THE ULTIMATE ELDEN RING BOSS TIER LIST

[@maddymakesgames]

TIMESTAMPS WOOOOOOO Note, Vaush tries to cover multiple versions of the same boss at the same time This is why some bosses are on the same timestamp Into: 00:00 Battlemage Hugues: 2:04 Beast of Farum Azula: 2:51 Bell Bearing Hunter: 3:01 Borealis, the Freezing Fog: 4:41 Cemetery Shade: 5:16 Cleanrot Knight: 6:08 Commander Niall & Commander O'Neill: 6:17 Black Blade Kindred: 9:14 Black Knife Assassin: 10:24 Bloodhound Knight Darriwill: 10:34 Bols, Carian Knight: 11:00 Crucible Knight: 11:08 Crystalians: 12:32 (he really hates their hair) Decaying Ekzkes: 14:11 Demi-Human Queen Margot and Maggie: 15:19 Demi-Human Chief: 15:35 Divine Bridge Golem: 15:55 Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella: 17:04 Erdtree Avatar: 17:56 Erdtree Burial Watchdog: 18:32 Esgar, Priest of Blood: 19:21 Full Grown & Normal Fallingstar Beast: 19:31 Fell Twins: 22:49 Dragonkin Soldier: 23:08 Deciding to delay the "real" fights: 23:22 Elemer of the Briar: 23:29 Fia's Chmapion: 23:59 Flying Dragon Agheel: 24:32 Glintsone Dragon Smarag: 25:06 Godefroy the Gifted: 25:11 Godskin Apostle: 25:39 Godskin Noble: 26:09 Grafted Scion: 27:11 Grave Warden Duelist: 28:30 Kindred of Rot: 28:42 Leonine Misbegotten: 29:19 Lion Guardian: 30:46 Royal Knight Loretta & Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree: 31:10 Mad Pumpkin Head: 33:34 Mimic Tear: 33:43 Miranda the Blighted Bloom: 34:12 Magma Wyrm (& Makar whos not on the list): 35:10 Knights Cavalry: 38:15 Nox Duo: 38:55 Omenkiller: 39:02 Patches: 39:29 Onyx Lord: 39:39 Perfumer Tricia: 41:20 Putrid Tree Spirit: 41:33 What Vaush means by the filler category: 43:00 Red Wolf of Radagon: 44:42 Scaly Misbegotten: 45:50 Soldier of Godrick: 46:09 Spiritcaller Snail: 47:20 Royal Revenant: 47:47 Runebear: 48:57 Stonedigger Troll: 50:16 Tibia Mariner: 50:18 Tree Sentinel: 50:22 Valiant Gargoyle: 51:19 Wormface: 56:13 Abductor Virgins: 57:15 Adan, Thief of Fire: 57:47 Alabaster Lord: 58:27 Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader: 58:33 Ancient Hero of Zamor: 58:48 Real bosses: 59:30 Margit, the Fell Omen: 1:01:30 Morgot, the Omen King: 1:05:37 Godrick the Grafted: 1:10:23 (BARE WITNESS!) Renala, Queen of the Full Moon: 1:15:33 Starscourge Radahn: 1:21:38 Ancestor & Regal Ancestor Spirit: 1:26:58 Rykard, Lord of Blasphmey: 1:29:10 (TOGETHAAAAAA) Litchdragon, Fortissax: 1:37:00 Astel, Naturalborn of the Void & Astel, Stars of Darkness: 1:41:45 Fire Giant: 1:49:29 Godskin Duo: 1:59:07 Maliketh, the Black Blade: 2:03:07 Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing: 2:10:44 Godfrey, the First Elden Lord: 2:12:57 Dragonlord Placidusax: 2:36:00 Mohg, Lord of Blood & Mohg, the Omen: 2:54:24 The three bosses Vaush hasn't beaten SL1: 3:02:34 Malenia, Blade of Miquella: 3:03:08 Radagon of the Golden Order: 3:50:58 Elden Beast: 4:02:12 Vaush is disappointed with Elden Ring's boss design: 4:21:03 Is the open world format good or bad?: 4:23:39

[@greenberry6019]

Thank you, very convenient

[@blazingmonolith4323]

Melania confirmed RNGesus.

[@zieroshamw1832]

King

[@temmie4980]

wtf vaush talks about malenia for 47 minutes

[@bloomsux69]

Dude go outside

[@justinchandler-holtz7206]

“My only complaint is that Radahn is not as hard to beat as the lore suggests he would be.” How are we feeling now?

[@TheSoulsGuru]

Laughs in dlc lol we got our wish

[@azazel166]

Pre patch Radahn was a beast, same with DLC Radahn, the beam attack he makes as he buries his swords was a one-shot and couldn't be blocked.

[@cmwa5608]

PCR is so overrated in difficulty. Learn the parry timings and the boss is genuinely free.

[@azazel166]

@@cmwa5608 I personally use Fingerprint Shield with magic shield and Antspur Rapier with bleed. Poking works every time.

[@Jeffthestrider]

Vaush: Keeps selecting the same KZbinr for every boss fight. Vaush: "Again with the dual Uchigatana!"

[@dchev]

I’ve no idea who this guy is but his commentary on boss fights is top tier. Genuinely watched for hours as he broke down each fight and explained his reasoning.

[@ThickBoiBeef69]

Heck yeah 🙏 I totally feel that, and I'm glad that you enjoyed even as a random watcher! 😁❤

[@yeaboi587]

he’d be a great souls focused youtuber, but he does a lot of debates from what i’ve seen.

[@Sir_Maximus_Hardwood]

That's autism for ya

[@slaughterbottle69]

@@yeaboi587Yes, along with a lot of solo political commentary. If you are a leftist he’s decent to check out, but his media takes are still peak imo

[@mogscugg2639]

lefty streamer who hates pizza almost as much as he loves godfrey

[@slykele547]

I was gonna go to a funeral but this is more important

[@muhdancent4362]

Funerals are temporary ✋✋ but elden ring grindset is forever 😤😤

[@tinglyalarm]

Based

[@kneau]

Weekend funerals are rare. Possibly for a reason.

[@ryanmitchell5614]

I was gonna touch grass and canvas but I slept in and agreed, this more important

[@justanothergamer7918]

Based

[@vogunBurgundy]

3:25:00 Seconding this. I've co-oped Malenia some ~200 times now and I have seen three separate instances of Waterfowl Dance being followed up by a second Waterfowl Dance- with literally no other moves in between, and sometimes without even being hit by anyone and returned to neutral.

[@yeetme890]

this actually only happens on seamless co-op, it's probably a bug regarding the waterfowl cooldown being counted by each client separately instead globally. I think it only happens if the first waterfowl kills one of the players tho

[@efderefwrecwec6202]

2:38:05 Description of the Explosive Ghostflame Sorcery: "Sorcery of the servants of Death. Strike the ground with the staff, triggering an explosion of ghostflame that burns the surrounding area. In the time when there was no Erdtree, death was burned in ghostflame. Deathbirds were the keepers of that fire." The Erdtree is not eternal.

