Elden Ring

I mentioned I bought it in another thread. I'm up to 39 hours
according to steam. That's probably fairly accurate as I've been
better about closing it.

Tech/Look-
I'm still running it on my 950 GTX, which is about 1/3rd to 1/6th of
the minimum recommended specs. One of the tips I found for getting it
to work was to run it at 720p and use NVIDA upscaling to native
resolution (1080p for me) that seems to be working pretty well for me
and it doesn't look all blurry like just running it at 720p. I also of
course have everything low and off - except grass which is limited to a
minimum of medium. I'm running about 45-60 fps most areas. I did have
one boss that slowed down to about 20. I've had a couple CTDs but
considering how much I've played it, 2 CTDs in 40 hours isn't too bad.

It's very vibrant and bright in the first open area, but dips into
more dark souls look once you get out of that area. It looks more
like a cross between Skyrim/breath of the wild/and dark souls than
just dark souls. It still looks superior to DS3 at 1080p, but having
watched some videos of people playing on a high end computer I know
I'm missing out on some beautiful scenery, and I'm still checking
prices and availability on newer video cards regularly. I'm not a
graphics whore, and what I see isn't bothering me, but after seeing
the gameplay on high end it's hard not to want to upgrade knowing the
difference. I still just can't justify over $500 for a low-mid range
current card - I'm looking at a AMD 6600 XT which I had found for
$550, unfortunately that one's gone and the lowest is now $619.

Gameplay-
If you don't mind avoiding a couple of the early open world bosses,
and being careful not to agro everything in an area, it's not too
hard. I finally managed to kill the one I'd been avoiding and trying
off and on when I was level 30, as well as a 'real boss' at that point
(real boss being one that gives an achievement.) They added
crouch/stealth which makes killing almost any regular lone mobs really
easy, they also added a guard attack, which lets you retaliate when
something hits your block, which works well against most humanoid
mobs, and jump can now be done instead of rolling - actually jumping
over attacks, and you can do a heavy downward attack while jumping.
You can also easily hunt down most animals and get small amounts of
runes (which are the souls i.e. xp/money of ER.)

On the harder side, it feels like the closest early bosses are
insanely hard even in comparison to DS3, but you can avoid/leave those
for later. Also dogs/wolves are no longer stunned by fire, nor stunned
by blocks, and come in larger packs, and are difficult to deal with
along side other mobs. Short monsters such as dogs and rats are also
short enough many weapons just pass over their heads, which seems like
a stupid mistake for a game to make.

I've been swapping between three characters, an Astrologist which is a
mage, a cleric/pyromancer type (they were rolled together in ER) and a
Hero -strength character. I've actually found the Hero far easier
this go so far, and that's the one that's level 30, while the other
two are around level 15. I'm trying hard to curtail my talkaholic
tendencies, but I want to try everything out. Unfortunately progress
is much slower in this game than previous ones, there's so much to
explore and do. Too much IMHO. I know many people love open world
games, but I definitely prefer the more focused areas of Dark Souls.

Just as an aside on how long this game might be, people have been
speculating level 150 for 'meta' (i.e. finish the game and do PVP) So
that probably means 200 hours for me at this rate. Though I took far longer
on all the previous ones, so it might balloon up quite a bit.

On the plus side of the open world, I think I've only died in combat
from gravity once. I've fallen off cliffs still when exploring a
whole lot though, but it's pretty easy to get back and pick up your
runes anywhere that's not dense in mobs. Even then as long as it's
not also indoors where you can't use your mount, you can usually ride
in and pick them up and ride away.

I also don't like the collecting & crafting. It's not really hard to
collect as you go, and the crafting isn't too bad - you can do it
anywhere easily. I just find it slightly annoying. I haven't even
really crafted much, mostly the item that allows you to see summon
signs, and those are easy to find ingredients for and make. You can
make arrows & bolts too, but I haven't really been using ranged except
with spells.

On the too much in the open world side, while I've tried to avoid
spoilers, I felt like I was just wasting my time with what I was
doing. So I started to go to the wiki to find things, not to mention
even with stuff I've learned it's easier than taking notes and
referring to them.

Some things feel like they took the ideas from mods for DS3, and it
feels very much like the Cinders mod for DS3. They added summoning
items which lets you summon spirit mobs to aid you, but they're only
available in some areas. There's also a ton of mini-bosses all over
the place, I feel like I've killed at least 10 different ones so far.

I've not got far with spells, but I do appreciate they seem more
varied, the astrologer starts with an arrow type spell, and a fan
spell, which is really good for large groups of weak mobs - they
didn't have anything like that in DS3. Of course they didn't really
have large groups of weak mobs in DS3 either. My cleric/pyromancer
only started with a melee fire spell, which usually isn't worth using,
and I only just got a ranged one, but there's so many mobs, and it's
awfully expensive in mana cost that it doesn't really feel like it's
good to use yet either. That's somewhat of a problem with the
Astrologer too, but their spells are much more cost effective.
Unfortunately I've not found any mental stat scaling weapons yet (well
I got one on my cleric, but it needs 30 fai, which would probably be
at level 50 or so) so they're both really weak against regular mobs
since there's so many and don't have the mana to spam them. You do
get some mana (and health) potions back occasionally when you've wiped
out a group of enemies, except in dungeons which helps a little.
Neither have been able to deal with mounted enemies with spells
because they're too fast and avoid them, and they can't use mounted
combat well because they need melee weapons for that, or spells I
haven't discovered yet.

My Hero on the other hand just picked up a four pronged ship anchor
which is classed as a 'great axe.' That things real fun and looks
hilarious!

Overall I'm not anywhere as in to ER as I was DS3. I'm not feeling a
burning desire to play. But I'm mostly enjoying the game, and I'm not
stuck unable to progress, it just feels slow going. A bit more leisurely.
I don't regret buying it, even at full price.

Thus ends my overly long early report on Elden Ring.

- Justisaur

Am 07.03.22 um 21:31 schrieb Justisaur:
> Thus ends my overly long early report on Elden Ring.
Thanks for the report...
Not sure if any of the DS games are really for me, the times are over
where I would spend hours to beat a boss!

I have to give Bloodborne on the PS4 a shot, which I have to see if that
style of game still fits me.

"Justisaur" wrote in message
news:f0a3afd0-c7b2-42b4-a9d1-3c058a471c89n@googlegroups.com...

Elden Ring

I mentioned I bought it in another thread. I'm up to 39 hours
according to steam. That's probably fairly accurate as I've been
better about closing it.

Tech/Look-
I'm still running it on my 950 GTX, which is about 1/3rd to 1/6th of
the minimum recommended specs. One of the tips I found for getting it
to work was to run it at 720p and use NVIDA upscaling to native
resolution (1080p for me) that seems to be working pretty well for me
and it doesn't look all blurry like just running it at 720p. I also of
course have everything low and off - except grass which is limited to a
minimum of medium. I'm running about 45-60 fps most areas. I did have
one boss that slowed down to about 20. I've had a couple CTDs but
considering how much I've played it, 2 CTDs in 40 hours isn't too bad.

It's very vibrant and bright in the first open area, but dips into
more dark souls look once you get out of that area. It looks more
like a cross between Skyrim/breath of the wild/and dark souls than
just dark souls. It still looks superior to DS3 at 1080p, but having
watched some videos of people playing on a high end computer I know
I'm missing out on some beautiful scenery, and I'm still checking
prices and availability on newer video cards regularly. I'm not a
graphics whore, and what I see isn't bothering me, but after seeing
the gameplay on high end it's hard not to want to upgrade knowing the
difference. I still just can't justify over $500 for a low-mid range
current card - I'm looking at a AMD 6600 XT which I had found for
$550, unfortunately that one's gone and the lowest is now $619.

