The Elden Ring Mechanic That Divides Reddit

Who could ever think that something as innocuous as swapping weapons could make an entire website angry... well, that's Elden Ring for you. Wether it's PvP or PvE, hard-swapping has been a controversial subject for a while. Ranni the Witch and Sorceress Sellen tell you all about it!
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#eldenring #ai #eldenringpvp

[@OnlyWaifuYT]

Ever thought people could complain about something so dumb? What are your thoughts?

[@LyenWorks]

I may not be the best Elden Ring PVEr (more into Bloodborne honestly), but I never thought that ppl could complain so much about a mechanic that is viable in the game. If it was bad - they would have never put it into the game. Is that really hard to understand?

[@linkxswords8637]

It's so dumb, it's like saying "I don't want you to be able to beat me"

[@nitodealiexpress]

Deep down in reddit (and not so deep), people will fight about wether 2+2=4 or not

[@A13-.133]

They are just bad at the game.

[@Never_Winter]

nothing to complain about. if devs wanted to give you fair PVP fights or any other Good Duel staff...they will balance game differently and Elden Ring would be a different game. We have what we have, if its not forbidden it is allowed. Moonveil simps, frenzy fire Vyke rapists, some milkdrinker lovers of the katana. Doesent matter. Devs themselves allow this to happen. So embrace it, or call this shit and quite the game.

[@DarkHunterCXV]

The real question is: Why can't we open the craft menu if some rat is aggro on us. If hardswap was unintended they could block that too. Crafting is obviously the stronger mechanic.

[@Valema]

Imagine having infinite pots of sleep.

[@Blaublatt101]

​@@Valema honestly Infinite/farmable pots/Perfume bottles would be AWESOME, if you limit their use in PvE (like 10, even though you have the maximum number in your inventory). I would immedeatly start a Pot Perfumer

[@mememaria4073]

Especially when the enemy cant get to you but theyre still agro when youre like a mile away from them up a ladder or a cliff they cant jump up (and refuse to use the route you used for some reason) and you still cant even craft or even open map

[@huntresswizard569]

​@@Blaublatt101i mean u can run away from combat for a minute or 2 just to craft but i doubt people will let u go freely

[@Blaublatt101]

@@huntresswizard569 i mean unlimited pots in general, Like a mob that can drop them. but it's good that you can't craft in combat (pvp). for pve i wouldnt see a Problem

[@failegion7828]

Remember in the OG days people would parry you, equip an entire new set of gear, than still get that critical.

[@dorklord1804]

Honestly, it takes skill to do that. So if someone can pull that off; I think they should be allowed to.

[@DeadlockDrago]

Dark Souls 2 was by far the most absurd.

[@jonathanjoestar9317]

The amount of parry bs I saw in ds3 is crazy man, it always those nakeds with caestus

[@failegion7828]

@@DeadlockDrago Tbf there was the hug ghost and I believe the jester outfit to counter it.

[@xtanagaming1017]

​@@DeadlockDragoparry, flame swathe, great combustion, forbidden sun. Thank you for shopping at the Iron keep.

[@topcat59]

I really love the Cystalian’s unique little mechanic they have, which makes sense that you have to tenderize their hide before you can do any damage to them.😺

[@convergence1point]

You can also two hand a weapon on them. I discovered you can melt them as a faith build by using a flame art flaming strike. That ash of war is probably as deadly as moonveil. Its a but nuts how good it is even without the shard talismen.

[@Ghost_gc]

The funny thing is, an uchigatana can still wreck them after a couple of fully charged r2 breaks their skin. After that they're stunned with each hit. Speaking from experience in the haligtree.

[@Chilled_]

It reminds me of Demon Souls and how *punching* a skeleton can do more damage than slicing it. Great mechanic.

[@BerylLx]

I love the fact that a "cystalian" could just be a name for female omens

[@Xeno1_3]

You can easily beat them with any weapon jump and R2 after a couple of hits their armor breaks making it easy

[@jarreththomson4535]

for some reason my brain went to "equip a shield in mainhand and beat them with it" before going to a strike weapon... I still to this day dont know why i went to that as first choice against them

[@misery1500]

"Hey, as long as it works." in all seriousness I'd love to have seen that moment from you

[@jarreththomson4535]

I went sword and board on my first playthrough using a baemore and medium shield. smacked it, got bounced. tried the 2h thrust that claymores have and that bounced so that was both pierce and slash dmg out of the equation. so i swapped to 2handing my shield and proceeded to beat them to death with that@@misery1500

[@plipplop728]

That is just a very stupid thought process, which a lot of us did at some point in this game lmao. The first time I was fighting Rykard, I spent like 30 minutes thinking this boss is ridiculous with its HP, thought it's just typical Fromsoft, and I tried swapping different weapons/attack types to see maybe there's one that works. That was a core memory that keeps reminding me I'm not as smart as I think I am.

[@eviltoad746]

I used Godrick's Grafted Dragon (which I didn't even have the stats for) so don't worry too much lol

[@opusmagnus26]

I meanwhile unintentionally two-hand my shield in battle here and there while on the evasive. Not a fan of that happening.

[@MyJeer]

My only issue with hard swapping is the fact that the majority glitches, i.e. chainsaw, come from doing it.

[@shemsuhor8763]

Menus in general are always the buggiest thing in every game ever created. xdd

[@jonathanjoestar9317]

​@@shemsuhor8763 ahhh beautiful soul duping in dsr, good days

[@beanemperor4166]

Elden ring players when a boss changes moveset:😃 When a player does it:😡

[@snekcube107]

tell em to bring out the lobster

[@OnlyWaifuYT]

SATA ANDAGIIII

[@wealthybone2990]

Oh no not the lobsters! God they won't stop sniping me.

[@Unknown-mf7wh]

​@@OnlyWaifuYTMake Ranni say SATA ANDAGIII

[@floppymcflop5427]

Please man, tell em to bring out the lobster

[@WeeabooPocky]

OH MY GAH!!!

[@flavienmaillard3910]

They're the same person that complains about your "broken damage" while having 20 vigor

[@Warrior-Of-Virtue]

If the devs didn't want you to switch equipment mid-battle, they would make it impossible to access your inventory when you aggro something.

[@marystone860]

Yeah, like Dragonage Inquisition does, lol!

[@LordNexusTheFir]

Likely its for field battles, bosses, etc. For example if u didnt have something to stop scarlet rot on it'd be fucked to prevent u from entering the menu till u die & do it at the grace 😂. People like u would hate that.

[@gr33dl0cknein3]

There are already instances when players are forbidden from modifying loadout, like during animations and climbing ladders.

[@MamaTrixxieAsmr]

@@LordNexusTheFirnah, according to these people it’s your fault for not having preserving boluses on your item bar

[@fredbyoutubing]

Honestly, it could be unavailable in coliseum. Making it more about putting your build against an other.

