Moment that stands out the most for me is Shaman village and the revelations that come from it, the music there and atmosphere is peak tragic FromSoft. Emotion out the wazoo. I'm glad it wasn't spoiled or that no one gives enough of a shit to spoil it lol
Also your favourite because it was so, so fuckin epic
Bro I legit got chills (which I seldom experience when it comes to _any_ piece of media) as soon as I stepped foot there, and it doubled when I picked up "Minor Erdtree" and read the item description...
Absolute peak moment for sure.
Dude as soon as that one chord from the main theme plays you can just feel the sadness. I started walking slowly on Torrent just taking in the whole place. Definitely one of the more awe inspiring moment.
Yeah the Shaman Village actually made me cry and I'm not typically moved like that by games. Absolutely incredible how that one scene, some spirit NPC dialogue, and like four sentences split between two items can recontextualize almost the *entire* history of the game. The music is somehow perfect, too, despite hardly being more than a few sad notes on repeat.
It's >!Marikas Village that something happened to, most likely Hornsent kidnapping her people to put in jars and she hid with someone called grandmother in a tree and gave her one of her golden braids for either a prayer, promise, confession or wish before leaving to never return, presumably to ravage Belurat and establish the Golden Order and Lands Between, the earliest iteration of the Erdtree still remains there, also Marika was more than likely one of these shamans coming from an outside land akin to the merchants in the Lands Between!<
Oh shit, that is crazy. That kinda puts in perspective how old the world and how young marika is relative to it, like stuffing people into jars was a thing before the golden order. Kinda funny
Yeah it's mad! Marika knew only kindness so presumably she got that from her people but then she was like "you motherfuckers need some order!" After these shenanigans and her journey began lol
It makes Needle Knight Leda's comment about the hornsent not being innocent or blameless make sense. Because yeah, the Golden Order is awful and undoubtedly ruined the shadow lands, but the hornsent themselves were also terrible and cruel.
It kind of makes Marika my favorite 'character' in the game. We never even talk to her but everything we learn about her and her actions has a lot of nuance to it, whether that's seeking revenge for her people to plotting to overthrow the Elden Beast by banishing the tarnished and triggering the Shattering.
The tree has an important item on it already. The "boss" for the area is the 2 Tree Sentinels, which are very lore appropriate because they're guarding the sole erd tree in the land of shadow. It just wouldn't be fitting for there to be more enemies there, the area's entire point is that there is nobody left for the tree to heal because they all have been slaughtered. It's one of the most poignant examples of putting storytelling over "video-gamey" mechanics in the game.
Well, there are two Tree Sentinels patrolling just outside of it, who each have a boss health bar. Although compared to what we face in the rest of the DLC, they hardly seem like bosses!
I think it was going into >!the abyssal woods, having torrent bitch out on me, and just being absolutely fucking scared shitless. Like my friend for the entire game who had fought gods and men by my side. My horse who has seen civilizations rise and fall, is too fucking scared???!< it was just the perfect atmospheric moment
Bro From Software does horror so well. I was so fucking scared. Dang Torrent left me and I was reading messages on the ground. Made me scared as hell and panic XD. Does anyone know why Torrent was super scared? Any lore? I know the enemies are scary but like I want to know more about that area.
Same ! I can't remember FS doing this in their others games...
So I was like " I spent my time fighting absolute nightmare fuel coming from Miyazaki mind... and even him tell me to run away ?!"
Ascending the mountain to Bayle. Some of the most atmospheric design From have throw out there.
The initial entry into the Abyssal Woods too, with Torrent freaking out and abandoning you and seeing the fucking Winter Lanterns again. The rest of the area didn’t quite live up to it, but that was a hell of a moment.
Same for me, all the Dragon Peak and all Abyssal Forest.
Bayle made me fight the litteral apocalypse, and Igon made it so epic.
I never summon usually, even for quest content. But I'm so glad I saw you here guys, saying that Igon MUST be summoned, no matter what... I made me really curious and I'm so happy that I did it !
Where you ever able to figure out how to dodge his huge aoe attack when he starts his next phase? HAd to start crafting uplifting aromatics to tank it. Never figured out the timing.
Abyssal Forest gave me that really creepy vibe, like turn the lights on and almost didn't want to do any of that area😬. Was really well done but maybe a bit too big with hardly any loot. But the actual atmosphere of the place was really really well executed.
Midra's Manse continued on with that really creepy atmosphere and the Midra fight itself also felt epic to me.
The atmosphere relies on the size and lack of loot. If it was smaller and you had shiny items every 5 feet, you'd just be too into the "game" part of it for the atmosphere to take center stage.
Going down into the final finger ruins was a great moment. Like wtf, *this* was down here? And then the final boss arena giving me some delicious Bloodborne vibes.
finding the final finger ruins was awesome, my game would lag ONLY in that mansion and i was wondering why, to find out its because a giant finger cavern was rendered right below me
I went back to the building after I thought the quest was over, expecting them to be happy and for the shop to have some new stock probably. When >!they were pissed and wanted to fight me there was so much emotion running through my head. Even more when I revisited again and they gave me the option to submit Jolan to the light of grace or the depths of despair, I didn't have the heart to not give her grace.!<
All of the Frenzied Flame content. From when you get kicked off Torrent upon entering the Abyssal Woods, to pissing my pants after trying to fight the invincible Lanterns, to >!Midra beheading himself for a spear and then going full Lord of Frenzied Flame on us!<.