Gameplay-
If you don't mind avoiding a couple of the early open world bosses,
and being careful not to agro everything in an area, it's not too
hard. I finally managed to kill the one I'd been avoiding and trying
off and on when I was level 30, as well as a 'real boss' at that point
(real boss being one that gives an achievement.) They added
crouch/stealth which makes killing almost any regular lone mobs really
easy, they also added a guard attack, which lets you retaliate when
something hits your block, which works well against most humanoid
mobs, and jump can now be done instead of rolling - actually jumping
over attacks, and you can do a heavy downward attack while jumping.
You can also easily hunt down most animals and get small amounts of
runes (which are the souls i.e. xp/money of ER.)

On the harder side, it feels like the closest early bosses are
insanely hard even in comparison to DS3, but you can avoid/leave those
for later. Also dogs/wolves are no longer stunned by fire, nor stunned
by blocks, and come in larger packs, and are difficult to deal with
along side other mobs. Short monsters such as dogs and rats are also
short enough many weapons just pass over their heads, which seems like
a stupid mistake for a game to make.

I've been swapping between three characters, an Astrologist which is a
mage, a cleric/pyromancer type (they were rolled together in ER) and a
Hero -strength character. I've actually found the Hero far easier
this go so far, and that's the one that's level 30, while the other
two are around level 15. I'm trying hard to curtail my talkaholic
tendencies, but I want to try everything out. Unfortunately progress
is much slower in this game than previous ones, there's so much to
explore and do. Too much IMHO. I know many people love open world
games, but I definitely prefer the more focused areas of Dark Souls.

Just as an aside on how long this game might be, people have been
speculating level 150 for 'meta' (i.e. finish the game and do PVP) So
that probably means 200 hours for me at this rate. Though I took far longer
on all the previous ones, so it might balloon up quite a bit.

On the plus side of the open world, I think I've only died in combat
from gravity once. I've fallen off cliffs still when exploring a
whole lot though, but it's pretty easy to get back and pick up your
runes anywhere that's not dense in mobs. Even then as long as it's
not also indoors where you can't use your mount, you can usually ride
in and pick them up and ride away.

I also don't like the collecting & crafting. It's not really hard to
collect as you go, and the crafting isn't too bad - you can do it
anywhere easily. I just find it slightly annoying. I haven't even
really crafted much, mostly the item that allows you to see summon
signs, and those are easy to find ingredients for and make. You can
make arrows & bolts too, but I haven't really been using ranged except
with spells.

On the too much in the open world side, while I've tried to avoid
spoilers, I felt like I was just wasting my time with what I was
doing. So I started to go to the wiki to find things, not to mention
even with stuff I've learned it's easier than taking notes and
referring to them.

Some things feel like they took the ideas from mods for DS3, and it
feels very much like the Cinders mod for DS3. They added summoning
items which lets you summon spirit mobs to aid you, but they're only
available in some areas. There's also a ton of mini-bosses all over
the place, I feel like I've killed at least 10 different ones so far.

I've not got far with spells, but I do appreciate they seem more
varied, the astrologer starts with an arrow type spell, and a fan
spell, which is really good for large groups of weak mobs - they
didn't have anything like that in DS3. Of course they didn't really
have large groups of weak mobs in DS3 either. My cleric/pyromancer
only started with a melee fire spell, which usually isn't worth using,
and I only just got a ranged one, but there's so many mobs, and it's
awfully expensive in mana cost that it doesn't really feel like it's
good to use yet either. That's somewhat of a problem with the
Astrologer too, but their spells are much more cost effective.
Unfortunately I've not found any mental stat scaling weapons yet (well
I got one on my cleric, but it needs 30 fai, which would probably be
at level 50 or so) so they're both really weak against regular mobs
since there's so many and don't have the mana to spam them. You do
get some mana (and health) potions back occasionally when you've wiped
out a group of enemies, except in dungeons which helps a little.
Neither have been able to deal with mounted enemies with spells
because they're too fast and avoid them, and they can't use mounted
combat well because they need melee weapons for that, or spells I
haven't discovered yet.

My Hero on the other hand just picked up a four pronged ship anchor
which is classed as a 'great axe.' That things real fun and looks
hilarious!

Overall I'm not anywhere as in to ER as I was DS3. I'm not feeling a
burning desire to play. But I'm mostly enjoying the game, and I'm not
stuck unable to progress, it just feels slow going. A bit more leisurely.
I don't regret buying it, even at full price.

Thus ends my overly long early report on Elden Ring.

- Justisaur

>Thus ends my overly long early report on Elden Ring.

I played some last night -- only at 16 STR now -- and finally managed to
kill a giant after many tries, and practicing riding the horse. Haven't
tried any boss yet :) just wandering around the starting area, limdale or
whatever. there are secrets I don't know how to access, like a tree that's
asking for help :)

- Justisaur

On Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at 6:53:21 AM UTC-8, rms wrote:
> >Thus ends my overly long early report on Elden Ring.
> I played some last night -- only at 16 STR now -- and finally managed to
> kill a giant after many tries, and practicing riding the horse. Haven't
> tried any boss yet :) just wandering around the starting area, limdale or
> whatever. there are secrets I don't know how to access, like a tree that's
> asking for help :)
>

The giants are tough early on. It took me awhile to get used to the goat
(horse with horns?) attacks as those are new. I've found longer weapons
seem to work better mounted, greatswords seem to work pretty well.
most of the weapons I can use on my mage and cleric are really bad
mounted - short spear, rapier, short sword, etc. I end up 2-handing
the bastard sword on my cleric mounted, and I found a weapon mod to
make it do holy damage scaling from fai, which makes it pretty respectable.

I think I finally got more of a handle on the mage and I just use spells
mounted now, which takes running away, stopping, pointing in the general
direction of enemies and then casting a couple times at most and repeat.
I have to go rest a bit more often than the other characters due to running
through my mana, and I'm in deep if I run across anything resistant to magic.
That's pretty similar to DS3 in that respect, but I could at least get a fire
gem and raw gem on weapons pretty early that only scale off of
enchantment and I haven't found anything like that yet. I have found
the spell that makes weapons magic, but it doesn't last long (same
as DS3) and the damage is still magic, so it doesn't help with resistant
enemies.

The tree guy is useless as far as I can tell. Once you figure out how to
talk to him he tells you he can go collect something for you at a
certain place, but if you go there he just disappears. He may be bugged
or may appear again later, not sure.

There's a lot of hidden stuff all over, but it's mostly in difficult to access
or just notice places. Many places you have to jump to mounted.

- Justisaur

On 08/03/2022 08:04, Werner P. wrote:
> Am 07.03.22 um 21:31 schrieb Justisaur:
>> Thus ends my overly long early report on Elden Ring.
> Thanks for the report...
> Not sure if any of the DS games are really for me, the times are over
> where I would spend hours to beat a boss!
>
> I have to give Bloodborne on the PS4 a shot, which I have to see if that
> style of game still fits me.

It's certainly not, as far as I can tell anyway, the type of game I'd
like either. Saying that, it seems to be a real hit with gamers which I
think has to be a positive as it does show that you can have successful
big budget games that aren't games as a service.

On Monday, March 7, 2022 at 12:31:13 PM UTC-8, Justisaur wrote:

> I've had a couple CTDs but
> considering how much I've played it, 2 CTDs in 40 hours isn't too bad.

CTDs have increased considerably, I get some connecting to other
players for co-op. I'm also getting some randomly, which seem
to increase until I reboot. It felt like an average of about 1 every 20
minutes, but more clusters of several in a row. Crashes seem
to be a common issue with the game from what I'm reading,
most of them seem to be blue screens or 'white screens' though
I'm getting the little box that says windows detected a problem
and is closing the program/collecting data to send to Microsoft.

