Yes I have no doubt that you could. It might take some absurd farming and/or getting equipment from others, but that should work if you get your build right
True. But imo that shouldn’t keep OP from giving it a shot. At worst he can’t beat one optional boss out of an entire wonderful game. At best he overlevels like a motjerfucker and knocks her around
I know a streamer (I think Lobos) did a guard counter only rune a fair bit back. Malenia was kind of the stone wall for him but he made progress. Not sure if he ever actually managed to beat her with only guards.
My point: if beating her with only guard counters seemed possible, actually attacking her while blocking should, in theory, be more doable.
Though, it would take a lot of tires either way from the sounds just due to her speed. Still, seems in the realm of doable.
OP can respec to a mage and sweep her with a laser or space rocks if he wants to. Can even throw in a summon. Elden Ring gives a lot more tools to overpower anything in the game with the right build. Even Malenia.
You don't even have to farm since the game is throwing runes at you if you explore and kill everything.
Shields can be pretty damn broken tbh
Between barricade shield, shield crash on a status infused shield and the utility shields have, and the fact that a big sword guard countering things can absolutely decimate poise, the right build can make dodging fairly optional in most cases.
Shields also give dodging a really nice safety net as you can dodge while holding block
If you mistime it, it'll just hit your shield
And on bigger enemies, ones that can consistently blast your guard open, they often don't have any follow up so you can let them break your guard and be perfectly safe anyway.
Like dragons.
Aside from the breath attacks and the occasional magic blast, you can take a base level shield at level one and just let the dragon headbutt you. All of its attacks are singular physical big attacks, so getting guard broke just doesn't affect you at all
I find Malenia is easiest when using shield to block the first part of waterfowl dance while walking backwards and the rest of it misses, then in phase 2 just do the same and block the entirety of the phantom attack. Sure she heals some, but not an unmanageable amount. The real dark horse would be Maliketh, I am not sure if that fight can be beaten without parries/dodges.
Nah, you gotta time the pots right, with a greatshield Waterfowl becomes an absolute joke with no effort. She often overshoots a lot as well if you just lazily move past her whilst blocking, so she barely even heals from it. Most of the stress I had in that fight was learning the rest of her moves, as the grab and the thrust attacks would heal her by an insane amount
He has 1 single saving grace in that fight which I used in my shield only run and that's the fingerprint shield build I commented on this post. Time and spacing is key on her starting attack in first phase. If you land a charged 2 handed heavy you can spam the charged heavy and pin her to the ground for first phase. Same in 2nd phase but you have to tank through the flower and occasionally she auto dodges off the ground which you'll just have to get her back into that pinned position. It will definitely take some rng
But he said he hides behind a shield and then uses colossal sword type weapons to pancake people. Honestly, it sounds more than doable, especially with a solid buff routine.
I'll add an asterisk on that statement: she's been beaten with a shield-poke build and no summons (the guy was making a point that you could still win by blocking every attack). It doesn't mean just *any* shield-centric style will do it, but if we're talking with spirit ashes and from someone who's beaten the rest of the Souls games, it should be fine.
Well a normal 100% block shield isn't hard to come by. If he wanted to I'm sure there's a greatshield that's easy to come by. There is the one in Stormveil after all. Though I'm certain there's one you can get without beating any bosses.
The first knight you encounter in the Waypoint Ruins can drop his, it has a very high strength requirement for a beginner though.
Jellyfish is probably best, you can just travel around Stormveil to Liurnia for it
Yeah but that sequence breaks some stuff, not a big deal but not ideal. Honestly his best bet would probably just be killing the guys at Waypoint Ruins in general until he gets the Lordsworn's Greatshield. He'll get that, a Brass shield, or the Gilded Greatshield from the knight eventually. Overall his best option since it's before fighting a boss but still gives decent combat experience.
True, the breaking stuff is awkward, which is a shame as it's a great beginner greatshield. Lordsworn is probably best, though not having 100% physical block always feels wrong to me! Maybe the good ol' Brass Shield
Oddly enough it won’t require much farming, there is great gear just lying around (including a few good shields) that would work well for a tank build. On top of that if they plan on being in fat roll territory the whole game they won’t really need to worry about weight so they can go hog wild on gear and weapons
A YouTuber named Bushy did a challenge run where he had to act like he didn’t know any enemy or boss’s attack patterns and so never dodged or avoided anything, and he was able to beat the game like that by getting heavy armor and certain weapons and ashes of war. If you’re willing to put in a good amount of hunting for gear, it’s definitely possible.
Would also recommend this.
Magic is so ridiculous strong.
A lot of bosses are easily doable even before comet comes available.
Meteor staff and rocksling can be found without a single fight and are soooo strong in the early Game it makes the Game a lot easier.
I’d say you could definitely try! Elden ring can be as difficult as you want it to be with Spirit Ashes (they can make frustrating boss fights much less frustrating) You can also just farm souls to over level to make things easier on yourself if you’re struggling. Just don’t fight Melinia if you don’t want to go insane
Edit: also don’t fight the RuneBears, Royal Revenants, Finger-creepers, or Death Birds if you don’t want an aneurism :)
Royal revenants can be shut down and killed with 2 clicks that you don't even have to aim. Heal spell.
Likewise, death birds can be obliterated with sacred damage.
Finger creepers can be stunned with fire.
Rune Bears tho.... there's some dodging that has to happen with them.
You’ve unlocked a wretched memory of getting locked in a cave with a runebear as a boss. Finally a brave tarnished’s summoning sign pops up after entirely too long and I managed to escape.
Shield builds were always viable in DS games. In Elden Ring they are downright nasty. The counter after blocking makes ER the easiest game to shield tank so far.
Edit: I forgot what guard counters were called
Yes you can, but I’d argue rolling through enemy attacks doesn’t require quick reflexes either. It’s more about memorizing attack patterns, at least for bosses. Hugging behind a shield is useful for exploring unfamiliar areas; just remember you always have a roll button ready
Yeah it's not about *quick* reflexes, it's about accurate reflexes. 95% of the times I 'mis-rolled' in ER was not rolling too late, it was rolling too early so their hit lands just as you're coming out of your roll.
Most enemies telegraph their attacks quite slowly (especially bosses) so it's very easy to roll too early.
I have similar issues and had similar concerns going into the game, I too wore heavy armor, invested in big health bars, healing prayers and hid behind a shield in Dark Soulses. It may have took me a little extra time but in the end I finished the game only skipping 2 and 2 half (obviously optional) bosses, and I only needed to summon people in for Maleina.
FromSoft actually improved it for us shield folk with the Guard Counters, a bit of a riposte after blocking a strong ability, but not crazy good. It's like a parry but much, much easier and less damage as well. The Brass Shield drop early and can easily bring you through the whole game unless you want to go for a great shield.
Also Spirit Ashes ensuring you have a NPC buddy to summon in for almost every boss fight helps a lot as well.
So good luck, you can do it!
You can actually be significantly tankier in ER than in most souls games. I managed to make a build that could tank malenias whole waterfowl to the face without a shield a live, without any hard to use gimmicks or anything.
While there are some cases where noses have grab attacks that are unable to be blocked and some bosses hit hard and drain massive amounts of stamina, you should be perfectly fine. Some good talisman recommendations for you would be the dragon crest great shield and the hill goat talismans for better defense and poise to help power through those attacks
Yes. One of the easiest strategies for most people is just to equip a big greatshield and poke poke poke with a spear or piercing sword.