[@TheLexere]

Redditors think that a build means using the same weapon for the whole game (and then complaining when their fire weapon deals low damage to the FIRE Giant) having another weapon to use it's some exploit or something

[@nitodealiexpress]

I absolutely adore the new sellen design!

[@huntresswizard569]

sorry to be that guy but sellen*

[@nitodealiexpress]

@@huntresswizard569 thanks, don't worry, i'll fix it now!

[@a_angry_bunny]

This has nothing to do with hard-swapping, but I like how you mentioned how easy it is to dodge lightning ram in a wide open space as the opponent in the video stands there and face tanks it.

[@lotusluminance5872]

For people trying to learn Hardswapping, like me: You can reorganise your inventory by sorting by Order of Acquisition and putting everything in the Chest at a grace, then taking it back in the order you want. Think of it as a cross. You want to be able to quickly access your swap weapons from your main weapon, so having these weapons in like a cross around the main weapon is the objective. The more likely you are to use the weapon, the closer it should be to your main one. As you're getting better eventually you can have them anywhere. Also, always leave the weapons and items you're NOT using at the chest! They'll just clog your inventory otherwise. An example of how I do it on my gravity strength build: I have Ruins Greatsword as my main weapon, then Radahn swords on the left for gravity kills, and a Guts sword with Waves of Darkness on the right, as my "get off me" option. Above, I have Fallingstar Beast jaw for long range, and below I have a halberd for chasedowns. Right below the halberd, I have the Radahn bow too. That's really simple to swap to in most cases, ASSUMING I'm not being blendered of course. I recommend looking at Saint Riot's inventory management in invasions for an example any player can pull off, it's really clean and he hardswaps consistently but not all the time. Steel, Jee and Chase are amazing at hardswapping and can do it between hits even, but they have like over ten thousand hours in the game and that's not the sort of skill level the average invader can get to in most cases.

[@delrunplays2903]

Order of Acquisition? Well, I guess you learn something new every day.

[@kiltysalter2966]

Best advice right here

[@atimholt]

The chest! that's brilliant! I've been struggling to imagine how to scroll through pages and pages of stuff.

[@rokva5771]

Chase is a fucking beast, one of the best players of Souls games I've ever seen, at least when it comes to pvp and the way he just keeps his friendly and joking personality, just shrugging off any salt that these games may induce upon the player.

[@UncleMerlin]

Holy. I've been playing since DS3 and I didn't realize this was how people like Chase and Lost organized their inventories to look so good

[@quassigio7395]

I hard swap myself but I’m not oblivious to the fact that it’s anti casual. Not even accounting for the hard swapping itself, simply having to farm the runes to buy smithing stones for dozens of weapons is already enough to steer most away from doing it.

[@FantomMisfit]

This game isn't for casuls they're supposed to git gud

[@quassigio7395]

@@FantomMisfit It's definitely not. its design philosophy emphasizes fairness and learning through experience rather than simply being punishing for the sake of it. Having to needlessly farm contradicts that flow. Also, if the game were catered solely for hardcore players, it would lose its most important customers: the casual gamers. Just look at something like retail World of Warcraft.

[@FantomMisfit]

@@quassigio7395 WoW is failing because it became p2w garbage. Also Why do people say "farm runes" like it's something that has to be done? I have never had to farm runes in any souls game ever. There are more than enough runes just in playing the game normally. Edit: WoWs decline can be linked to the WoW Token

[@Epsonea_482]

Mother Sellen on her way to dethrone Ranni once more :3

[@DTGeorge]

Bro make long form content or release Lannseax shorts

[@darkoutrage9339]

Ranni comeback is coming mark my words

[@johnmartin8733]

Enemy: *Hard swaps* Me: "Oh good, something fresh."

[@omarelfakihperez4466]

I actually envy the people who can keep their cool enough to hard swap mid fight, I know I would just panic

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

lol yeah I practice a little bit in PvE and CoOp but the invaders who do it in a flash second while getting chased is super impressive. Y'know what? The invader earned some space and caution approaching him. Don't be so greedy!

[@disparu6007]

Eh you just gotta organize your inventory a bit.

[@atimholt]

I'm 200 hours in and I still panic roll.

[@brendonwallace6640]

Bro it’s about keeping your inventory optimized that’s how they do it

[@disparu6007]

@TheDoc_K yeah just throw your trash away and remember your muscle memory slots. Also hope you don't pick up trash on accident because that shit always happens to me and fucks my weapon locations when I need it.

[@Shane_A_M]

I actually have two problems with it that weren’t addressed in this video. To be clear, I do support it, I like making builds that can use a variety of weapons and swapping to them to fit the situation requires a lot of thought. As a user, it’s fun, but on the receiving end I do have two things I don’t like about it. 1. It’s just kinda cringe to watch someone twitch about in the menus like they’re scared I’m going to jump them while they’re swapping. From my perspective, it’s more safe to stay back and be cautious while they swap to an unknown tool. So, there is this disconnect that’s created because my opponent acting scared and defensive, even though they have the advantage since they took advantage of created space to change their strategy. I’m the one that’s cautious, so them acting scared just looks ridiculous and takes me out of the battle. 2. Strategies that counter themselves are never good for the meta. Have you ever watched two twitchy hardswapers actually duel in a tournament? They hardly attack each other, they are just creating space to swap weapons over and over just to counter whatever their opponent switches to. It creates a defensive stalemate where the best move is always to switch weapons. If you are playing one of these duels it’s really engaging, like chess in a way, trying to find a strategic opening with mind games. But as a spectator… it looks really cringe to just see two tarnished twitch about in circles.

[@peri5552]

I tinker around with weapons, using non-meta weapons on duels, but I once encountered a person who uses most meta stuff known to men and cries when I hardswap for mirroring or more optimal setups.

[@B4dr4bbit]

Meta is for cowards

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

@@B4dr4bbit Well, it's more like for people who get salty at meta being used against them. Most people running hyper meta setups are either trying to make people angry or are already angry themselves and using a mean setup to vent their anger on others.

[@StormhawkJuzo]

I sometimes like to mess around with off meta if not straight up bad weapons and it is fun to beat people with those particular weapons but if my opponent is using the most meta stuff conceivable then you’re damn right I’m swapping weapon. I ain’t about to use a Blade of Calling against Halstoc with Flaming Strike lol.

[@Scriffer]

​@@monsieurdorgat6864 nail on the head tbh.