Obviously my computer's not really up to the game and the random
ones feel like it's when my fans are going full blast so that could be
HW related. Although happening after I haven't rebooted in awhile
feels more like a memory leak, perhaps a combination. I suppose
the connection CTDs could be similar related to HW but it feels
more like something going on with either Easy Anti-Cheat or the
game code.

It's odd I went something like 10-20 hours between crashes
previously (and I think those were the co-op connection ones)
and been through areas where they happened with my another
character with no issues.

- Justisaur

On Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 1:31:16 AM UTC-8, JAB wrote:
> On 08/03/2022 08:04, Werner P. wrote:
> > Am 07.03.22 um 21:31 schrieb Justisaur:
> >> Thus ends my overly long early report on Elden Ring.
> > Thanks for the report...
> > Not sure if any of the DS games are really for me, the times are over
> > where I would spend hours to beat a boss!
> >
> > I have to give Bloodborne on the PS4 a shot, which I have to see if that
> > style of game still fits me.
>
> It's certainly not, as far as I can tell anyway, the type of game I'd
> like either. Saying that, it seems to be a real hit with gamers which I
> think has to be a positive as it does show that you can have successful
> big budget games that aren't games as a service.

Yeah, it's amazing a AAA game without loot boxes, microtransactions, in
game advertisements and/or subscription and even though with some
issues is in a finished state got made and released.

- Justisaur

>CTDs have increased considerably,

As a counterpoint, I've had zero issues after 18hrs. I'm still screwing
around and dying pointlessly, just starting to realize that I need to level
up and learn how to use the many powerups etc. It's a lovely game, when you
get a good videocard you'll want to replay this for sure :)

rms

On Thursday, March 10, 2022 at 7:31:51 AM UTC-8, rms wrote:
> >CTDs have increased considerably,
>
> As a counterpoint, I've had zero issues after 18hrs. I'm still screwing
> around and dying pointlessly, just starting to realize that I need to level
> up and learn how to use the many powerups etc. It's a lovely game, when you
> get a good videocard you'll want to replay this for sure :)
>
> rms

I didn't realize at the time, but windows was probably downloading updates
when that was happening. It had a version update shortly after I posted.
I've seen big windows updates cause all kinds of problems at work until
they're finished.

I haven't had any more CTDs since the update, including the ones when
joining co-op. O.K. maybe one, I don't remember for sure. I've been playing a
lot, probably 12-15 more hours over the last couple days.

I'm not really into the crafting, I made some of the fingers you need for
summoning players, but you get those for free if once you get the finger
to put down a sign to help others you kill a boss, so didn't really need them.
I made some fire bombs and horse food, and used them a little, but they
haven't seemed really worth the effort. I tried some poison on a couple
mobs, but a couple were immune, and another it was doing so little (like
10 a second and it probably had a couple thousand) that again it didn't
seem worth it.

Of course weapon plus, ashes, and healing/mana flask upgrades
and leveling up is well worth it though.

I found one weapon art ash of war that was doing around 400-500
damage for only 6 fp on my mage, which is way better than any of
my spells/weapons (yes it's in the newbie area), and was spamming
that all over the place. I only noticed hours later that it damages you.
I'm not sure how many times that contributed to my death and I didn't
even realize it!

- Justisaur

On 09/03/2022 16:50, Justisaur wrote:
> On Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 1:31:16 AM UTC-8, JAB wrote:
>> On 08/03/2022 08:04, Werner P. wrote:
>>> Am 07.03.22 um 21:31 schrieb Justisaur:
>>>> Thus ends my overly long early report on Elden Ring.
>>> Thanks for the report...
>>> Not sure if any of the DS games are really for me, the times are over
>>> where I would spend hours to beat a boss!
>>>
>>> I have to give Bloodborne on the PS4 a shot, which I have to see if that
>>> style of game still fits me.
>>
>> It's certainly not, as far as I can tell anyway, the type of game I'd
>> like either. Saying that, it seems to be a real hit with gamers which I
>> think has to be a positive as it does show that you can have successful
>> big budget games that aren't games as a service.
>
> Yeah, it's amazing a AAA game without loot boxes, microtransactions, in
> game advertisements and/or subscription and even though with some
> issues is in a finished state got made and released.
>

The technical issues are certainly a bit of a down vote so it'll be
interesting to see how the devs handle the situation.

It's kinda weird that we've got ourselves into a situation where is
feels that it's almost accepted than games can be released with some
relatively problematic issues.

On Friday, March 11, 2022 at 10:31:41 AM UTC-8, PW wrote:
> Here is another write up. I am interested in what Justisaur thinks
> about this one.
>
> The title is "I love Elden Ring's Sorcery, but it might be too good"
>
> https://www.pcgamer.com/i-love-elden-rings-sorcery-but-it-might-be-too-good/?utm_campaign=XPG_NWL
>
> I keep thinking about buying this game but not at $60 right now.
> Besides, I have Dark Souls 3.

Well I just beat the first real boss that people complain about
with a sorcerer - about level 40 I think. I don't have any really
good spells, but the little starting spell works well, and that's
mostly what I defeated him with, that and a summoned spirit
and a summoned NPC to distract him, both do negligable
damage, so it's just distraction.

I wouldn't say the sorcerer is really any better than my str
character so far, and as I mentioned before I found starting
it to be considerably harder. I'm not dying as much with
either as when I started, but still dying quite a bit. All it takes
is getting cornered, or knocked off your horse (which stuns you.)

The game is a lot easier in the one way described in that article,
it's possible to clear a large area and level up a lot, such that
things you found hard initially are easy later. There's also paths
around almost all the bosses so far. That's somewhat possible
to do in DS1 & 2 though it probably requires spoilers or prior
knowledge.

That's almost impossible in DS3 due to the first boss blocking
your path before you can upgrade anything, it is possible after
that to go some places and pick powerful stuff up early, but
that in itself tends to be so hard that it's harder than following
the standard path.

On the other hand it's also possible to get into some really
hairy situations which can be impossible to get out of if
you find yourself in a higher level zone than your character,
especially in DS1. I had a similar situation in ER a couple times
but I managed to find a way out relatively quickly.

- Justisaur

On Friday, March 11, 2022 at 4:54:05 PM UTC-8, PW wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Mar 2022 14:47:11 -0800 (PST), Justisaur
> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On Friday, March 11, 2022 at 10:31:41 AM UTC-8, PW wrote:
> >> Here is another write up. I am interested in what Justisaur thinks
> >> about this one.
> >>
> >> The title is "I love Elden Ring's Sorcery, but it might be too good"
> >>
> >> https://www.pcgamer.com/i-love-elden-rings-sorcery-but-it-might-be-too-good/?utm_campaign=XPG_NWL
> >>
> >> I keep thinking about buying this game but not at $60 right now.
> >> Besides, I have Dark Souls 3.
> >
> >Well I just beat the first real boss that people complain about
> >with a sorcerer - about level 40 I think. I don't have any really
> >good spells, but the little starting spell works well, and that's
> >mostly what I defeated him with, that and a summoned spirit
> >and a summoned NPC to distract him, both do negligable
> >damage, so it's just distraction.
> >
> >I wouldn't say the sorcerer is really any better than my str
> >character so far, and as I mentioned before I found starting
> >it to be considerably harder. I'm not dying as much with
> >either as when I started, but still dying quite a bit. All it takes
> >is getting cornered, or knocked off your horse (which stuns you.)
> >
> >The game is a lot easier in the one way described in that article,
> >it's possible to clear a large area and level up a lot, such that
> >things you found hard initially are easy later. There's also paths
> >around almost all the bosses so far. That's somewhat possible
> >to do in DS1 & 2 though it probably requires spoilers or prior
> >knowledge.
> >
> >That's almost impossible in DS3 due to the first boss blocking
> >your path before you can upgrade anything, it is possible after
> >that to go some places and pick powerful stuff up early, but
> >that in itself tends to be so hard that it's harder than following
> >the standard path.
> >
> >On the other hand it's also possible to get into some really
> >hairy situations which can be impossible to get out of if
> >you find yourself in a higher level zone than your character,
> >especially in DS1. I had a similar situation in ER a couple times
> >but I managed to find a way out relatively quickly.
> >
> >- Justisaur
> *--
>
> Thanks J - I think I am not going to hurry back to DS3.
>
> In the latest PC Gamer in the column "Must Play" the gal is
> recommending Dark Souls 1 since she completed it although she never
> though she would. I just looked it up on Steam and saw there is a
> revised edition for $40 but I read the reviews and some people were
> disgusted with it because of how hard it is.

