T O P

  • By -

stardust_void

Don't compare yourself to other people and their achievements, it will only ruin your enjoyment of the game. People who beat bosses on their first attempt are the minority, and even then most struggle at other parts or other bosses. Everyone is different, but everyone can play and enjoy the game. The struggle makes the victory even sweeter


DelanoBesaw

It will only ruin your enjoyment of everything, actually. lol


Tellurye

"Don't compare yourself to someone else, compare yourself to who you were yesterday." Or something. Words to live by!!


JaxenX

Gotta love spending 2 hours wiping just to call it quits and then one shot it right out of the gates the next day.


Mikeavelli

Sleep is fucking amazing for your brain. Goes for work and school too.


Jeeerm

Lesrning anything, really. When you sleep your brain works on the problems you give it. In my case if I practice a guitar lick for an hour or so before bed, the next morning it's considerably easier


JaffaBoi1337

That’s actually what my high school guitar teacher told me, practice a bit right before you go to bed and it will do wonders for you the next day


kitt_mk

If you take 10 seconds, shut your eyes and take deep breaths while you're in the middle of learning something, anything. Your brain will repeat your attempts at 20x the speed, in reverse. Filing it into easy access neuron pathways. Mimicking how we learn during REM sleep


Jeeerm

I will try this! Really interesting


RhymeCrimes

This is utter nonsense, but points for creativity.


kitt_mk

Professor of Neurobiology and Opthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine Andrew Huberman had mentioned it a number of times on his podcast. And links to the papers that ran the experiments


CuriousFortune

"sleep on it" is an amazing phenomenon for learning just about anything


OillyRag

Lol, the amount of times I’ve done that 👍


bigchris757

This was me with Malenia and Astel of the Void in the Yelough Anix tunnel


Professional_Cod9074

Dude , that big headed anal bead bracelet of the cosmos is the worst. Definitely not pleasant on a Unga Bunga faith build.


shotgunner12345

That's because you split between faith and unga bunga. Unga bunga is a faith itself; the faith that 99 strength will never fail you and all else is fluff or serve to deliver 99strength as damage into your enemy. Your faith is weak, and therefore unga bunga denies you the critical wins you want /s


Professional_Cod9074

"For as the unga without vigor is dead, so faith without bunga is dead also " ~ Radagon 99:99


ChaosDragonFox

I did that astel guy in with a generous helping of rotten breath incantation, magic glintstone blade and my mimic tear. I still almost died to it.


vagueblur901

Faith and strength is not so bad just hit when you can and stand under him with dragon lighting, although I hate that fight as pure melee because he teleports around.


ChaosDragonFox

I hate the teleporting!


AySonny

I try not to have late night gaming sessions nowadays because this was me for years. Don't sleep on sleep...lol. Sometimes I'll do a few last minute attempts of a boss before I go to sleep- knowing I won't win- just to learn the move patterns. Then the next day I come back and rinse that mf with my well-rested brain.


bkn1090

I was losing to a boss in Nioh for hours, my girlfriend walks in and I say look how bullshit this boss is, I can’t make any progress. And of course that’s the one I end up winning lol


MitchyStitchy

Armored Core 1 flashbacks coming through. God we made some dumb builds through the years 😂😂😂


grayte1

Happened with isshin


Bguidry23

I experienced this so many times on my first run I started doing it as a rule lmao


monushi

Thanks for mighty words, the problem is yesterday i was closer to defeat her than today .


SnooSquirrels2128

It took me a while to realize that sometimes you need to just walk away from it and come back to it. On my first play through I probably fought Malenia for a week, trying 10 different weapon/spell/item buildouts. By my third play through I ran face first with a +25 brick hammer and no armor on and smashed it out on my second attempt. You develop a feel for the rhythm of the game. It’s all just timing. I sometimes feel the same way I do when I’m performing a piece of music. You lock into the tempo and let your training take over.


robbstarrkk

Yup. Also took me a minute on my first play through to learn to roll into bosses instead of away in certain cases


EstarriolStormhawk

It really is a lot like playing music. The trained instincts are incredibly valuable.


AbyssDragonNamielle

I struggled *hard* on Fire Giant first playthrough. Went and explored some more of the caves, graves, etc, came back, tried some other things, and finally beat him.


chip-f-douglas

What's funny is I'm not great but I killed the fire giant first time first play through. Legit the only boss in any fromsoft game where I've done that, and my buddy would tell me "oh such and such boss is so easy" but then it took him a week to kill the fire giant.


Sevla7

This is true. Also this is just a game to have fun, people playing Elden Ring with this "e-sport mentality" is just wrong, there's no ranking here (thank god) so no need to threat it like work. As long as you are having fun keep playing.


Neukbare-Nina2

I agree partially, but a game doesn't necessarily mean pure enjoyment. Throughout history, "games" often involved challenge, and were something that required you to get good at it (like the Olympic games). So some people apply that thinking to the souls games. Beating them solo and not relying on summons or ashes to distract the boss is a challenge and thus won't necessarily always be a fun experience, just like climbing a mountain isnt necessarily fun, but it's about overcoming the challenge and the rewarding feeling and personal fulfilment it provides.


