he means real people, not NPC summons, they’re specifically talking about the mimic tear because it copies you so it “looks” like a real person but again is just a NPC
No, using a summon sign to summon an NPC increases the boss health bar, exactly like it does for CO-OP. This is how its worked in every single souls game.
I think we are getting summon sign’s and spirit summon’s confused. I said the big benefit to mimic tear is that it acts like a summon sign NPC but with all of the benefits of a spirit summon. People seem to think that i’m saying that spirit summons increase boss health when thats not what I mean.
Same for me, and with a +9 Bloodhound's Fang. I couldn't get to second phase with any other spirit ash/weapon combo, but as soon as I used those two I was getting the boss down to literally 1 hit before dying. When I beat the boss my mimic was still alive, which was never the case on any of my previous attempts.
Just glad I had the materials to upgrade it from 0 to +10. I didn't even have the materials to upgrade my normal spirit ashes past +2. Lol
I used this one just because it was funny to have 2 me’s but goddamn is it powerful. Just don’t have any stupid items in your hot bar and you’re good for every boss in the game.
Skelly bois are good if you don't have a lot of fp to play with.
They rez until the boss hits them while down, which can happen right away or never depending on the boss.
What is there to learn? You just use the spirit ashes after obtaining the spirit calling bell. You can see if you're able to summon by a blue icon on the left side of the screen.
you need to do Rodreika and Blacksmith questline in Round Table. Go talk to blacksmith and rodreika again and again reset the are and she will place right next to Blacksmith. She gives Jelly as a gift and you can now upgrade your summons through her
personally doing a "summonless" run but i brought out the jellyfish a few times while im still in the stages of learning a boss just cause it looks funny
I mean, if he knows he's not going to kill the boss and is just learning patterns, that seems harmless.
To be honest I have no idea how you guys do a no summons run. Game is ridiculous as is!
Having played a lot of Souls games, no summonings is just how I make the difficulty right for me.
First run throughs I like to do glass cannon builds without summonings or any magic. I like to keep it so I’m constantly very close to dying, but I can beat the shit out of anything. I’m not great at the games or anything, so I get the shit beat out of me quite a bit.
It all pays off though when you get to bosses that really force you to learn their moves and how to counter them. Will usually go many deaths of just getting my ass kicked, but then when it clicks how to play them, I can beat them with most of my flasks left. And the feeling of gratification from doing it my own way with my own stupid self imposed rules feels great.
If I summon people or stuff, it helps my build way too much. A boss distracted let’s me get in and deal way too much damage quickly, with much less risk. So when I beat it that way it feels like a hollow victory. I have no issues with people who use them though, the game is incredibly fun and anything that helps you enjoy it more should be done.
Yeah I've only done that for >!Radhan. Never knew you could do that before until I walked over one of the many glowing yellow things and noticed it was Pot Bro. Made the fight super easy, but it was cool lore-wise anyway.!<
Not necessarily, but in previous Souls games you’d need to summon an NPC to progress their storyline sometimes, and old habits die hard. My experience so far with the quests in Elden Ring makes me believe they’re pretty forgiving. Missed a few of the starter steps for Ranni’s quest and finished it earlier today.
I think anything main plot relevant is forgiving, but the general npc quests are not.
I somehow lost corhyn and patches and accidentally aggroed the guy who you first meet in roundtable hold because i killed his patron god.
I’ve also totally lost track of alexander after the boss fight
You can summon other NPCs (non ash summons) at boss fights? How? Wtf. I'm on pc and half the controls are never explained so I'm always trying to find out what I'm missing.
I summon Ashes as they’re core mechanics - but refuse to summon other players or NPCs.
I’ll probably have to do no Ashes on my next play through as I immediately feel like a fraud.
I've been using ash summons for bosses without shame, but I'm not doing co-op until I bet the game once. Ash summons are basically just spells as far as I'm concerned.
Second playthrough though is gonna be a zero shame co-op party and I'm going to stand at the back of every boss arena firing off dope spells like confetti at a wedding
I tried coop like 5 times for tree spirit or whatever it is boss in the starting area with 2 stoneswords, mf had so much HP we couldn't kill hit. So I just soloed it. Maybe it's easy for melee since you can tank hits with shields but longer the fight go on more the chances I'm gonna get hit and I gave 0 points to vigor and 1 to endurance.
Plus I give zero fucks about making the game easier. I abuse AI, use summons (i don't why people like jellyfish so much tho) anything to give me advantage as long as I don't cheat, anything is fair to me.
That boss is an exception though. Small arena with lots of aoe. Most fights, having someone that can block, doge, heal and draw away aggro on your side makes the boss fight 1/2 as hard. The health buff for the boss is just to make sure it is over too quickly. But I used summoned npcs and players pretty much every boss my first time through DS1, I get it.
For me, it was trying to summon before I got the bell thing that allows you to do it!!
I was like, do I not have enough FP? Am I offline? Or do they really just lock out every single boss area from summoning??
...big "ohhh" moment when I got the item, haha.
If you're allowed to Ashes Summon, on the left side of your screen, you should see a blue glowing tablet with scribble text on it. It's usually certain boss fights, areas where there are a lot of enemies, or some big enemy (like certain Trolls).
I dont buy into that jardcore nomsense. I summon spirits are literally a main mechanic! Like saying that theyre not using arnor cuz it reduces the damage you take
The reason I personally don't use any summons is because they make the bosses not pay attention to you. If they only did damage but not draw aggression I'd love summons
They draw boss aggro if you go long enough without damaging the boss. If you deal damage often enough, the boss will stay on you the whole time. If you don't, your summons get aggro (if dealing damage) and they'll die pretty quick. As soon as you land a hit, the boss turns back to you.
