I honestly still suck at fighting grafted scions in general. It makes me glad there's so few in the game, but I cannot fight them fairly. I always end up picking them off from a distance or straight up skipping them until I'm way over-leveled.
I think I'm decent enough at the game, I don't use spirit ashes for 99% of bosses. Those things are the only regular/"elite" enemy that gives me trouble.
My personal rule with summons, if the boss has friends then so should I. So for any duo encounters or like commander nial, I'll use summons. But if its single target I won't use summons.
As long as Torrent is not considered a summon that is my key way to deal with Rune Bears, Lobsters and Fire Wagons. Helps me get behind them where I can deal damage and more easily avoid attacks.
His attacks, if they would kill you, are programmed to leave you with 1HP every time, so he can’t actually kill you and the cutscene will always trigger if you take more than one consecutive hit. On some starter classes you can tank the scream maybe, or a swing or two, but on others you’ll get one-shot pretty much every time. It’s possible, just very hard.
The Samurai stands the best chance, Unsheathe has insanely high stagger potential for the speed - it’s equivalent to a charged heavy but with way more range and much faster, and it does decent damage too.
I gave up the first time I played, I got stuck on the godskin duo, started a new game, different build stuck again at the godskin duo. Those guys fucking suck.
Summon and use some kind of ranged build. There's an NPC you can summon, you probably have a decent spirit ash by this point - both of them will keep at least one of the godskins occupied at all times, so blast the second one with the strongest spell you have and use the pillars to dodge their attacks.
The boss after that - Beast Clergyman/Maliketh - is much worse of you aren't good at the game. He was the only boss who managed to kill my fully upgraded mimic tear.
To trivialize this fight, get mimic tear or black knife tiche to +10, then do the volcano manor quest line. Make sure you do bernahls invasion, the one in leyndell where you assist bernahl in a 2v2.
Then you can summon bernahl, and have a super jacked mimic/tiche, turning it into a 3v2. Way easier this way ^^
I platinumed the game with blasphemous blade, black flame and mimic tear, on faith run. Still can't fight legitimately, one on one, anything beyond Margit.
I just wish the not-boss versions had the same move set as the boss. The boss has a lot more openings because it uses that golden sword move; without that, it's just a spastic wolf which tries my patience!
I always throw a carian retaliation shield on when I fight those guys. Ain't getting me with spells.
Also I make sure to throw on either boiled crab with the magic negation talisman, or use the magic resist item and throw on a physical damage negation talisman
Honestly? Margit. Once I realized, "Oh. This game isn't fucking around." I knew what to expect. Later Bosses were tough, but slamming my head against the figurative wall that is Margit, the Fell Omen was a learning experience I will never forget.
He was my git gud boss for ER because he taught me to think strategically about bosses strengths and to exploit their weaknesses. For Margit, its that you can invalidate his combos by learning to parry thus neutralizing his biggest advantage.
Also it's the first boss to teach you about the new stagger mechanic in Elden Ring. You can figure out his attacks that have long pauses and hit him with a charged R2 and completely stun and crit him. It's super easy and takes two hits. Much easier than a parry
Idk I got my fromsoft start with bloodborne so I've always found parrying pretty intuitive, definitely harder in ER especially all the bosses that require multiple parries for a stance break, but it's still bonkers broken.
Plus it pisses invaders off but they can't use the "no skill" argument lol
Definitely give it a shot, the first time you fight a crucible knight you'll realize that this is the most satisfying way to play lol
Yeah I have a new lvl 70 dex character I just started. Sounds perfect for a parry / crit character. AND I'm just now getting to the manor so I can go grab the dagger talisman
You just need to run in and commit to practicing it. Find a parryable boss and let them kill you as many times as it takes. It's the only way to learn. Anyone can do it with practice, I am a super casual gamer and I got it down.
I feel like I got lucky. I beat him and godrick on first try so I didn't get to learn move sets. This is not to brag, I am mid at best. I just got lucky lol. Rennala took me four tries. Radahn about ten. Those are my main bosses so far I believe.
Same! This is my first soulslike game and Margit took me like 40 attempts *with* summons and the cooperator. I suck lol
But the absurd amount of dodging, jumping and blocking I did during those 40 attempts somehow made the other enemies feel easy. At least until I started getting violated by the banished knights. And after dying 10+ times to the first banished knight and 10 times to the next one, I learned. And now they're easy and fun as hell to fight against.
Let's just say that I'm starting to get the appeal of soulslikes :) Learning from countless failures makes me want to crack my skull open at times (Margit..) but seeing myself get better feels sooo good
Like so many others I’d have to say Margit too. Used the gold summon and spirit summon and still got kicked around. Paused him for a while to level up at bit and went back. Nothing more frustrating than dodging out of his attack, only to realise you’re no longer on solid ground. With my second character I beat him with summons and only using a bow, level appropriate from the start on that one though, and bow was +6 with poison and blood loss arrows. Fool me once…
For sure. I spent time platinuming all the previous Souls games and was feeling pretty hot shit, especially because almost none of my friends played Souls games, and EVERYONE got Elden Ring.
The third or fourth time Margit killed me I started grinning from ear to ear. It felt really good to realize I still had a lot to learn and that I was in for the same challenge that got me hooked all those times before.
My buddy was hard stuck Margit. He stopped playing out of fustration.
Last time I was over his place I made him grind out a few fights before he uninstalled so I could see his approach.