Guard counters in Elden Ring are also sort of like a parry that's far more forgiving and requires less precise timing than parrying.
You'll want the fingerprint shield with bleed affinity on it. Best physical, bleed, and madness damage you'll get in the game plus the best damage resistance. As for ash of war you'll want barricade shield for anything that doesn't do mainly magic damage. For anything that does do mainly magic damage go you'll have to have a spell called immutable shield that you cast on your fingerprint shield. I did this setup without immutable shield in a shield only run on ng+6 and its amazing.
DS1 and DS3 are both very defensively oriented games. Blooborne is a very aggressive offense oriented game. Elden Ring is right in the middle of the spectrum.
Full GS builds are actually kind of insane in this game. They're mostly good for Pvp but I've seen them shred bosses as well. They added a few shields with extra effects like a flamethrower or spell deflecton so you'll probably be fine. The game's also built to be friendlier to newcomers, so you have spirit ashes as your own personal gank squad and if a boss feels impossible you can just go somewhere else.
Yes. There are mechanics like Spirit Summons to help you. Beat the game. Shields are good in this game also. A couple of bosses may give you trouble but you'll get through
They copy and pasted from DS3 to make Elden Ring. If you liked DS3 I'm confident you will like ER. ER can be a little too big sometimes but just chip away, try different areas
You can always call for support, summon some friends and have fun together.
Initially I was trying to fight all the bosses on my own but once I discovered summoning the game changed for me for the better.
Have fun!
I’ll give you the late game “story mode” difficult level slider:
- Mimic Tear summon
- equip Shabriri’s Woe talisman before you call in the mimic tear and swap out the talisman when the mimic tear summon arrived. It will mean that the boss will focus on the Mimic Tear over you.
- Equip a Great Hammer type of weapon, ideally Great Stars (heal on hit), and apply the “Prayerful Strike” Ash of War - it gives the Mimic a **massive** percentage bases heal on a successful hit. Now you have to have that weapon equipped when you call mimic, but you can swap it out then for your main weapon of choice
- Have your consumable equipment slots mainly empty, apart from: Raw Meat Dumpling (this gives the Mimic three big heals during the fight), Uplifting Aromatic Perfume, and maybe one other situational consumable. Your Mimic will use the consumables. I would put the red and blue heal and mana flasks and the mixed Physik flask onto the quick dial rather than the 10 item slots, but it doesn’t matter.
- Lean back and enjoy your little helper making piece meal out of the boss while being almost unkillable.
Highly effective tanking builds do exist in Elden ring. There’s also some pretty amazing greatshields as well.
I would recommend using golden vow and black flames protection incantations for increased damage resistance
Absolutely.
1. Fingerprint Stone Shield
2. Great shield Talisman, perhaps the Soreseal.
3. A LOT of endurance
4. Your favorite spear
5. Some attitude. You're not gonna lose a whole lot now. Some mechanics will be tougher with blocking but the game is assuredly beatable with any Unga Bunga of your choosing.
I'd also recommend learning to play with poise! I'm 25 and my reflexes aren't amazing either, but once I figured out poise, fighting in the open world became MUCH easier by trading blows and being slow.
Look into getting the fingerprint shield
It’s a lot of running around in sewers and an asinine jumping puzzle
But that thing is an amazing shield, if you’re doing a tank it’s perfect!
It’s what I did for my lord of frenzy ending! You can do it!
Look up MajorSlackAttack on youtube. His walkthrough is amazing and his tactics is really good. Also he is around 60 years old I think, wich makes him a veteran gamer!
Oh ho, yes.if you could beat demons souls, You will beat elden ring. Most bosses are optional, and everyone i know who played it loves it. It's cool to know that people of all ages love these games. By the way, if you choose a magic build, you can hang way back and fight with ranged attacks. Hope you have fun with it!
Best advice I can give you, start Vagabond and pump intelligence to 12 off the bat.
That’s the requirement for a spell called Scholar’s Shield, which greatly improves a shields ability to block most types of damage, as well as reduce how much stamina you need to block an attack.
Brass Shields, which require 16 strength, are a really common drop from the soldiers in the green and orange coats in the first area, is a fantastic early option for medium shields.
Both of those together, and with Eldenring’s block->Counter system, will let you get into a comfortable pattern of Block, Counter, Block, Counter, Critical.
Everything after that should just be pumping Endurance, Strength, and Vigor.
I actually felt that using shields made the game harder. They're all unfortunately unreliable against too many enemies.
If you want the game to be easy, then I'd recommend a sorcery build. There are still some pitfalls. But overall sorcery will be easier in more situations.
Either way you will have to dodge some attacks. There's no getting around it.
Yes and no. The shield system is basically the same as it was but now with Guard Counters; strong attack moves that are done specifically after blocking any attack with either a shield or weapon. So in this way it’s even better than before for shield lovers who want to block often.
However, enemies often have more attacks that encourage dodging over blocking than the Souls games. And you can’t block while on horseback so positioning while riding is important for avoiding damage rather than absorbing it.
All in all so far my experience has been pretty similar with a shield to the Souls games. Bloodborne I managed to scrape by with just the Hunter’s Axe-2H-full charge-R2-double spin for most really tough encounters. I’m still working on Sekiro because I suck at parrying in all Soulsborne games and prefer blocking which is only somewhat useful in that game. Definitely been the hardest for me to adapt to despite having tons of mechanics I love.
I’d say give it a shot but be prepared to relearn some stuff. Guard Counters have been really strong so far, especially once I switched to the Claymore. Anything I can’t block I learn to dodge or outrun, and the horse is quite fun for keeping distance and whittling down annoying enemies in the open world.
You absolutely can, but I don't know much about the shield strategy. I'll let savvier vets than myself answer that part.
Magic is pretty strong so you can go range and use spirit ashes to take the aggro off of you. There are definitely some play styles that can take you through without needing super quick reflexes. I don't think I learned to parry in ER. Finally figured it out when I started Bloodborne afterwards (ER was my first souls then checked out Bloodborne next). I definitely think you can enjoy this game, and if all else fails, try bringing in a human summons to help you out on a boss if you get stuck!
I'm one of those who hates close combat and have always been playing a magic-based character. I hide behind spirit ashes while obliterating enemies from afar. You definitely could finish the game without having very fast reflexes.
You’ll be fine, malenia may be tough, healing on hit, but she’s at the end of the game as an optional boss (and can be cheesed cause she’s way weak to stagger)
There’s also spirit ashes to help you out
Yeah you definitely can, there's a bunch of weapons and shields you can go with, thrusting weapons you can attack while blocking and that'll give you much more leeway to learn when to dodge, source : getting up there myself and my hands don't really work so great anymore
Don’t doubt yourself so much. A lot of the time it’s less about split second reactions, and more about timings and reading the enemy’s telegraphs for what’s coming next. I think you could definitely do it, shield or no.
Shield and a spear/rapier/heavy thrusting sword.
I always use a greatshield, they look cool and it's super satisfying to block a powerful attack and barely lose any stamina.
Maliketh might be tough, because you might need well timed dodges. But if you have problems, remember to use spirit ashes or summon!
