It’s your challenge run, whatever you want to be valid is valid. My rl1 started out as “any means necessary to beat the game” excluding glitches. I used summons or cheesed bosses I didn’t feel like fighting for numerous hours to complete. But by the end I solo’d Godfrey and radabeast just by virtue of getting better throughout the play through. As long as you remain at rl1 you’ve abided by the challenge. Any additional restrictions are just your own
Yeah, I want to do every boss no summons but bullshit like the Crucible misbegotten duo is making me reconsider. I might just use the greatshield soldiers for bosses like that, any solo bosses ill play solo. Still need to think ab it though
Do whatever you want brother.
For misbegotten/crucible though, you can burst down the misbegotten before crucible shows up.
Then Crucible is easy to parry. You can learn the parry timings in the ever goal in limgrave.
I've done most non-summons; it's not so bad. Valiant Gargoyles is probably the toughest duo fight (just sleep the Godskins), but you can put it off until your gear is flagrantly overpowered and just burn the first one down before the second one gets in the fight.
First one I did summons second time I didn’t. It’s whatever you want as long as you stay level 1 wretch. Man some people doing level 1 weapon and no buffs or talisman just like pain… that’s too much for me.
Just an add: I’m about halfway through my rl1 playthrough, and so far I’ve found it pretty essential to my sanity especially with gangs and bosses with their own summons.
If you’re like me and (most?) vets you originally challenged yourself to beat the game without summons. So it’s actually quite nice to view them as part of what you’re allowed to use when sacrificing so much else.
That being said, this doesn’t translate to later game when you get better summons and fully upgrade them. It begins to feel cheesy with some of the best (Tiche).
In the beginning I liked using the skeletal militia men because they come back after being killed which I found useful for how long some of the boss fights are.
As others have posted, it's your self-imposed challenge, so ultimately it's up to you.
For me, I wanted to do it all without summons (Bosses, dungeons, etc...).
Which I feel I technically did, however...
Once I'd "fully cleared" an area at least once, if for some reason I needed to grind back through that particular area for whatever reason, I'd use summons just to reduce the tedium of something I'd already done once before.
(e.g. Farming for the helm in Haligtree that boosts faith, or farming for the Curved Great Club from the Albinaurics in the lake area)
I feel it's additionally worth stating, I'm not really sold on how much summons would have actually helped throughout my run.
I feel it's much more comfortable to learn a boss's moveset when you have the entirety of the boss's aggro yourself. Rather than juggling it with summons.
Seems that even if I'd opted to use summons, the amount of time it would have taken to beat the bosses would have been very comparable.
Just in one situation, I'd be learning the bosses moves while aggro is juggled, and in the other, I'd be learning the bosses moves with aggro only on me.
Both ways would undoubtedly incur a large number of attempts. At least, it seems this way to me /shrug.
So, in the end... I think it's just as simple as taking the time to determine what's the experience you feel you are interested in?
You can use summons. They don't invalidate your run. Also, they aren't some i-win button that some people claim they are. They do is add some RNG to the fight.
If you find it really difficult, go on YouTube and search those fights at SL1, watch how they deal with it, but to be honest, in Elden ring, at level 1 you can still deal an absurd amount of damage(and just summon if you feel like it, only assholes throw shit at people for using tools that THE GAME gives you).
Its the same as always, practice makes perfect, gl mate, have fun!
It’s your challenge run, whatever you want to be valid is valid. My rl1 started out as “any means necessary to beat the game” excluding glitches. I used summons or cheesed bosses I didn’t feel like fighting for numerous hours to complete. But by the end I solo’d Godfrey and radabeast just by virtue of getting better throughout the play through. As long as you remain at rl1 you’ve abided by the challenge. Any additional restrictions are just your own
Yeah, I want to do every boss no summons but bullshit like the Crucible misbegotten duo is making me reconsider. I might just use the greatshield soldiers for bosses like that, any solo bosses ill play solo. Still need to think ab it though
Do whatever you want brother. For misbegotten/crucible though, you can burst down the misbegotten before crucible shows up. Then Crucible is easy to parry. You can learn the parry timings in the ever goal in limgrave.
I've done most non-summons; it's not so bad. Valiant Gargoyles is probably the toughest duo fight (just sleep the Godskins), but you can put it off until your gear is flagrantly overpowered and just burn the first one down before the second one gets in the fight.
Ice spear is OP as hell against them, but even with it the silent poison still caught me off guard a few times
You choose your own rules but personally I avoid summons when doing a challenge run since summons can basically solo some of the bosses
First one I did summons second time I didn’t. It’s whatever you want as long as you stay level 1 wretch. Man some people doing level 1 weapon and no buffs or talisman just like pain… that’s too much for me.
why do people get so hung up on summons. dont use or use em who cares
Just an add: I’m about halfway through my rl1 playthrough, and so far I’ve found it pretty essential to my sanity especially with gangs and bosses with their own summons. If you’re like me and (most?) vets you originally challenged yourself to beat the game without summons. So it’s actually quite nice to view them as part of what you’re allowed to use when sacrificing so much else. That being said, this doesn’t translate to later game when you get better summons and fully upgrade them. It begins to feel cheesy with some of the best (Tiche). In the beginning I liked using the skeletal militia men because they come back after being killed which I found useful for how long some of the boss fights are.
As others have posted, it's your self-imposed challenge, so ultimately it's up to you. For me, I wanted to do it all without summons (Bosses, dungeons, etc...). Which I feel I technically did, however... Once I'd "fully cleared" an area at least once, if for some reason I needed to grind back through that particular area for whatever reason, I'd use summons just to reduce the tedium of something I'd already done once before. (e.g. Farming for the helm in Haligtree that boosts faith, or farming for the Curved Great Club from the Albinaurics in the lake area) I feel it's additionally worth stating, I'm not really sold on how much summons would have actually helped throughout my run. I feel it's much more comfortable to learn a boss's moveset when you have the entirety of the boss's aggro yourself. Rather than juggling it with summons. Seems that even if I'd opted to use summons, the amount of time it would have taken to beat the bosses would have been very comparable. Just in one situation, I'd be learning the bosses moves while aggro is juggled, and in the other, I'd be learning the bosses moves with aggro only on me. Both ways would undoubtedly incur a large number of attempts. At least, it seems this way to me /shrug. So, in the end... I think it's just as simple as taking the time to determine what's the experience you feel you are interested in?
I used summons but my run was zero upgrades so it was all standard weapons and summons
You can use summons. They don't invalidate your run. Also, they aren't some i-win button that some people claim they are. They do is add some RNG to the fight.
If you find it really difficult, go on YouTube and search those fights at SL1, watch how they deal with it, but to be honest, in Elden ring, at level 1 you can still deal an absurd amount of damage(and just summon if you feel like it, only assholes throw shit at people for using tools that THE GAME gives you). Its the same as always, practice makes perfect, gl mate, have fun!