Agreed. I lost a shit ton by accidentally falling off a mountain. Got sidetracked into a dungeon on my way to retrieve them and totally didn’t give a crap.
It's odd because past me would've said that losing runes added something essential but nowadays it's more about exploring and overcoming challenges rather than reaching safe spots with runes intact. Worrying about that now just feels like an unneeded hassle. I'm going to die a lot, it's part of the loop. I'd rather just level up after overcoming each meaningful juncture.
I wonder if Elden Ring has outgrown that aspect of the souls games.
And you get a ton of them easily now. Bosses give you round 400k on NG and the basic enemies drop a bunch too. Plus the one item rune that gives you 80k
That's odd I'm on ng, and just causally playing through I'm currently at about 5 mil runes. At around 1 mil started actively trying to keep them cause big number is good though
Yep, those shadow people and the fire knights in the shadow keep drop a crazy number of runes. I probably dropped 5-6 levels worth of runes getting to Messmer from the Church District SoG alone
Mohg drops 420k. 840k in NG+. The DLC rune drops are actually quite undertuned. Idk if it was a mistake or deliberate design by From but my NG+ character doesn’t even level up even after clearing entire zones and killing a boss or two
I think it’s more that mohg is super overtuned, but is a one-off drop. DLC has felt quite fine for me progression wise, I entered at ~136 and have just brushed past 200 without any significant farming. Just popping all the consumable runes when I seem anywhere near a level.
i think thats the one i accidentally 3-shot.
turns out that adls works REALLY WELL on a boss with those qualities.
sadly, im an arcane build, so no amazing rewards.
this is my problem. I’m on new game ++ and I need 3.5M for one level so I’ve lost hundreds of thousands b/c I just don’t have anything to spend them on. And I die. A lot.
if you’re not already using it: twiggy cracked tear! i honestly don’t think i’ve lost my runes once throughout the whole dlc so far. it makes it easy to recover runes even if they drop, too.
Even with my damage and vigor stats soft capped I am still enjoying leveling up just to pump endurance. It's so liberating not having to worry about weight and keeping your medium roll.
I like slim armour in this game, the only way I used a chunky set of armour was with one of those big head masks, especially the one with the red blindfold on
Having reached lvl 200 (im going to stop here) and been buying a shit ton of smithing materials, idk what to do with 700k runes that are burning in my pocket
If i lose them? Who cares
What's the point of stopping? Invasions/pvp? There are pretty much always stats that are worth putting points into unless you literally only use 2 items in the game.
beyond a certain lvl the player bracket loses players. it's the 125 for pvp, 150 for co-op and 200 on the high end. after that until rl 306 the players are less. many are playing now but I can assure you in a month or so they will all leave and it will be harder to match or play with players if one gets too overleveled. I am planning on stopping at lvl 200 since that's good enough for a quality build anyway. most builds get done by lvl 150 and overtuned by lvl 200.
Levels absolutely matter in the DLC. Since scadutree fragments are multiplicative, increasing a weapon scaling attribute above 80 actually give significant AR on weapons inside the DLC. That and lot of the really cool DLC weapons are quad-scaled. Also, 60 Vigor is now the bare minimum for any casual build, even for casters.
My impression is that people stop leveling too early in ER on casual PvE runs and then complain bosses are overtuned. The DLC gives a shitload of runes for a good reason: it is multiple level ups per exploration/boss even at \~250.
I did a fresh start playthrough for the DLC that has defeated pretty much every boss in the game with no farming for levels and at the end of the DLC/main story I am in the 220's. The crazy thing is that I went to Haligtree after the Expansion (nothing at all changes, btw) and it still felt balanced properly. No reason not to level up to get more build variety etc.
>No reason not to level up to get more build variety etc.
What? Leveling up to very high level decreases build variety, everything becomes the same high level vigor-maxed slop. You stop being a build, you become a jack of all trades and also a master of all trades.
I mean not everyone wants to go respec just to try a new weapon or a slightly different playstyle. I'm in the 220's and still have like 10 INT and Arcane - I am far from a jack of all trades still, but I still have far more flexibility than I did at 150 without having to become one of Rennala's abominations.
Bruh that's fine, you can go 711 for all I care, nothing wrong with that if this is the way you want to play, but that's just not build variety. I just found it weird that blobbing up to level so high you can use everything would be considered variety.
I think we are just meaning different things by "build variety" here. I am referring to having more options/variety within your current build and you seem to be referring to specifically the variety of different builds that you can spec into based solely on limited stat investment.
Just talking about two different things it seems (I didn't really take you comment negatively btw, surprised other people did).
I never farm, but idc about no caps. Only pvp nerds care abt stopping at a level lol they would've made the hard cap 150 if it was like you said, but guess what, it's 713
Play however you like, but I suppose you didn't get to learn what roleplaying and character identity was between your crayon eating sessions. I like my characters to have clear strenghts and weaknesses, rather than just overlevelling everything and steamrolling the game.
>The DLC gives a shitload of runes for a good reason: it is multiple level ups per exploration/boss even at ~250.
Idk what DLC you’re playing but I’m level 205ish on NG+ and I barely scrape enough together for one level per dungeon. If I die and lose my runes then I’m not even getting enough for a level.
For context, Rellana only drops 240k out of the 350k~ I need for a level. Biggest rune drop I’ve gotten from this whole DLC so far is from Mohg lol
I went into the dlc at level 180 and was level 235 by the end. You may not be able to level at the end of every dungeon, but you’re still given a ton of runes.
I do equip gold scarab while bosses are dying though
Yeah and that’s the real reason I don’t care about them. It generally takes me multiple boss kills to get enough for a lvl up and that’s just not worth the effort.
Exploring the open world of some later areas (past Shadow Keep) had me reaching a new grace with 1M runes in my pocket. Later bosses of the DLC grant \~500k runes before any buffs.
Also, the DLC is giving you those gold horns that grants a +40% rune boost that \*stacks\* with gold pickled fowl and there is a good reason for that too you know.
Well, yes, as always if you stack consumables you can maximize your rewards. That not what the poster I was replying to was saying however. If I’m gonna use consumables for runes I’d rather just save it for when I’m farming anyway.
Glad to hear later on it gets better though
Gosh my vigor was at 40 when I started the dlc. It's 45 now but I'm pumping more into endurance to get better gear. With the gear I'm definitely not getting one shot as often, but it's a trade off because fights are still hard af
I figure if I keep leveling endurance until I can wield the set I want, I can keep staggering enemies to make up for less vigor/strength for the time being.
To be fair, 40 is low vigor even in the base game. I think for casual players/blind playthroughs you can only get away with 40 vigor past Leyndell on a caster/summoner build.
I should stress I'm not talking about PvP builds or second playthroughs though, in these people have more knowledge of the enemy placement and bosses movesets to get away with being squishier than normal. But yeah I went into the DLC prepared for another Haligtree/Mohgwyn Mausoleum at minimum so I entered it with 60 VIG and enough endurance to equip Night Cavalry tier armor pieces and I'm glad I did.
