7 Elden Ring Moments We Really Need to Talk About (SPOILERS)

Join us for Andy and Luke's takes on the most awesome, difficult, triumphant and weird moments in Elden Ring, with Elden Ring gameplay, build explanations, and our finest Godrick the Grafted impressions.
We want to hear what you thought of Elden Ring, so tell us what you liked, what you didn't like and share your lore theories in the comments!
Elden Ring is out now.
---
Official Merch Store! store.outsidexbox.com/
If you like what we do, you can support us by joining the OX Supporters Club. It's totally optional but it helps us make more of the stuff you love: / oxclub
Outside Xbox brings you daily videos about videogames, especially Xbox games. Join us for new gameplay, original list videos, previews and other things (ask us about the other things).
Thanks for watching and be excellent to each other in the comments.
Find us at www.outsidexbox.com
Follow us on Twitter: / outsidexbox
Follow us on Instagram: / outsidexboxofficial
#eldenring #spoilers #outsidexbox

[@Jambobist]

In Luke's defence he did spend 20 of those hours dancing with the creepy long armed ladies of the windmill village.

[@KaladinVegapunk]

I just think they should touch on the hilarious meta game, how within the first few days using Mimic Tear and hoarfrost stomp became like THE go-to build hahaha, and then instantly got nerfed I save the cheese for NG+ runs, and always try to beat bosses the legit way the first time through haha But messing around with those on mobs is still hilariously OP

[@Niall001]

Better than how I spent the first 50 hours - I didn't know/forgot there was a run button so I accidentally set myself the challenge of beating the first four story bosses without running.

[@fragarar1595]

They literally took the lemons life gave them and made lemonade

[@Rik3n]

I don't remember their arms being all that long...

[@madisonmcclure8243]

There have been times where I see the clone hammering on a boss and I wonder “Am I the real Mimic?”

[@HobiWan01]

Twice vibes (My Hero Academia)

[@TrashPanda90914]

@@HobiWan01 RIP Twice 😢

[@anasshahid224]

Facts

[@rheykynen]

What I loved most in the Radahn fight was summoning Patches, he'd arrive, take a few stops and noped out again. Can't blame the man, sometimes he'd die as soon as he arrived.

[@andymcp4752]

The Sellia Crystal Tunnels teleport was literally one of the first things that happened to me! All I had seen so far in the game was lovely green Limgrave and suddenly I had to make a panicked escape past a bunch of horrible bug men and then reaching the mine entrance and walking out into Caelid and the sky is bright red and the world is horrible and I’m clearly in hell. Literally some of the best most unexpected horror I’ve ever experienced in a game

[@quelanathecrow]

Same!! What an amazing moment. And then I found the tower of return and got teleported to heaven! This game sure loves its teleports

[@MsKornkitty]

This was the only part of the game that made me truly panic because even though you're actually only about a thirty second run from the exit I couldn't figure out where it was. I thought I was trapped with those overpowered bug sorcerers and their many many many horrible little arms. 😂

[@le-grey-far-away]

I saw a guide say "use the Sellia Crystal Tunnels teleport as a shortcut to get somewhere" and I'm like You aren't sending me back.....

[@zatton17x81]

@@le-grey-far-away I had the exact same reaction to that suggestion online!

[@TheRedAzuki]

I never thought hell but like ,oh the swamp part of every souls game, neat!

[@adamallen661]

Saddest thing is Solaire couldn't join the jolly cooperation that was Radan.

[@TheWindwall]

Mental image of Radahn launching into the sky and becoming flaming meteor, Solaire going into "Praise the Sun" emote thinking its The Sun, and then Radahn just plows straight into him. Hilarity re-ensues.

[@viviennestone8851]

@@TheWindwall solaire's beaten gwyn he can beat radahn

[@druinofodd1762]

When i found Siofra river, I did wonder if the lift had gone down so far that i'd gone down past Skyrim and found ruddy Blackreach again

[@marhawkman303]

I mean... kinda.... yeah....

[@firstlast822]

The fact that the Living Jars are filled with people. And their strength stems directly from how much warriors they have inside them, and how strong those warriors were. Also the ashen summon of that one guy that really wanted a jar to put him inside of him. But he was too weak so the jar told him to become stronger, and the jar would come back for him one day.

[@Dadan-dan]

And then you notice how the seal on their top shows an Erdtree, and how there is a bunch of broken jars around the Minor Erdtrees, and that their roots have giant meatballs made out of corpses in between them, so the jar people are probably being "feed" to the Erdtrees and therefore "strong people" are being feed to them.

[@stevesmith5883]

So that gargantuan living jar that you can't fight (where you can fight the 3 npc summons) must be crazy strong then!

[@lolmanyeah1]

@@stevesmith5883 thing could have literal demi gods in it

[@butter_scotch]

Encountered some singing in the weeping peninsula (I think). Followed it to a strange figure, surrounded by some bats. Killed the bats from a distance and approached the figure, thinking it was an NPC. Bastard man-bat, got up and killed me before I could react properly. My reaction? "Who was going to tell me that there were actual functioning sirens in this game?!"

[@DFOS1001]

You're not alone, bud. That same thing happened to me too.

[@Illvana]

Well, the game taught you that lesson, in the end xD

[@marhawkman303]

@@Illvana this be true. This is a game where you can die because a pile of rocks near you exploded. You should not expect anything in the game to treat you with kindness.

[@willieoelkers5568]

One of the first things I learned in the game; if you can lock on to it, it’s probably gonna try to kill you

[@MinniMaster]

I actually missed it myself, but you can find corpses of Black Knife assassins all around Ranni’s Rise, and the implication is that they’re the ones who killed Iji and Seluvis. Blaidd managed to fight them off, since there are multiple corpses around him and he’s still alive.

