Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Podcast ft. FightinCowboy & Gene Park [SPOILERS!] [Khan's Kast]

[@Xsetsu]

DLC is already at 5 million sold. I believe From Soft has proven there point once again. Make a great game with no BS and players will line up. It is just frustrating the rest of the industry looks at BG3 or Elden Ring as some anomaly or something. No, make good games, it really is that simple.

[@glowerworm]

We're literally in a golden age for video games idk why ppl think it's only BG3 and ER. Deathloop, Pentiment, and Hellblade 2 are all 10/10s from just the last 3 years. There are at least a hundred 9/10s from that timeframe, too

[@noamias4897]

@@glowerworm you’re right but Elden Ring and BG3 are in a league of their own when it comes to mainstream popularity, most other popular games coming out are either live service games, rereleases or games with micro transactions like Ubisoft and Bethesda. Sony has rereleased three times as many games as they have made new single player games, and produced as many live service games as single player

[@tonybogard6888]

Placidusax’s heads on Bayle’s back is a fine example of FromSoft’s “show don’t tell” storytelling mixed with earning the lore by exploration and reading descriptions.

[@Caladir]

Earning story and lore feels like best way to put it. Maybe that's why it's good and rewarding

[@TheParaxore]

@@Caladir also why it's so compelling, Everytime you make a lore connection yourself it feels like your learning forbidden knowledge. If the game just spelled it out then you would miss out on that completely

[@MrRenanHappy]

The dragon NPC explicitly tells that both suffered extreme wounds in their battle

[@tonybogard6888]

@@MrRenanHappy I was referring to Bayle having the missing heads attached to his back upon seeing his model up close.

[@noamias4897]

Elden Ring’s lore is my favorite of any fictional setting, so every lore discovery is like a treat. “Earning the lore” is spot on

[@Brendangotgudgaming]

Who the hell would ever play a game like this that doesn't like exploration that's literally insane exploration is probably the best time I have with the game it's awesome

[@jellydamgood]

Five minutes off the beaten path to get that shard is too tedious for those so called souls fans.

[@JoeNeutrino]

Why would someone buy an open world game in the first place if they don't like exploring?

[@potatoeOnRooftop]

It's like this: oh I beat the boss? Nice now I can slowly walk around and obsess about the implications of what I see and read 😂

[@Getrftarshodim]

Because the base game is big enough. DLC is just too big for a game that big, imo.

[@potatoeOnRooftop]

@@Getrftarshodim I wholeheartedly disagree. First you can cut down that time immensely if you want. Second it's 2 years after release. I was really really glad I had a full game to explore again. Took me over 60 hours and for me that is money well spent. I think they did a tremendous job to capture the sense of discovery from the main game again here and also give players that just want to get through it the possibility to do so too albeit a difficult one.

[@M.J.J.-W]

Love the talk about games not being for certain people. I tried playing games a couple times in the first 20 years of my life and just couldn’t get into them, never finished more than half a game except a Zelda game and ff7. Then I tried dark souls 1 and legit in the first 30 minutes of that game I became a gamer for the first time in my life. Gaming as a hobby for me is the sole responsibility of Fromsoft. I hit the asylum demon and was like wait this can’t be real surely I’m supposed to just skip this… nope I gotta beat him to move past the very beginning of the game. I was in love, dark souls spoke deeply to my dark soul and fromsoft just keeps getting better and better at what they do

[@biggums5]

Igon was fantastic. After hearing him shout about Bayle all the way from that first area, I'd have felt bad NOT summoning him.

[@varrusironfist4335]

HAIL OF HARPOONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@figuures6098]

CURSE YOU, BAAAYLEEE!!!

[@smokey0111]

I forget when Cowboy said it, but soon after he mentioned that the dragon hunter katana just shreds Bayle I tried it myself. This is my second run through the game, but I'm still surprised I one shot it.

[@MattR8605]

@@smokey0111 that katana is perfect for smacking dragons right in their faces. That’s essentially how I beat Bayle. Patiently waiting for a good L2 right to his face with Igon screaming his battle cries off to the side.

[@TheUnseenKrab]

Victory war cry he yells if he lives when and him kill bail. 😎

[@samthompson261]

that boar charge hitbox is messed up I agree with cowboy

[@BasketCase-rr7tx]

I don’t think I’ve avoided it once. Looks like I’m in the clear and then will suddenly get hit.

[@enman009]

For real. The fight is fine but hitboxes need some tweaking.