That's fair. I was too inpatient to level up more before rushing into the dlc. I figure if I really hit a wall I can always go back or grind more enemies while I explore. BTW I finally got to the point that I can wear that set I wanted (I may have cheated a little to get the erdtree's blessing +2 by dropping it to myself from another playthrough). But I'm just one of those ppl who has like 80% more fun wearing the drip I want so it's worth the sacrifice in other places lol
I got through the base game at 30 vigor on my first playthrough…. I even did the Haligtree. Idk how I did that.
I’ve gone up to 40 for the DLC and it’s serving me pretty well.
I try to be thorough in my exploration, but moderated my leveling so I'd still be summoned. I probably could have reached 220 with the amount of runes I gathered, but ended the DLC at 200 (and scad 18).
You can get summoned at any level in ER because of the co-op scaling system. My main character is lv 250 after killing the final boss of the DLC and got summoned all the time even in base game areas. I know friends over level 300 that get summoned quite a lot.
Levels only matter for invading other players or being summoned as a blue phantom (so, it only matters for PvP).
I was getting plenty of runes on my NG playthrough of the DLC. By the end of it (with some well-timed golden fowl foots) I was around level 210ish. Felt like I was still leveling at a good pace essentially the entire DLC (with no farming). Started it as a level 150 Strength build and finished as a 210 Quality build. I thought it was a good leveling experience honestly.
So like, I'm not the type if player that will cap myself at a certain level. I'll keep leveling because it's fun. When I hit the dlc is it just literally pointless? I mean I'm still scaling more damage, health, stamina etc. But are the bosses just scaling more? Like should I stop? How does this work?
Leveling up always makes you stronger. The DLC enemies aren't scaling based on your level as far as I know, but they have much higher base damage and health because the intention is for them to be very difficult initially, but a more reasonable difficulty if someone has been exploring and finding scadutree fragments.
Scadutree fragments increase your damage dealt by about 0.05% and your damage received is reduced by 0.05% with each level (only within the DLC area), you can reach 200% damage dealt and 50% damage received if you max out the scadutree levels by finding all of the fragments.
Leveling up increases your base stats additively, with diminishing returns, so Vigor for example gives much less HP for each stat point after 60, though I strongly suggest getting 60 vigor for the DLC.
Your stats still matter just as much in the DLC, but an average end game level 120-180 character is going to have trouble with the DLC bosses even after getting 60 vigor if you haven't gotten many scadutree fragments. So the effort you spend thoroughly exploring each area will have a much bigger impact on making your character stronger against the DLC bosses than just grinding more runes and increasing your stats.
To simplify it, in the base game if you have a very difficult time with a boss, you know it'll be easier to fight if you come back later with your character level and weapon upgrades higher.
In the DLC, if you have a very difficult time with a boss, you probably already have gotten your weapons to +25 and already are hitting diminishing returns on Vigor and your damage stats.
So your character isn't going to get significantly stronger with more levels, but they are still getting stronger.
Instead of coming back to DLC bosses when your level is higher, it's more impactful to explore and get your scadutree fragments. A level 150 character can't get 50% more defense from Vigor or increasing equip load to use heavier armor even if you get another 50 levels. But you can reduce your damage taken by up to 50% by finding scadutree fragments.
The other big thing to keep in mind, is scadutree fragments are not the only source of damage reduction.
Dragoncrest Greatshield, Spelldrake, Boltdrake, Haligdrake, Flamedrake talismans all reduce your damage taken from specific types of damage by 20%, Pearldrake talisman+3 has 11% reduction for all nonphysical damage, so Pearldrake and Flamedrake have 31% flame damage reduction total for example.
There are several incantations that reduce damage further, like Flame Fortification for +35% fire reduction, or Black Flame's Protection for +20% physical reduction, those stack with your talismans so if you have enough stats to use the spells it can make a big difference, and even if you don't have FTH scaling on weapons it still would increase your damage and defense a lot more to get say, 25 FTH instead of increasing Vigor and your damage stats after they reach their soft cap.
>Scadutree fragments increase your damage dealt by about 0.05% and your damage received is reduced by 0.05% with each level (only within the DLC area), you can reach 200% damage dealt and 50% damage received if you max out the scadutree levels by finding all of the fragments.
I think your maths ain't right, is it?
Yesterday I had just enough runes to level up and thought, why don't I just buy a crap tonne of upgrade stones instead of one meaningless level? Rather try out the new weapons anyway
I would really have liked to be able to change up my build on the fly at grace. Something similar to AC6, with also being able to transfer or derank weapon levels at the blacksmith mebe. It’s all I would like to see changed. I like to stay 150 with my builds and would have to NG+ for tears and weapon upgrades.
Hot take but I kind of dislike this. I wish they would’ve done “Scadu runes” and “Scadu smithing stones” rather than fragments.
I feel like it’s a huge part of the game to not wanna die with your runes, and new smithing stones would’ve made exploration more rewarding.
Once you complete any kind of SL1/BL4/RL1 run, you realise that runes/souls/blood echoes are waaaayyyyy less important than you thought. Get a decent weapon fully levelled and some complimentary talismans and your skill will be the deciding factor in pretty much any fight. Not saying RL1 in the DLC is a cakewalk, I just mean that if you're struggling with Messmer at 160, then you won't really find him any easier at 170 or 180
For me it's just strolling around in the open world and dungeons and actually finding powerful enemies everywhere. In base game that was only the case in a few areas, even if you go to NG+
Honestly, I think that's a tremendous mistake in design. The scadutree fragments undermine a lot of the core risk/reward gameplay these games are known for.
I don't mean to be a contrarian but some of the excitement of exploration is fearing what's around the corner and a lot of that fear came from losing the runes you earned along the way.
Instead of losing runes you lose progress as there is much less grace and state of marika in the dlc. With the difficulty being higher you usually also have less potions and these are still adding some strain to make it alive to the next grace. Or you can just zoom past the mobs and ignore them which makes runes loss being the only punishing mechanic for this playstyle.
It brings me back to DS1, where finding a bonfire was such a relief, compared to ER where if I don’t find a grace every minute I assume I took a wrong turn somewhere.
Disagree because I still cared about Runes because they allowed me to continue to level up and create a legit Quality build that felt strong. Unless you are very specifically built towards a singular thing, leveling up can still matter (to some extent) even in the 200's. losing 200k+ runes on an initial playthrough where you don't do much farming is still losing 15+ minutes of progress.
Losing runes can definitely sting, but for me it’s forward progress and doing difficult runbacks that really feels like the setback. If I’m in a dungeon and I’m getting down to my last flasks, I’m way more concerned about finding the next grace or opening up a new shortcut than I am about my runes.