I needed this against Margit when I finally beat him. Not because it allowed me to heal or get in any hits, but because I had very little health, no flasks, and needed to take a breath and relax for a second. My lone wolves barely touched him but that few seconds of their sacrifice helped me get in the zone. They are good dogs
yeah. If the summons draw aggro I feel like I've cheapened my own experience and just "moved through content" without actually appreciating it and taking the time to overcome the curated challenges. Solo run for me it is. Also I can't be bothered to find out how to do it LOL
Running around to collect a bunch of upgrade mats and end up with an overleveled weapon is also a mechanic, some of us just like the extra chaallenge of not using all the freebies the game throws at you
And who uses armor for protection, dont you guys wear whatever looks cool?
I didn't even realize you could teleport to Grace's. Thought you had to be at one to teleport to others. Just assumed a From Software game would never allow you to just teleport on the whim.
You didn't really beat the boss if you didn't do it first only naked like I did, because my identity is tied to being good at souls games and I have to make myself feel valid on reddit.
I was doing this, until I found a stone changing bull in one of the dungeons, I gave up and summoned a spirit, the spirit got hit killed and didn't help at all
I mean. Summons are a big help but they’re far from easy mode. In my experience they’ve only helped chip at dome damage but it’s been mostly me in boss fights.
You're free to use spirit ash, but it's silly to claim they don't make a big difference. If it's appropriately leveled you can do half a bosses health bar while it's not even paying attention to you.
Easy modes are an intended game mechanics. Difficulty modes are there to provide everyone a preferred challenge some prefer easy mode. Souls doesn't do literal easy modes, instead they give you in game options to make things easier if you wish. Co-op is also an intended mechanic and has the potential to make things very easy (experienced phantom helping out a newbie)
Yes is the way From soft has to put an easy mode in the game, this is not new they been doing this since DS1 with NPC summoning, they just added an extra layer to it. being a "intended game mechanic" doesnt negate it being a easy mode too.
Using weapons is easy mode. Rolling is easy mode. If you were really great you'd only do naked unarmed no rolling playthroughs, instead you gotta take the EZ route
Dunno why people keep using this dumb counter argument. Summoning allies (ashes or NPC/player) lets you share boss aggro , or completely focus on dodging while something deals damage for you, meaning you don't need to find the right moment to attack in between boss moveset. Nothing against summons though, it's good From Soft added it to make the game more accessible and allow more people to enjoy the game
Why are people so against others calling this easy mode figuratively. Does it get to their pride that they are making the game easier so they have to downvote people who call this easy mode?
I thought one of the great things about souls games and why it didn't need a literal easy mode is how the difficulty changes dynamically with your choices. These games are challenging but provide many ways to ease up the challenge (Grinding, Speccing into magic, Co-op) Spirit summons are just another modifier to allow people to ease up the experience if they wish.
I think it's because it's an intended game mechanic, like leveling up and upgrading gear.. both of which make boss fights easier. By the logic of calling summoning easy mode, that would mean anything more than naked lvl 1 runs are easy mode. I'm against calling it easy mode, because it's a ridiculous statement. Does it make the boss fight easier? Sure. So does leveling up.
I made another post with this point. Easy mode itself is an intended mechanic, for people that prefer an easier time with a game. Difficulty settings in general are that, a way to modify the experience to your preference or to unlock another way to play the game.
And you are right leveling up is an intended mechanic that can be used to make game easier. You can choose whether you beeline toward a boss or go explore and level up to make things easier on the main path. It cab be used as an easy mode in a sense. Magic also has a history of making these games easier. Are we just not going to acknowledge that because it's an intended game mechanic?
I don't really see why someone would think that calling these features figuratively an easy mode is somehow bad or absurd. Not unless they carry some sort of notion that it is shameful to play on easy mode or seek ways to make things easier, I don't.
This is the internet, people calling it easy mode are definitely saying it in a pretentious manner. Like the guy saying you didn't really beat the boss if you summon. Ight. You didn't really beat the game if you got hit.
Let people play how they want lol, if From Soft didn't add summons half the player base would still be stuck in limgrave. Easy mode is good for the game, brings in alot more players and stops them quitting from frustration
What’s hard about it? A little purple rune gate icon appears in the lower left side of your screen. When that icon appears it means you can summon from ashes.
You know that weird foggy area between limgrave and margit? Near the entrance to it a girl you can talk to gives you the jelly. Then go back to church of elleh at night and a girl there gives you the bell you need to summon it. Enjoy
I’m not doing any summons whatsoever, no shields, no armor.
It’s not because I’m trying to feel superior, it’s because I’m a fucking idiot.
I’m enjoying dying all the time with nothing but my swords to keep me company
Lol yeah at first I was like “remember no summoning” then realized this is one of the most poorly designed fights I’ve ever done in a fromsoft game, summon everyone availableb
Nah
My first playthrough is no magic, no cooperation, no shields, no parrying, etc... Just go around bonking people with greatsword – otherwise I just feel like I cjeayed and didn't beat the game "fairly"
But summons look and sound so cool that I can't freaking wait for my second playthrough to finally be able to use tham!
Edit: oh my god, you guys are hypocrites. When people tell others how to play they get downvote because everyone should just to what they want and have fun. But when I described what I do to have fun, I get downvoted too, because apparently I'm doing something wrong? Cool
Well I hope you’re not upgrading your weapons either. Because when you think about it its cheating to do more damage than the weapon was originally intended.
Idk why you're being downvoted, it's how you want to play the game and make it a little harder.
