing scadutree blessing. Radahn and Bayle are by far the toughest, but more in an annoying way than satisfying. Messmer is probably the best one overall.

 

[Cassius Bright]

Guys, GUYS, I did it! I beat Rennala without using Spirit Ashes!

I'm so hyped right now!

Spoiler: Rundown

I made a few attempts without getting far. Could get her down to her second phase but died soon after.

Decided I was gonna have one last attempt, and decided to play super aggressively. It paid off and during the transition to her second phase, I was slashing the shit out of her and her poise broke. The following riposte procced bleed at the same time, doing enormous damage!

But I ran out of stamina and couldn't deliver the final blow.

She then readied her Moon attack. I had never seen it or experienced it before, but somehow I was able to time the three jumps perfectly to avoid it! So clutch!

One final slash and she was down.

I'm so pleased right now. I've literally just got back from the pub too and am pretty drunk, making it even more bizarre and amazing.

 

[nilbog]

I beat Messmer kind of easily by using Taylew ashes to take aggro, then spamming Blades of Stone!

The wonky camera almost got me near the end 🤣


View: https://youtu.be/dkBySduOAqs?si=oDwSC-XKDiCff6l5

 

[Sai]

I fucking did it. Holy shit. I thought the final boss was actually really well done, if a bit overly fast. Felt like he was playing Sekiro while I was stuck in DS3 lol, but I overcame, and learned the fight! (and also went down from a medium to a light roll lmao)

 

[JMS]

Spoiler: Rundown

She then readied her Moon attack. I had never seen it or experienced it before, but somehow I was able to time the three jumps perfectly to avoid it! So clutch!

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Beating a boss like this, dodging attacks you've never seen is another level of satisfaction! great job

 

[Arex]

Been watching livestreams of people playing and man the (especially the bosses) music is great.

 

[Cassius Bright]

Beating a boss like this, dodging attacks you've never seen is another level of satisfaction! great job

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And now the Twin Moons are mine lol

 

[KINGofCRA5H]

wake up babe new Vaati lore video just dropped

 

[Reinhard]

And now the Twin Moons are mine lol

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The spell sucks though... The weapon is pretty nice. You can get both by finding an empty stone coffin in the dlc, I think there are 3 of them for duping boss rememberances?

 

[LordFlash]

Oh my god. I cannot overstate how much the Blood Antspur rapier + Fingerprint shield + Mimic just absolutely makes a joke out of the final boss. I did him in on the third try and I would have killed him on the first one but died to the big AoE.

That combo is utterly broken lmao.

 

[elenarie]

Okay Abyssal Woods is absolute garbage of an area. I do not care about the stupid madness mechanic that can be avoided. Having to run like a snail is genuinely annoying. That alone makes this area the worst part of the game.

 

[Agni Kai]

I beat Rellana on my second try. The moon attack got me on my first try lol. I definitely didn't expect that.

So far, out of the 2 legacy dungeons I've done, the bosses haven't really been so difficult? It's just more Elden Ring at the end of the day.

Kind of excited to get to these bosses people are talking so much about.

 

[jikevgw]

Still waiting for seamless coop to update so me n my brother can play

 

[Stavo]

Been stuck on the final boss for a good three hours now.
I've even tried going for different weapons but it feels like I'm stuck. 😬

 

[elenarie]

Yea screw this, I'm just going to look at an explored map of this area to know where to go to pick up items. Nobody has time to waste on this slow movement.

 

[Icarian]

Nothing like wandering about after killing the last boss trying weapons to respec to and killing a random dude with a jar on his head and getting a scadutree fragment.

I though I got those fragments already, guess not lol,

 

[radiogra]

The spell sucks though... The weapon is pretty nice. You can get both by finding an empty stone coffin in the dlc, I think there are 3 of them for duping boss rememberances?

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you can also use the base game mausoleums to dupe DLC rememberances. duped the lion's rememberance that way, before i found those DLC coffins.

 

[fantalas]

Each with their own. I can take another dlc too.

I think i have hard time going back to more linear Souls now. Lies of P was good, but painfully linear. :(

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Minor point, but DeS/DS1/DS2/BB were pretty open in terms of progression. Even Sekiro had a couple of branching paths. I'd love them to return to and expand on that kind of level design (DS1 in particular).

 

[vixolus]

Yea screw this, I'm just going to look at an explored map of this area to know where to go to pick up items. Nobody has time to waste on this slow movement.

