I mentioned not that long ago that there were three things I was supposed to be doing in Elden Ring:
a) Ranni's questline had taken me to an icky lake of rot I didn't really want to deal with.
b) Some guys in a manor wanted me to murder some people.
c) I needed to go commit arson, but first I needed to kill a Fire Giant I wasn't having much luck with.

Well, I've made some progress!

I went back to the lake of rot with a whole bunch of Scarlet Rot cures (boluses?) I crafted, and started running around in it. I managed to find an area I could get to with a whole bunch of those guys that shoot a buncha lines at you. I went invisible and summoned my jellyfish and the two of us took 'em out. I actually reunited her with her sister earlier, but I guess she's still willing to stop by and help me.

Then I saw a coffin, so, naturally, I climbed in. I don't think it changed my sex, but it did plummet off a waterfall (rotfall?) with me in it. That took me to right before a boss fight. (I warped back to a grace, spent all my runes on a level, then ran back.). Fought that boss two or three times with my mimic. Was some sorta magic gravity insect thingy? Got an achevement for beating it through a fairly standard tossing rocks at it until it started going after me, then running while the mimic got its attention strategy.

Of course, it turned out there was a magic door blocking progress, so I backtracked, and it turned out I picked up a key to a chest somewhere along the way that had a ring I needed in it. Went through the door with that, got to a new area, put it on Ranni, and she basically told me to get back to her after I beat the final boss. Mission success! Though I'm still not sure how to get in the tower nearby.

Haven't gotten back to the murdering yet. Lost a whole bunch of runes, then I decided to take on the fire giant again! This time there was a summoning sign for my jar friend there! So, three tries, and we beat the giant! Winning strategy was basically:
a) Summon Jar Friend.
b) Summon the perfumer, I think? I alternated between them and the mimic.
c) Run to the giants feet, dodging, and start slashing at them and the occasional magic spell.
d) When phase 2 triggers, you and the giant are way away from my jar friend. Ran back to him, and let the giant follow to get him back in the fight. Otherwise, he's not helping because he's too far away.

After that, well, it turned out I was a lot closer to my immediate goals than I thought. A few minutes later...

Stuff happened, people died, I found a new area, and I think I'm closer to endgame than I thought...

--Sweetie Belle

7683857
What build are you running? If you have 12 Faith, the Flame, Cleanse Me Incantation was my savior in the Lake of Rot.

7683864
I'm running a Prisoner right now, which is actually the absolute lowest you can start for Faith (6), and I haven't pumped anything into it. I do kinda wish I could dip into incantations a bit, but I think I'll just run a more faith oriented character later on.

I'm actually playing the build fairly straight as a prisoner, too, except that I ditched the mask a long time ago. My current weapon is the Moonveil +9, I've got an Academy Glintstone Staff +23 I'm using, and I've also got the Carian Regal Scepter +9 as an alternate that'll probably replace it soon. I used to use a Lazuli Glintstone Sword +6, but the moment I tried out Moonveil, it was so good that I switched and levelled it up.

But yeah, mostly sorceries and cutting things with the Moonveil Katana. At the moment, I have Glintstone Cometshard, Crystal Barrage, Stars of Ruin, Rock Sling, Comet Azur, Loretta's Greatbow, Ambush Shard, and Unseen Form occupying slots, though I've got a lot of other spells, and have switched around my lineup a few times.

Right now I've got 49 Preserving Boluses in my inventory, though, and they worked for getting around in scarlet rot. Thankfully, I've got the recipe for those and was able to make a bunch.

--Sweetie Belle

7683872
I started Int and have swapped a few times. Faith can be pretty broken, Arcane is stupid Broken. Intelligence has an ass-ton of damage spells too. Magic Glintblade was one of my go-toos because the AI would roll on cast, and the blade takes time to form. Rock Sling was a close second because Poise-break.

Question, have you reached the Bird Suicide Farming Spot? I can tell you how to get there if you need a guide. Though, I can assume you've killed Godrick?

7683875
This character hasn't respecced yet, but I started a few other characters before it, and basically played them enough to get an idea of what the other starting options were like. My Deprived was intended to be my main character, but I was having enough fun with the prisoner that I just kept with it. Originally I was using a meteorite staff, but I got to the point where I needed something better.

Rock Sling is a big go-to of mine. Every so often, Ambush Shard works well on monsters I'm having trouble hitting otherwise, sometimes. I've been finding Crystal Barrage surprisingly useful if I hold it down recently, so I'm currently using that a decent bit. There's another spell I've got that needs 70 int, and I'm not quite there yet (but not too far off), so wouldn't be surprised if things shuffle around that that point.

I'm not sure about the bird suicide farming spot. I remember hearing about a farming method with a boulder, died to the boulder a few times, and then didn't get back to it. Lately, I've been farming hands, or this giant standing fairly close to the Giants Gravepost grace.