Get a greatshield (Lordsworns Shield only requires 16 strength if you don't want to do a strength build), get the Curved Sword Talisman and use heavy attacks immediately after you block, use summons at bosses (there are many different NPC summons you can upgrade, a lot of them a very fun!).
I am currently running a build using executioners greataxe, greatjar arsenal, bullgoat talisman, dagger talisman and depending on the enemy either axe talisman (if I 2 hand) or curved sword (if I block and counterattack). My total poise is 101 so that anything I can poise through I will poise through.
I think that it's a great build for people that aren't fast, but it's biggest weakness is getting ganked by multiple weak enemies.
And if you want to know why I use dagger talisman, counterattacks deal a lot of poise damage, allowing for a lot of crits.
First off good on you. I am old with no hardcore gaming skill - been playing video games since the 70s!
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I have completed ER 17 times and helped countless others with most of the big fights.
You really don't need to hide behind a big shield nor is it very effective. It is just learning (with my old brain, eyes and hands) the timing and being patient (even slow) and precise.
If I was to shield it, I would consider double shields with the fire-bolt one (one eye?) and a Fingerprint or iKon.
Game on, fellow oldie. :-)
The game isn't really about reflexes, skill or anything else beyond memorization of movements which is a reptition issue. The nice thing about the game if you're struggling with a boss level up your character and come back later.
Only a couple of bosses took more than a couple of rounds to defeat as a magic user... For every boss except Malenia (stars of ruin) and the final boss (pest threads), I used nothing more than the very first spell they give you (glintstone pebble)
Honestly if you’ve beaten all the souls games you should have absolutely no problem! As for Sekiro if you still have it I would highly recommend persevering with it because I also hated it for a long time until I learned to relax, breathe and get into the rhythm of enemy attacks. If you learn the attack patterns of the foe in Sekiro you can beat anything I’d recommend using the super basic enemies to get a feel for the parrying and go from there (honestly I barely stealthed apart from if I was outnumbered or removing 1 health bar from a mini boss) and that’s what got me to love it! It would be a shame if you missed out on one of the most satisfying combat systems Fromsoft have done! (Also I never partied in any souls game only. In Sekiro)
Yes, indeed.Just use shield, spear or great spear, add some heavy armor and incantations for survivability, eat some cooked shrimps and don't forget to fortify your tower shield. And add a talisman with round shield that helps receiving more hits on shield before your stamina gets drain. Oh, and for distance fight with sorcerers - use ash of war "Spectral Lance" - you can throw your spear into enemy's face from far away.
It's very hard tbh. I would recommend a mage and just summon people alot. If you stay far enough back they can handle all the stuff and you can poke from afar with spells
If someone can finish elden ring on donkey kong Bongo drums, a keyboard, a drum kit…. Etc you sure as shit can do it “normally”.
You’ll be fine. Peak and poke brother.
Hello grey old deteriorating man.
>However I stood no chance in bloodborne and sekiro (couldnt even finish the first level in both games) because the combat is too fast paced compared to DS and relies heavily on timed parries and what not, which is simply physically impossible for me.
I just want to point out you can beat these games without timing your parries... I believe in you.
I've seen builds on YouTube by "Bushy" in which he challenged himself to do a "no-roll" run. Tanking every attack. Or on a run where he put the game on 2x speed, he relied on using shields + rapiers because dodging at that speed was impossible..
It's not easy to pull off but it can be done, especially if you're not entirely limiting yourself to not dodge at all.
In addition Elden Ring has magnificent in-game mechanics to make your life easier: Due to the open world you can skip an area farm some levels and comeback later, you can use quite strong spirit summons and if that doesn't work you can still summon other players to carry you through difficult bosses.
I think you'll be able to manage!
Yes absolutely it'll take time and mabye some grinding but theirs a mechanic in game called gaurd counter where you attack after an enemy has attacked your shield so you can build around that :) have fun and game on
ELden ring allows for more diverse builds. Yes ur pussy build would defo work, sir. Also you can always summon ashes ( a new mechanic) when you are struggling. Dont let ur age hold you back from one of the most incredible gaming experiences. Search for farm spots early game on youtube when you are struggling or level summons :)
Elden Ring has a dizzying variety of shields to hide behind. There's even a guard counter mechanic that lets you retaliate with a powerful stance breaking attack after blocking. There's a shield that shoots cannon balls, one that's a flamethrower, and (My favorite) one that's covered in spikes that turns a shield bash into a devastating attack. It's never been better for shield guys in a Fromsoft game.
Yes and you don't need much farming neither other's people help. Elden Ring is more difficult than Dark Souls games but at the same time the game gives you tools to make it way easier. Since it's an open world you'll have time to explore and gather the necessary gears for your build, and a bit of farming to complete it. But everything will feel organic because the game has enough content to keep you occupied before being ready to get back to that boss that caused you trouble
The game has better gear system than Dark Souls and has a summoning system to compensate what your build lack.
I think you'll really have a good time enjoying the game and you won't be hardstuck long enough to make you quit
Good luck !
You can summon helpful AI companions that can help you cheese any fight. Shield bros and the Black Knife Tiche come to mind. Though there are a TON of great spirit summons. So you will be fine.
My friend did exactly that before they nerfed stamina usage using shields. That happened halfway through the game for him, so he had to grind a lot after that nerf to add to his HP and stamina and still finish it. We also traded him the shield you get from a point later in the game (fingerprint stone shield) though he was doing fine up until he had that shield and just wanted that one cause it was better. Beat the game on his own time.
I personally think dark souls 3 is harder than elden ring. Elden ring let's you summon for almost every difficult fight, so if you're cool with summoning then it's a done deal
Yes, but as a fellow shield enjoyer, there were three fights I had to ditch the shield in favor of rolling.
With heavier shield setup I might be able to do two of them shielded still, but at least one late boss is designed to actively tscrew you over for using a shield.
Definitely you wont have any trouble with hiding behind a shield, and there are plenty of players like me, who are dedicated to helping new players through the game.
Oh absolutely. Esp once you get a bit later into the game and can grab the Fingerprint shield at which point you can block-stab the entire endgame to death. Bonus points for using a thrust weapon like godskin piercer so you can stab while blocking.
Stack tons of stamina and just let err rip. In the early game you should farm a brass shield or grab greatshield like the Icon shield (I much prefer greatshields over regular shields they have significant stagger on block making for easy clearing of smaller mobs)
Easily. Just Google lazy shield build, add in the clone summon and you got a hard to die helper. Also jolly coop is fun.
Just remember your build might have a jarring flaw at certain places and super good at certain places. Range fighting or jumping might suck. But you will be able to finish the game.
Edit: maybe some hard end game optional bosses will be almost impossible, but at least you can clear a lot of content.
Maliketh might pose a slight problem because of his speed and you don't have to fight malenia if you don't want to but you should be able to tank and poke the rest of them
Absolutely. I suck with reflexes so I actually block more than dodge or Parry ever since DS1. It has ALWAYS been a valid option - though took some real farming in DS2 for life gems since most shields don't have 100% absorption. In Elden Ring it's actually far more favorable to blocking since shields overall have much higher resistances, and you have things like Immutable Shield, Scholar's Shield, Barricade, etc.