I personally wouldn't buy or play any of the Dark Souls games right now
because of the severs being shut down. I know you weren't interested
in the co-op/pvp, but really it's not the same without it, and much much
easier to fight bosses with others.

Elden Ring I'm not really seeing much point in co-op though as there's
the ash summons which seem better in general, and it opens you to
invasions. At least the ER severs are working.

> She also recommends "Powerwash Simulator". hehe.

Oooh Kaaaaay.

Overwhelmingly positive on steam... weird. I've seen some of the most
popular games on Roblox that my son likes. I do not get them. One of
them was "Cleaning Simulator."

> But also Disco Elysium (which I must get back into soon), Portal 2,
> Outer Wilds and Hitman 2

Well I did like Portal 2. DE just wasn't for me, I like my combat. OW &
HM2 (I think) I haven't tried.

PS - I found a 3060 TI on sale from Newegg, and bought it, hope it's
o.k. as their rep isn't that good anymore.

- Justisaur

On 12/03/2022 03:36, Justisaur wrote:
> On Friday, March 11, 2022 at 4:54:05 PM UTC-8, PW wrote:
>> On Fri, 11 Mar 2022 14:47:11 -0800 (PST), Justisaur
>> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Friday, March 11, 2022 at 10:31:41 AM UTC-8, PW wrote:
>>>> Here is another write up. I am interested in what Justisaur thinks
>>>> about this one.
>>>>
>>>> The title is "I love Elden Ring's Sorcery, but it might be too good"
>>>>
>>>> https://www.pcgamer.com/i-love-elden-rings-sorcery-but-it-might-be-too-good/?utm_campaign=XPG_NWL
>>>>
>>>> I keep thinking about buying this game but not at $60 right now.
>>>> Besides, I have Dark Souls 3.
>>>
>>> Well I just beat the first real boss that people complain about
>>> with a sorcerer - about level 40 I think. I don't have any really
>>> good spells, but the little starting spell works well, and that's
>>> mostly what I defeated him with, that and a summoned spirit
>>> and a summoned NPC to distract him, both do negligable
>>> damage, so it's just distraction.
>>>
>>> I wouldn't say the sorcerer is really any better than my str
>>> character so far, and as I mentioned before I found starting
>>> it to be considerably harder. I'm not dying as much with
>>> either as when I started, but still dying quite a bit. All it takes
>>> is getting cornered, or knocked off your horse (which stuns you.)
>>>
>>> The game is a lot easier in the one way described in that article,
>>> it's possible to clear a large area and level up a lot, such that
>>> things you found hard initially are easy later. There's also paths
>>> around almost all the bosses so far. That's somewhat possible
>>> to do in DS1 & 2 though it probably requires spoilers or prior
>>> knowledge.
>>>
>>> That's almost impossible in DS3 due to the first boss blocking
>>> your path before you can upgrade anything, it is possible after
>>> that to go some places and pick powerful stuff up early, but
>>> that in itself tends to be so hard that it's harder than following
>>> the standard path.
>>>
>>> On the other hand it's also possible to get into some really
>>> hairy situations which can be impossible to get out of if
>>> you find yourself in a higher level zone than your character,
>>> especially in DS1. I had a similar situation in ER a couple times
>>> but I managed to find a way out relatively quickly.
>>>
>>> - Justisaur
>> *--
>>
>> Thanks J - I think I am not going to hurry back to DS3.
>>
>> In the latest PC Gamer in the column "Must Play" the gal is
>> recommending Dark Souls 1 since she completed it although she never
>> though she would. I just looked it up on Steam and saw there is a
>> revised edition for $40 but I read the reviews and some people were
>> disgusted with it because of how hard it is.
>
> I personally wouldn't buy or play any of the Dark Souls games right now
> because of the severs being shut down. I know you weren't interested
> in the co-op/pvp, but really it's not the same without it, and much much
> easier to fight bosses with others.
>
> Elden Ring I'm not really seeing much point in co-op though as there's
> the ash summons which seem better in general, and it opens you to
> invasions. At least the ER severs are working.
>
>> She also recommends "Powerwash Simulator". hehe.
>
> Oooh Kaaaaay.
>
> Overwhelmingly positive on steam... weird. I've seen some of the most
> popular games on Roblox that my son likes. I do not get them. One of
> them was "Cleaning Simulator."
>

I understand simulators for activities you might not otherwise get to do
but one's that you can and are considered chores, nope don't really get
that.

>> But also Disco Elysium (which I must get back into soon), Portal 2,
>> Outer Wilds and Hitman 2
>
> Well I did like Portal 2. DE just wasn't for me, I like my combat. OW &
> HM2 (I think) I haven't tried.
>

DE is, as I've mentioned quite a few times, one of my favourite games of
all time but if you like your combat then it really isn't the game for
you. I've always thought it was very much a marmite game. It also seemed
to bring out the crowd of I don't like politics in my games which in my
experience means I don't like politics I disagree with in my games.

Outer Wilds (not to be confused with Outer Worlds) is a beautiful and
interesting game and although I very much liked it I'm not sure it's
quite deserves the acclaim it received. Worth a look but like DE it's
not a game for everyone*.

> PS - I found a 3060 TI on sale from Newegg, and bought it, hope it's
> o.k. as their rep isn't that good anymore.
>

Congrats, well unless they send you a broken one and then blame it on you!

* - I know that's a well used term but can't it really apply to any game?

>PS - I found a 3060 TI on sale from Newegg, and bought it, hope it's
>o.k. as their rep isn't that good anymore.

Wow! That'll be a *huge* improvement for you, let us know how it is!

rms

On Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 1:52:44 PM UTC-8, rms wrote:
> >PS - I found a 3060 TI on sale from Newegg, and bought it, hope it's
> >o.k. as their rep isn't that good anymore.
> Wow! That'll be a *huge* improvement for you, let us know how it is!

I paid $659, still quite a bit over the $399 MSRP, and more than I said
I would pay, but after looking at the 3dMark, it was a price/performance
better than anything I've seen in the last month looking almost every day.
It's the one with the LHR (limits performance for bitcoin mining), but that
*shouldn't* matter more than a % or two on games.

I should be getting it sometime Tuesday. I may have to wait until then
to keep playing. I was exploring Stormveil Castle the last couple days and
I'm getting bad slowdowns there, and the enemies are fading in and
out. At first I thought they were supposed to do that. I saw a video where
one teleported, but I haven't found anything else about them fading in and
out. I'm thinking maybe it's running out of video memory, after all minimum
specs call for 3GB and my card has 2. It's hard to fight them when you can't
see them and the FPS is hitting in the teens. :/

Still no crashes since the windows update at least.

- Justisaur

On Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 6:01:29 PM UTC-8, Justisaur wrote:
> On Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 1:52:44 PM UTC-8, rms wrote:
> > >PS - I found a 3060 TI on sale from Newegg, and bought it, hope it's
> > >o.k. as their rep isn't that good anymore.
> > Wow! That'll be a *huge* improvement for you, let us know how it is!