I just reached Crumbling Farum Azula, and you have to get past Godrick to get into the mountaintops, so yeah, I'm good there. Got killed by a dragon two or three times before I decided to sneak by it. I should go back and kill it, tho'. I also really need to finish Latenna's questline sometime and also go in Castle Sol...

--Sweetie Belle

7683885
So! (while you've killed Godrick, it's not necessarily necessary to kill him to get to Liurnia or Atlus)
-Go back and talk to White Mask Varre (the first guy you meet on leaving the Tutorial grave area.
-Once you exhaust his dialogue, he'll move to Rose Church in Liurnia.
-He then requires you to invade three players. (It's simple, you don't even have to fight them, just invade them. So beating them is not neccessary.)
-After that he needs a blood-soaked Favor from a Maiden (easiest to get is from the Maiden corpse at the Church of Inhibition.
-Once obtained, he'll give you the Pureblood Knight's Medal, an item that teleports you directly to Mohgwyn Palace.
-Once there, head down the stairs (after getting the Grace site and the Map of the Area, both close to your arrival point.) and mount Torrent. You are going to ride north-east until you hit a river of blood (I think it's blood) hug the wall until you run past a group of enemies to end at the Palace Approach Ledge Road Site of Grace.
-On the cliff across the valley is a large bird. Shoot it. (A bow is your best bet.) It drops 10 (11?)K Runes, 13k Runes if you have a Golden Scarab Talisman equipped and I think 17k Runes is you used a Fowl-Foot and the Scarab. It's stupid fast and you can literally kill him, turn around, site at the grace, and repeat.
-I have lately killed the bird that wiped out the small army of Albinaurics along the path before siting back at the grace.

7683890
Okay!

I can see why I hadn't done that. Varre's already at the Rose Church. I just wasn't that interested in invasions, so I never actually got around to doing the 3 invasions he asked for. If the area is locked off otherwise, though, I suppose I should do that.

It would be pretty useful, too, because I do want to level up a couple times so I can try out Renalla's Full Moon, which is just sitting around otherwise.

Thanks!

I think the giant I was thinking of is 3.7K runes, and I have to spray him with magic for a minute or two to kill him, so it's a fair amount slower... (Funny thing is one of my earliest farming methods was also a giant...)

--Sweetie Belle

7683895
Happy to help! There's a second rune farm in the same area, but it involves a lot of jumping and I can't seem to find the picture guide.

7683899
Funny thing is that just out of curiosity, I started watching a speedrun of getting to level 100 under 75 minutes, and it uses exactly the same method.

The way he beats grafted was funny. (Though I already went back and beat him a while ago on my playthrough.)

--Sweetie Belle

Oh hey! Awesome!

7683857
You're so ahead of me.
I've been just wandering around getting into scraps, and sometimes fights.
Don't forget that Torrent is immune to poison.
Don't walk in the stuff if you can help it.

I haven't talked to Varre.
Am still hurting after he called me an Incel.

I can get to Liurnia without killing GodRick the Grafted Pickle.
There's a side passage that leads past castle StormVeil to Liurnia.
If you have bolts or arrows, it's real easy.
Wolves prowl some areas.

You can get an eye from a somewhat hidden doorway in the castle.

I got to Castle Mourn and the Miss Begotten or was that Ms. Begotten suck.
Sometimes they jump at you mouth first! Who does that?
Skellington Militia can spear them out of the sky which looks cool.

The dogs suck, the starveling creatures can hit you through your shield.
Even one that blocks 100% damage.
Folks with swords can't hit me, and I can guard counter, but stupid dogs get a pass.
I will teach them to play dead real good!

Oh yeah, mad rats are no fun either.
They have their own church.

I don't have a mane, um, there was an accident while cooking.
Freakin Opal!
Oh wait, different discussion.

I don't have a main char.
When I play a game with different chars, I try out most or all of the types.
They say you can pick any char and then you can fix what's weak.
I would rather focus, and not waste points adding stuff to chars that aren't that way.

So I have:
A Hero that's going dex with dual wielding and a short bow.
No shield so I have to be aggressive and start slashing.
You get a special move if you have two similar weapons.

Why won't they let you put greases on both blades?
Can you imagine dual wielding flaming Scimitars?
Or one sword has fire and the other one has poison?

A Samurai that's str and dex with a longbow. He comes with a katana that causes bleed.

An Astrologer that's int and uses a lot of magic and a bow.

A Prophet that uses faith. I had to swap out the spear for sword and shield.
Also it was hard to get spells for this guy. Finally got some incantations so things should get more interesting.
Throwing balls of flame is such a crowd displeaser.

A Wretch that uses two handed weapons. I got an ash of war that turns his sword into a blood sword.

A Vagabond knight with a Halberd and a crossbow.