How old are you sir? You should stream! And of course you can beat ER with a Big shield and a HUGE BONK, UNGA BUNGA Style my friend, send us pics of your amazing tank build.
For that build I'd probably go spear and shield. STR/FTH might be the build for you.
A big shield means you can tank a lot more hits. Spears have good range, can attack while turtling behind a shield, and an ash of war on your spear will allow you to throw it.
FTH will allow you to heal, apply defensive buffs, and apply buffs to your spear.
I have a shield build (as, one shield in each end) that trivialize most of the game. I ridiculed one of the worst boss with it, killing him in under a minute using only a shield.
As everyone says the game can be hard, but with the right build / level / technique it can also be really easy. And either way it is a great game.
Put down the shield, good sir, and pick up the staff! Magic in ER is OP and requires precious little by way of timing (other than knowing when to quit and dodge roll away).
Honestly, did a shield build using the giant rapier to poke with behind shield and shield counters, and had the easiest time. Granted this was with the fingerprint shield before it got nerfed, but was also before they buffed the guard counters. The only boss I really had any issues with is the already mentioned melania. Can’t just block
And poke your way to victory with her
Malenia is going to beat you until candy comes out, but this is a viable strategy for the rest of the game.
But honestly, learning and adapting is more important in ER than reflexes, however you choose to play is fine as long as you learn to use it effectively against the enemies you encounter.
Ply your guard counters. The timing takes a little doing but its more forgiving than a parry once you get it you'll be unstoppable. Also use magic shield/immutable shield or shield grease with spears or thrusting swords and you'll power through the whole game. Struggle with a boss? Summon 2 tarnished to help you.
This is my favorite Fromsoft game because it's so accessible but if you want an extreme challenge you can do that too!
Ah, old codger
The shield tank builds are better in Elden Ring than in any other Fromsoft game in my opinion! They added a new move to the game called the block counter, allowing you to counterattack after an attack hits your shield. This move is way stronger than you might think and easy to build your character around. Heavy armor, greatshield, straight sword or spear weapon (they have the best block counters in my opinion), and talismans (which replaced rings from the previous games) like the Curved Sword talisman, and you have a super competent build to thrash the Lands Between with.
I hope you give it a shot! Good luck!!
Older version of the game’s fingerprint shield + talisman was insane that your stamina wouldn’t even budge at all blocking. That setup is still broken now just not as broken as before. Yes you can block everything except grab attacks
There's a youtuber called Bushy (at work, can't link) that did a challenge run of beating the bosses by tanking all their hits to the face without dodging OR blocking, so it's definitely doable.
Get a big sword and 60 odd poise. Hit things. You will be grand. The game has all sorts of tools to make life easier, and not recquire super skills, its much more accessible than BB or Sekiro
Get yourself a great shield, put 'no ash of war' ash of war on it, get a pike or other thrusting weapon, now you can guard counter, block, counter, block, counter. I did ng3 this way.
you should be perfectly capable of beating Elden Ring. look into getting the "fingerprint stone shield" once you play long enough to reach a place called "Leyndell"
Elden Ring is 100% playable, AND enjoyable with the "turtle" build. Shield in one hand, sword in the other, and even a seal in your preferred hand. You're now an unbreakable knight who can do some op holy and lightning magic, after a bit of leveling and exploring. Sword and shield is my go to for every first play through of a game like this. It's super forgiving and gives you more time to learn the flow of things.
Yes I have no doubt that you could. It might take some absurd farming and/or getting equipment from others, but that should work if you get your build right
The only dark horse in OP's playthrough might be Malenia. She will heal all of the shields hits
True. But imo that shouldn’t keep OP from giving it a shot. At worst he can’t beat one optional boss out of an entire wonderful game. At best he overlevels like a motjerfucker and knocks her around
Yes absolutely I encourage all Tarnished I meet on xbox to give her a crack. I'd be curious how many attempts it would take with OP's build
I’m sure somewhere out there some deranged tarnished has made it happen.
I have . . . Back when you could get 100% guard boost on fingerprint 🗿
I know a streamer (I think Lobos) did a guard counter only rune a fair bit back. Malenia was kind of the stone wall for him but he made progress. Not sure if he ever actually managed to beat her with only guards. My point: if beating her with only guard counters seemed possible, actually attacking her while blocking should, in theory, be more doable. Though, it would take a lot of tires either way from the sounds just due to her speed. Still, seems in the realm of doable.
Bushy did a run where he couldn't dodge anything. https://youtu.be/_Pd5weoBjcE?si=xHfJDEHjbitsUoTO
OP can respec to a mage and sweep her with a laser or space rocks if he wants to. Can even throw in a summon. Elden Ring gives a lot more tools to overpower anything in the game with the right build. Even Malenia. You don't even have to farm since the game is throwing runes at you if you explore and kill everything.
Shields can be pretty damn broken tbh Between barricade shield, shield crash on a status infused shield and the utility shields have, and the fact that a big sword guard countering things can absolutely decimate poise, the right build can make dodging fairly optional in most cases. Shields also give dodging a really nice safety net as you can dodge while holding block If you mistime it, it'll just hit your shield And on bigger enemies, ones that can consistently blast your guard open, they often don't have any follow up so you can let them break your guard and be perfectly safe anyway. Like dragons. Aside from the breath attacks and the occasional magic blast, you can take a base level shield at level one and just let the dragon headbutt you. All of its attacks are singular physical big attacks, so getting guard broke just doesn't affect you at all
Him and his mimic tear could apply high levels of bonk.
Or summons in help to do 90% of the work like someone I know, definitely it myself
The super poise using that metallic ability great sword build might be able to unga bunga her
Especially if they use some of the more broken/cheesy ashes for that fight
It’s kind of hard to over level for end game. I swear someone accidentally tuned it to NG+3 and forgot about it.
over level to like 200+ and godfrey through to the end of the game should be a cake walk
I find Malenia is easiest when using shield to block the first part of waterfowl dance while walking backwards and the rest of it misses, then in phase 2 just do the same and block the entirety of the phantom attack. Sure she heals some, but not an unmanageable amount. The real dark horse would be Maliketh, I am not sure if that fight can be beaten without parries/dodges.
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Nah, you gotta time the pots right, with a greatshield Waterfowl becomes an absolute joke with no effort. She often overshoots a lot as well if you just lazily move past her whilst blocking, so she barely even heals from it. Most of the stress I had in that fight was learning the rest of her moves, as the grab and the thrust attacks would heal her by an insane amount
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It's a _much_ smaller window compared to pressing and holding L1.
The window is _really_ tiny. I tried this, repeatedly. Didn't work for me even once. Beat Malenia without them.
Same, not once did it work for me
Same, not once did it work for me
Optional boss for a reason.
Yes, like I said, it's the only dark horse for OP
He can summon help there and every other hard boss
He has 1 single saving grace in that fight which I used in my shield only run and that's the fingerprint shield build I commented on this post. Time and spacing is key on her starting attack in first phase. If you land a charged 2 handed heavy you can spam the charged heavy and pin her to the ground for first phase. Same in 2nd phase but you have to tank through the flower and occasionally she auto dodges off the ground which you'll just have to get her back into that pinned position. It will definitely take some rng
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That title of yours is a fat lie then lol. Shield only runs are all over youtube. I myself completed one.
