Ok all. I abandoned Elden Ring after about 3 years and 2k hours after downloading DS3 a few months ago. First build was dex (my go- to) with twinblades. Everyone says this build is broken, and, while I had a blast initially exploring, dying and begging for help, I finally noped out at half light church and started a bonk build. Went all-in str with greatest of clubs until Ledos. It was...so much easier.
Now I'm running sorc. I'm about lvl 130 and heading into the kiln of the 1st flame. Here are a few observations about my experience, with the hope of hearing y'alls advice on how to do it better next time.
It was a bumpy ride guys.
First of all, thank you to everyone who teamed with me on Xbox and helped carry me through 99% of the boss fights. Things got considerably easier once I aquired pestilent mist, but I definitely found myself relying waay too much on it, as well as the Storyteller staff poison effect. I think i googled every cheese there is, and I'm not proud.
Left hand - Court sorcerer staff, black pharis bow and storytellers staff. Pyro hand on standbye for sweat buffs.
Right hand - crystal Uchi up until raw crow talons.
Spells - Spook, Hidden Body, Great Heavy Soul arrow, Pestilent Mist, crystal weapon and swap out Pyro buff/a bunch of other sorceries I found utterly useless.
Main Rings - sages, the dragon one that greatly enhances spells, the stamina +3 one and ring of favor +3.
I've currently got close to 60 intel, 35 vigor, 20ish endo and around 30ish dex. Obviously more attunement than was probably necessary.
Main gripes -
Range. In Elden Ring it seems like you can hit enemies from a mile away with many of the sorceries. If I'm going for a glass cannon build, having to run up into an enemies hit radius before being able to lock on and fire off a spell seems...pretty pointless. Spook and Hidden Body help up to a point, but man it seems like a whole lot of buffing to achieve subpar damage output. As far as I can tell, Great Heavy Soul Arrow and Crystal Soul Stream are the Heavy hitters, and neither hit too hard.
Target Lock - just as shitty in Ds3 as it is in ER. Please lock onto that tiny crab whilst I spin around and get pummeled to death by the real threat lol. And then keep jumping from crab to crab until I have a seizure. And, much like sorceries, why must I be in kill range before I can lock on. Haaalp.
Overall a beautiful, fun game that I intend to try out a few more runs in.
Now go ahead - roast me and tell me how to git gud!