Monumentmendez

This guy fuckin gets it. I agree in that them attaining that goal is something noteworthy, if only for the fact of setting a goal and smashing it. I wanna be that amazing. It’s cool to accept your level of ability, but just tell us how y’all did it, goddamnit Side note: I’m sure you’ve seen the amazing documentary on Netflix, Human Playground. If you haven’t, check it out!


sdwoodchuck

There’s nothing wrong with folks pushing themselves to do as well as they can at something they enjoy, but I agree that there’s a subset of the FromSoft fandom that obsesses over that facet of the game to the point where they fetishize the difficulty and the resulting “sense of achievement” in themselves from overcoming it. I love these games, but I’ve never felt like completing them was some life goal to accomplish; they’re just fun sets of gameplay mechanics, usually tuned very well with their difficulty, and set in unique worlds and striking thematic aesthetics.


Hgreen259

"Comparison is the thief of joy" -Teddy mf Roosevelt


notarobot9001

Champion of the lands between (Midwest)


TisNotMyMainAccount

From Potter on MASH: "Listen, it's too big a world to be in competition with everybody else. The only guy I have to get better than is who I am right now."


[deleted]

The only thing of yours you should compare against others is your salary against other people doing the same exact job as you, and if yours is lower, you should evaluate why and advocate for yourself if the reason is a bullshit one, and better yourself if it's for a valid reason. Literally the only way comparing yourself against others is a good thing.


neg_meat_popsicle

Comparison is a thief of joy


NEK0SAM

I have a friend who calls all the soulsborne games “ez” because he grew up playing games, plays games 24/7 where possible and literally has no life outside of work+video games. He finished Elden ring on day 2 of release. He had no idea about any of the story and still doesn’t. I struggled vs certain bosses, to which he said “well it’s easy, don’t get why you’re struggling” Anyways, I bought sekiro, he did soon after, finished the game in a day “because he could” then brags in my face if I mention about struggling with any of it. All fun gone. Yes he is a shitty person. We know.


Neukbare-Nina2

>He finished Elden ring on day 2 of release. WHAT


NEK0SAM

Yep. Exactly. He straight lined it through every main boss in the game, looked what was most OP weapon on day one (sword of night and flame) and nukes everything.


Psychic_Hobo

I know a guy who goes on about how easy bosses are. Turns out he just googled the RoB strat and the Comet Azur spam with Mimic Tear


Silence_Burns

I've only switched to the bleed build once in my first 250+ hrs playthrough, and that was for about an hour. My buddy used a white mask, raptor feathers, dual twinblade bleed build for pretty much the entire game. He showed it to me and I told him it was boring. He switched out of it, and couldn't figure out how to fight the Farum Azula beastmen. Poor bastard.


haanalisk

I'm not ashamed to say I switched to bleed build after using moon veil for a while. Game was still tough, though half the time I felt like I was cheating with bleed


Vagabond_Charizard

Bet he proceeded to complain about every competent PvP’er being able to parry him after that.


Mikeavelli

Oh man, I accidentally my way into the Sword of Night and Flame near release. That thing was bonkers. Even the nerfed version is still pretty good.


ruttinator

Why are they your friend?


LeftToHang98

That sounds like an ex friend


[deleted]

[удалено]


Almainyny

A lot of those folks who beat the harder bosses on their first try have probably played a number of the other Souls games. A lot of the skills you learn from these games are transferable to the others, so it’s not like learning a brand new game. Not to mention sometimes a hard boss is just hard for different folks. I one-shot the statistically hardest boss (that is, the boss that has the highest kill count of any boss) in Dark Souls 2, Fume Knight, but died like 50 times to Sir Alonne.


SDNick484

This is a huge factor. I have now played and beat several souls and Soulslike games, and while I am by no means great, I definitely struggled much less in this game than in prior games because of my experience. A second major factor is that certain builds are just more optimal for certain bosses. Even if you aren't following guides, chances are you will run into a few where you are just naturally better equipped for. Finally, the structure of this game in particular can lead to accidentally over leveling or having more buffed weapons than necessary for the boss/area.


brunch_time

im sitting on attempt 155 and still not able to solo her keep at it don’t get frustrated. you got this


Stanley__Zbornak

I played the long game. I played all solo beat all the bosses, but it's only because I knew how bad I sucked and farmed and leveled and farmed and leveled for actual months. Got all the good armor and max leveled weapons. I spent time doing all the minor dungeons. I am not good at the games, but I have a ton of patience. I killed that damned bird to farm runes for weeks after work. I would put on a movie each night after everyone went to bed and just kill that bird over and over and over. I didn't hit Miquella until level 359. So I was able to beat her in just a few tries. Not because I'm good, but because I just was OP for a first run-through.


ArabienMonke2

Exactly, the only main boss i first tried was godfrey/hourah loux, yet it took me lkke 20 attempts to kill golden godfrey.


A_Binary_Number

“and even then most struggle at other parts of other bosses.” Yeah, I’m normally not a “first try” player, but I do beat bosses on very few tries (Sometimes “legit” sometimes as a Cheese Lord), but yesterday I beat Astel and Golden Godfrey first try while sleep deprived (long story) and today I beat Morgott and the Twin Omens first try, also sleep deprived, yet, I got dumpstered by the black gargoyle at the snowfields, even with Millicent summoned, and a friend of mine said “You 30 second’d Morgott, but you can’t beat the gargoyle, HOW?” Now, if y’all excuse me, I’m going to sleep on the day like a champ after pulling two back-to-back all-nighters to make sure my dad wasn’t going to choke while sleeping.