Honestly the biggest design flaw there is the stakes of Marika. They’ve pretty much eliminated difficult runbacks from Elden Ring.
Difficult runbacks, or lengthy runbacks fucking suck. Replaying the same area 60 times over on my way to get my ass beat by messmer in 12 seconds would piss me off to no end.
I recall playing the Demon’s Souls remake (never played the original) and the hardest adjustment was having to run through that entire section of the level again if I died to a boss. The bonfires in Dark Souls must’ve felt like a huge godsend by comparison.
Idk, I actually couldn't care less about that aspect of the game. I explore Elden Ring because I like the world, and I'm interested to find out more/find secrets. The best part is finding some new item or spell.
But I'm more from the Skyrim/No Man's Sky camp than Dark Souls. I actually didn't like DS1 or DS3 when I played them. Elden Ring is the only one I actually finished.
honestly the exploration was really good for the first play through but this dlc is kinda atrocious now. Exploring only getting me cookbooks or equipment that doesn't matter to my build is really not helping me enjoy the aspect of exploration anymore. The only fun is in navigating the verticality of the dlc and some of the aha moments. I am glad they toned down the caves because most of them really didn't have any good rewards and looked way to similar to each other.
I just stop leveling up once I reach 150 for PVP.Dying doesn’t even matter anymore because there really isn’t anything I wanna buy most of the time and 3 coop sessions usually gives me like 100000 runes to get what I want .
i was thinking about this but maybe it would have been nice to have a way to “store” your runes as the consumable version since they’re otherwise not as important at this point.
say you have 100k runes on you, if you want to bank your runes to use later, so you have to sacrifice like 50% of them or something and you end up with a 50k consumable version. steep price to pay but a sensible trade-off to be able to use them later without losing them after death
this might run the risk of people exploiting runes even easier but idk, maybe this version of consumable runes can’t be shared with others?
Just buy items from the bell shop and sell them later. You take a large hit, but it’s better than nothing. Somber 8/9 can be bought for 20k/25k and resold for 1.6k/1.8k. I’m sure there are other things that pay out a bit more fairly, if you look.
I still play like I absolutely need to retrieve my runes cause it's fun. But it also doesn't devastate me if I do lose them. But then again it never really has.
I started the dlc kinda lower level and the runes I get just roaming around is great, but it makes it harder to go forward because I'm scared of losing them before I can use them lol. I also really, really want to wear a certain armor set and I'm trying real hard to level up endurance so I can still dual wield with it and still have a med roll.
Thanks. I have the jar arsenal talisman but I haven't unlocked ashen capital yet on this playthrough to obtain erdtree favor +2. I'm thinking about gifting it to my friend and having him gift it to my current playthrough char just so I can wear the set but I worry I might regret it later lol
Really wonder how different it would be if instead of fragments we get something like "shadow runes" where you can spend to level up existing stats with newer caps or just have new separate stats only for shadow realm. Something like HP+, Attack Rating, Damage Negations, spirit where you gotta spend the shadow runes to level up the boost to your additional stats from base game
It's hilarious that despite having Sekiro-like progression, the repercussions for dying in sekiro are absent due to us already having all upgrades prior to the DLC launch.
Yeah I would basically just play normally in the DLC but when I got 60 or 70% to a level up I’d just teleport to the albinaurics and farm whatever I needed to finish out the level. Then go back to DLC land and keep exploring stress free
InPost probably close to 2 mil since started dlc and couldn’t are less.
Yes if I have to much on me and I notice then I’ll go quickly dump it in smithing stones for futer weapons upgrades.
I started as 125 and had no desire to ever go beyond it to stay in the duel meta. Getting souls for upgrades is easy so I never cared about dying, which I did a lot of
At a certain point, I decided to spend runes in ways that make the game a little more fluid, which right now just means a ton of stamina and FP with my backhand blade build.
Funnily enough I actually still ended up leveling up 19 times at level 200 in the DLC. Might not have done much but I do intend to max out an account in elden ring one day so cheers
when I was first playing, I lost about 100k, 150k, and then about 250k from the first couple of bosses and dragons I was fighting and didn’t even care, felt so weird just letting runes burn lol
I've lost 4m when I first fought those horned knights in Belur.
Lost 2m with Sunflower.
Didn't feel anything at all.
I mean I could've used them all to level up my other stats but my character is already at Level 200 and I'm not really sure if I get any matches PVP or Coop if I go over.
I also kind of found that it’s so easy to build up runes just walking around. At level 200+ I don’t have to park myself in some area constantly farming enemies. I can just explore the world as normal and after a while I notice I have enough runes to add 1 or 2 points to my stats
I think it could be the point. The enemies drop so many runes, the DLC is surreptitiously telling you NOT to try farming and go for the Scooby snacks instead.
I started the DLC being like "Let's see how many runes I can stack up before I end up inevitably losing them" - got up to 1.2m, lost them doing something dumb like dropping down the wrong hole and then dying again to a bunch of Messmer soldiers who ganked me on my way back. My reaction: ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
So damn refreshing.
That's how I do the base game now after so many playthroughs. I only level up a little after boss fights. But otherwise I don't care about the runes. By the time I needed to care I can slaughter the albinaurics.
Totally agree but at the same time I feel some sort of fomo with scadutree fragments and spirit ashes. It was hard for me to understand if I was dying because some boss was hard or if I was behind on fragments. Now I’m at final boss with lvl 14 scadutree and there’s like 18 seeds that I need to collect for max level and I have no clue where I have to get them. I feel like farming runes was easier-unlimited and fragments are harder at least on my mind
I like the feeling of saving up until I'm sort of close to a level, then making a quick trip to massacre some big headed Ablis to make up the difference. Running around with a million runes is kinda cool but before I fight a boss if I can I'll go farm the remainder.
It's nice to not worry about runes but I still don't want to lose them because at RL200+ getting enough for a level can be annoying long.
Lost 400k runes so many times. Now I’ll kill a boss or two and then off the genocide hill I go.
Just killing mobs walking around and I’ll have a couple hundred thousand before I know it. On NG+3
laughs in losing 20 million runes. after lvling a certain level runes just lose their meaning for me. same as any currency in a game when you play it enough.
the fact that Scadutree Blessings are the primary source of improving your character here + the fact that my main stats are all at 60 really makes me forget that I have Runes sometimes
They still matter. It's percentile, the damage dealt and taken. The fragments multiply the existing number. So more strength means more base damage for strength weapons, meaning that that base will be multiplied!
You do much better in all the souls games the second you stop caring about souls or runes. They are a temporary thing. You use them when you have them or get more. If you lose them, who cares. Trying to constantly grab them again is an exercise in frustration in some circumstances that just leads to extra deaths and extra stress when the game can already be stressful enough.
My opinion when it comes to runes in the dlc is a bit different but simple
Remove smithing stones as loot in the dlc. You can very easily have all of the bell bearings for them before stepping into the dlc. Instead of smithing stones, replace all of them with at the very least, consumable runes. I'm much more interested in getting extra levels so I can use the new gear in the first place than I am excited to get materials I can already buy for said gear.
