I met a dungeon boss that was a lava-spewing wyrm, which in Elden Ring is a dragon. He was tough–tanky as fuck and could one-shot me with his sword swipe. One-shot me! At this stage of the game? I think not, good person. Except, I do think so because I have not put enough points into, uh *frantically Googles* Vigor. I should be over 20 at this point and am not. I do this every goddamn time and it’s frustrating. I *know* I should stick to one stat other than Vigor and Endurance–at the MOST two. But do I do that? No. So my health bar is tiny. Which, fine, if I can dodge and roll like a pro, but I can’t. Thus, I get one-shot. Oh, my endurance plays a part in that as well. So does poise, but that’s getting into the weeds. Suffice to say that I’m a glass cannon who doesn’t even have that much of a cannon to back-up the glass. I have a +6 or +7 weapon, but it’s still a basic greatsword so it’s fair-to-middling at this point. I will say that holding down the LT to charge up my Ash of War is really powerful–if I can get it off in time.
Anyway, this wyrm. I called in the NPC for the fight. Great Horned Tragoth. He’s a tank and good for soaking up damage. I fiddled between calling in my wolves in the beginning of the fight and nearer the end, but it really is a matter of half-a-dozen of one and six of the other. I used my jellyfish on the first try, but the wyrm does poison so I assumed he is not weak to it. This guy was so annoying. He gave me Sinh the Slumbering Dragon (Dark Souls II/SotFS) vibes.
Side Note: Real hardcore Solus fans like to gush about the DLCs of Dark Souls II/SotFS being the best part of the game. What they mean is that the DLCs are hard enough to make people cry. There’s a real machismo to some of the fans that I find off-putting. In looking up the name of this NPC, I read a guide to the fight decrying it for being easy. Well, yes, but I could still get one-shot with at least two of its hits. Plus, he spews lava all over the floor so it’s a literal game of the floor is lava. I did tiny damage to him (though it’s always satisfying to beat him to a pulp to get the ‘thuuuung’ sound that means he’s stunned. Then, if I can get to his face, I can do a crit in his glowing yellow eye for massive damage. But that was still only a fraction of his health bar.
Yeah, he wasn’t hard, per se, but he was tedious, long, and a slog. Those are my least-favorite fights and I was relieved to get it over. I’m not pleased with how many NPCS I’m using for summons, but I really think the bosses are meant to be co-oped in this game. I think one of the ways From has balanced the game is by making the bosses tankier. I’m not happy about that, but it’s just the way the game is. I gotta say, I’m not thrilled when I run into a field boss without knowing it’s there. It’s never, “Oh, cool! An unexpected boss fight!” No, it’s, “Well, shit. I guess I’m going to die now.” If I find a Site of Grace first, that cushions the blow somewhat, but it’s still not something I’ve ever been happy about.
It makes me realize once again that I’m awful at these games. I love them and enjoy playing them, but they do not love me back. Ian and I have this ongoing argument in that I don’t feel the games are for me and he feels they are exactly for me. The games are about overcoming obstacles, etc., etc., etc. That’s true, but it’s so much harder for me than the average Souls fan. That’s why I always speak out when other hardcore Souls fan downplay how difficult the games are. They’ve either forgotten how hard it was the first time they played a Souls game or they’re just preternaturally good at them.
I’m not. At all. I’m really bad at the games. Why can’t I like Candy Crush or Angry Birds? Why do I have to like games that are so cruel to me? It’s my personality in general–chasing those who are not interested. People who are good at the games truly don’t get how hard it is for us plebes.
It reminds me of when I was in school and it was a breeze for me to get good grades. In one class, I cranked out a 10-page paper in like two days (not including research). Got an A on it. Had a friend who labored over it for two weeks and got a C. That’s how I feel playing the FromSoft games. I ‘study’ so hard and have so little to show for it. Granted, I do actually finish the games, but it’s twice as hard for me as it s for other people. Yes, that means I probably get more satisfaction when I win, but honestly, at this point, I’d take being able to do things a little bit easily.
When I was looking up guides to beating the big boss of the first legacy dungeon, everyone said to call in the NPC. I really prefer doing bosses solo, but I truly think these bosses are designed to take on with a buddy or two. I feel the same with the dungeons. They are littered with enemies in a way other games haven’t been. Hm. That’s not true. There are mobs in other games. But in this one, it feels like there are more ‘gotcha’ enemies. The placement doesn’t feel fair all the time. I literally cannot see them when I enter the room, and it’s not just because I have bad eyesight.
From has always danced a fine line between hard-but-fair and flat-out unfair. I think the DLCs are unfair, but hardcore fans disagree with me. I guess I should clarify what I mean by hardcore fans as I play the games loads. Anyone could look at me and reasonably say that I was a hardcore fan. I’ve finished them all (except Demon’s Souls) and platted the three Souls games. I don’t consider myself a hardcore fan, however, because I suck at the games and can’t fathom doing a onebro run.
In this game, I think the fact that it’s open world with many bosses you just stumble across is why they made the summoning more plentiful and generous–and why they souped up many of the bosses. Is it a good trade? I’m not so sure yet. I’ll let you know the more I play.