[@cantthinkofaname4555]

Also, Blaidd is mostly immortal so that might be part of it

[@TrashPanda90914]

Iji kills himself if you follow the questline fully

[@MinniMaster]

@@TrashPanda90914 There’s a Black Knife assassin’s corpse next to him, implying he was attacked

[@TrashPanda90914]

Ah no that's my mistake. He implies he will take his own life to make up for his mistakes so when I found him dead I just assumed he killed himself and didn't really pay attention to the black knife lol. I wonder why they killed him though since they work for/are allied with Ranni.

[@willieoelkers5568]

Eh, I suspect Ranni offed Seluvius herself, given what he tried to pull

[@suikofan]

I love when you guys do this. I’ve never played Life is Strange but I’ve watched the videos Jane & Luke did several times. Just watching a few of you sit down and talk seriously about something you love is my favorite format you’ve done.

[@SixShooter14]

agreed. The game looks interesting but I don't have any plans to play it. I still enjoy listening/watching them explain their opinions and viewpoints of the game.

[@evaprince5463]

beat it three times its story is so good

[@broccoli896]

Watching them do one of these for Life Is Strange is what got me into the channel(s) so I'm always down for these, even for games I haven't played haha

[@fairelymaid7145]

I may be a bit of a weirdo, but I'm kind of loving the mounted combat. I'm a keen perpetrator of drive by bonking. I adore Torrent and I contantly have raisins readily avalible if he gets any boo-boos.

[@jonbrookes9434]

Trying not to laugh at the phrase "drive by bonking"

[@k9_coyote360]

Am absolutely loving the phrase "drive by bonking" 🤣🤣

[@marhawkman303]

@@jonbrookes9434 Ever watch Akira? that movie had a lot of it... albeit on electric motorbikes and not horses.

[@TimdeVisser86]

I wasn't a fan until I found Adula's Moonblade. Its ridiculous reach allows for relatively safe 'driveby's'

[@joshrosario1269]

I'm still astounded that Andy, who's never talked about souls games before is now the top oxbox/oxtra elden ring player

[@shoezomaku]

As a souls vet (DS1) I'll die on the hill of not adding a difficulty mode, but people getting upset for you using in game items the way they were intended is ridiculous. If you don't want to summon people (which has been a staple for basically the whole series) or using mimic tear, fine, but don't get mad at others.

[@leecoffill8425]

Yeah, this exactly. Play however you want, and fuck anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.

[@whocares9033]

Right?? I agree with the difficulty levels, but it's your game that you spent your money on You can play it however you want

[@drewcipher896]

I don't understand how adding a lower difficulty mode could hurt anyone. You're not being forced to use it. There are plenty of people with injuries or disabilities that could have a much better experience with some handicap options. Maybe letting them summon ashes at anytime or starting with higher vigor and poise. Better subtitles and an npc dialog log, if not a full quest log.

[@shoezomaku]

@@drewcipher896 I'll defend from software not adding difficulty modes for a few reasons. Mainly, I defend from software's stance of wanting to deliver a specific experience. If you don't want that experience, don't buy the game, make your own, etc. It also creates a shared experience for everyone that completed it. Like we all went through the exact same thing. As far as accessibility goes, I understand that argument, but I don't necessarily agree with it. I would think of it like a sporting event. They don't change the rules for the individual players and their circumstances. If you can't cut it for any reason, then you do something else. I would says it's the same here. If you are unable to play for any number of reasons, there's always a different game. There's also the logistical nightmare of how to control all those different aspects in an expansive, open world, and (theoretically) always online game. I could go on, but I understand this is very personal for people and I don't want to be offensive or anything, especially if it's something I know we won't agree on.

[@BobaVett]

Imagine being a human being that gets mad at the way someone ELSE plays a game, that literally does not affect them in any way. What a shitty life they must have.

[@camerondeacon4450]

Siofra is giving me some strong Blackreach vibes from Skyrim, at least the part where you just stumble upon it and it being far larger with far more to do than you anticipated when you walked into what was seemingly any other cave…

[@femthingevelyn]

that's not fair, siofra actually has stuff to do down there, and twice as many bosses

[@alexblades5218]

Summoning Patches to 'fight' Radahn was hillarious- he boots it so hard and runs away

[@marybdrake1472]

The Night and Flame sword is still pretty beastly. I got it after the patch, and it has still been super useful.

[@marhawkman303]

yeah, this is what I heard, it's no longer OP, merely... "good".

[@marybdrake1472]

@@marhawkman303 If I could upgrade it more it would be an excellent weapon. I'm glad I have it. The flame sweep still devastates most targets, even when it's raining no less, one shoting many enemies, and still guts the more durable targets like the Banished Knights near the Cathedral of Dragon Communion. My only gripe is that the death ray often misses when it shouldn't.

[@Level_1_Frog]

The real moment I knew this was one of my favourite games of all time was the Starscourge Radahn boss fight and the immense build up to it. He's built up as such a massive figure, metaphorically and physically, in the lore and as a tragically fallen hero, and the lack of enemies in the castle beforehand and the camaraderie shared between all warriors there, new faces and old friends, really draws you into the epic scale of the fight ahead. And when you finally do start the fight, hoo boy, 'epic' doesnt do the fight justice. The shift into phase two literally made my jaw drop- it also killed me but I wasnt even mad, i was just blown away by the sheer spectacle. What an insanely awesome boss.