[@technicalman100]

I wish more people would use meta less, seeing night calvary glaive running R1 with flaming strike or sword dance is like seeing a player who wants their weapons to win for them, and not actually learn themselves. Saying that it's much worse when a player who knows their range, timing and spacing well with weapons pull out a meta set-up because then it's even easier for them,like a hot knife to butter. 😅

[@HighDarkDragon]

I think the crux comes from the eternal conflict between what's fun and what's effective. Personally, I tend to use non meta weapon like twinblades and scythes and non meta ashes or war like Ice Spear or Blood Blade, or full spellcaster builds, and especially the second case gets almost completely shut down by stuff like Storm Blade or Sacred Blade if the opponents decides that you're not doing what's fun for you. In an ideal game, everything would be fun and viable without the need to cycle through the entirety of the game's arsenal, stuff that *can and will* happen if you meet a particularly hungry opponent in the arena who's getting repeatedly outplayed by what you are using. It undoubtably gets annoying after a while when you're just looking to have fun with your build and tools, especially when the gap between meta and off meta is so large at the point that it pushes you to hardswap to something meta yourself to counter those guys if you want to have the slight chance of winning. This is the prespective of an off meta user, and I get both sides of the argument. My solution would be making what's non meta able to compete with the meta.

[@frogfrog_4]

My only though about swapping is that, since there is a hard-swap, weapons in your 2nd and 3rd slots shouldn't count towards weight limit. The only purpose of those slots is quality of life, if you can afford the weight. So why do those weapons even weight?

[@Arcessitor]

Because you're clearly dealing with a system designed to not make you have infinite options. This video is kind of cope. The fact you can change equipment mid-battle is just a function of the fact you can open your menu, which is designed as a way to never pause the actual combat.

[@frogfrog_4]

@@Arcessitor if it's designed to never pause combat, why can you use the menu in the combat? The menus are locked during animations, so they clearly could lock it during fighting. Elden ring has a 'in-fight' detection, so why not use it if the game was designed how you said it was?

[@delrunplays2903]

I'd say they have weight because they're far easier to swap. I usually keep my bow in the quantum realm until I need it, but I sure as heck don't have the skill to whip it out during combat. If I need it during combat, I'm losing my hat. And my gloves. And maybe my shoes. All before combat starts or else when I'm in a safe-for-five-seconds nook. I have to agree with it not being a glitch. It may not be unintentional, per se - swapping mid-combat, I mean - but if FromSoft hasn't bothered to change it (and it would be an easy change) for the past four games, then they clearly don't consider it to be contrary to their game design.

[@shemsuhor8763]

@@Arcessitorthe video completely collapses on itself after 5 minutes, it's just cope. It's undeniable that hardswap does break game mechanics. Personally, I don't really care. But some kind of argument like "pff, ackshually I'm not doing anything wrong at all git gud" is just untrue. The entire purpose for hardswap is to make a metagolem that doesn't dip lower than normal roll who has access to multiple tool sets for a variety of encounters. You *can't* do that with softswap unless you're playing with light equipment. Either light armors, or light weapons. People aren't hard swapping to different short swords. They're hardswapping different collosals or mid weapons that would cost you 40 lbs+ of equip weight to carry in soft slot. Anyone implying anything else is being dishonest. Again, I don't really care about hard swapping, it's clearly something you can learn and employ. But trying to assert "it doesn't break the game" is simply dishonest. The only reason people do it to begin with is because it specifically breaks one of the systems in the game.

[@eldenlean5221]

​​​@@shemsuhor8763 or maybe, just maybe...both soft swaps and hard swaps are situational and meant to be used in diferent scenarios? Soft swaps, are consistant, nearly imposible to punish and even harder to mess up, and they cancel recovery frames on top(blessed frosty handy tech). Hard swaps, offer much more variety, while being inconsistant, punishable, and harder to pull off. While being completely locked off until your atack animation is over. Not to mention the weapon that you are swapping to doesnt magically lose its weight value, you still have to account for its weight the moment you use it. Idk man its seems like you are the one coping.

[@tek512]

I'm of two minds on hardswaps as a whole. On the one hand, it makes for some great versatility. You only need so much stamina if you take carryweight issues out of the equation, and that's great. Not to mention being able to near-effortlessly stomp anyone who doesn't do it. On the other hand, a lot of people now use macros for it instead of skill. *This* is a problem. Granted, it's not hard to do in the first place. People tend to overstate the necessary skill. Basic knowledge of spacing, a sorted inventory, and a bit of memorization are all you need. Macros remove *all* skill requirements along with rendering the risks inherent to swapping mid-fight negligible. The one point people against it have I can agree with is the not knowing. Hard-swapping probably should have some kind of tell in the case of identical weapons at the very least.

[@1206overlord]

I don’t have an issue with it, but I can agree with the idea that it’s sweaty. I only ever hardswap if I’m sweating, and it kinda rubs me the same way that people mass buffing before a fight does. it’s not a big deal, but it makes me instantly think “oh this guy is TRYING trying.”

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

I mean, for some people doing skillful play is fun. Hard swaps in previous games (with deeper mechanics, like DS1 and DS2) were frequently just used to style on people. The classic in DS2 was you'd parry someone and then swap to a hilariously huge weapon to riposte. There's a pretty big difference between doing something skillful to help you win a fight versus doing something braindead, lame, and cheesy to win a fight.

[@1206overlord]

@@monsieurdorgat6864 yea I’m aware of the style points, swapping after a parry is never not cool. But regardless of why, it’s sweaty. Like objectively. That’s not an insult or praise, it’s just what it is.

[@failegion7828]

​@@1206overlordEh it's just a skill difference and for humor as the other poster pointed out. If a player is going for parries they'll usually just soft swap to a dagger. Where if they're going for laughs they'll pull out a giant smasher or guts sword out of no where.

[@1206overlord]

@@failegion7828 eh, I don’t really think it can be considered much of a skill difference. I can’t imagine there’s someone out there who can’t do it, it’s pretty easy, especially if you strip everything but the essentials from your inventory.

[@lordofchaosinc.261]

I mean there's an opportunity cost to buffing, you don't have to be nice and let them buff. It's just courtesy not a rule. If the opponent gets away with it without getting attacked then it's fair. Sure it's "trying" (to win) and not say casual relaxed playing at the end of a work day. But it's like cards, some are counting all the cards played, some just want to drink a beer with friends.

[@ryproar11]

Hard swapping: No issues. Hard swapping to a MODDED WEAPON: BIG PROBLEM. I have encountered this 4 times so far on pc. Molded weapon? You ask... Yup. Swap to a dagger, swings from across room, one shot I'm dead... A dagger should not insta kill from across the room... At level 350...

[@kionvaliant6286]

I have no issue with the hard-swapping mechanic, but when I see someone blink into healing gear, one chug full heal, and then blink back. My heart sinks as I know I am out matched. lol

[@convergence1point]

That’s probably Chase then, he is one of the few that mastered that level of hard swapping.

[@WokeandProud]

That's hard AF to pull off especially while running away lol.

[@Scriffer]

​@@convergence1point lots of people use macros.

