Elden Ring

[X-SOLDIER]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1907085869669912632

Ironeye looks like he'll be a REALLY fun build. Excellent that they've made it possible to do Criticals with a Bow (at least for him, since I dunno if that was possible for anyone else, at least in the CNT and it seems like that might just be his passive or something that boosts his abilities with bows in general like how Guardian has some better movement with Shields).

His slide/wall-running seems like it's gonna be his Skill, and is a really good option for him to make space, or slip to the back of an opponent so that ranged attacks are better – which means he's potentially a bit of an unexpectedly good character for staggering & crits. His Ultimate has the range, and the slight delay to the line AoE around the shot will be interesting to see how that works in practice. The fact that both the initial hit AND the shockwave have a pushing knockback effect are really good for him, and something where I'm rather curious how that damage interacts with downed teammates, since it seems like it'd be a handy tool to push back opponents and allow your third player to more easily revive a downed teammate.


SUPER excited to have this ramping up the character stuff and building up towards release at the end of next month.

EDIT: Looks like his skills are different than expected: Passive is better drops, Skill is Creating a marked Weak Point.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1907811029821890830

It seems like he's set up with a niche for people who're intent on making runs REALLY focused around speed & efficiency, and given that his drops are a passive I'm now wildly curious how that passive stacks if you're running a 3-man Ironeye team. The Skill seems like with Wylder they'd be able to multi-stagger bosses REALLY effectively. Guardian just fits well with anyone as a tank. While Duchess's rewind damage can stagger break, it can't re-trigger a critical hit, so she's one that's sort of in a middle ground. While Recluse doesn't have the spacing or weapons to easily take advantage of staggers to Crit, staggering can instead set up for hitting a target with those BIG spells or Magic Cocktails that have a significant wind-up, are harder to track targets with, and/or lack super armor to pull off.

His Ultimate "pierces any defense" and I'm not really sure what that means in context of how the combat system works aside from meaning that it'd be good for guard-breaking enemies with shields – which feels like it might be a little bit niche. That being said, it makes me wonder just how high that damage burst from it is gonna be since it's got what seems like solid range and AoE to it.

Additionally:

The Switch 2 announced Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition

Aside from including the main game & SotE together – there're apparently 4 new armor sets, and new weapons (like the Matador-looking one shown), some new weapons, as well as the ability to customize a few different looks for Torrent (The trailer one seems to be all Carian Knight themed). Apparently that's also going to be available as content for other platforms as well when this is released, so QUITE curious to see how they integrate that new stuff, and if it's linked into any new NPCs or sidequests, which of the maps its in, etc.

Either way, it means more new lore descriptions as well, which is always a good time for me.




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[Cthulhu]

I'm just... whelmed by both Nightreign and Bloodborne 2 whatever it's called, I can't say I feel anything about either of them . Mind you that's also because they're both primarily multiplayer titles by the sound of it.

 

[Wol]

I would play The Duskbloods if it released on other platforms, really like the setting and characters.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I'm just... whelmed by both Nightreign and Bloodborne 2 whatever it's called, I can't say I feel anything about either of them . Mind you that's also because they're both primarily multiplayer titles by the sound of it.

I would play The Duskbloods if it released on other platforms, really like the setting and characters.

Insofar as The Duskbloods, it's the PvPvE that seems like it'll give that game a lot of variety given that it's rooted in the variety of roles & relationships that all of the players have with one another being heavily variable, but it's also what makes me a lot less inclined to go through the trouble of getting a Switch 2 just for that since the PvP stuff is what I like least about the Souls-type games, and I can't just give it a go without committing to a new system which I will almost be guaranteed to barely ever use.

It's an AWESOME setting and that's what makes it a bit frustrating, but that's also true of Bloodborne being a PlayStation-exclusive – but the advantage with Bloodborne is that it's still single-player viable, so that your ability to experience the game itself isn't just limited to being around when the community & servers are running (and who knows what that sort of future preservation looks like with Nintendo).

With Nightreign, it's only PvE – which is my favourite part of the Souls-type games, and even when the multiplayer servers and things die – You can still do it as single-player, but the challenge of that is a LOT larger than doing it in the 3-man multiplayer the way that it's designed. It's basically just like FFXV Comrades in that respect (though I don't know if they'll ever end up implementing bot NPCs to fill in the empty slots, since it'd be a lot more difficult to do that given how widely your approach & strategies can vary)


Speaking of which:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1912159475366088706

The Raider's Ult having a high-ground mechanic is unexpected and a pretty damn awesome use of the wall-climbing changes. I cannot WAIT to see both Ironeye & Recluse teaming up with him to use that for superior ranged attacks where it protects things that would have long cast times from being easy targets. I think that his ult in particular has a colossal amount of value for me being primarily focused on being a Recluse player, and of the new characters thus far, I'm VERY excited to try out teams with him, because I think Recluse's Ult giving the HP/FP drain will pair together with his slower & very up-close BONK STICK playstyle.

Really looking forward to seeing what his other abilities end up being (the abilities breakdowns have dropped 2 days after these trailers), since his Skill seems to be some type of super armor punch, and I'd expect a Passive that boosts charge/jump attacks for him to be extra BONK weapon focused wouldn't be too surprising – but that's a bit harder to guess.



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