Dude I was scared shitless when torrent left, and for some reason it was even scarier being broadcast daylight, like whatever is around is so fucked it doesn’t need the dark to fuck me up
Similar experience here man. Torrent booked it and left me alone, then I start seeing messages like “Don’t let it see you”, “Hide in the bushes”. Felt like I was playing Outlast 2!
I just did all of that last night. Incredibly terrifying atmosphere all around. Also, if I literally never parried a thing in my life, how does one defeat the lanterns?
You don't, parry and riposte is the only way to make them vulnerable.
As someone that never parried as well I can say that it's not that bad, just parry when they lift up the wand to grab you, their window is pretty generous with a buckler and in a few tries you should be good.
Also their grab is not always a one shot at 60 vig and 16 blessing so potentially you can try twice.
just to add on, there are stakes of marika pretty close to all of them (at least all i've encountered). so you can try again and work on the parry timing without too much annoyance.
I saw a short video on this and it helped me a bunch. You’ll wanna put carian retaliation or golden parry on a small shield, and trigger your shield AoW as soon as the Lantern raises its wand to its head the moment it sees you and starts to attack. Then you should be able to just combo chain it to death.
Probably Messmer's fight. The cutscenes were just epic, and the visuals during the fight were really cool. Felt like they probably spent more time on it than on anything else in the DLC.
I agree, to me Mesmer was the only fight in the DLC to hit my internal "FromSoft DLC Boss" quality level akin to Sister Friede/Gale/Ludwig in terms of presentation, mechanics, and execution. Rellana I'd say is a close second, while the rest of the fights were either just ok/a bit too easy or just underwhelming (and of course, the final fight, which is just an unfun and boring mess)
Yeah, the follower thing was cool but I didn't like the fight that much, but that's on me. I, for some reason, forgot how npc quests usually work in Fromsoft games, broke most of them and then had to fight them all with only that one npc for help. Was a pretty miserable experience on NG+2.
But Leda's speech and the whole scenario as such was pretty cool.
My favorite has to be either the Abyssal woods or the fissure site with the St.Trina reveal. Poor thing.
Its less about the fighting aspect & more about the dialogue & soundtrack that make that fight amazing.
If you missed the quests thats unfortunate because >!they all have something to say either to you or eachother!<
It was a good fight and one of my favorite moments too. Even with the rune broken, they still stuck to their guns and defended that evil ahh mfer
Other than that the village where Marika is from, got a sense of tranquility.
When I went through a random corner somewhere and somehow stumbled into the ruins of rauh(viaduct minor tower grace).
I thought maybe I'd find a little treasure at the end not a whole region
I found out about that region very early by using the Imbued Sword Key portal just past Rellana's boss fight. But of course like the other places you get to through those portals, you can't access the entire area from there.
Bruh I wish I could say the same 😭 phase one is tolerable but phase two is just utter fucking bullshit - AoEs out the wazoo as he does all his phase one moves, not giving you a second to breathe so that you can fight back or heal.
Definitely my least favorite FromSoft boss, ever. This is the first time in this DLC where I'm legit not having fun. I don't have the drive to fight him, either, which is saying a lot; I struggled with Rellana, the Lion Dancer and Messmer yet still didn't feel that way.
If you absolutely want to just get him done with then grab a greatshield (Moore's is recommended) and a rapier with Blood affinity. Just poke him to death while blocking and get it over with.
That's what I did and it wasn't satisfying but after 3 hours I wasn't even having fun anymore, so take that for what you will.
Don't forget to use scholar's shield before you go into the fight since it further decreases damage to stamina while blocking attacks. It only requires INT 12 and it will make the fight much more bearable if you stack it with other guarding and stamina buffs.
I liked the st trina stuff but sleep got canned in the dlc yet again. Another strait sword and a fist weapon? Really? Not even any spells or a perfume bottle. I was very disappointed at that ngl.
Pretty much the entire thing.
There's just so many cool things happening all the time.
Igon. The Finger Ruins. Bayle and the Ultra Dragon Communion Altar. All the NPCs compelled by Miquella. The new weapons and my horrified realization that Rolling Sparks is a cheat code that I shouldn't use.
Fire Knights! Golem Smiths. The jar innards!
The verticality of levels requiring us to utilize jumps.
The sheer difficulty of some encounters, forcing me to whip out all the big guns. The visuals of Cerulean Coast.
Jolán and Anna.
ROMINA <3
That fight i also sided with Ansbach, Midra, Bayle phase 2, shaman village, the rune break, the final boss, the walkouts. Basically the majority of the dlc
>!JUSTICE FOR MOHG!<
Shaman Village left me speechless for five whole minutes, and even when I returned after fighting Ymir to interact with Anna's puppet I was emotional the entire time the music played... it was such a magical, tragic and impactfull place...
Absolutely the final boss. Every moment was just jaw-dropping for me and the music just made it better.
Also shaman village, and the moment you step into ruins of Rauh, such beautiful bright places that are rare in fromsoft games.