I'm thinking about making a new char.
Do you remember an old game called Wizardry?
They had a char that was a combo between a priest/cleric, mage and fighter.
They can wear some armor.
They were called Bishops.
Since Wretches have decent starting points in Faith and Magic, I could have a char with both groups.

I got to the warden guy in Castle Mourn and he gave me a twig.
Think I heard him laughing behind my back.
Then again since I pick up gold excrement, maybe a twig isn't so bad.
Yes, if you equip the twig, you just lose it, and keep your money when you die.
I would love to be able to make them.
Forgot to talk to the warden more about getting the Castle Mourn sword.
Gotta come back again.

Endurance is such a pain, I have to dump so many points before my Wretch stops fat rolling.
The Lands between don't have sweetrolls, they just have seafood.

The dragonflies are so big you could ride them!
There's a video on that somewhere on Youtube.

I went to a place and they had a walking building with a bell underneath it.
Imagine living in the area and having to hear the thing ringing all the time.

Headless folk are creepy.

Tried to kill the tree sentinel dude near the Church of Elleh.
Got him down to one fourth of his health before his horse jumped up, and caused some AOE.
Fatrolling isn't good for fights.

I don't lose too many runes because I start farming when I get about 1k.
Exploring and or experimenting is done with empty pockets.

7683926
Incidentally, I went and invaded three people. First time, I saw where they were, headed the other direction, wandered around for a bit, then jumped off a cliff. Second time, they started to run after me, and I jumped off a cliff. Third one, I was curious why they were just standing there, looking out over a cliff, walked up, and they suddenly turned and attacked and killed me. Not really into invading, so I wasn't actually trying to kill anyone.

finished his quest to the point where he gave me the medallion and I used it, though I noticed I could invade him in that area it takes me to. I've got the Pulley Bow and a bunch of arrows, and already gained two levels. I'll probably be here a while...

--Sweetie Belle

7684384
Well, just got to 100 hours or so in the playthrough, and I'm also fairly familiar with souls games. I've also been looking things up and watching videos.

The unfortunate thing is that on that lake of rot, it doesn't let you summon Torrent. Otherwise, I definitely would have taken advantage of that.

Varre's actually an incel himself. Get far enough, and he wants you to take a handkerchief, and dip it in a maiden's blood. And if you had a maiden, he'd want you to use her blood. All sorts of red flags.

I remember Castle Morne. Going delivering mail?

As far as bleed weapons go, remember that guy that helps you out against an invader in the lake early on? Later, on the path to that academy, there'll be a red sign for him, and you can invade and help him out against an enemy. He'll give you one bleed sword, and if you go to a church later and defeat an enemy going after him, you'll get another.

As far as the prophet goes, there's a guy in the hold that sells some incantations. D sells two, eventually, as well. The turtle pope has some. And if you keep going from where that merchant that sells a lantern is, eventually you run into some firey guys, and I think there were some fire incantations around there.

With the astrologer, did you pick up a better staff, like the meteorite staff?

I actually do think a faith/magic character was fun. I was looking earlier and thinking that since I knew where the sword of night and flame is, which takes str 12/dex 12/ int 24/ faith 24, it might be interesting to start a confessor that puts all their early points into int and faith and grabs it. (It looked to me like the confessor needed the least levels to wield it...) The thing looked fun with magic and fire damages and comet and flame attacks on the skill...

Ah, so you did get to the warden? If you delivered the mail, you might check back with the person who gave it to you...

On the endurance, the key thing really is the weight of all the stuff you are wearing and wielding. A lot of times, I'll wear stuff that isn't as good to keep the weight down and roll better without having to add endurance. Also, there are talismans that increase your max load so that you can wear heavier stuff.

A trick on those walking buildings: if you look at their legs, there's caked white stuff on them. If you scrape enough off, they'll stop walking and sit down!

The tree sentinel does suck. And he's got brothers, too. I think most people defeat him with mounted combat on horseback, but I'm no good at that. I summoned some spirits, and tossed rock slings at him. I think one of the tricks is killing his horse, really, so he isn't going at you as fast.

Sometimes on the rolling, it can be fun to just take all your clothes off and go fastrolling around everything.

Biggest problem on the runes is that the number of runes for your next level goes up every time you level. I'm at a point where I can be walking around with 70k runes and still not have enough to level up.

--Sweetie Belle

7684399
Have you found the farm?

7684425
Yep. Took me a few attempts to get getting the birds attention down, but I'm definitely going to spend a while farming there. I'm hoping to farm until I can cast Renalla's Full Moon...

--Sweetie Belle

7684429
You should be able to easily. I still go back there to farm and I'm in Elphael and CFA.

7684433
Yeah. I could technically get there with 4 levels, though I won't be able to use it if I take my hat off. If I kill it 35/36 times, I should be there.