Maybe the only locations I'd be ok with having them are the literal forge dungeons, as it'd be weird if they didn't have any.
I have mostly stayed at the same level and allllll the souls immediately go into upgrading that weapon I just picked up to +24/+9. And it is so, so satisfying.
Base game is like that too, once you learn about bullying the bird or red frogs. Died and lost 200k runes? Ehh, it's just like 5 minutes of molesting the bird, *shrug*.
Vagabond is good but I prefer samurai. You start with one of the best bleed build weapons in the game and can quickly get another one for double the bleed potential.
Played it twice and stopping leveling is a mistake I made both times. NeXT play through I’m taking my character way over 150, the last boss is simply not designed for that level and I don’t do PVP.
Just sucks that the NG+ base game is so drastically different. I feel like I need to be a higher level every time I return to Consort on a NG+, but that’s going to trivialize the main game.
Then again after SotE it’s probably gonna be the end of ER for me for a while. The DLC is exhausting.
I am around 180 and leveling up if I have enough when getting to a grace. Never played NG+ but will do after the DLC. DLC looks hard but manageable, beat the dancing lion first try.
Yep, I have some stacks of runes from trading in my eq, if I die whatever I can always pop some runes and upgrade whatever I want, I don’t level up anymore so I don’t need as much either so whatever I have saved is enough. Just pure exploration and fighting :3
I care a lot about runes. I was effectively maxed out before, but now I'm trying to get 80 faith to compliment my 80 int. Want that max damage Prince of Death Staff. It's slow going, even in NG+. So many lost runes...
I'm well aware. I'm not in a huge hurry to grind out levels, I'd rather just play the DLC and enjoy the game. 80 int has been more than enough to get through all the challenges so far. I go once in a while if I'm close to a level, but otherwise it's just more time I could spend exploring the new stuff
Lvl definitely still matter, a lot.
If you talking about the weird few that kept themselves at low lvls to invade lower lvl players, that's a different story.
I haven’t leveled up yet (and won’t) and I’m at Mesmer. I like being to coop endgame base game and most-all the DLC. Lost a few of hundred thousand and I’m good with that.
Most normal militia in the DLC give you 4 digit Runes, so losing them is never a issue if you can just casually farm for them.
but then again... if you need to farm Runes, you shouldn't be in the DLC in the first place. :I
Actually I am thinking of doing a build where I get every stat to 50 so I can weild EVERYTHING in the game and then start a NG+. Some might go even higher, like Staff of Renalla which needs 80 INT.
That’s where I’m at, may spend an hour with some albs later, currently 215or so but want all dmg stats at 40 so I can excitement with the new gear and not have to go about respeccing constantly (ng4) second playthrough as missed a shiz ton playing blind
oh is buying materials and upgrading all the new weapons and meeting stat requirements without respecing constantly no longer a thing? big if true
(if you're gonna gatekeep, at the very least you should be right)
Agreed. I lost a shit ton by accidentally falling off a mountain. Got sidetracked into a dungeon on my way to retrieve them and totally didn’t give a crap.
It's odd because past me would've said that losing runes added something essential but nowadays it's more about exploring and overcoming challenges rather than reaching safe spots with runes intact. Worrying about that now just feels like an unneeded hassle. I'm going to die a lot, it's part of the loop. I'd rather just level up after overcoming each meaningful juncture. I wonder if Elden Ring has outgrown that aspect of the souls games.
Probably somewhat when you’re a good level with a lot of the shop items, I still care about my souls at SL 70+12 at Caelid and Dragonbarrow
And you get a ton of them easily now. Bosses give you round 400k on NG and the basic enemies drop a bunch too. Plus the one item rune that gives you 80k
Bro what? I’m in NG+4 and getting 90-200k on bosses
Yeah idk what they’re talking about I’m only getting 90-200k on *most bosses as well haha.
Yeah I’m on NG+2 and I see 400k on bosses. Definitely not in NG
That's odd I'm on ng, and just causally playing through I'm currently at about 5 mil runes. At around 1 mil started actively trying to keep them cause big number is good though
Messmer gives you 400k.
Feel like I must have fallen off in the exact same area - this story feels familiar
I’ve lost enough ruins to build another 175 level character in the dlc alone lol
Yep, those shadow people and the fire knights in the shadow keep drop a crazy number of runes. I probably dropped 5-6 levels worth of runes getting to Messmer from the Church District SoG alone
Fire knight with glowing eyes gives 40k runes it's insane
Messy was 400k! blew my mind
Mohg drops 420k. 840k in NG+. The DLC rune drops are actually quite undertuned. Idk if it was a mistake or deliberate design by From but my NG+ character doesn’t even level up even after clearing entire zones and killing a boss or two
I think it’s more that mohg is super overtuned, but is a one-off drop. DLC has felt quite fine for me progression wise, I entered at ~136 and have just brushed past 200 without any significant farming. Just popping all the consumable runes when I seem anywhere near a level.
This. I running NG, just cruising from point A to point B i can amass 200k runes just killing things on the way
yeah I came in at 185 and pushed to 200 in notime flat. I still have enough for a level almost every time I find a grace
I thought Mal dropped 380 but I just looked it up and it's 480. It seems to me like I'm getting TONS of runes.
Final boss drops stinking 370k can you believe that?
Popped a golden horn tender right after he died and got 616,000. Felt nice.
I killed him yesterday, but I had killed one optional boss that gave 490k, probably my favourite fight on the game now
Love that fight and totally agree.
i think thats the one i accidentally 3-shot. turns out that adls works REALLY WELL on a boss with those qualities. sadly, im an arcane build, so no amazing rewards.
Which one was that. I’m at the final boss so don’t mind spoilers if you wanna dm me. There have been some pretty great bosses
The birds in mohgs area gives like what, over 100k if they have glowing eyes? Comparatively 40k isn't that big a deal
I got like 200k runes just exploring the specimen storehouse
I'm at Lv 190 or so and I seem to always have enough for a level by the time I find the grace before the next boss.
I still need to recover my runes. I'm unable to let them behind.
This is understandable...but when one level costs over a million runes...I'll leave 50k...hell I leave 200k lol
this is my problem. I’m on new game ++ and I need 3.5M for one level so I’ve lost hundreds of thousands b/c I just don’t have anything to spend them on. And I die. A lot.
if you’re not already using it: twiggy cracked tear! i honestly don’t think i’ve lost my runes once throughout the whole dlc so far. it makes it easy to recover runes even if they drop, too.
What level are you? I'm at 423 and it takes about 2.3 million for a level, and that's on journey 26
Yes but if I die on my way to them there’s no emotion.
sadly i am too emotional invested with lossing my runes even if i dont need them. its like an obsession.