> I paid $659, still quite a bit over the $399 MSRP, and more than I said
> I would pay, but after looking at the 3dMark, it was a price/performance
> better than anything I've seen in the last month looking almost every day.
> It's the one with the LHR (limits performance for bitcoin mining), but that
> *shouldn't* matter more than a % or two on games.
>
> I should be getting it sometime Tuesday. I may have to wait until then
> to keep playing. I was exploring Stormveil Castle the last couple days and
> I'm getting bad slowdowns there, and the enemies are fading in and
> out. At first I thought they were supposed to do that. I saw a video where
> one teleported, but I haven't found anything else about them fading in and
> out. I'm thinking maybe it's running out of video memory, after all minimum
> specs call for 3GB and my card has 2. It's hard to fight them when you can't
> see them and the FPS is hitting in the teens. :/

Woo Hoo! I got it a day early! Only had about an hour and a half with it so
far, I can max the settings now at 1020p (my monitor's native resolution.)
running mostly 59-60fps (game capped.) but getting some dips into as
low as 45 in some areas. I did get about a 3 second freeze at one point
though, I thought for sure it was going to CTD, but it recovered.

It looks really beautiful now! I'm tempted to start over again so I can see
the first part of the game in all it's glory.

I did some testing before I got it, and was able to get the mobs to show if
I dropped the resolution to 800x600, so definitely the old card, and man is
it ugly and hard to tell what things and numbers are at 800x600!

- Justisaur

On Monday, March 14, 2022 at 7:12:54 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Mar 2022 18:59:28 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Start over? Aren't you a zillion hours into it already?

About 100, but over 3 characters, so around 33 each. I did decide to
start a new character a bandit dex/bleed character, spent a bunch of
time making the face. Then the game crashed during creation. That's
the first crash I've had. I assume it's something to do with one of
the settings, I also have the steam overlay running to see FPS and
have seen people reporting that having that running can cause issues.

> Maybe you should try God of War now? Is 1080p HD?

HD is 720p is 1280x720. 1080p is FHD (F is for Full) is 1920x1080.
Yeah, I looked that stuff up a bit ago when I was trying to get ER to
work with my 950 GTX.

I liked the original GoW on th PS2, Probably in the top 5 PS2 games I
played. It's tempting, but Elden Ring for the moment. I'm really
interested in the Guardians of the Galaxy game too. There's also
Death Stranding to go back to and see it in it's fully glory, and that
Jedi game.

The original GoW was just action, no builds or weapons or whatnot
to try, I like a bit more than just action. I haven't looked into the
new one though.

Oh! I might be able to run steam VR games on the Oculus now too.

> Guess what I am downloading right now?

God of War? :)

- Justisaur

On Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 9:53:25 AM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> >
> >> Guess what I am downloading right now?
> >
> >God of War? :)
> >
> >- Justisaur
> *--
>
> No silly! I already have 30 hours into GoW.
>
> I finally broke down and bought Elden Ring. I am going to suffer some
> wrath from my wife for spending $60 on another game. I did not tell
> her about JAB's awesome plan nor did I sign any agreements :-)

Congratulations :)

> No pyromancer in ER.

Sort of, pyromancies were rolled into incantations which are normally
faith spells. Though there's incantations that use both faith and int. In
any case you can't start with any, they have to be found. They mostly
don't seem anywhere near as good as they were in DS3 either so far.
There's a new one I like that does tons of damage in a big area,
Frenzied Fire or something, but it's slow and builds madness on yourself.

My Int caster is picking up a little, but I looked into it and to get really
powerful early you have to go into areas intended for level 60's or
beyond to get the good spells, staves, and weapons. I'm almost
exclusively using the two starting spells still at 40, I do have a better
staff at least for my level of int, and my rapier is crap so I have to use
spells on horseback instead, except I put a blood weapon art on it which
is really good, if you have the health and mana to power it, but anyone
can do that.

My Str character is still hands down the best, and I'd put the faith
character the worst, but is more versatile so doesn't run into the issue
my int one does where it can't do much against magic resistant enemies
(except with the blood weapon art.) My Str character is the only one
that's gotten past Godrick, and also one of the tree spirits in the castle
that seems even harder than the bosses.

My new bleed bandit feels exceptionally weak, far worse than any of
those at start, so much so I bought and switched to a club which
doesn't have bleed, and is still a bad weapon, but better than the
great knife I started with. :( They do have a bow which is decent,
but I'm having to spend most of my time killing animals and
birds for parts to make arrows. I could buy arrows, but they're a
bit expensive early, 20 runes each, so a stack of 100 would be
2000. I'd go through those pretty fast as it takes a lot of shots
to kill the dangerous stuff.

> I think I am playing it off-line but there are souls running around
> from the start. Is that supposed to be in the single-player mode?

No, it defaults to online just like all the other souls games. I think you
can turn off online mode in the settings again. I wouldn't bother
though, as there's no multiplayer until you use a finger. No invasions
without starting co-op with someone. You do get to see all bloodstains
and phantoms (they can't interact with you) and messages all of which
can be helpful (messages can be misleading,) but that's it.

> It is very Dark Souls 3 like, including having to use a controller to
> get the menu working (not getting stuck when I have to press a
> controller button to get out or finish a choice in the options after
> starting it with a keyboard and mouse).

There's an option to change menus to show keys instead of controller
prompts somewhere in the settings.

- Justisaur.

On Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 4:40:12 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Mar 2022 15:56:20 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >No, it defaults to online just like all the other souls games. I think you
> >can turn off online mode in the settings again. I wouldn't bother
> >though, as there's no multiplayer until you use a finger. No invasions
> >without starting co-op with someone. You do get to see all bloodstains
> >and phantoms (they can't interact with you) and messages all of which
> >can be helpful (messages can be misleading,) but that's it.
> *--
>
> I could not leave the initial room until I picked up a finger to open
> the door outside.

That's weird, well I went through all the tutorial so probably just
didn't notice you needed a finger to open the door.

> I did turn off multiplayer but there are still souls lurking around. I
> will try again.

Hidden online? I suppose it's possible, you can try starting Steam
in offline mode. Like I said, it's not something worth worrying about
though.

> Given the review where the person said it was easy for him/her because
> of using spells, do you recommend a starting class? Confessor?

Yeah... like I said, spells are easy if you follow a walkthrough on going to a
bunch of high level (and probably die a lot there) areas early to get good
spells, good staff, upgrade materials, etc. Otherwise I'd say meh so far
to me, as I'm not doing that. It's very different in that regard to all the
Dark Souls games.

Hero was good for me, but that's Strength based as I said. From what
I've read so far the hybrid classes are a lot more powerful in this game.

If you want to go sorceries I'd say go Prisoner, as I read they
get a better starting spell than Astrologer, one which my Astrologer
still doesn't have, whereas the starting spells Astrologer has are available
in the first area for sale once you find/rescue the sorcerer teacher.
Prisoner also starts with a better staff, melee weapon and shield than
Astrologer.

I haven't tried Confessor, but it's a hybrid as well, faith and quality it looks
like and starts with a stealth spell, quick heal, and 100% shield... weird.
But looks like decent start. I'd probably say my Prophet (faith) was
probably the worst start, so I'm not too sure on that.

I wouldn't go Bandit, that seems like a very bad start, probably only
Wretch is worse.

Looking over the Physical ones I'd say Vagabond looks best,
it's basically knight from the previous games, has high Vigor
(hit points are based off of) heaviest starting armor, best
starting shield, a halberd which looks like it's a very good
mounted weapon from when I've seen others using it, and
it has a good reach which feels like it's a bit more important
in PVE in ER than the previous games.