[@MrGargamel1198]

Yeah the Erdtree was predated by the Crucible. You could say the Crucible was remade into the Erdtree, but the Erdtree definitely isn't a fundamental part of the Lands Between

[@communisticus191]

its a minor mistake, as the Erdtree is referring specifically to the golden orders version of the great tree that was most likely grafted onto the original great tree. The Great tree was always a part of the lands between and houses the crucible of life, with the Erdtree being a version of the great tree. "The great tree ornamentation is the knight Siluria's mark... Holds the power of the crucible of life, the primordial form of the Erdtree." and then from the Siluria's Tree weapon "The primordial form of the Erdtree is close in nature to life itself, and this spear, modeled on its crucible, is imbued with ancient holy essence." and finally "The roots of the Greattree were once linked to those of the Erdtree, or so they say, and it is for this reason catacombs are built around Greattree roots." you can see what what remains of the original Great Tree underground in darkroot depths with the distinct roots and trunk.

[@xuanathan]

It also implies somewhat that the Elden Ring may not have been there from the beginning. Ghostflame was the rune of death before the rune of death existed. The Elden Ring is not the laws of physics themselves, its more a thing that binds the laws of physics together, the Elden Ring and the Golden Order represent perfect order.

[@DooblesGoDoobles]

I think the roots are eternal, like there's always a tree of some kind. First the great tree, then the crucible after that was destroyed and then the erdtree was cultivated from the crucible

[@kreadapelu8813]

I would say it is not Morgot being unfamiliar with the blood abilities, it is his deep distress over using what he believes to be evil. He fell to this dark place and immediately decides he should not win if he uses this evil. Trepidation.

[@kreadapelu8813]

Alright, I will make words. Using the good ol’ mundane warrior style character is not often played off as some mundane thing in games and stories. You get this guy with a sword fighting these fantastical magic beast and he’s on call more able to and eventually superior than these magic critters that literally manipulate physics. Nonsense! However, people love these styles of play and will obviously use them. In Elden Ring, they make the “reality” of mundane vs fantastic play out closer to how it would be. You want to utilize weak points? Bows and crossbows. Weapons that require a completely different style that allows for further use of weak points and such. Magic, I think, is done really well here. You can fight with that sort of mundane bonk and block with spells. You can do sort of strike and dodge, mid-range, you can do artillery combat.. you want to showcase the full range of a boss fight, magic is the way to go. Magic can be used to make a fight super fun and complex or entirely trivialize the fantastic encounters. And stuff.

[@kreadapelu8813]

Godfrey is the mundane melee character players are accustomed to using in most other games. Super awesome but nearly nonsense in a world inhabited by entities capable of altering reality.

[@spacesloth9529]

I would say Morgot knows bleed builds are op and doesn't whip it out until he's desperate. He would be great in pvp.

[@kinx7453]

I always felt really bad because I played the game blind as my first ever Soulsborne game and I was like “I’m gonna be a cool samurai!” So I went with a katana. Then I was like “hmmm I wonder if there are any better katanas” so I went and fought the Magma Wyrm for Moonveil at a very low level, and I got a cool ass sword for it. After like 20 levels I learned dual wielding was a thing and was like “oh wow this is really cool! I can use my frost and bleed katanas together and stack them!” Then I found the mimic tear and I got so hyped that I discovered this really cool really strong build on my own. Then I went on Reddit after beating the game and felt bad for beating it.

[@FredyTheCookieMaster]

I mean you did find it on your own!! And like, even if you didn't, thats okay!! As long as you had fun, theres no need to feel bad about how you approached the game :))

[@wheatfat]

Don't feel bad. I also wanted to play a samurai and my experience was similar, except I'd played the other games. All that mattered was I had a great time.

[@blazingmonolith4323]

Eh I did the whole rivers of blood seppuku, bleed build on Melania just to get her done. Didn't feel like putting up with this boss, so I cheesed the absolute shit out of her. 1 shotted btw, but I definitely didn't earn it.

[@adenjones1802]

I also thought my build would be unique because I assumed everyone would be using shields and thought I was being cool not using them. Now I just feel like an ass.

[@MrYuargai]

Don't feel bad about playing the game the way you wanted. It's your playtrough of the game you bought. The game is also made for replayablity so you could always go back and play a "chad" strenght build

[@GrippySocksEsq]

The burial watchdog fight by itself is like a survival horror boss. It's so uncanny valley the way it moves.

[@greenberry6019]

What political streamer other than Vowsh will make an unscripted five hour gameplay analysis of Elden Ring?

[@sebastianwerner9141]

"She has a lot of openings but they're tight openings" [...] "She's fun! It's just fun, man!" -Vorsh 2022

[@Ar1AnX1x]

vorsh talking about headonshoe

[@archerfan66]

@@Ar1AnX1x should have kept that in the drafts, homie

[@Ar1AnX1x]

@@archerfan66 but headonshoe is not shoeonhead, it's a clone of shoeonhead.

[@archerfan66]

@@Ar1AnX1x k den

[@KingXOreo]

Magma wyrm moves awkwardly because it's original model is scaled differently depending on which one you're fighting.

[@glumdrop4672]

scaled.. hehe

[@xXRickTrolledXx]

I never noticed the size differences tbqh

[@KingXOreo]

@@glumdrop4672 😉

[@themambawarrior2290]

15:40 The demi-human chiefs are the ones that are on the way to the island, not the queens. The queens are individual bosses that initially cast magic, before throwing the staff at you and going rage mode.

[@masterplusmargarita]

Wait, do all the queens go into rage mode? I stomped the first two (I guess before they could go into rage) and I only had the third one do it - I assumed it was a cool subversion of expectations type thing where they intentionally make it look like three copy-pasted easy bosses only to have the third one do a different thing - it was a really great "oh shit" moment for me, legitimately a very memorable moment. If they're all actually just the same that's pretty dissapointing.

[@themambawarrior2290]

@@masterplusmargarita Ah, I went to check, and it seems only Margot, the Demi-human Queen in a cave, has that transition. The others seem to also have their own unique movesets too, the one near Azur is much more spell focused than the other two.

[@thatlemonguy1107]

Why is it that Vaush is this good at delivering Soulborne lore in the most badass way possible? Like legit, his narration of the lore of the Godfrey and Slave Knight Gael fights unironically gives me goosebumps.

[@alexisareia1226]

Vaush has some experience DMing for D&D campaigns, and he also talks to an audience for a living. He's really good at this kind of stuff. I'd honestly love to see video essays and stuff from him because of that.

[@FelisImpurrator]

@@alexisareia1226 Oh yeah. Also, he literally just has an incredible voice for narration. It's deep but he enunciates well and has exceptional cadence and inflection. I think he's either professionally trained it or practiced it deliberately.

[@Jaden-Ring]

I personally would give radagon more hp and get rid of elden beast entirely or let you retry the beast without radagon even tho I still like radagon more. Part of that is also just how interesting of a character he is to me. One of my personal favorite final bosses in these games. Elden beast tho I just wasn't crazy about

[@underplague6344]

Elden beast could've been a stormruler type fight imo.

[@Heatwave9000]

Nah phase 2 should be Queen Marika.