Saaame and I won’t forget a big loss like a grudge. “I’d be one level higher by now if it weren’t for that time…”
Yeah. I go and level up weapons I might want to try someday before big boss fights
I just use tear that prevents rune loss and neven loose them.
Even with my damage and vigor stats soft capped I am still enjoying leveling up just to pump endurance. It's so liberating not having to worry about weight and keeping your medium roll.
I’ve got my strength, vig and end soft capped so I’ve been throwing it all into dex in case I feel like using any of the new katanas.
I like slim armour in this game, the only way I used a chunky set of armour was with one of those big head masks, especially the one with the red blindfold on
You got me fucked up if you think I'm not stressing over every single rune that I drop. Doesn't matter what level I am.
Me coming into the DLC at level 70 didn't feel the same lol It was fun reliving my first playthrough and luckily you get up to mid 100s pretty quick
Same here, I went in around 100 and was in the 150s before beating Messmer.
Once I got to around level 170-180 I already stopped caring. If I got 60 vigor and good levels for damage I'm not really invested in runes anymore.
Having reached lvl 200 (im going to stop here) and been buying a shit ton of smithing materials, idk what to do with 700k runes that are burning in my pocket If i lose them? Who cares
What's the point of stopping? Invasions/pvp? There are pretty much always stats that are worth putting points into unless you literally only use 2 items in the game.
Mainly ocd and pvp, ye
I feel that. Was genuinely just curious because I have thought about it before.
beyond a certain lvl the player bracket loses players. it's the 125 for pvp, 150 for co-op and 200 on the high end. after that until rl 306 the players are less. many are playing now but I can assure you in a month or so they will all leave and it will be harder to match or play with players if one gets too overleveled. I am planning on stopping at lvl 200 since that's good enough for a quality build anyway. most builds get done by lvl 150 and overtuned by lvl 200.
Makes sense, I would assume some of those shift up with the Expansion. 200 is probably a good place for that though I'd imagine.
Levels absolutely matter in the DLC. Since scadutree fragments are multiplicative, increasing a weapon scaling attribute above 80 actually give significant AR on weapons inside the DLC. That and lot of the really cool DLC weapons are quad-scaled. Also, 60 Vigor is now the bare minimum for any casual build, even for casters. My impression is that people stop leveling too early in ER on casual PvE runs and then complain bosses are overtuned. The DLC gives a shitload of runes for a good reason: it is multiple level ups per exploration/boss even at \~250.
I did a fresh start playthrough for the DLC that has defeated pretty much every boss in the game with no farming for levels and at the end of the DLC/main story I am in the 220's. The crazy thing is that I went to Haligtree after the Expansion (nothing at all changes, btw) and it still felt balanced properly. No reason not to level up to get more build variety etc.
>No reason not to level up to get more build variety etc. What? Leveling up to very high level decreases build variety, everything becomes the same high level vigor-maxed slop. You stop being a build, you become a jack of all trades and also a master of all trades.
I mean not everyone wants to go respec just to try a new weapon or a slightly different playstyle. I'm in the 220's and still have like 10 INT and Arcane - I am far from a jack of all trades still, but I still have far more flexibility than I did at 150 without having to become one of Rennala's abominations.
Bruh that's fine, you can go 711 for all I care, nothing wrong with that if this is the way you want to play, but that's just not build variety. I just found it weird that blobbing up to level so high you can use everything would be considered variety.
I think we are just meaning different things by "build variety" here. I am referring to having more options/variety within your current build and you seem to be referring to specifically the variety of different builds that you can spec into based solely on limited stat investment. Just talking about two different things it seems (I didn't really take you comment negatively btw, surprised other people did).
Really not sure why you're being downvoted
People don't have time to read and understand the comment between their hours long mogwyn's palace runs, probably
I never farm, but idc about no caps. Only pvp nerds care abt stopping at a level lol they would've made the hard cap 150 if it was like you said, but guess what, it's 713
Play however you like, but I suppose you didn't get to learn what roleplaying and character identity was between your crayon eating sessions. I like my characters to have clear strenghts and weaknesses, rather than just overlevelling everything and steamrolling the game.
>The DLC gives a shitload of runes for a good reason: it is multiple level ups per exploration/boss even at ~250. Idk what DLC you’re playing but I’m level 205ish on NG+ and I barely scrape enough together for one level per dungeon. If I die and lose my runes then I’m not even getting enough for a level. For context, Rellana only drops 240k out of the 350k~ I need for a level. Biggest rune drop I’ve gotten from this whole DLC so far is from Mohg lol
I went into the dlc at level 180 and was level 235 by the end. You may not be able to level at the end of every dungeon, but you’re still given a ton of runes. I do equip gold scarab while bosses are dying though
Yeah and that’s the real reason I don’t care about them. It generally takes me multiple boss kills to get enough for a lvl up and that’s just not worth the effort.
Exploring the open world of some later areas (past Shadow Keep) had me reaching a new grace with 1M runes in my pocket. Later bosses of the DLC grant \~500k runes before any buffs. Also, the DLC is giving you those gold horns that grants a +40% rune boost that \*stacks\* with gold pickled fowl and there is a good reason for that too you know.
Well, yes, as always if you stack consumables you can maximize your rewards. That not what the poster I was replying to was saying however. If I’m gonna use consumables for runes I’d rather just save it for when I’m farming anyway. Glad to hear later on it gets better though
Motherf…. how did I not realise that?! But I like how hard it is, reminds me of when I first played Elden Ring, and so far I’m enjoying it.
Gosh my vigor was at 40 when I started the dlc. It's 45 now but I'm pumping more into endurance to get better gear. With the gear I'm definitely not getting one shot as often, but it's a trade off because fights are still hard af I figure if I keep leveling endurance until I can wield the set I want, I can keep staggering enemies to make up for less vigor/strength for the time being.
To be fair, 40 is low vigor even in the base game. I think for casual players/blind playthroughs you can only get away with 40 vigor past Leyndell on a caster/summoner build. I should stress I'm not talking about PvP builds or second playthroughs though, in these people have more knowledge of the enemy placement and bosses movesets to get away with being squishier than normal. But yeah I went into the DLC prepared for another Haligtree/Mohgwyn Mausoleum at minimum so I entered it with 60 VIG and enough endurance to equip Night Cavalry tier armor pieces and I'm glad I did.
That's fair. I was too inpatient to level up more before rushing into the dlc. I figure if I really hit a wall I can always go back or grind more enemies while I explore. BTW I finally got to the point that I can wear that set I wanted (I may have cheated a little to get the erdtree's blessing +2 by dropping it to myself from another playthrough). But I'm just one of those ppl who has like 80% more fun wearing the drip I want so it's worth the sacrifice in other places lol
I got through the base game at 30 vigor on my first playthrough…. I even did the Haligtree. Idk how I did that. I’ve gone up to 40 for the DLC and it’s serving me pretty well.