Samurai and Warrior are a bit more specialized it looks,
Samurai gets a long bow which is useful, warrior gets
two scimitars which allows some higher DPS, but would
make them die faster. Of course all of the starting weapons
armor and shields are available fairly early for purchase at
various vendors, having the right stats to use them is another
possible problem though.

TDLR;

#1 Vagabond (Melee/Str/Dex)
#2 Prisoner (Sorceries/Dex)
#3 Confessor (Incantations/Str/Dex)

Don't think you're locked into anything by starting with
any of these classes, it's good to have some str & dex
up to about 16-20 even if focused on only one thing, and
adding Int or Faith to either caster build for the hybrid
spells, or even the Vagabond for some low requirement
weapons looks to be very good. There's a respec
later in the game (I haven't got there yet) so if you find
you don't like something you can redo your allocations.
Or just get more levels and add more to what you do like.

Dex increases casting speed somewhat. Faith seems
to go well with Strength as there's some really good
weapons that require both.

Keepsake - I'd say Golden Seed, as once you find a grace you
can use it to get an extra flask. That's especially important
for casters, as I found it about necessary on my Astrologer.

> Any tips considering how much trouble I had initially with DS3?

If your map is brown on an area you can look for a little obelisk
thing and pin a marker there, that's where the map for an area is.

Jumping heavy attacks are great against many things, especially
flying things, though really a bow or crossbow is probably better
and sorceries best on those.

Mounted combat you want to hold heavy attack - it lets you drag
your weapon on the side and hit things as you ride by.
I just found the flail is amazing for mounted combat. It requires 18
dex though. Its weapon art is really good for swarms of rats and
dogs which otherwise are a major pain. There's a flail on one of the
big wagons in the starting area guarded by a soldier.

If something kills you a lot, try to collect your runes then explore
elsewhere to find new equipment and level until you want to try again.

Spend your runes on leveling when you enter a new underground area
or boss fog at the first grace, that way if you find you can't retrieve them
you don't lose much.

There's one area I'd say you absolutely don't want to go in the
starting area - there's some ruins in the SW of the swamp
that have a trap that will send you to a place I found difficult
to escape. I've read of people just quitting the game and
starting over because it was easier than getting out. I was
considering that too, but eventually found a way out.

After you get your 'horse', and again after hearing a weird
wolf you can't find return to the Santa Claus looking
merchant near the beginning.

- Justisaur

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 2:49:45 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Mar 2022 09:32:05 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 4:40:12 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> >> On Tue, 15 Mar 2022 15:56:20 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
> >> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> >No, it defaults to online just like all the other souls games. I think you
> >> >can turn off online mode in the settings again. I wouldn't bother
> >> >though, as there's no multiplayer until you use a finger. No invasions
> >> >without starting co-op with someone. You do get to see all bloodstains
> >> >and phantoms (they can't interact with you) and messages all of which
> >> >can be helpful (messages can be misleading,) but that's it.
> >> *--
> >>
> >> I could not leave the initial room until I picked up a finger to open
> >> the door outside.
> >
> >That's weird, well I went through all the tutorial so probably just
> >didn't notice you needed a finger to open the door.
> >
> >> I did turn off multiplayer but there are still souls lurking around. I
> >> will try again.
> >
> >Hidden online? I suppose it's possible, you can try starting Steam
> >in offline mode. Like I said, it's not something worth worrying about
> >though.
> >
> >> Given the review where the person said it was easy for him/her because
> >> of using spells, do you recommend a starting class? Confessor?
> >
> >Yeah... like I said, spells are easy if you follow a walkthrough on going to a
> >bunch of high level (and probably die a lot there) areas early to get good
> >spells, good staff, upgrade materials, etc. Otherwise I'd say meh so far
> >to me, as I'm not doing that. It's very different in that regard to all the
> >Dark Souls games.
> >
> >Hero was good for me, but that's Strength based as I said. From what
> >I've read so far the hybrid classes are a lot more powerful in this game.
> >
> >If you want to go sorceries I'd say go Prisoner, as I read they
> >get a better starting spell than Astrologer, one which my Astrologer
> >still doesn't have, whereas the starting spells Astrologer has are available
> >in the first area for sale once you find/rescue the sorcerer teacher.
> >Prisoner also starts with a better staff, melee weapon and shield than
> >Astrologer.
> >
> >I haven't tried Confessor, but it's a hybrid as well, faith and quality it looks
> >like and starts with a stealth spell, quick heal, and 100% shield... weird.
> >But looks like decent start. I'd probably say my Prophet (faith) was
> >probably the worst start, so I'm not too sure on that.
> >
> >I wouldn't go Bandit, that seems like a very bad start, probably only
> >Wretch is worse.
> >
> >Looking over the Physical ones I'd say Vagabond looks best,
> >it's basically knight from the previous games, has high Vigor
> >(hit points are based off of) heaviest starting armor, best
> >starting shield, a halberd which looks like it's a very good
> >mounted weapon from when I've seen others using it, and
> >it has a good reach which feels like it's a bit more important
> >in PVE in ER than the previous games.
> >
> >Samurai and Warrior are a bit more specialized it looks,
> >Samurai gets a long bow which is useful, warrior gets
> >two scimitars which allows some higher DPS, but would
> >make them die faster. Of course all of the starting weapons
> >armor and shields are available fairly early for purchase at
> >various vendors, having the right stats to use them is another
> >possible problem though.
> >
> >TDLR;
> >
> >#1 Vagabond (Melee/Str/Dex)
> >#2 Prisoner (Sorceries/Dex)
> >#3 Confessor (Incantations/Str/Dex)
> >
> >Don't think you're locked into anything by starting with
> >any of these classes, it's good to have some str & dex
> >up to about 16-20 even if focused on only one thing, and
> >adding Int or Faith to either caster build for the hybrid
> >spells, or even the Vagabond for some low requirement
> >weapons looks to be very good. There's a respec
> >later in the game (I haven't got there yet) so if you find
> >you don't like something you can redo your allocations.
> >Or just get more levels and add more to what you do like.
> >
> >Dex increases casting speed somewhat. Faith seems
> >to go well with Strength as there's some really good
> >weapons that require both.
> >
> >Keepsake - I'd say Golden Seed, as once you find a grace you
> >can use it to get an extra flask. That's especially important
> >for casters, as I found it about necessary on my Astrologer.
> >
> >> Any tips considering how much trouble I had initially with DS3?
> >
> >If your map is brown on an area you can look for a little obelisk
> >thing and pin a marker there, that's where the map for an area is.
> >
> >Jumping heavy attacks are great against many things, especially
> >flying things, though really a bow or crossbow is probably better
> >and sorceries best on those.
> >
> >Mounted combat you want to hold heavy attack - it lets you drag
> >your weapon on the side and hit things as you ride by.
> >I just found the flail is amazing for mounted combat. It requires 18
> >dex though. Its weapon art is really good for swarms of rats and
> >dogs which otherwise are a major pain. There's a flail on one of the
> >big wagons in the starting area guarded by a soldier.
> >
> >If something kills you a lot, try to collect your runes then explore
> >elsewhere to find new equipment and level until you want to try again.
> >
> >Spend your runes on leveling when you enter a new underground area
> >or boss fog at the first grace, that way if you find you can't retrieve them
> >you don't lose much.
> >
> >There's one area I'd say you absolutely don't want to go in the
> >starting area - there's some ruins in the SW of the swamp
> >that have a trap that will send you to a place I found difficult
> >to escape. I've read of people just quitting the game and
> >starting over because it was easier than getting out. I was
> >considering that too, but eventually found a way out.
> >
> >After you get your 'horse', and again after hearing a weird
> >wolf you can't find return to the Santa Claus looking
> >merchant near the beginning.
> >
> >- Justisaur
> *---
>
> Wow! Thanks!
>
> Tutorials? I don't remember any tutorials being offered. I only just
> started it yesterday, I think as an Astrologer. But I am going to
> restart I think as a Prisoner or Confesser in a little while.
>
> I am not far into the game. I got killed by some crab thing and some
> long video appeared with a horse and a woman saying stuff to me. I
> then finally appeared somewhere and messages were telling me to jump
> off a cliff and a bunch of other stuff. There are messages
> everywhere. I think I read that bloodstains are also just for MP.