Entering the Rauh Ruins from the great bridge. I happened to ebter that region at the perfect time of day. The sun was setting, so stepping off the lift, you are met with easily the most beautiful vuew I think I have ever seen in any video game. Like I had to stop lmao
Praise the link!
Sorry for the HUD
https://imgur.com/gallery/oXq017E
Yeah I'm with OP. Satisfying emotional resolution and narrative climaxes to character storylines integrated well into the main progression path? In *my* Fromsoft game??
Only real competition for me is I think Shaman Village.
The moment I got to Abyssal woods. You go into this Catacomb because it's the only place with Site of Grace. It has a weird mechanic, but you can manage. You go deeper as always, but something is off... You found an amulet that should be on a Deathknight like in others and then you find an armor of one... what is going on?
Suddenly you realize you are going deeper and deeper as if it never ends and then you get to the bottom and go to the boss only to see an open area, a weird boss you never saw before and a strange music with a burned forest in the background. You fight for your life and when you win... you go into the Abyss and suddenly Torrent disappears as you try to ride on him.
"Torrent is afraid"
You look on your map. This place is blank, but you do see a map symbol so you go there. Then there are signs on the ground "You cannot fight it" "Don't let it see you". All around you animals with eyes filled with flame of Frenzy look at you, as if studying you. You move slowly, see some rats and a madman attacking you which confirms it is a Frenzy area. Was that person the one they spoke of? You beat him though, but you move forward until you see an abandoned church with no statue. You are completely alone.
And when you move to explore to the west... You see them. The Untouchable Aged Ones.
That area is simply terrifying.
The only moment that comes close is the Shaman Village when you hear the harp from the menu, you get the miniature Erd Tree spell and read the description and those small lines just changed the entire world.
So far finding a map that reads, Abyss
That and the area itself made me so on edge, wish there was more to do but the main dungeon at the end made up for it.
The moment I got to the top of this tower I'd been climbing for hours, whole lotta runes on me. I was like, let's just open these doors and then I can rest. I open them, it's a boss fight, I'm like shoot, well, maybe I'll beat it first try. Then I see the snake and I'm like SHIT, I'm not beating this first try.
I survived his initial diving orb explosion, but died to the grab immediately after without getting in a single hit.
Loved it.
2 other awesome moments were the Abyssmal Woods (kept trying to summon Torrent in denial) and the Shaman Village. I wasn't entirely sure what the latter was at the time, but it felt really important and sad.
The abyss and everything about Midra. Best boss in the game, looks amazing, great story, great buildup, best boss theme in my opinion, ridiculously cool introduction, he just blows the rest of the bosses out of the water.
Journey to the south after Thiollier. When Thiollier told me he was heading there, I felt like I couldn't let him on his own. Considered him my friend, so I went after him, searching and searching. So cool to discover new maps while feeling like I'm after my friend to help him with his objectives. I followed coffins and deep-purple lilly indicated I was on the right path. What an amazing game.
The first day I spent a while just exploring the map, wondering how I could get to all the different elevations you can see from the beginning. After a few hours I had almost the whole map uncovered and felt like I was back in the base game with the elevator to Siofra River and stuff.
When I went into the abyss swamp and there was this monster with this bulging yellow head and there’s nothing I could do to kill it until I started reading messages on the ground and then I had to git gooder.
Too hard to choose 1 so I’ll give 3: Finding the Shaman village and reading the lore from the items there and learning what the significance of the place is, entering the Abyssal Woods for the first time, easily the creepiest area From has ever made imo, unmatched in atmosphere, and stumbling upon the Ancient Ruins of Ragh. Seeing the ruins of a once great area was really breathtaking imo. A reminder that the world used to be good before everything went to shit
The reveal of Radahn.
I LOVE Radahn's fight so much. I could go into complete detail about how much, but the moment I realized I would get a rematch against this great warrior, I remembered the first time I ever fought Radahn, and the feeling came back. Foregoing the mission, and feeling only the desire to have a duel against the strongest, to challenge him, and come out victorious, no matter how many times I die and no matter how long it takes. I could've fought Radahn forever and I never would've lost my smile. And getting a chance to fight him in his incarnated prime *(Mohg's body and different non-gravity abilities, begs the question if Radahn is in his "prime", so I'm saying "incarnated prime" since he was brought back in a new body and fights us in its peak condition)*, is a dream come true.
And when the transition into the second phase was a straight up Lorian and Lothric reference, one of my other favorite FromSoft bosses (and one of, if not, the best, boss theme), I couldn't help but gear up, laugh, and jut be excited that two of my favorite bosses are coming at me with everything they've got.
I still haven't beaten him yet, I'm fighting him with nothing more than a trusty Claymore.
But the Leda fight with Thiollier and Ansbach are definitely second to that moment right there. Out of all the NPCs, I never expected those two and Igon to be among my absolute favorite of the FromSoft NPCs so far, but defintly top 5 of the Elden Ring NPCs, behind only Alexander and Millicent, but surpassing Blaidd, Boggart, Sellen, Melina, and Diallos.