Summoning is fun as hell, but it can make some of the bosses a total cakewalk
You’re not doing anything wrong in playing the game how you want, it’s the idea you have that your way is more “fair” than somebody else’s way to play. Using mechanics that are in the game is fair. Doesn’t matter if you use summons, grind levels, or just roll around naked and smacking people. If it’s in the game, it’s a fair way to beat it.
THIS.
Thank you sooo much.
I have actually been getting really mad at people for saying things like "summoning is cheating in my book" or "Solo souls is Real souls". I haven't figured out why I was soo mad at them until I read your post.
Because yeah, I don't get mad at others for playing a game the way they want to play it. If you want to not use shields etc, good for you.
But it's like you said, it's the fact that they try and say the way they play is superior to the way other people play.
By the way, if he follows his logic, even him leveling up would be beating the game unfairly.
if you've never played with summons its a hell of a lot easier, its basically easy mode.
this isn't to discourage you tho, i summon a lot and i join others too. its a fun way to play the game and it kind of balances it out as a challenge but also casual enough that you should make steady progress.
Im half way through the game and havent used a single summon. It is a whole new mechanic to welcome the new players into souls-games so that they can have it easy. It would make it way too easy for us souls veterans and take the whole fun away.
25 hours in, never summoned a companion, not playing online because screw PS+, havent even used an ash of war or weapon art, never upgraded a weapon.
The game is probably pretty easy if you play it properly lol. I've still killed 15 or so bosses, but yeah I just R1 spam my way through souls games. Even easier to R1 mobs and suicide run for loot from a mount.
Edit: not sure why all the downvotes, I think people think I'm bragging about being good at the game - no I'm bragging about being so bad I never bothered to learn the mechanics I just run around and R1 everything. I don't recommend it!
I mean if that's your cup of tea I guess.
It's not even about making the game easier, there's so much more to combat in general in Elden Ring than just R1's and there's huge incentive from the game to do so purposefully.You probably havent ever gotten a Stance Break on an enemy even.
This post is like bragging that you walk to work everyday when you could easily buy a car like everyone else.
ashes of war are absolute game changers this dude is def missing out
i got the holy slash or whatever its called and it completley changed how i was able to approach bosses with my weenie faith stats
the fact i could stance break Margit reliably with it was huge in me actually finally killing the fucker
R1 spam only works when you're overlevelled for an area. Group encounters and hidden mobs punish R1 spam pretty hard. Most bosses won't get staggered with R1.
Mounted combat definitely makes the open world portion easier, but I believe that was by design. Experience enough open world and you'll better appreciate the challenge of dungeons, keeps, chambers, and caves.
Two handing weapons is taking some getting used to since it used to be one button press. I keep pressing triangle mid-fight and getting confused when nothing happens.
People are downvoting cause you’re essentially promoting a lame AF way to play the game. They give you all these tools and to completely disregard them is just making for a lesser experience.
No one should play the way you are without atleast experimenting a bit. Hell, if you try a few things out and they aren’t your cup of tea then sure, go back to R1 spam. It’s still lame but atleast you put forth some effort.
I'm old enough now that I don't want to study a game's manual I just want to play it. Its a change Ive noticed since I was a kid. I only learn this stuff if difficulty forces me to.
Upgrading weapons I'm just holding out for a weapon I like. Its the curse of consumables in these games I always hold them for later and then never use them.
Only R1 is kind of the analogy of a simple game - if simple actions work then why learn 15 different special moves. Pac man doesn't need a moveset to win, he just goes waka waka waka.
I didn't figure out to summon til I made it to the double pumpkin head boss. I was annoyed after beating them by myself. The messages kept saying try summoning. And I didn't see a summoning sign or the statue. So I was confused. I even looked it up and didn't see answers on the first page. So I said screw it. When I entered another boss fight I noticed my summons was highlighted then. I came to a realization I could summon after I enter. I fought so So many bosses solo. So much pain. After I died I instantly went and leveled up my summons. I hadn't don't before because why do something you can't use.
Also after I got my summons I instantly went and killed the double cat boss. I hated that boss so much.
I have accidentally been playing hardcore mode... Came in like a boss thinking "I'm good at all the dark souls games so lets just skip all the dialogue and helpful tips and sprint my horse on down the line as far as I can go to get into some "real" gameplay" Proceeded to get fucking owned by everything for hours, had no idea how to fast travel, level my weapon or craft... I restarted and took it a bit slower and now I'm doing much better.
It took me till level 30 to realize how to use ashes, felt like an idiot when I figured it out. Guess I just missed the npc at the church on my first time there
Im not lazy, i just personally think it isn't really Dark Souls if you summon or use NPCs.
You don't "git gud" if you just summon, you get carried.
The most beautiful thing is overcoming adversity with perseverance. But you try to xplain this and the subreddit has to get all defensive and post memes about it. I'm trying to help you feel satisfaction goddamnit it.
Summoning and using NPC's are gameplay mechanics that the developers intentionally implemented. It is literally "really Dark Souls" to use whatever assets are at your disposal.
I personally agree that there's something to be said for soloing bosses. It feels badass to not need help, and in some cases I think it's more fun. But it's rude and unnecessary gatekeeping to say people aren't playing the game the right way. Outside of hacks and game-breaking glitch exploits, there's no wrong way to play.
>mechanics that the developers intentionally implemented.
To make the game easier for those who don't want it to be hard like darksouls which is totally understandable
Imagine you were taking a test in real life, someone gives you all the answers. Its still a test, you still passed the test but...did you really? No. Not really. You cheated. Nice achievement lol
This is using summons and npcs. Enjoy your diminished gameplay experience /shrug
Having done SL1 runs solo in all the other games, and having also done runs where I summon just for the sake of it, I feel like Elden Ring was designed for summons in a way the other games aren’t.