--Sweetie Belle

Once you're strong enough, you can start nuking Albanaurics as well as the bird.

7684443
That's a point. There are lots of those guys on the path back, and they are 2k each...

--Sweetie Belle

7684445
2500-something with the Gold Scarab.

7684449
Right, I have to go back and get that some time. Last time I was in the area, I didn't have all these Boluses.

Leveled up to the point that I can use Renalla's Full Moon, and repeatedly mooned the Albanaurics...

--Sweetie Belle

7684455
Woot! I'm proud of you!

7684461
Thanks!

Just went back and picked up the Gold Scarab. I do still have all those Boluses, after all.

Fight was closer than it should've been because of how few flasks I had left, and also I was impressed enough at how much damage my weakest spell was doing that I kept using it.

--Sweetie Belle

7684468
Lightning Spear and Black Flame are amazing, as is Stone of Garranq (Stagger for Days!) I have recently fallen in love with Ancient Dragon's Lightning Strike.

7684420

Biggest problem on the runes is that the number of runes for your next level goes up every time you level. I'm at a point where I can be walking around with 70k runes and still not have enough to level up.

Definitely time for the twigs if you can spare the talisman pouch space.

I remember Castle Morne. Going delivering mail?

Yeah but I forgot to ask him more questions.
Darn!
And I did check the person who gave me the letter.
Can see she was too cleaver.

The unfortunate thing is that on that lake of rot, it doesn't let you summon Torrent. Otherwise, I definitely would have taken advantage of that.

There's an ash of war, fast/quick step or something.
You could use that to cross the rot faster.
I saw a video on that.

With the astrologer, did you pick up a better staff, like the meteorite staff?

Not yet.

On the endurance, the key thing really is the weight of all the stuff you are wearing and wielding. A lot of times, I'll wear stuff that isn't as good to keep the weight down and roll better without having to add endurance. Also, there are talismans that increase your max load so that you can wear heavier stuff.

I think there's a talisman that increases endurance in the first dungeon near first step, but the stupid chariot ruins the fun.
Yeah, it can be killed.

I killed a golem next the gate place, forgot the name.
It's the gate near the starter area with the ruins.
And of course, Captain Stabby Steve.
One char got a big halberd but he doesn't use one.
The char that does use a halberd got nothing. but runes.

I did kill my first giant with my skellington militia, and lots of crossbow bolts.

At this rate I will finish the game when you're playing game++;

7685300

Definitely time for the twigs if you can spare the talisman pouch space.

Well, now I know the suicidal bird farming spot, so I can probably just pop over there and get myself to the next level. Or I might just farm until I'm at the level most people are when they win...

Yeah but I forgot to ask him more questions.
Darn!
And I did check the person who gave me the letter.
Can see she was too cleaver.

Yep. Though it does generally seem like bad things happen to people you try to help a lot. My sorcery teacher is now a big ball of faces.

There's an ash of war, fast/quick step or something.
You could use that to cross the rot faster.
I saw a video on that.

I basically ended up with just running while chugging flasks until I was off the rot, then curing myself. Worked, but was not fun.

The meteorite staff is actually pretty easy to pick up, because a teleportation trap early on transports you to almost the right location. Though it's probably easiest if you watch a video on the route. You can actually have it in the first 15 minutes if you go straight for it. The thing about it is that it's basically the best staff for the first half of the game, even if you can't upgrade it. It also works well with the rock sling spell, which is in the same area.

I think there's a talisman that increases endurance in the first dungeon near first step, but the stupid chariot ruins the fun.
Yeah, it can be killed.

Those chariots... There is a talisman there that increases hp, stamina, & equip load, but it's not fun to get.

There's a lady in Stormveil Castle that's willing to help you against GodRick, and after you defeat him and talk to Gideon enough, she'll be in the hold, and will give you an endurance talisman. Or there's a better version in Altus Tunnel, once you get there.

I did kill my first giant with my skellington militia, and lots of crossbow bolts.

That would do it! Rock Sling works pretty well against giants if you get it, too. Cast it a few times, and they start holding their heads, then end up falling down, so you can get it down where you just keep casting it while keeping enough of a distance until they are dead.

The skeleton millitia are neat, though, since they come back to life if the enemy doesn't hit them after defeating them.

At this rate I will finish the game when you're playing game++;

Well... I've got a fairly bad history of dropping games around the final boss, then, later, when I return to it, starting a new character. This ones going well enough that I might complete it. If I do, I wouldn't be surprised if I go into a new character instead of new game +. I do kinda want to try out some non-sorcerer builds.

Or maybe I'll play some of the games I've gotten while playing Elden Ring but not been spending time with. Atelier Sophie 2, for example. Most of the Atelier games, you are an alchemist gathering ingredients and making stuff, so kinda the opposite of a soulslike game...

--Sweetie Belle