Spoilers Official Lords of the Fallen 2023 Disc [PS/PC/Xbox]

[deadshot138]

Another patch today. They buffed every boss, made the lock on better and nerfed PvP shitters with the one shot spells

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

Maybe I'll turn PvP back on. It's nice being left alone when PvP was so heavily favored to the invader.

Also started an umbrel run and made the mistake of doing it with a NG+1 run. I misread what they said about vestiges not disappearing until NG+3. Turns out they reduce them through each NG+ and on +3 you are down to just the one in skyrest. Not concerned about any of the difficulty but all the backtracking is going to be a bitch without a bunch of the fast travel locations.

 

[Valhoven]

About 60h in right now. No idea how deep (or not) I am into story but I'll throw some thoughts down in snapshot.

It has some of the most infuriating sections of any game: Cheap, peek-a-boo ledging plus enemy by swarm design in many places but more prevalent than even SotFS. And the crossbow marksmen are the Devil incarnate.

But – I am having so much fun. I play every day in hours-long sessions. A lot of care went into this game; you can see it in the many small innovations for a subgenre of game that prides itself on not changing. Reckon tinct collection cool too; some really change it up so it almost feels like a new char every time you re-stain your kit.

I very much like and appreciate the create-a-bonfire spin. One thorn for me there, however, has been the last seed consuming the former. It's gotten me into situations where I'm uncomfortable exploring one way because the vestiges are so far apart that I need the former seedling intact to help me remember things I still need do in the immediate area. It's cool albeit starkly different in how best, IMO, to play this game as a result.

Lock-on is much improved now. I switched to the new Proximity subsetting.

Grevious Strikes are so money. With headphones on, the audio and screen FX transport me there before mine enemy, and see him driven before me.

Such a kick-butt journey, honestly.

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

About 60h in right now. No idea how deep (or not) I am into story but I'll throw some thoughts down in snapshot.

It has some of the most infuriating sections of any game: Cheap, peek-a-boo ledging plus enemy by swarm design in many places but more prevalent than even SotFS. And the crossbow marksmen are the Devil incarnate.

But – I am having so much fun. I play every day in hours-long sessions. A lot of care went into this game; you can see it in the many small innovations for a subgenre of game that prides itself on not changing. Reckon tinct collection cool too; some really change it up so it almost feels like a new char every time you re-stain your kit.

I very much like and appreciate the create-a-bonfire spin. One thorn for me there, however, has been the last seed consuming the former. It's gotten me into situations where I'm uncomfortable exploring one way because the vestiges are so far apart that I need the former seedling intact to help me remember things I still need do in the immediate area. It's cool albeit starkly different in how best, IMO, to play this game as a result.

Lock-on is much improved now. I switched to the new Proximity subsetting.

Grevious Strikes are so money. With headphones on, the audio and screen FX transport me there before mine enemy, and see him driven before me.

Such a kick-butt journey, honestly.

I thought the snake crossbow enemies were the worst ranged enemies, until I met the fire wizards. They have a fire eruption spell they cast without line of sight, so ducking behind a corner to clear out trash mobs isn't a great strategy. I can't decide if they're the worst or tied with frozen sniper. They have camo so you can't lock on until very close, dodging the arrows will often still get you hit because they have a huge AoE ice effect that has a stamina reduction effect, and often come in pairs.

I'm still having a great time with this game on my 3rd run for an umbral ending, but the inflated difficulty with cheap encounters will be a welcome removal for a sequel.

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

Making my way through my umbral run and picked up a 3rd Nartun rune from the Sunless Skein and slotted it into my shield for additional Mana Regen. It bumps the Mana Regen high enough where I can keep invigorating aura up full time and still give slight Regen, enough to the point where I can also cast radiant weapon and fully recharge Mana before it drops, so I can effectively keep Aura and radiant weapon up full time with no Mana draw.

If I want to get really tanky and go toe to toe with bosses I will lay down a Sanctify, which puts down an AoE healing circle to regenerate even more HP. It does 46hp per tic and about 2 tics/sec. The Aura is doing 18hp/tic, so boosting my health Regen standing in the Sanctify to almost 130hp/sec. It can take me from low health to full in a few seconds and I can still dodge where using a healing flask keeps you vulnerable for a good chunk.