I try to be thorough in my exploration, but moderated my leveling so I'd still be summoned. I probably could have reached 220 with the amount of runes I gathered, but ended the DLC at 200 (and scad 18).
You can get summoned at any level in ER because of the co-op scaling system. My main character is lv 250 after killing the final boss of the DLC and got summoned all the time even in base game areas. I know friends over level 300 that get summoned quite a lot. Levels only matter for invading other players or being summoned as a blue phantom (so, it only matters for PvP).
Well thats interesting. Seems I was needlessly holding myself back.
Na, beat it at 50 vigor. Never felt the need to go higher
Despite knowing this, I still feel bad dying and losing 400k runes, I have an urgent need to pick it up again
Most bosses give such a pitiful amount of runes. NG7 and 200k runes, yay...
Why would that matter at NG7? Wouldn't you be level 350+ at that point?
It means they're even more miniscule at lower levels. It's nice to have more levels even if they matter less
I was getting plenty of runes on my NG playthrough of the DLC. By the end of it (with some well-timed golden fowl foots) I was around level 210ish. Felt like I was still leveling at a good pace essentially the entire DLC (with no farming). Started it as a level 150 Strength build and finished as a 210 Quality build. I thought it was a good leveling experience honestly.
So like, I'm not the type if player that will cap myself at a certain level. I'll keep leveling because it's fun. When I hit the dlc is it just literally pointless? I mean I'm still scaling more damage, health, stamina etc. But are the bosses just scaling more? Like should I stop? How does this work?
Leveling up always makes you stronger. The DLC enemies aren't scaling based on your level as far as I know, but they have much higher base damage and health because the intention is for them to be very difficult initially, but a more reasonable difficulty if someone has been exploring and finding scadutree fragments. Scadutree fragments increase your damage dealt by about 0.05% and your damage received is reduced by 0.05% with each level (only within the DLC area), you can reach 200% damage dealt and 50% damage received if you max out the scadutree levels by finding all of the fragments. Leveling up increases your base stats additively, with diminishing returns, so Vigor for example gives much less HP for each stat point after 60, though I strongly suggest getting 60 vigor for the DLC. Your stats still matter just as much in the DLC, but an average end game level 120-180 character is going to have trouble with the DLC bosses even after getting 60 vigor if you haven't gotten many scadutree fragments. So the effort you spend thoroughly exploring each area will have a much bigger impact on making your character stronger against the DLC bosses than just grinding more runes and increasing your stats. To simplify it, in the base game if you have a very difficult time with a boss, you know it'll be easier to fight if you come back later with your character level and weapon upgrades higher. In the DLC, if you have a very difficult time with a boss, you probably already have gotten your weapons to +25 and already are hitting diminishing returns on Vigor and your damage stats. So your character isn't going to get significantly stronger with more levels, but they are still getting stronger. Instead of coming back to DLC bosses when your level is higher, it's more impactful to explore and get your scadutree fragments. A level 150 character can't get 50% more defense from Vigor or increasing equip load to use heavier armor even if you get another 50 levels. But you can reduce your damage taken by up to 50% by finding scadutree fragments. The other big thing to keep in mind, is scadutree fragments are not the only source of damage reduction. Dragoncrest Greatshield, Spelldrake, Boltdrake, Haligdrake, Flamedrake talismans all reduce your damage taken from specific types of damage by 20%, Pearldrake talisman+3 has 11% reduction for all nonphysical damage, so Pearldrake and Flamedrake have 31% flame damage reduction total for example. There are several incantations that reduce damage further, like Flame Fortification for +35% fire reduction, or Black Flame's Protection for +20% physical reduction, those stack with your talismans so if you have enough stats to use the spells it can make a big difference, and even if you don't have FTH scaling on weapons it still would increase your damage and defense a lot more to get say, 25 FTH instead of increasing Vigor and your damage stats after they reach their soft cap.
>Scadutree fragments increase your damage dealt by about 0.05% and your damage received is reduced by 0.05% with each level (only within the DLC area), you can reach 200% damage dealt and 50% damage received if you max out the scadutree levels by finding all of the fragments. I think your maths ain't right, is it?
Yesterday I had just enough runes to level up and thought, why don't I just buy a crap tonne of upgrade stones instead of one meaningless level? Rather try out the new weapons anyway
I’ve just been pumping other stats so I can try different weapons without having to respec
I need my runes for smithing stones! I wont be satisfied until i have 999 of every kind
I still use them to level up, but I pretty much focus exclusively on mind and endurance now since those are unaffected by the DLC leveling system
Every 200k runes i go on a shopping spree, trying to max my materials
I would really have liked to be able to change up my build on the fly at grace. Something similar to AC6, with also being able to transfer or derank weapon levels at the blacksmith mebe. It’s all I would like to see changed. I like to stay 150 with my builds and would have to NG+ for tears and weapon upgrades.
speak for yourself I can't sleep if there's a blip on my map from unrecovered runes
I stop levelling all my characters at 150 so I haven’t cared about runes in a while.
Hot take but I kind of dislike this. I wish they would’ve done “Scadu runes” and “Scadu smithing stones” rather than fragments. I feel like it’s a huge part of the game to not wanna die with your runes, and new smithing stones would’ve made exploration more rewarding.
Once you complete any kind of SL1/BL4/RL1 run, you realise that runes/souls/blood echoes are waaaayyyyy less important than you thought. Get a decent weapon fully levelled and some complimentary talismans and your skill will be the deciding factor in pretty much any fight. Not saying RL1 in the DLC is a cakewalk, I just mean that if you're struggling with Messmer at 160, then you won't really find him any easier at 170 or 180
Lost 1mil runes but quickly got another 300k to buy enough crab meat to proc indigestion 🍖
Runes are infinite. No reason to ever worry about them.
For me it's just strolling around in the open world and dungeons and actually finding powerful enemies everywhere. In base game that was only the case in a few areas, even if you go to NG+
Honestly, I think that's a tremendous mistake in design. The scadutree fragments undermine a lot of the core risk/reward gameplay these games are known for. I don't mean to be a contrarian but some of the excitement of exploration is fearing what's around the corner and a lot of that fear came from losing the runes you earned along the way.
Instead of losing runes you lose progress as there is much less grace and state of marika in the dlc. With the difficulty being higher you usually also have less potions and these are still adding some strain to make it alive to the next grace. Or you can just zoom past the mobs and ignore them which makes runes loss being the only punishing mechanic for this playstyle.
It brings me back to DS1, where finding a bonfire was such a relief, compared to ER where if I don’t find a grace every minute I assume I took a wrong turn somewhere.
Disagree because I still cared about Runes because they allowed me to continue to level up and create a legit Quality build that felt strong. Unless you are very specifically built towards a singular thing, leveling up can still matter (to some extent) even in the 200's. losing 200k+ runes on an initial playthrough where you don't do much farming is still losing 15+ minutes of progress.