[@guillermocalle2184]

that boss fight is whydoing a no-summon run feels hard for me. The fight doesn't seem right without sending in scores of warriors to get absolutely chunked apart by this juggernaut, and then rallying them again for another charge. It's not right while dodging, I'm not seeing another person being sent through the air.

[@ZoeBateman]

Sure, the sword of night and flame is cool, and it sucks that it got nerfed hard, but the nerf brought me to my current build. I'm now a full faith build using dragon spells (I respec'd the points of intelligence into arcane) and am still melting through enemies. Cipher Pata (holy damage fist weapon) in one hand and dragon communion seal in the other. Never done a faith build in a soulsborne before but damn do I wanna go back and try now, even though i know there won't be as wide a range of cool faith spells. Wait, oh my god, I just realised that my character is Egbert, I have made a dragon-spell-using paladin without realising. The dragon spells even (although temporarily) give me a dragon head so I even look the part

[@iainkilcar7463]

You'll probably want a faith and either strength or dex hybrid class for ds3, ds1 and 2 faith is a lot more fun than 3.

[@jellyfishjig]

How many explosive pots did you end up making?

[@ZoeBateman]

@@jellyfishjig I actually made a few, but just forgot to ever use them. So I’d say even more accidentally accurate lol

[@r0be077]

Spoilers for the game but here’s what happened with Blaidd (because I was also confused): Turns out he was granted to Ranni by the two fingers as a sort of protector. However he was also - unbeknownst to them - serving as a watch dog for the two fingers. So if Ranni did anything against them he’d turn on her. Because Ranni is, at this point, actively working against the fingers to bring in her own age, Blaidd was on the verge of snapping. Iji knew about his condition and confined him but he either breaks out or you free him, causing him to turn. That’s why he sounds so miserable before he goes feral. He is actively trying to work against his “programming” but fails. It’s a very sad end to a very good character.

[@jakemartinelli5049]

I tried to see if there was a way to get Blaidd to stay sane e.g. having Iji watch over him and take care of him, telling Ranni about his "curse", and so on...but to no avail

[@MinniMaster]

It’s super tragic. Blaidd at this point has devoted his entire life to Ranni and would follow her to hell and back, but as you said, he’s going against his programming. It’s his own free will vs the reason he was created, and there’s nothing else to do but to put him out of his misery.

[@mduckernz]

@@MinniMaster Exactly. Ranni knew she would be similarly controlled by the Two Fingers if she openly moved against them - but she was an Empyrean, so she had an option available to her that Blaidd didn't: She could die, but only in body and not spirit. This did she organise a circumstance where that was possible - she needed to be ABLE to die, thus stealing the Death rune, and killing herself with it, breaking free of the control mechanism of the Fingers in the process. Then, much later she sends you to go get the Fingerslayer Blade so she can complete phase two, the killing of the Fingers that controlled her.

[@nick02417]

And if I understood this correctly, even after losing his mind, he's still trying to protect Ranni. Just look at the corpses of black knife assassins, around her tower when you fight him for the last time.

[@MinniMaster]

@@nick02417 I’m still not 100% clear on this though. Ranni forged the black knives, so that means she was working with the assassins, right? Why were they sent after her?

[@quelanathecrow]

I loved this so much!! This is my first fromsoft game I've played as it came out, and it's so great to hear oxboxtra's reactions! I wanted to share some of my fave moments, spoilers obviously: - Every encounter with Margit/Morgott, but especially the surprise one on the battlefield!! I was totally surprised by the Morgott reveal too, even though their names are, like, similar. I guess he was saying Margit before cuz he was trying to keep it secret? I think he ended up being my favorite demigod anyway, he just felt like an old friend. Oh, and getting to summon Melina for that fight was rad too! - Going back to Limgrave to find the giant crater entrance to Nokron! All the underground stuff is nuts, but coming back to see the first area transformed so dramatically was jaw-dropping. - Sneaking around Leyndell! This is a weird one, but Leyndell was the bit in the game where the stealth clicked for me, popping out onto the terrifying, heavily patrolled golden streets just to nab some loot and then slipping away into the sewers. It felt awesome, and Leyndell is spectacular. - Getting taken to Volcano Manor by Rya! Rya's questline is one of my favorites in the game (and you can get a happy ending for it, PSA!), but the best moment was meeting Rya at the top of the lift and teleporting into this incredible goth manor, only to find out that the game is now the dark brotherhood questline! Going off on assassination missions to get to the boss was such a twist, and going through those hidden tunnels to get to the actual area was also such a twist! I've gone on long enough, but thanks for giving me a spot to ramble on, and thanks as ever for convincing me to try these games!

[@quelanathecrow]

Omg thanks for the like oxbox!!! Gonna be smiling about that all week 😊

[@Gensolink]

he's an Omen so he had to hide his identity and go by Margit the fell omen otherwise his rule would be contested and create more strife with the army and people.

[@shinotoruxinhai4712]

Margit is Morgott’s pseudoname for when he travels around, they wre the same guy, hence why Margit’s Shackle still works on Morgott :)

[@gregoryolenovich6440]

About the dialogue thing. I also had that same problem when I started. I only spoke to people once. The best way to fix it I think would be in the starter zone just force you to speak to a person 2-3 times before they let you out

[@weneedaladder8384]

I think the best solution is the one Pathologic 2 has, where people only say things once, and don't repeat it, rather than having to cycle through their dialogue until they start saying the same thing again.

[@danfinch5692]

Played trough in about 100 hours, was confident I did most things. Started a new playtrough, after about an hour I met Boc, who I definitely met the first time and then later Hyetta, who has a whole quest-line of wanting "grapes". I am amazed about how much stuff I find the second time, that I missed. Also how much story I missed by not talking to the various NPCs the first time around whenever possible.