[@Jaden-Ring]

@@Heatwave9000 it seems more like she would be rooting for us to beat radagon in most interpretations of the lore tho. Like gwyn and soul of cinder fighting us in dark souls really doesn't make sense unless we're doing dark endings because we're trying to relight it otherwise. But some fights in these games already don't make sense lore wise like us fucking the city of yharnam over by getting rid of what blocked the red moon which was rom. (Tho it was on the way to being fucked already) Marika planned on and even seemed to be counting on the tarnished and/or Godfrey coming back to the land and seeking lordship before her and radagon married/fused/rejoined (lore on them is complicated) maybe have marika fight us if we're doing an elden lord ending and radagon if it was frenzy/stars? Although since radagon is the current or at least most recent elden lord him fighting us still makes sense since Melina says us seeking the elden ring violates the Golden order.

[@mohashal5084]

@@Heatwave9000 radagon and marika are the same person

[@mohashal5084]

@@Jaden-Ring no radagon and marika are the same person

[@MissChambers]

I literally thought Marika was going to be the final boss until it got spoiled that it was Elden Beast to me. Obviously Radagon is second to final who shares the same body with Marika but I think a Phase 1 Radagon, Phase 2 Marika would have been cooler. It would have been awesome if there were like, a Slave Knight Gael style gambit where her plan was always for you to kill her since doing so would dispel the Greater Will from.

[@austinmccon2759]

DLC boiiiii

[@Sharkamfss]

Lore-wise that wouldn't make sense, at least from what we currently understand from Marika.

[@FelisImpurrator]

The thing is, that might legitimately be her plan. She is Radagon, so fighting him IS fighting her. Killing Radagon-Marika brings out the physical embodiment of the Greater Will, the Elden Beast. You go ahead and McMurder that very same vessel, and what do you know... Marika has her revenge.

[@MissChambers]

@@Sharkamfss You could make it work. Just don’t think the Elden Beast works as the final fight. Radagon imo you’ve heard about the whole game similar to Godfrey and the reveal he’s an aspect of Marika is cool. But I think a phase 2 where it’s Marika who wants you to kill her would be so sick.

[@JudgeBreddUK]

I would have been fine with 2 phase Radagon, he was such a cool looking boss and fit the theme, the elden beast just kinda came from nowhere and I didn't enjoy it

[@worsethanyouthink]

Something he doesn't mention really about Godfrey that makes him one of the best bosses in the series is that grab attacks have always been the scariest attacks in the series, in every game they are almost always an insta kill and being grabbed even at full health is always scary. Than for them to take a boss and make it's second phase 50% grab attacks makes it probably the most heart racing fight ever, and despite that it also has probably the most predictable dodge windows which you are likely to act on instinctively before your brain can process. It all makes for one of the most satisfying culmination of skill and action at the end of a decade long saga. It genuinely feels like a love letter to the fans who have been here from the beginning. The same also kinda goes for placidusax but in other ways.

[@bigsmall2842]

Godfrey also fights exclusively at close range, which adds to the frantic pace. And the openings to attack and heal are very clear, unlike some other bosses in ER

[@buckyhurdle4776]

Everything about Hoarah Loux's moveset is designed to scare you. He's actually very slow and punishable compared to first phase if you keep your cool

[@themightymcb7310]

Placidusax feels like a love letter to DS1 beast bosses like the hydra, kalameet, seath, and gaping dragon. He's that style of fight, only done about as perfect as can be.

[@Sercroc]

eeeh not really , they re scary beacuse they have always had shitty hitboxes, it's not that many times that they almsot instakill

[@themightymcb7310]

@@lrsb1678 Because that's predictable. Margit has a random chance to punish you after you decide to attack at the "end" of his combo. Godfrey and Hoarah Loux both just keep attacking, like Champion Gundyr in DS3. You know he will always attack, he will never stop. But they also made it so you can always sneak hits in between dodges, whereas Margit is a lot faster.

[@weniswarrior666]

Going off of what Vaush said about the suggested Marika fight, what if during the fight she shows visible signs of pain due to being tortured by the greater will, and during certain attacks you actually see her trying to hold herself back as part of the windup/tell. I feel like fighting a boss that’s actively being forced to fight you against its will would create a very unique and intense feeling. It would also give you conflicting feelings of like trying to kill her while at the same time feeling sympathy for her

[@maxyboy9648]

I think one solution to waterfowl dance would be to only engage the attack when the player is a certain distance away from her to promote aggression against malenia. It absolutely should NOT be engaged when in melee range

[@samfish2550]

I agree, maybe letting he do it or other engage/anti-spacing attacks after her big Flippy disengage move.

[@valentai_777]

Morgott has a weirdly interesting relationship with his magical abilities. Like he can project himself across the Lands Between, which is a pretty impressive feat of magic on its own. Since when Loretta does it. It’s not perfect. There’s also the theory that Morgott IS the one who created the Godfrey shade spell, which makes sense somewhat. Since it isn’t Morgott himself he wouldn’t be able to create a perfect image (also he really might not have seen his father much given his childhood in the sewers)

[@jimshotfirst4887]

Goldfrey is also the same golden color as the magic weapons that Morgott summons

[@jremyy]

The only thing I know about Malenia is that she will walk around doing nothing for 5 minutes and do a waterfowl as soon as I attack

[@collin2401]

I could be wrong about this, but I think that Sword Saint Isshin fights you because it was his grandson's dying wish, which may also be a binding magical contract as part of his resurrection. That's the impression I got from this line: "Pitiful grandchild… This was your last wish. To see Ashina returned from the great beyond… which means, Sekiro, I must destroy you." There's plenty of room for interpretation there, but I doubt he fights you just for the lulz

[@Jaylabug1]

prob both

[@OneLastJellyGuy]

yeah he said what he said sooo confidently and he was wrong af LOL Ishin fights you because Geniricho sacrifices himself for ot

[@slykele547]

Can’t wait for a video of a police officer watching this video standing outside of the site of an active shooting to surface.

[@6a617b]

LMAOOOO

[@myleslux6983]

Watching Vaush try to show that one streamers reaction to radahns fight but not realizing he was covering his reaction and chat not realizing it either drove me nuts for about 3 entire minutes

[@captain_penguin3998]

Morgott: His windmill attack will only ever happen in two scenarios: 1) He leaps over you with a single slash before landing behind you. If you dodge backwards and land right in front of him he'll go for it. 2) After his delayed single overhead with the hammer, again if you're in front of him (positioning in these boss fights is so crucial, I wish the devs pointed it out to the player more during the game somehow.) Given that it's only these two scenarios which are very distinct within his moveset, it becomes incredibly easy to predict the windmill attack. You simply dodge to the side for the initial startup swing, then strafe around him while he's in the air. Thus I can't agree with your take on Morgotts windmill attack, it's fair and very easy to avoid if you pay attention to when he actually uses it.

[@junjiitowafflehouse9750]

Damn, grafted scion as a centipede type sekiro boss would be really fun to fight. Even tho they’re easy the centipede bosses were so satisfying

[@triss9364]

Double guardian apes can kiss my ass

[@xIHMx]

Can’t wait to hear his opinion on the dlc

[@bunklypeppz]

You can definitely counter attack Dragonlord in between his teleport attacks. I fought him with the Greatsword (Guts' weapon) and I just forward rolled each attack with a quick attack at the end of the roll. You can even deal dmg to him if your attack lands a split second after he vanishes.