Some of the messages are the help/tutuorial messages that will appear
even offline. There is an area you need to jump down in the cave next to
a spirit that's sitting there you can talk to, to do the tutorial area. It
looks a bit far to be safe, but it is safe.

Apparently you can use the rainbow stones to see if a jump is survivable, if
it doesn't break it is (except under elevators.) Those can be made easily
once you get the crafting kit. Apparently that's been in all the DS games
from the beginning under various names.

The bloodstains do only show up when online, you aren't actually in
multiplayer at that point though.

> I know I have Start In Muliplayer turned off in the setting. Start
> Offline I think.

> I will see if I can start Steam offlilne somehow. I will look for the
> setting. Or unplug my ethernet connection and then plug it in and
> reboot afterwards.

Click 'Steam' in the upper left corner of the Steam Client, then choose
Go Offline from the menu. It'll restart Steam in offline mode.

> Thanks!!!!!
>
> I haven't been this nervous picking a starting character since Skyrim.
> But I got into about 60-70 hours into it before ending up with a new
> computer so I must have done something right.

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 3:41:20 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> Confessor. Since I doubt I will play on-line and just single player.
>
> Almost picked a Prisoner but Vagabond looked good to. I really am
> intrugued by the Prisoner.
>
> I read that picking a starting class shouldn't keep a person up all
> night worrying as things will eventually work or even out.

Yeah, eventually. It's not as big a deal with the melee ones as
every starting weapon & armor can be bought, though if you want
to dual wield one, you need to start with one as you can only buy one.
Supposedly dual katanas are really good, so that might be a reason
to start Samurai. As I mentioned the Prisoner and Confessor start with
spells I haven't seen yet for faith and int by 40th level, while the
Astrologer and Prophet starting spells can both be bought/found
within the first map area after you get out of the tutorial (technically
the prophet ones can be bought at an area an NPC will take you from
the first area.)

I assume eventually those spells will be able to be bought.

- Justisaur

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 4:55:54 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> All right. I did something wrong already with my Confessor.
>
> Got slayed by the crab in two swipes. Never made it into the castle
> next to it.

> Died. Woman and horse revives me. I end up outside another castle. I
> exit and get slaid by the Tree Sentinal.
>
> I just looked it up. I should not be dealing with a boss so early in
> the game.

Just go around the Tree Sentinel. He's real tough, I'd leave him until right
before heading to Stormveil Castle - there's 3 map areas to explore before
that.

> I am going to look for some walkthroughs for beginners and the
> beginning!

Good luck with that, I saw a couple and looked over the areas I've
been through and it's mostly glossed over.

You should be able to go back to the underground where the
spirit is sitting on the edge of a hole, and there's a glowing tree.
jump down next to him and follow the area there that has all
the tutorial stuff about the moves. There's a very easy boss
down there too.

-Justisaur

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 7:20:14 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> >Some of the messages are the help/tutuorial messages that will appear
> >even offline. There is an area you need to jump down in the cave next to
> >a spirit that's sitting there you can talk to, to do the tutorial area. It
> >looks a bit far to be safe, but it is safe.
> I thought that was a taunt. I am going to restart. But I think I
> can't just start from the beginning but have to create a new character
> to start at the beginning in this game. I will see in a few minutes.
> >
> >Apparently you can use the rainbow stones to see if a jump is survivable, if
> >it doesn't break it is (except under elevators.) Those can be made easily
> >once you get the crafting kit. Apparently that's been in all the DS games
> >from the beginning under various names.
> >
> >The bloodstains do only show up when online, you aren't actually in
> >multiplayer at that point though.
> >
> >> I know I have Start In Muliplayer turned off in the setting. Start
> >> Offline I think.
> >
> >> I will see if I can start Steam offlilne somehow. I will look for the
> >> setting. Or unplug my ethernet connection and then plug it in and
> >> reboot afterwards.
> >
> >Click 'Steam' in the upper left corner of the Steam Client, then choose
> >Go Offline from the menu. It'll restart Steam in offline mode.
> >
> >> Thanks!!!!!
> >>
> >> I haven't been this nervous picking a starting character since Skyrim.
> >> But I got into about 60-70 hours into it before ending up with a new
> >> computer so I must have done something right.
> >
> >You're 60 hours into ER already? or is that Skyrim?
> Skyrim! I doubt I will even make it 20 hours in ER before I get
> frustrated and quit :-)
>
>
> I saved my old Skyrim save games from my old pc and I think I got them
> to work in Elder Scrolls Special Edition. If I remember correctly,
> things are kindof screwy with them and especially with the new
> textures.
> >
> >> But I didn't play a predecessor like DS3 and get my butt kicked
> >> beforehand :-)
> >
> >Yeah, I can see how DS3 could make you nervous. It's a very different
> >game though, it's mostly easy to recover runes if you die, or just nope out
> >and leave them.
> >
> >Just take it slow, try to pick on lone enemies as much as you can to begin
> >with, until you start feeling confident. Don't be afraid to run away, kite,
> >leave things for later, or use any dirty trick you can think of.
> >
> >The ahem "crab" boss you fight and die to before you get anywhere is a
> >I think a bit of a cruel joke. At least it takes you to the tutorial cave after
> >instead of having to defeat them. Apparently some people have managed
> >to defeat it with a new character. I'm lucky if I get a hit on it. There's a
> >way to go back and fight it later, but I haven't been brave enough yet.
> >
> >- Justisaur
> *--
>
> I thought the crab is just a joke or something and it was never meant
> to be defeated and the door was never meant to be entered as twice I
> have been there. So, this is the tutorial huh. I didn't see anything
> from the menu.
>

You are supposed to die to the 'crab' it's just some people take it as a
challenge, and he can be defeated (much) later, or apparently there
if you don't mind making characters over and over and spending hours
practicing against him.

> I ended up meeting the Tree Sentinal way too early from the research I
> just did so I need to figure out why this is happening so soon.

Tree Sentinel is another joke/challenge. It's the first enemy you meet
if you go straight out of the tutorial cave/castle. Go around him to the
church with the merchant dressed as Santa Claus, and explore the
area from there.