[@jimjammh]

It’s just a bit unfair you can roll it even mid rolling but I’m pretty sure it’s frame perfect or close to it. It feels like rolling through godskin when he does his roll attack

[@enman009]

​@@jimjammhGodskin is very consistent since it's all about position based responses, which you can read and bait. Gaius is a bit janky but just needs a hitbox tweak, even if the fight is consistent and moderately easy.

[@sPaCe_NiNjA187]

You have to roll into the boar. You can’t roll to sides or back.

[@ryankeith2712]

It’s crazy to me that I think the Peak of the DLC was the Leda fight with all the allies. Easily the most emotional part of all of Elden ring

[@amysteriousviewer3772]

Finding Shaman Village and reading the lore of the items was the most emotional part for me. Paints Marika and the events of the Shattering and Elden Ring in a completely new light.

[@andrewbowen2837]

Even though the fight itself is cancer

[@ryankeith2712]

@@andrewbowen2837 nah your crazy, the moshpit is awesome

[@hododod246]

@@amysteriousviewer3772 what is that new light? Genuine question

[@amysteriousviewer3772]

@@hododod246 The way I understand it: After the Hornsent massacred Marika’s people and stuffed them into jars she had the goal of creating a world without suffering where these kinds of things could not happen to anyone else. Instructed by the Greater Will (though we now learned that it was just Metyr posing as an emissary of the Greater Will but who had not received true guidance for quite some time) she ascended to Godhood and tried to create a new world with perfect Order and Grace by sealing away the concept of death and dying itself and purging the Shadow Lands of the Hornsent and all things related to the Crucible before sealing it all away. When Mohg and Morgott were birthed with the horns indicative of the Crucible she realised that she could not deny her “rotten” roots and she herself was “impure” as well but she hid them away and proclaimed it a curse. But when Godwyn was assassinated she finally understood that even after everything she had done and all her good intentions could not prevent bad things from happening and felt betrayed by the Greater Will which lead to her shattering the Elden Ring and plunging the world she had created into chaos because of her grief.

[@n2nother]

My “elevator moment” was realizing there was a whole ass place and new avenues behind that big ass dead dragon.

[@treasurewuji8740]

Fuck....what dead dragon.l.............................

[@ricardodarcangelo2437]

I seen that area like 2 mins after stepping in the dlc, and spent like 10 hours trying to find the way. When I finally found it, it was exhilarating. Great design for traversing to new areas, very clever.

[@BlueMoonFuzz]

Mine was walk in to the stone coffin fissure

[@jlupilli]

@BlueMoonFuzz Yooo, same as me, I found it by total mistake. I was being chased by some stupid enemy, I was low on health and flasks, so I jumped down to hide, only to find out it led to a whole new area. I geeked the fuck out.

[@shutuppabs323]

FightinCowboy is literally that dude. Thanks for all your walkthroughs.

[@Dracobyte]

He is a great LP KZbinr.

[@Xayalan]

Entering hinterlands was so emotional for me for some reason. Goosebumps. Same for when I killed Leda and crew. It felt so somber and I just beat the sh*t out of them in quiet despair…like damn, I didn’t plan on betraying you guys but it’s what must be done. Also fighting BAYLE I had a huge swelling of emotions but locked tf in with Igon’s blood curling yells and first-try finished him. Fu*k. What a game man

[@icarusablaze1831]

@Xayalan I also first-tried Bayle to my immense surprise! Bayle was the only boss in the dlc that I beat on my first try. Igon's Captain Ahab monologue synced up with Bayle's second phase transformation and ost shift, and I was just completely blown away. I lost myself in that fight. So good!

[@benjaminsimmons4077]

Gene with Cowboy and Ruri?!?! Praise the sun

[@Dracobyte]

Praise it!

[@biggums5]

Gaius does have wonkey hit boxes. There were times I swear his charge would double clip me both his charge.

[@haruhidaso]

This is my favorite content that From ever created, and DS1 was never topped for me due to the Lordran exploration. I think Land of the Shadow’s exploration finally topped DS1 in my opinion.

[@glowerworm]

Same for me, but DS2 was previously my favorite. Just love the horseback travel thru ravines and forests while stopping to tackle every village or group. So much variety that goes for so long, nothing feels better than hitting night time after a full day of constant traveling and no graces to break immersion.

