Post three about Shadow of the Erdtree, the Elden Ring DLC from FromSoft. In the last post, I ended by talking about the last boss. Obviously,
*SPOILER WARNING*
I tried Prince Consort Radahn two times with my Mimic Tear, Thiollier, and Sir Ansbach as my strength character. And got him to half-health. Could I have done it? Yeah, probably. If I switched out my bonking stick for a thrusting stick. One of the known strats for beating this boss is to hold up the Fingerprint Stone Shield +25 and poke at him constantly with a lance of some sort. There are several lancelike weapons that you can use and shield at the same time. Obviously, you have to have a ton of endurance to do this, and using the Magic Shield equivalent (Scholar’s Shield. I mentioned it earlier because one of the humans I summoned used it on their Fingerprint Stone Shield as we battled PCR (as he is known).
I didn’t want to do it. I just did not. I spent five hours in total on battling this boss the first time, and I never felt I got close to figuring out or dealing with the second phase. I will say that I took way less damage on the second go because I could block so much more. I had stamina for DAYS, which is something I’m sorely lacking on my first character. I have 30 whereas I have nearly double that with my second character.
I can’t level up all stats, obviously. Fighting Cowboy went through the DLC with a character who was something like 400+ levels on NG+ so he could try out any weapon. I think that is so cool, but I’m not going to do that. Let’s be real. I’m on level 220 or so, and it’s 500,000 to level up. Fighting Cowboy is very chill, and he has a great voice. I have included his reaction to the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer below just for the hell of it.
I also like that he doesn’t get into the yelling and the negative bullshit that so many streamers do. I have not watch any of his streams so maybe he’s different then, but no ‘fuckbois’, no incessantly calling eveyrone ‘bitch’, no trying to outhip the kids. Maybe because he’s older (for a content creator) and maybe it’s just his temperament. I have to say that he’s much more animated for the trailer than he is in his videos. I get it, though. he’s genuinetly delighted for the DLC. It’s not fake or pumped up at all. He’s just very excited!
Back to the DLC. Obviously, there is something about it because I’m taking my first character through NG+ to get to the DLC as quickly as possible. In order to do that, you have to kill Radahn and Mohg. That’s it. I’ve already killed Margit and want to kill Rennala so I can respec if need be. But I can now do Varre’s stuff to get to Mohg’s place. That’s all you need to do to get into the DLC. I could probably do it in two or three hours, but I don’t want to feel like I’m just rushing to get there. I will say it’s a hoot to just be stomping on everything in the early game. I don’t mind being OP now and again.
I’ve been thinking about the Scadutree Fragment system (and the Revered Spirit Ash system), and I really like it over all. Them. It’s a good way to make sure that you’re not overleveled as you go into the DLC. It really doesn’t matter how many levels you have when you go into the DLC because it’s all about the Scadutree Fragments and the Revered Spirit Ashes. I really like that you get buffed in the Land of the Shadow with the levels, but they don’t have any effect in the Lands Between (base game).
They had to do something because there are people who are crazy overleveled in the main game. FromSoft didn’t want people to just waltz through the DLC no matter how much time they had put into the base game. I really just wished they had given extra because even carefully following the guide, I am missing one or two (on my second character) of each. I do not want to go through all fifty and twenty-five, respectively.
I may have to go with the guide from the very start with my current character just to make sure I get them all. That takes out some of the fun of the game. Same with making sure I did all the NPC questlines correctly (and I still messed up one or two). It took some of the joy out of the second playthrough, but it also added some layers to it. I really want to do the questlines I didn’t do correctly up to this point, but I give up because people don’t know exactly how to do some of it. Hell, even in the base game, there are some questlines that people aren’t exactly sure how to do them.
I know that the way I grouse about the DLC, it seems like I didn’t like it. This is not true. I liked it a lot. Yes, there is a however about to rear its ugly head. I didn’t like it for the bosses, but despite many of the bosses. This is one reason that I cannot in good conscience give it a 10. Or even a 9.5, which is roughly what I gave the base game. In some ways, it outshines the base game. Level design, environments, and just how elegantly everything is laid out. From gets an 11 out of 10 for the environments and level design. This is truly the best they have ever been in that category.
Music-wise, it’s sublime as well. I enjoy most of the music and can forgive the occasional repeat. The music is sparse–mostly reserved for boss fights. When they bust out a song, you know they mean business. And you know it’s going to be killer. Like Messmer’s OST. It’s quite possibly my favorite in the DLC. Yes, I’m a complete Messmer stan. Deal with it. Me and Fire Knight Queeline could have been homies, yo. Though I would never fashion a weapon to look like Messmer’s spear.
Just listening to Messmer’s OST gets me ready to fight him again! Or fuck him. Whichever comes first. I have such a soft spot in my heart for Messmer. It’s funny beacuse poeple were stanning for Igon in the Discord, and I’m all, yeah, whatewer. Where Messmer at? If I’m going to stan for a broken and bitter w(hite) boy, it’s going to be the emo/bad boy WHO I CAN FIX. It’s not going to be the delusional and tilting-at-windmills (white) guy who shouts all his pain into the winds around him. And probably would drink to blunt the pain if he could.
Side note: It’s really funny how there are several archetype of broken boys in the DLC (and the base game, really), and who stans for whom. Most people like Igon because he’s similar to Solaire, though not as jolly. Solaire is not a favorite of mine, either. I don’t dislike him (as I don’t dislike Igon); I’m just not drawn to either of them. Krupa asked in one of his livestreams who my favorite NPC was in Dark Souls and why was it Solaire?
Everybody loves Solaire. Everybody. They see him as a ray of light (and hope) in a desolate and grim world. I get that; I really do. I see him in a slightly darker light. He’s delusional and chasing after something he’ll never find. It drives him crazy, and if you don’t do a very complicated thing, then you have to kill him. People admire his passion (same with Igon). How driven he is to find his sun. With Igon, it’s the fact that he’s so dedicated to killing Bayle (a big fuckoff dragon) without a hope of doing it. People argue it shows how you can do anything if you believe in it–but he didn’t. Yes, you can summon him for the Bayle fight (in the arena, which I don’t like), and he shouts a lot, but he can’t do it without you. Hell, he can’t even walk on his own.
More later.