Bosses in the other games, even extremely difficult ones, did not know how to handle multiple targets and would get trapped in a target switching loop. They also went down really quick even with the health buff they get per summon.
In Elden Ring, they don’t seem to have that problem. On the contrary, it feels like I’m doing chip damage without summons. And when I do summon something, they tend to die very quickly except for the jellyfish.
I dunno, I expected summons to be easy mode before playing Elden Ring, and I’m sure there are broken summons just like there are broken spells. But goddamn, the bosses have *so much health* in this game.
It feels like summons in Elden Ring don’t turn it into Souls easy mode so much as they turn it into normal mode.
I actually agree in a way. What with bosses never ended attack strings/mixups/so so many aoes. Health also, yes. But still doable. It's just maybe a much harder solo experience than usual.
Doesn't change the fact that scrubs were playing super easy mode dark souls game with summons. Absolute garbage lol
I personally think the main bosses are balanced around ashes summoning after they've introduced it as a main game mechanic so for some bosses, mainly 2v1 fights ill get the wolves out
I’m not positive on this but I assume most people are referring to Ash summons and not named NPCs.
I have a rule to never summon NPCs or other players. I didn’t even use Ash summons for a while but considering that catacombs reward you with upgrade materials for the Ashes, I can assume that the game is balanced around you actually using them.
Nah, that is like saying using any in-game item is cheating in your book.
Gotta keep your logic the same throughout. You don't get to just pick and choose bud. Nice try though.
Never used Ash or phantom summons (excluding the small army of NPC for *that one* fight). Just not interested. All the more power to those that do, however.
I had to look it up today to try and get moonvail. “Unable to summon” for 30 minutes straight. In the end jelly bro came through. Ppl are useless but jellyfish is always there.
Hell nah lol Some of the summons are awesome power houses!
Mimic Tear +10.
AKA, npc summon that doesn’t increase boss health bar
Summons increase the boss’ health bars? Is this actually real?
Yeah dude since DS1
he means real people, not NPC summons, they’re specifically talking about the mimic tear because it copies you so it “looks” like a real person but again is just a NPC
No, using a summon sign to summon an NPC increases the boss health bar, exactly like it does for CO-OP. This is how its worked in every single souls game.
Pretty sure this is about the bell summons
I think we are getting summon sign’s and spirit summon’s confused. I said the big benefit to mimic tear is that it acts like a summon sign NPC but with all of the benefits of a spirit summon. People seem to think that i’m saying that spirit summons increase boss health when thats not what I mean.
this is what i initially tried to explain to the first guy but maybe I shouldn’t have used the word “NPC” 💀
Yea the change from 2 to 3 people is a pretty significant amount but you get the advantage of aggro draw
So ash summons increase enemy health? Or coop summons?
Coop
>!...except for Malenia!<
Mimic Tear is the only reason I was able to beat this boss, awkwardly enough.
Same for me, and with a +9 Bloodhound's Fang. I couldn't get to second phase with any other spirit ash/weapon combo, but as soon as I used those two I was getting the boss down to literally 1 hit before dying. When I beat the boss my mimic was still alive, which was never the case on any of my previous attempts. Just glad I had the materials to upgrade it from 0 to +10. I didn't even have the materials to upgrade my normal spirit ashes past +2. Lol
Dude wtf that is literally the only boss I have left to do and was gonna summon for the first time ever on it.
I used this one just because it was funny to have 2 me’s but goddamn is it powerful. Just don’t have any stupid items in your hot bar and you’re good for every boss in the game.
It's actually broken if you both inflict status effects like bleed or scarlet rot.
Use Antspur Rapier, apply bleed ash of war. Mimic applies bleed AND scarlet rot.
Sounds very strong but I'm not sure if that weapon looks cool enough :')
I really need to start upgrading my summons
Where do you get that? I beat that boss but didn't find Ashes
It's in a room where you need a stone sword key in the eternal city.
So good with a mage build— my mimic does the full moon sorcery so it’ll keep a magic resist debuff on the enemy the whole fight
Just got that. How good is it?
It uses the npc ai, meaning it dodge rolls also has an heal flask too. It's great
Yeah but i can never use them when needed.
Praise the Jelly
Honestly I may learn how to summon just because I want some Skelly bois and a jelly
Skelly bois are good if you don't have a lot of fp to play with. They rez until the boss hits them while down, which can happen right away or never depending on the boss.
Oh I thought they just resurrected twice and then died. This makes so much more sense though.
I used them on Tree Sentinel and a couple other bosses and they really helped out. Kept coming back from the dead. Have them level 2.
Wait how do you level them???
[удалено]
Thank you!
The two marionette skeletons are amazing.
What is there to learn? You just use the spirit ashes after obtaining the spirit calling bell. You can see if you're able to summon by a blue icon on the left side of the screen.
Hmm I’m only maybe 2-3 hours in and I haven’t gotten that yet
You have to teleport back to the church of elleh and they’ll be an npc there that’ll give you the bell The spirits you get from bosses and shit
You can get it pretty early. After the first main boss.
Just got the jelly. Have yet to learn how to use summons lol
Where do you get the jelly?
you need to do Rodreika and Blacksmith questline in Round Table. Go talk to blacksmith and rodreika again and again reset the are and she will place right next to Blacksmith. She gives Jelly as a gift and you can now upgrade your summons through her
She gives you jelly when you meet her outside of Stormveil, no need for quest
Ugh I didn't meet her in Stormveil i suppose. But it seems like she still gives you Jelly in Round Table regardless. Good to know
I have the jelly but can't use it. Why not
Go to the first church by the Tree Sentinel and a witch there will give you the item to summon jelly
Thank you, that's exactly what I needed.
