1769

I’m starting as an Astrologer, due to my poor melee skills. Any tips on best equipment to start with and to try to find ASAP, and any other beginning Astrologer tips?

1770

So, I went with Confessor which might sound like an odd choice, but I think it’s a great selection for someone who hasn’t played before. Here’s why:

  • You start with a shield that already has 100% physical block.
  • You start with a fairly fast sword weapon.
  • You can get some quick upgrades to both of these items by spending a few extra minutes in the first big camp in the game.
  • You start with some spell casting, so you can dip your toe in that well and see if you like it.
  • One of your starting spells is a heal, which gives you a little more longevity when learning the ropes.
  • The other spell lets you be more sneaky, so you can get past some things that might frustrate you and return to them later.
  • Both your Strength and Dexterity start out in decent shape, so if you want to build a quality build (souls speak for using weapons that scale with STR/DEX) You can easily.

All in all a decent pick for a new souls person. Also, while I’m providing advice I’ll throw in that you should choose the Golden Seed as your boon. It will give you one more health pot at the beginning of the game, when you need it the most.

1771

Is there any information on the icons below your stamina bar? Some I can figure out others are a mystery. The red box with a down arrow? I recognize the Stake of Marika. Others not so much.

1772

Did you hug anyone?

1773

@JeffL The one suggestion I would have is that early on there is a place you might want to visit to expand your spell selection.

If you see a giant flower east of where you start from across the lake, explore that area carefully.

1774

I live for Barricade. It is uber awesome. Coupled with the block+counter mechanic I can stagger many bosses like a parry counter. It is so fun!

1775

You can hug?

1776

Your maximum HP has been lowered, probably by hugging the Deathbed Companion.

1777

OK, now it clicked, Thanks!

1778

A typical Dark Souls moment just has happened: After countless times trying to beat a boss (the mini boss Grave Warden Duelist) I google for help and relief and the first thing I read is “The XYZ is an easy boss fight in Elden Ring…”. What’s worse: I couldn’t even do what the strategy guide wanted me to do: back-stabbing him. Finally I could cheese him down: one safe hit a time. That’s not exactly getting good :) But what I really liked that in the end I knew this boss so well that I could come up with a strategy for the less gifted player.

1779

How is the widescreen mod? Anyone using or having problems with it?

1780

I’m having trouble following whether I’ve encountered the boss fights I see in these threads because there’s so many of them and they’re usually over so quickly. I only remember the major fights.

1781

I still haven’t found the giant bear mentioned way upthread. And I’ve been looking for it!

1782

I installed it and was immediately kicked out to the menu for cheating when I next launched the game. I figured I’d play offline but in Ultrawide and the video resolution options did now include Ultrawide 3440x1440 display … but it didn’t do anything. No matter what I picked - full screen, windowed, etc. - it was just the usual letterbox. It’s possible I didn’t do all the steps correctly - you are supposed to create some text file in the Elden Ring game folder, no problem, and copy the EldenRing.exe to a file name that over writes the anti-cheat file name, I did all that (got the warning about messing with the game files), and it still didn’t work. I hate mods and doing all this shit when it’s not “run this installer we’ll do it for you” so I was already annoyed and when it didn’t work I didn’t care enough to troubleshoot.

So I uninstalled the Perfect UltraWide software, shrugged, and went back online.

1783

Oh you can’t miss him and his friends!

1784

Apparently you very much can, unless I badly misread where he is and I’m just nowhere near.

1785

You can totally miss this - it’s in a deep woods that has a route or two around it.

1786

I was thinking that maybe this would help me against getting staggered by dragon breath, but it looks like using the ability doesn’t last that long. Am I possibly using it wrong or does it just last long enough to handle a strike or two?

1787

Personally I just try to not get breathed on by dragons.

1788

Yeah it only lasts a few seconds. You pop it before going in for a strike.

I don’t think a shield is going to help vs dragon breath. The best defense for that is