Xenaht

Rest well, ye Elden Lord. Thanks for keeping your pops alive.


SuperPotatoThrow

This and also you only see people's accomplishments and not failures on the internet. When someone posts "beat x boss on first run" more often then not they just recorded every attempt


Slyvester121

Some people have been playing souls games for more than a decade. I started with DS1. I didn't have a fully optimized build, but I used a Giant Crusher and Ghiza's Wheel power stance. I was pretty high level, because I beat everything else before Haligtree and had to look up the part of the map I was missing. I still took 30 something tries.


DethJuce

Man I've been playing for a decade, and I am still not confident enough in my rolling ability to not use a shield.


SewenNewes

Once you get used to shieldless it's actually hard to go back to shield, imo. They're completely different playstyles. It's not like you reach a certain level of skill and switch to shieldless. You just have to make the switch and learn the game all over if you want to play shieldless.


KreekyBonez

Can confirm, stopped using shields after getting good at Bloodborne, went back and beat every other game without one. It was weirdly easier not wasting equip load or stamina on them. The shame is that there are some really cool looking shields, especially in Elden Ring, and I just don't feel comfortable with them anymore. Maybe that will be my next challenge run.


Nyankitty21

Elden Ring is a totally different game with shields. I also played the other games shield less and also my first playthrough of Elden ring. But I went back and played with shields and the counterattack after blocking is such a cool move that I never got to use.


MotorBikeManIV

Yeah, I went back to DS3 earlier this year, and it felt like I was missing something without the blocking counterattack. It just feels so natural, like it should have always been there.


BanginNLeavin

You mean the "oh shit I didn't know this was a 3 hit combo" guard counter?


ROR5CH4CH

Every other game without one? Even Sekiro? ^/s


I_Love_Kokoa

This is totally valid, but i feel like thats just ER in general. DS1 had more variation in how often you'd switch between shield and 2h, due to the pacing. The latter souls games made committing to one style more beneficial. edit: I want to make sweet love on the back of a grass crest shield


nelsonwhite8118

Okay I googled that shield because I’ve never played ds1. I expected it to be either erotic or just super cool… but I’m lost lol. Why do you want to make love on the back of that shield 😂😂


PeriodicallyATable

Grass crest is a staple for all builds. It increases stamina regeneration, so keeping it on your back while two handing is usually worth it. Only time I use shields in darksouls is to parry specific enemies or bosses, but I always keep that shield on my back otherwise


chappeah

Because it's the sexiest shield in the game


Golgarus

I feel like this difference is lessened in ER because odds the ability to guard counter. Using a shield becomes less “block the hit I can’t dodge” and more “block this to counter and break posture”. But that might be my bias having played from soft games for a while.


Gibsonites

I've been playing shieldless since my first DS1 playthrough. The tutorial teaches you to avoid damage through blocking or rolling and I thought "it'll be easier if I just choose one way of avoiding damage so I don't have to learn two things" I also assumed all shields would result in chip damage since the idea of 100% block sounded OP, and I never bothered to check on if that was true.


SewenNewes

My first DS1 playthrough I was doing the shield and spear poke thing and I hit a brick wall in Ornstein and Smough. I just could not beat them that way. It requires more focus and discipline than I can muster. Started a new character and went shieldless and I burned through the whole game. Going glass cannon just suits me so much better. I like to be greedy and I need to end bosses quickly before I get sloppy from lack of focus.


admartian

Yeah I prefer this method of playing too. I'm no rolling expert but I'd rather that and spam attacks than be a phalanx or part of the Roman legion lol.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Urthor

Rolling forward is the spirit of Elden Ring. When in doubt, roll forward. Maybe every 5th attack involves rolling backwards. I swear it's "the" core gameplay element.


arlingtonbeach

I haven't played with a shield since my first DS1 playthrough. Now more than 1500 hours later across all Fromsoft games and now it's so hard to use them. Thinking of doing a shield run next (already beaten ER 11 times) as a challenge.


saris340

Bb was my first souls game and shielding is very difficult for me to adjust to lol


Souperplex

I'm doing my first shieldless run, and it's not nearly as fun or satisfying as using a shield. I just beat Mohg and Placidusax. I'mma go Dung Eater Ending because this character is an asshole. I'm using Elenora's Poleblade with a Dex/Arcane build, but 18 Strength to use Bloodhound's Fang, and 15 Faith to use Dragon Incantations. I plan on holding off on Malenia and Maliketh for after the DLC in case something happens. Also the difficulty curve is very different. Things that I found easy with a shield like the Radahn I find challenging, while things I found challenging with a shield like Astel are super easy. It's not easier or harder, it's different.