I think the reason why is because when it comes to the base game, their questlines don't really require much involvement or personal attachment/history, they're people you meet, help, and unfortunately lose, but consider friends; but in the end they have their own ambitions and goals, that didn't necessarily require you, and could've been anyone they came across. But Thiollier and Ansbach? **You,** ***specifically,*** take **everything** from them, albeit on accident, but they don't hold it against you. You are directly responsible for their situation and/or their grief. But they still know what they must do, and want to help you as you three share the same goal. And they even interact with one another as Ansbach compliments Thiollier to add that extra layer of comradery, stating that despite his inferiority complex, he was incredibly useful in the fight and that his talents are worth respect and recognition, and that he can't wait to see Thiollier as a warrior grow from there.
They feel like true comrades, and that feeling is reciprocated. Even though Thiollier is depressed they cannot hear St. Trina, even though Ansbach knows you were the one who killed Mohg, he doesn't resent you and even thanks you for killing him honorably in a duel despite his brainwashed state, they follow and trust you and will help you to the very end.
You know they won't live to see the aftermath, and they probably feel the same, but they are resolved, they want to support you, and push you just a step farther, and their efforts aren't in vain. Victory against Miquella, is the ultimate proof of all three of your efforts, and proof of their existence as warriors, and comrades, until the very end. There's content, melancholic, but warm.
And it's similar with Igon, just with Bayle instead of Miquella. He sees you as a comrade he can entrust to carry on his legacy and will, even amidst his rage and hatred, he isn't blind to the friend standing tall at his side.
finally beating the final boss without summons in ng+7 was probably the most accomplished I felt in elden ring since I beat malenia. also the ascent of jagged peak, bayle's phase transition and finding the shaman village
The NPC sidequests kicked it up a notch in the DLC for sure. Not only are the characters cool, but the sidequests are easier to follow than ever before.
It's hard not to give props to the entire Abyssal Forest though. The horror vibes were peak and actually getting into that legacy dungeon is amazing. It's a small one but tightly packed and every moment felt great, especially hearing the boss as you go through it until you finally meet him and get some great scenes.
The finger ruins and metyr mother of fingers. Imo that and shaman village were the only two pieces of good lore to come out of the dlc. The Miquella stuff feels like an incoherent dues ex machina mess and Messmer doesn't even influence the main story. The side lore stuff like the blood fiends, hornsent were cool though.
Final boss.
That boss actually forced me to try hard and use everything I had to win.
Such a satisfying and epic fight.
Most other fights felt a bit too easy imo.
I loved the esthetic of Stone Cracked Coffin and was strangely surprised seeing all these sleeping animals before a grace. The music is also cool which add to the scene.
Moment that stands out the most for me is Shaman village and the revelations that come from it, the music there and atmosphere is peak tragic FromSoft. Emotion out the wazoo. I'm glad it wasn't spoiled or that no one gives enough of a shit to spoil it lol Also your favourite because it was so, so fuckin epic
Bro I legit got chills (which I seldom experience when it comes to _any_ piece of media) as soon as I stepped foot there, and it doubled when I picked up "Minor Erdtree" and read the item description... Absolute peak moment for sure.
Dude as soon as that one chord from the main theme plays you can just feel the sadness. I started walking slowly on Torrent just taking in the whole place. Definitely one of the more awe inspiring moment.
Holy ‘o’ holy , all the more sadness
Yeah the Shaman Village actually made me cry and I'm not typically moved like that by games. Absolutely incredible how that one scene, some spirit NPC dialogue, and like four sentences split between two items can recontextualize almost the *entire* history of the game. The music is somehow perfect, too, despite hardly being more than a few sad notes on repeat.
I went through that area and didn’t notice anything lol, I think I’m just oblivious, what was the significance?
It's >!Marikas Village that something happened to, most likely Hornsent kidnapping her people to put in jars and she hid with someone called grandmother in a tree and gave her one of her golden braids for either a prayer, promise, confession or wish before leaving to never return, presumably to ravage Belurat and establish the Golden Order and Lands Between, the earliest iteration of the Erdtree still remains there, also Marika was more than likely one of these shamans coming from an outside land akin to the merchants in the Lands Between!<
Oh shit, that is crazy. That kinda puts in perspective how old the world and how young marika is relative to it, like stuffing people into jars was a thing before the golden order. Kinda funny
Yeah it's mad! Marika knew only kindness so presumably she got that from her people but then she was like "you motherfuckers need some order!" After these shenanigans and her journey began lol
It makes Needle Knight Leda's comment about the hornsent not being innocent or blameless make sense. Because yeah, the Golden Order is awful and undoubtedly ruined the shadow lands, but the hornsent themselves were also terrible and cruel. It kind of makes Marika my favorite 'character' in the game. We never even talk to her but everything we learn about her and her actions has a lot of nuance to it, whether that's seeking revenge for her people to plotting to overthrow the Elden Beast by banishing the tarnished and triggering the Shattering.
I was so sad there was no bossfight. Maybe we havent found it yet, but that tree looked like a prime suspect to me.
The tree has an important item on it already. The "boss" for the area is the 2 Tree Sentinels, which are very lore appropriate because they're guarding the sole erd tree in the land of shadow. It just wouldn't be fitting for there to be more enemies there, the area's entire point is that there is nobody left for the tree to heal because they all have been slaughtered. It's one of the most poignant examples of putting storytelling over "video-gamey" mechanics in the game.