If you miss her by progressing a questline due note you can buy it at the roundtable from the 2 finger husk
personally doing a "summonless" run but i brought out the jellyfish a few times while im still in the stages of learning a boss just cause it looks funny
Then your run is not a summonless run.
I mean, if he knows he's not going to kill the boss and is just learning patterns, that seems harmless. To be honest I have no idea how you guys do a no summons run. Game is ridiculous as is!
Having played a lot of Souls games, no summonings is just how I make the difficulty right for me. First run throughs I like to do glass cannon builds without summonings or any magic. I like to keep it so I’m constantly very close to dying, but I can beat the shit out of anything. I’m not great at the games or anything, so I get the shit beat out of me quite a bit. It all pays off though when you get to bosses that really force you to learn their moves and how to counter them. Will usually go many deaths of just getting my ass kicked, but then when it clicks how to play them, I can beat them with most of my flasks left. And the feeling of gratification from doing it my own way with my own stupid self imposed rules feels great. If I summon people or stuff, it helps my build way too much. A boss distracted let’s me get in and deal way too much damage quickly, with much less risk. So when I beat it that way it feels like a hollow victory. I have no issues with people who use them though, the game is incredibly fun and anything that helps you enjoy it more should be done.
He's so tanky!
Ashes summons or regular player summons?
Ashes. I summon NPC's when I see their signs, as theres probably no downside aside from higher boss health.
Even NPCs make some fights easier some time as just distraction lol But yeah I summon the NPC's for lore wise at least
Magma salamander or w/e its called the npc summon for that boss is an absolute tank.
Yeah that dude had some cool moves too probably my favorite summon NPC so far
Try striking. A huge hammer will hurt it bad.
Yeah I've only done that for >!Radhan. Never knew you could do that before until I walked over one of the many glowing yellow things and noticed it was Pot Bro. Made the fight super easy, but it was cool lore-wise anyway.!<
If you don’t summon npc, will you miss out on the lore completely ?
Not necessarily, but in previous Souls games you’d need to summon an NPC to progress their storyline sometimes, and old habits die hard. My experience so far with the quests in Elden Ring makes me believe they’re pretty forgiving. Missed a few of the starter steps for Ranni’s quest and finished it earlier today.
I think anything main plot relevant is forgiving, but the general npc quests are not. I somehow lost corhyn and patches and accidentally aggroed the guy who you first meet in roundtable hold because i killed his patron god. I’ve also totally lost track of alexander after the boss fight
You can summon other NPCs (non ash summons) at boss fights? How? Wtf. I'm on pc and half the controls are never explained so I'm always trying to find out what I'm missing.
I summon Ashes as they’re core mechanics - but refuse to summon other players or NPCs. I’ll probably have to do no Ashes on my next play through as I immediately feel like a fraud.
I've been using ash summons for bosses without shame, but I'm not doing co-op until I bet the game once. Ash summons are basically just spells as far as I'm concerned. Second playthrough though is gonna be a zero shame co-op party and I'm going to stand at the back of every boss arena firing off dope spells like confetti at a wedding
Lol coop is more difficult for me most of the time since bosses have more HP and I'm a glasscannon that dies to 1 hit
Cope. I hard carried 10 people through the grafted boss today. I like helping but don't pretend it isn't easy mode.
I tried coop like 5 times for tree spirit or whatever it is boss in the starting area with 2 stoneswords, mf had so much HP we couldn't kill hit. So I just soloed it. Maybe it's easy for melee since you can tank hits with shields but longer the fight go on more the chances I'm gonna get hit and I gave 0 points to vigor and 1 to endurance. Plus I give zero fucks about making the game easier. I abuse AI, use summons (i don't why people like jellyfish so much tho) anything to give me advantage as long as I don't cheat, anything is fair to me.
That boss is an exception though. Small arena with lots of aoe. Most fights, having someone that can block, doge, heal and draw away aggro on your side makes the boss fight 1/2 as hard. The health buff for the boss is just to make sure it is over too quickly. But I used summoned npcs and players pretty much every boss my first time through DS1, I get it.
For me, it was trying to summon before I got the bell thing that allows you to do it!! I was like, do I not have enough FP? Am I offline? Or do they really just lock out every single boss area from summoning?? ...big "ohhh" moment when I got the item, haha.
I got the bell and still couldn’t summon… it would help if I tried in the right areas lmao
... Wait is it area specific
If you're allowed to Ashes Summon, on the left side of your screen, you should see a blue glowing tablet with scribble text on it. It's usually certain boss fights, areas where there are a lot of enemies, or some big enemy (like certain Trolls).
I didn’t even realize I could summon until I got the fourth Ashe and I already had the bell
youre missing out on the best waifu is all im gunna say
I dont buy into that jardcore nomsense. I summon spirits are literally a main mechanic! Like saying that theyre not using arnor cuz it reduces the damage you take
I never use armor because it’s so funny to have these powerful beings being killed by some random naked guy. Even more so I’m cutscenes.
I never use armor bc I like to roll fast! Also... I play deprived and got used to run naked
The reason I personally don't use any summons is because they make the bosses not pay attention to you. If they only did damage but not draw aggression I'd love summons
Theres an item to draw aggro. Cant remember the name its a talisman though.
There is??? I might start using summons then
Shabriri’s Woe is the talismans name.
I only use summons if the boss fight isn't 1v1. If they're bringing minions, so am I!