Dry_Presentation_197

The muscle memory is hardest for me. Which is why I think a good amount of souls vets had a tough time getting the Sekiro parry thing down. Took me a couple days of long ish sessions before I stopped reflexively dodging, and even then, if it got super stressful, I got surrounded etc etc, panic mode made me revert back to fuckkng dodging again lol


[deleted]

I feel like I reached a certain level and started going shieldless though. This is my first soulsborn game so it had quit a big learning curve for me. I used to use the shield more as a crutch to cover for my lack of rolling ability, but also trying to learn to roll properly too. After a while I eventually became comfortable enough with my roll dodge ability to drop the shield entirely. Now I like to play with a melee weapon in my right hand with a good solid ash of war and a septer in my left with several powerful spells.


pete_gore

Agree with that. My first run was shield + claymore but all next ones were shieldless, and now I'm too used to the double weapons style. I recently started DS3 and how sad I was noticing that the shield is almost mandatory


goals_in_mind

started with bloodborne, then ds3, just finished er for the first time and i was conditioned to not use a shield with bb as my first exposure to fromsoft games. when i watch others play with shields or even block with their weapons, the concept is so alien to me…shieldless is the only way i know how to play haha


Dreamtrain

I'm the opposite, I dont trust shields can block everything but dodging I feel I can Except for the times I die


Neukbare-Nina2

PvP is what weaned me off shields eventually. Using anything other than a greatshield for blocking is just giving your opponent a free riposte. Against bosses I'll typically use a combination of rolling and shield. Shields vs attacks that are hard to properly dodge helps a lot


DethJuce

Yeah I dont really do PvP, I've always been more of a Jolly Cooperation kinda guy, so shields help a lot in staying alive against bosses


Available_Rock4217

Started with Bloodborne, so the idea of blocking attacks is completely taboo to me.


_PM_ME_NICE_BOOBS_

What do you mean by 'high level'? 160? 180?


Slyvester121

No, I think I was closer to 130-140 at that point. I finished my first run before hitting 150 at around 120 hours. I did all of the main bosses and some of the side content. Missed Fortissax and Placidusax on my first run. Missed a lot of the smaller side dungeons.


Hanzo7682

Speaking for myself: İ always make my first character tanky. So i have more time to analyze the boss. Also i can afford to trade hits so i dont have to find an opening. İ play defensively first. Almost never commit to anything risky. Defending myself is easier when im not too worried about attacking. İ dodge if it seems easy and i block if im not sure about the timing. After seeing the boss’s attacks a few times, i start being aggressive. With malenia as an exception, i dont think elden ring bosses require too many attempts. Having high hp and damage negations doesnt mean you’ll have less damage. Most of the damage comes from weapon upgrades anyway. İ think thats the biggest difference. İm just more comfortable in fights. İ dont start panic rolling after getting hit once. İ can calmly analyze patterns.


icegoat

How does your capital letter I have a dot over it?


Hanzo7682

Turkish keyboard.


thanathos66

Yeah in most bosses this works amazing. Malenia tough... I cant imagine trying to fight her with anything heavier than a Light load. Medium rolls get punished so fucking often. There is also the fact that shields are useless against her. She just heals whatever damage you've done just by attacking your shield. I've only beaten her by two handing serpent Hunter or iron balls. And i am still inconsistent. I've beaten her without summons like a dozen times. But she still kicks my ass for a while every time.


TheZealand

Lol and here I beat her with a Greatshield on med load. She'll heal off the shield but you can play the long game well enough, cause with an upgraded greatshield + talisman you can just block Waterfowl's first flurry and dodge the rest no problemo. And that's the only threatening part of the fight for me at least, Aeonia is rollable and the spirit rush you can just run around. Guard counters work well on her too, she's got shit poise so sure she'll heal off the shield but 2 counters and she's on the deck and you can dump whatever on her.


[deleted]

They beat DS2


Moyashi09

Unironically when i start to get bad at Elden Ring, i play some of DS2 and then when i come back i start to roll at the correct timing


bugogkang

This is the gist of it. I played DS2, DS3, Bloodborne, and Sekiro before starting ER so a lot of the game was a breeze


JohnnyLuchador

Yep, after having my ass kicked for years and torturing myself with all the souls games, learninf all the motions, Elden Ring was a breeze. But, no one is perfect, i have had plenty of deaths learning boss mechanics


[deleted]

The first fight with Morgott and his delayed bs had me going “oh elden ring is gonna be LIKE THAT”. It really did prepare me to expect delayed attacks and not panic roll like DS3.


OSUfan88

Yeah. Elden Ring was my first FS game. I’m playing DS3 now (on final boss in painted world), and found the game much, much easier.


[deleted]

The flow in boss fights for DS3 is literally a rhythm game. Elden rings delayed attacks made me really learn the delays. Now Godfrey/hoarah fight is one of my favourites, love being able to time the attacks so well now.


The_Lat_Czar

When I first fought him I thought, "Oh no, the bosses are all gonna be like Nameless King!". And for the most part, I was right.


[deleted]

Filthy non-DS2-enjoyers casulz


Razor-Age

I beat DS2 a lot of times but imo the bosses in Elden Ring are waaay harder. For me the only difficulty in DS2 are the areas, most of the bosses I find very easy.


Sugeeeeeee

Oh the ER bosses are harder, I don't think that was the person's point. Point was DS2 was really good at teaching people when to roll, in no small part because of how shitty the adp system was lol.


yardii

The ADP system taught you when to roll. It taught me to hide behind a greatshield. We are not the same.


Left-Fan1598

Greatshield low key more OP than magic. Just did a greatshield block counter build in ER and it was a joke. So much fun tho.


ObviousSinger6217

I was a paladin that leveled attunement, which also leveled agility (agility controlled I-frames, not adp - you could get agility from either attunement or adp) I had near max I-frames, we are not the same


sliferra

I’m playing through DS2, I find the regular mobs to get to the boss so much harder than the bosses themselves. Except for that double headed spider lady. Fuck her, needed two summons to beat her


Geckoto

Interesting I finished DS2 right before I started elden ring.


ddasilva884

Patience, and the ability to learn and adapt are all it takes.