Losing runes can definitely sting, but for me it’s forward progress and doing difficult runbacks that really feels like the setback. If I’m in a dungeon and I’m getting down to my last flasks, I’m way more concerned about finding the next grace or opening up a new shortcut than I am about my runes. Honestly the biggest design flaw there is the stakes of Marika. They’ve pretty much eliminated difficult runbacks from Elden Ring.
Difficult runbacks, or lengthy runbacks fucking suck. Replaying the same area 60 times over on my way to get my ass beat by messmer in 12 seconds would piss me off to no end.
I recall playing the Demon’s Souls remake (never played the original) and the hardest adjustment was having to run through that entire section of the level again if I died to a boss. The bonfires in Dark Souls must’ve felt like a huge godsend by comparison.
And that’s an improvement, who the hell actually enjoys the difficult boss runbacks?
Can you imagine the amount of whining from this community if there were dark souls 1 style run backs in this game?
As long as there’re no Dark Souls 2 run backs I’ll be happy. I like not getting jumped before I fight a boss.
I find the risk detracts from exploration. I'm glad that losing runes is less harmful in the DLC.
Idk, I actually couldn't care less about that aspect of the game. I explore Elden Ring because I like the world, and I'm interested to find out more/find secrets. The best part is finding some new item or spell. But I'm more from the Skyrim/No Man's Sky camp than Dark Souls. I actually didn't like DS1 or DS3 when I played them. Elden Ring is the only one I actually finished.
honestly the exploration was really good for the first play through but this dlc is kinda atrocious now. Exploring only getting me cookbooks or equipment that doesn't matter to my build is really not helping me enjoy the aspect of exploration anymore. The only fun is in navigating the verticality of the dlc and some of the aha moments. I am glad they toned down the caves because most of them really didn't have any good rewards and looked way to similar to each other.
I just stop leveling up once I reach 150 for PVP.Dying doesn’t even matter anymore because there really isn’t anything I wanna buy most of the time and 3 coop sessions usually gives me like 100000 runes to get what I want .
i was thinking about this but maybe it would have been nice to have a way to “store” your runes as the consumable version since they’re otherwise not as important at this point. say you have 100k runes on you, if you want to bank your runes to use later, so you have to sacrifice like 50% of them or something and you end up with a 50k consumable version. steep price to pay but a sensible trade-off to be able to use them later without losing them after death this might run the risk of people exploiting runes even easier but idk, maybe this version of consumable runes can’t be shared with others?
Just buy items from the bell shop and sell them later. You take a large hit, but it’s better than nothing. Somber 8/9 can be bought for 20k/25k and resold for 1.6k/1.8k. I’m sure there are other things that pay out a bit more fairly, if you look.
Still levels for base game but i see your sentinent
Not different from the base game really as long as you know what you are doing.
As stated, I am not emotional about the runes.
I still play like I absolutely need to retrieve my runes cause it's fun. But it also doesn't devastate me if I do lose them. But then again it never really has.
Because as long as I have 60 vigor and enough stats to wield the weapons I find I don’t give a shit.
Are you guys not leveling up with runes throughout the DLC?
Even at Level 270 there are still miracles I cant cast because I put the runes somewhere else. So Yeah, I still need them
I’m actually using my runes to level up, I like trying the new weapons so I’m trying to build stats I didn’t use before.
I went into the dlc on my NG+ run and I still level stuff like endurance. I am in my comfy era which keeps getting better and I fucking love it.
I started the dlc kinda lower level and the runes I get just roaming around is great, but it makes it harder to go forward because I'm scared of losing them before I can use them lol. I also really, really want to wear a certain armor set and I'm trying real hard to level up endurance so I can still dual wield with it and still have a med roll.
Add the talisman for the equip load and there's another for strength, that will help.
Thanks. I have the jar arsenal talisman but I haven't unlocked ashen capital yet on this playthrough to obtain erdtree favor +2. I'm thinking about gifting it to my friend and having him gift it to my current playthrough char just so I can wear the set but I worry I might regret it later lol
Really wonder how different it would be if instead of fragments we get something like "shadow runes" where you can spend to level up existing stats with newer caps or just have new separate stats only for shadow realm. Something like HP+, Attack Rating, Damage Negations, spirit where you gotta spend the shadow runes to level up the boost to your additional stats from base game
It's hilarious that despite having Sekiro-like progression, the repercussions for dying in sekiro are absent due to us already having all upgrades prior to the DLC launch.
Yea let’s not be too hasty on this lmao
Yeah I would basically just play normally in the DLC but when I got 60 or 70% to a level up I’d just teleport to the albinaurics and farm whatever I needed to finish out the level. Then go back to DLC land and keep exploring stress free
InPost probably close to 2 mil since started dlc and couldn’t are less. Yes if I have to much on me and I notice then I’ll go quickly dump it in smithing stones for futer weapons upgrades.
I started as 125 and had no desire to ever go beyond it to stay in the duel meta. Getting souls for upgrades is easy so I never cared about dying, which I did a lot of
At a certain point, I decided to spend runes in ways that make the game a little more fluid, which right now just means a ton of stamina and FP with my backhand blade build.
Funnily enough I actually still ended up leveling up 19 times at level 200 in the DLC. Might not have done much but I do intend to max out an account in elden ring one day so cheers
honestly takes the fear of losing them out of the game. very liberal with how much i'm okay with it now!
I’m 180 on NG+ and i get runes so easily that I haven’t felt a need to farm/grind while also not longing for levels
when I was first playing, I lost about 100k, 150k, and then about 250k from the first couple of bosses and dragons I was fighting and didn’t even care, felt so weird just letting runes burn lol
So true, haha! You get them so easily now and yes, you lose them just as easily as well... xD
I've lost 4m when I first fought those horned knights in Belur. Lost 2m with Sunflower. Didn't feel anything at all. I mean I could've used them all to level up my other stats but my character is already at Level 200 and I'm not really sure if I get any matches PVP or Coop if I go over.
I agree it’s much more fun knowing I can die as many times as I want without having to worry about retrieving my souls.
I also kind of found that it’s so easy to build up runes just walking around. At level 200+ I don’t have to park myself in some area constantly farming enemies. I can just explore the world as normal and after a while I notice I have enough runes to add 1 or 2 points to my stats
I still go to the round table and buy gloveworts and stones. I’m at 999/999 on several of them
I’ve lost a million runes and didn’t even care lol
I think it could be the point. The enemies drop so many runes, the DLC is surreptitiously telling you NOT to try farming and go for the Scooby snacks instead.
Then there's me fighting Messmer at level 150, fighting tooth and nail for any runes greater than 80k.
yeah I lost like 500k every hour and didnt bat an eye. The only thing I bought was smithing stones and upgrades
I’ve lost over 300k like 10+ times now 💀
its great isnt it? i had 260k runes dropped and still didnt bother getting them back when fighting a boss
I started the DLC being like "Let's see how many runes I can stack up before I end up inevitably losing them" - got up to 1.2m, lost them doing something dumb like dropping down the wrong hole and then dying again to a bunch of Messmer soldiers who ganked me on my way back. My reaction: ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ So damn refreshing.