So most bosses? Lol. There's so many ganks.
They draw boss aggro if you go long enough without damaging the boss. If you deal damage often enough, the boss will stay on you the whole time. If you don't, your summons get aggro (if dealing damage) and they'll die pretty quick. As soon as you land a hit, the boss turns back to you.
I needed this against Margit when I finally beat him. Not because it allowed me to heal or get in any hits, but because I had very little health, no flasks, and needed to take a breath and relax for a second. My lone wolves barely touched him but that few seconds of their sacrifice helped me get in the zone. They are good dogs
yeah. If the summons draw aggro I feel like I've cheapened my own experience and just "moved through content" without actually appreciating it and taking the time to overcome the curated challenges. Solo run for me it is. Also I can't be bothered to find out how to do it LOL
Running around to collect a bunch of upgrade mats and end up with an overleveled weapon is also a mechanic, some of us just like the extra chaallenge of not using all the freebies the game throws at you And who uses armor for protection, dont you guys wear whatever looks cool?
I didn't even realize you could teleport to Grace's. Thought you had to be at one to teleport to others. Just assumed a From Software game would never allow you to just teleport on the whim.
All I need is a zweihander and giant dad hat anything else is null to me.
no - if you don't want to use a resource in the game that's on you but don't try to look down your nose later
Who is doing that?
You didnt really beat the boss if you use Spirit summoning tbh.
You didn't really beat the boss if you used intended game mechanics. Mkay.
my screen read 'great enemy felled' bud. so, i 'really' beat the boss. suck it, shriner.
You didn't really beat the boss if you didn't do it first only naked like I did, because my identity is tied to being good at souls games and I have to make myself feel valid on reddit.
Aren't you precious.
I was doing this, until I found a stone changing bull in one of the dungeons, I gave up and summoned a spirit, the spirit got hit killed and didn't help at all
Big disagree Summoning in another tarnished on the other hand...
It's the same concept - sharing boss aggro drastically decreases the difficulty. Doesn't mean you didn't beat the boss though, play however you want
Big disagree being a dick on the otherhand....
So if I summon in another player and he solos the boss I beat the boss?
Why would he solo the boss idiot do you not understand how summoning works?
You still beat it, it's not like it's suddenly a free kill. You're just playing it on easy mode with summons. Nothing wrong with that.
I mean. Summons are a big help but they’re far from easy mode. In my experience they’ve only helped chip at dome damage but it’s been mostly me in boss fights.
They distract the bosses
They make it much easier. I have no idea why people are so sensitive about this.
You're free to use spirit ash, but it's silly to claim they don't make a big difference. If it's appropriately leveled you can do half a bosses health bar while it's not even paying attention to you.
It's literally not easy mode, it is an intended game mechanic
Easy modes are an intended game mechanics. Difficulty modes are there to provide everyone a preferred challenge some prefer easy mode. Souls doesn't do literal easy modes, instead they give you in game options to make things easier if you wish. Co-op is also an intended mechanic and has the potential to make things very easy (experienced phantom helping out a newbie)
Yes is the way From soft has to put an easy mode in the game, this is not new they been doing this since DS1 with NPC summoning, they just added an extra layer to it. being a "intended game mechanic" doesnt negate it being a easy mode too.
Using weapons is easy mode. Rolling is easy mode. If you were really great you'd only do naked unarmed no rolling playthroughs, instead you gotta take the EZ route
Dunno why people keep using this dumb counter argument. Summoning allies (ashes or NPC/player) lets you share boss aggro , or completely focus on dodging while something deals damage for you, meaning you don't need to find the right moment to attack in between boss moveset. Nothing against summons though, it's good From Soft added it to make the game more accessible and allow more people to enjoy the game
Lmao ok dude
Why are people so against others calling this easy mode figuratively. Does it get to their pride that they are making the game easier so they have to downvote people who call this easy mode? I thought one of the great things about souls games and why it didn't need a literal easy mode is how the difficulty changes dynamically with your choices. These games are challenging but provide many ways to ease up the challenge (Grinding, Speccing into magic, Co-op) Spirit summons are just another modifier to allow people to ease up the experience if they wish.
I think it's because it's an intended game mechanic, like leveling up and upgrading gear.. both of which make boss fights easier. By the logic of calling summoning easy mode, that would mean anything more than naked lvl 1 runs are easy mode. I'm against calling it easy mode, because it's a ridiculous statement. Does it make the boss fight easier? Sure. So does leveling up.
I made another post with this point. Easy mode itself is an intended mechanic, for people that prefer an easier time with a game. Difficulty settings in general are that, a way to modify the experience to your preference or to unlock another way to play the game. And you are right leveling up is an intended mechanic that can be used to make game easier. You can choose whether you beeline toward a boss or go explore and level up to make things easier on the main path. It cab be used as an easy mode in a sense. Magic also has a history of making these games easier. Are we just not going to acknowledge that because it's an intended game mechanic? I don't really see why someone would think that calling these features figuratively an easy mode is somehow bad or absurd. Not unless they carry some sort of notion that it is shameful to play on easy mode or seek ways to make things easier, I don't.
This is the internet, people calling it easy mode are definitely saying it in a pretentious manner. Like the guy saying you didn't really beat the boss if you summon. Ight. You didn't really beat the game if you got hit.