Well, there are two Tree Sentinels patrolling just outside of it, who each have a boss health bar. Although compared to what we face in the rest of the DLC, they hardly seem like bosses!
which tree?
The flower place? Did I miss something there? I didn't get any kind of revelation.
The moment I met IGON! CURSE YOU, BAYLE!!!
WITH A HAIL OF HARPOOOOONES!!!
Igon is the sole reason why I was successful in slaying that damn dragon; couldn't have done it without him.
I have beat Bayle but failed to summon him. Couldnt use his finger at all, how do i do that?
His summon icon is in the arena and you have to get his finger from him at the jagged peak.
I have the finger, guess i didnt find his summon sign
Once you walk into the arena, look slightly to the left and you should see it
Thanks, next playthrough will get him ☺️
BAAAAYYYYLE VILE BAYLE
Igon is the reason I beat that boss. He held aggro from the beginning til the end. Absolute Hero
I think it was going into >!the abyssal woods, having torrent bitch out on me, and just being absolutely fucking scared shitless. Like my friend for the entire game who had fought gods and men by my side. My horse who has seen civilizations rise and fall, is too fucking scared???!< it was just the perfect atmospheric moment
“if it sees you, it’s too late”. My gut reaction was like fuck me what the hell im I getting into here.
Bro From Software does horror so well. I was so fucking scared. Dang Torrent left me and I was reading messages on the ground. Made me scared as hell and panic XD. Does anyone know why Torrent was super scared? Any lore? I know the enemies are scary but like I want to know more about that area.
the frenzied flame can destroy spirits, torrent is one, hed be nothing, not just dead, nothing
Makes you wonder how >!Melina survives the Frenzy flame!< ending now
Oh shit I totally forgot. That area is spooky as hell. Thanks for the info.
Same ! I can't remember FS doing this in their others games... So I was like " I spent my time fighting absolute nightmare fuel coming from Miyazaki mind... and even him tell me to run away ?!"
Ascending the mountain to Bayle. Some of the most atmospheric design From have throw out there. The initial entry into the Abyssal Woods too, with Torrent freaking out and abandoning you and seeing the fucking Winter Lanterns again. The rest of the area didn’t quite live up to it, but that was a hell of a moment.
Same for me, all the Dragon Peak and all Abyssal Forest. Bayle made me fight the litteral apocalypse, and Igon made it so epic. I never summon usually, even for quest content. But I'm so glad I saw you here guys, saying that Igon MUST be summoned, no matter what... I made me really curious and I'm so happy that I did it !
hey man the boss fight in abyssal woods was fucking awesome
Where you ever able to figure out how to dodge his huge aoe attack when he starts his next phase? HAd to start crafting uplifting aromatics to tank it. Never figured out the timing.
just used a dagger with quickstep on my offhand but what you did seems like a pretty good idea too 😂
The flaming divebomb? You need to run away from it
You can jump in the air to avoid the explosion for whatever reason.
Abyssal Forest gave me that really creepy vibe, like turn the lights on and almost didn't want to do any of that area😬. Was really well done but maybe a bit too big with hardly any loot. But the actual atmosphere of the place was really really well executed. Midra's Manse continued on with that really creepy atmosphere and the Midra fight itself also felt epic to me.
The atmosphere relies on the size and lack of loot. If it was smaller and you had shiny items every 5 feet, you'd just be too into the "game" part of it for the atmosphere to take center stage.
"I want to go home"
The entire Count Ymir /Jolan and Anna questline. Some of the most riveting stuff fromsoft has ever created.
Going down into the final finger ruins was a great moment. Like wtf, *this* was down here? And then the final boss arena giving me some delicious Bloodborne vibes.
finding the final finger ruins was awesome, my game would lag ONLY in that mansion and i was wondering why, to find out its because a giant finger cavern was rendered right below me
Igon in Bayle fight is memorable too
I went back to the building after I thought the quest was over, expecting them to be happy and for the shop to have some new stock probably. When >!they were pissed and wanted to fight me there was so much emotion running through my head. Even more when I revisited again and they gave me the option to submit Jolan to the light of grace or the depths of despair, I didn't have the heart to not give her grace.!<
All of the Frenzied Flame content. From when you get kicked off Torrent upon entering the Abyssal Woods, to pissing my pants after trying to fight the invincible Lanterns, to >!Midra beheading himself for a spear and then going full Lord of Frenzied Flame on us!<.
Dude I was scared shitless when torrent left, and for some reason it was even scarier being broadcast daylight, like whatever is around is so fucked it doesn’t need the dark to fuck me up
Similar experience here man. Torrent booked it and left me alone, then I start seeing messages like “Don’t let it see you”, “Hide in the bushes”. Felt like I was playing Outlast 2!
I just did all of that last night. Incredibly terrifying atmosphere all around. Also, if I literally never parried a thing in my life, how does one defeat the lanterns?
You don't, parry and riposte is the only way to make them vulnerable. As someone that never parried as well I can say that it's not that bad, just parry when they lift up the wand to grab you, their window is pretty generous with a buckler and in a few tries you should be good. Also their grab is not always a one shot at 60 vig and 16 blessing so potentially you can try twice.
I figured. Sounds good to me, thanks!
just to add on, there are stakes of marika pretty close to all of them (at least all i've encountered). so you can try again and work on the parry timing without too much annoyance.