[@juicybrucey_5352]

I need him to rank Sekiro bosses. They’re all so good.

[@xuanathan]

Theres only like 1 boss I'd consider frustrating, the rest range from great to Slave Knight Gael.

[@Sharkamfss]

@@xuanathan if that includes mini-bosses then some of them would just straight up suck. Too many of them are placed within enemy groups that are annoying to clear up and result in the same frustration boss run-backs had in the older games. Ogres and bulls suck ass and lone shadows get boring in your first run.

[@Killroy007]

@@Sharkamfss ogres are fun, and bulls are fine, the first one is just placed too early in the game. The only frustrating Boss imo are headless.

[@Sharkamfss]

@@Killroy007 Shichimen too.

[@Killroy007]

@@Sharkamfss shichimen are way less annoying as you can reduce the amount of terror they inflict with a godly confetti, they are air deathblowable and generally have less health/easier patterns.

[@Neeina]

Watched asmengold do this and i was so frustrated since i didnt agree with like any of his takes. Thank you vaush this whole video was cathartic for me

[@danielaxc2900]

Asmongold makes the mistake of consulting with chat too often for placings and we all know chat is always wrong. Also he sounds like an idiot whenever he talks about anything not related to video games. Vaush only talks to chat to tell them they're wrong or to meme which is how it should be.

[@Ar1AnX1x]

@@danielaxc2900 Asmon is left leaning at heart, but he's not educated or interested enough in politics to know that. he's pretty much a populist and all his L takes come from the fact that he tries to be an enlightened and balanced centerist so he tries to not accept any far left position that isn't popular, like considering cops as terrible people or diversity issues and stuff like that. but tbh he shits on the far right people in his chat constantly, I don't really understand why there's so many far right people in there but he bans them and asks them to leave his stream almost regularly.

[@Swagotissimus]

The golems being so boring to fight is so disappointing, their design promises so much that doesn't get followed up on

[@bunklypeppz]

I actually like the fight against the three golems on the bridge coming out of Stormveil. It was cool to notice that you can dmg and stagger the two closer golems by positioning them in the way of the arrows from the last golem.

[@zacorycoward2658]

Idk how to make fighting just one entertaining for you, but if you're going up against 2+ golems try hitting them with crystal darts for, hopefully, entertainment value:)

[@GobbsBrown]

I have no idea how you can call Radagon and the manifestation of the Elden Ring a "who?" yet give Soul of Cinder a pass lmao

[@wisegoongala4305]

Its pretty obvious what the Soul of Cinder is when you fight them. Unless you’re paying attention to the lore you’d have no clue why Marika suddenly transitions into Radagon

[@brendansieve7994]

Fully got goosebumps listening to you describe what makes Godfrey and Hoarah Loux so dope

[@sawyerhuelat7484]

I basically have watched this like 8 times because it’s the ultimate asmr video for us gaming masochists.

[@michaelgoudis344]

Red wolf is fought like 4 more times. Siofra river (upper area beside Nokron), at moon altar (ranni quest end), behind caria manor near the evergaol and (edit) as a catacomb boss (forget which one). There it is called "red wolf of the champion". I think. Also, I think that Lion guardian is never met as a boss, with a health below I mean.

[@gojiraguy200]

Also encountered in the consecrated snowfields, towards the end of the dark blizzard area. Which I learned though a painful death just yesterday. Hooraaayyyy

[@DarylStreete]

Open world red wolves don't use the sword attacks though, so they're actually more annoying to fight. Red Wolf of the Champion is the only other one with sword attacks, which I kind of like lore-wise since it implies Radagon and whoever the Champion is taught these doggies sword fighting.

[@AtypicalAshen]

1:26:00 if only he knew back then what would happen in 2 years

[@clarkyoung6970]

Lol came back to this because I specifically remembered him saying this

[@teddiandersson6744]

Oh GOD It took such a long time for me to defeat the Royal Revenant boss fight in the ruins below Iji. I was a bit underleveled too, but learning its moves and finally defeting it felt amazing. I felt like I knew exactly waht it would do at all times on my last try and it might be one of my favorite bosses in the game, as strange as that might sound. HOWEVER, they suck in the context of them being normal enemies.

[@azazel166]

Use healing incantations, they damage them.

[@mhead1117]

Skill issue

[@grimreefer213]

I agree i’m a big fan of Loretta Knight of the Haligtree, I fought her solo over and over until I mastered her moveset. I got my ass kicked at first but it was so much fun learning her moves and dancing around them.

[@nachofast6144]

Vaush might be a neat leftist but his most impressive feat is breaking apart bosses like this. I don't agree with all of his complaints but damn if they are well argued. Not to mention when he talks about things he loves about the bosses. I learned so luch from Godfrey/Hoarah Loux in this video.

[@chaselewis5372]

I would say I agree with the loss of magic in an open world game through multiple playthroughs. I think Skyrim and some other games show this also. Your first time through you don't know the solution. You don't know where things are, or what is good. You have to figure it out and that makes everyone's experience incredibly unique because these games give you several ways to attack the same problem. Melee, magic, bow from outside the arena, summons, etc. The issue comes from what happens when there is no longer progress? What happens when you get the ultimate weapon that trivializes all the content? There is no challenge and it is not hard. So you create your own rules and limit yourself to make it hard, but ... a lot of times in this game the game is still easy unless your self imposed rules essentially let yourself get one shot. Then the difficulty often becomes unfulfilling because now it's just a question of perfect execution not finding a solution in most cases. I'd think to make the game 'good' you would have to do something like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 does where the game fundamentally changes. In that game the literal best way to deal damage is taken away from you and replaced with a different system in NG+ so you have to rethink all your strategies.

[@Thunderkeg]

What changes in ng+? In both games chain attacks are always the best way to deal damage and you always want to extend the chain attack as much as you can with chain links in XC 1 and canceling elemental orbs in XC 2. I don't remember anything major changing that. Enemies just become massive damage sponges because the full multiplier for a complete chain attack is like 5000%

[@chaselewis5372]

​@@Thunderkeg I meant Bringer of Chaos difficulty in XC2 where the chain attacks are extremely nerfed.

[@123afish]

See I thought the same when on a second playthrough, still not really knowing where things are, the exploration without new experiences was very dull. Now I know where everything is, I find running through the game a lot more satisfying.

[@trickstergod9179]

Gotta say, Maliketh is top-tier for me. The first half of the fight never feels like a chore or just part of the runback because it's just so fun on its own. I honestly don't think the second phase being different counts for marks against it. Even Gael and Godfrey's fights are quite a bit different between phases, and that didn't keep them from being top-tier.

[@duelz9366]

Completely disagree Gael and Godfrey’s phases are not completely different from each other. The earlier phases build perfectly on their latter. Malekith honestly doesn’t compare to those two. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that his first 2 phases are different mechanically if it makes sense with the lore.