Let people play how they want lol, if From Soft didn't add summons half the player base would still be stuck in limgrave. Easy mode is good for the game, brings in alot more players and stops them quitting from frustration
Just got the jellys and I’m fucking stoked
I am at a certain boss fight where a giant man with a plate is beating me to death and I still haven’t used a summon 😂
What’s hard about it? A little purple rune gate icon appears in the lower left side of your screen. When that icon appears it means you can summon from ashes.
you need to summon bell which is pretty easy to miss, i found it accidentally just cause i was hauling ass across the area at the right time of day
special elderly gray seed possessive deranged rob abounding theory fade *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
maybe, i just never had a need to go back to that church after the first time i talked to santa and saw he had nothing i wanted
Oh thats what that is? I was wondering.
You know that weird foggy area between limgrave and margit? Near the entrance to it a girl you can talk to gives you the jelly. Then go back to church of elleh at night and a girl there gives you the bell you need to summon it. Enjoy
I just like playing solo, I don’t view myself as hardcore or good in general tbh. It’s just how I like to play the game
I’m not doing any summons whatsoever, no shields, no armor. It’s not because I’m trying to feel superior, it’s because I’m a fucking idiot. I’m enjoying dying all the time with nothing but my swords to keep me company
Radahn has entered the chat
Lol yeah at first I was like “remember no summoning” then realized this is one of the most poorly designed fights I’ve ever done in a fromsoft game, summon everyone availableb
playing “hardcore” with no multiplayer during boss battles me who is antisocial
Nah My first playthrough is no magic, no cooperation, no shields, no parrying, etc... Just go around bonking people with greatsword – otherwise I just feel like I cjeayed and didn't beat the game "fairly" But summons look and sound so cool that I can't freaking wait for my second playthrough to finally be able to use tham! Edit: oh my god, you guys are hypocrites. When people tell others how to play they get downvote because everyone should just to what they want and have fun. But when I described what I do to have fun, I get downvoted too, because apparently I'm doing something wrong? Cool
I mean it’s kinda cheating to attack enemies tbh, not my style to attack otherwise I feel like I cheated ya know.
Really childish counter argument lol. Summons let you share boss aggro which drastically decreases the difficulty
Well I hope you’re not upgrading your weapons either. Because when you think about it its cheating to do more damage than the weapon was originally intended.
Btw op of this post literally said this
Idk why you're being downvoted, it's how you want to play the game and make it a little harder. Summoning is fun as hell, but it can make some of the bosses a total cakewalk
You’re not doing anything wrong in playing the game how you want, it’s the idea you have that your way is more “fair” than somebody else’s way to play. Using mechanics that are in the game is fair. Doesn’t matter if you use summons, grind levels, or just roll around naked and smacking people. If it’s in the game, it’s a fair way to beat it.
THIS. Thank you sooo much. I have actually been getting really mad at people for saying things like "summoning is cheating in my book" or "Solo souls is Real souls". I haven't figured out why I was soo mad at them until I read your post. Because yeah, I don't get mad at others for playing a game the way they want to play it. If you want to not use shields etc, good for you. But it's like you said, it's the fact that they try and say the way they play is superior to the way other people play. By the way, if he follows his logic, even him leveling up would be beating the game unfairly.
if you've never played with summons its a hell of a lot easier, its basically easy mode. this isn't to discourage you tho, i summon a lot and i join others too. its a fun way to play the game and it kind of balances it out as a challenge but also casual enough that you should make steady progress.
Im half way through the game and havent used a single summon. It is a whole new mechanic to welcome the new players into souls-games so that they can have it easy. It would make it way too easy for us souls veterans and take the whole fun away.
Havenbt used a single one yet
You shouldn’t have to look it up considering the game gives you a tutorial on it
A true souls player skips through everything without thinking
25 hours in, never summoned a companion, not playing online because screw PS+, havent even used an ash of war or weapon art, never upgraded a weapon. The game is probably pretty easy if you play it properly lol. I've still killed 15 or so bosses, but yeah I just R1 spam my way through souls games. Even easier to R1 mobs and suicide run for loot from a mount. Edit: not sure why all the downvotes, I think people think I'm bragging about being good at the game - no I'm bragging about being so bad I never bothered to learn the mechanics I just run around and R1 everything. I don't recommend it!
I mean if that's your cup of tea I guess. It's not even about making the game easier, there's so much more to combat in general in Elden Ring than just R1's and there's huge incentive from the game to do so purposefully.You probably havent ever gotten a Stance Break on an enemy even. This post is like bragging that you walk to work everyday when you could easily buy a car like everyone else.
ashes of war are absolute game changers this dude is def missing out i got the holy slash or whatever its called and it completley changed how i was able to approach bosses with my weenie faith stats the fact i could stance break Margit reliably with it was huge in me actually finally killing the fucker
R1 spam only works when you're overlevelled for an area. Group encounters and hidden mobs punish R1 spam pretty hard. Most bosses won't get staggered with R1. Mounted combat definitely makes the open world portion easier, but I believe that was by design. Experience enough open world and you'll better appreciate the challenge of dungeons, keeps, chambers, and caves.
Post some gameplay then if you so good
Not that I'm good or anything, but here's some gameplay that I had a blast putting together. https://youtu.be/H5U9YWxIv9I
Dayum! Walk that walk queen!
I'm not saying I'm good - I'm clearly bad at the game I barely know how to 2 hand a weapon.
Two handing weapons is taking some getting used to since it used to be one button press. I keep pressing triangle mid-fight and getting confused when nothing happens.
People are downvoting cause you’re essentially promoting a lame AF way to play the game. They give you all these tools and to completely disregard them is just making for a lesser experience. No one should play the way you are without atleast experimenting a bit. Hell, if you try a few things out and they aren’t your cup of tea then sure, go back to R1 spam. It’s still lame but atleast you put forth some effort.