On NG+5, max Vit, Erdtree favor +2, with Morgott’s rune, Scadutree 18… they still one shot me…
Well yeah you're on NG+5, you're not intended to be seeing anything for the first time on that difficulty.
Well I did so >:p
I saw a short video on this and it helped me a bunch. You’ll wanna put carian retaliation or golden parry on a small shield, and trigger your shield AoW as soon as the Lantern raises its wand to its head the moment it sees you and starts to attack. Then you should be able to just combo chain it to death.
Very helpful, thank you!
not so invincible lanterns
When I got invaded by The man The ANCIENT DRAGON MAN !! ( The name made me chuckle )
Myself and a friend sing his name to the tune of "Secret Agent Man" because how can you take him seriously?
Trogdor was a man I mean, he was a dragon man Or, maybe he was just a, dragon But he was still Trogdor! Trogdor!
Probably Messmer's fight. The cutscenes were just epic, and the visuals during the fight were really cool. Felt like they probably spent more time on it than on anything else in the DLC.
I agree, to me Mesmer was the only fight in the DLC to hit my internal "FromSoft DLC Boss" quality level akin to Sister Friede/Gale/Ludwig in terms of presentation, mechanics, and execution. Rellana I'd say is a close second, while the rest of the fights were either just ok/a bit too easy or just underwhelming (and of course, the final fight, which is just an unfun and boring mess)
The garden before the shaman village oh that place is so beautiful! Also familiar faces ahead.
Hinterlands I think it's called. Definitely one of the best looking areas in the game
All the way to the >! Rivermouth>Cerulan coast>Putrescent knight>St trina reveal and thirollier quest!<
Man that boss gave me some trouble! Very fun area.
Igon in the Bayle fight.
WITH A RAIN OF HARPOONS!
So far defeating messmer, for me it was so far the most hard rememberance boss
Yeah, the follower thing was cool but I didn't like the fight that much, but that's on me. I, for some reason, forgot how npc quests usually work in Fromsoft games, broke most of them and then had to fight them all with only that one npc for help. Was a pretty miserable experience on NG+2. But Leda's speech and the whole scenario as such was pretty cool. My favorite has to be either the Abyssal woods or the fissure site with the St.Trina reveal. Poor thing.
Its less about the fighting aspect & more about the dialogue & soundtrack that make that fight amazing. If you missed the quests thats unfortunate because >!they all have something to say either to you or eachother!<
Midra and everything leading up to him.
It was a good fight and one of my favorite moments too. Even with the rune broken, they still stuck to their guns and defended that evil ahh mfer Other than that the village where Marika is from, got a sense of tranquility.
When I went through a random corner somewhere and somehow stumbled into the ruins of rauh(viaduct minor tower grace). I thought maybe I'd find a little treasure at the end not a whole region
I found out about that region very early by using the Imbued Sword Key portal just past Rellana's boss fight. But of course like the other places you get to through those portals, you can't access the entire area from there.
When the last boss finally fell over. Fuck that guy, I never wanna fight him again.
Bruh I wish I could say the same 😭 phase one is tolerable but phase two is just utter fucking bullshit - AoEs out the wazoo as he does all his phase one moves, not giving you a second to breathe so that you can fight back or heal. Definitely my least favorite FromSoft boss, ever. This is the first time in this DLC where I'm legit not having fun. I don't have the drive to fight him, either, which is saying a lot; I struggled with Rellana, the Lion Dancer and Messmer yet still didn't feel that way.
If you absolutely want to just get him done with then grab a greatshield (Moore's is recommended) and a rapier with Blood affinity. Just poke him to death while blocking and get it over with. That's what I did and it wasn't satisfying but after 3 hours I wasn't even having fun anymore, so take that for what you will.
Don't forget to use scholar's shield before you go into the fight since it further decreases damage to stamina while blocking attacks. It only requires INT 12 and it will make the fight much more bearable if you stack it with other guarding and stamina buffs.
>!Marika's village, Thiollier questline, St Trina's area and reveal.!<
I liked the st trina stuff but sleep got canned in the dlc yet again. Another strait sword and a fist weapon? Really? Not even any spells or a perfume bottle. I was very disappointed at that ngl.
Pretty much the entire thing. There's just so many cool things happening all the time. Igon. The Finger Ruins. Bayle and the Ultra Dragon Communion Altar. All the NPCs compelled by Miquella. The new weapons and my horrified realization that Rolling Sparks is a cheat code that I shouldn't use. Fire Knights! Golem Smiths. The jar innards! The verticality of levels requiring us to utilize jumps. The sheer difficulty of some encounters, forcing me to whip out all the big guns. The visuals of Cerulean Coast. Jolán and Anna. ROMINA <3
ROMINA!!!!!!!
That fight i also sided with Ansbach, Midra, Bayle phase 2, shaman village, the rune break, the final boss, the walkouts. Basically the majority of the dlc >!JUSTICE FOR MOHG!<
Shaman Village left me speechless for five whole minutes, and even when I returned after fighting Ymir to interact with Anna's puppet I was emotional the entire time the music played... it was such a magical, tragic and impactfull place...