[@Cosmic-Sorceress-17]

So much to go over, this got me thinking on my favorite bosses. I do apologize as this is going to get rambly. Rennala: My favorite mage boss in the entirety of From's games. My pure magic sorceress character is a pseudo-cosplay of her focused on using a variety of spells like she does and never once has her staff left my hands or her spell my attunement. I was absolutely mystified by the fight, especially in the second phase, so much so I didn't want to win. I've always loved magic in From's games for the potential one can have when going in with the mindset of mastering a variety of spells from a single sub-type of magic. Rennala was showing me what the end of the road was for me: a magical powerhouse with both style and substance in their casting. Just recently I fought her again in NG+ and it was the best mage vs mage experience I've ever had. We were both masters of magic and danced to an audience of the moon and stars. Though I emulate Rennala in appearance, I have become a master sorceress in my own way. Radahn: The only time in a From game where I was thoroughly intimidated in the best way possible. Fighting him, especially pre patches, was a terrifying thrill and a grand spectacle as I did so with an army of allies at my back. The lore and buildup of Radahn makes it all the greater. He was so beloved, so respected as a warrior and a leader by his men, that they convened a festival to invite the mightiest champions to give their maddened general an honorable death. It's easy to see why, since part of his lore is that the only reason he learned gravity magic is so he could always hide his horse despite the massive size difference. Radahn doesn't even need to ride his horse anymore: he's levitating, but chooses to hide his horse anyway even in madness. I imagine he was a kind and gentle giant off the battlefield, his pride motivating his men to become the force they did. Mimic Tear: This fight taught me a lot about myself, watching the game use my own build against me. Fighting it again at the endgame was perfect for showing off how strong I had gotten and the fight as a whole taught me not to neglect certain parts of my kit, namely consumable weapons and spells. I consider Mimic Tear to be an incredible teacher and I always love taking myself on to see what I can learn from the experience. Astel, Naturalborn of the Void: This fight took me aback and I think I was vastly underleveled for it: Astel wiped the floor with me first time through. I already love the cosmic elements of Elden Ring and it's magics: this makes me yearn for a chance to explore more of the stars in DLC. I really wish we could get spell versions of his nebula and waves of darkness attacks: I am disappointed the waves of darkness is an ash of war and not a spell. Most of all, it has a special connecting since my two favorite characters are sorcerers in some way: this is the kind of power they and I am playing with. We've only scratched the surface of what power the stars can grant. Rykard: Best Storm Ruler fight hands down. I felt Rykard's power despite having this special weapon: with Yhorm, he was a joke with the Storm Ruler. With Rykard, it felt like I needed the spear just to stand a chance. The music picking up with his rain of skulls attack just perfectly captures the chaos of it all. Fire Giant: Fire Giant wasn't so bad mechanically since I could reliably hit his chest eye with spells. I spent most of the battle either panicking from the fire attacks, in total awe of the scale of said attacks, or just plain feeling sorry for the giant. Best giant fight in the souls games. Placidusax: My absolute favorite dragon fight, surpassing Midir for me. It was an absolute blast watching the spectacle that was me fighting this god-king of dragons. First time I had also seen a dragon teleport, too: the thought of facing this dragon in his prime, with all his heads... I am both excited and terrified at the thought of beholding such a foe. Radagon: I wish we could get his golden spear spells for ourselves. Same for Morgott: they have so many incredible attacks that I wish we could have for ourselves. Aside from that, the finality of the fight and the music inspired me to push forward: this world could be healed and beating him was how I could do it. Was not easy, fitting a god, but I love it. Which brings me to... Elden Beast: Absolutely beautiful and an incredible fight for me. Just everything about it carries this divine, otherworldly glory with attacks the demand all my focus to counter. Beating the beast and achieving the Age of Stars was such a wonderful feeling. I have so many more thoughts on all the bosses, but I don't want to make this too long. I cannot wait for more content for Elden Ring: there is going to be more and I cannot wait to see where we can go and what we can find.

[@jacobhafar538]

God I wish I could be that optimistic about Elden Beast 💀

[@jobertmichoul6211]

At 15:19 he gets the bosses wrong. The ones on the way to the island are the Demi-Human chiefs. One of the Queen is in the forest in the peninsula and the other in mount Gelmir.

[@LapnLook]

Actually the one in Weeping Peninsula isn't a boss. You are right about the Mt. Gelmir one, but the other boss version is in Lux Ruins (in Altus Plateau, right above where you would meet Rya and Millicent)

[@hamsterc6448]

I actually really adore the combo continuations in this game, unlike most KZbinrs I’ve seen. I especially love it because the dice roll that Vaush references doesn’t always have to be random, because attacks like heavy jumps often stagger them out of those combos. And because of this, these fights feel MUCH more intense and unpredictable, which gives them both more believability to the idea that you’re fighting extremely powerful demigods, as well as more replayability when they don’t always do the same exact combos each playthrough.

[@apophis7712]

I thought I was the only one who felt like that. I love that the bosses don't just sit there and let you whack em. They actually work to defend themselves and exploit any openings they can. Just like you would

[@jupitergaming5146]

Yeah I feel like vaush is mainly judging bosses from the perspective of a soul level 1 playthrough where a single fuck up kills you, I assume in a soul level 1 playthrough though it’s very hard to stagger large enemies

[@hamsterc6448]

@@jupitergaming5146 That makes sense, yeah. I kinda disagree with that style, though. I feel like the best way to judge bosses is based on the experience that players are generally expected to have, not a challenge run.

[@shinyhydreigon7257]

They shouldn't be considered combo continuations, its the boss not continuing their combo because they see it won't hit you.

[@hamsterc6448]

@@shinyhydreigon7257 well you could look at it that way or them deciding to continue or repeat moves longer than normal because you stayed close.

[@xuanathan]

Fun fact about Fia's champions, when you beat them, somebody else will fight your character as Fia's champion. This is why they have such terrible hp pools, because ELDEN RING PLAYERS DONT LEVEL THEIR FUCKING VIGOUR

[@FelisImpurrator]

I thought that was the jar guys.

[@ywnrnf6028]

both

[@jimshotfirst4887]

@@FelisImpurrator its both

[@xuanathan]

Quick spiel about Astel Stars of Darkness. No, Astel Naturalborn was not the city destroyer. In item descriptions, we know that Astel is credited as destroying an underground city to the point that people forgot the place existed and its name was lost, and the ruins of the place DIDNT HAVE A SKY. Not only is this fucking sick, it matches up way better with the Deeproot Depths than it does Nokstella. Nokstella has a name, and more importantly it has a night sky above. This being said, Naturalborn is on the other side of the map from the nameless city, while Stars of Darkness is much closer. Also, Stars of Darkness has an attack where he clones himself. I think this is Astel's reproductive process, and Stars of Darkness is the real Astel, and Naturalborn is a clone set to Nokstella who is currently in the process of destroying the city. So yeah, Stars of Darkness isn't so much a "Remember Astel, here he is again lol", he's the real Astel. This being said, narratively its terrible. You find him in a random cave that most players will miss, unrelated to the Questline that leads to Astel, and he's not even a remembrance boss unlike Naturalborn.