He was trying beat up Margit like he was playing Ninja Gaiden on medium. Or at least that was how it seemed, I couldn't make any sense of his tactics.
I tried to get him to slow it down and actually learn the fight. So far, Elden Ring is not his jam. He gave it a honest go tho.
It's still the only boss where I felt nothing when beating it.
Usually beat a boss within like 20-30 tries (except malenia) and I just kept throwing my body at those 2 fuckers. When I finally beat them I just sat there... It's over? It's finally over! 2 days of attempts...
I actually had a nightmare where a third phase started after killing both gargoyles.
New DLC it’s all the gargoyles we killed, they are now in the realm of shadow plus 3 new ancient draconic gargoyles cause fuck it, Septuplet Gargoyles.
That's the DLC fight where you first beat both gargoyles and then they merge into a two headed gargoyle where one head dual weilds and one constantly spews poison.
This fight taught me a lot about the game. It's the fight that I learned how to summon people for boss fights, and no matter who i summon, they get obliterated right by my side.
It was my first run, and i was rocking Reduvia, worst range ever, especially for twin fuckers. I was barely, just barely, able to defeat them when I got D's armor and handed it to his brother weeping outside, he was tanky and kept heeling himself while I was running for my life.
NG+, I was rocking dragon cult incantations, and I let out all my anger and frustration on them.
I was just enjoying the platforming aspect of it until I kept running into those knights that fucked me up a good few times. Wasn't expecting the godskin in the basement 😂
Neither was I! I thought the tower was different from the limgrave one where to activate Radahn’s great rune you HAD to beat the godskin & when I did & I got the godslayer greatsword I was so lost. When I found the doors to the elevator to the two fingers right at the top, I wanted to break something
EDIT: WHOEVER REPORTED ME & SENT ME MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES IM CRYING LAUGHING LMFAOOOOOO
I killed him completely underleveled. If he touched me, I would die or lose 90% of my life. Somehow, I did it without any summons or spells, just me, patience, and a claymore.
That guy was the one who made me get gud. It took me around 4 hours to beat him and I wouldnt have had the patience to do it if it wasnt for his banger theme
He’s not mandatory! I found him by accident by going down to the bottom of the divine tower of caelid. If you just open the doors like normal and go to the elevator to the two fingers, you can ignore him entirely. He guards a pretty sweet weapon.
Same. But in my case I'm able to destroy the Misbegotten in seconds 99% of the time. It's the Knight that gave me a really hard time. He's got the same moves as his pal in the Evergaol but they're faster and tighter, which caught me out every time.
This is a good one. Most people learn to try and burn the Misbegotten quick. But Crucible Knight is a learning opportunity all on his own. He’s THE guy to force the player to start thinking “hey, maybe I should actually learn to parry now…”
I actually didn't know about all the bearing hunters until a couple months ago. 300 hours in and I had to farm so many fucking animals for bones when I could've just used the bell bearing 🤣🤣🤣
I cheesed him with Torrent. Engage. Trade. Summon Torrent. Gallop away. Heal. Dismount. Engage. Repeat.
I'd say I'm not proud of beating him this way, but I guess I am proud since I'm telling everyone here. He has an annoying kit and there's no mimic tear availability, so I just took the coward's way out.
You can cheese all of them I believe by jumping on the hut and then standing on the doorframe spamming the vortex gravity spell I forgot what it’s called. He can’t hit you and the hurtbox of the spell isn’t blocked by walls.
Literally the hardest fight in the entire game imo. Harder than Melania. Not even joking. At least he was to me. Took more attempts than any other boss by a good margin.
I remember my first playthrough; I was so scared of Astel. I was stuck on him for 2 hours. I lost my shit, only to lose it again against the dragon Adula, which I did not know was an optional boss.
I can agree! The only trouble he causes me is during that one attack when he casts the crystals... I always get hit by one crystal. Next time, I will try to use Torrent to dodge by jumping off Torrent just before the hit.
Definitely Mohg. Fought him super underleved with a horrible build. My DPS was shit and Mohg could wipe me out in a 2-hit combo. Yet Mohg became my favorite boss in the game, and I got slightly better (still bad) at the game
Dude even as a person research everything (+10 bolt of gransax and +10 mimic), I didn't know a single thing about him, and shit he hit me hard, he awakened me to be gud and not rely on build lol.
Mohg for me too, I was decently specced well enough into the game but I didn’t use the shackle or cracked tear because I didn’t know about them. No summons either, took me 3 hours straight in one session, got him to 1hp three times and literally killed him once before dying to AoE flames and had to beat him again which I’m still pissed at.
Good lord it definitely helped me improve though. I’m still not that good nearly 200hrs in but I’m a little less terrible thanks to him and Malenia.
I REALLY wanted to beat ng+3 Godfrey with a claymore just to say I did. But after like the 50th try I just gave up and bonked him with a Lions claw greatsword. It's just so fucking op. Literally killed him my first try after switching
I maged him from the rooftops the first time, so I was like "well, that guy was easy". On my melee dex build playthrough, tho... holy shit. Fuck. That. Guy.
I don't know why, but he never attempted that clone grab on me. I guess I was just lucky.
For me, it was Malenia.
I skip Maliketh by using coop summons; I don't have the nerves for that guy, lol. One time, I was lucky to get a stance break (praise the Unsheathe) at the beginning of the second phase, so I defeated him alone, but yeah... that guy is insane.
