Elden Ring Guide to Advanced Combat

[@HeyTarnished]

Great video! Finally we get to see so many people & many KZbin videos try & teach how to engage with Elden Ring's bosses, a lesson that I think many people just didn't know & then proceeded to call harder bosses "unfair" because they listened to a number of KZbin pseudo-essayists telling them the bosses are bad or "break the rules of the game" when in reality, Elden Ring wants you to treat it differently, you create the punish windows, positioning is extremely important, look out for combo-extensions & try to use certain hits to duck follow-ups by low-profiling etc etc...

[@JoseViktor4099]

Oh if you knew how much pandering they are giving to Joseph right now with DLC Boss fights... I would make a 30min video shitting the DLC and make myself of gold if I was in his place xD

[@HeyTarnished]

@@JoseViktor4099 OMG yeah I kinda saw some of that, they’re just so caught up is someone’s opinion I’ve the internet sadly that they can’t think for themselves because they need someone else to validate their opinions.

[@mingQWERTY]

@@JoseViktor4099 I'm actually glad that FromSoft is sticking to what they've done with bosses. While it's evident that they did learn some lessons from the base game (eg repetitive dungeons and bosses. Every catacomb/cave in the DLC is unique and have unique bosses that are fun to fight most of the time). But they stick wit the same thing with bosses which I do enjoy. After playing Dark Souls 3, Sekiro and Elden Ring I blitzed through Bloodborne's bosses so quickly with only the Orphan of Kos and Laurence (somewhat) being the biggest roadblock and even then he's comparable to like Demon of Hatred and Friede. It'll be disappointing if I could just blitz through SOTET's bosses because their moveset is so slow and predictable. Good on FromSoft for doubling down and not giving up what makes Elden RIng more unique from previous Soulsborne or Souls-like titles

[@JoseViktor4099]

@@mingQWERTY Completely Agreed. This Imo gets on the bare limit of a overall fun Challenge and a very demanding one. I Heard that this DLC was made as a response for the people Who said "Elden Ring is too easy, we have It completely dominated" as a final trial of your skill and Game knowledge, and Im completely all for It. This DLC exploits the limit of what you can do with a Souls formula, no other Souls made me consider exploting the elemental debilities, no other Soul made me consider exploting my knowledge about offensive/defensive buffs, no other Soul demanded my knowledge of how Boss fights works. Although for that limit, I also think that more complexity on the Next games for a traditional Souls formula could start to break It , problems like the camera really be a Big of an issue and start making people completely crazy haha.

[@ethanwashington6789]

To add onto what the video is saying, the choice between what type of roll you use will heavily affect a fight, and its not always as simple as light roll being the best. For example, with Rellana the lower distance on a medium roll makes it much easier to run around her attacks, as opposed to light roll which, even if dodging past her, will still likely put you too far from her. Which, sure, can be good for spacing, but makes it basically impossible to react to her strafeable moves as shown in the vid. There are even situations where heavy roll is the best for fighting certain movesets like the sword and shield banished knights, but dont count on this being the case very often. Its just something to play by ear

[@user-bi1fw8sd1x]

Also parry is such a powerful tool. It is still good even with bosses that require three parries for one critical attack bc by parrying you stop their combo right away, so you dont have to deal with long string of combos.

[@PeterEhik]

This! It’s the only way I could beat Radahn and Rellana, sure it takes some getting used to because you need to figure out what you can safely parry and when the boss hits you, its a take a second to readjust and you can lose the fight right there but I feel like they really want you to parry in this game cause why else do the bosses do so many long combos and have very little time between them. Also what I’ve realized is you can’t attack bosses from neutral in this game, you’ll almost always take damage. It’s like as soon as you hit attack, they immediately attack too. The boss is reading your animations just like you’re reading theirs lol

[@LAK_770]

I’m really happy to see so many high-quality and constructive “get good” videos

[@tarnishedchosenundead]

If you've ever played a fighting game and know some basic fundamentals, Rellana is a classic example of playing footsies. Keep her at a distance where her attacks will miss, but close enough to punish her recovery when she does. So it's about positioning and knowin when you should roll, and when you should conserve stamina and just move to a more favourable position. The best example is her double heavy attack where you can, without rolling, space yourself so that both attack miss, and deppending on your weapon, you can start charging your R2 before she even completes the second attack.

[@JC19999]

Use the deflecting hard tear. Not only does it make the entire game better, base game included, but once you get a hang of the timing you can absolutely crush the dlc bosses. Use whatever build you want, but supplement it with that tear.

