What do you mean?
The boss fights just keep on coming here, donāt they? Seems like every day Iāve dealt with another half-dozen (including dungeon bosses). I finally went back and dealt with Margit - my solution there was to summon Rogier and then bring in the jellyfish when he died. Havenāt found Godrick yet - I assume heās in the castle. Met a couple of knights who gave me trouble because Iāve become too dependent on guard countering, so now I need to go back to improving my rolls.
Sorted one of the river bosses - it looks like thereās another, but I took out the one you need to unlock with the flame plinths, which I assume is the main attraction. Then emerged into an area with dozens of those rock worms and two (2) ogre archers. Clobbered them (theyāre all mouth) and ended up in front of an enormous pot - presumably related to the pot I smacked out of a hole days ago - and three red summon signs. Well, I tried one of those and around five seconds later I was heading back through the ogres again to get my souls back and leg it.
And two or three dungeons on top of all that - amazing. Iām also trying to remember to use the horse more I avoided the horseback soliders for a long time, but fighting them on their own terms is great.
One guy who still gives me trouble is the spear captain at the ruins just past the church at the start (next to the troll). I should be ludicrously overpowered for him, but somehow he always gets the drop on me.
3 Likes
Starscourge Radhan is, in my opinion, the most epic fight in the entire history of From Software games. I finally beat him yesterday after 30 tries. With level 60. And on the horse, but I didnāt even attack myself.
Summary
Call signs can be found throughout the arena. The summonable champions are not immortal, but can be summoned again during battle. So my tactic in the early stages was to dodge the permanent ranged attacks, the obstacles on the battlefield can block the projectiles while I activate the callsigns. The champions then charge at Radhan until he engages in melee combat. From that moment you can stay on the horse and watch the spectacle from afar. In between you have to summon the fallen champions again. This is repeated until Radhan kisses the dust.
You can spice it up a bit. For example, you can infect Radhan with SCARLET ROT. Then heāll die faster with the ārabbit footā tactic mentioned above. Bow and arrow or magic (Rock Sling) works wonders when heās busy with the other champions. It is much more difficult as a melee fighter, but you can also be successful on horseback. You just have to stay behind Radhan. Sounds easy but is extremely difficult until you get the timing right.
Either way one of the best fights ever.
Agreed- I love the stories you get from this game. Previously in the Dark Souls game, I did not pay enough attention to the dialogues with the NPCs so often missed out on the story and quest. It is worth talking to everyone you meet and in the communcal areas so you donāt miss things. I am much more attuned to it now. I have only one great rune and I am yet to find any others.
I just completed a vertiginous climb through mines and then clung to the side of a mountain. At the top, there are some very tough opponents indeed so I am going to backtrack and explore at the bottom of the mountain before I try to push through again.
In summary, the game is epic-and perhaps main boss fights aside, a little easier than Dark Souls 1-3 or Bloodborne-or perhaps I have levellled up my own skills.
1 Like
Itās impossible to remain entirely spoiler free on this game. Thereās just some stuff thatās so obscure that I need to Google which leads to a few extra things seeping through despite my efforts. So anyway, Iāve learned about this fight and what it involves and I genuinely canāt wait to get to it. I reckon I canāt be far. Iāve found the Ranni quest line which I think is a precursor.
Still so much to doā¦ Iām also āonly ā at level 56 so think I need some grinding work too.
Iām very late to the party - just made it to Blighttownā¦
Got cursed a bunch of times in the Depths - infuriating!
After wasting 6,000 souls, read online that you can do that item drop thing with Snuggly.
How on earth do people work that stuff out, without looking for help online?
The suffering continues
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Itās a lot more forthcoming with upgrades - I realised last night that even in the forties I was carrying enough rune items for almost two level-ups. Throw in the resource gathering (sell all those horse berries) and the scope for simply exploring and itās very easy to prepare yourself for the big fights, as long as you resist the temptation to follow the āsetā path (which drops you in it far too soon).
He is supposed to be soloed, i gave up after 2h yesterday and did lower level stuff. I am 80h in, but i play slow and try to complete as much as i can. I play astrology build with 36 int, 20 str for the wolf blood blade, not an optimal build as i leveld dex to 20 aswell. I have beat margit and godrick already. I play on ps4.
on psn ? I will add this also : but does it prevent other summoning actions ?
I really tried to play without spoilers or guides. I agree that this is the best way to get the best gaming experience, but the game increasingly penalizes you for it. Missed quests, missed items, missed locations coupled with the sheer size of the world demotivated me more than the gaming experience would have returned. So I started a new savegame and lo and behold itās a lot more fun now that I know most of the game mechanics and know what to look out for.
Iām very relaxed about using guides now because I donāt have to prove anything to anyone.
Spoiler
The fight for Starscourge is actually optional. I believe you need to trigger an in-game event called Festival. Unfortunately, I donāt know the individual steps that are necessary for this. There are many characters that play a role and various quest givers that trigger events all related to it.
But I went two different ways with my playthroughs, which led to different results in this area around the festival. Iām not sure if Ranni has any part in this, but I do know that killing Radahn is necessary to continue her quest.
But look forward to a very intense experience. The arena, the opponent, the whole setting, just fantastic.
2 Likes
Itās definitely possible, but if you take a close look at whatās happening around this boss, the whole preparation, you realize that nobody should fight alone here. What definitely doesnāt work is that you can summon your Spirit Ashes for battle.
It feels like Elden Ring is a game built entirely on the experience you have in Breath of the Wild when you meet a Lynel for the first time.
6 Likes
How some folk work things out in FS games never ceases to amaze me. A lot of it all is definitely on me being dense or forgetful but other stuff Iām sitting thinking āwhit?!ā
That isnāt a criticism though. I really like the community and learning more about the games through others experience and help.
Some might moan about using summons and spirit ashes but on the whole, folks are super helpful out there.
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yeah this is basically the strategy I was trying. I just need to get good 
currently lvl 80 int focused build.
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This is totally me! Iāve gotten pretty decent at fighting bosses but some of the Knights still get me - the spear Knight in the gatefront ruins is my sworn enemy. I also rely too much on guard counters. I think I need to equip a shield that can parry for some of these encounters but I donāt like missing out on my weapon skills.
Also, sometimes I still get killed by dogs which is pretty embarrassing after slaying a dragon.
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Yes absolutely. like a morbid, sinister playground for creative sadists with a penchant for masochism
Iām already looking forward to the first Speedrun SL1 No hit all parry nomagic nosummons videos. 
2 Likes
We donāt talk about OneBros.
Seriously, how do you kill those who have no life?
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I think a speedrun would be possible in under 3h - without cheating. I saw 20 min speedruns of DS2 /DS3 , but they glitched and had insta kill spells and abused level structure to run directly to boss unharmed. A legit run without cheating was 90 min the lowest i have watched. For noobs like me who have to grind 90h in such a game (which i truly enjoy - its nothing i want to perform for myself - but its nice to watch these truly skilled guys pulling it off.)
Dragon Rot breath (2 full ones on both stages) summon a lot. Use a Physik flask with a guard bubble when he launches the meteors. Once you get in on phase 2 and hit him with rot, just get the hell out of there and summon some folks and hide.
If you use your shield a lot for guard counters make sure to use the barricade shield ash of war and curved blade attack on your sword.
Also mix in jump attacks and some AOE spells if you have any.
1 Like