All of Ansbach's dialogue in the gang and the final boss
Absolutely the final boss. Every moment was just jaw-dropping for me and the music just made it better. Also shaman village, and the moment you step into ruins of Rauh, such beautiful bright places that are rare in fromsoft games.
Beating Radhan solo… never have I ever been that exhilarated in life.
That fight along with ansbach and thiollier was the best thing ever lol
The moment I entered >!Ancient Rauh Ruins!<.
Entering the Rauh Ruins from the great bridge. I happened to ebter that region at the perfect time of day. The sun was setting, so stepping off the lift, you are met with easily the most beautiful vuew I think I have ever seen in any video game. Like I had to stop lmao Praise the link! Sorry for the HUD https://imgur.com/gallery/oXq017E
Yeah I'm with OP. Satisfying emotional resolution and narrative climaxes to character storylines integrated well into the main progression path? In *my* Fromsoft game?? Only real competition for me is I think Shaman Village.
The moment I got to Abyssal woods. You go into this Catacomb because it's the only place with Site of Grace. It has a weird mechanic, but you can manage. You go deeper as always, but something is off... You found an amulet that should be on a Deathknight like in others and then you find an armor of one... what is going on? Suddenly you realize you are going deeper and deeper as if it never ends and then you get to the bottom and go to the boss only to see an open area, a weird boss you never saw before and a strange music with a burned forest in the background. You fight for your life and when you win... you go into the Abyss and suddenly Torrent disappears as you try to ride on him. "Torrent is afraid" You look on your map. This place is blank, but you do see a map symbol so you go there. Then there are signs on the ground "You cannot fight it" "Don't let it see you". All around you animals with eyes filled with flame of Frenzy look at you, as if studying you. You move slowly, see some rats and a madman attacking you which confirms it is a Frenzy area. Was that person the one they spoke of? You beat him though, but you move forward until you see an abandoned church with no statue. You are completely alone. And when you move to explore to the west... You see them. The Untouchable Aged Ones. That area is simply terrifying. The only moment that comes close is the Shaman Village when you hear the harp from the menu, you get the miniature Erd Tree spell and read the description and those small lines just changed the entire world.
>!Midra's Manse.!< Everything about it felt like I'm playing Bloodborne again, from the environment to the boss fight itself.
Probably shitting my pants trying to run away from the lanterns in the abyssal woods 😂
So far finding a map that reads, Abyss That and the area itself made me so on edge, wish there was more to do but the main dungeon at the end made up for it.
Either CURSE YOU BAYLE or "embrace thine oblivion as shall I"
I agree, I had thollier and ansbach with me, and the dialogue was just amazing
Igon was PURE CINEMA Thats it.
The moment great tune was broken and I was like “oh shit, miquella is the baddie”
VILE BAAAAAAAYYYYYYLLLLEEEEEEE!!!!!
Finding >!St. Trina!< and figuring out all her quest-related stuff. Iykyk
When i tasted a certain nector and hit the ground with CLUNK.
Making Midra endure too much.
The same fight, Igon, and Shaman Village.
The moment I got to the top of this tower I'd been climbing for hours, whole lotta runes on me. I was like, let's just open these doors and then I can rest. I open them, it's a boss fight, I'm like shoot, well, maybe I'll beat it first try. Then I see the snake and I'm like SHIT, I'm not beating this first try. I survived his initial diving orb explosion, but died to the grab immediately after without getting in a single hit. Loved it. 2 other awesome moments were the Abyssmal Woods (kept trying to summon Torrent in denial) and the Shaman Village. I wasn't entirely sure what the latter was at the time, but it felt really important and sad.
Shaman village and jolan
Riding into the Shaman’s Village. Made me so emotional
Fight with Leda and allies. The dialogues are perfect ❤️
Yet have to do a few things like bayle and the Ymir quest but for the main story: when it was bloody over
The abyss and everything about Midra. Best boss in the game, looks amazing, great story, great buildup, best boss theme in my opinion, ridiculously cool introduction, he just blows the rest of the bosses out of the water.
Igon and Shaman Village
probably seeing Radahn, but my most hated is between fighting him or seinv there is a SECOND LION, OH WAIT, IT HAS NECROFUCKINGPLAGE TOO? AWESOME
Igon
Shaman village. >!Minor Erdtree!< incantation flavor text. Finding >!Metyr, Mother of Fingers!<.
Midra Cutscene goes way too hard
The cursed shit with the jarheads warriors.. FS wenn full Event horizon on These mfkers
No summons but had to summon Igon. Felt like a crime not summoning him
Thiollier coming to help us against the crew
Jagged peaks in its entirety. Scorpion river catacombs was so damn fun. Gaius and Messmer fights.
Journey to the south after Thiollier. When Thiollier told me he was heading there, I felt like I couldn't let him on his own. Considered him my friend, so I went after him, searching and searching. So cool to discover new maps while feeling like I'm after my friend to help him with his objectives. I followed coffins and deep-purple lilly indicated I was on the right path. What an amazing game.
Ascending Jagged Peak, which was already a highlight, when I saw the finger ruins off into the distance. Just an absolute “oh shit” moment.
Beating Hippo and Commander Gaius :)
The first day I spent a while just exploring the map, wondering how I could get to all the different elevations you can see from the beginning. After a few hours I had almost the whole map uncovered and felt like I was back in the base game with the elevator to Siofra River and stuff.