[@kingsgrave_]

I wasn't trying to speedrun it and thought I was taking my time but ended up beating the DLC in 20 hours. I beat all the remembrances and found all the areas myself without guides or help. Had a blast. My build was double colossal sword jump attack the enemy to death and my trusty Mimic Tear, gotta summon the homie. on the topic of Igon, its cool that Igon and Bayle the Dread is a GRRM reference to his character Aegon the Conqueror and Balerion the Black Dread.

[@blackybohead1313]

Dude I didn’t put that together about Igon and GRRM. that is so sick.

[@HolySok]

@@kingsgrave_ it's also a reference to Moby Dick. Bayle is Whale

[@HiroThatDude]

I'm still on my first play thru at 55hours and I still have 3 bosses left . I saved about three dungeons /caves throughout the map to come back to. The entire top left. I got the map now, but haven't explored it which is the ruah region. Honestly, when I heard everyone's playtime, I was like bro that's impossible. I spent 20 hours just in Grey Plains, and that was literally the surface and when I found the way down underneath the castle and around the water which took me like 2 to 3 different locations.

[@HossBullys]

@@scottdrew327that’s crazy. My blind playthrew was right around 30 hours and I explored and missed stuff. Now if I watched a guide or something probably quick as hell or like just didn’t explore and went threw dungeons and straight were I thought I’d beat game. But getting lost looking for things checking for walls and figuring things out is what takes awhile for me.

[@JT_No_Money]

Congrats to Gene for one shotting cancer! Always nice to hear someone beating it and good luck keeping it gone for good!

[@Dracobyte]

Yeah, my cousin also beat cancer years ago.

[@NerdHerdForLife]

I was REALLY surprised by where Messmer was. Felt really not obvious.

[@balmain2496]

Romina isn’t the goddess of rot, isn’t the originator or rot or otherwise. She’s just a priestess that happened to find solace in the rot after her church was burned by Messmer’s troops. Malenia was already a thing way before that, and it’s heavily implied in the base game that the rot comes from an outer god.

[@XeromusPrime]

Seriously loved this conversation! SotE is not perfect, but it is absolutely incredible.

[@Dracobyte]

Yeah!

[@mintparfait]

Thanks for the content! I haven't beat the last boss because I'm stuck. But at least I don't have to worry about spoilers anymore lmao.

[@dusttodust915]

same here, radahn is way too over powered. Once he gets into the second phase it's basically game over, the window for hitting him without trading hits is way to damn small.

[@thecasualfly]

​@@dusttodust915phase 2 wrecks me too

[@Saiyan0805]

I explored Shadow Keep completely backwards, gained entrance from the back, and worked my way from top to bottom. Beat Messmer before exploring the bottom half, and i, too, accidentally ran into his boss room as i was exploring the top rafters and fell down to my death and chose to respawn at a statue of Marika. I hadn't been to it and must have been in the vicinity when falling to my death. Super awesome experience

[@debbiewilson4996]

I don't understand why people want to rush through this after waiting 2yrs for it.

[@epsilon1372]

i kind of agree but i also kinda get it. While i had a blast exploring, i like getting to all the crazy bosses. elden ring punishes you for running straight to all the bosses and banging your head against the wall when you get stuck. Previous souls games, namely ds3 and sekiro, were far more linear and rewarded perseverance. Obviously its still their fault to an extent, but i do get why people rush things

[@SandyCheeks1896]

I really enjoyed following Ratatoskr and Quelagg’s streams once i was done. I’m a trucker and i mostly listened to their reactions on the VODs

[@apharys8921]

You could argue that any build or item that allows you to ignore what bosses are doing is cheating. At the same time it's a game, as long as you're having fun you're doing it right. If you feel you're not having fun by using summons or magic then don't use them but that doesn't make people who do enjoy them wrong. On the difficulty I felt the Scadutree blessings didn't do enough for the first couple bosses but after that they were fine. I had +4 on the first bosses and was dying in 2-3 hits while dealing no damage, it just felt bad. With +11 on Messmer it felt challenging but doable, same with +8 on the Putrescent Knight. I also changed by build around that time so that could have made the difference as well. Collecting the fragments your first time through is perfectly fine and they carry over to NG+ which is great. Running a new character through the dlc has the same problems as going through the base game again, there's a lot to collect from a massive world and much of it can get repetitive. But making a new character also isn't necessary since larval tears exist.

[@barsham7881]

14:33 it no other way around it, its a big world, once you discover its secretd the magic fells off, and we know it long its hard to want to go back in it

[@xXxHUNG0VERxXx]

Miyazaki uses summons confirmed

[@Dracobyte]

And there is nothing wrong with it.