[@kitsuneking4573]

That teleporting chest WAS the first thing I found when I got the game. I am now scarred and am very hesitant to open chests.

[@whocares9033]

For what it's worth, I haven't found a single one of those chests and I'm closing in on the end of the game That said, my friend found 2 before level 30 🤣🤣🤣

[@TheWindwall]

Level 125, 108 hours in, Dex/Int build. Red-haired female rocking Blaidd's (wolf man's) armor with a blood red hood. Moonveil+10 right hand, Uchigatana+22 in left. Going for a Gothic Red Riding Hood, worshiping the moon, gappaling through a dark fairy tale world. Starting to deal with endgame decisions and quest lines. Loving this game.

[@aBardThatRolls1s]

Was originally using a basic long sword and shield, then the sword of night and flame, switched to dual wielding malenia's weapon and rivers of blood. Been fun swapping builds, ngl

[@zatton17x81]

@@aBardThatRolls1s I've been doing a similar bleed build, I'm loving Eleonora's poleblades. It's a bloodflame weapon like rivers of blood that's worth a try. I still use the rivers weapon skill for bosses that bleed tho

[@CrazeeAdam]

I'm doing something I've never done in these games. And just doing starting gear run basically. Obviously upgrading them. But yeah. Samurai warrior named Algren (from The Last Samurai), dealing out the Justice stick

[@AlejandroArch22]

hey guys this guy uses the moonveil! *Angry mob starts to appear*

[@nintendork07]

i have no idea what any of these words mean, but i'm glad you're enjoying the game 😀

[@holyrod2001]

I genuinely wouldn't mind a sequel to this video. This was great!

[@MSte21]

Not gonna watch this on the off chance I actually do play Elden Ring, but whoa, does this mean Andy finally played, finished and LIKED a FromSoft game?!

[@MikeP828]

He hasn’t finished it

[@outsidexbox]

i have now!

[@butter_scotch]

@@outsidexbox Congratulations

[@darXhes]

@@outsidexbox first FromSoft game for me as well, so glad I took that chance and started it. Level 190, 80+ hours in, and it's my GOTY.

[@PrincessWhoosh]

This was great chat. I find it interesting how you both perceived the Ranni questline, and how Andy missed snippets of the story but the game just persisted anyway. I've been pretty doggedly doing all the NPC stuff so I've mostly been using guides, and it's interesting to see how it works for others.

[@quelanathecrow]

For sure, it's fascinating to see how from has tried to adapt their usual way of doing npcs to open world! It's... kinda worked? There seem to be a lot of encounters that are missable but the quests carry on anyway, but it's still easier than ever to miss quests entirely, though having npcs on the map should help. Still, add to exhausting all the dialogue this new rule: rest at every site of grace and check if there's an option to talk to the tiny doll of Ranni you picked up!

[@drewdeze]

When I got teleported in the lake man I thought I was about done with that game, when I got out the cave I went right instead of left and ran into that boss I was like yup I’m done lol

[@CherryDad]

the grand lift bypass was something that was really impactful to me because i had gotten both halves of the medallion --- but i couldn't find the way to the lift!!!! the highway towards it was sorta confusing to get to. and instead of finding the way to the lift, i accidentally stumbled onto the bypass. and it was a really stunning journey.

[@londonsheraton1]

This game is so much out of my comfort zone, but I love the atmosphere and the whole design of the world so I can’t stop playing! I’ve learnt a lot of the standard enemies attack patterns and how to master them, as well as killed some of the larger enemies (crabs, bears and giants etc 😆). I still have a very hard time with bosses, only killed one mini boss yet (the beast man in the cave 🙈). But I try to hang in there! I wish I was as great as you guys on hard games like this, makes me feel sucky, but I will continue to try (and die!😂)!❤️

[@briar1395]

Good on you for keeping at it. From Soft games are difficult the first time but you start getting the hang of them and understanding how you need to play them the longer you keep trying, which it sounds like you are doing. Good luck on your endeavors!

[@londonsheraton1]

@@briar1395 Thanx for the encouragement! 😅🥰

[@OcelotSoul]

I just kinda love the fact fromsoft named a place called altus and everyone just immediately whent "Oh yeah, the atlus plateau". It took me so long to realise I was reading it wrong

[@deadcard13]

My favorite moment is still getting my hands on the whip and just interrupting boss attacks.

[@akaErma]

When I first died to an Abductor, I thought I knew what to expect. Instead, it crashed my game so hard it corrupted my files and I had to redownload 18gb to patch it.

[@Minilena]

11:40 it's for things like this I will forever love you folks. Somehow reminded me of the Morgan Monday "sorry I killed you, horse"-card? You folks are the best

[@kyleslinkard9715]

Seeing Andy finally get the Souls bug us one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

[@TySama0]

I'm at about 63 hours and I just beat the gargoyles... I definitely wouldn't have beaten them without my mimic tear, I hate those damn poison attacks. I usually make a balanced character, so I can use everything for the most part but, I've been sticking to my Butcher Knife. I absolutely agree that you should use everything the game gives you, including the ashes to summon a distraction. I'm at about level 85 and I just beat Radahn like 5 levels before.

[@isabelt5358]

I finally got the platinum for Elden Ring yesterday, my first plat trophy ever

[@tmmw1975]

I found that Dectus lift bypass because I was just seeking out mines on the map (they kind of look like orange/black circles before you find them), and it kept going up. And up. And up. I ended up going back and getting the medallion pieces as well, but that was still a wild thing to stumble across.

[@kstebor]

The point about the Grand Lift of Dectus was really interesting to me because I was actually much more aware of the secret path than the medallions.