Pretty much never use any healing or Mana items at this point. Granted I'm super leveled at this point in my 3rd run, but for how frustrating the first run got after the half way point I dont feel bad being OP and smashing through areas. Especially with half of the vestiges gone.

 

[deadshot138]

About 60h in right now. No idea how deep (or not) I am into story but I'll throw some thoughts down in snapshot.

It has some of the most infuriating sections of any game: Cheap, peek-a-boo ledging plus enemy by swarm design in many places but more prevalent than even SotFS. And the crossbow marksmen are the Devil incarnate.

But – I am having so much fun. I play every day in hours-long sessions. A lot of care went into this game; you can see it in the many small innovations for a subgenre of game that prides itself on not changing. Reckon tinct collection cool too; some really change it up so it almost feels like a new char every time you re-stain your kit.

I very much like and appreciate the create-a-bonfire spin. One thorn for me there, however, has been the last seed consuming the former. It's gotten me into situations where I'm uncomfortable exploring one way because the vestiges are so far apart that I need the former seedling intact to help me remember things I still need do in the immediate area. It's cool albeit starkly different in how best, IMO, to play this game as a result.

Lock-on is much improved now. I switched to the new Proximity subsetting.

Grevious Strikes are so money. With headphones on, the audio and screen FX transport me there before mine enemy, and see him driven before me.

Such a kick-butt journey, honestly.

Glad you're enjoying it. Everyone who gave it a fair shake after a few patches has been rewarded

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

Made it to the final boss for my umbral run and holy shit is this boss overboard. Only tried her 6 times or so, but best I could do is 50%. Her HP pool is insane. Hitting her with a charged 2h strike does a fair amount of damage at like 1800ish hp, but it barely moves her bar. Then she splits in 2 and litters the battle field with lasers and chaff. My best run I took down her clone twice and that was when I get her down to 50%. Not sure if I’m going to put in the grind to clear this boss or move on to the next game.

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

Finally beat her this morning and got the umbral ending. Hot damn, what a piece of shit that fight was. I think it was a lot harder on NG+1, so really regret going for the umbral ending in the harder world. Read some threads on some of the bosses, and I guess in NG+1 some of the later game bosses get a huge boost in HP. I didn't really struggle with some of the late game bosses, but they were huge damage sponges, even with maxed out gear and refined builds hitting some of the hard stat caps.

I found that staying close was the key to bait her sword combo to prevent her from flying around the arena, and being conservative in mt attacks to to take some of the opportunities to punish to refresh buffs and Mana. With playing on the safe side, fight took like 10+ minutes, which is a long time with how much is going on tons of clones, lasers from across the arena, eyeballs flying all over, it made for a hugely stressful fight. Glad it's finally done.

 

[deadshot138]

Made it to the final boss for my umbral run and holy shit is this boss overboard. Only tried her 6 times or so, but best I could do is 50%. Her HP pool is insane. Hitting her with a charged 2h strike does a fair amount of damage at like 1800ish hp, but it barely moves her bar. Then she splits in 2 and litters the battle field with lasers and chaff. My best run I took down her clone twice and that was when I get her down to 50%. Not sure if I’m going to put in the grind to clear this boss or move on to the next game.

I beat it with a fire weapon and fire enchants. If I did it, you can too. Use the damage mitigation radiant spell.

 

[deadshot138]

Finally beat her this morning and got the umbral ending. Hot damn, what a piece of shit that fight was. I think it was a lot harder on NG+1, so really regret going for the umbral ending in the harder world. Read some threads on some of the bosses, and I guess in NG+1 some of the later game bosses get a huge boost in HP. I didn't really struggle with some of the late game bosses, but they were huge damage sponges, even with maxed out gear and refined builds hitting some of the hard stat caps.

I found that staying close was the key to bait her sword combo to prevent her from flying around the arena, and being conservative in mt attacks to to take some of the opportunities to punish to refresh buffs and Mana. With playing on the safe side, fight took like 10+ minutes, which is a long time with how much is going on tons of clones, lasers from across the arena, eyeballs flying all over, it made for a hugely stressful fight. Glad it's finally done.