[@aner_bda]

Anyone that thinks your Mimic Tear dies too easily, just equip Raw Meat Dumplings and Warming Stones. You don't need to use them, just have them on your bar, your Mimic Tear will then use them to heal itself AND you. Makes it much more tanky.

[@bobdobbz9334]

Solaire was a summon in DS1. And if you didn't summon him, we are not the same. Praise the Sun!

[@jedddock]

The shaman village was definitely that moment for me. That music made me sit down and just chill out for 10 minutes.

[@shawnfausey]

I love the Scadu fragment system! I just wish they were better hidden and also every run of the DLC you do they would be randomly generated to different places that way no 2 runs could be the same. and that way you cant look up to find where they are

[@glowerworm]

I love the system too but I wish they'd reset in ng+. I understand why they don't but it's such a shame that the only way to tackle the dlc with fresh scadu levels at super high level would be to purposely avoid the dlc for each playthrough. The base game suuuucks to replay

[@Dracobyte]

Thank you for another great collaboration episode!

[@primarchlogarius]

This was a fun podcast. It was nice to listen to all 3 of you. I agree with Gene too on the SOTE OST. They really came back to form. I have such vivid memories of Bloodborne and DS3 soundtracks. While Elden ring OST was great, some of the boss fight songs weren’t captivating. But with the DLC, I am listening to all the boss fight songs on repeat. Especially PC Radahn, Rellana and Bayle. You can visualize the phase 2 so clearly in all of those tracks. Truly well done!

[@bleedszn]

37:30 the reason why ppl talk sh*t ab mimic is the same reason why he’s laughing at gene’s strat w heal from afar😂😂- we all know why the summon discourse exists

[@swearfest4338]

I find that the exploration was fun the first time but the second time I never want to do it again and find it so boring. It feels like the run back that everyone complains about in all the other games

[@6FootVampire]

If youre fed up, thats the end. A game isnt suppose to last forever. Maybe you pick it up in a couple of years

[@LordlyWeeb]

I have no problem with people using summons, but it's absolutely valid for people to feel like they make the game too easy, and thus not want to use them. It's not necessarily an elitism thing, it's just how they find their fun in the game. They're playing how they want to. The problem with some (only some) of the dlc fights is that they're in a strange place where they're too hard solo, and too easy with spirit summons. There's no middle ground. And while Fromsoft may want you to use summons, most bosses don't actually feel designed for them. I've been helping people fight dlc bosses and they change targets on a whim in a very unnatural way. They don't feel like they're designed for multiple targets, regardless of developer intention.

[@dusttodust915]

They don't make the dlc easier, they're almost required in the dlc as far as the bosses go.

[@NicolaCoinMel]

I've found this problem too. I don't use summons if I can, and I took down Messmer without tear or any cheese tactic, but I had to use the mimic on some bosses because how stupidly hard and not fun they were (commander gains I am pointing at you).

[@8megabytes0]

​@@NicolaCoinMel "commander gains" got me 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jellydamgood]

Miyazaki uses summons, so all the no summoning screeching crowd can just go join dung eater with his dung eating.

[@prasurjyasarma7505]

I am in ng+ completed base game without summons going through the dlc, I had to use summons coz the bosses are in somewhat in the middle ground of difficulty for me. If I solo them I get their health down to almost 50 to 70% most of the time but I cant really kill them (maybe if I try like 200 time prob could but no patience) but when I use summons I could get like 2 to 3 extra hits that is required to kill them, so I dont know bosses are kindof in a wired spot. But the love the dlc.

[@biggums5]

I went through Shadow Keep backwards. Found the church district and Scardurtree aclvatar before the keep proper

[@Moody.Smiruai]

same

[@bobdylanlovr69]

@@biggums5 I went in through the back but have yet to find this scadutree avatar

[@joemurray]

Everyone smash the like button, awesome we have this type of content with amazing people

[@Dracobyte]

Yeah, it is really good!

[@dusttodust915]

The leda fight is required, cause the door to progress to redahn is blocked off by a smoke wall.

[@RampidWarthogStudios]

My interpretation is the ancient dragon was hunting Bayle and it's the one that slaughtered all those dragons. Makes more sense than Bayle killing his own kin

[@michaelsiegfried3878]

@@RampidWarthogStudios There were two drakes fighting each other, also doesnt bayle eat other dragons?

[@RampidWarthogStudios]

@@michaelsiegfried3878 yeah I don't really have a reason other than they are animals and animals like territory. I just lean that way because the dragon priest lady says she's hunting Bayle. And there's several dead dragons leading down to the ancient dragon.... it just makes more sense in my head cannon

[@michaelsiegfried3878]

@@RampidWarthogStudiosyea I like the theory, and the one item is made from eating an ancient dragon

[@RampidWarthogStudios]

@@michaelsiegfried3878 that's what I like about these games. You're given clues and can come to your own answers for both big and small things. Very fun.

[@lowtierstears4938]

It makes you do the invasion there is fog on the door just incase yall are still wondering

[@spacesloth9529]

Rurikhans right, if you zoom in on base game armor vs dlc armor, the finer details are a lot less blurry with the new stuff. So i think they did pump the graphics a bit

[@Dracobyte]

Good to hear that!

[@Charsept]

47:47 same here. I've started the dlc on 5 different save files and I've never found the wolverine claw man.

[@Brendangotgudgaming]

What he's right at the start

[@Luxuriouswhite]

My only complaint with the DLC has to do with some of the more open areas. They felt quite empty. I would comb through them like a mad man for items and secrets and there just wasn't much there. The world design is incredible and like nothing I have played, but damn there was some missed opportunities in the open sections.

[@pamafa3147]

Actually, the frenzy Winter Lanterns are called "Aging Untouchables"

[@BartekBucher]

How did everyone move past cowboy’s hilarious mimic ya momma joke lol

[@ashtonarizmendez698]

Praise the sun Arm your mimic with fire pots while you use frost buildup so you can just keep getting procs

[@UrbanRave1982]

25:33 I agree. I always look at cowboys let's play or walkthrue. Not because I need it but it feels like I'm playing the game with a companion. For the most part I do almost the same things he does. But sometimes I wander of on my own. Then I pause the video Until I get back on the journey

[@elchris87]

nice to finally see the fighting cowboy i been watching you since dark souls 2 appreciate all your good work

[@tacothunder2298]

As an INT spellcaster I'm proud to say my main right hand weapon is the Fallingstar Beast Jaw, and my secondary is a staff.

[@ioneil1808]

Finally killed Radahn. What an adrenaline rush.

[@xactly8211]

100% agree with Cowboy, anyone complaining about difficulty in this game is having skill issues. with magic, ash, summons, and no LvL Cap, it's not harder than any casual hack and slash game.

[@Dracobyte]

Yup!

[@NerdHerdForLife]

This was probably the first time I went in 100% blind and it was for sure worth it.

[@sakuranohana1014]

In a world full of magics and zombies. Thou fight with shield and sorceries. Ignore those dare say its cheese. Feel happy feel no worries.

[@ZPotCat]

you can kill Gaius on horse, you have to attack on opposite side of his sword

[@DJIronChef]

First build I used was Dragon/arcane with bleed. Switched to lightning when I got the Death Knight set with the flowerstone gavel and did massive damage with lightning incants on top of its debuff. Next I used a Flame Knight build with Messmer's spear and his fireball incant, dragon flame and bayle's eruption. Now I'm using Ansbach's set with blood oath incants since they increase the damage and the forked spear with blood tax also getting the boost from the armor set; like 2 or 3 jabs procs bloodloss

[@animeproblem1070]

I beat Gaius mounted if you want to do it you basically have to hug his boars midsection it actually is a little fun i do think they should drop the damage he does to torrent down otherwise torrent is so mobile it becomes a really fun back and forth chase around the arena where you run after him when he runs back for a charge and you're dancing around with double jumps when it works it works so well

[@jimjammh]

Gaius was low for me on first playthrough but I really enjoyed him on my second playthrough once i learned his moveset

[@PowderKeg3838]

The game tells you in the library early that it is Radahn in Mohg's body. It is revealed in the Fraya and Ansbach quest.

[@Jsobone]

In the abyssal woods I actually ran into a winter lantern before I saw any messages. I was exploring the outside skimming the walls and climbing around. Shot one with a bow and it teleported. After not being able to do damage other than when it was lunging at me...I tried a bunch of things and landed on the parry that eventually worked. Then I killed all of them.

[@mistakai4226]

My first kill on radahn was a mage using only great glintstone shard. It was one of very few spells that was fast enough to punish him.

[@aayushdasgupta9754]

So for the Bayle and Ancient Dragons lore, 1. Placidusax did not lose his heads in the battle. He defeated Bayle, after which Bayle tried to fuck off. Placi bit him with 2 of his heads, but Bayle ran with such force, that he tore of the two heads that bit him trying to stop him. So, basically Bayle challenged Placidusax, probably to death, lost tried to run away, and injured Placidusax doing it. 2. Regarding the Ancient Dragon before Bayle, I think the ancient dragon reached the highest point before the flame lightning started falling randomly. That sort of scared Senessax. We are small, so the Flame Lightning doesn't really matter to us, but if you are the size of Senessax, you are getting bombarded. So, he may have been looking for reinforcements from the Ancient Dragons or just biding his time, not wanting to go up due to the flame lightning, and down due to the other drakes in the way. What would have been fun, would be to drop him in the abyssal woods. He tried to escape from Bayle, was injured, crash landed in the abyssal woods to the north west of the Jagged peak, and now, is infected by Madness, due to the despair of losing his battle. Then his lightning would become another form of frenzied flame lightning, which we could get as an incantation that does Lightning damage and Madness buildup. Would be really cool. Great podcast man!

[@Rincatt]

what are you smoking bro

[@bobdylanlovr69]

I was really hoping to see a madness dragon

[@DrkTide7]

What are you on about? I’m all for head cannon but sometimes but this is pretty much fan fiction.

[@biggums5]

Just beat last boss with the big bonk, podcast is just in time!

[@ioneil1808]

Got him with Anvil Hammer. Bonk FTW

[@NerdHerdForLife]

Upon first playrhough, SoTET is AT LEAST on par with Old Hunters, which was my previous favorite DLC. Now that I'm playing through on two other characters, it's MAYBE better than Old Hunters.

[@enman009]

I need to do a replay eventually. But what made you enjoy SoTE more than TOH?

[@YeOldeMachina]

Yooooo. Furnace Golem slander! Those things are so satisfying to no-hit. Also throwing pots into them and blowing them up is dope. They look amazing, too. They dont take long if you use the Lance Talisman and a bonk weapon

[@amysteriousviewer3772]

2 viscerals is still to much. Maybe 1 that takes a bit longer to proc. It takes like 3-5 minutes of mindless slashing ans occasionally jumping.

[@Budd631]

8 of them is just stupid. 2 would’ve been fine. One armored and one not.

[@YeOldeMachina]

@@amysteriousviewer3772 you dont have to do viscerals at all. You can knock them down and throw pots into them for an instakill

[@amysteriousviewer3772]

@@YeOldeMachina not every one, only certain ones. I tried.

[@YeOldeMachina]

@@amysteriousviewer3772 you just have to time it right. If you just knock them down they stop burning full force and they wont explode. If you either a) do a visceral and throw them after they re-ignite, or b) wait until they re-ignite on their own and toss them in, then it will kill them.

[@ChiefThanos]

"When our Shadows are suppressed or repressed in the unconscious long enough, they can even overtake our entire lives and cause psychosis or extreme forms of behavior, like cheating on one's partner or physically harming others." Carl Jung

[@Dracobyte]

Wow!

[@OGvCINDER]

Eldenring and the DLC is 10 out of 10 !!! From soft at its best

[@Dracobyte]

I am excited for the studio's future projects.

[@sixft_under]

First time i went through blind and on ng+ with a dex arcane build and was having a decently tough time, accidently got to the final boss a bit too quick, missed stuff in my map scouring, and failed npc quests. Started over on a regular game with a strength build and it felt perfect. Replicated my 1st and 2nd playthroughs on main game almost exactly. Godfrey did say "thy STRENGTH befits a crown" lol

[@BasketCase-rr7tx]

There is nothing wrong with using summons. However from reading what people have said, I think the issue with the DLC is that the people who dont enjoy using summons are finding the bosses too hard to beat solo, so its literally impossible for them to enjoy the game becuase using summons isnt fun for them.

[@jwollheim]

Sounds like they need to git gudder then. I always try bosses solo first but inevitably end up using summons if it’s too tough or I get too frustrated and/or don’t wanna respec. To do otherwise and complain it’s too hard is just absurd

[@HossBullys]

Bayle is my favorite boss fight. I’m with cowboy mounted combat seems strange for me. Maybe cause I’m a bonk guy to

[@BasketCase-rr7tx]

@@jwollheim well I think people are in their right to want a game balanced around solo play when the series was always like that before Elden Ring. I get what Cowboy is saying by it being a different game, but it’s not really. We all know Elden Ring is basically just Dark Souls 4. It has all the same themes of the Dark Souls series, things just have different names.