[@xuanathan]

@Crimson The thing about Astel is he's not an individual, he's a species with a lifecycle we can see in game, they crash from the sky as a Fallingstar beast, before their head and eye begin to emerge along with their mandibles, then they hatch from their shell and dangle from a ceiling like a cocoon minus the shell, as a Malformed Star, and finally they grow limbs and wings, and become an Astel. And Astel destroying deeproot depths is all but confirmed, its the only eternal city that is destroyed, and in the fight with Fortissax in the past, we can see a sky in the background that otherwise isn't there.

[@btarczy5067]

Interesting video to come back to after replaying Elden Ring a lot for PvP purposes. Level 15 +3/+1 upgrades in endgame really changed how I see bosses now. Even with the strongest Spirit Ashes I had to learn the fights more than when I could just trade damage favorably and I tend to agree more with Vaush than when I watched this the first time. Except for Gladiators, they are as much filler as Erdtree Avatars and just fun to fight, they’re good!

[@Plexplay]

This is hands down the best boss commentary I have ever seen. A complete and 100% objective deep analysis of flaws and higlighting every aspect of the most interesting bosses. I found myself agreeing to almost everything you said. Incredible

[@wade4846]

Coming back to this can’t believe this was my first vaush video

[@mrlasagna5894]

1:26:06 This is actually interesting: In interviews its been said that the game's bosses ARE as difficult as the lore would be, this is Radahn at his WEAKEST. this is piss baby radahn, after being driven mad by scarlet rot and wandering for centuries, he's a husk of what he used to be.

[@TheSoulsGuru]

Will you be doing a video like this for the dlc bosses?

[@josequiles7430]

My experience fighting Maliketh was spending like two minutes boringly fighting the easy first phase only to die in 15 seconds to the second phase, because it does a lot of damage and I haven't had time to learn its completely different moves yet.

[@isaiahlem]

Question: How would you feel about the Elden Beast if it was just called The Greater Will instead? (not regarding the mechanics of the fight or the moveset) No other thematic changes, just the name.

[@Sharkamfss]

I'm hoping they'd rethink the Elden Beast fight and redo it but make it much more fun and much prettier aswell, giving it the name "Greater Will" in the hopefully upcoming DLC.

[@nojokejon9577]

@@Sharkamfss prettier?

[@Sharkamfss]

@@nojokejon9577 yes, like more beautiful

[@user-mq1ng6sj7b]

I do think "elden beast" is a lame name, but it's hard for me to imagine liking it much more over all. I'd say it would be a cool change and help capture the idea of "fighting a god" that so many people try to push but I'm incredibly unconvinced by despite it apparently being canon. It still wouldn't really feel like a fight with god because I hate that fight for reasons stated by everyone at this point, but it honestly might have been more convincing of a name and maybe added to the illusion

[@hhsdhhsss1522]

The only problem is that it doesn’t make sense from a lore perspective the outer gods cannot physically enter material reality that’s why the use people like marika or melanina to act as their vessels.

[@sarathebunny8784]

I think radagon is great because you have to pay attention but you see him in the first seconds of the first cutscene. You can also see his name in items and the turtle talk a lot about him. So I think its a good final boss because you cant just go there and know whats going on if you not pay at least a little bit of attention on whats going on

[@worsethanyouthink]

I have never been so interested in the way any bosses are rated by the fandom than the way placidusax, the fire giant, maliketh, and most importantly elden beast are treated. Everyone either fecking loves it or loaths it more than anything that exists. The most interesting part of it for me though is that it's directly related to how well you got the moves in your first few attempts. People who get the moves and style on them love it but those who don't, act like they are the worst bosses in the series. Maybe not as much for placidusax because it's optional but I personally got the fights early and their my favorites, elden beast is beautiful to me and the moves are reasonable for me when it comes to a final boss, however people who didn't get radagon or elden beast hate it.

[@FelisImpurrator]

There are basically 1.5 things about Elden Beast that modify its fight from a spectacular finale to an obnoxious bitch of one. One: It spends half the goddamn battle on the opposite end of the universe unless you RNG into a sane pattern where it actually engages. If you do, it is very fun. If you don't, it will just be a godsforsaken slog. Two: Elden Stars is physically impossible to dodge without Bloodhound levels of cheese. That's IT. The entire rest of the fight is amazing, it's just those two things. If you could take Torrent that would be, automatically, a top tier boss. If Elden Stars were slightly less silly it would be the icing on the cake. But as it is, roll a die. You either get an awesome boss or a cowardly POS. Placidusax is just straight fire except for the randomness of his Ruin attack. If you're in the right position to evade the RNG Cannon his fight is fantastic, one of the best dragons and very fair. Fire Giant just has some BS to an otherwise good fight. The roll oneshots at 40 vigor, which is BS. The snow throw has almost literally infinite forward range and can cross the entire arena, which is BS. If he did less damage and had less "haha, fuck you, infinity range or massive, barely even dodgeable rolling hitbox", he'd also be great. Maliketh just has too much tracking. You can literally see him spin in midair at high speed to hit you even after you roll. Less horizontal tracking, and maybe a tiny touch longer on the vulnerable window? Great fight, no complaints. That's the pattern for divisive bosses: They do one or two things that bring down the entire fight somehow.

[@worsethanyouthink]

these are just tips for if your having trouble with the fights not justifications. 9× outa ten in this game, no matter what or who you fight, you want to roll through attacks not away from them. With maliketh when he does his aerial lunge at you just roll through it you'll get an opening for 2-4 hits and it's surprisingly easy to pull off imo. For the elden stars run away and when it gets to your ass roll through it and run back the way you came (you'll probably get hit by a couple stars but it's better than the big one) If your sick of elden beast taking so long just run in any random direction until you hit the edge of the arena, speed runners use this to cut off like a third of his direction of mobility. For placidusax's ruin attack just get wide and run right he usually starts the attack by making distance and it's the same thing you would do against against midir (who is the 3rd best dragon ever cause he is no where as fun as this nor as great an experience as sign) Again not justifications just tips (one is a literal cheese strat.

[@Oneforgettable]

Placidusax would genuinely be my favorite boss in the series if it wasn't for the fucking horrendous runback. And I know people think it shouldn't matter but it really does to me. The fire giant is my least favorite boss in the series, I genuinely wouldn't have bought the game if I'd been able to test his fight, and if put all the things I hate about this boss In one comment I'd be writing a book. Maliketh is awesome but he seems to be balanced around the stupid parry item? Not that it's impossible or even that hard to beat him without it, but it definitely seems to be the intended way to get an opening, otherwise you'll see him do multiple combo strings before you get one attack off. Elden beast is fucking garbage and vaush already explained why.

[@Kitth3n]

Fire giant was the only one that frustrated me out of those. Mostly because of the uneven ground and unpredictable movement of his rolls.

[@elysahatestostudy9364]

I have come to disagree with Vaush's Maliketh take after fighting him so many times: If Godfrey and Horah Lux are the same song remixed to a different speed, Guraanq and Maliketh are two different songs playing on the same beat. And I love it for it.

[@obamaorb7426]

“Captain Radahn” made me laugh more than it should’ve

[@RobertoLoux]

Godfrey is so god damn perfect he’s my favorite boss from any game ever.