[@disparu6007]

Eh it's fine my main issue is some low level invaders swap to high regen shit then fucking run or pop a frenzy stone which is really hard to deal with in non twinking co op. I hate twinks. I always have to get good pvp shit early so I can compete with the ass hats while lil Timmy hides in fear. (No I don't co op overleveld).

[@horseyrounders]

​@@convergence1pointaverage chasethebro viewer Plenty of good players can do so. Jeenine, Steelovsky, and countless non streamer/tuber players. It's a fairly small number of inputs, especially with some simple inventory management and layout

[@Mennenth]

If removing hard swapping (preventing access to equipment while in combat) was the only way to finally squash move swap glitches - such as chainsaw - I'd do it in a heartbeat. Worth considering; you can only swap spells at a bonfire/grace. Maybe that should be expanded to weapons too...

[@GerritTV187]

As long as people don't use macros for it( i don't know if that is possible) i mfine with hard swapping. It requires skill / awareness and with training everyone can do it (cleaning up inventory ftw)

[@disparu6007]

I really wish you could organize inventory easier.

[@disparu6007]

@TheDoc_K yes I know of this. This is still a pain in the ass. Which is why I said I wish it was easier

[@proto-type3201]

yeah,no way I'm going to do that​@TheDoc_K

[@clankfan14]

Skill 😂

[@proto-type3201]

@@clankfan14 why is your name displaying as "Disney star wars sucks" in my notifications?

[@Buznik_]

I don't have a problem with the mechanic in general but I can kinda see the point of people who complain about it being invisible, I don't think playing the existing swap animation when it happens is unreasonable as an indicator to your opponent (if they're properly paying attention) that your weapon just changed and it's fast enough that it's probably almost if not completely done by the time you're out of the menu. It doesn't tell your opponent what the new one is, just that there's SOMETHING different and they need to be ready for it.

[@mr.doddlydodo3332]

As someone who hard swaps I can see what how it can seem like a bad thing yah it takes skill and being cool under pressure but it also lacks readability and it can definitely be unfair if you think you have someone and they swap to stormhawk axe which is exactly what I do in invasions if I’m on the run

[@Mischievous_Moth]

The good ol' ChaseTheBro strat.

[@Brown95P]

*_AMEN;_* someone else in here actually understands the genuine real issues with hardswapping.

[@ETBrooD]

Why is that a problem though? Hard swapping only works in specific scenarios. You have to be at a safe distance, which excludes various situations. You have to stay on the move, excluding even more situations. You typically have to spend a few seconds, which makes it sufficiently readable. You're vulnerable while you're in your menu, making it highly punishable. There are enough downsides to hard swapping. Where's the problem?

[@tepidbudgie]

But surely once you know about these techniques, you must change your playstyle to suit? If i'm facing a player who hardswaps I keep distance and play more passively I can chip away at health whilst simultaneously keeping myself safe against such techniques. aggression is easy to punish, passiveness is hard to counter since they have to close the distance, then go into menu to swap and reorientate. This costs valuable time and the player hardswapping will have to calm down on doing so. You can also predict when and where people may hardswap, corridors and disappearing round corners are a big tell that the opponent wants to ambush you in some way, bait the corner.. they use there moment in vain then punish. Ontop of that you get a good sense of what players are hardswapping to, stormhawk axe, greatbows, ashes of war. The information is there for you to take advantage of. Weapons like spears, halberds and especially heavy thrusting swords are excellent at passive playstyle since you can cover an alarming amount of distance in a short amount of time. I respect people who dogmatically stick to the one weapon, doesn't mean others are in anyway shape or form required to do the same. All weapons have counters, the people hardswapping are taking the advantage by doing so, if you can't do it your self and choose to use just the one setup, then you are at a chosen disadvantage, yet winning against a hardswapper will be all the more rewarding, wouldn't you say.

[@Brown95P]

@@ETBrooD Yes, and guess what minimizes all the risks you just mentioned? *_Running._* Because you can never catch up to someone running in this game even if you yourself run, it's essentially impossible to punish someone running away while they're hardswapping, and you can't even hope for them to run out of stamina either because they'll be done with the swapping long before their stamina ever empties.

[@Aetrion]

I don't like hard swapping because the difficulty of it is in navigating the game's UI as quickly as possible. Maybe that's personal preference, but to me the menus should never be part of the challenge in a game.

[@lipbyte]

I don't think it should be removed or that people who use it are bad, but the fun of pvp for me is thinking up a build and putting it into practice. Like if you can just switch your team in vgc it wouldn't be the same. maybe im just not good enough to see the value in it though.

[@ungone7133]

cope

[@wind5039]

Wtf? The person literally said maybe he's not good enough. People like you make conversations toxic. Really feeling like you are copeing here. ​@@ungone7133

[@Shane_A_M]

I see what you mean, to piggyback off the VGC example, it looks really boring as a spectator for there to just be multiple turns in a row switching pokemon. Even if as a player it’s really engaging.

[@itsbadforyou4935]

@@ungone7133 they never cope enough

[@sanicinapanic4264]

IMO part of the fun of making a build is also having the adaptability to quickly switch to another one which may have a very different play style makes me feel like I'm on ultra instinct even if I do get clapped

[@celdrichanfgarn5168]

Why is it in every game like „HOW DARE DOU USE A GAME MECHANIC?!“

[@fcfdroid]

3:35 Sellen missed the opportunity to call her a blue waffle 😏

[@Mr.F-U]

😂

[@jaimeribeiro7096]

I got reported and bullied in ds3 for healing when under the loyds talisma effect. "U hacker! U used estus when loyded" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I wish i could see their siegbran faces afterwards 😂😂😂

[@Shin_FTW]

I'm not a fan of the idea of hard-swapping in terms of PvP, but there's no rules in PvP. Unless it's agreed upon in a duel so that you know what the other person's packing after a round or two (or if the fight is going on long enough) so you're not fighting against "hammer space", but that's also a different situation since it'd be agreed upon too. Given some of the complaints of it (such as it looking like you changed Ash of War suddenly to someone), one easy solution would be to show an icon over the player's head if they're in their menu (games like Portal Knights do this), so the opponent at least knows you're rummaging through your inventory. You could say it should be expected, but at the same time that also means there'd be no harm in implementing that feature.

[@samuel.jpg.1080p]

the "show icon over the player's head" is a neat solution. I'd say, at the very least, Fromsoft should disable inventory in a coliseum duel

[@nesferatu55555]

I never knew about this. mostly because when i pvp im constantly in their face. If you let the enemy hard swap and you dont punish them for it, thats a you problem. They flexed on you by calling you an npc

[@grimguy66]

Why do players typically stop leveling at a certain point? It's because in large, people have agreed that at a certain point to many levels makes builds pointless, because you would be good at everything. There is less room for tactics or real thought for the build, due to a lack of budgeting or sacrifice. I agree with this line of thought for levels, and while I agree hard swapping is not as bad as over leveling, it does carry similar issues. Choosing well rounded equipment and managing your equip load is largely if not entirely out of the picture. You simply swap to the best option at any time. I can understand the logic that this defeats the point of designing a good build similar to levels it's just the equipment side of the equation. What do you guys think about this comparison?