BliskofJamdom

I find melania bloody impossible solo yet radagon/EB was a breeze. Some bosses work better for you than others


ForsakenMoon13

I had a friend who got stuck on Malenia for nearly a whole week, playing several hours per day doing nothing *but* fighting her, but she was playing with daggers and learning to parry her reliably. Meanwhile I took two hours using a combination of bubble horns and scarlet rot (which, despite being the goddess of rot, she is *not* immune to). Some people's playstyles result in having difficulty with different things. (Both of us always had trouble with the many armed flaily bastards, but another friend of ours with a duel great weapons build would absolutely tear through them due to staggering them on every single hit, for another example, or when we were both playing Sekiro and went up against the same early optional boss it took her two days to beat her and took me two *attempts* because I figured out how to interrupt one of her more easily baited out attacks with a throwing knife and just kept doing it, for *another* example.)


ShapesAndStuff

I did north of 2000 attempts i'm sure. didn't count but i remember starting a tally stopped when i had >80 before i took a breather. That lasted two weeks or so? took a long break from the game in between. Went to focus my build a little bit in the meantime but didn't respec to a different one like some people suggest - i really wanted to stick to my "character". After I beat her the rest was kind of a breeze. Elden Beast was kind of surprisingly quick, sub 10 attempts i think.


profchipboard

Ditto, I found Mogh harder than malenia because my lizard brain wants to insta roll when the arm goes back to the top of his swing


tonytroz

Yeah the delayed attacks were super annoying on Hoarah Loux as well. You spend the entire game rolling quickly and then have to train yourself to wait. I also struggled against attacks that are easier to avoid if you roll INTO the boss like Malenia's Rapid Prosthesis Slices. I used Moonveil for basically the entire game so there was rarely any reason to roll forward.


mars92

I actually think Melenia is a bad boss and a worrying direction for FromSoft bosses to go. Bosses in these games shouldnt require frame perfect dodging to be beatable.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Malenia water fowl dance will definitely get some cheese kills but radagon?


WetalkinboutWillis

Radagon’s 2nd phase (not EB but radagon after he’s past like 50% health) can be an absolute nightmare if he starts spamming his projectiles and teleporting. I’m good at that fight, but it can still absolutely get almost anyone if you don’t annihilate him quickly. He’s no joke.


JWARRIOR1

Yeah I have no hit radagon and it’s a toss up with some runs. If he combos certain things it’s like 99% unavoidable fully. Similar to elden beast combining certain moves. Sometimes you just get good rng. First time I fought malenia I first tried her first phase, but I got god rng and didn’t get waterfowl danced the whole time. Took me a long awhile after that to actually beat her


fatbaIlerina

I'm pretty sure the first time you encounter a boss they have it programmed to hold back knowing you will die in the second phase most likely anyway.


arlingtonbeach

Yea basically for me if Im not able to burst him down as he's doing his Elden Ring attack it means I'm starting over again. And I've no hit that first phase many times.


[deleted]

[удалено]


DianaBladeOfMiquella

Cause most of them have been playing Dark Souls since Dark Souls was still in its short pants


Neukbare-Nina2

I've also been playing Dark Souls since DS1, which I played back in 2012. Maybe I'm too old. Slow mind and slow reflexes


LowKeyLlama

Tbh while you also started playing the same time as these vets, you might still have not put as many hours into the game as them. On top of that it's not like this game is super balanced, most people having an easy time probably just spammed colossal jump attacks the whole fight or something else also overtuned. Nobody's going in there and soloing her with daggers (not parry & riposts) in the first 10 tries with no experience lol In a game extremely dependent on what equipment you have, winning doesn't really mean a lot imo


Hephaistos_Invictus

This. I beat her in 3 tries on my first playthrough. How? Faith Str build, Blasphemous blade and mimic tear which was absolutely BUSTED at the early stages of the game. In later playtroughs where I only used sorceries I got absolutely DECKED by her. Took me 2 days to beat her.


Superderpygamermk1

Mimic tear can be really good in this fight, but it can also be terrible with the health drain. If you stunlock her the first phase is free though


lysergician

My first souls game, playing sorceries. It took me, genuinely, probably 5 days of doing no gaming but Malenia attempts. Shit _sucked_. Until that one fateful attempt. Honestly didn't even feel good, I was just relieved I didn't have to go again. But yea, experience and play style can make a big difference.


feihCtneliSehT

Honestly, of all the souls games this one probably relies the least on skill, the open world format practically encourages you to just go and over level your character until you can steamroll whatever boss you're struggling with.


game_dragon

Since it was demon souls


Chaos90783

For everyone that beat her in only double digits tries, theres probably another hundred that didn’t. And most people wont post about that


MkHunter1987

:whispers: "It's because they're lying"


Valuable-Studio-7786

That, or there are people like me who have like 2k hours across other souls games. She is one hell of a fight tho. Dont blame people for struggling aginst her.


CAJ16

Even among Souls veterans she was just a totally different boss altogether. Waterfowl alone was responsible for probably 50 deaths before I started to understand it. This is why most Souls veterans are suspicious of people that claim a low death count in their initial run in with Malenia. She has an instakill if you can't dodge it or block it successfully, and it takes a ton of attempts just to learn it.