[@agentcd7806]

I wish I could love him the way most of people do but his fight is so incredibly boring, I hate every single aspect of how they designed that fight so for me he's at the bottom of everything in the game

[@RobertoLoux]

@@agentcd7806 I genuinely cannot fathom how people could think that. I understand some people don’t like how often he stomps but I don’t really get any hate beyond that.

[@thomasallister3446]

He’s cool but I really think he needs more health, dude dies too quickly imo

[@blazingmonolith4323]

Nice this helped me get through a 12 hour shift right before my weekend. Thanks Voosh.

[@viss-kn4iu]

Without taking into account the unhinged and factually untrue take of Margit dice rolling his combo extensions, I find this whole tier list to be quite solid. Very good that at least Vaush bothered to explain his stance at all times.

[@ailgasaBocirnE]

56:29 You're just walking araund in the forest and a guy just start puking death at you, yeah its cool just a normal thusday

[@bunklypeppz]

I totally agree with Vaush about the Beast Clergyman/Maliketh fight. I love the first phase, but I dislike the trend in Elden Ring of having some second phases that bear no resemblance to the first phase in terms of mechanics, and personally I dislike the second phase against Maliketh (mostly due to the ability Vaush mentioned, along with the fact that it's loaded with visual clutter and potentially awkward camera angles). The Beast Clergyman is one of my favorite bosses to fight in any Fromsoft game, both because of the mechanics and the aesthetic of the battle. I do appreciate the fact that you can fight him at any point in the game if you attack him in the sanctum in the north of Caelid; sometimes I go straight there from the portal at the start of my playthrough just to fight him.

[@macvadda2318]

I have the complete opposite veiw of you, i think maliketh is a god teir fight, but I don’t really like the beast clergyman

[@yab3146]

@@macvadda2318 its very odd really, this is the first time I've seen someone say the beast clergyman is better than maliketh lol

[@macvadda2318]

@@yab3146 i think the clergyman is a good boss hes just to simple to be better than superior malikeith

[@RorickSkyve]

I don't know, one of the most beloved bosses of all the Souls Games is Ludwig, the Accursed/ The Holy Blade. His two phases are very mechanically different, yet I've never seen anyone complain about that.

[@bunklypeppz]

@@yab3146 I'd wager at least 80% of players ignore a significant portion of mechanics on any boss fight because they either use a build that allows them to do so, or they increase their character power enough to afford frequent hit trading. I think almost anyone who's beaten all the bosses no-hit would agree that Beast Clergyman is one of the best fights in the game. When you actually have to dodge every hit and counter as often as possible, the beast clergyman fight has arguably the most engaging rhythm, movement patterns, telegraphs etc, of any boss Fromsoft has ever made. By comparison, Maliketh is a very clunky fight with the dmg occurring mostly in short, telegraphed bursts and frequent bouts of downtime in between anything that requires specific action on the part of the player (since he constantly moves out of range). A lot of Maliketh's punish windows also involve the player avoiding attacks by just standing at his feet and meleeing instead of dodging individual attacks. I'm not saying Maliketh is a terrible fight, but it's one in which I think the mechanics cease to be very engaging once you understand how to react to them and no longer get caught by surprise by things like his aoe frontal slash or ground explosions etc.

[@tomservo9254]

Ohhh, THAT'S why he liked Loretta so much...

[@jdogg4792]

Ishiin didn’t know to fight you because you’re strong. He was raised back from the dead and saw that geni sacrificed himself to being him back to life to kill sekiro and make ashina great again. Ishiin fights you because it was geni’s final wish.

[@LimeyLassen]

I think vaush is missing up the ancestor spirit and the regal ancestor spirit. The latter has a more complex moveset, and a laser.

[@pommedeter7407]

placidusax's nuke attack kinda reminds me of Safi'Jiiva's supernova or alatreon's escaton judgement in mhw. In all cases its dope af

[@Azzyzazz]

Hell yeah MH slaps

[@DeepfriedBeans4492]

Imagine if there was a takeout after killing radagon where marika commends you for gathering the great tunes and defeating her radagon half, something along the lines of ‘now that I have been freed from the grasp of the greater will you can join me as my elden lord’, but then something similar to what Vaush said would happen where marika then gets controlled, for as ranni knew it’s not as simple as just deciding to not care about the outer god you are subject to, so just another thing that this would’ve tied into as opposed to ‘big monster use radagon as sword’

[@Ciri751]

As I walked through the gate, I saw him. A mythic legend, I foolishly thought was dead, but there he stood before me. GODFREY FIRST ELDEN LORD! I perished many times, but never did I give up, never did I yield to a god... And when the battle was forgone, I knew, this is the best fucking fight in all of Elden ring. Then radagon showed up... so close to a masterpiece fromsoft... then you fuck it up by giving us this!

[@zigludosama]

Bro delivered a whole prepare to cry on Godfrey

[@Liam-pi9vi]

Lichdragon Fortissax is fucking awesome. Its unfortunate that hes misssable, and you will more than likely already have encountered other ancient dragons like Lansseax. He also has, hands down, the BEST OST in the game. His design is sick, and the Double Ancient Lightning Spear is awesome to see.

[@younggod5230]

When I fought him, in my mind he literally registered as "just another dragon fight". Despite him not being at all, that was how I perceived him. And I fought him as I would any other dragon on foot (when I have to) and killed him in one try and got it over with. It was just an r1 and heal spam fest. The que for when fia falls asleep and Forti becomes accesible is really unclear. I did the fia questline. And it took another ten hours or so before she finally fell asleep and I could enter her dreaming. Eventhough nothing changed that was clearly related. The worst thing is, I got so tired of waiting, that I just looked up if I had missed something. I hadn't. Then I went back to check on Fia. LITERALLY NOW I COULD ENTER THE FIGHT. So yea, dumb boss and I will forever hate him. But that is really for a bunch of hypersubjective reasons, I just thought I'd tell you about it, since I can't just let you enjoy a boss in peace. Oh, also, due to circumstances, I had to fight him without headphones, so this boss literally has no OST to me. Get fucked. I literally thought the opposite boss of the one you thought, and I think that's hilarious because it's literally the same boss.

[@Liam-pi9vi]

@@younggod5230 Hmmm for some reason I’m getting the feeling you don’t like this boss… Jokes aside, I think your perspective is fair. I didn’t really have trouble activating the Fia questline, I kinda just went through her dialogue and rested at a grace or reloaded the area when I thought that might progress her questline. Anyways, if you haven’t already, check out his OST. Shit goes hard.

[@younggod5230]

@@Liam-pi9vi kk, will for sure

[@mrwobblyshark465]

Am I high or was death rite bird not on here?

[@smitty215able]

Fun note; astel isnt a character name. You dont fight the same character twice. Its the name for the mature variant of the species

[@musicalsaber6433]

Seriously, people got so upset about the repeat bosses, that they blinded themselves towards the implications of multiple of these things existing.

[@miragebarrage9748]

I’m surprised Vaush didn’t put the Tree Sentinel at the top for…obvious reasons ;)

[@equious8413]

I love the theory that the falling star beasts are larval forms of the Astel creature.