[@rod4309]

Exactly.

[@TheMelnTeam]

What you can hard swap into *effectively* is somewhat gated by your stats, though. While you could swap into off-stat ashes of war on same weapon or swap from a greatsword to a dex weapon with lightning ash of war, this would only be effective at massively high levels. Otherwise, at standard pvp levels you're either limiting max damage with a subset of builds in favor of versatility or what you can hot swap into is a relatively small fraction of the weapon list. Even more so if your armor is depending on using a relatively light weapon.

[@julianwilliams1631]

​​@@TheMelnTeam I think the issue with that line of thought is when it comes down to a topic that was mentioned in the video: hard swapping into the same weapon with a different ash of war. This is actually much easier than any other hard swap since all weapons of the same type are lined up with each other. While ashes of war aren't everything, it's pretty reasonable to get angry with someone switching to the same weapon with a different ash and then surprising you with it on multiple occasions. Often times, this also doesn't even require you to swap into something off from your build since whetstone let you choose affinities for a fairly large number of ashes. (I.e. onlywaifu is seen in this video having five separate misericordes with different ashes but all still scale with dex)

[@spazzmaticus9086]

There is one massive flaw in your perspective. You think that what you have in your equipment loadout is your build, but in actuality, every usable weapon in your inventory is part of your build. Notice how I said usable though. A dex build won't be able to use high strength, int, faith, or arcane requiring weapons, and they will be very ineffective by using weapons that don't scale well with dex in the first place. A dex build will thus typically lack hammers, greathammers, colossal weapons, and any unique weapons that require other attack stats being high. So you see, you cannot completely bypass builds with just hardswapping, because hardswapping itself is limited by your build. On top of that, you also don't realize that managing your equip load is actually still extremely important when it comes to hard swapping. You see, by being able to reduce equip load via hardswapping instead of softswapping, you are able to equip more defensive and heavier pieces of armor. Thus, managing equip load is no longer making sure you dont have too many weapons equipped, but instead it is figuring out what the most optimal armor pieces you can have equipped in order to not fat roll with whatever your heaviest hardswap setup is (which is usually a colossal weapon or dual wielding greatspears), or even in some more hardswap intensive cases, swapping your entire armor set on the fly in order to use heavier armor pieces with lighter weapons, and lighter armor pieces with heavier weapons while never fat rolling.

[@grimguy66]

@@spazzmaticus9086 I would counter your logic with saying just because you are able to do something in a game does not grant it legitimacy. The notion that everything in your inventory and not on your person is part of the build isn't much of an argument in of itself. Whether it's a game mechanic doesn't change the fact that you can pull practically an unlimited amount of items out of thin air, which I can see as game or immersion breaking to some. And I would make the argument that hard swapping defeats the point of soft swapping. Soft swapped weapons you would have to budget for weight wise at all times. On top of that you wouldn't be able to swap armor and your weight budget is far lower, since you carry all you need at once and you cannot simply make what you are not using disappear. The bottom line is, through the use of a game ui and nothing that would exist in the world of the game you have gained the ability to have far more at your disposal than should be possible for a much lower cost than the world friendly means of soft swapping. Full disclosure I don't hate hard swapping but I am not a fan of dealing with it. All I know is that if I was designing a game I wouldn't allow a mechanic like this and I can see why some are very annoyed by it.

[@firestormingfox4169]

Me: inflicts rot Them: desperate menu fiddling Hard swapping is menu-ing equivalent of learning to parry. (There's also something really satisfying about organizing your inventory in a way that makes it really fast and effecient to swap your build archetype around; no more "man where is the [insert thing you need] at".)

[@maxashworth3364]

Full switching to passive healing then running circles in the arena is annoying. Not a hard swap issue but an arena size issue.

[@epicwisp7450]

Oh god yeah cockroach mode is cringe

[@Tesukatora]

Turn and burn regen gaming 🛐

[@huntresswizard569]

yeah maybe they should add a long range option like bows or spells thatd really help huh

[@midorayo1149]

full cringer mode , or whoever hard swaps to chainsaw glitch or throw 1 million sleep pots / arrows

[@GodfreyEnjoyer1]

@@midorayo1149sounds like a certain streamer/KZbinr

[@Dyneamaeus]

While I don't personally take umbrage with it, I do find the 'high skill' argument rather blatantly false. Hard-swapping isn't particularly difficult or skillful provided you manage your spacing and inventory effectively. Even less so if you're willing to cull your inventory down to just a few weapons you intend to use. Takes no more than learning a button pattern.

[@AzureShrike]

Ive said this before but I love the use of the Silent Hill OST's in your videos

[@LoneMaestro-]

So what I'm hearing is they are the type of people who have hectic problems with anything insignificant and impossible for a normal person to have issues with 😂

[@andrew-rn9ui]

Weeb life i guess 😂

[@chainclaw07]

it's no different from building in fortnite... or wavedashing... or switching heroes in overwatch to counter... the problem isn't that you have access to this feature - it's that people assume that the multiplayer has some form of etiquette or rules that they don't have.

[@cloudstrife6911]

True. I can't stand those people who are like "you have to bow before you fight" or "you shouldn't heal during a fight". I myself play by those "rules" if my opponent does but if they don't it's all good, let's just get down to business 😂

[@Brown95P]

No, the problem is that you literally cannot punish someone who is running away at full speed while they're hardswapping.

[@WeeabooPocky]

i don't think ow is a good example, as you said you change heroes to counter other heroes, but in ER hardswaping is to adapt. there's a difference.

[@chainclaw07]

@@WeeabooPocky ... countering a situation isn't adapting in ow??? What?

[@WeeabooPocky]

@@chainclaw07 countering is usually use to make someone game's harder, and adapting is to make your life easier. and because ow really takes the countering into a new level (because Rock Paper Scissors), i would not like to compare ER and OW... probably TF2 would be a better choise.

[@lonelyshpee7873]

0:14 you were beyond wrong. I brought a great hammer. I was surprised at how pathetically weak these guys were.

[@Arcessitor]

I've never heard of this argument, and have no stake as I play no PVP, but yes, weapons have equip load for a reason. Being able to use an infinite amount of different ones runs contrary to what equip load is for. It literally does. By definition. Undeniably so. That said, number rule of competitive gaming: You use what works. If FromSoft doesn't deign to remove it, it's just there, and you should use it to make Reddit cry.

[@delrunplays2903]

Not only that, but FromSoft has removed it even after four games of its existence. I'd take that as an indication that they clearly don't think it's counter to their game philosophy.