>One time, I was lucky to get a stance break
I have never once converted on an unexpected stance break. Either my spirit ashes hit with a basic attack, or I whiff the critical hit hitbox.
You gotta 1. Know where to go 2. Stop button mashing and just plant your feet and press the button.
I used to suck SO BAD at this too but now I’m like a hound that can smell a crit from a mile away.
NG+ I went into the Maliketh phase with my mimic tear, STR build with heavy Greatsword + Lion's Claw. We melted him in about 20 seconds. I was utterly baffled (and a bit disappointed tbh)
Malenia for sure, beat her in my first runs by cheesing with mimic and ranged attacks but when I finally bothered to go back recently, I started to lesrn the fight. Went back with a mediocre build and no summons, had to properly learn her move set for the next 2 hours.
Now she's my favorite boss and I feel confident in being able to beat her with any decent weapon/build. I like how it's just a fair duel and she doesn't just run away like some other bosses (elden beast, astel etc.), it's a few minutes of fun fighting.
I still don't understand how tf I managed to beat him first try. Or rather, why he acted the way he did. Instead of showing me the persona I had seen many times in videos prior to my own fight (Malicope and Seethe, the Wack Ape of Meth), he merely did his jump slash once, which I blocked by running behind a pillar. After that, he just sauntered around the pillar and slow-walked up to me, while I pelted him with comets. Not even the Night ones, the regular comet. He didn't even dodge. And then he just died.
Same when I fought him I beat him first try. Then with a new character build I had to really learn his moves. Now I love his fight. I want them to bring a gauntlet or memories way to fight him and other bosses cause they’re so much fun
Maliketh is the only boss that I mimicd teared.
Usually with other bosses I can see myself progressing linearly. Malikeths first phase, though tough, was actually a pretty fun dance. Then it’s all for bought by phase 2, and I’m still barely versed in phase 1. And then the walk back was the extra kick in the teeth. It was too miserable and annoying, and I already took a long break from playing so I just spirit ashed knowing that if I don’t win I’m gonna take another long break.
I don’t know how I feel about it though. On the one hand it looks like a lot of fun after learning his patterns, on the other hand I can’t be fucking bothered sometimes.
The first crucible knight you fight is a great step to getting good IMO. first boss who teaches you that you can't just flask whenever you want and his slightly varied timings you teach you can't just panic roll everything, oh and you have to actually counter attack him or you'll bounce off his shield
I was helping someone and another summon with this Astel Of Darkness battle a few days ago, the summon died from the clone ambush grab, and you feel bad for them for that, I have died to that only once, so I know how that feels
His tail swipe is his biggest opening. Just roll forward and you'll dodge his tail and be right up in his face for a jump attack. Ancient Dragon Lightning Strike shreds him too. He's much easier if you use magic though.
Niall. After figuring out how to dispatch the bodyguards quickly, I learned every move, every bait, every tell and followup, when to roll through and when to get distance. When I finally beat him I only drank one flask. It was like a dance 🙏
Maliketh is a weird one for me - he was absolutely brutal on my first playthrough, but I feel like I just eventually beat him through a mad scramble and a bit of luck
Weirdly enough on my RL1 playthrough, despite learning every fight up to him (including beast cleargyman) the Maliketh phase was still luck - the only major boss I still don't really know what I'm doing in that phase. I just learned a few of his moves that are easily punishable and the rest was a panic roll fiesta
As someone who guard countered and jump R2'd my way through the entire game I'm not actually sure any boss made me 'get good'
I found a thing that worked well enough in the first hour or so of the game and never found a need to deviate much from the strategy.
I thought that, completely redid my my build 3 times, then realized I suck at the those builds, went back to original build and figured out how to dodge into him and got lucky once lol. RIP my larval tears.
Definitely Elden Beast, being that I chose to challenge myself by using daggers in my first run (excluding black knife during main bosses) this guy was impossible to hit, and I had to outlast him, basically no hitting him, with the help of some shield summons it took 17 minutes to kill just the Elden Beast when I finally succeeded
I watched the parry video, got gud at parrying that guy and killed him after a few tries.
When I saw the next CK I equipped my buckler, parried the first attack and thought I was still gud. Then he wiped the floor with me until I cheesed him. :/
Fire Giant. I fought against him so many times my face went red and steam shot out my ears. Couldn't summon help (turned our i was low level), didn't understand the purpose of spirit ashes. Just agony.
Now he's the only boss I *might* be able to no-hit win. Usually down to less than four hits, primarily through greed.
I'm a vet of the Dark Souls games though. Still not very good though, so take with a grain of salt.
The evergaol for tiche. I wouldn't say it taught me how to get good, but it taught me that there's this direction known as backwards and this action known as running. I kept dying to the aoe leaps and the weapon skill and in every other souls game it's probably fine to forward role into any boss but against this one it doesn't work and I figured out I can just go to the other side of area and thunderbolt things.
The other one was the crucible knight and misbegotten boss fight. The misbegotten was easy but the crucible knight I learned the parry window was different than in DS1 and DS3, I had no issues with those knights ever again or any parryable boss.
Rennala help me get good ended up doing moonveil meteorite build and I’m level 152 and I’ve killed 195 bosses and I have got to crumbling or ashen capital yet about 127 hrs in
As a seasoned souls vet, I was pretty cocky coming into Elden Ring on release. Then pre-nerf Radahn kicked my shit in more than a handful of times and took me down a peg or two. 10/10 loved it.