[@ShupperDupper]

and its badass

[@yeembus]

Deflecting Tear is the GOAT. The fact that FS added it in right at the start of the DLC is direct proof that they listened to criticism of the base game and wanted to address it. I had a blast fighting Malenia using that. I had never beaten her solo before without Rivers of Blood and deflecting waterfowl dance feels so good. I also killed Rellana by learning exactly when I could use guard counters after a deflect safely. On my winning attempt, I managed to dodge her signature combo, deflected the last hit with both swords swinging in an X, got the guard counter, staggered, then hit an R1 and R2 to make her bleed with Bloodhound Fang. One of the best moments I've had in a Fromsoft game and it's all because of this tear. Sorry for the overboard explanation but man, it's elevated the whole game for me like crazy lol

[@Meese12]

It definitely edges on being too strong and trivializes a fair few fights, but it is a lot of fun

[@yeembus]

@@Meese12 it’s very strong but skilled based, which is what makes it such a good addition

[@Meese12]

@@yeembus in my experience the deflect window has been very generous and the block increase it gives you makes it pretty easy to block long strings of attacks at very little cost and it also boosts the strength of guard counters, already some of the strongest attacks in the game.

[@TheRealChacorta]

And don’t forget to jump over certain attacks! Most (emphasis on “most”) ground aoe attacks can be jumped over on foot (even on Torrent if he is available). Jumping can give you better s for certain attacks as the lower half of your body is invincible. Maliketh and Rykard have certain swipe attacks that you can jump over as well- so keep an eye out for anything low the ground

[@yeembus]

Your videos have helped me enjoy the DLC a lot more, as someone who was really frustrated with it at the start. Well, that and the fact that I first tried playing it on NG+3 and had to make a new character to start out, lol. I loved DS3 and Bloodborne for their wonderfully intricate bosses but was frustrated at Elden Ring's for a long time. Now I feel like I "get" them more, though, and I'm liking all of Elden Ring a ton more than I did my first time through. Been playing a quality build with a one-handed Bloodhound Fang, and no summons, and having a blast. When I first played the DLC I tried to ram my head into every boss but was stubborn about my methods and didn't try learning the combos. Now I'm taking a much more peaceful and evasive approach, really keeping in mind my rolling directions and stamina management. I've beaten Rellana, Dancing Lion, Scadutree Avatar, and the Hippo: the Hippo is the only one I'm not a fan of, but locking off for the fight makes it pretty much a standard beast fight where you hit his butt until he dies. Rellana and Dancing Lion are amazing and made me feel like I was fighting the best bosses from DS3 all over again with their dance-like nature and all the openings you can take advantage of. SOTE also really enhanced the base game to a great degree too, by the way. Using Torrent on Elden Beast and having the Deflecting Tear for Malenia makes those fights infinitely more fun and very enjoyable. Rellana with the Deflecting Tear is one of the funnest fights I've ever had in a Souls game. Three minutes is more time than you need for pretty much any boss and it adds a whole new layer to the combat that I adore. I honestly think I prefer Elden Ring to Bloodborne at this point now that everything's said and done, but I obviously need to beat the DLC and maybe play the game a couple more times with all the mechanics in mind before I can conclude that.

[@kurokaz]

Enjoying the videos and you have a new sub. I don't know if it's in your plan to cover but deflection tear, perfect block, guard countering is super viable. Some moves that are not punishable usually due to boss attack knock back, have knockback nullified. With a lance it feels very much like monster hunter lance counters. Unlocking the camera is not always viable. A lot of focus here is on DS3 rolling to survive esque play.

[@lightbender1]

Nice video! I am currently playing on keyboard and mouse, and dodgerolling here is much more limited, compared to controllers. I hope that these advices will improve me as a player, so huge thank you to you) Good hunt everyone!

[@aayushdasgupta9754]

Yea on KBM, several dodges can be straight up impossible. Like the run around strat for Waterfowl. I just ended up using Freezing Pots on my RL1 no hit Malenia

[@bananafishbones5724]

Great video! I'm always happy to see people teach others how to enjoy learning these awesome bosses.

[@KingSleaze916]

Shadows of the OidTwee Sick video bro thank you 👌

[@DDraganita]

How I know the theory but practice is killing me 😂 Thanks mate

[@jermergerg]

happy hunting!

[@botondkunos1774]

Honestly, most of the DLC bosses are not worth the effort and are comically overdesigned, but there are a few hidden gems like Bayle or the Putrescent knight.

