Elden Ring

[chopemon]

Reckon I will invest a bit in magic as it seems OP and

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Margrit

is kicking my arse. The summons is weird I still cannot work out when I can summon my buddies or cannot. Some peeps talk about summoning them for bosses but I couldn't for

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Magrit

. I must be doing something wrong.

Apologies if you've figured this out but I had to look it up as well.

To summon the AI spirits, you have to be in certain areas. Apparently they have a like a stone marker or something in world but I've only noticed them in the cave boss arenas. Above your equipment display in the bottom left of the screen, you'll see a blue portcullis looking icon in that boss fight you're referencing. If you see that, you can summon a spirit. If that isn't displaying for you, travel back to the Church of Elleph (or whatever it's called) and there should be an NPC waiting to speak to you who will give you the necessary item. Then equip your spirits and use them from the dpad down menu.

It might help to have your hud set to be on all the time rather than auto. I set mine to permanently on and could see the summon icon in the bottom left.

[Golgo]

Also noticed that occasionally the Elden Tree will produce pollen which rains down (looks a bit like golden snow) which seems to buff your character as buff icons appear under the HP/FP/Stamina bars but am unsure what the effect is.

I've seen that. Think it's a chicken foot icon which I presume is the same as the chicken foot item, which boosts the amount of runes you get from enemies. Why should a chicken foot indicate this particular buff? God knows, but maybe From thought the systems weren't quite obscure enough...

[briareos_kerensky]

Well, the turtle neck enhaces stamina regeneration...

[Brad]

Turtleneck should create a reality distortion field

[wakka]

Turtleneck should create a reality distortion field

Ha!

[Tobal]

I accidently killed patches, i kept swinging...

Spent today going around mopping up everything in central and south Limgrave which are pretty much the starters areas to go grind in, getting weapon and spirit upgrades and a few key items. Still haven't 100% those areas... Folkhero grave has a ledge near the start i've not found access to yet, going to assume there some terrifying drop on to ledge somewhere going on how i found other hidden stuff in there, also did my first player summon as there was no way i was beating the boss in it's 2nd phase, to fast, to big, to many fast AOE attacks with added fire damage i can't negate.

Found a bunch of NPC's doing the Limgrave grind and started a few quests,

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tree cursed talking orc where i got his sowing kit back, a samurai who hunt red fingers, women mage merchant, a locked up women mage in a dungeon, Gutts(from Berserk) but a wolfman, Patches (now dead), some knight commander and his now dead daughter, and some point the potman saved from a hole and noble to get his castles back have vanished.

[briareos_kerensky]

The

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potman is in one of the dungeons in Caedril, or whatever it's called...the one near an encampment with the rock miners from Demon's.

[Golgo]

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I accidently killed patches, i kept swinging...

Meh, I slaughtered him in cold blood where he knelt grovelling for his life, then shook down his still-warm corpse for swag. It was the only decent course of action.

[Tobal]

man i'm a little annoyed the Holy magic requires INT to use, i'd need to level up 5 times to use echant holy... and i can't rely on godricks rune as i found dying causes the buff to be removed and then to burn another rune arc on it.. So i'm going different route of leveling DEX to meet requirements to use the tree spear.

[fuse]

Took out a whole bunch of bosses last night, including a couple that I'd sworn to go back to when a bit stronger. I don't feel like I'm *that* much stronger, but I did come back and find them much easier, so that's nice.

One of my biggest takeaways with combat so far is that strong / R2 attacks now have way more purpose than I've ever found them to have before. I was always a big fan of just slashing away with weaker attacks, but breaking 'super armour' and staggering bosses feels like a really crucial tool. The guard attack thing is great too if you know you're not due to eat a follow-up, and jumping R2 attacks are excellent for closing the distance.

[QualityChimp]

Took out a whole bunch of bosses last night,

Genuinely had to check what thread I was in, thinking this was an irk about a work night out!

[Brad]

This game seems important enough that we should have a proper review for the site. Anyone fancy doing an Elden Ring piece?

*snigger*

[briareos_kerensky]

That joke was way too classy for me to understand

[thinkitty]

I also ran into Patches whilst playing last night. For reasons I can't explain, I was genuinely surprised to see him. Silly really, considering he's featured in every SoulsBorne game, Sekiro too. I extended forgiveness and spared his life as, for the first time, it was me robbing him for a change and he had cause for hostility.

Later on I got caught in a teleport trap which whisked me off to distant rot-infested lands far in the east with crimson red skies where I was soon set upon by huge, hideous and genuinely terrifying bird-like creatures. Managed to escape on horseback within an inch of my life, found a vendor on the roadside, traded with him, left my character beside the vendor whilst I went to make a cup of tea, when I returned darkness had fallen and a Lord of The Rings-style black rider mini boss appeared out of nowhere and slew me where I stood.

[briareos_kerensky]

The black knight boss spawns at night and it can be cheesed pretty easily...read it in one of my previous posts.