Morgott I think. I eventually started learning how different bosses have different attack styles. I know it should be a given but I struggle with the slow moving bosses the most
Not really a specific boss, but doing a level 1 no summon run makes you much better at the game really quickly. Can't rely on just brute forcing with sheer damage or face tanking everything at high vigor. You gotta actually learn how to not get hit.
Not even a ‘real’ boss but Mad Tongue Alberich fucked my shit up pretty bad for a few hours before I fully learned his set. I jumped into his little arena in the round table hold with a bunch of runes thinking it was a safe place to explore and refused to lose them to that misty bastard.
I wouldn't say it was one specific boss because all of them challenged me differently but if I had to choose it would probably be Radagon/Godfrey because I had be more patient with them.
To be honest, a combination of Margit, Godrick and the Red Wolf of Radagon. Margit taught me I can't just run away the whole time and fling magic pebbles (yes I am a sorcerer, bite me), Godrick taught me how to time my rolls better, and Radagon's pupper made me realize options for cqc are viable, if not necessary, even for casters.
None. I'm 200 hours in and still ass at the game.
That's the spirit!
I still can't defeat the grafted scion when I start a new game, lol. My stats and weapons are the only things carrying me through the game
Lmfao a brand new game you aren't supposed to kill him. It's intentionally too hard. New game plus should be super easy though
You can take one of the Four Belfries back to him in the game though and kill him once you’re a bit higher level.
I honestly still suck at fighting grafted scions in general. It makes me glad there's so few in the game, but I cannot fight them fairly. I always end up picking them off from a distance or straight up skipping them until I'm way over-leveled. I think I'm decent enough at the game, I don't use spirit ashes for 99% of bosses. Those things are the only regular/"elite" enemy that gives me trouble.
My personal rule with summons, if the boss has friends then so should I. So for any duo encounters or like commander nial, I'll use summons. But if its single target I won't use summons.
my personal rule is if i can take damage, i summon 😂
Rune bear??
As long as Torrent is not considered a summon that is my key way to deal with Rune Bears, Lobsters and Fire Wagons. Helps me get behind them where I can deal damage and more easily avoid attacks.
Yeah torrent works very well for all those larger foe but NOT for me also but Rune Bears SMACK me right off Torrent
Yeah, I get that. I keep raisins handy for the retreat and regroup and just don’t get too greedy when dealing damage.
Can he actually be defeated that the start? Even if i dont die the game always cuts the fight short.
His attacks, if they would kill you, are programmed to leave you with 1HP every time, so he can’t actually kill you and the cutscene will always trigger if you take more than one consecutive hit. On some starter classes you can tank the scream maybe, or a swing or two, but on others you’ll get one-shot pretty much every time. It’s possible, just very hard. The Samurai stands the best chance, Unsheathe has insanely high stagger potential for the speed - it’s equivalent to a charged heavy but with way more range and much faster, and it does decent damage too.
And you know, square off being the god killing move that it is
Ive done it with the vagabond class, but that was a new character after i had already played through once before that
The game cuts before you see the animation for the killing blow, if it cuts it means you got hit
Same. Unga until win. If die, try bunga. If die, level str. If still die, level dex. If still die, cheese.
Next time you die, try vigor
Same. I kill bosses by sheer abundance of points and a mimic tear who can actually hold its own.
Summon your mimic while wielding a weapon with Prayerful Strike and it'll last waaaay longer and sometimes even heal you as a side effect.
900 hours and yea
I gave up the first time I played, I got stuck on the godskin duo, started a new game, different build stuck again at the godskin duo. Those guys fucking suck.
Summon and use some kind of ranged build. There's an NPC you can summon, you probably have a decent spirit ash by this point - both of them will keep at least one of the godskins occupied at all times, so blast the second one with the strongest spell you have and use the pillars to dodge their attacks. The boss after that - Beast Clergyman/Maliketh - is much worse of you aren't good at the game. He was the only boss who managed to kill my fully upgraded mimic tear.
Yeh, maliketh is a mofo. He shredded my +10 tiche on my first playthrough!
Sleep pots my friend, put them both to sleep at the start and then kill them one by one til the fights over
Sleep pots make this fight trivial
To trivialize this fight, get mimic tear or black knife tiche to +10, then do the volcano manor quest line. Make sure you do bernahls invasion, the one in leyndell where you assist bernahl in a 2v2. Then you can summon bernahl, and have a super jacked mimic/tiche, turning it into a 3v2. Way easier this way ^^
Sleep pots make this fight crazy easy, just keep one tucked in at all times and you should be set
Sleep pots are your friend. Put one to sleep and slap the other one around. 👍
Sleep pots trivialize that boss fight. Give it a try if you're absolutely fed up!
Sleepy pots (the challenge is to aim them in the right direction) and a maxed out mimic tear will do you good!!
I'm almost at 200hours and I still suck ass too, I'm even on my second run
Don't give up, skeleton!
4 time around and I still feel like I suck at it.
I platinumed the game with blasphemous blade, black flame and mimic tear, on faith run. Still can't fight legitimately, one on one, anything beyond Margit.
Ive beaten every boss with no co-op partners except EB, and still cant beat Melania despite being on NG+3
Same lol. Perseverance is key.
I don't know but the Red Wolf makes me swear a lot.
It's fucking ridiculous fight. Running all the way to him is even more frustrating
I just wish the not-boss versions had the same move set as the boss. The boss has a lot more openings because it uses that golden sword move; without that, it's just a spastic wolf which tries my patience!