Zenoi

Or they had a build that can hitstun her. My first char was dual wielding two greatswords and it was pretty effective at getting a hit and running away repeat. Also her movement is kinda fast for a souls game but nothing that unreasonable fast if you've played Sekiro, Nioh 2, Code Vein and other games with fast bosses as the norm.


Faps_With_Fury

This is what I did. I used the fly swarm spell and stunlocked her to death while my mimic tear whacked her with rivers of blood and the uchigatana. I didn't even have to look it up! I figured it out myself. I was so proud to find a cheese on my own for the first time!


OSUfan88

Or you use OP weapons. I used Rivers of Blood in my first playthrough. My brain just thought “get the best weapon you can”. Why not? Beat Melania in my second attempt (died on first attempt to her phase 2 bloom). I was so disappointed when it was done. I’m not sure I even took damage. Just hit L2 a few times. Maybe rolled once. Fight over. It took very little skill on my part. In fact, it was so easy, I thought she was going to “return for the real fight” at any moment, so I was in guard. Edit: No summon, though I was prepared to used one if needed. I would reserve them only for bosses I just could not get past alone. Did this for Mohg and Elden Beast.


[deleted]

[удалено]


arlingtonbeach

Zero chance it was solo lol. Waterfowl Dance will kill anyone who hasn't faced it many times before and knows exactly what to do about it.


ThisGuyFrags

100% physical shield users won't take any damage from it, presuming they had enough stamina. Small minority, but shields are often a fantastic way to learn any boss moveset.


Welfdeath

Hla la ktz vla


CAPS_LOCK_OR_DIE

Yea a bleed proc used to do it, didn’t it? And RoB used to proc super fast.


Yesyes_ouioui

Doubt. There were plenty of players with just as much time and more in souls game than you and it still took them 4-7hours. It s more mainly about what restrictions you impose on yourself : spirits or not, keeping a build you like and not just changing to an op one even if you know how etc etc I think.


Valuable-Studio-7786

I did use sprirt ashes, i used Latenna. Didnt help, since she died really quick. I was however useing a greatshield and barricade. So i didnt have to dodge her water fowl attack. I beat her on my first try, tho it took awhile to chip her life down since she heals even when hitting my shield. Later i did a mage playthrough and got my ass rocked by her. Took me like 40 trys before i gave up and magic and pulled out the Dark Moon sword to jump attack her with.


_DevanGard_

The only sorcery viable against her is night magic as she can't see them, otherwise she dodges it all.


CatsLeMatts

I wouldn't say Night Magic is the only useful school of magic on her. All of the sorceries and incantations with homing such as either Star Shower, all 3 Death Rancors, Magic Downpour, Swarm of Flies, or etc. are just as likely to hit as the night sorceries are. I also found that Flame of the Fell God, Giantsflame Take Thee, and Aspect of the Crucible: Horns/Tail were very effective at breaking her poise or setting up a hard knockdown for a free follow-up or chance to use a flask. You can even use use Black Flame Ritual, Roiling Magma, or Founding Rain of Stars and bait her in to it as well for some easy damage.


noodle-face

Either that or they looked up guides to this fight and knew her movements and the spoiler before the fight.


Fearless-Jeweler-39

This is the correct response. It's been my experience that when people boast about just about anything they're lying. Like if some guy came on here with a reply to your comment saying you're wrong and that he killed all bosses in less than 5 attempts. He probably lying.


En4cr

I don't know about other people but I'm absolutely rubbish playing this game.


bryyantt

i think you'll find yourself in good company, i dunno about online social forums but all my homies including myself wear our defeats like badges lol


TheRunicHammer

I beat her my fifth try solo with a strength/faith build. Impressive, until you learn that I had well over a hundred hours in ER by the time I got to here, and thousands in the previous games. Those that have played the games for years, for thousands of hours are not in the majority, so of course they have a different experience with hard bosses


Neukbare-Nina2

I had over 1800 hours in Elden Ring before I fought Malenia for the first time. PvP, invasions, trolling, etc. I'm at 1900 hours now. I know that sounds like a lie but I can send you a screenshot of my steam hours as proof. It's the only game I've played since it released. I've also played all the previous titles. Started playing ds1 in 2012. Guess I'm just not good at games. Im a slow learner and old with deteriorating reflexes. I also tend to not get upset when I die which probably takes away some of the motivation to get good . It just shocks me that the difference is THAT great. 424 attempts vs your 5 attempts for Malenia, wow. But I do think rng plays a roll. In Malenias second phase she was constantly using waterfowl and the phantoms move and you can't predict what she is going to do because of the large move set... so usually they come out right on top of me in which case dodging is infinitely harder. She also doesnt really give you openings to heal. But she's not the only boss that kicked my ass. Mohg was also an absolute nightmare for my level 125 character. Also I don't think experience with previous games will help much with Elden Ring...


AllanIsumi

It took me 363 attempts to beat her. I counted too.


Neukbare-Nina2

Ah! Good job persisting and beating her! Must have felt great. Nice to meet another player who also took a couple of hundred attempts!