Oh shit I didn't see this lol

 

[mb23100]

Finally got some time to play last night and killed the Judge Cleric. Really cool cinematic fight. One of the few times I've caught the Ms. watching me play a video game. So far I've really enjoyed the bosses in this game.

 

[Valhoven]

Finally got some time to play last night and killed the Judge Cleric. Really cool cinematic fight. One of the few times I've caught the Ms. watching me play a video game. So far I've really enjoyed the bosses in this game.

Agree. Something I remember about her was this arrogant gladiator bow she does after a certain move, having her raise her arms and eye an imaginary crowd from side to side. This was powerful, IMO, given her principal role in the game’s lore. So cool. Her remembrance drip is slick too.

I recall the runback from the vestige for her being annoying and she being a boss I actually used a seedling on just before the arena to spare me the headache.

 

[mb23100]

Agree. Something I remember about her was this arrogant gladiator bow she does after a certain move, having her raise her arms and eye an imaginary crowd from side to side. This was powerful, IMO, given her principal role in the game’s lore. So cool. Her remembrance drip is slick too.

I recall the runback from the vestige for her being annoying and she being a boss I actually used a seedling on just before the arena to spare me the headache.

I know exactly what you're talking about but I didn't realize that's what she was doing lol

 

[Valhoven]

The Platinum is crazy hard for this, IMO, even if you scum for endings. I've some 550 items and need collect threefold that? mindblown.gif I've explored tirelessly, farmed enemies for the stingiest drops, and have 100h in right now. Loved this game so much; might be a play and put away, then return some other time. Anyone here grab it? /crusader out

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

The Platinum is crazy hard for this, IMO, even if you scum for endings. I've some 550 items and need collect threefold that? mindblown.gif I've explored tirelessly, farmed enemies for the stingiest drops, and have 100h in right now. Loved this game so much; might be a play and put away, then return some other time. Anyone here grab it? /crusader out

I abandoned the plat when I realized that the collect all weapons/armor trophies were tied to online play, and I’m just not interested in grinding all of those items.

 

[mb23100]

finished the game with the "good" ending. No real desire to do another playthrough until they fix the jank

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

finished the game with the "good" ending. No real desire to do another playthrough until they fix the jank

It's actually pretty easy with the NG+0 option. I actually recommend NG+0 rather than doing NG+1 for the inferno and umbral endings due to the removal of vestiges makes back tracking a chore. There are some key vestiges left by beacons, so it's not terrible but it definitely slows you down a bit. Plus, going in at NG+0 you can absolutely smash your way through the areas and quickly unlock the endings. Some of the bosses in NG+1 got an absurd HP boost and turned them into a battle of attrition.

 

[Valhoven]

Wanted to share for incoming players something no-one tells you. This will up your pilgrimage immensely and save time.

You actually get a stealth item discovery boost when killing an enemy via soulflay. This will not display in-menu for char nor appear iconically below stat bars. For example, if you farm for the frostbite buildup rune Mhorem, you can spend hours figuring out in which fiefdom it exists (not hard), who drops it, then farming. Flay enemy soul rather, and have it in 1-2 tries. Prosper.

I can't stop playing this game.

/crusader out

 

[Dinkin_Flicka]

I'm the type of RPG player that hordes everything and tries to keep max items when possible. Even though soul flay charges are easy to recharge, I only ever used them on the item moths. I don't think I used them a single time on purpose during my 3 playthroughs. It probably made the first run a lot harder, but good ole' brute strength never runs out.

 

[Valhoven]

I'm the type of RPG player that hordes everything and tries to keep max items when possible. Even though soul flay charges are easy to recharge, I only ever used them on the item moths. I don't think I used them a single time on purpose during my 3 playthroughs. It probably made the first run a lot harder, but good ole' brute strength never runs out.

Hear you.

I've been that way about a core game elemental in wither. I get you can really build into it for DMG and grievous strike gains plus time manipulation and AoE, then there being a few choice WPNs like Jeffrey's Dagger to main or offhand – but really, it's a central combat mechanic I've paid little mind. Just like flaying and lamp recharging, I'd be unnecessarily adding extra steps for the sake of, just, using something that's there. Oxymoronically, I'd call it impractical utility.