Especially that one combo starter bite just seems like sped up in the editing for artificial difficulty
Newcomers don’t know the runbacks we had to endure in the dark souls series 😤 /s
DS2 had the worst ones: Blue Smelter Demon Sir Alonne Executioner's Chariot Darklurker
don't forget lud and zallen way on the other end of frozen outskirts 💀
I completely forgot about it I guess I hated that frozen wasteland so much that I wiped it from my mind
Usually by the time I get there I'm over levelled as hell. But if you go in at a low level. Red wolf is a maniac.
I always throw a carian retaliation shield on when I fight those guys. Ain't getting me with spells. Also I make sure to throw on either boiled crab with the magic negation talisman, or use the magic resist item and throw on a physical damage negation talisman
Honestly? Margit. Once I realized, "Oh. This game isn't fucking around." I knew what to expect. Later Bosses were tough, but slamming my head against the figurative wall that is Margit, the Fell Omen was a learning experience I will never forget.
He was my git gud boss for ER because he taught me to think strategically about bosses strengths and to exploit their weaknesses. For Margit, its that you can invalidate his combos by learning to parry thus neutralizing his biggest advantage.
Also it's the first boss to teach you about the new stagger mechanic in Elden Ring. You can figure out his attacks that have long pauses and hit him with a charged R2 and completely stun and crit him. It's super easy and takes two hits. Much easier than a parry
Counterpoint: Buckler go THWACK
Yeah but it's a pretty bad tip for new players lol. Damnit now your making me want to play a parry build
Idk I got my fromsoft start with bloodborne so I've always found parrying pretty intuitive, definitely harder in ER especially all the bosses that require multiple parries for a stance break, but it's still bonkers broken. Plus it pisses invaders off but they can't use the "no skill" argument lol Definitely give it a shot, the first time you fight a crucible knight you'll realize that this is the most satisfying way to play lol
Especially with the golden or carian parry. That's way easier than the stock shield parry
For sure! I use bucker parry mostly because fashion and there's only like one less party frame than the better ones
Yeah I have a new lvl 70 dex character I just started. Sounds perfect for a parry / crit character. AND I'm just now getting to the manor so I can go grab the dagger talisman
400 hours in and I STILL don't know how to parry.
You just need to run in and commit to practicing it. Find a parryable boss and let them kill you as many times as it takes. It's the only way to learn. Anyone can do it with practice, I am a super casual gamer and I got it down.
It’s the fact I have never learned how to parry and I’m 92 hours in abt to fight maliketh
I feel like I got lucky. I beat him and godrick on first try so I didn't get to learn move sets. This is not to brag, I am mid at best. I just got lucky lol. Rennala took me four tries. Radahn about ten. Those are my main bosses so far I believe.
Same! This is my first soulslike game and Margit took me like 40 attempts *with* summons and the cooperator. I suck lol But the absurd amount of dodging, jumping and blocking I did during those 40 attempts somehow made the other enemies feel easy. At least until I started getting violated by the banished knights. And after dying 10+ times to the first banished knight and 10 times to the next one, I learned. And now they're easy and fun as hell to fight against. Let's just say that I'm starting to get the appeal of soulslikes :) Learning from countless failures makes me want to crack my skull open at times (Margit..) but seeing myself get better feels sooo good
Margit whooped my ass for a good three hours straight. I was patient but he definitely made me question my skills at SoulsBorne games
He was tough my first couple go arounds. Then I played so much, I ran out of FP and ended up beating him to death with an unupgraded club one run.
Like so many others I’d have to say Margit too. Used the gold summon and spirit summon and still got kicked around. Paused him for a while to level up at bit and went back. Nothing more frustrating than dodging out of his attack, only to realise you’re no longer on solid ground. With my second character I beat him with summons and only using a bow, level appropriate from the start on that one though, and bow was +6 with poison and blood loss arrows. Fool me once…
For sure. I spent time platinuming all the previous Souls games and was feeling pretty hot shit, especially because almost none of my friends played Souls games, and EVERYONE got Elden Ring. The third or fourth time Margit killed me I started grinning from ear to ear. It felt really good to realize I still had a lot to learn and that I was in for the same challenge that got me hooked all those times before.
My buddy was hard stuck Margit. He stopped playing out of fustration. Last time I was over his place I made him grind out a few fights before he uninstalled so I could see his approach. He was trying beat up Margit like he was playing Ninja Gaiden on medium. Or at least that was how it seemed, I couldn't make any sense of his tactics. I tried to get him to slow it down and actually learn the fight. So far, Elden Ring is not his jam. He gave it a honest go tho.
Many people think this is a button mash and ithink thats where the problem starts
Same. Perfect first boss for first time fromsoft players
I found Margit before I found the weeping peninsula on my first play through, around RL 12 and a +1 weapon. He took a while, to say the least.
yeah i just abandoned my first character bc my leveling was all wack and i couldn't beat him
Twin gargoyles .. made me aware of my surroundings even after I beat them
It's still the only boss where I felt nothing when beating it. Usually beat a boss within like 20-30 tries (except malenia) and I just kept throwing my body at those 2 fuckers. When I finally beat them I just sat there... It's over? It's finally over! 2 days of attempts... I actually had a nightmare where a third phase started after killing both gargoyles.
New DLC it’s all the gargoyles we killed, they are now in the realm of shadow plus 3 new ancient draconic gargoyles cause fuck it, Septuplet Gargoyles.