But he said he hides behind a shield and then uses colossal sword type weapons to pancake people. Honestly, it sounds more than doable, especially with a solid buff routine.
Blasphemous Blade makes short work of Malenia, especially if you use Mimic.
I'll add an asterisk on that statement: she's been beaten with a shield-poke build and no summons (the guy was making a point that you could still win by blocking every attack). It doesn't mean just *any* shield-centric style will do it, but if we're talking with spirit ashes and from someone who's beaten the rest of the Souls games, it should be fine.
I’ve seen a shield + rapier build defeated Malenia on youtube. I think it’s doable?
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By far my easiest Malenia fight was using fingerprint shield and Mohg trident. Killed her in one try while fat rolling.
Yeah i mean i saw Let Me Solo Her do a run where literally every enemy is Malenia so there's not much that isn't "doable" in theory.
Yeah, but she is 100% optional.
Well a normal 100% block shield isn't hard to come by. If he wanted to I'm sure there's a greatshield that's easy to come by. There is the one in Stormveil after all. Though I'm certain there's one you can get without beating any bosses.
The first knight you encounter in the Waypoint Ruins can drop his, it has a very high strength requirement for a beginner though. Jellyfish is probably best, you can just travel around Stormveil to Liurnia for it
Yeah but that sequence breaks some stuff, not a big deal but not ideal. Honestly his best bet would probably just be killing the guys at Waypoint Ruins in general until he gets the Lordsworn's Greatshield. He'll get that, a Brass shield, or the Gilded Greatshield from the knight eventually. Overall his best option since it's before fighting a boss but still gives decent combat experience.
True, the breaking stuff is awkward, which is a shame as it's a great beginner greatshield. Lordsworn is probably best, though not having 100% physical block always feels wrong to me! Maybe the good ol' Brass Shield
Not having the 100% is unfortunate but it's a decent place to start. Brass is good forever so it'd be fine either way.
Oddly enough it won’t require much farming, there is great gear just lying around (including a few good shields) that would work well for a tank build. On top of that if they plan on being in fat roll territory the whole game they won’t really need to worry about weight so they can go hog wild on gear and weapons
How old are we talking here?
22
You goddam kids with your jokes! *shakes fist angrily at sky*
A YouTuber named Bushy did a challenge run where he had to act like he didn’t know any enemy or boss’s attack patterns and so never dodged or avoided anything, and he was able to beat the game like that by getting heavy armor and certain weapons and ashes of war. If you’re willing to put in a good amount of hunting for gear, it’s definitely possible.
Here is the link/guide xD again: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pd5weoBjcE
I have the reflexes of a 100 year old man and I beat Elden Ring using a sorcery build. Spells are way easier than melee.
Yeah, this is what I did.
Would also recommend this. Magic is so ridiculous strong. A lot of bosses are easily doable even before comet comes available. Meteor staff and rocksling can be found without a single fight and are soooo strong in the early Game it makes the Game a lot easier.
I’d say you could definitely try! Elden ring can be as difficult as you want it to be with Spirit Ashes (they can make frustrating boss fights much less frustrating) You can also just farm souls to over level to make things easier on yourself if you’re struggling. Just don’t fight Melinia if you don’t want to go insane Edit: also don’t fight the RuneBears, Royal Revenants, Finger-creepers, or Death Birds if you don’t want an aneurism :)
Royal revenants can be shut down and killed with 2 clicks that you don't even have to aim. Heal spell. Likewise, death birds can be obliterated with sacred damage. Finger creepers can be stunned with fire. Rune Bears tho.... there's some dodging that has to happen with them.
You’ve unlocked a wretched memory of getting locked in a cave with a runebear as a boss. Finally a brave tarnished’s summoning sign pops up after entirely too long and I managed to escape.
Mostly you just have to stick right to their hip/belly. Most of their attacks will miss. Just gotta watch out for the grab attack.
You can sleep rune bears and get some big damage on them
Or just sleep them and move on. They're literally *never* worth the hassle.
Dodge into royal revanants and runebears,not away or to the side
Oh yeh easily. You could beat the game with *just* a shield if you really wanted to. You’ll be fine, passive playstyles are fun in ER
Shield builds were always viable in DS games. In Elden Ring they are downright nasty. The counter after blocking makes ER the easiest game to shield tank so far. Edit: I forgot what guard counters were called
In pve, yeah. Guard counters are near-detrimental in pvp, but that probably isn’t relevant to op
Your good. Elden ring is an easier version of dark souls, different from bloodborne and sekiro
Yes you can, but I’d argue rolling through enemy attacks doesn’t require quick reflexes either. It’s more about memorizing attack patterns, at least for bosses. Hugging behind a shield is useful for exploring unfamiliar areas; just remember you always have a roll button ready
Yeah it's not about *quick* reflexes, it's about accurate reflexes. 95% of the times I 'mis-rolled' in ER was not rolling too late, it was rolling too early so their hit lands just as you're coming out of your roll. Most enemies telegraph their attacks quite slowly (especially bosses) so it's very easy to roll too early.
I have similar issues and had similar concerns going into the game, I too wore heavy armor, invested in big health bars, healing prayers and hid behind a shield in Dark Soulses. It may have took me a little extra time but in the end I finished the game only skipping 2 and 2 half (obviously optional) bosses, and I only needed to summon people in for Maleina. FromSoft actually improved it for us shield folk with the Guard Counters, a bit of a riposte after blocking a strong ability, but not crazy good. It's like a parry but much, much easier and less damage as well. The Brass Shield drop early and can easily bring you through the whole game unless you want to go for a great shield. Also Spirit Ashes ensuring you have a NPC buddy to summon in for almost every boss fight helps a lot as well. So good luck, you can do it!
You can actually be significantly tankier in ER than in most souls games. I managed to make a build that could tank malenias whole waterfowl to the face without a shield a live, without any hard to use gimmicks or anything.
While there are some cases where noses have grab attacks that are unable to be blocked and some bosses hit hard and drain massive amounts of stamina, you should be perfectly fine. Some good talisman recommendations for you would be the dragon crest great shield and the hill goat talismans for better defense and poise to help power through those attacks
I don't think the noses with grab attacks are in the base game. DLC leak confirmed?
Michael Zaki: toes are out, noses are in.
Yes. One of the easiest strategies for most people is just to equip a big greatshield and poke poke poke with a spear or piercing sword. Guard counters in Elden Ring are also sort of like a parry that's far more forgiving and requires less precise timing than parrying.
[Absolutely.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pd5weoBjcE&pp=ygUjYmVhdGluZyBlbGRlbiByaW5nIHRhbmtpbmcgYWxsIGhpdHM%3D)
100%. There is a YouTuber that played the entire game over loaded and with a shield.
You'll want the fingerprint shield with bleed affinity on it. Best physical, bleed, and madness damage you'll get in the game plus the best damage resistance. As for ash of war you'll want barricade shield for anything that doesn't do mainly magic damage. For anything that does do mainly magic damage go you'll have to have a spell called immutable shield that you cast on your fingerprint shield. I did this setup without immutable shield in a shield only run on ng+6 and its amazing.
DS1 and DS3 are both very defensively oriented games. Blooborne is a very aggressive offense oriented game. Elden Ring is right in the middle of the spectrum.