[@UsernameGeri]

In my opinion, the problem with all these different combo branches, is that all the attacks look very generic. The boss is just flailing around endlessly, and the only way to profit off of these is to literally sit down and study them. Compare to Sekiro where all the combo branches were extremely intuitive, much simpler, and more distinct, and you really only had to see them once to understand them. Example; Isshin sheaths his sword, and you have 2 options- stay back, and he will do an ashina cross, or move in, and he will do a shoulder bump and a sweep. Or with Owl father; at the end of one of his combos, he will do a very slow, overly telegraphed overhead attack, and you can either- wait it out and block, deflect, dodge, or move to the side, and Owl will do a spinning attack. Way more simple and easy to understand and react to, than all these generic spam attacks. But more importantly, Sekiro really gave you incentive to experiment with the boss's attacks, and to find your preferred combo branches. With ER, I'm just glad the fight is over.

[@derek96720]

I agree in that Sekiro is the gold standard as far as combo manipulation goes

[@jermergerg]

I think a lot of it is personal preference and what you are looking for in your experience. I enjoy deeply learning an individual boss's moves, but if that's not your jam--which is totally valid--then I don't think ER is going to be that fun. I love Sekiro too, and I play one versus the other depending on what mood I'm in :)

[@pphaver871]

Yeah, I fully agree with this. I cannot get into a flow with these unintuitive boss telegraphs. I beat every other souls games, with DS3 and Sekiro being my favorites. These two were peak for boss design for me, and I could get into a flow and reasonably predict what they were doing based on what they were showing me. People who want to use op builds, summons, or do a challenge runner-esque style of dumping countless hours into a boss to mechanically master I think will enjoy Elden Ring. I feel like they made the designs unintuitive to make it more difficult. That is fine for many, but it totally ruins it for me. I can beat these bosses given enough time, but by then I could beat them blindfolded.

[@ericjensen7580]

I was struggling with bayle on my quality build. I was trying to stagger him and set up two dragonwounds while he was down. Turns out, it's easier to just use spacing and dragon wound, then dodge whatever he does.

[@jermergerg]

Check out the video I posted today of my fight against Bayle :) Such a fun fight I'm still thinking about it!

[@ericjensen7580]

@@jermergerg I just watched it! Nice run! I'm not sure I'd have patience for hitless runs but I did do storm king way back in ds3 with the talisman that increases damage taken.

[@ltlgrmln]

Straight Banger!

[@owenpieper8862]

funny. i’ve been meaning to look up “how to get gud” and instead it came to me. thank you

[@Mr.X445fn]

Why is implaing thrust legit the best ash of war for the DLC? Its an all rounder that gets the job done

[@jermergerg]

It's so OP. I've never used it before, and I can't believe I've been sleeping on this for years!

[@phillidaadamus4349]

Commenting for the algo gods!👐👐👐

[@mt2r-music]

Do you guys have any advice for the final boss (spoiler warning)? - - - - - There are two attacks I just don’t get. It’s always luck if I’m getting hit by his clone attacks but these two I can basically never dodge: The first one is his abrupt double sword swing where he hits you with a right-left combo and then follows up with his sword crossed, slashing on the ground with a small smoke shockwave. The first hit comes out so quickly I don’t know how to dodge it. And even when I do so the second one gets me right after. This is especially bad in phase 2 where the light beams stagger you so you can’t even dodge the following slashes after getting by the first one. Jumping doesn’t work, I already tested that a lot. The second attack in don’t get is in phase 2 where he does his purple stone tornado AOE. You avoid it just as in phase 1 but then he proceeds to fly into the air and jump on you, doing the AOE a second time. How do you avoid that second hit? Dodgerolling just makes you too slow to run away from the shockwave

[@nrnjn8547]

For the left sword to the right sword to double cross out sword slash attacks, there are 3 things you can do. Do a frame perfect dodge to your left (his right), which makes the second slash go over your head and not hit you. This one is almost impossible to do consistently, as it requires your character to be in a hyper specific position perfectly in front of him without any gaps, and your dodge roll should begin before he starts the attack. So it's a luck based thing. Another thing you can do for the same attack is use the deflecting physik tear and deflect the first slash, then roll the second and third. You can backstep the first one as well, however, it requires a crucible talisman, which increases backstepping at the cost of extra damage. I do not recommend this tactic, tho. The gravity suck attack in phase 2 is a luck based thing, as he may do it at point blank range as well. When you see him do it, simply I frame dodge backward, and then don't stop dodging backwards. This reduces the chances of him doing the light clone follow up. If, however, he does do the follow-up, then simply try rolling into those attacks such that you end up behind him.

[@JerryRiverman]

The first attack you mentioned is like the other guy said. For the second attack when he pulls you in sprint away from the boss and jump and keep sprinting away from him afterwards, the clones will miss and you should be far away enough from the tornado (jump if you want to make sure to avoid it just in case)

[@T3G33]

sekiro tear + gaurd counters with zweihander. i havent gotten stuck once with that setup lmao

[@Taqu3]

Should we target lock ? What are the (dis)advantages ?