[@Zoso14892]

I went the secret path, decided I shouldn't be there and came back later with the medallions. A friend of mine got up a third way... He decided that Torrent was a goat (fair I guess) and climbed the mountain. He had barely scratched the surface of the lake, he hadn't been to any of a number of places he should have been first and he was running around the Altus Plateau as if it was the most normal thing ever.

[@TheRedAzuki]

The secret path is told to you by an npc as the "only way" to get up. So its not super hidden. Just not obvious

[@michaelwerve6225]

Yeah I totally missed the medallions, I think was just trying to follow the arrows and followed the ravine through to the path. I was so confused when I saw the lift operating in another video

[@marhawkman303]

@@Zoso14892 Yeah, this game has a few "shortcuts" that... might be unintended by the level designers. But these can be found in places that... well... are logically deducible. Like " is that thing close enough to jump to it?" and often the answer is actually yes. Some cases the target you need to land on might be the size of a single brick though. But if you hit the right spot? Well you jumped a gap where otherwise you'd fall to your death. Last night I saw a friend of mine go all the way around the BACK side of a castle(next to some giant chain/bridge) where there's only about a 3-ince wide area you can stand on. is this intended as an alternate path? no ide, but he managed to make it.

[@weneedaladder8384]

Same. Even though the medallions tell you where to go, I totally didn't find the second one, and just stumbled upon the "secret path" while exploring Liurna.

[@lukas8670]

18:32 or like that moment when you thunderwave a sheet of stalagtites off the ceiling and almost oneshot a super powerful demon, and then the rogue comes along and stabs off its last hitpoint.

[@Michael_Lindell]

Elden Ring is out NOW?!? Why is no one else talking about it?

[@kcollier2192]

Can I play it on my PS2?

[@Michael_Lindell]

@@kcollier2192 I think so. I almost got it running on a NES...

[@jellyphishin7001]

The 3 golems before the limgrave divine tower is probably my favorite part, I actually managed to defeat them my first try and it was just such a great set piece of a fight that you don't see coming

[@BennyP1985]

Not gonna lie… I ran past them all and have zero regrets… 😂😂😂

[@lukiedadukieable]

There is an entire dungeon that is a puzzle to be solved by teleporting chests. Was pretty cool. Also no hesitation no surrender. I killed patches immediately

[@jammydodger5838]

What dungeon was this?

[@LordOfAllThatIsGolden]

I got 149 hours haven’t beat the final boss yet. Elden a ring is an absolute masterpiece.

[@kadeloblack4774]

130 hours lol but you’re not wrong, this darn game is too time consuming.

[@kevinmalisek9353]

I'm at 181 and I've just received traveller's clothes. Well this is a spoiler video so screw it.. I'm about to get trashed by Malenia several times. Like you said, mate. Masterpiece.

[@LordOfAllThatIsGolden]

@@kevinmalisek9353 I found Malenia the other day and fought her once. She one shotted me. I think I’ll go fight her a little later. I do decent damage, but the two phases plus that waterfowl dance is a little to much for me right now.

[@CiarlaArt]

150 hours, only just got to the Altus Plateau~ I just really enjoy exploring an trying to miss anything.

[@kevinmalisek9353]

@@LordOfAllThatIsGolden I got her to phase two after 2 attempts. Now the only advice I can give you is either use a greatshield with as much stability as you can muster (and that aow that boosts it I can't recall the name of) to tank that million hit combo or don't bother with shields at all. Instead go all in with your frost and blood. I've found that the rivers of blood aow is extremely effective especially when paired with Tiche. Now my secret sauce was to use eleonora's twinblade off hand and any other twinblade with bleed aow in the main hand. This paired with mimic made the first phase roughly a 20 second breeze. I attempted the fight 9 times total and I can now consistently die in the second phase with these strats. I've yet to learn not to forget that she has waterfowl in there as well and how to dodge the stupid flower. All in all this fight is brutal, but as long as you can exploit her low poise and avoid getting hit I'm sure you will prevail eventually.

[@TransSappho]

I started out the game as a warrior, then pivoted hard to fire magic, then instantly pivoted again to glintstone once I hit Liurnia and basically stuck with it for the rest of the game with the exception of some longer boss fights where I wouldn’t have enough FP. It really surprised me cause I never would’ve thought I’d go for something ranged

[@nromdotcom]

Everyone knows the evolutions go: Rattata, Radagon, Radahn.

[@azuredragoon2054]

I have played all of the Dark Souls games. I had no trouble pulling out Ash Summons to help me out. I was also reasonably comfortable with using respec when it was unlocked to help me get through at least one boss fight.

[@vincentschannel7245]

I got 120 hours and level 199 still finding new stuff I love this game

[@cmdrvimes72]

I remember finding out that in Bloodborne, Ludwig would take poison damage during his phase 2 cinematic right before the game came out so when I fought Godrick I just had to try it on him. So I ended up watching his second cutscene a few extra times without skipping.... worked like a charm. Thank Jellyfish.

[@rexzs794]

god I love Blaidd so much, top tier dog man. I’m at 80 hours and haven’t done Radahn yet since I’ve been working hard to level and compensate for my crummy disabled reflexes. Getting attached to Ensha and D were my big mistakes.

