The video and pictures below are from my gameplay footage of 2022's popular video game "Elden Ring" on Playstation 4.
If you're unfamiliar with "Elden Ring", here's some quick info:
(Actual post is below this intro info!)
[GAMEPLAY]
In Elden Ring, players control a customizable player character on a journey to repair the Elden Ring and become the new Elden Lord. The game is presented through a third-person perspective, with players freely roaming its interactive open world. Gameplay elements include combat using several types of weapons and magic spells, horseback riding, and crafting.
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[STORY]
Elden Ring takes place in the Lands Between, a fictional landmass ruled over by several demigods. It was previously ruled over by the immortal Queen Marika, who acted as keeper of the Elden Ring, a powerful force that manifested as the physical concept of order. When Marika eventually shattered the Elden Ring and disappeared, her demigod children began warring over pieces of the Ring in an event called the Shattering. Each demigod possesses a shard of the Ring called a Great Rune, which corrupts them with power. In the game, the player character is a Tarnished, one of a group of exiles from the Lands Between who are summoned back after the Shattering. As one of the Tarnished, the player must traverse the realm to repair the Elden Ring and become the Elden Lord.
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I've leveled up quite a bit and gotten some new gear since my last post so here's the update:
Front view of my Tarnished's armor and weapon.
Back view of my Tarnished's armor and weapon.
I have a fancy-looking thrusting sword, Godslayer Seal, short bow, and arrows equipped to my right hand -- and a shield and basic finger seal equipped to my left hand.
After exploring Raya Lucaria Academy in Liurnia Lakes, I discovered the Carrion Knight Armor which is probably the coolest-looking gear I've found yet which really fits my play-style as a magic knight.
My sword has a weapon skill that shoots out little magic daggers but I'll probably replace that soon with one that lets me do a teleporting side-dash.
I have two talismans equipped and will soon pick another item to fill that third slot.
Right now my down directional-pad button has 1 health potion, 8 health potions, my horse summon, large throwing daggers, and my strongest singular ghost-summon. I'm still torn between this big headless ghost-knight and the Raya Lucaria Soldiers since there's three of them.
As you can see to the far right, my stats and incantations have grown.
When I level up, I dump my hard-earned runes in this order: Faith first, Mind second, Vigor third, and Dexterity Last.
In some special instances, I upgraded my Endurance and Strength too to increase physical damage I deal and so I can heavier cooler armor.
Did a little for Arcane too but don't know how much further I'll level that one up since my dragon spells feel a little OP right now.
I've been running into a bunch of cool sorcery spells and staffs so I've started upping my Intelligence because, while not always as cool-looking as incantations, the tracking on sorceries is rather impressive.
I've gotten quite a few new spells as well.
A new group-heal spell which has been useful for not just co-op mode but also heals the health of my ghost-summons.
The cheap but deadly Flame Frenzy spell. Black Flames fireball for the extra burn damage.
Lightning Spear for its quickness and range.
Burst of Frenzy for its extraordinary range, it's basically a magic sniper spell.
Frozen Lightning which has quite the charge-up but does some nice forward AOE damage.
Then in the last two places are Dragon Breath spells -- Magic and Rot.
Both spells have some of the worst charge-up times despite me throwing extra runes into Dexterity not just for my sword but to shorten my casting time for spells.
Magic Dragon Breath is great for enemies that don't seem to take a lot of damage from my sword or cheaper spells, while Rotten Dragon Breath is my secret weapon -- the nuke in my arsenal.
There isn't a lot those hefty spells can't devastate so whenever I'm frustrated I spam the hell out of this one in order to annihilate foes -- bosses include.
When You're Chasing Scarabs and End Up In A Unfamiliar Place ...
In the game ELDEN RING, there are these blue or red or silver scarab beetles pushing shiny dung-balls that give you extra Vigor or FP flasks (health & magic potions) when you destroy them. Sometimes they give you more than an extra potion -- you can get extra weapon skills (called Ashes of War) or new magic spells (incantations, sorceries). I was chasing one down somewhere in Liurnia outside the lakes when I stumbled upon a Minor Erd Tree. Usually there's only a few weird golden soldiers with roots growing out of them but this time a bunch of Ancestral Warriors (who totally look like Qunari from Bioware's DRAGON AGE INQUISITION) or more accurately several of them. These horned muscle dudes were just stomping their feet in place and facing the Minor Erdtree and the Erdtree Avatar resting at its roots.
~
I've battled these Ancestral Warriors before in the underground region of Sofiara River and one-on-one they're not problem but once there's more than two or three things can get complicated ... so I try to move the odds closer to my favor by summoning the ghosts of three Raya Lucaria Soldiers. The drawback of this summon is that the two smaller soldiers while quick are more of a temporary buffer for the bigger soldier with the colossal blade. They don't attack right off the bat until you give them a hint so I fire one away on an arrow pointed at the nearest Ancestral Warrior.
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The first Ancestral Warrior goes down quick and I zap a second one that the smaller Raya Lucaria soldiers have targeted. Since it was a charged up incantation, it does splash damage to another Ancestral Warrior behind him -- but a third guy's completely ran past my ghosts and getting ready to rush me.
~
Now You See Me ...
.. Now You Don't!
This is a weapon skill, an Ash of War called Bloodhound Step.
~
Unfortunately that earlier dodge is followed by, "He won't swing his axe again ... right?"
He swings his axe again, hitting me with what should be a kill-blow.
I Bloodhound Step backwards and launch a Lightning Spear at him but this guy walks a little to the left like I'm not throwing something that should be traveling the speed of light at him.
~
I find some high ground and launch some Frozen Lightning along the ground while noticing that my ghost team's about wiped out.
In the end, it's only the long-rangers left. I power a Lightning Spear bolt and end the final Ancestral Bowman before he can ready his gigantic arrows.
~
I heal myself once I'm sure all the Ancestral Warriors are dead but I'm a little annoyed my Raya Lucaria Soldiers all died ... again (they're ghosts). Guess I'll have to return to the Round Table and upgrade them a bit. Something that's been on my to-do list for quite some time.
I loot the piles of dead Ancestral Warriors for fur clothes to sell.
And now to face Mr Headless Tree Wizard himself ... again (how many of these guys are there?)
~
I start by casting Flame of the Fell God which is a giant fireball incantation perfect for an enemy who's a walking tree.
The floating fireball is small at first but it gets much bigger.
And explodes for massive damage while I charge up another fire spell, Flame of Frenzy, which launches yellow fiery bursts from my eyes.
Flame of Frenzy incantation does a lot of decent damage as well.
But as soon as I cast it, I Bloodhound Step into a giant clay jar which blocks my escape route and my vision, resulting in me gettin demolished along with the pot and a nearby tree by Erdtree Avatar's Hammer Staff.
I dodge out of the way of the golden-laser attack due to my last Bloodhound Step pinning me against an obstacle.
I narrowly dodge another swing of the Hammer Staff which would've killed me.
Some much needed healing.
I misjudge my directional buttons and cast Frozen Lightning instead of the giant fireball. It floats me in the air long enough for Erdtree Avatar to swat me like a bug with his hammer staff. Not sure at all how I didn't die instantly.
I try to dodge the next golden-laser attack but roll right into some giant-jar debris slowing me down so I get struck by the lasers.
Okay let's try this again ... I hide behind a giant jar and cast my giant fireball spell just as Erdtree Avatar smashes the jar to pieces.
Sorry, guys. Looks like 32 images is the upload limit for PeakD today. I'd try again but the last time half my images refused to load.
Here's a video link of this post's entire adventure, including the full boss-fight with Erdtree Avatar as well:
