Let's Play! Elden Ring -42- Mountaintops of the Giants Intro

[@elizabethcassidy8082]

Huh, I wonder why the mountaintop of giants is so... spectral. I don't have a good theory for it yet so I'm stoked to hear everyone elses!

[@jeremykscott]

I didn't want to mention it since I happened last weekend to be entirely too weak to not go to Nokron, that there are some interesting things in common with the ethereal nature of the mountaintop, but I don't want to say much more until we get to Nokron in this playthrough! (Just a happenstance of poor impulse control that I went another direction than Dave LOL)

[@Bobi816]

Was wondering the same thing, ghost trees and ghost animals, there must be something to nature being represented in that way here

[@pikiputac8200]

Forget about rats, dogs or gravity LUL cat statues are Daves worst enemy heh ;)

[@jeremykscott]

Dave, I can't watch an episode of Souls game with Giants in it without telling you how confused I was for the better part of 30 days when I could never find Giant Dad on dead servers after your lore video from DS1 (way before the remaster too).

[@matthewmcdonald5073]

You had the option to talk to Melina at 40:10

[@alexthebasilisk]

I really wish the area of Zamor was a little bit more fleshed out. Feels like there should be a bit more there. Also, since the Zamor peeps were allies of the Erdtree presumably, why is their town in ruins?

[@nonimport-ante]

to be fair most off tlb are in ruins and what isn't, still not in good shape

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

It's simple really... "Let people play games however they want to." It's not like Mr. Hardcore Gamer lost a limb because I summoned some spirits in my video game lol I never understood why people would gatekeep a franchise which was very niche from the beginning anyway Also those catacombs were some of the worst! :D I'm not 100% sure if it was that one, but I believe these catacombs have like 5 floors and they all look the exact same except for some enemy placements. Specificily designed to mess with your orientation

[@yingtao6927]

I think you misunderstood his comment about spirit ashes. It isn't about gatekeeping but playing the way you want. Most fights with more than one boss were really hard if you're not using spirit ashes or overleveled because you had to fight multiple very aggressive bosses at the same time and in most cases it felt like they're balanced to be done with spirit ashes or summons so if you wanted to do every fight solo it felt like you couldn't. That being said with the patch 1.04 changes to AI the balance is a lot better because if there are multiple bosses only one will actually be really aggressive and the other one will be less aggressive and in most cases just wait. Also if you're using spirit ashes boss aggro is determined by whoever did more damage so you no longer can use spirit ashes to tank bosses for you and completely trivialize them.

[@elizabethcassidy8082]

A little random, but I still haven't quite grasped what an Empyrean is in this context? It does mean of the heavens, so are they akin to the outer gods???

[@jeremykscott]

"Of one God" so lets see...Ranni...Malenia (which OMG I have to hear what you guys think when you get there bc I have so many ideas and I'm easily 20 hours off from even being in the mountains on my play...cirumstance of choice in direction)...Miquella...and Marika. These are the only Empyreans we know exist (Importantly Rennalla and Godfrey are not either Demi-Gods, or Empyreans). Malenia and Miquella we can explain pretty easy as we have all sort have, in some debate or another in the capacity of how it works, acknowledged that Radagon and Marika were pretty far into the process of remerging or merging by the time they birthed the twins. So, our questions in what an Empyrean is...really comes from Ranni. The only good explantion I have for this unfortunately for some of my ideas supports Dave's ideas of Marika/Radagon, in that, the only way Radagon and Rennalla could have had an Empyrean child is if Rennalla was not involved at all, and Ranni was Marika/Radagon's gift to her from the shard of the Unborn. If it was only Radagon who was responsible for giving Rennalla a child, Ranni, as a gift of departure she's an Empyrean bc she only really came from Radagon and the Shard of the Ring he left....it also kind of supports my theory too...if they're the same person, why wouldn't Marika want to seed the new Sun and Moon herself? After plotting the demise of her sacraficial son, Godrey, to seed death back to the land, and her daughers, Melina and Ranni, the Sun and the Moon Rebirthed from Her, the right to seed a new future with balance in abscence of the Greater Will would just be once the Greater Will was destroyed/cut off, and our player character would presumably be in possession of the Elden Ring to stabalize this. ....I dunno bout you but imma get me an Elden Ring LMAO!!

[@elizabethcassidy8082]

@@jeremykscott a delicious theory! Out of curiosity, where are you getting the Elden Ring empyrian definition? I'm perturbed that it hasn't organically appeared in the places we have hung out

[@jeremykscott]

@@elizabethcassidy8082 I genuinely cannot remember where it is stated that Empyrians are of 1 God, but it's stated a couple of times, and unfortunately I'm pretty sure one of them is Ranni's dialogue before repeat, and the other may be a cutscene! Honestly, I looked today and I can't, like you, find a specific item that says that.

[@nonimport-ante]

i want a game that starts out as dark souls but as you level it gradually turns into devil may cry

[@elizabethcassidy8082]

Hey Dave, Latenna is the Albinauric, not that Carian knight boss. Remember, she's trying to get her people back to the Haligtree?

[@DaveControlLive]

Yeah, but you face a projection of her in Caria Manor - that was what I was trying to reference. :)

[@elizabethcassidy8082]

@@DaveControlLive Huh, I forgot about that! Thanks!

[@RunEscaqe3]

The big whip fire dude drops all of the Fire Prelate armor as well as the whip. The helmet and the whip i find the most interesting. The helm pretty much says that it is a crucible and the higher the faith the more fire it holds. I assume that the Prelates with their flame over flowing must have had insane amounts of faith in that case. Also the whip was used for "religious encouragement" and was modeled after the briars of sin. The thing that confuses me is that there seems to be three different outer entities with similarities. The Blood Star, the Fell God of the giants, and the Formless Mother. I wonder if just as how some speculate the frenzied flame and the greater will are part of a greater being, the fire/fire blood/blood thorns, are part of something bigger. Juno Hoslow is a filthy casul pvper using Blood Hound Step and whip smh the pvp community will be malding over it... Also The spirit ash is Latenna I think you were thinking of Loretta.

[@DaveControlLive]

Yes, I was, thank you!

[@Rannos22]

The catacomb cats are the worst