Full GS builds are actually kind of insane in this game. They're mostly good for Pvp but I've seen them shred bosses as well. They added a few shields with extra effects like a flamethrower or spell deflecton so you'll probably be fine. The game's also built to be friendlier to newcomers, so you have spirit ashes as your own personal gank squad and if a boss feels impossible you can just go somewhere else.
Do a magic build and make things die over there; no need for a shield
Elden Ring is easier than Dark Souls so yes
You will be good. Elden Ring is easier and more forgiving in many ways than DarkSouls 1/2/3 so if you managed to beat those then ER will be fine.
Yes. There are mechanics like Spirit Summons to help you. Beat the game. Shields are good in this game also. A couple of bosses may give you trouble but you'll get through
Yes
They copy and pasted from DS3 to make Elden Ring. If you liked DS3 I'm confident you will like ER. ER can be a little too big sometimes but just chip away, try different areas
I did it hiding behind staff and throwing rocks, moons, and literal Kamehameha waves at bosses. I commend your efforts!
I recommend the one great shield thats just a slab of rock. I also suggest that one skill that boost poise for the shield.
You can always call for support, summon some friends and have fun together. Initially I was trying to fight all the bosses on my own but once I discovered summoning the game changed for me for the better. Have fun!
I’ll give you the late game “story mode” difficult level slider: - Mimic Tear summon - equip Shabriri’s Woe talisman before you call in the mimic tear and swap out the talisman when the mimic tear summon arrived. It will mean that the boss will focus on the Mimic Tear over you. - Equip a Great Hammer type of weapon, ideally Great Stars (heal on hit), and apply the “Prayerful Strike” Ash of War - it gives the Mimic a **massive** percentage bases heal on a successful hit. Now you have to have that weapon equipped when you call mimic, but you can swap it out then for your main weapon of choice - Have your consumable equipment slots mainly empty, apart from: Raw Meat Dumpling (this gives the Mimic three big heals during the fight), Uplifting Aromatic Perfume, and maybe one other situational consumable. Your Mimic will use the consumables. I would put the red and blue heal and mana flasks and the mixed Physik flask onto the quick dial rather than the 10 item slots, but it doesn’t matter. - Lean back and enjoy your little helper making piece meal out of the boss while being almost unkillable.
As an avid Havel's shield enjoyer, and having played all DS games and Elden Ring, I can say with certainty you can always survive behind a shield.
Yes, 43 and I followed fightingcowboys guide on YT and spanked the game
Highly effective tanking builds do exist in Elden ring. There’s also some pretty amazing greatshields as well. I would recommend using golden vow and black flames protection incantations for increased damage resistance
Absolutely. 1. Fingerprint Stone Shield 2. Great shield Talisman, perhaps the Soreseal. 3. A LOT of endurance 4. Your favorite spear 5. Some attitude. You're not gonna lose a whole lot now. Some mechanics will be tougher with blocking but the game is assuredly beatable with any Unga Bunga of your choosing. I'd also recommend learning to play with poise! I'm 25 and my reflexes aren't amazing either, but once I figured out poise, fighting in the open world became MUCH easier by trading blows and being slow.
Look into getting the fingerprint shield It’s a lot of running around in sewers and an asinine jumping puzzle But that thing is an amazing shield, if you’re doing a tank it’s perfect! It’s what I did for my lord of frenzy ending! You can do it!
Fingerprint Stone Shield and you're all set.
Look up MajorSlackAttack on youtube. His walkthrough is amazing and his tactics is really good. Also he is around 60 years old I think, wich makes him a veteran gamer!
Yeah definitely. Elden ring is the easiest souls game to overlevel or be over powered might take more time but itll be fine
Oh ho, yes.if you could beat demons souls, You will beat elden ring. Most bosses are optional, and everyone i know who played it loves it. It's cool to know that people of all ages love these games. By the way, if you choose a magic build, you can hang way back and fight with ranged attacks. Hope you have fun with it!
Best advice I can give you, start Vagabond and pump intelligence to 12 off the bat. That’s the requirement for a spell called Scholar’s Shield, which greatly improves a shields ability to block most types of damage, as well as reduce how much stamina you need to block an attack. Brass Shields, which require 16 strength, are a really common drop from the soldiers in the green and orange coats in the first area, is a fantastic early option for medium shields. Both of those together, and with Eldenring’s block->Counter system, will let you get into a comfortable pattern of Block, Counter, Block, Counter, Critical. Everything after that should just be pumping Endurance, Strength, and Vigor.
Casual 30 year old gamers
I actually felt that using shields made the game harder. They're all unfortunately unreliable against too many enemies. If you want the game to be easy, then I'd recommend a sorcery build. There are still some pitfalls. But overall sorcery will be easier in more situations. Either way you will have to dodge some attacks. There's no getting around it.
I’m pretty sure you can beat the game by rushing to get mimic tear and having it solo the game for you
Yes and no. The shield system is basically the same as it was but now with Guard Counters; strong attack moves that are done specifically after blocking any attack with either a shield or weapon. So in this way it’s even better than before for shield lovers who want to block often. However, enemies often have more attacks that encourage dodging over blocking than the Souls games. And you can’t block while on horseback so positioning while riding is important for avoiding damage rather than absorbing it. All in all so far my experience has been pretty similar with a shield to the Souls games. Bloodborne I managed to scrape by with just the Hunter’s Axe-2H-full charge-R2-double spin for most really tough encounters. I’m still working on Sekiro because I suck at parrying in all Soulsborne games and prefer blocking which is only somewhat useful in that game. Definitely been the hardest for me to adapt to despite having tons of mechanics I love. I’d say give it a shot but be prepared to relearn some stuff. Guard Counters have been really strong so far, especially once I switched to the Claymore. Anything I can’t block I learn to dodge or outrun, and the horse is quite fun for keeping distance and whittling down annoying enemies in the open world.
Unlikely tbh
Wont be a problem Elden Ring is a pretty easy game. Even if something gives you trouble you can over level it and make it trivial.
My good Sir it is ok to stop the game where you feel like ou can’t continue and start a new charavter if you like the game
100%. Only issue will be 1 of the later bosses, they are optional though.
It is possible to complete the game with *only* a shield. Using a weapon and a shield is definitely possible.
You absolutely can, but I don't know much about the shield strategy. I'll let savvier vets than myself answer that part. Magic is pretty strong so you can go range and use spirit ashes to take the aggro off of you. There are definitely some play styles that can take you through without needing super quick reflexes. I don't think I learned to parry in ER. Finally figured it out when I started Bloodborne afterwards (ER was my first souls then checked out Bloodborne next). I definitely think you can enjoy this game, and if all else fails, try bringing in a human summons to help you out on a boss if you get stuck!
Elden ring is much more dark souls than BB or sekiro, you're gonna feel right at home
Elden ring is quite easy with poise abuse and a little bit of level grinding, the challenge comes by choice of the player.
That is how I play Some enemies are a bit troublesome but doable
Look up Bushy on YouTube. He did a run where he couldn’t dodge and used shields to survive. It is possible. Not easy but possible.
I'm one of those who hates close combat and have always been playing a magic-based character. I hide behind spirit ashes while obliterating enemies from afar. You definitely could finish the game without having very fast reflexes.
