My entire strategy from the start up until where I am now (Lake of Rot/Altus Plateau) has been rolling to doge attacks then just spamming Unsheathe on my Uchigatana/Nagakiba until my FP runs out. You could count the number of times I've parried or blocked an enemy with a shield on two hands - with enough patience you can hack & slash any enemy in the first half of this game. I have now reached level 100 and do feel like switching things up though - have just got the Dragonscale blade that has that frost lightning AOW, and I feel like a Frost build would be cool to explore. Went & got a sword that is basically a shard of ice and can fire little ice projectiles from it, very cool (Frozen Needle | Elden Ring Wiki (fextralife.com))
Yeah, unlike Limp Bizkit, I have not been rollin', rollin', rollin'. Maybe I should get better at that, but I've been going into battle shield out cause I'm scared of From Software. I also don't know what Unsheathe or a Uchigatana is. If you had them at the start, should I assume you're not a Vagabond?
I came into this game as a Sekiro obsessive who expected players to be able to block/parry consistently with their sword; when I quickly realised you couldn't I just chose to focus on rolling as I choose to two-hand my weapon. I started as a Samurai and the Uchigatana is a basic katana that you start with, and Unsheathe is it's Ash of War that is stupid powerful. You can pick up an Uchigatana quite early in the game if you wish, but it is in a dungeon with a load of those annoying imps! Uchigatana | Elden Ring Wiki (fextralife.com)
I see, good to know. According to the walkthrough I'm using, they want me to do the Murkwater stuff before going to the Deathtouched Catacombs, but maybe I'll investigate the logistics of a detour.
The Uchigatana is just on a random dead body, so you don't even have to fight any bosses to get it or anything. If you like using a shield I do not think you will be able to use the special Unsheathe move unless you replace the shield's default ash of war with one called 'No Skill', so it may be worth holding off on going to get it just yet and stick to the guide. There is so much stuff in this game it is unreal, you will naturally come across weapons that you may like way more than the Uchigatana anyway!
Makes sense, and I forgot about the shield thing, although thanks for letting me know there's a way to remove the Skill on the shield. Good to know.
The parry skill is brilliant if you can get the timing right but I just prefer my L2 to be an offensive attack. You can buy the ash of war 'no skill' from a soldier guy in the Limgrave area called Bernahl for pretty cheap
Spent most of the game with my best shield being with no skill so I never got around to parrying. Makes me feel like an incomplete player but what can ya do
I have put parry onto a dagger I carry in my left hand so I practice using it from time to time, but I'm way more used to rolling by now that it feels unnatural to me too.
I want to correct my terminology. I've been calling what I've been doing "parrying", when what I've really been doing is blocking. Sorry for any confusion.
Woot! https://gamerant.com/elden-ring-dlc-2023-leak-ransomware-attack-barbarians-badlands-godfrey/amp/
Managed to beat Astel, Naturalborn of the Void first try last night, so was of course feeling cocky looking for more bosses etc to beat & decided to give those 3 summons a go at the Giant Jar in Caelid to try and get the Great Jar Arsenal talisman. Jesus H CHRIST that is by far the hardest challenge I have faced in this game so far, gave up after 10 tries wherein I managed to get to the 3rd guy just ONCE without dying. I did a bit of research and found that the summons are real-life players builds that have beaten the challenge - if that is what people are playing like in things like PvP then count me out bro
I have around 1580hp atm (45 vigor) and some of their attacks took 90% of my health in one hit. I don't mind harder challenges but this one was not fun to attempt!
fam, i've gotten through that Godfrey shade thing and am actually at Morgott rn. i can consistently get him to half health (usually) but his second half just kills me SO quickly i honestly didn't think i'd make it this far at all lol
Player's Log: Elden Ring. I'm annoyed. I just beat the Grave Warden Duelist in the Murkwater Catacombs and I decided I was going to remove that item that transports you to the nearest Site Of Grace in exchange for your runes, and replace it with the new summon I just got. And in trying to remove it, I accidentally activated it. Lost my runes from that fight. So... fuck. Anyway, prior to this I finished Limgrave Tunnel and Murkwater Cave, so I know Patches now. Next I'm heading to Highroad Cave, and then the Deathtouched Catacombs. I'm Level 26 with 30 Vigor. I have a +3 Lordsworn's Blood Straight Sword, and it's thirsty.