Taking it slow in Elden Ring today. I started by actually doing Fringefolk Hero's Grave (the place accessed with two stonesword keys right after the training cave at the start of the game.) Easy to forget that one. It sucks, too. That chariot is a pain in the ass... though you can kill it if you drop to the left gap when the path becomes a narrower bridge, and take the path back up to where you can eventually shoot some exploding pots that fall on top of it.) It's just that along that same route, is a double-ambush of grafted scions. One can actually be spotted on the ceiling though. I just figured that out. It was handy to get a few arrows in and agro just one at a time. They're not bad on their own. They're bad when there's two, you can't summon, and there are a ton of edges to fall off of. Hurry across the bridge after dropping the fits so you don't have to fight the next one there. The pew/altar area gives you some room to dodge. He jumps through the hole in the ceiling as you approach the loot in the center.
Going all the way down the big slopes and dodging the chariot/fighting the hero ghosties instead of taking the secret drop-down route, takes you to an Ulcerated Tree Spirit. I was silly and called my Jellyfish (upgraded a few times, it becomes really tanky and draws slow, but steady agro with its poison shots, while also being immune to attacks spreading on the ground - incredibly useful.) The problem is, the thing just moves like crazy bouncing between targeting. I kept getting smacked, not reading the timings right. The tree spirits look and move a bit like Wraiths, but there's actually only a few little moments when they can actually nail you. I had a very easy time going without the summon. You can speed it up by jump-dodging into heavy jump-attacks, set up crits. It's tanky and moves a lot. That's about it.
It's all worth doing. The Tree Spirit drops a GOLDEN SEED and 15K RUNES. The alternate route with Scions nets you and Erdtree's Favor talisman (which I'm actually using for my build.) Finishing the Scion route and killing the chariot nets you a good chunk more runes, and an Erdtree Greatbow, which I believe is a holy giant bow. That thing, I doubt is great but the other rewards are killer.
After that, I went and joined with Ranni. Gonna talk to Selvius and get the potion. I'm going to just give it to the Dung Eater later. Finish the quests with the other related characters in that little quest cloud. I forgot that Ranni's questline takes you to Soifra, which is actually perfect.
Now, at level 76, I've respecced to carry a staff on the left and the Moonveil on the right. Things are starting to come together.
- DEX was taken to 18, the minimum to equip the MoonveiI. I've decided that I want to get INT to a good level for better sorceries and good base damage to scale the katana, and the I can add some DEX to speed things up.
- I also dropped my END from like 24 to 18, to keep some good armor and carry some range of gear/tools. I might've been able to do with a point or two less, but I do need stamina, too.
- I want to have 40 Vigor by level 81, 35 is good - it's already more HP than I can heal and I will have enough tears to add more capacity by level 81.
- After that, I'll focus on getting my INT up to a virtual 52 so I can utilize Azur's Glintstone Staff and its fast casting speed. Right now it's actually at 36, getting a +6 INT boost from the Double Burger Wizard King Crown in exchange for a little slice of HP and stamina. With that, I can equip the Azur Staff by level 91.
- Obviously I keep mind at the 20 it was at before, because I'm now using Moonveil a bit more for its sick AoW and also casting on top. I'll need more FP.
I'm basically focusing on getting a little more in HP, and then hitting magic power hard before gathering more FP and sliding up a little DEX for bigger, slower spells.
Here's the gear setup:
I figure the Carian Knight's Set is most suitable. I also just think it looks cool with the ornate leather embroidery and chains with that regal blue coat and fine steel armor. The Twinsage Crown is hideous, but extremely practical for the big INT boost. The Carian Glintblade Staff is the best I have right now, and has the bonus of boosting my Glintblade sorceries. Unfortunately I am snagged on upgrading it. I need 12 Smithing Stone [3]'s to help the scaling. But I'll have those soon enough. For now, it's doing great damage.
As far as talismans go, I use the Erdtree's Favor and Cerulean Medallion for the FP boosts, and then the Carian Filigreed Crest to reduce FP cost for everything.
All in all, a decent melee/caster hybrid thus far. We'll see how I come out of Soifra's underground areas.
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I'd say 80% Pixar Movie, 20% Souls-ish