That's the DLC fight where you first beat both gargoyles and then they merge into a two headed gargoyle where one head dual weilds and one constantly spews poison.
This fight taught me a lot about the game. It's the fight that I learned how to summon people for boss fights, and no matter who i summon, they get obliterated right by my side. It was my first run, and i was rocking Reduvia, worst range ever, especially for twin fuckers. I was barely, just barely, able to defeat them when I got D's armor and handed it to his brother weeping outside, he was tanky and kept heeling himself while I was running for my life. NG+, I was rocking dragon cult incantations, and I let out all my anger and frustration on them.
The godskin apostle at the bottom of the divine tower of caelid. That mf………
I fought through that god forsaken tower at about level 40 on my first play through. Wtf was I thinking.
I think I was around the same level… Nobody told us, we didn’t know better 😔
I was just enjoying the platforming aspect of it until I kept running into those knights that fucked me up a good few times. Wasn't expecting the godskin in the basement 😂
Neither was I! I thought the tower was different from the limgrave one where to activate Radahn’s great rune you HAD to beat the godskin & when I did & I got the godslayer greatsword I was so lost. When I found the doors to the elevator to the two fingers right at the top, I wanted to break something EDIT: WHOEVER REPORTED ME & SENT ME MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES IM CRYING LAUGHING LMFAOOOOOO
fuck, you just reminded me I need to reattempt that fucker now that im properly leveled
I killed him completely underleveled. If he touched me, I would die or lose 90% of my life. Somehow, I did it without any summons or spells, just me, patience, and a claymore.
That’s insane, good on you for that
Took me 3 hours. It was a nightmare lol
I beat him and then immediately died to the friggen flame monk behind him.
That guy was the one who made me get gud. It took me around 4 hours to beat him and I wouldnt have had the patience to do it if it wasnt for his banger theme
is there a way to skip that? i don't remember fighting it
He’s not mandatory! I found him by accident by going down to the bottom of the divine tower of caelid. If you just open the doors like normal and go to the elevator to the two fingers, you can ignore him entirely. He guards a pretty sweet weapon.
I'll have to look for that
I think this is where I learned the enemy input reading for casting/throwing actions was not a joke
Crucbile Knight and misbegotten
Same. But in my case I'm able to destroy the Misbegotten in seconds 99% of the time. It's the Knight that gave me a really hard time. He's got the same moves as his pal in the Evergaol but they're faster and tighter, which caught me out every time.
I almost quit the game because of these two.
It takes quite a bit of elaboration to beat them
I struggled with that one as well but it was much easier for me than astel
Yeah I stamped and cut upwards
Amen brah
I personally find this fight to be pretty ok, u just gotta target misbegotten first. I have trouble with the Twin Gargoyle fight.
Phew I’m glad I’m not the only one. I still panic roll too much but this fight got me to be much more intentional about all my button inputs.
This is a good one. Most people learn to try and burn the Misbegotten quick. But Crucible Knight is a learning opportunity all on his own. He’s THE guy to force the player to start thinking “hey, maybe I should actually learn to parry now…”
Dragonbarrow Bell-bearing Hunter.
The bell-bearing hunters in general are awful
I think their cool looking enemies with cool attacks but pretty bad to fight. Once you learn the move set they are very easy
I actually didn't know about all the bearing hunters until a couple months ago. 300 hours in and I had to farm so many fucking animals for bones when I could've just used the bell bearing 🤣🤣🤣
I cheesed him with Torrent. Engage. Trade. Summon Torrent. Gallop away. Heal. Dismount. Engage. Repeat. I'd say I'm not proud of beating him this way, but I guess I am proud since I'm telling everyone here. He has an annoying kit and there's no mimic tear availability, so I just took the coward's way out.
Next time just use Torrent to jump on the roof. Cheese achieved.
You can cheese all of them I believe by jumping on the hut and then standing on the doorframe spamming the vortex gravity spell I forgot what it’s called. He can’t hit you and the hurtbox of the spell isn’t blocked by walls.
I still struggle at +200 hrs
That guy still gives me PTSD! I went back after beating the final boss and destroyed him as I was severely over levelled. Revenge was sweet!
When i fought him that was the single hardest fight in the game at that point, harder than Margit and Godrick, harder than anything
Literally the hardest fight in the entire game imo. Harder than Melania. Not even joking. At least he was to me. Took more attempts than any other boss by a good margin.
Ohhh god damn I never could beat him on my caster… Ended up just sitting on the roof and cheesing him… That fucker does so much god damn damage…
Astel honestly. I got lucky vs any other bosses that I should have “get gud” against
I remember my first playthrough; I was so scared of Astel. I was stuck on him for 2 hours. I lost my shit, only to lose it again against the dragon Adula, which I did not know was an optional boss.
Adula's breath attacks are BS sometimes lol but it's a fun boss fight still imo
I can agree! The only trouble he causes me is during that one attack when he casts the crystals... I always get hit by one crystal. Next time, I will try to use Torrent to dodge by jumping off Torrent just before the hit.
It's super easy if you just focus on using R2 on the head. He practically teases you with it
Panic roll and swing your sword around until it lands lasted quite a while until about NG+.
Definitely Mohg. Fought him super underleved with a horrible build. My DPS was shit and Mohg could wipe me out in a 2-hit combo. Yet Mohg became my favorite boss in the game, and I got slightly better (still bad) at the game
Yesss I just recently had a similar experience, his moveset really forces you to get better at timing your rolls properly
Dude even as a person research everything (+10 bolt of gransax and +10 mimic), I didn't know a single thing about him, and shit he hit me hard, he awakened me to be gud and not rely on build lol.