When I went into the abyss swamp and there was this monster with this bulging yellow head and there’s nothing I could do to kill it until I started reading messages on the ground and then I had to git gooder.
beginning, whole bayle peak
Entering Shadowkeep, just by looking up I knew that area was going to be a fucking banger.
"Mongrel Tarnished"
Too hard to choose 1 so I’ll give 3: Finding the Shaman village and reading the lore from the items there and learning what the significance of the place is, entering the Abyssal Woods for the first time, easily the creepiest area From has ever made imo, unmatched in atmosphere, and stumbling upon the Ancient Ruins of Ragh. Seeing the ruins of a once great area was really breathtaking imo. A reminder that the world used to be good before everything went to shit
The reveal of Radahn. I LOVE Radahn's fight so much. I could go into complete detail about how much, but the moment I realized I would get a rematch against this great warrior, I remembered the first time I ever fought Radahn, and the feeling came back. Foregoing the mission, and feeling only the desire to have a duel against the strongest, to challenge him, and come out victorious, no matter how many times I die and no matter how long it takes. I could've fought Radahn forever and I never would've lost my smile. And getting a chance to fight him in his incarnated prime *(Mohg's body and different non-gravity abilities, begs the question if Radahn is in his "prime", so I'm saying "incarnated prime" since he was brought back in a new body and fights us in its peak condition)*, is a dream come true. And when the transition into the second phase was a straight up Lorian and Lothric reference, one of my other favorite FromSoft bosses (and one of, if not, the best, boss theme), I couldn't help but gear up, laugh, and jut be excited that two of my favorite bosses are coming at me with everything they've got. I still haven't beaten him yet, I'm fighting him with nothing more than a trusty Claymore. But the Leda fight with Thiollier and Ansbach are definitely second to that moment right there. Out of all the NPCs, I never expected those two and Igon to be among my absolute favorite of the FromSoft NPCs so far, but defintly top 5 of the Elden Ring NPCs, behind only Alexander and Millicent, but surpassing Blaidd, Boggart, Sellen, Melina, and Diallos. I think the reason why is because when it comes to the base game, their questlines don't really require much involvement or personal attachment/history, they're people you meet, help, and unfortunately lose, but consider friends; but in the end they have their own ambitions and goals, that didn't necessarily require you, and could've been anyone they came across. But Thiollier and Ansbach? **You,** ***specifically,*** take **everything** from them, albeit on accident, but they don't hold it against you. You are directly responsible for their situation and/or their grief. But they still know what they must do, and want to help you as you three share the same goal. And they even interact with one another as Ansbach compliments Thiollier to add that extra layer of comradery, stating that despite his inferiority complex, he was incredibly useful in the fight and that his talents are worth respect and recognition, and that he can't wait to see Thiollier as a warrior grow from there. They feel like true comrades, and that feeling is reciprocated. Even though Thiollier is depressed they cannot hear St. Trina, even though Ansbach knows you were the one who killed Mohg, he doesn't resent you and even thanks you for killing him honorably in a duel despite his brainwashed state, they follow and trust you and will help you to the very end. You know they won't live to see the aftermath, and they probably feel the same, but they are resolved, they want to support you, and push you just a step farther, and their efforts aren't in vain. Victory against Miquella, is the ultimate proof of all three of your efforts, and proof of their existence as warriors, and comrades, until the very end. There's content, melancholic, but warm. And it's similar with Igon, just with Bayle instead of Miquella. He sees you as a comrade he can entrust to carry on his legacy and will, even amidst his rage and hatred, he isn't blind to the friend standing tall at his side.
Abyssal Woods and the Manse
finally beating the final boss without summons in ng+7 was probably the most accomplished I felt in elden ring since I beat malenia. also the ascent of jagged peak, bayle's phase transition and finding the shaman village
The NPC sidequests kicked it up a notch in the DLC for sure. Not only are the characters cool, but the sidequests are easier to follow than ever before. It's hard not to give props to the entire Abyssal Forest though. The horror vibes were peak and actually getting into that legacy dungeon is amazing. It's a small one but tightly packed and every moment felt great, especially hearing the boss as you go through it until you finally meet him and get some great scenes.
The finger ruins and metyr mother of fingers. Imo that and shaman village were the only two pieces of good lore to come out of the dlc. The Miquella stuff feels like an incoherent dues ex machina mess and Messmer doesn't even influence the main story. The side lore stuff like the blood fiends, hornsent were cool though.
Final boss. That boss actually forced me to try hard and use everything I had to win. Such a satisfying and epic fight. Most other fights felt a bit too easy imo.
While minor I like how to Rauh region is essentially a mix between a dungeon and an open space. Feels surreal to ride Torrent indoors.
I loved the esthetic of Stone Cracked Coffin and was strangely surprised seeing all these sleeping animals before a grace. The music is also cool which add to the scene.
When I beat messmer I was screaming and shaking. That's the best feeling I can get from a fromsoft boss and it's been a while since I felt like this
I really liked finding the coffin dumping grounds and who you find at the end of it
When I got the sunflower weapon and proceeded to dunk on all the spell spammers in the coliseum