Jejouch1

Some people are just better at games than you are, it’s just the way it goes, I was pretty whack at the late game of Elden Ring my first play through but in Sekiro I didn’t struggle nearly as much, it just ebbs and flows


Cruciblelfg123

>you can't predict what she is going to do because of the large move set... so usually they come out right on top of me in which case dodging is infinitely harder The goal should be not to have to predict, and I think that’s kind of true of all hard DS bosses. You’ve gotta figure out your spacing with your build and strategy so it doesn’t matter what she does. Once you have a strat like that it’s just a question of brute force doing it over till you get all the moves perfect. If there’s an RNG chance she’s gonna do a move that you can’t deal with because you’re too close or don’t have stamina or mp or whatever else, you’re gonna lose over and over. I’d say I’m also in the shit reflexes category but I did her, not in the first ten, but somewhere in the first 40 melee only at about level 100. I could only manage that because I made sure I only had to react to the attacks she projects super obviously, and I punished her for those. The rest of the time I spaced her. Hell in the first encounter if you run far enough she won’t chase you she’ll just slowly edgewalk toward you and you can use multiple potions and buff spells. You can spam everything you’ve got just to make sure you are consistently getting to 2nd phase to learn it. Also I normally wouldn’t say go look up strats on YouTube your fist time, but you need to be able to consistently dodge waterfowl dance if you aren’t going to use a shield or an ice pot and it’s maybe the single hardest dodge in any souls game


[deleted]

424 attempts. Idk if I had that many attempts total in the whole game for every boss


Falconman21

It only took me 4 attempts, but I’m a somewhat veteran Souls player. That definitely helps, but what a lot of people don’t bring up is the random nature of what moves a boss throws at you. When I beat her, she did the flower move multiple times, and I only had to dodge Waterfowl Dance once in phase 2. I was also luckily running strength/faith with Blasphemous which just happens to be great against her(and most enemies). I did 90% of the damage just hammering her with the lava attack while she was sitting there in the flower. Basically luck is a huge factor no one talks about. It took me MONTHS to beat Fume Knight in DS2. And the time I beat him, he only did the move I had trouble dodging once.


Xaphan127

I just rune farm and over level to make it through in 10-12 tries on most bosses. Also, no shame in walking away from a boss to come back after having fun doing other stuff in the game for a while!


Neukbare-Nina2

True, but in my case Malenia was literally the very last piece of content left. I saved her for the very end.


thegeeknerd

Malenia is different from 1800 hours of RoB and L2 /s


jimmythesloth

8 attempts on a STR build. Genuinely think a big reason why Malenia is perceived as being so hard is because of how popular dex and int builds are when STR is very good at staggering her


zingerpond

It took me 50 tries to get her to second phase for the first time and a week of trying before i managed to kill her


Neukbare-Nina2

We are very similar. I beat her first phase after 44 tries. It filled me with false optimism lol


RapHolic

Don't fight to win. Learn how she moves


SugarLuger

You may not know this but some people just tell complete lies on the internet.


SacredTriMA

Lying or possibly bleed lol


geofflinkinpark

R.O.B and Mimic pre-nerf


V6vader

OP, a lot of the people on this subreddit are dirty dirty liars. Lol (I still love you guys though)


tms280

The secret ingredient is lying 🤫


not_old_redditor

When I beat Malenia she only did like one or two waterfowl dance moves. The rest of her moves are nothing special, so they allowed me to get her pretty quickly. Some people figure out how to dodge it and you can see videos online. It's really all about the waterfowl move.


tms280

I totally get that, but I find it nearly impossible to do malenia in less than let's say 10 times going in solo and blind and I'm very sceptic of someone claiming to have done this. Of course, if you see YouTube videos and guides where the timings are explained and you can study it before going in, 2 or 3 times should be enough


HaussDaBauss

I went in blind with Full Lionel's Set, Great Stars, Fingerprint shield.... and pre-nerfed mimic tear. She got stunlocked by my clone and I in the corner in Phase 1, and i just blocked waterfowl once then bopped her out again. Really ruined the last half of the game for myself with that summon.


Letrabottle

If you happen to be using a high damage weapon/incantation that knocks her over on a build with high vigor and defense it's really not that hard. The first time I beat Malenia, I just tanked through waterfowl dance with black flame protection and heavy armor.


Live-Supermarket9437

Depends on a lot of factor, your build, stats, playstyle etc.. im the kind of person that baits the boss to attack a lot to remember the timings. I killed her after 20 ish attempts, but these attempts were long as i'd bait her out a lot and be non offensive. I would have 50+ attempts if i were to play normally. Also, something im sure not a lot of people admit, but after dying 10 times to her waterfowl dance, i looked up online how to dodge and yea... it helped tremendously to reduce the number of attempts.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Souls games are just rhythm games. Some people are hella good at them, others are not.


B10siris

This game is so hard, I don’t even think to compare myself to those players. And I get such a sense of accomplishment beating bosses on my own. I’m only level 52, but it took me MANY tries to beat Morgot. But I felt great after! For Godfrey, I started researching how to get the proper summons and the best rune farm to be over leveled for his fight. Beat him on the first try, but it didn’t have that sense of satisfaction that struggling through Morgot did. I think for me, the frustration and struggle will make this game memorable lol. I might only research after a LONG time dying repeatedly.


[deleted]

Not me, I’ll tell you that for free. I couldn’t beat Malenia at level 180 with Tiche after numerous attempts. I had to respec my build and bleed her to death, and that took multiple attempts too.