[@Arcessitor]

@@delrunplays2903 Yeah, the only part of it that is just weird and counterintuitive (which is why I understand what some Redditors are saying) is that soft-swapped weapons take up equip load even when they are not being used. FromSoft should simply change that. The inconsistency is definitely theirs.

[@weatherman1504]

Like, this is ultimately what I don't get about the FromSouls community at large. Everyone objectively believes that the games were made on accident by monkeys on keyboards. It's really quite bizarre.

[@delrunplays2903]

@@weatherman1504 Yeah, I have a friend who insists Dark Souls interconnected level design was on accident. It's weird. Granted, he also hadn't seen most of the boss cutscenes in Elden Ring until recently because he would always skip them as he'd summoned cooperators.

[@weatherman1504]

@@delrunplays2903 I... don't even have words for that. Have you ever asked them why they think this? It's just really weird how there's a fanbase for a game that they believe doesn't have devs. It's the only way I can rationalize their belief that somehow literally none of the mechanics are intended.

[@marchmelloow]

Realizing that I needed a strike weapon to beat those Cystalians, and then switching to an un-upgraded Pickaxe, was one of my favorite moments in the game. I was running around for a few minutes trying to think up a solution as I tried not to die. It was great.

[@dr.stonksakahelth5857]

Edge Lord

[@wealthybone2990]

Fort, Knight

[@weatherman1504]

Try finger, but hole

[@GS_CCC]

The Arena Should lock Inventory, I think having to create an arsenal more insteresting like have a separete weapon inventory for the arena with a limit of what you can bring like 6 extra weapons on it, 4 extra pieces of armor and rings. Keep full inventory for normal invasions. This could also be used to see common weapons more easily and balance the game

[@blizzardgaming7070]

The only annoying part of hard swapping is when players stock up twenty goddam stormhawk axes.

[@murphdell1]

Omg they’re complaining in the comments too

[@WeeabooPocky]

yeah, it's a strategy and it's called "GET AWAY FROM ME"

[@WokeandProud]

Why would anyone do that you only need one in your inventory since it's a unique weapon.

[@WokeandProud]

​@@WeeabooPockyRan into a guy who tried that while I was co-oping it's instantly made useless by endure.

[@WeeabooPocky]

​@@WokeandProud yeah pretty much, in those cases when someone is spamming endure, i use Zamor Ice Storm AoW as an soft counter. it might not do amazing damage in comparison with stormhawk (especially in wet scenarios), but because frost doing hp percentage damage it comes really handly against it. don't forget that frost also lowers your defences.

[@sharkpeto5555]

Now I completely agree with you, however, they gave us limited item slots on armor for a reason. So in your example I feel as though it does kind of go in spite of the limitation they set for us Although that's something for fromsoft to balance I don't feel like PVP is positively affected by metas that could revolve armor or talisman swap

[@piketheknight2581]

Now I know how messmers turned evil. He had to deal with redditors

[@deathsia250]

I don't have an issue with hard swapping, I have an issue with players using an external script to hardswap in under 2.5 seconds. No matter how you slice it, no human can hard swap that fast even with it being the first item in their inventory.

[@DetectivePlays0]

It's fine in basically any other mode, but for colloseum specifically, it's really annoying. It's definitely not like being locked on and having your character turn makes it so you can't change equipment....in a circular arena In a duelist summon or invasion, this isn't really a problem because of the open world. But being in an enclosed space like that, it's just a pain to deal with. And it's no secret that usually the first person to switch will win In my opinion, this video misses the mark a bit Although, keep in mind that my experience is mostly in the higher levels so people are a lot more sweaty on average. But my problems with it would be fixed by simply improving the colloseum maps instead of removing the swapping feature

[@TachiFrypan]

While I don't mind hardswaps, I do agree with the guy at 9:03. Was fighting against a halberd using Phantom Slash, only for him to sudden have Storm Assault and catch me with the short startup time. If I had some indication that something changed, like his hand was empty for a few frames, then I could have prepared for it.

[@SRADracer]

Those Reddit guys will never “hard swap” irl

[@ZoDSeRSyLVaN]

hard-swap IS going against making a character, you basically cheese the whole weight capacity system: Ppl only bring up hardswapping weapon, you CAN hardswap armor/talisma/weapon/consumable. WHICH MEAN whenever you fight someone in PvP, you always have to assume all AoW/Talisma/Weapon/Consumable are on the table which is nut. Dueling basically become a mind game rather than landing skill, its like fight club but you spend time swapping the glove instead of fighting the most disgusting thing you can do with hard swap is duel wield 2 catalyst then swap to duel spear once opponent think you are a caster. BTW: If someone was character's stat cheating, you cannot 70% sure as hardswaping is a thing in this game and you cannot see their stats allocation.

[@abysswatcherbutibitethedus872]

Average human reaction speed negates large amounts of hardswaps from neutral. They are only troublesome in high-intensity struggles in a match.

[@LightAndDarkMdness02]

I feel kind of the same way. I don't mind hardswapping that much, even partake in it myself (will swap talismans around given the situation, like if someone is playing really passively might as well throw on some healing). I'd do it like this. Ban it in the arena, but leave it for invasions/the game world. Invasions and game world stuff is by design not to be completely balanced. One could argue it removes skill expression, but what lose in skill expression we make up for in more interesting character builds I'd say. You gotta plan a character in such a way that you'll actually have to consider an item's strength and weaknesses. I know I'm in the minority that feel this way though and I honestly don't care that much about hardswapping. I just like the idea of characters that have strengths and flaws and can't have a solution to every problem. I don't mind it being a thing in PvE/Invasions though.

[@UncleMerlin]

​@@LightAndDarkMdness02 I'm of the idea that players who have grinded for multiple tools, done their due diligence and planned out their inventory can have the leg up in duels. There's no reason that this mechanic should go away considering that not only does it add a layer of skill expression it also prevents checkmate situations by allowing adaptation. Plus it's been in from games since DS3 where players got skilled enough to swap between hits so they could do things such as swapping from Lothric Knight SS to Gundyr's between hits to force a chasedown.