[@bunnarchist8965]

That footage of the Commander Niall fight. That EXACT thing happened to me. It's so nice that the mimic was able to save me from having to deal with that boss again

[@sopranophantomista]

What I really like about Elden Ring is that there are NPC's that need several playthroughs to complete. For example, Seluvis. You meet him as part of Ranni's questline, and when you find him in his rise, he gives you a potion to take to another NPC. This is where the questline for him branches off: you can give the potion to the NPC, talk to the NPC's dad about it OR you can keep it until you learn of an invading spectre in the Roundtable Hold, and give it to him. If you find Seluvis' secret lab, you can also confront him about it. BUT, if you follow Ranni's questline to completion, Seluvis is killed by Blidd, now mad because he can't follow where Ranni has gone. You're locked out seeing Seluvis' questline from there on in. So you either need to wait for NG+, or you can start another character and just choose different decisions. I love the aspect of replayability in this sense. The only other FromSoft game I've played is Bloodborne, and the NPC's in that one Don't Have A Great Time (TM), so to see some of the NPC's like Roderika get a chance to grow and become their own person is great. I stan Not Dead NPC's in these games.

[@215Fenix]

-My weapon went from Banished Knight Halberd +25 to using Treespear+25, which has absolutely become my favorite weapon. After Crumbling Farum I ended using the Devourer's Scepter+10 which has earned a spot in my heart, so I use them together. I also using the Dragon Communion Seal w/ Rotten Breath and run into battles with Aurelia the Jellyfish, the tankiest entity in the known Soulsborne universe, Cleanrot Knight Finlay tags along sometimes. Running around with a hybrid mid Dex/ high Faith build around lvl 130-140 with only the Final boss, along with Malenia and the Twin Gargoyles left alive. Going for the Age of Stars. I don't plan on beating my first playthrough until a confirmation if they are or aren't adding dlc. Don't want a repeat of DS3 fighting both Friede/Midir/Gael first on NG+6, that wasn't any fun. The only fight I used Mimic to beat a boss was Rykard, is because gimmick bosses deserve gimmick solution, so I +9 the Serpent Spear and moved on from that boss immediately. -Worst Boss: Godskin Duo -Favorite Boss Intro:[Spoiler] of the Golden Order

[@WickedRibbon]

Really enjoy this chatty format!

[@Borderlines]

When I encountered Borealis, I was so confused coz I cannot see anything. I thought: "Am I supposed to fight the FOG?" 😣

[@Galvamel]

The mimic tear is awesome, and people need to stop all the gatekeeping and let everyone enjoy the game however they want.

[@mt_baldwin]

I'm on the Altus plateau now, so far my favorite playstyle now is turtle style, a great shield with barricade ash of war and a pokey stick, the cross naginata with frost and bleed at moment (I use coatings like poison on it too) and then a bow for long range situations. I just stand in front of enemies and poke-poke-poke my way to victory. Basically I've combined two of the most annoying enemy types in the early game, the greatshield knight and archer. The shield negates %100 physical damage and %72 magic dam, barricade prevents stamina loss from blocking, so I can block everything as long as it's active, and my gear is stuff with high magic defense and high poise so I don't stagger or stance break easily even when something does get through the shield. I just poke away waiting for frost and bleed to activate, I don't melt though bosses but it does go pretty fast and I'm fairly safe for most of the fight. I'm not overloaded so I can still roll when I need to thanks to decent endurance stat. This is the only way I've won in PvP too.

[@PhoenixofEclipse]

As someone who spent the first 60 hours of my 70 hour file (the one where I’ve beat the game) refusing to use summons- yeah, I agree, I wasted a lot of time and should’ve used all the tools at my disposal. That said… there are some bosses I wanna fight without them, because I want to see if I COULD win now (mainly the 5 or 6 I let the mimic beat for me) but that’s just to see how good I am after watching some youtubers who first try every damn boss, the legends.

[@TrashPanda90914]

Love this game so much. On my third play through right now ( I have no life lol) and still finding new npcs, secret areas and items! Speaking of the fastest way to get to the altus plateau is actually through the secret lava prison! Beat the boss and continue to the end of the cave and it will bring you out to a little balcony where you can drop down to some rocks and viola you're in the altus plateau.

[@demonicgrub1025]

I was letting my buddy try out the game on my console because he didn't have it yet, and before he even got his horse he got teleported into the Sellia Crystal Tunnel. He eventually got out of there, went and got his horse, explored a small portion of limgrave, and then instantly found "the gazebo" and spent the next 3 hours sprinting around the siofra river, exploring everything while desperately running away from all the enemies.

[@teamalice115]

I actually started full sorcery build and played that through most of the game and then eventually I had enough cool spells I wanted to try incantation and so I use the golden order seal as my incantation catalyst because it’s boosted by intelligence and faith and I’m now in my second play through and I actually use mostly incantations with a few specific sorceries thrown in. But sorceries carried me through the game. I also have enough mana now where I don’t feel as stingy spending it on higher spells

[@wardcaller]

I feel like Luke is a stop and smell the roses kind of guy. A lot of those hours were probably spent laughing at the goats.

[@Jatt2613]

I had the mimic tear finish off the final boss of the game right as I died, haha. Sadly, that didn't count as completing it and I had to redo the fight. But happily, that was when I was using my save backup to get the three ending trophies and I had already beaten the boss twice for the first two, so I wasn't too disappointed.

[@thorild69]

My favorite part of Elden Ring? Your videos! I don't like playing Souls-like games but have fun watching you play them.

[@jessenelson4154]

I kept sitting here thinking “wow, Luke is talking a lot about Astel’s wing.. even though it’s kind of really out of the way to find, but is genuinely a cool sword to have though” having totally forgotten that you can get a flail from his remembrance made me realize just how much they enjoy making weapons out of body parts of different enemies lol

[@charlie_lock]

I really like these opinion videos. Even though I haven't played Elden Ring and don't have any plans to, I fully enjoyed listening to your reactions to the game

[@aegresen]

Hear hear. I've no interest in such games but is so much fun to listen to folks talk about them.