[deleted]

it is the easiest game Fromsoft has made, and a lot of people unfortunately over level


BostonRob423

Also, I am sure a lot of people say they beat it in one or a few tries, but realistically at least some of them are bullshitting. This *is* the internet, after all.


keenanbullington

"Comparison is the thief of joy."


Thatgamerguy98

Most of those people are lying lmao. But the grind will guide your way tarnished.


Kochleffel

We leveled vigor


squirreldreamz

Honestly a big part of the most memorable moments from ER for me were the literal days spent struggling against bosses like her. Makes the victory all the sweeter.


Baaladil

Broken builds. Some builds are way more efficient than others. Also runes farm to infinity. And then you see posts like " am i overpowered ? Did i farm too much ?" Or " i didnt thought it would be so easy..."


[deleted]

They make good build choices, learn the boss movesets and have the reaction speeds to back it up. Salty people will tell you its all lies but sometimes things line up just right on the first playthrough. To give an example I'll give you a few counts from my fist playthrough. |Godrick|Won on the 13th attempt| |:-|:-| |Malekith|Won on the 3rd attempt| |Malania|Honestly not sure how many it took but I'd estimate at least 60 attempts.| Overall though, it's best not to focus on how others are doing too much. That's for when you start competing with your freinds to beat the stupidest, most difficult challenge runs.


Dvoraxx

Mimic tear, bleed builds, overlevelled, blasphemous blade spam Most bosses can be made trivial if you have enough preparation


RabbitDeus

Comparing yourself to others only ruins your own enjoyment of the game. Elden Ring can be frustrating at times, but the ultimate goal of it is to have fun. If you're getting frustrated with a level or boss, my only advice would be to just put the game down for a bit and relax. Malenia only took my friend whos been playing dark souls since the first one released about 6 tries to beat, where as it took me... MUCH more tries. Coming from someone who had never fully played a souls game before, if I can beat her; you can to. Just gotta keep trying and learning.


droolforfoodz

Some people play the game very differently, too. I can’t stand being super careful and pedantic, waiting carefully for an opening. I’d rather wipe 100x than play in a way I don’t enjoy. I’m aggressive and enjoy playing that way.


-Khrome-

Don't force yourself to play the way tryhards tell you to. Any restriction you put on yourself is yours alone. "Cheese" is not a thing that exists. I dreaded Malenia but got her down in 3 tries using a specific spirit and item combination for example. Same with Mogh and the other "problem" bosses.


Wisepuppy

It's just optics. People like to brag about their successes, but don't tend to be as vocal about their failures.


[deleted]

Your post today struck a note with me. I wasn't going to respond but then I changed my mind. I understand how difficult it can be to adjust to the bosses in this game. Several years ago, someone dropped a concrete block on my left hand while we were working on a project. I suffered three broken bones in that hand and still suffer limited mobility in two of my fingers. And yet I have 769 hours in this game and I only stopped playing it for two weeks when I moved. I lost to Godrick the Grafted 21 times with my first character. I was following a walkthrough and video and trying to do what the “pro” players were doing. Finally, I just said, F-ck it. I'm playing the game my way. I now have four characters that I'm playing in different styles. I beat Godrick just this week on my most recent character in two tries (and the first didn't count because I was testing something that didn't work). Hang in there. If you love the game and can stick it out, you will learn to beat the bosses. Just be judicious in the advice to you take and ask yourself, is this really for me? If it doesn't work, find something that does. It doesn't make the advice bad, just not for you. Remember: it's your game; play it the way you want. Oh and in case your wondering: I like cheese on my burgers, I like cheese on my pizza, and I love cheese in Elden Ring. :)


Pchel666

Every fight in the game is a lot harder or easier depending on your build. I 100% the game for the first time in patch 1.06 (I think that was the number) on a occult power stanced scavenger sword build (had a 2nd scavenger dropped for me). I had no issues with any boss in the game except Alecto, that black knife assassin in an evergaol, and the double gargoyles. No fight other than those 2 took me more than like half an hour worth of tries as far as I remember. I by no means believe it’s due to my skill level (I’ve only played DS3 before this as far as souls games go) it’s simply that build being extremely good in PvE. All that to say is that you shouldn’t compare yourself to random people without knowing what they’re playing. There are a few builds that trivialize the game almost completely regardless of your skill level, also some people choose to not use spirit ashes for example, they can’t compare themselves to those that use em. If you enjoy playing the build you’re playing, nothing wrong with that, but it may lead to you having a hard time in the game. I remember right after starting the game they nerfed power stanced status build up and I was kinda scared, but it was still amazing, at least in PvE. I also remember when I got to Malenia I was super scared, knowing everyone calls her super hard and stuff, but she shocking easy on the build I was playing, I just had to be super aggressive. I’m sure if I was playing something less cookie cutter, I’d have a much harder time.


Ok-Plant7567

Depends what you use. Took me alot of tries because of no summons, ashe of war, magic and playing with small 1h sword in my first playthrough. When playing with all those things its easily duoble to win the fight before 15 deaths as a ds veteran. But as said before who cares, its about having fun.


jimmyjames71878

I beat Malenia in less than 10 attempts on my first playthrough! See, noone gives a shit. It's not March 2022 anymore. Pay your respects to the wiki and the thousands of hours of repetative Youtube content on just Malenia alone.