[@nPr26_50]

I really like how Vaush retells the stories in these games. I was watching Vaatividya's lore videos on Elden Ring and quickly closed it, cause it all just sounded vague and lacking in substance. The Godfrey bit in this video on the other hand makes the narrative sound grand and Shakespearean.

[@Gamernutritionfacts]

It’s a shame Vaush is so needlessly controversial imo. He’s a fantastic lore orator. He really knows how to dig at the actual point of these characters in a thematic sense, instead of just going over facts and theories about their roles in the story You should try going back to that vaati video though. The beginnings of those lore videos always sound vague, but they do go into specifics so it’s not just bullshit

[@pedromunoz7144]

What would vaush do if he went to debate ben shapipo, and he started doing the waterfall dance point blank??

[@Invisibleguy-kn7bd]

Finally got back to finishing this lol, fully agree that Elden Ring's open world makes future playthroughs much less enjoyable. Instead of excitedly exploring all the different dungeons and caves and such to see what enemies await you and what rewards you'll get, you'll most likely look-up online what gear you want for your specific build, go clear those places in particular, and then just charge through most of the game to face the bosses. But then you run into the issue that a fair few of the bosses just aren't as good as older Souls games. I've just recently done SL1 runs for the first three Dark Souls games, and I've been thinking about trying a RL1 run for Elden Ring but I haven't been able to muster the motivation to do it because I know how tedious a lot of it will be, and then I'll need to deal with bosses that imo are overall worse than DS3 ones.

[@NottherealLucifer]

Nah Vaush, I full cleared every dungeon I stepped into, or at least killed every enemy I saw. Going around enemies doesn't make you any stronger, so I tend to not skip them in video games unless they're not worth the exp.

[@NottherealLucifer]

This comment is in response to Vaush saying Elden Ring seems to train us to skip past enemies, btw.

[@BenKLode]

A few things about the points made on Malenia: 1. Before the nerf, one of the relatively unrealised ways of dealing with up close waterfowl dance was to abuse s of bloodhound step. All you really had to do was to just have a weapon with it and be a roll distance away from her to shoot through her first volley, then you'd just bloodhound horizontally to her and away for the final attack. My friend showed it to me and that's how I've beaten my Malenia. One weapon with bloodhound step and innate bleed, another one with frostbite. Sadly, it required a full respec and some farming for weapon upgrades, so not the exactly best way of dealing with it, but it was better than praying for no waterfowls, especially when early release days/week getting info on stuff like dodging that was very, very obscure. 2. All sorts of unsheath style attacks on the katanas were incredibly busted early on, poise damage wise. People definitely know it best for the moonlight-greatsword-lite katana itself, but even normal uchi unsheath spam was uh...very questionable. You could stagger virtually anything in 2 unsheathes or less, aside from VERY few exceptions. Felt like swinging the 'ole MH hammer on bosses head, except it's lightning fast and deals about as much damage.

[@dillonbija9592]

Astel is my favourite simply for his design. Also malenia is frustrating, if only for the health regen.

[@moustachio05]

And waterfowl dance

[@dillonbija9592]

@@moustachio05 At first yeah, but I figured out a pattern with a shield to avoid damage from it

[@Oneforgettable]

I'm a little confused about your Astel thing, did you not know that the fallingstar beasts grow Into astel? Also, I have no idea why you think these characters are so old?

[@themightymcb7310]

The shattering happened hundreds of years ago, look at all the withered old nobles wandering the lands between. People stopped dying of old age.

[@Ryuksgelus]

Two Void monsters was cool to me because it implies they aren't special in the greater universe. They are just beings out there that are a big deal to the people of the Land In Between but just bugs where they are from.

[@juliebrown7745]

I love my summons, but you're absolutely right. I think boss videos shouldn't be over in 10 seconds 21:58

[@Rocky-yw1zo]

Im very happy mohg was top 3, he is by far one of the best bosses in this game.

[@AlexHyde666]

Wait, was the Death Rite Bird not on the list?

[@azazel166]

We speak not of the Death Rite Bird and may oblivion consume it.

[@adnrewt]

damn super agreed about some of these takes, especially having been getting hard into a rl1 melee run which makes sense as it sounds like vaush did one as well. what's funny is my first playthrough gave such a different impression on a lot of the bosses, particularly the falling star beast which also became one of my fav fights when I really learned its groove

[@Cedwig234]

malenia should jump diagonally away from you instead of straight up. u can see which attack she initiates, and there is enough space to outrun waterfowl. boom she is in slave knight gael tier

[@glumdrop4672]

I've been enjoying repeat playthroughs personally, I think it's pretty great to just be able to bypass stuff you don't want to do again. I didn't play my first DS game until a couple years ago so I have no nostalgia for the more frustrating obtuse stuff and stifling linearity. That said, a lot of stuff in ER could have been condensed down. If the game were half as long, dropping much of the filler, it would still be fantastic, maybe more so.

[@nachofast6144]

Malenia would be better if there were 3 phases and none of them had Waterfowl Dance

[@kerb23]

Chat at 2:55:31 - 'I love that this is going to go on for another hour and a half minimum' 1 hour 40 minutes left in video

[@alliedtadpole2531]

Ya one bad thing about Rennala is that the first time I fought her, I spent about 15 min in the first stage just cause I didn't notice that one was golden(thought I had to shoot the main body or something) and then in second phase she spammed the big ass Lazer attack so I killed her in like 30 seconds. Didn't even know she had the moon attack or could summon

[@Arc77crA]

3:05:00 I think the reason Malenia fights you is because she thinks (gameplay wise correctly) that you are there to kill her and get her Great Rune, which is exactly what we end up doing

[@youthofnauseanecrotron5032]

I actually kinda love Fia's Champions, sure it's sort of like the Gravewatchers or whatever they were called in Dark Souls 2 but I honestly don't even hate on that fight nearly as much as anyone else does despite the horrible run to it. It's got a ranged attacker, a tank, and an aggressive dex dude. It's almost like an early version of Shadows of Yarnham. The real thing that makes Fia's champions cool though while maybe less balanced than either of the fights mentioned prior is the fact that it uploads builds of actual players who simp for her, idk just kind of a cool mechanic in my opinion

[@djungelskog9581]

You know it's a good fight when your only criticism is he doesn't do a backflip

[@xpirate16]

3.5 hours left to cover 24 bosses? LETS GOOOOOO

[@ryanb5127]

I feel like Ornstein and Smoug are built for you to have the summon present

[@xuanathan]

Just go for Smough first, it's different but equal in difficulty, just a lot more engaged and a lot more fun.

[@ryanb5127]

@@xuanathan I'll try that on my next playthrough, I found the 2v2 fun but I'm thinking of doing no summons on a ng+ playthrough

[@riekanicholas20]

One thing that kinda ruined the ulcerated tree spirit fights was the one in the royal capital that WAS supposed to be a more difficult one but you can cheese it from the rooftops across the slough from it once its summoned

[@goose5761]

Vaush uses Rivers of Blood and blows at this game.

[@ortsheidi]

This better includes all unique bosses, which includes all unique versions of the cat-dog boss thing, but not the same lone cemetery shade twice if it is over 4 hours long