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yeah its an interesting gimmick at first and eerie seeing torrent afraid to be summoned and the signs telling you there's no escape, etc. I was expecting there to be a giant madness thing patrolling you had to avoid, but ... no. it's a mostly empty giant area with a few extremely basic stealth segments.

Though you CAN parry the watcher things and kill them (and get a talisman, and they don't respawn i think).

 

[elenarie]

yeah its an interesting gimmick at first and eerie seeing torrent afraid to be summoned and the signs telling you there's no escape, etc. I was expecting there to be a giant madness thing patrolling you had to avoid, but ... no. it's a mostly empty giant area with a few extremely basic stealth segments.

Though you CAN parry the watcher things and kill them (and get a talisman, and they don't respawn i think).

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Yea I just dont wanna waste my time exploring this massive area while on foot. Searched online for how it works and apparently even when you kill all of them, the area does not clear, so I'm just fast forwarding to the items.

 

[Yibby]

Oh my god. I cannot overstate how much the Blood Antspur rapier + Fingerprint shield + Mimic just absolutely makes a joke out of the final boss. I did him in on the third try and I would have killed him on the first one but died to the big AoE.

That combo is utterly broken lmao.

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Everything with a heavy shield is really good for the DLC, you can also combine Fingerprint with the weapon from the Gaius Boss. It's a great recommendation for everyone who is stuck on a boss.

 

[vixolus]

Yea I just dont wanna waste my time exploring this massive area while on foot. Searched online for how it works and apparently even when you kill all of them, the area does not clear, so I'm just fast forwarding to the items.

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Yeah it would be nice to have some kind of way to bring the mount back.

 

[Jakenbakin]

Guys, GUYS, I did it! I beat Rennala without using Spirit Ashes!

I'm so hyped right now!

Spoiler: Rundown

I made a few attempts without getting far. Could get her down to her second phase but died soon after.

Decided I was gonna have one last attempt, and decided to play super aggressively. It paid off and during the transition to her second phase, I was slashing the shit out of her and her poise broke. The following riposte procced bleed at the same time, doing enormous damage!

But I ran out of stamina and couldn't deliver the final blow.

She then readied her Moon attack. I had never seen it or experienced it before, but somehow I was able to time the three jumps perfectly to avoid it! So clutch!

One final slash and she was down.

I'm so pleased right now. I've literally just got back from the pub too and am pretty drunk, making it even more bizarre and amazing.

Click to shrink...

Well done. She's probably one of the best bosses of the DLC imo. My first time seeing that attack I was SO proud of myself for jumping during the moon drop, then doing it again! Then she hit the ground and I didn't expect the shockwave because there was no moon and I died lmao. So well done on dodging all 3!

 

[Kenny_Blankenship]

Spoiler: What I assume is last boss spoilers

Radahn's health pool is fuckin' wild.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

Last boss :

This shit happened to me so many time with so many bosses, if only my last hit was 0.1 second faster, lol

I'm a bit sad that i can't do it with my original build, i had to give myself more strength for a better shield

 

[HououinKyouma]

I really need a help with a certain move during the last boss' phase 1

When he pulls you in with gravity and does that "X" swing at you, am I supposed to roll a certain way, roll back, run, etc? I'm getting crushed by that each and every time.

 

[Mattmo831]

Replaying the base game cause my save corrupted way back in 2022 so have go to play the dlc

This game is much easier than I remember. 22 hours in rn, limgrave and the area above it all complete. Gonna backtrack to caelid or whatever it's called now. Level 61.Feel like I've only died like 30ish times. No summons or ashes or magic.. first trying most of the bosses

Might be the bloodhound fang tho. Never used this before and this thing is a beast

 

[empo]

last boss took me ~4-5 hours but I probably wasted 2 hours yesterday using the summon (and being pretty drunk lol)

 

[SunBroDave]

I really need a help with a certain move during the last boss' phase 1

When he pulls you in with gravity and does that "X" swing at you, am I supposed to roll a certain way, roll back, run, etc? I'm getting crushed by that each and every time.

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I think if you roll through the gravity attack, he never does a follow up.

If his follow up is the 2 swings, then you just roll through each of the swings but especially the second one.

If, instead, his follow up is bringing both swords downward in the middle and doing the AOE multi-hit gravity attack, then roll backward through the swing to get out of range of the AOE

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

I really need a help with a certain move during the last boss' phase 1

When he pulls you in with gravity and does that "X" swing at you, am I supposed to roll a certain way, roll back, run, etc? I'm getting crushed by that each and every time.

Click to shrink...

If you dodge the gravity and keep your distance he will never do the follow up.

if you get hit, then you should run back and jump at the last minute