- Justisaur

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 8:47:36 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Mar 2022 15:44:02 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 2:49:45 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> >> On Wed, 16 Mar 2022 09:32:05 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
> >> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> >On Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 4:40:12 PM UTC-7, PW wrote:
> >> >> On Tue, 15 Mar 2022 15:56:20 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
> >> >> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >No, it defaults to online just like all the other souls games. I think you
> >> >> >can turn off online mode in the settings again. I wouldn't bother
> >> >> >though, as there's no multiplayer until you use a finger. No invasions
> >> >> >without starting co-op with someone. You do get to see all bloodstains
> >> >> >and phantoms (they can't interact with you) and messages all of which
> >> >> >can be helpful (messages can be misleading,) but that's it.
> >> >> *--
> >> >>
> >> >> I could not leave the initial room until I picked up a finger to open
> >> >> the door outside.
> >> >
> >> >That's weird, well I went through all the tutorial so probably just
> >> >didn't notice you needed a finger to open the door.
> >> >
> >> >> I did turn off multiplayer but there are still souls lurking around. I
> >> >> will try again.
> >> >
> >> >Hidden online? I suppose it's possible, you can try starting Steam
> >> >in offline mode. Like I said, it's not something worth worrying about
> >> >though.
> >> >
> >> >> Given the review where the person said it was easy for him/her because
> >> >> of using spells, do you recommend a starting class? Confessor?
> >> >
> >> >Yeah... like I said, spells are easy if you follow a walkthrough on going to a
> >> >bunch of high level (and probably die a lot there) areas early to get good
> >> >spells, good staff, upgrade materials, etc. Otherwise I'd say meh so far
> >> >to me, as I'm not doing that. It's very different in that regard to all the
> >> >Dark Souls games.
> >> >
> >> >Hero was good for me, but that's Strength based as I said. From what
> >> >I've read so far the hybrid classes are a lot more powerful in this game.
> >> >
> >> >If you want to go sorceries I'd say go Prisoner, as I read they
> >> >get a better starting spell than Astrologer, one which my Astrologer
> >> >still doesn't have, whereas the starting spells Astrologer has are available
> >> >in the first area for sale once you find/rescue the sorcerer teacher.
> >> >Prisoner also starts with a better staff, melee weapon and shield than
> >> >Astrologer.
> >> >
> >> >I haven't tried Confessor, but it's a hybrid as well, faith and quality it looks
> >> >like and starts with a stealth spell, quick heal, and 100% shield... weird.
> >> >But looks like decent start. I'd probably say my Prophet (faith) was
> >> >probably the worst start, so I'm not too sure on that.
> >> >
> >> >I wouldn't go Bandit, that seems like a very bad start, probably only
> >> >Wretch is worse.
> >> >
> >> >Looking over the Physical ones I'd say Vagabond looks best,
> >> >it's basically knight from the previous games, has high Vigor
> >> >(hit points are based off of) heaviest starting armor, best
> >> >starting shield, a halberd which looks like it's a very good
> >> >mounted weapon from when I've seen others using it, and
> >> >it has a good reach which feels like it's a bit more important
> >> >in PVE in ER than the previous games.
> >> >
> >> >Samurai and Warrior are a bit more specialized it looks,
> >> >Samurai gets a long bow which is useful, warrior gets
> >> >two scimitars which allows some higher DPS, but would
> >> >make them die faster. Of course all of the starting weapons
> >> >armor and shields are available fairly early for purchase at
> >> >various vendors, having the right stats to use them is another
> >> >possible problem though.
> >> >
> >> >TDLR;
> >> >
> >> >#1 Vagabond (Melee/Str/Dex)
> >> >#2 Prisoner (Sorceries/Dex)
> >> >#3 Confessor (Incantations/Str/Dex)
> >> >
> >> >Don't think you're locked into anything by starting with
> >> >any of these classes, it's good to have some str & dex
> >> >up to about 16-20 even if focused on only one thing, and
> >> >adding Int or Faith to either caster build for the hybrid
> >> >spells, or even the Vagabond for some low requirement
> >> >weapons looks to be very good. There's a respec
> >> >later in the game (I haven't got there yet) so if you find
> >> >you don't like something you can redo your allocations.
> >> >Or just get more levels and add more to what you do like.
> >> >
> >> >Dex increases casting speed somewhat. Faith seems
> >> >to go well with Strength as there's some really good
> >> >weapons that require both.
> >> >
> >> >Keepsake - I'd say Golden Seed, as once you find a grace you
> >> >can use it to get an extra flask. That's especially important
> >> >for casters, as I found it about necessary on my Astrologer.
> >> >
> >> >> Any tips considering how much trouble I had initially with DS3?
> >> >
> >> >If your map is brown on an area you can look for a little obelisk
> >> >thing and pin a marker there, that's where the map for an area is.
> >> >
> >> >Jumping heavy attacks are great against many things, especially
> >> >flying things, though really a bow or crossbow is probably better
> >> >and sorceries best on those.
> >> >
> >> >Mounted combat you want to hold heavy attack - it lets you drag
> >> >your weapon on the side and hit things as you ride by.
> >> >I just found the flail is amazing for mounted combat. It requires 18
> >> >dex though. Its weapon art is really good for swarms of rats and
> >> >dogs which otherwise are a major pain. There's a flail on one of the
> >> >big wagons in the starting area guarded by a soldier.
> >> >
> >> >If something kills you a lot, try to collect your runes then explore
> >> >elsewhere to find new equipment and level until you want to try again.
> >> >
> >> >Spend your runes on leveling when you enter a new underground area
> >> >or boss fog at the first grace, that way if you find you can't retrieve them
> >> >you don't lose much.
> >> >
> >> >There's one area I'd say you absolutely don't want to go in the
> >> >starting area - there's some ruins in the SW of the swamp
> >> >that have a trap that will send you to a place I found difficult
> >> >to escape. I've read of people just quitting the game and
> >> >starting over because it was easier than getting out. I was
> >> >considering that too, but eventually found a way out.
> >> >
> >> >After you get your 'horse', and again after hearing a weird
> >> >wolf you can't find return to the Santa Claus looking
> >> >merchant near the beginning.
> >> >
> >> >- Justisaur
> >> *---
> >>
> >> Wow! Thanks!
> >>
> >> Tutorials? I don't remember any tutorials being offered. I only just
> >> started it yesterday, I think as an Astrologer. But I am going to
> >> restart I think as a Prisoner or Confesser in a little while.
> >>
> >> I am not far into the game. I got killed by some crab thing and some
> >> long video appeared with a horse and a woman saying stuff to me. I
> >> then finally appeared somewhere and messages were telling me to jump
> >> off a cliff and a bunch of other stuff. There are messages
> >> everywhere. I think I read that bloodstains are also just for MP.
> >
> >Some of the messages are the help/tutuorial messages that will appear
> >even offline. There is an area you need to jump down in the cave next to
> >a spirit that's sitting there you can talk to, to do the tutorial area. It
> >looks a bit far to be safe, but it is safe.
> >
> >Apparently you can use the rainbow stones to see if a jump is survivable, if
> >it doesn't break it is (except under elevators.) Those can be made easily
> >once you get the crafting kit. Apparently that's been in all the DS games
> >from the beginning under various names.
> >
> >The bloodstains do only show up when online, you aren't actually in
> >multiplayer at that point though.
> >
> >> I know I have Start In Muliplayer turned off in the setting. Start
> >> Offline I think.
> >
> >> I will see if I can start Steam offlilne somehow. I will look for the
> >> setting. Or unplug my ethernet connection and then plug it in and
> >> reboot afterwards.
> >
> >Click 'Steam' in the upper left corner of the Steam Client, then choose
> >Go Offline from the menu. It'll restart Steam in offline mode.
> >
> >> Thanks!!!!!
> >>
> >> I haven't been this nervous picking a starting character since Skyrim.
> >> But I got into about 60-70 hours into it before ending up with a new
> >> computer so I must have done something right.
> >
> >You're 60 hours into ER already? or is that Skyrim?
> >
> >> But I didn't play a predecessor like DS3 and get my butt kicked
> >> beforehand :-)
> >
> >Yeah, I can see how DS3 could make you nervous. It's a very different
> >game though, it's mostly easy to recover runes if you die, or just nope out
> >and leave them.
> >
> >Just take it slow, try to pick on lone enemies as much as you can to begin
> >with, until you start feeling confident. Don't be afraid to run away, kite,
> >leave things for later, or use any dirty trick you can think of.
> >
> >The ahem "crab" boss you fight and die to before you get anywhere is a
> >I think a bit of a cruel joke. At least it takes you to the tutorial cave after
> >instead of having to defeat them. Apparently some people have managed
> >to defeat it with a new character. I'm lucky if I get a hit on it. There's a
> >way to go back and fight it later, but I haven't been brave enough yet.
> >
> >- Justisaur
> *---
>
> Found this:
> https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/elden-ring-what-to-do-first-beginners-guide-8042