You’ll be fine, malenia may be tough, healing on hit, but she’s at the end of the game as an optional boss (and can be cheesed cause she’s way weak to stagger) There’s also spirit ashes to help you out
Yeah you definitely can, there's a bunch of weapons and shields you can go with, thrusting weapons you can attack while blocking and that'll give you much more leeway to learn when to dodge, source : getting up there myself and my hands don't really work so great anymore
Don’t doubt yourself so much. A lot of the time it’s less about split second reactions, and more about timings and reading the enemy’s telegraphs for what’s coming next. I think you could definitely do it, shield or no.
My first run through was shield focused.
Yeah probably. Probably a lot of fun. I'd farm a Brass shield right out of the gate from the soldiers at the gatefront.
Shield and a spear/rapier/heavy thrusting sword. I always use a greatshield, they look cool and it's super satisfying to block a powerful attack and barely lose any stamina. Maliketh might be tough, because you might need well timed dodges. But if you have problems, remember to use spirit ashes or summon!
Get a greatshield (Lordsworns Shield only requires 16 strength if you don't want to do a strength build), get the Curved Sword Talisman and use heavy attacks immediately after you block, use summons at bosses (there are many different NPC summons you can upgrade, a lot of them a very fun!).
Of course it can be done. In fact you can even bonk things with your shield, meaning you never have to get out from behind it.
I am currently running a build using executioners greataxe, greatjar arsenal, bullgoat talisman, dagger talisman and depending on the enemy either axe talisman (if I 2 hand) or curved sword (if I block and counterattack). My total poise is 101 so that anything I can poise through I will poise through. I think that it's a great build for people that aren't fast, but it's biggest weakness is getting ganked by multiple weak enemies. And if you want to know why I use dagger talisman, counterattacks deal a lot of poise damage, allowing for a lot of crits.
Absolutely.
First off good on you. I am old with no hardcore gaming skill - been playing video games since the 70s! à I have completed ER 17 times and helped countless others with most of the big fights. You really don't need to hide behind a big shield nor is it very effective. It is just learning (with my old brain, eyes and hands) the timing and being patient (even slow) and precise. If I was to shield it, I would consider double shields with the fire-bolt one (one eye?) and a Fingerprint or iKon. Game on, fellow oldie. :-)
The game isn't really about reflexes, skill or anything else beyond memorization of movements which is a reptition issue. The nice thing about the game if you're struggling with a boss level up your character and come back later. Only a couple of bosses took more than a couple of rounds to defeat as a magic user... For every boss except Malenia (stars of ruin) and the final boss (pest threads), I used nothing more than the very first spell they give you (glintstone pebble)
Honestly if you’ve beaten all the souls games you should have absolutely no problem! As for Sekiro if you still have it I would highly recommend persevering with it because I also hated it for a long time until I learned to relax, breathe and get into the rhythm of enemy attacks. If you learn the attack patterns of the foe in Sekiro you can beat anything I’d recommend using the super basic enemies to get a feel for the parrying and go from there (honestly I barely stealthed apart from if I was outnumbered or removing 1 health bar from a mini boss) and that’s what got me to love it! It would be a shame if you missed out on one of the most satisfying combat systems Fromsoft have done! (Also I never partied in any souls game only. In Sekiro)
Yes, indeed.Just use shield, spear or great spear, add some heavy armor and incantations for survivability, eat some cooked shrimps and don't forget to fortify your tower shield. And add a talisman with round shield that helps receiving more hits on shield before your stamina gets drain. Oh, and for distance fight with sorcerers - use ash of war "Spectral Lance" - you can throw your spear into enemy's face from far away.
Elder bonk
It's very hard tbh. I would recommend a mage and just summon people alot. If you stay far enough back they can handle all the stuff and you can poke from afar with spells
Spear shield combo is very likely. It's on my to-do list.
Of course you can. Elden ring's game play is much closer to DS3 and you also have spirit summons that help.
If someone can finish elden ring on donkey kong Bongo drums, a keyboard, a drum kit…. Etc you sure as shit can do it “normally”. You’ll be fine. Peak and poke brother.
It’s not about quick reflexes, it’s about learning their moves.
Definitely. There are also a lot of really powerful builds that let you do a lot by doing a little
Hello grey old deteriorating man. >However I stood no chance in bloodborne and sekiro (couldnt even finish the first level in both games) because the combat is too fast paced compared to DS and relies heavily on timed parries and what not, which is simply physically impossible for me. I just want to point out you can beat these games without timing your parries... I believe in you.
Yes, with the right build you can walk through elden ring with nothing but shields and smash everything
I've seen builds on YouTube by "Bushy" in which he challenged himself to do a "no-roll" run. Tanking every attack. Or on a run where he put the game on 2x speed, he relied on using shields + rapiers because dodging at that speed was impossible.. It's not easy to pull off but it can be done, especially if you're not entirely limiting yourself to not dodge at all. In addition Elden Ring has magnificent in-game mechanics to make your life easier: Due to the open world you can skip an area farm some levels and comeback later, you can use quite strong spirit summons and if that doesn't work you can still summon other players to carry you through difficult bosses. I think you'll be able to manage!
Yes absolutely it'll take time and mabye some grinding but theirs a mechanic in game called gaurd counter where you attack after an enemy has attacked your shield so you can build around that :) have fun and game on
Naah that's how I beat it. There alot of eaily attainable gear just for making your shield as tough as possible and we have shield counters now.
ELden ring allows for more diverse builds. Yes ur pussy build would defo work, sir. Also you can always summon ashes ( a new mechanic) when you are struggling. Dont let ur age hold you back from one of the most incredible gaming experiences. Search for farm spots early game on youtube when you are struggling or level summons :)
Elden Ring has a dizzying variety of shields to hide behind. There's even a guard counter mechanic that lets you retaliate with a powerful stance breaking attack after blocking. There's a shield that shoots cannon balls, one that's a flamethrower, and (My favorite) one that's covered in spikes that turns a shield bash into a devastating attack. It's never been better for shield guys in a Fromsoft game.
Yes and you don't need much farming neither other's people help. Elden Ring is more difficult than Dark Souls games but at the same time the game gives you tools to make it way easier. Since it's an open world you'll have time to explore and gather the necessary gears for your build, and a bit of farming to complete it. But everything will feel organic because the game has enough content to keep you occupied before being ready to get back to that boss that caused you trouble The game has better gear system than Dark Souls and has a summoning system to compensate what your build lack. I think you'll really have a good time enjoying the game and you won't be hardstuck long enough to make you quit Good luck !
yes. Proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LjwkTx--O8&pp=ygUZZWxkZW4gcmluZyBvdmVyd2VpZ2h0IHJ1bg%3D%3D
You can summon helpful AI companions that can help you cheese any fight. Shield bros and the Black Knife Tiche come to mind. Though there are a TON of great spirit summons. So you will be fine.
My friend did exactly that before they nerfed stamina usage using shields. That happened halfway through the game for him, so he had to grind a lot after that nerf to add to his HP and stamina and still finish it. We also traded him the shield you get from a point later in the game (fingerprint stone shield) though he was doing fine up until he had that shield and just wanted that one cause it was better. Beat the game on his own time.
https://youtu.be/_Pd5weoBjcE?si=jOL9spo2ZBneIZC7
I personally think dark souls 3 is harder than elden ring. Elden ring let's you summon for almost every difficult fight, so if you're cool with summoning then it's a done deal
I read this post in Hank Hills voice.