[@ggwp638BC]

I think there are a few things to consider. Firstly, PvP in FromSoft games has always had community rules - invasions are pure brutality, but duels always had their gentlemen's agreements. Using Estus/Flasks for example was a topic of discussion in the past. So the direction PvP takes is dependent on the community. Secondly, Elden Ring is mainly a PvE game and balanced around it from the ground up. With that in mind, hard swapping in PvE is in no way, shape or form something bad. Even if you're stupid and think hard-swapping is the equivalent of cheating... it doesn't matter if someone cheated on their single-player PvE game. With all that said, hard-swapping is a big display of skill. Anyone can open their menu and swap weapons, but doing so efficiently takes a lot of work and dedication, that can't be taken away from players that master this. Unfortunately, however, a higher skill ceiling does not mean a better experience. For example, Fortnite. Fortnite was a massive success and started to die - even accordingly to it's own dedicated players - after the training tool was introduced. Before it, people were kinda crap at building. Afterwards, making the Empire State in 0.4 seconds became the bare minimum. That pushed away new players and drained older players. The game got stale and unfun - so much so the most popular mode for a long while was the buildless version. So, it's not because it's allowed that it's a good thing. It's not because it's skillful that it is desirable. Of course, the tactic does have some interesting aspects. It allows counterplay for weird gimmicky builds, it allows counterplayer for specific exploits you don't expect to see every match, and that keeps them to a minimum. It allows for interesting tactics and interesting comebacks. Right now, Hard-swapping is not needed to be a good PvPer, and it can be countered. On the other hand, this is right now. If Hard-swapping becomes a substantial advantage, people will keep getting better at it until you can't tell someone has opened their menu at all. If it's a really good advantage, we might get to a point hard-swapping will be a requirement to be good at PvP. I don't think it's something to be shunned, but I do wish FromSoft would just fix it by adding an animation when you hard-swap. A few frames where you're locked out of rolling or moving. This would remove the more nefarious side of hard-swapping - which is having an inventory of hundreds of weapons you can pop at any moment with any skill attached to them, which is the one more likely to be eventually toxic - without removing the benefits and skillfulness of being able to adapt to specific situations mid-duel. I do agree people cry waaaaay too much about everything in this game, but there are legitimate concerns.

[@leonass305]

I wonder how the dude on 9:00 feels about fighting vs casters, considering their widest arsenal of pew-pews they can throw at him.

[@Tenzalt]

Why does sellen looks so hot it makes no sense

[@alexandrelucas3255]

People that cry about hard-swaps has never been parried and just witnessed the opponent change his weapon, fashionsoul, rings, name, religion, sent u a git gud message and sent u to the bonfire

[@JetrinLee]

I always appreciated hard-swapping and the PvP in the Souls games because it feels very reminiscent of PKing in Runescape back in the day

[@TasTheWatcher]

In previous games (namely DeS invasions, DS1 & DS2) hard swapping was the only thing you could do if your weapon was broken and you didn't have a durability consumable equipped

[@autisonm]

If hardswapping was unintended the devs could easily prevent it by checking to see if you're in combat like many other games do. You can call it sweaty if you want but the devs clearly dont care.

[@MamaTrixxieAsmr]

And the fact that this has been a recurring thing in every souls game so far means at this point it’s an intended mechanic Fr most of the things Redditors think is cheating is just stuff that people actually good at the game can pull off when they can’t so they cry about their own skill issue

[@Sucellusification]

If FS wanted hard swapping to be banned, they would have implemented it like in most MMOs, where you can't change equipment in the middle of combat

[@crimson1953]

Heck most invaders an duelist can't win matchs without hard swapping.

[@longbao6040]

I was not expecting Betty from Kung Pow to show up. THUMBS UP

[@tytrater2136]

I agreed with 90% here, but you seemed to dance around the one point I thought was valid: encumbrance limits. Filling all 6 weapon slots for adaptability comes with a massive requirement to invest in endurance to avoid fat rolling, and hard swapping completely negates this constraint

[@TheHornedKing]

As a new soulslike player, I gotta say. This community sure has a lot of people who will bitch about anything.

[@Camohflage]

honestly im sick of people being just trash and then acting like the things they cant do should just not be allowed. literal skill issue

[@Jonathin]

me when 10 minute video on a 5 second sentence

[@jonathanezequielromerodasi4334]

Why do we still pretend that these people opinions matters?

[@occultnightingale1106]

If hard-swapping wasn't intended, that would have been taken out long before Elden Ring came out. That being said, I'm not going to say that swapping between identical weapons with the same appearance, but different Ashes of War, is a good thing. I'm of the mind that there should at least be a tell for hard-swapping, such as the animation used to switch weapons in one's inventory. I don't think it should be removed, but simply whipping around at anyone who says it isn't ideal as is and shouting "git gud skrub" isn't exactly the most compelling argument. It takes effort and skill to beat a Level-11 Giant-Dad Twink in DS1, but that doesn't make it okay that it can be done.

[@alexs818]

Weather hard swapping is intended or not, doing UI shenanigans to avoid the limitations of actually equipping weapons in weapon slots makes pvp less fun. Simply adding an animation for pulling a weapon out of the inventory should solve the problem while still allowing you to counter unexpected threats.

[@mokadelic4037]

We need to bring back "git gud" in the souls community and gatekeep the hell out of it. These people are ruining it.

[@The_Defiance]

I don’t usually hard swap unless I was unprepared

[@jfds1234]

Ah yes… let’s complain about hard swapping instead of the terrible latency and bad invasion balance.

[@Garl_Vinland]

“Tons of inventory management” just put all your weapons in the item box except for your backhand blades, Pata, and Halberd.

[@A13-.133]

Can I get a hug mommy Sellen?

[@elonhawkstein8156]

Lost it when Hank popped in with "They're minerals" 😂 Hard swapping is fine, it takes practice and skill and isnt a glitch or cheese. While I may not like facing someone pulling 200 different weapons out their ass, I can still respect it

[@elonhawkstein8156]

That said, if they hard swap between RoB, Reduvia, Marika's Hammer, etc, then they are just trash. I personally like the idea of hard swapping the same weapon with different ashes, it adds some realism since in real life you would just have one sneaky special move but many to keep your opponent off guard

[@omgabaddon]

My opinion: I have 5k hours into Souls and I've always been annoyed about hardswapping. I've used it and it just doesn't feel right, but soft swapping also doesn't feel like it's accomplished. I think what FROM should do is lock gear while in combat, but make weapons in other weapon slots not weigh anything if they aren't in your hands, that way we would have the best of both worlds, i.e. weapon swapping and not wasting 20 points into vit to be able to carry stuff we might not want to use. What really annoys me is that you have a limited amount of gear slots, which creates actual diversity because you can't equip everything. We also set the community cap to soul levels so we can have limits also in how many spells you can cast, trade HP for more damage or more weapon options, etc. and that creates a healthy environment for everyone to bring their favorite combinations to battle. Hardswapping breaks this barrier since you can have the effects of 20 rings instead of 4, such as equipping life ring, once life drops below life ring's total you swap out for regen. If you parry someone, hotswap to hornet ring. If you want to drop down a building, hotswap silvercat. It also makes it way easier to equip the heaviest armor at all times, which reduces variety. All in all, hardswapping is a very inconvenient solution to a small QOL problem with the game. Removing inventory item weight from Demon's souls to DArk souls was a great idea, now they just need to push that for slotted weapons that are currently unequipped and just recalculate weight when soft swapping.

