u/blaiddfailcam2

The image of a vast sea populated by giant trees or pillars is recurring throughout the Souls series, and there are even multiple instances in Elden Ring alone, the most notable of course being the many Erdtrees seen in the background of the Elden Beast's arena.

It remains a mystery as to what these numerous Erdrees might indicate, whether they represent parallel worlds, or that perhaps there were multiple Elden Beasts that fell to different worlds throughout the cosmos, propagating Order under guidance of the Greater Will.

However, another thought occurred to me: if the Erdtree and Scadutree were created in the same instant to embody gold/Order and shadow/chaos respectively, then would there also be a realm of many Scadutrees? If so, what would it look like?

The Scadutree is already rather strange in that it's comprised of multiple entwined trunks, embodying the concept of chaos. Compared to the Erdtree that was carefully cultivated, it's perhaps more aptly comparable to a weed infestation, tendriling and suffocating other plants and itself. I suppose a "garden" of Scadutrees might more likely resemble a singular body of bramble roots curling around its own many trunks across an infinite expanse...

Of course, perhaps we've already seen a pocket-sized version of such a world in the Scadutree Avatar's arena. Like Elden Beast and Metyr, it occupies a soggy space, though it's more seamlessly integrated into the Realm of Shadow's geography as opposed to residing in some alternate plane.

But maybe that's the point? Perhaps the twisting, many-bodied Scadutree in the Realm of Shadow is that garden, with its many roots consolidated into one tangled tree. The Scadutree Avatar is akin to the Elden Beast, as well, with a similar power to the Elden Stars, known simply as the Land of Shadow, both of which can be memorized as similar incantations... Could the Realm of Shadow itself be that isolated dimension, but now filled with all the lands and history obscured by Queen Marika like a cosmic landfill?

Anyway, just a thought to kick about.

I don't even care whether it's actually advantageous half the time, I just love the recklessness of it, lol. It makes quick work of some of the heaviest hitters, from trolls, to finger creepers, to giant dogs...

Even if you don't have the Deflecting Hardtear yet, the overworld flask refills are very generous, so you always have time to heal up after taking a little chip damage by blocking with a 2-handed weapon. One good bap to the head pretty much guarantees a riposte.

It's also fun in PvP for fighting multiple people at once and turning their attacks against their allies, lol.

Anyway, I wonder if they'll improve it further in future games...

Or just Hekseville/Jirga Para Lhao in general, lol. But Lei Colmosna seems so invigorating and fun to simply soak in the sun especially. It reminds me a bit of Kathmandu!

Might be a pain to get around without gravity shifting though, lol.

I only started playing GR a month or so ago, but it quickly became one of my favorite games. Though I finished the main story a couple weeks ago, I didn't want to let go of GR2 so soon, so I was actually happy to hop back in for half an hour or so each day after work for these little treasure hunts, despite the servers had been shut down years before I got a chance to play.

I didn't think I'd find all the treasures so soon... I actually found it to be a pretty fun mechanic! It was like taking a little "walk" each day, slowly expanding my route as I memorized their various spawn points. (I was slightly miffed how long it took me to realize they can even spawn on walls and ceilings, though, lol.) Probably annoying to most players, but I found it oddly relaxing, similarly to shiny hunting in Pokemon.

I guess now all that's left to do is find those fragmented talismans in the mines before heading back into Raven's Choice to complete all the achievements there... I think I'm just in denial that there won't be more of these glorious games. 😭

Anyway, here's my pipe house's final appearance in pic 2. I wanted it to feel like a cabana, lol.

Four years in and then some, I've only just now started messing with gravity spells (for a cosplay build, lol). I knew players loved Rock Sling for its ease of use and heavy stagger potential, and I also knew Meteorite of Astel was largely despised for being too slow and too costly to actually hit anything.

Well, I love looking for ways to make crappy moves work, and I can safely say I actually adore this spell.

Yes, it's obviously very slow and has an unusually wide spread that is almost guaranteed to miss a small, moving target while leaving you perfectly vulnerable. So naturally, the only sensible time to use it would be against large, stationary targets... In other words, it's a flashy alternative to critical attacks when a large boss is toppled and vulnerable.

This leads to two criticisms I have with Elden Ring's combat design:

1. Critical hits often aren't your best option for when a boss is staggered. In fact, it's typically ideal to barrage the boss with your heaviest hitting spells and AoWs—especially while playing online. Unfortunately, if one player trips the critical attack animation, the boss becomes immune to the other players' attacks for several seconds, rendering their much stronger attacks useless and wasting FP. (This was remedied somewhat in Nightreign, at least, as cooperators can attack the boss through the riposte animation.)

2. I think FromSoft could have offered just a *liiiittle* bit of guidance as how to different spells and weapons might be used more effectively. From what I gather from the community, most players see spells and weapons as an arms race in which high requirements should mean the weapon is just Better across the board, but this doesn't seem to be FromSoft's intention. In the case of spellcasting, powerful spells are meant to be slotted into your repertoire to account for specific scenarios, such as big, flashy, delayed moves against downed bosses. Elden Stars, Land of Shadow, and Rotten Butterflies are often frowned upon, but using them in tandem in a chaotic display of layered DoT can actually prove highly effective against many major bosses. But of course, most players write off anything that doesn't net universally consistent results, despite having so many spell slots to use against so many enemies.

Anyway, that's my roundabout way of saying that Meteorite of Astel is fun as hell when you don't have someone shouting in your ear about how they tried it once and failed to kill a springhare, ergo it is bad. Hehe fireworks

I wonder if they had the same art class growing up...

(From *The Road to the Erdtree* official manga)

Not-quite-Obama must have been running for mayor after D'nelica's fall, lol.

I love this perfectly flawless game.

I've done my share of invading and know how tedious it can be to constantly put up with gank squad after gank squad, so I tend to give my fellow BRMs some grace.

But it's also really funny to give them the cold shoulder, lol.

(Ignore that poorly timed Meteorite of Astel finisher.)

It's hard to capture Kat's Shifter outfit on account of there being no high heels nor leotards... or headbands... but whatever, as long as those gams are showing, I guess.

I'm just surprised I was able to get her face and skin tone just about right! It's hard to make cute faces in the game, lol.

But anyway, it finally gave me an excuse to use the gravity spells and the kicky weapon. There's even a skill that looks a lot like her Gravity Kick! It actually turned out to be a highly effective—and fun!—playstyle, and I was able to beat all the toughest bosses with relative ease. :)

Now I'm just having fun helping other players as her. Dunno if any of them would recognize a Gravity Queen when they see one, but it feels good to style on enemies for them as they look on in confusion at the pantsless kickboxer summoning meteor showers and whatnot.

The Poison Flower Blooms Twice is a hell of a mouthful, but also hella stylish, especially as a counter to jumpable attacks. I also like how its interaction with poison status ensures you'll be actively building up stance damage on enemies, creating a nice loop of rapidly attacking to proc status, using the skill, riposting, building up status again...

'Twas the clap heard 'round the Lands Between...

I think it was the humiliation that killed him more than anything, though.

Been playing Gravity Rush and this boss instantly made me think of the Jar Innards, and now I wish we got a fight with one as insane as this, lmao.

Makes you wonder, though... What does the Great Jar in Caelid look like under the lid?

(Wow my first post here, hi I make gifs while I play games)

I admit, I have the situational awareness of a potato. Good thing Kat is absurdly durable, lol.