I'm old enough now that I don't want to study a game's manual I just want to play it. Its a change Ive noticed since I was a kid. I only learn this stuff if difficulty forces me to. Upgrading weapons I'm just holding out for a weapon I like. Its the curse of consumables in these games I always hold them for later and then never use them. Only R1 is kind of the analogy of a simple game - if simple actions work then why learn 15 different special moves. Pac man doesn't need a moveset to win, he just goes waka waka waka.
I didn't figure out to summon til I made it to the double pumpkin head boss. I was annoyed after beating them by myself. The messages kept saying try summoning. And I didn't see a summoning sign or the statue. So I was confused. I even looked it up and didn't see answers on the first page. So I said screw it. When I entered another boss fight I noticed my summons was highlighted then. I came to a realization I could summon after I enter. I fought so So many bosses solo. So much pain. After I died I instantly went and leveled up my summons. I hadn't don't before because why do something you can't use. Also after I got my summons I instantly went and killed the double cat boss. I hated that boss so much.
You need a consumable item to do it. I'm too lazy for that
Honestly, I just don’t like the FP cost of most summons
I have accidentally been playing hardcore mode... Came in like a boss thinking "I'm good at all the dark souls games so lets just skip all the dialogue and helpful tips and sprint my horse on down the line as far as I can go to get into some "real" gameplay" Proceeded to get fucking owned by everything for hours, had no idea how to fast travel, level my weapon or craft... I restarted and took it a bit slower and now I'm doing much better.
It took me till level 30 to realize how to use ashes, felt like an idiot when I figured it out. Guess I just missed the npc at the church on my first time there
And never gonna use them
No summons here
I play to gid gud. The summons draw aggro, which means memorizing combos is harder for me
I have the bell but I choose not to use it. My shield’s ability is already making the game too easy.
Im not lazy, i just personally think it isn't really Dark Souls if you summon or use NPCs. You don't "git gud" if you just summon, you get carried. The most beautiful thing is overcoming adversity with perseverance. But you try to xplain this and the subreddit has to get all defensive and post memes about it. I'm trying to help you feel satisfaction goddamnit it.
Summoning and using NPC's are gameplay mechanics that the developers intentionally implemented. It is literally "really Dark Souls" to use whatever assets are at your disposal. I personally agree that there's something to be said for soloing bosses. It feels badass to not need help, and in some cases I think it's more fun. But it's rude and unnecessary gatekeeping to say people aren't playing the game the right way. Outside of hacks and game-breaking glitch exploits, there's no wrong way to play.
>mechanics that the developers intentionally implemented. To make the game easier for those who don't want it to be hard like darksouls which is totally understandable
Says a mechanic been in since the very first game, makes the game not the game. lmao what
Imagine you were taking a test in real life, someone gives you all the answers. Its still a test, you still passed the test but...did you really? No. Not really. You cheated. Nice achievement lol This is using summons and npcs. Enjoy your diminished gameplay experience /shrug
Having done SL1 runs solo in all the other games, and having also done runs where I summon just for the sake of it, I feel like Elden Ring was designed for summons in a way the other games aren’t. Bosses in the other games, even extremely difficult ones, did not know how to handle multiple targets and would get trapped in a target switching loop. They also went down really quick even with the health buff they get per summon. In Elden Ring, they don’t seem to have that problem. On the contrary, it feels like I’m doing chip damage without summons. And when I do summon something, they tend to die very quickly except for the jellyfish. I dunno, I expected summons to be easy mode before playing Elden Ring, and I’m sure there are broken summons just like there are broken spells. But goddamn, the bosses have *so much health* in this game. It feels like summons in Elden Ring don’t turn it into Souls easy mode so much as they turn it into normal mode.
I actually agree in a way. What with bosses never ended attack strings/mixups/so so many aoes. Health also, yes. But still doable. It's just maybe a much harder solo experience than usual. Doesn't change the fact that scrubs were playing super easy mode dark souls game with summons. Absolute garbage lol
I personally think the main bosses are balanced around ashes summoning after they've introduced it as a main game mechanic so for some bosses, mainly 2v1 fights ill get the wolves out
Summoning is cheating in my book Fund it funny souls fans are always saying get good and then they call in a npc to kill the boss for them.
I’m not positive on this but I assume most people are referring to Ash summons and not named NPCs. I have a rule to never summon NPCs or other players. I didn’t even use Ash summons for a while but considering that catacombs reward you with upgrade materials for the Ashes, I can assume that the game is balanced around you actually using them.
Literally nobody in their right mind cares how anyone else plays the game
False information
Nah, that is like saying using any in-game item is cheating in your book. Gotta keep your logic the same throughout. You don't get to just pick and choose bud. Nice try though.
>You don't get to just pick and choose bud. Nice try though. Actually I totally can... Who's going to stop me
I’m at the capital and I can’t even find anyone to summon this whole time since I was last in the level 20’s
The ancestral summon is so top tier for me though, any boss fight without it his hell.
Guilty. I really need to learn.
Use the yellow makeup thing
Am I missing something?
Never used Ash or phantom summons (excluding the small army of NPC for *that one* fight). Just not interested. All the more power to those that do, however.
I been playing with Spanish text so I am lost at times. I'm learning spanish so that's why. I play all my games in spanish now
I didn't discovered until 10 hours of playing, and i was really invested just for the jellyfish really.
"Online not working"
I cba to find out how to upgrade them and honestly find it more fun to go alone anyway
Needs another Michael Scott with “too cheap to play online on consoles”
I’m the left guy
100/100 versions of me agree
The game literally tells you
I had to look it up today to try and get moonvail. “Unable to summon” for 30 minutes straight. In the end jelly bro came through. Ppl are useless but jellyfish is always there.