[@endub6551]

Every boss felt balanced well without a summon to me just using a great katana, nothing special. Using the right defensive talismans for the bosses are also very helpful. You often find the best one in the area that boss is in. The most important one is very hidden though lol

[@NerdHerdForLife]

@@BasketCase-rr7tx The game is balanced just fine for solo players if you collect the stuff they put in there to balance the DLC like they mentioned well before the DLC released.

[@moonvioletkel]

This is so awesome!! 👏🏼

[@dusttodust915]

The fingerprint shield makes that big of a difference over other shields in the same category? Cause I was using the great shield you get from the blacknights with the big ass hammers and Radahn was constantly breaking my stance.

[@MrThephonypope]

Oh God I didn't realize those pots didnt run out, I've been avoiding those golems for so long wondering how the hell others were doing it so easily

[@lordthruxawe504]

Regarding the discourse on summons, it doesn't bother me if people want to use them. They wouldn't have been put in the game if they weren't intended for use. That being said, a lot of the time it almost doesn't feel like the AI of the bosses was intended for fighting multiple opponents. I sometimes hop in to my friends' games to help them out with certain bosses and often the fights devolve into the boss switching aggro between players. One player will grab the attention of the boss whilst the other heals and in turn does damage to the boss whilst it is preoccupied with another player. My own personal self-imposed rule is that I don't use summons unless there's more than one boss beyond the fog wall. If there's two bosses, I have no problem dropping a mimic tear because I usually hate duo bosses but having something to divert the attention of one of the bosses makes those fights more bearable. That being said, I think everyone should play the way they wish to and not care about judgement from elitists on the internet. I only impose the aforementioned rule on myself because I want to know that I am capable of killing hard bosses on my own with no aid, but others should just play the way that is the most fun to them personally. That can be doing a level one run with a base level weapon to having a full summon build with buffs and magic.

[@UrbanRave1982]

I did shadow keep backwards on my second play. I came in from the long tunner then I drained the water and then I went in and worked my way down

[@KORPAS34]

Beast Claw is my favourite weapon of the dlc man, it's so much fun.

[@seamonkey8435]

I don’t know how I feel about Radahn being the final boss. It cool he’s in his prime. But just repetitive

[@danielmegow966]

Oh man the hype is real

[@Siri-Lankka]

The fact they hid two big areas behind an illusionary wall and a gesture was a little messed up. I could not figure it out on my own. But loved the dlc, beautiful way to close out Elden ring

[@zora508]

I think the sacdu blessing system is the correct move to balance the 6 i have just one problem with it, and it's that you need exactly 50 fragments for level max and those are the only ones avaliable in the shadow lands. Instead of having absolutely horrible useless items like smithing stone 1 in some hidden areas but a scadu tree fragment there. This is exactly how they did it with the golden seeds

[@figuures6098]

Idk how people were beating the game in 10-30 hours with high exploration and completion. I got to the final boss after about 40 hours and looked at my map, and saw that I missed like the whole right side and bottom left of the map lol. I personally loved the Radahn twist at the end, he’s the biggest chad in Elden ring, and he deserves to be more than just an early-mid game boss like in base game

[@themurdock619]

The difficulty is I think right on track. It should be hard and fair and the type of hard people talk about these days isn't hard. Honestly if you could take a little more damage and the bosses have more health I think that play style would be even better. A longer fight Honest all main boss should be very hard even at the beginning ans your forced to come back later. Because like what God gets kill be a lvl 12. Really

[@DeadSoulsMN]

I do bosses without summons or co-op because I like the challenge. I found the dlc very similarly tuned to base game in terms of difficulty if you use the scardutree fragments. Even without using status

[@OGvCINDER]

Fighting Cowboy is the best !!!!! His walk throughs are hands down the best . He is the goat 🐐

[@DeadSoulsMN]

Radahn has blood flame in phase 2 as well which is interesting. He also gains holy resistance

[@dylhas1]

This is the perfect podcast crew for souls games. Maybe add Ratatoskr and it’d be even better

[@Grubkiller35]

Your heard it hear "take your cloths off" -gene

[@bgill7475]

10:38 it's not Radahn in his prime, that's him shoved into Mohg's body and then in phase 2 he has Miquella on his back spamming you with holy attacks.