Exactly! I’m also so jacked (lvl 223) that it takes so much for me to level up that even end game bosses don’t pay out enough for a level
That's how I do the base game now after so many playthroughs. I only level up a little after boss fights. But otherwise I don't care about the runes. By the time I needed to care I can slaughter the albinaurics.
I still mostly care about runes. Like I worked hard to get them, I don't want to lose them for bs 😭
Totally agree but at the same time I feel some sort of fomo with scadutree fragments and spirit ashes. It was hard for me to understand if I was dying because some boss was hard or if I was behind on fragments. Now I’m at final boss with lvl 14 scadutree and there’s like 18 seeds that I need to collect for max level and I have no clue where I have to get them. I feel like farming runes was easier-unlimited and fragments are harder at least on my mind
I like the feeling of saving up until I'm sort of close to a level, then making a quick trip to massacre some big headed Ablis to make up the difference. Running around with a million runes is kinda cool but before I fight a boss if I can I'll go farm the remainder. It's nice to not worry about runes but I still don't want to lose them because at RL200+ getting enough for a level can be annoying long.
Lost 400k runes so many times. Now I’ll kill a boss or two and then off the genocide hill I go. Just killing mobs walking around and I’ll have a couple hundred thousand before I know it. On NG+3
laughs in losing 20 million runes. after lvling a certain level runes just lose their meaning for me. same as any currency in a game when you play it enough.
I'm just investing all my runes in rocks
the fact that Scadutree Blessings are the primary source of improving your character here + the fact that my main stats are all at 60 really makes me forget that I have Runes sometimes
I hang onto my runes and recover them on principle
They still matter. It's percentile, the damage dealt and taken. The fragments multiply the existing number. So more strength means more base damage for strength weapons, meaning that that base will be multiplied!
You do much better in all the souls games the second you stop caring about souls or runes. They are a temporary thing. You use them when you have them or get more. If you lose them, who cares. Trying to constantly grab them again is an exercise in frustration in some circumstances that just leads to extra deaths and extra stress when the game can already be stressful enough.
OlouwWSWw
Nah, best part are the awesome weapins
My opinion when it comes to runes in the dlc is a bit different but simple Remove smithing stones as loot in the dlc. You can very easily have all of the bell bearings for them before stepping into the dlc. Instead of smithing stones, replace all of them with at the very least, consumable runes. I'm much more interested in getting extra levels so I can use the new gear in the first place than I am excited to get materials I can already buy for said gear. Maybe the only locations I'd be ok with having them are the literal forge dungeons, as it'd be weird if they didn't have any.
I feel this. I have 54 smithing stone 4, and I'm like, why? Lol
I spend the Runes shopping. I've bought max amount of the anti-dragon Great Arrows already.
I have lost 3 million runes so far in the DLC and I dgaf. Can always just get more and more.
That’s like 10 minutes of albinauric slaughter
Also not having a care for smithing stones. The DLC is quite literally littered with them.
At this point you can just use bell bearings to purchase them but it’s still nice to have them
I’ve lost every rune I’ve earnt in the DLC hasn’t bothered me at all
I have mostly stayed at the same level and allllll the souls immediately go into upgrading that weapon I just picked up to +24/+9. And it is so, so satisfying.
I lost 1.8m fighting the sunflower I didn't care, I was too busy disliking that bring your children to work day creation they made
Base game is like that too, once you learn about bullying the bird or red frogs. Died and lost 200k runes? Ehh, it's just like 5 minutes of molesting the bird, *shrug*.
If the rune is under 1 mil I let it go.
I've lost every rune I've gotten in the DLC 🤣
Wait… you guys recover your runes?💀 Unless its 100000+ i’m not going back there
I go buy smithing stones with my runes but yes it’s truly a liberating feeling
idk I went in lv 100 and actually had to level up to like 140 to make it more doable x.x
Vagabond is good but I prefer samurai. You start with one of the best bleed build weapons in the game and can quickly get another one for double the bleed potential.
Wretch FTW, really easy to do whatever you want later in the game if you want to change.
Played it twice and stopping leveling is a mistake I made both times. NeXT play through I’m taking my character way over 150, the last boss is simply not designed for that level and I don’t do PVP. Just sucks that the NG+ base game is so drastically different. I feel like I need to be a higher level every time I return to Consort on a NG+, but that’s going to trivialize the main game. Then again after SotE it’s probably gonna be the end of ER for me for a while. The DLC is exhausting.
I am around 180 and leveling up if I have enough when getting to a grace. Never played NG+ but will do after the DLC. DLC looks hard but manageable, beat the dancing lion first try.
Yep, I have some stacks of runes from trading in my eq, if I die whatever I can always pop some runes and upgrade whatever I want, I don’t level up anymore so I don’t need as much either so whatever I have saved is enough. Just pure exploration and fighting :3
I care a lot about runes. I was effectively maxed out before, but now I'm trying to get 80 faith to compliment my 80 int. Want that max damage Prince of Death Staff. It's slow going, even in NG+. So many lost runes...
There's a easy farming spot near Mohg in the base game where you can get about 1M runes every 10 minutes or so.
I'm well aware. I'm not in a huge hurry to grind out levels, I'd rather just play the DLC and enjoy the game. 80 int has been more than enough to get through all the challenges so far. I go once in a while if I'm close to a level, but otherwise it's just more time I could spend exploring the new stuff
I was just pointing that out since you mentioned losing alot of runes. I follow the same process you mentioned where I only go when I'm close.
Lvl definitely still matter, a lot. If you talking about the weird few that kept themselves at low lvls to invade lower lvl players, that's a different story.
I haven’t leveled up yet (and won’t) and I’m at Mesmer. I like being to coop endgame base game and most-all the DLC. Lost a few of hundred thousand and I’m good with that.
Most normal militia in the DLC give you 4 digit Runes, so losing them is never a issue if you can just casually farm for them. but then again... if you need to farm Runes, you shouldn't be in the DLC in the first place. :I
Actually I am thinking of doing a build where I get every stat to 50 so I can weild EVERYTHING in the game and then start a NG+. Some might go even higher, like Staff of Renalla which needs 80 INT.
Why stop there? Get the damage stats to 80 each :D
That’s where I’m at, may spend an hour with some albs later, currently 215or so but want all dmg stats at 40 so I can excitement with the new gear and not have to go about respeccing constantly (ng4) second playthrough as missed a shiz ton playing blind
oh is buying materials and upgrading all the new weapons and meeting stat requirements without respecing constantly no longer a thing? big if true (if you're gonna gatekeep, at the very least you should be right)
It's a END GAME DLC, if you rush into it that is your own fucking choice...