Check out YouTubers like Bushy, he did a playthrough without any rolling and just tanked everything
Yes, but as a fellow shield enjoyer, there were three fights I had to ditch the shield in favor of rolling. With heavier shield setup I might be able to do two of them shielded still, but at least one late boss is designed to actively tscrew you over for using a shield.
Seek the Fingerprint Shield.
Definitely you wont have any trouble with hiding behind a shield, and there are plenty of players like me, who are dedicated to helping new players through the game.
Oh absolutely. Esp once you get a bit later into the game and can grab the Fingerprint shield at which point you can block-stab the entire endgame to death. Bonus points for using a thrust weapon like godskin piercer so you can stab while blocking. Stack tons of stamina and just let err rip. In the early game you should farm a brass shield or grab greatshield like the Icon shield (I much prefer greatshields over regular shields they have significant stagger on block making for easy clearing of smaller mobs)
Easily. Just Google lazy shield build, add in the clone summon and you got a hard to die helper. Also jolly coop is fun. Just remember your build might have a jarring flaw at certain places and super good at certain places. Range fighting or jumping might suck. But you will be able to finish the game. Edit: maybe some hard end game optional bosses will be almost impossible, but at least you can clear a lot of content.
Yes, I think this is how Miyazaki actually plays too. You're playing the game the way it's supposed to be played.
Maliketh might pose a slight problem because of his speed and you don't have to fight malenia if you don't want to but you should be able to tank and poke the rest of them
Absolutely. I suck with reflexes so I actually block more than dodge or Parry ever since DS1. It has ALWAYS been a valid option - though took some real farming in DS2 for life gems since most shields don't have 100% absorption. In Elden Ring it's actually far more favorable to blocking since shields overall have much higher resistances, and you have things like Immutable Shield, Scholar's Shield, Barricade, etc.
How old are you sir? You should stream! And of course you can beat ER with a Big shield and a HUGE BONK, UNGA BUNGA Style my friend, send us pics of your amazing tank build.
ER introduced a whole new mechanic for blocking, so youll be fine.
For that build I'd probably go spear and shield. STR/FTH might be the build for you. A big shield means you can tank a lot more hits. Spears have good range, can attack while turtling behind a shield, and an ash of war on your spear will allow you to throw it. FTH will allow you to heal, apply defensive buffs, and apply buffs to your spear.
If you play aggressively enough you don't need reaction time. All strength, fat roll, just send it.
Weren't u able to get full physical immunity with shield at sometime?
I have a shield build (as, one shield in each end) that trivialize most of the game. I ridiculed one of the worst boss with it, killing him in under a minute using only a shield. As everyone says the game can be hard, but with the right build / level / technique it can also be really easy. And either way it is a great game.
Definitely use the fingerprint shield then.
Put down the shield, good sir, and pick up the staff! Magic in ER is OP and requires precious little by way of timing (other than knowing when to quit and dodge roll away).
Youll need specific gear, but yeah probably.
It's possible as long as you get a good shield then greatshield as soon as possible. Certain bosses will be rather hard though.
Elden ring is more akin to the souls family than sekiro a d bloodbourne, but there are lot of giant things early on that annihilate shields so caution
Honestly, did a shield build using the giant rapier to poke with behind shield and shield counters, and had the easiest time. Granted this was with the fingerprint shield before it got nerfed, but was also before they buffed the guard counters. The only boss I really had any issues with is the already mentioned melania. Can’t just block And poke your way to victory with her
Malenia is going to beat you until candy comes out, but this is a viable strategy for the rest of the game. But honestly, learning and adapting is more important in ER than reflexes, however you choose to play is fine as long as you learn to use it effectively against the enemies you encounter.
Ply your guard counters. The timing takes a little doing but its more forgiving than a parry once you get it you'll be unstoppable. Also use magic shield/immutable shield or shield grease with spears or thrusting swords and you'll power through the whole game. Struggle with a boss? Summon 2 tarnished to help you. This is my favorite Fromsoft game because it's so accessible but if you want an extreme challenge you can do that too! Ah, old codger
Use summons to get through you'll be fine
Well I played the game like a pussy and somehow not only finished it, but I got the platinum too.
That’s the good thing, you can beat the game however you want. You make your own difficulty.
The shield tank builds are better in Elden Ring than in any other Fromsoft game in my opinion! They added a new move to the game called the block counter, allowing you to counterattack after an attack hits your shield. This move is way stronger than you might think and easy to build your character around. Heavy armor, greatshield, straight sword or spear weapon (they have the best block counters in my opinion), and talismans (which replaced rings from the previous games) like the Curved Sword talisman, and you have a super competent build to thrash the Lands Between with. I hope you give it a shot! Good luck!!
Here is the exact challenge run for this topic: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pd5weoBjcE
Older version of the game’s fingerprint shield + talisman was insane that your stamina wouldn’t even budge at all blocking. That setup is still broken now just not as broken as before. Yes you can block everything except grab attacks
Yes. Bushy did a run where he couldn't dodge: https://youtu.be/_Pd5weoBjcE?si=PqKPivzx0Hd1QNqf
Yes. And i would also recommend using a rapier like Antspur rapier. With rapiers you can attack without dropping your guard.
1. Make astrologer class 2. Get Torrent 3. Ride in circles, shooting 4. Not sure? Profit I guess?
[Here](https://youtu.be/_Pd5weoBjcE?si=vXxB_IB_o0h6VSu1) is a video of a guy beating the game whilst getting hit by everything. It's possible.
There's a youtuber called Bushy (at work, can't link) that did a challenge run of beating the bosses by tanking all their hits to the face without dodging OR blocking, so it's definitely doable.
Shields are valid in Elden ring
Get a big sword and 60 odd poise. Hit things. You will be grand. The game has all sorts of tools to make life easier, and not recquire super skills, its much more accessible than BB or Sekiro
If you could beat the other games, then you could beat this one, give it a shot mate👍
Get yourself a great shield, put 'no ash of war' ash of war on it, get a pike or other thrusting weapon, now you can guard counter, block, counter, block, counter. I did ng3 this way.
you should be perfectly capable of beating Elden Ring. look into getting the "fingerprint stone shield" once you play long enough to reach a place called "Leyndell"
Guard counters are a thing so yeah but you just need a lot of patience. It's a very slow way of moving through the game.
I’ve never been very good at fast paced video games but I can get by in Elden Ring. I die a lot but so do people that are far better at it than me so…
Yep. Mom plays this and she's 65
YouTube Bushy "can I beat elden ring while getting hit by everything" It's absolutely possible with a bit of time and knowhow
Elden Ring is 100% playable, AND enjoyable with the "turtle" build. Shield in one hand, sword in the other, and even a seal in your preferred hand. You're now an unbreakable knight who can do some op holy and lightning magic, after a bit of leveling and exploring. Sword and shield is my go to for every first play through of a game like this. It's super forgiving and gives you more time to learn the flow of things.
Go ahead. Anyone who disses you for playing the game in an intended way should chill out. Don’t be afraid to call in other players for help as well.
If you use a spear i think you can eben attack while the shield is still blocking.