[@starkimus]

The 'problem' doesn't lie in the opponent, it lies in the player. Personally, I don't mind someone hard-swapping but I did not make a build with weapons that I enjoy only to immediately hard-swap to something that ruins yours in a match where I gain literally nothing win or lose. Being forced to play something you don't enjoy only to be even with your opponent is fine in ranked competitive games, but Souls games never gave you anything for it unless its a tournament, in which case you should, of course, do anything in your power to win. And besides, a good enough player can beat you with a broken sword, hard-swapping to a counter only shortens the match and often takes the enjoyment away when the fight is over in 10 seconds... So no hate to anyone, just my honest thoughts on the matter.

[@nurgle-j5n]

Extremely common Reddit L

[@unmortal8672]

this has been a thing since demons souls ps3 and they never tried to make it impossible to do and they could they could disable it during combat if they didnt want you to do it. And trust me they are well aware of hard swapping.

[@mr.shambles]

Bad arguments.. you address everything to praise one side, making the other fall. Even when using it myself, it breaks the core combat. To be out in the open with no weapon is just stupid. If mages cannot hardswap spells, knights should not be able to swap a weapon mid combat.

[@fanafelgminecraft5789]

personaly i would rather not be able to swap things when some random thing 100 km away just agros me for no reason and now i would have to wait for it to unagro also soft swaps takes no skill and hard swaps do so it balances out

[@Azg4l0R1]

The game gives you the option to hide half the equipment menu, that makes hard swapping possible, that means hard swapping is playing as the developers intended (even through i never used it since i know i cant survive if i open the menu, im simply not that good.)

[@Rexis102]

Hardswappers will complain “this game is just weapon art spam/L2den Ring” then proceed to only spam weapon arts when they hardswap. I believe it’s an important skill to learn, but if that’s all they’re gonna do with it then they’re just as bad as everyone they deem beneath them.

[@krazylink]

WOW I can't believe people ACTUALLY complain about people switching gear mid fight

[@goldmessiah]

The fact that this video needs to exist makes my heart hurt. Why the is it even a discussion? I swear the elden ring wave of newcomers to the souls series be asking the dumbest shit about the game like it's an actual topic worthy of debate, especially on reddit. The game is the same as their predecessors. It's the same formula, the same assets, with some fresh lore and a new gen graphics slapped on top. It's the same damn Miyazaki experience. Wait till they find out how previous games felt like, they'll be FLABBERGASTED because of how similar it is. "Playstyle" and "tryhard tech" my ass. Next thing you know these morons are gonna call holding down sprint button or spamming rolls a "tech". The only thing that TRULY plagues the pvp experience in every souls game is ping, now that's literally game breaking. And even then you can adapt. Nothing else is and was ever unmanageable. The more you see these people talk, the more you realise the actual meaning behind the ageless wisdom: Get. Good.

[@beatsbydrseuss1343]

Personally, I started a FF Gilgamesh cosplay build that is entirely focused on soft- (and occasionally hard-) swapping, having 6 weapons equipped at any given time. Optimal? Not even close. Fun? EXTREMELY.

[@Drunk_Souls]

Good video. I was just ranting about this the other day. This "hardswap bad" was never a narrative before. I think it's just all the casual Skyrim fans Elden Ring pandered to that are like this.

[@Falx415]

I hate to use the term this way, but 100% they're definitely the "casuals" that got drawn in by either GRRM's name or by the games massive success after release and hearing all the hype around it. I've been playing souls games since like 2011, not once did I ever hear anyone bitching about being able to hard-swap, in fact all I ever saw was the opposite with awe and praise of the speed and skill to be able to pull it off accurately and quickly.

[@Deoxippus]

As someone who has done my fair share of hornet ring swap parries, I think it is different in this game. Not hard swapping weapons/rings, that is the same. It's swapping ashes of war semi-invisibly. I don't think it is reasonable to play around every ash at once, and there is no indication that your opponent has a particular ash on. Attempting to chase down a bhs pss user only to have them break out storm assault is a little much. I got hatemail in ds1 for hardswaps too. It isn't new to ER. A lot of the same complaints came up back then. Either way, it isn't the players fault. It is part of the game, and it isn't a glitch. We all have to live with it.

[@brokengamer207]

I loved the different expressions that came on Sellen and Ranni while thry were talking and yes I love hard swapping because it is also a strategy for defeating enemies

[@As-tray]

For PvP, yes, it is an exploit. If you're running a two colossal weapons build with all its quirks only to hardswap onto a dagger after a stagger - yes, you've purposedly not leveled up enough stamina (or havent equipped necessary talisman) to be able to wield both weapons, saving these points/slots for something else. Hence, it is an unfair advantage against other players. Also, it doesn't require any skill at all. When I learned about it back in DS1 I was able to reliably pull it off nearly immediately.

[@somebody4094]

3:02 Of course because it is perfectly normal for a host to have an indefinite quantity of helpers in PVP as long as he can summon them but the invader is absolutely not allowed to change weapons to better face his three opponents at the same time

[@GoldenDaemonas]

The only problem with hardswapping is the fact that it has no animation if you are swapping to the same type of weapon, meaning that you would not know about the swap until the ash of war is used already.

[@kasp7674]

Generally one aspect of good game design is when the optimal way to play is also the most fun way to play. Inventory management and menu navigation is not fun and therefore shouldn't be the optimal way to play. I think that if Fromsoft should allow menu swapping, then they also shouldn't make equipped weapons that you aren't currently wielding weigh you down. That would reduce the advantage menu swappers has, while also encouraging using multiple weapons.

[@Superluminal_30000]

Not fun for you,you mean

[@kasp7674]

@@Superluminal_30000 For almost everybody

[@fanafelgminecraft5789]

the thing is hard swapping takes time skill and makes you open for attack since you have limited movement while soft swap is 1 button press

[@TheManDude]

Once, I was invaded in the flooded area of the Church District, and we had almost killed them when a fire knight had started fighting us. We killed the fire knight, and right when we walked through the door, he had used Waterfowl Dance and instantly destroyed my phantoms, and almost killed me. I almost clutched up, but he won in the end. At first I was pissed because I didn’t expect him to pull out the Hand of Malenia out of nowhere, but after a while, I realized that I should just accept the L, and at least admire that I got styled on in a cool way.

[@peterhacke6317]

Imagine people self reporting that they put so little pressure on their opponent, that said opponent had time to navigate menus mid fight.

[@thedoctor_8725]

"goes against the idea of making a character" what if my character uses multiple weapons

[@Aerowarrier]

Duuuuuuude back in DS3 I used to constantly swap my weapon in duels or brawls, it’s so much fun! Keeps your opponent guessing and makes sure you know how to fight with multiple weapons. I’m kinda sad the good weapon variety isn’t nearly as varied is ER, at least for truly competitive play, but it’s so much fun once you get good at it