[@stephenmclemore7614]

Half way through the dlc made me start a new game. I wanna use some of the dlc stuff in the base game. That FP talisman and a few of the easy to get weapons. I just wish the dancer blades were better. They look so frigging cool..

[@michaelsiegfried3878]

Equip one in main hand and use a better weap in the other and you can still use the special

[@edwardconner3335]

Hey, I've played longsword & shield in every souls game since demon's souls and stomped every enemy in every game with my trusty sword.

[@ryanzz1357]

The allies fight I didn’t do any quests so I got those blood dudes with diggers from mohg and it was awesome 😂

[@Zaney_]

I have to disagree with the statement that "not using summons is doing a challenge run". How is no summons a challenge when its a playstyle choice? That's like saying playing on anything else but easy mode is doing a challenge run. The summons, spells, strong weapon ashes, Great Shield.. Etc. are your difficulty slider baked into the game design. Not using summons is not doing "a challenge". its just a normal run, i can say that because the bosses aren't designed to be fought with summons in mind because if they do that, solo-ing the bosses wouldn't be made possible and openings wouldn't exist unless you had a summon to distract.

[@richardjamesIII]

I agree about the furnace golems, although almost all of them can be trivialized by finding a route to get above them and throw hefty fire pots (doesn't even have to be the furnace pots) into their basket. It takes around 5 pots to do it. I believe all but two golems can be killed in this manner. Also, doing Farum Azula is VERY helpful, because those last few bell-bearings make weapon upgrades (which you WILL need) much more feasible.

[@D3athL1vin]

1:10 Romina did NOT create scarlet rot she weaved it into her own pink strain mixed with the power of the Bud

[@mr.dolphin8345]

The problem a lot of the community has with summons is that they trivialize fights too much - even on accident. For example, a mimic tear with the pizza cutter just blows past bosses that you sometimes don't even see their moves. And if someone were to start playing Elden Ring tomorrow and find that combo on accident, the game has a high chance to become boring after awhile. Ultimately, play how you like - I am not trying to gatekeep. I just highly question the implementation and balancing of the summons as a whole.

[@AntiSocialismo50]

The bosses are unfair

[@mr.dolphin8345]

@@AntiSocialismo50 lol

[@carlosstruck1996]

Fair, but there is a ton of summons, yet people only use mimic tear and then complain about how trivialize fights. You can use the shield guys, or the pod puppet, or anything else. It can trivialize fights, but bleed can trivialize fights, ice can trivialize fights, magic can trivialize fights. Just enjoy the game

[@supersayan1962]

@@carlosstruck1996 at least those builds have to interact with the boss

[@carlosstruck1996]

@@supersayan1962 just enjoy the game

[@reverb2516]

this was such an amazing cast to listen to. thank you everyone involved.

[@CrYtex2100]

I actually want to bring up a point regarding something with what the lighting does in scadu atlus, I play on series s and I notice enemies de/respawning almost like their spawn is affected by the lighting in some really weird way.

[@BakesKamuari]

Boy this is gonna be good beat the dlc 2 nights ago and yeah it’s amazing

[@PotatoRankEX]

2:23:00 Fyi the lads at Digital Foundry dislike the overabundance of UE games, so its fine. (Mostly cause UE has the stutter issue for compilation).

[@yezzariael965]

Elden Ring was my first Soulsgame ever, and even I didn't found the DLC too hard. There were so many mechanics, that helped me all they way through. You die - you get better, or better gear/build ... like Diablo III and Belial at the beginning. ( but i'll still hate the furnace gollums like the sniper-lobster with all my heart) and btw as a mage - the impenetrable thorns are sooo broke :D.

[@dusttodust915]

hope they do a elden2 or another dlc. Simply cause they have the hole estal invasion thing with the edlen beasts being vassals for even greater entities.

[@epsilon1275]

Gaius charge gets invalidated by light roll, just pointing that out for anyone still struggling

[@jimjammh]

You can roll it at mid weight too

[@epsilon1275]

@captainjimmy5571 well yeah but a lot of people have trouble doing that with the longer hitbox. And most people underestimate how much light roll actually changes things.

[@behemothking6081]

Yeah doing this helped me out to be able to learn his moves so that I could switch back to medium roll for better armor

[@AndrewH9999]

@@epsilon1275 this is not true

[@epsilon1275]

@AndrewH9999 you can just try it yourself, fully go left or right on his charge while light and it'll only hit you If you don't time it right.