[@jermergerg]

Personally, I would always target lock unless the enemy is very bulky and you can see the camera being jerked around in ways that impede your ability to see.

[@DarthJex]

commenting to boost the algorithm, great video!

[@jermergerg]

Thank you!!!

[@bowley4]

Very good video!

[@phillidaadamus4349]

Actually when it comes to Elden Ring I think light rolling was buffed compared during the filespan of the game and gives you more benefits compared to previous Souls games.

[@phillidaadamus4349]

Tbh I often go for medium purely because of the fashion lmao (and I want to dump points into vigor or something that increases the damage of my build).

[@frazfrazfrazfraz]

Well, i don't think it's better than previous souls games. You would often get better frame data from light roll previously, and in ds1 light roll gave you access the flip ring as well. Really the only thing you gain with light roll in ER is distance, although it is an enormous amount of distance that bosses and enemies struggle to deal with

[@timber_wolf7778]

Pretty fire video

[@jermergerg]

thanks!

[@nayyarrashid4661]

Nice video. It is great but it feels more like a no hit run guide although one can say it is a combat guide as well since combat stratrgy involves avoiding damage and dealing damage.

[@jermergerg]

Yeah for sure. I mean the idea here is not necessarily to always use every strategy available and be perfect each time, but rather to know more strategies so that, even employing a fraction of them, you boost your overall chances of survival.

[@Chonus]

fingerprint shield will carry you through all the dlc bosses

[@johndotcue]

So far this is the case for me. Fingerprint shield plus some random ass soldier great spear I got from the DLC pushed me through Radahn lol. I still needed to learn their movesets ofc since not every attack is blockable so there’s still a lot of interaction, but I feel like I’m learning how to fight bosses way better with that shield on.

[@ShupperDupper]

it wont carry your sins

[@592Johno]

Me who's playing on MNK😭

[@makia3]

A guide to advanced combat a - posture break.

[@planetzdr]

My greatest tip is to just accept that the difficulty is terribly tuned/designed. If you don’t want to be bashing your head against an unfair DLC using whatever you want like I did then just abuse all the cheap methods you can. Greatshield and poke, summons, etc. The DLC doesn’t respect you wanting to try out different builds or beat it solo so just use the meta.

[@MrBreiart]

That’s actually the opposite for me. Tough bosses are designed with the idea of pushing your limits. It just happens that with this DLC, they pushed so far that the majority of the community is just not at that level of skill. Take your time to learn bosses mechanics and learn to deal with their relentless multi hit combos, just as you did with the pre dlc ones. You’ll get there eventually, it’s not easy but everyone with enough trial and error can win the DLC with their favourite build. They are not “terribly tuned/designed”, we are just not good enough yet

[@planetzdr]

@@MrBreiart the pre DLC bosses didn’t punish so unfairly. It’s not fun to dodge around a boss for 20 seconds only to get a single R1 hit on him after. It’s not fun to be given virtually no openings or time to heal. It’s just unfair difficulty which FromSoftware never was about. I miss the old FromSoftware that was fair.

[@MrBreiart]

@@planetzdr Yea but the thing is, if they still made bosses like that today, we would be complaining that they would be too easy. It literally took me between 10 and 15 hours to kill Malenia for the first time. And after killing her in ng+6 in literally 2 attempts and more or less 20 minutes in ng+7, I think all the bosses in the base game (except Niall cause fuck commander Niall) are pretty easy in comparison. Getting clapped by bosses and learning to deal with them by suffering for hours has always been part of From’s iconic game design. Try using all the tools you have to learn the bosses first, max your scadutree blessing, buy boiled crabs and use defensive talismans, you only have to adapt your mentality and not think of them as the stupid AIs they were in old games, but rather as actual opponents.

[@JoseViktor4099]

I often recommend this - what out combos! When you understand the pacing of the fight, you might discover what is and what Isn't a combo Ender. That way we can easily attack much more frequently. Exploting combo branches and heal or while the enemy is retreating is also a very good strategy. Rellana is surprinsingly good showing this, but there isn't any attack that last more than 10 seconds, so its easier to sneak by a R2 making her posture break more frequently. I got three posture break against her for instance.

[@ShupperDupper]

skill issue 😂😂😂

[@EXQUIS1T3]

My next build is gonna be a parry build (for the first time) on ng+7 🥹 wish me luck LMAO. Also will you be making a video on the final boss and your thoughts on it? (Assuming you've finished the DLC)

[@jermergerg]

I haven't finished the dlc lol. I'm doing hitless for each boss as I encounter them so I don't have to do it later, so I'm moving pretty slowly. I'll make some analysis content once I'm finished though!

[@EXQUIS1T3]

Good luck :> can't wait for the analysis on the final boss and messmer (who for me now is the best boss in the game)