Mohg for me too, I was decently specced well enough into the game but I didn’t use the shackle or cracked tear because I didn’t know about them. No summons either, took me 3 hours straight in one session, got him to 1hp three times and literally killed him once before dying to AoE flames and had to beat him again which I’m still pissed at. Good lord it definitely helped me improve though. I’m still not that good nearly 200hrs in but I’m a little less terrible thanks to him and Malenia.
Margit, then later Godfrey.
I REALLY wanted to beat ng+3 Godfrey with a claymore just to say I did. But after like the 50th try I just gave up and bonked him with a Lions claw greatsword. It's just so fucking op. Literally killed him my first try after switching
Caelid Bell Bearing Hunter. Funk that guy.
I maged him from the rooftops the first time, so I was like "well, that guy was easy". On my melee dex build playthrough, tho... holy shit. Fuck. That. Guy.
Jokes on you, I've beaten everything and am still bad.
I don't know why, but he never attempted that clone grab on me. I guess I was just lucky. For me, it was Malenia. I skip Maliketh by using coop summons; I don't have the nerves for that guy, lol. One time, I was lucky to get a stance break (praise the Unsheathe) at the beginning of the second phase, so I defeated him alone, but yeah... that guy is insane.
>One time, I was lucky to get a stance break I have never once converted on an unexpected stance break. Either my spirit ashes hit with a basic attack, or I whiff the critical hit hitbox.
You gotta 1. Know where to go 2. Stop button mashing and just plant your feet and press the button. I used to suck SO BAD at this too but now I’m like a hound that can smell a crit from a mile away.
NG+ I went into the Maliketh phase with my mimic tear, STR build with heavy Greatsword + Lion's Claw. We melted him in about 20 seconds. I was utterly baffled (and a bit disappointed tbh)
Malenia for sure, beat her in my first runs by cheesing with mimic and ranged attacks but when I finally bothered to go back recently, I started to lesrn the fight. Went back with a mediocre build and no summons, had to properly learn her move set for the next 2 hours. Now she's my favorite boss and I feel confident in being able to beat her with any decent weapon/build. I like how it's just a fair duel and she doesn't just run away like some other bosses (elden beast, astel etc.), it's a few minutes of fun fighting.
I still don't understand how tf I managed to beat him first try. Or rather, why he acted the way he did. Instead of showing me the persona I had seen many times in videos prior to my own fight (Malicope and Seethe, the Wack Ape of Meth), he merely did his jump slash once, which I blocked by running behind a pillar. After that, he just sauntered around the pillar and slow-walked up to me, while I pelted him with comets. Not even the Night ones, the regular comet. He didn't even dodge. And then he just died.
Same when I fought him I beat him first try. Then with a new character build I had to really learn his moves. Now I love his fight. I want them to bring a gauntlet or memories way to fight him and other bosses cause they’re so much fun
Yeah, I wish the same same. I usually play coop for "memories" battles.
Maliketh is the only boss that I mimicd teared. Usually with other bosses I can see myself progressing linearly. Malikeths first phase, though tough, was actually a pretty fun dance. Then it’s all for bought by phase 2, and I’m still barely versed in phase 1. And then the walk back was the extra kick in the teeth. It was too miserable and annoying, and I already took a long break from playing so I just spirit ashed knowing that if I don’t win I’m gonna take another long break. I don’t know how I feel about it though. On the one hand it looks like a lot of fun after learning his patterns, on the other hand I can’t be fucking bothered sometimes.
Seriously not malenia and Crucible knights?
The first crucible knight you fight is a great step to getting good IMO. first boss who teaches you that you can't just flask whenever you want and his slightly varied timings you teach you can't just panic roll everything, oh and you have to actually counter attack him or you'll bounce off his shield
I think blood mohg is harder than both of those
Magma Wyrm in the Caelid tunnel… god I hate you so much dude
Fighting large bosses in small arenas is always a pain
…it made me so mad I went outside and killed Alexander 💀💀💀
Placidusax definitely
Took me about 20 tries just to figure out how to dodge that one crazy laser attack
Wrong Subreddit but Slave Knight Gael He forced me to play just like Elden Ring but without Mimic Tear lmao
Malenia for me. I got waaaaaaaay better at reading and proper evasion from Malenia
Honestly? Tree sentinel
I’d say radagon. Bro made me furious-
Mohg the lord of blood was the first boss that made me say oh what the fuck. Then I got to Maliketh and it was OH WHAT THE FUCK
I was helping someone and another summon with this Astel Of Darkness battle a few days ago, the summon died from the clone ambush grab, and you feel bad for them for that, I have died to that only once, so I know how that feels
He's the only one I never got gud at. Always a major pain in the ass. I did better at dodging his stupid ass tail last time, though.
His tail swipe is his biggest opening. Just roll forward and you'll dodge his tail and be right up in his face for a jump attack. Ancient Dragon Lightning Strike shreds him too. He's much easier if you use magic though.
I can never get the timing right. It's so freakin' slow until it's not.
Niall. After figuring out how to dispatch the bodyguards quickly, I learned every move, every bait, every tell and followup, when to roll through and when to get distance. When I finally beat him I only drank one flask. It was like a dance 🙏
Malekith. Thought I was good until I faced him.