[@axtheaxe7633]

You should honestly check it out. I had no intention of playing it either. I'm not really a Souls fan, I've played Demon's Souls when it released on PS3 and enjoyed learning about the lore of Bloodborne, but a friend offered to game share with me just so I could take a look and I'm absolutely hooked. It's just so much fun.

[@whocares9033]

^agreed I actually had a pretty negative opinion of it pre-release given the developer, generic aesthetics (shown in the trailers, anyway), and general cynicism towards the gaming industry nowadays. But I bought it a few days after release and it's literally the only game I've been playing since. I don't like Souls style games, typically, but this game is definitely an exception Idk that I'd call it the best game of the century like others have, but I'm willing to say that it's easily among them

[@bast713]

Same. It's beautiful and I deeply appreciate the work that goes into these games. I really enjoy listening to people who like them geek out and I appreciate them second hand.

[@LateSleeper]

Just got the Death's Poker. I cheesed the Death Rite Bird by shooting it with a loooooot of arrows from the cliff out of its reach. I love that the game just allows you to do it.

[@nikkorocksalot5254]

Gordick took me 4 tries, but that's thanks to the summoned npc, my skeleton ashes, and having been doing 10 hours of exploration and leveling after I saw his battle area become available I went to Caelid and learned that I still wasn't ready

[@joebob2166]

Such a great video and its so refreshing to see people that actually like games talking about them

[@runicknight1151]

My first playthrough got to 190 hours and instantly on my second run I've found things I've missed. I think one of my favourite parts was Renala's boss fight. That transition is stunning 👌🏻 Glad to see Andy joining to FromSoft club. Just Jane to go 😅

[@blazzzzziing]

Jane's playing Elden Ring too, she & mike talked about it on the oxventure podcast

[@runicknight1151]

@@blazzzzziing ohh nice! Gottem all. Im a bit behind on the podcast 😅

[@CiarlaArt]

Did you start over, or are you doing NG+? I'm curious how much harder NG is

[@runicknight1151]

@@CiarlaArt I started over haven't been brave enough to do a NG+ yet but maybe after this run through

[@CiarlaArt]

@@runicknight1151 Fair, fair, I'm worried how hard it might be, though I'm no where near the end yet; How are you finding replaying? Like, are you just doing the main bosses, or reexploring everything?

[@iusethisnameformygoogleacc1013]

Well, this video is literally how I learned that the way I took to the Altus Plateau wasn't the standard one. I genuinely just thought the mine system and magma wyrm were mandatory.

[@BomayeIsBack]

I'm 51 hours in and I'm just now feeling like I'm coming to grips with Limgrave & Liurnia. Lol

[@ninjafohhiya]

I'm two achievements away from 100% completion of this game and I'm so excited to add this next to my 100% of Sekiro. This game has been everything I wanted from the next big Fromsoft title, and as a veteran souls fan, it has been such a treat seeing a bunch of new players getting lost in the lands between and loving it.

[@zeorhymer6]

I'm still amazed that Andy wasn't so interested in the souls series, but he's gotten into Elden Ring. Maybe he'll move into racing :D

[@SomethingVeryWitty]

I was actually trying to work out where to go for the 2 halves of the seals when I realised I had actually passed it. I even carried on thinking that obviously this was just a subsection and I needed to see the rest of the area

[@illustratedjill6914]

Level 125, over 100 hours in and still feel like I've missed so much stuff!!! Immediately googled Sword of Night and Flame and hunting that bad boy down!!!!... and I should probably blow the dust off Moonveil and level it up 😄 My Mimic Tear is a huge lesson in hubris... she's way better at fighting than me 🤣🤣

[@GenLiu]

That was a very cool video. I fully agree with the obscure questlines. I mean, look, I love Elden ring, it's one of the best games I've played since I've touched a console and I love the fact that Fromsoft games are cryptic (it forces you to pay attention, which is good) but there's being cryptic and making all the effort in the world to make sure people will never complete a questline without a guide. I'm not even questioning the placement of the different NPCs (and the quests themselves are great) but the game should provide a bit more directions when it stands to what the player is supposed to be doing in order to advance each NPCs quest (especially when it involves going back to areas you have no reason to go back otherwise). Other than Blaidd's questline, there's Selen which involves finding several illusory walls...Including the most obscure ever made by Fromsoft IMO (like, sure, let's attack this random rock face for no reason whatsoever). Also agree with Andy about the names that sound similar. And the example he took, while completely legit, at least refers to connected characters but why call your maiden to become Melina while one of the major boss in the game (optional but major nonetheless) is called Malenia? Same with commander Neil and commander Niail...It almost feels like Georges R.R. Martin was in charge of naming the characters in this game? Oh....Wait...XD

[@druman890]

Sounds a lot like Dragons Dogma, if you don't constantly backtrack and talk to all the NPCs every time you complete a major plot point you miss out on most of the side quests and world-building. Playing straight through you can finish it in about 10 hours, but if you do go back and do side quests there are easily 40+ hours of game there.

[@WBWhiting]

Dragon's Dogma is awesome, and is the only other 'souls-like' game I had played before Elden Ring. There are still a lot of things I prefer about DD's combat in comparison. The camera, bows and arrows, weapon skills, and of course, climbing on massive enemies like Shadow of the Colossus. Unfortunately, the plot is very unfinished and threadbare due to development issues, but Dragon's Dogma 2 might be announced this year if leaks are correct.

[@argvideos9558]

I love everything you do, I'm hooked on dnd from you guys and I've been watching your top 7/8 videos on both channels, you guys have made my worst days turn into the best.

