RichC2

...I mean, a fort night of 8 hours a day is about how long it took to beat.

K&AJones

Well I finally bought the game but yet still fire it up due to still not sure which class to play. I watched a lot of Builds Videos last night, most however were for Level 100 to 150 but did see some from start to Level 50....I already figured either a Hack & Slash with speed or straight out spells & magic......so I'm torn between either a Samurai w/Katana...Mage w/Katana...or Sorcery Spell....

Some touched on latest patch where "Bleed Builds" got a huge boost...which is one reason why leaning Samurai. But Sorcery Builds also with less cost to spells which seems to have a fairly long list to choose from. But then there were Mage Sword Builds using magic weapons that were also a best of both combined....

T-bone22

Dont get too hung up on picking a starting class. You can switch around and change to whichever play-style you’d like throughout the game.

dom56

Finally beat the game this morning. The last two bosses are a major pain and I died numerous times. I was lucky to summon a player who message me to let him solo for me and he was awesome, probably took less than 10 min. Now on to new game plus to get the platinum.

RichC2

^ The final boss can be a pain in the ass if you're melee based but there are a few spells and armor you can score to up your odds (I'd grab em during NG+)

T-bone22

Holy damage negation talismans can help a bit too.

K&AJones

Still haven't started due to working late a lot this week...but a friend of mine who I regard a "Souls Game Expert"...beat all them, Bloodborn and Seikiro...said Bleed builds are Meta now but he picked Samurai and at level 140...but he's using some Curved Sword, not a Katana. Hope to either start tonight and for sure this weekend.

nickdawgy

So I got up to level 168. Had a blood build with my Samurai. Rivers of Blood and the starter Samurai sword maxed out. Mimic Tear maxed out. I’m mowing down bosses with ease, including the so called hardest one (Malenia?). I get to the last two bosses and get annihilated.

I tried a pure power greatsword build with the Blasphemous Blade and another one. Killing things left and right. I get the holy damage negation +2 talisman. People on Reddit saying they destroyed the last two bosses with this build. I load up on holy protection gear. I try the last two bosses again.

Not even close. The Elden Beast is a complete joke of a boss. Not sure how anyone can say he was easy. I think this fight is gonna be the end of my Elden Ring run. It was fun while it lasted.

RichC2

​​​​​​You gotta have faith ... 27 to be exact, and use Lord's Divine Fortification (available at the Twin Maiden Husks if you don't already have it.) It reduces Holy damage by 60% for 70 seconds and stacks with your other defenses (talisman, armor, some other buffs) You can basically just shield block its swipes at you, smack it up close and have Black Knife Tiche do her thing (if she survives to that point). At least I always had better luck with Tiche than Mimic but everyone has their preference.

Elden Beast is immune to pretty much everything (outside of the Rune of Death stuff that Tiche/Black Knife offer but that is frustrating in its own right since their life appears to increase when it runs out) so that bleed will do nothing.

K&AJones

Two us tried the coop and it's a sort of mix bag....besides not using Torrent, you can't fast travel nor use the Grace Sites period. You can run around a area and smack enemies together but no re-fill flasks via Grace. So we did a early boss in a dungeon and that was cool and once defeated it automatically dissolves the group sending you back to your world with mission accomplished. off the bat when we tried it (at the Church starting area) we walked around and 5 minutes later got invaded by someone way OP over us...we're just Level 27 and 29...whacks my friend one time, dies, party dissolved...restart...

i can understand they wanting to experience the game solo but this type of game also screams playing with friends...it's basically a dungeon and boss...or try a area know with lots of enemies or what not...but no access to a Grace site is a bit much.....

I decided to go with a Spellblade Mage built around the Meteorite Staff and Katana Meteoric Ore Blade...hit Level 30 but more or less gathering parts and materials while opening the maps via Grace Sites...but playing coop in Bloodborne seemed far less restrictive than ER...go and run a whole area or dungeon with 2-3 was fun...

slop101

Not that the base-game is lacking in content, but is there going to be any DLC down the pike?

nickdawgy

I just can’t beat the pos Elden Beast. I tried a spear and fingerprint shield build with the Mmic Tear. Got it to 25% or so and died. I tried using Tiche and he got destroyed. So much for all the talk about how he can almost solo the fight. I don’t really see myself wasting my time with New Game Plus so I think I’m just gonna sell my copy. I don’t have time for bullshit bosses.

It’s funny because I destroyed Melania. Took her down in less than a minute.

RichC2

Did you respec and try Lords Divine Fortification?

And yeah I found Malenia far more difficult, but also didn't have a blood build going. Tiche is strong but yeah no, she rarely survives Elden Beast past the initial phase, but normally gets a good chunk of damage in.

NG+ is just fun because of how incredibly overpowered you are vs the early on bosses.

nickdawgy

Yes. Used it twice during the battle.

T-bone22

I took down Margit in about 5 seconds.

nickdawgy

Ok I tried again and used a different rune. And did some jump attacks. Turns out the crazy spell he does that picks you up actually healed me. So I beat the bastard and got the Age of Stars ending.

RichC2

it's ridiculously satisfying

K&AJones

Has anyone had issues with connecting in coop? We've tried the last two nights but didn't work....5 days ago we went in, got a Password for "Group"...he did his part and I did the drawing on the ground; right at the beginning with the Church Ruins and the Tree Sentinel dude...The Gold Guy...it worked twice....now it won't no matter where we go to try to connect. I saw some videos from a month to two months explaining the issues, one being the servers but are we suppose to use the Multiplayer Password and not the Group...or both? One video had it showing the person using Multiplayer Password and then he explained using three different ones in Group.....I've seen a lot of posts of people complain about the limitations and how hard to play with someone. I seriously though...and read...of how great it was going to be.....it's worse than Bloodborne by a mile....

dom56

Have you got on network setting on Cross-Region Play on Perform Matchmaking? I have no problem with summon my friends with this but I always put the password on Mulitplayer Password instead in Group.

nickdawgy

I tried a bit of new game plus and burned down a couple bosses, but the appeal just isn’t there. It’s boring. Completely the opposite of the first run.

Rob V

Just got this and put a few hours in... without any obvious direction and death being easier than breathing, is there something I should do first? I have my steed, I have my Ash of War and I killed that giant fire dragon that appears to be glitched so I was able to get 95k runes and level up some. I'm playing as a Samurai and my character is still relatively weak. I have no idea where to head next as Limgrave seems to be death everywhere, so I can only imagine every other spot is too.

Noonan

If your goal is to move forward in the story, head to the castle a bit to the north of where the game starts you.

RichC2

You can either explore, find npcs, or level up or follow the lightning bolts on the map to your next destination.

I'd personally start looking for stones to strengthen your swords.

T-bone22

Invest your levelling points into Vig, Dex and Arcane (if you want to focus on bleed from your Katanas which you should).

Rob V

Thanks guys... I had no idea the lightning bolts was the next destination.