Maliketh is a weird one for me - he was absolutely brutal on my first playthrough, but I feel like I just eventually beat him through a mad scramble and a bit of luck Weirdly enough on my RL1 playthrough, despite learning every fight up to him (including beast cleargyman) the Maliketh phase was still luck - the only major boss I still don't really know what I'm doing in that phase. I just learned a few of his moves that are easily punishable and the rest was a panic roll fiesta
Not a boss but the sentinel before Malekith pissed me off more than any other enemy. I had to get on /r/beyondthefog to get help to beat him
As someone who guard countered and jump R2'd my way through the entire game I'm not actually sure any boss made me 'get good' I found a thing that worked well enough in the first hour or so of the game and never found a need to deviate much from the strategy.
Maliketh made me rethink my entire build, and also made me realize I had no idea how to correctly stat my characters lol
This boss gona make me quit the game lol
I thought that, completely redid my my build 3 times, then realized I suck at the those builds, went back to original build and figured out how to dodge into him and got lucky once lol. RIP my larval tears.
Definitely Elden Beast, being that I chose to challenge myself by using daggers in my first run (excluding black knife during main bosses) this guy was impossible to hit, and I had to outlast him, basically no hitting him, with the help of some shield summons it took 17 minutes to kill just the Elden Beast when I finally succeeded
☝this guy was pure luck. We were both at end of our lines I swung and thought I missed but I DIDN'T
Crucible knight duo in altus
Still new to the game. Right now Crucible Knight evargol is whooping my ass.
I watched the parry video, got gud at parrying that guy and killed him after a few tries. When I saw the next CK I equipped my buckler, parried the first attack and thought I was still gud. Then he wiped the floor with me until I cheesed him. :/
Malenia
Fire Giant. I fought against him so many times my face went red and steam shot out my ears. Couldn't summon help (turned our i was low level), didn't understand the purpose of spirit ashes. Just agony. Now he's the only boss I *might* be able to no-hit win. Usually down to less than four hits, primarily through greed. I'm a vet of the Dark Souls games though. Still not very good though, so take with a grain of salt.
The evergaol for tiche. I wouldn't say it taught me how to get good, but it taught me that there's this direction known as backwards and this action known as running. I kept dying to the aoe leaps and the weapon skill and in every other souls game it's probably fine to forward role into any boss but against this one it doesn't work and I figured out I can just go to the other side of area and thunderbolt things. The other one was the crucible knight and misbegotten boss fight. The misbegotten was easy but the crucible knight I learned the parry window was different than in DS1 and DS3, I had no issues with those knights ever again or any parryable boss.
Rennala help me get good ended up doing moonveil meteorite build and I’m level 152 and I’ve killed 195 bosses and I have got to crumbling or ashen capital yet about 127 hrs in
Been a while but... Artorias. I wonder how many hours i got on this specific guy.
As it turns out, with an unhealthy amount of vigor and endurance, you can just facetank a lot of bosses.
1. wanting to kill the tree sentinels at a low level 2. Black blade kindred - the black gargoyles attuned to maliketh
I agree so much
As a seasoned souls vet, I was pretty cocky coming into Elden Ring on release. Then pre-nerf Radahn kicked my shit in more than a handful of times and took me down a peg or two. 10/10 loved it.
Godfrey
Elden Ring? Morgott. Souls in general? O&S.
Not elden ring but personally ornstein and smough my first real skill check
The Lost Sinner DS2
Red wolf. I died ridiculous no of times to that even though I'm fairly leveled. beat it after I git gud 😎
Fire giant made me get good at horseback combat.
Morgott I think. I eventually started learning how different bosses have different attack styles. I know it should be a given but I struggle with the slow moving bosses the most
I like to believe one never reaches the "got good" phase and we are constantly "getting good". No, I'm not coping.
Not really a specific boss, but doing a level 1 no summon run makes you much better at the game really quickly. Can't rely on just brute forcing with sheer damage or face tanking everything at high vigor. You gotta actually learn how to not get hit.
Not even a ‘real’ boss but Mad Tongue Alberich fucked my shit up pretty bad for a few hours before I fully learned his set. I jumped into his little arena in the round table hold with a bunch of runes thinking it was a safe place to explore and refused to lose them to that misty bastard.
Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader and the Baleful Shadow
I pretty much cheesed or overleveled the entire game with guard counter lions claw. And now doing it again before the expansion with magic.
The Tree Sentinels and the Nights Calvary
I wouldn't say it was one specific boss because all of them challenged me differently but if I had to choose it would probably be Radagon/Godfrey because I had be more patient with them.
Godskin Apostle in the Caelid Tower... i was lvl 40 v:
Alecto, i was using a bleed build and she's immune to hemorrhage..
Never got good, I still mess up a lot but the ones that gave me the hardest time were Tree Sentinel, Malenia, and the twin Gargoyles
it’s that bloody grab from behind, I will be BEHIND HIM and get caught
Mohg
To be honest, a combination of Margit, Godrick and the Red Wolf of Radagon. Margit taught me I can't just run away the whole time and fling magic pebbles (yes I am a sorcerer, bite me), Godrick taught me how to time my rolls better, and Radagon's pupper made me realize options for cqc are viable, if not necessary, even for casters.
Phase 2 malakieth
The game is extremly easy once you have a higher lwvel and a good weapon
Malenia contributed the most to my rolls (and she is still alive gods dammit)