[@Incoherent-excitement]

Love that Luke is wearing his “Already Dead 💀” tee. Even though I’ve never played a FS game before, and I’m honestly unlikely to, I’ve followed Luke & Ellen’s FS journey and it’s been so fun. So it’s lovely watching Luke geeking out about it with Andy, who has now joined the FS oxclub, even if I haven’t a clue what they’re talking about, lol.

[@VAULT-TEC_INC.]

REALLY enjoyed you two talking about the game like this! Would’ve loved seeing your builds at the end

[@themexiflan]

Fun fact about all the big player NPC/bosses, like Godrick, Ranni, Rennala, Magrit etc. Most of the very important figures in this game have the initials G, R (R), M Very curious...

[@MichaelWarman]

34:14 Imagining Luke's wife hearing Luke growling that at inanimate objects in the next room on the regular

[@MichaelSmith-zw5fu]

One thing that's magical about Elden Ring, is that in my second playthrough a year and some change later, I have at least one memorable moment from every single area of the game from my original playthrough. I'll get somewhere and be like "OOOH right! I remember what happened here"

[@WolfHreda]

A FromSoft veteran does not complain about the difficulty gents. We refuse to summon so that we may huff our own farts on how good we are when we beat the boss after buying our third new controller and doubling up on our blood pressure meds.

[@SirRavix]

I love this. I want to hear more stories about your playthroughs.

[@greydonmccall9680]

Hey! For your strength/int build I highly recommend the fallingstar beast jaw which drops from a boss near the volcano manor. It does quite a bit of damage and loads of stagger

[@bestbuddz4349]

On my first play through I had a friend who 3-shotted Godrick, so when I fought him again on another play through I thought the fight was over when he yelled

[@Relish.]

best moment had to be watching my mimic solo the first tree sentinel in ng+

[@nicovulkis1827]

First time I ran into the siren bats was actually on the Weeping Peninsula. Only found 1 there, but there might have been more.

[@TimdeVisser86]

This video played a big role in my decision to play Elden Ring. I bounced off of Dark Souls very hard, and I was under the impression that these games were supposed to be hard, and played in challenging ways. I'm just rolling a sorcery build and using overpowering spirit ashes and having the time of my life.

[@lukiedadukieable]

As soon as I found mohg I knew I needed his trident. Two days after I got it I was so glad to find out arcane scaling is fixed. I was going to use it no matter what but its good to know that it's functioning fully Edit: I never skip him screaming while he cuts off his arm. Was funny to see that distortion2 doesn't skip the scream in his all rememberences speed run

[@baseballjustin5]

I just kept hitting him because fuck it. I need just that little damage to hopefully defeat him. And then my controller died mid fight... And it was a good run, too ;(

[@markclifford5712]

I feel your pain Andy, I was using the sword of night and flame too until..well you know...now i am dual wielding the moonlight greatsword and a claymore scaled with faith...its going...ok

[@daanbrinks2084]

The worst NPC is inarguably the loathsome dung eater.

[@Jordan-yb7zp]

+16 Dismounter, full on str build, it may be a slow swing, but it hits like a dump truck full of hardened concrete, and with it being a curved greatsword has about the same range as the fang. Love my Dismounter:)

[@Charmknight015]

I'm 124 hours in and only finished the game once. I still have way more exploring to do though so I haven't started NG+ yet ^.^;; I freaking love Elden Ring, it's so good I did also use the Sword of Night and Flame up until the nerf (we are all very sad). But now I dual wield the Uchi with bloodhound step and the dragonscale blade. I also use Vyke's Dragonbolt because it looks sooo cool :D The crucible knight in the evergaol was the only boss I had to take a break from and come back stronger for too Luke! He's such a jerk In terms of Iji in Ranni's quest, when you see him and he's all dead and stuff, if you look around on the ground he's surrounded by dead black knife assassins which I think means they killed him because a whole bunch of lore reasons Oh and speaking of names, I spent so long thinking Melina was gonna come kill me as the scarlet rot boss Malenia later in the game lol

[@PatrickLongblkwhtrbbt]

As usual for the Fromsoft games, the Gods of the world are definitively NOT good guys. But their greatest enemies might be even worse. So the answer is to betray them all. Betray the Greater Will, then betray the evil gods who want to destroy the Will as well. However, this path will require you to fight the most bullshit bastard hard boss in the game....

[@TjPhysicist]

i thought all the endings result in some outer god being in charge right? (Maybe Ranni's ending?)

[@sgtpastry]

The final boss is trying to wrestle the camera to not be a bugger?

[@mduckernz]

@@TjPhysicist Ranni's ending is the only one where there is no outer gods involved. That's basically her whole aim - to evict them :) even if the outcome might be a struggle at first

[@tylaanfrost5475]

@@mduckernz I thought golden mask ending also kicked out the outer gods ?

[@PatrickLongblkwhtrbbt]

@@tylaanfrost5475 I'm pretty sure Goldmask's ending still enforces the Greater Will but I could be wrong

[@kparham]

Really enjoyed the conversation! I wouldn't mind another one like this when you all finish the game!

[@k9_coyote360]

My weapon journey was a struggle. Initially I was an astrologer, got stuck in the Sellia Crystal Tunnel, didn't realize you could get out of there, so I restarted the game as a champion, started using the Lordsworn Greatsword, didn't like that it was slow, but the payoff was that it was powerful, and eventually I looked up the wiki, found that Scythes were in the game, now I'm a dex / faith build dual wielding the Winged and Halo Scythes and using the Godslayer incantations when I want to cheese bosses