Dumb question time - what about upgrade materials? Is there a vendor that sells unlimited somber smithing stones or something? I’d love to try more builds in the future but I worry about having enough materials to actually upgrade weapons when I switch.
I’m still stuck. I’m not a particularly good player, but so far I’ve coasted through the DLC with my moonveil+mimic scrub build. Beat all other bosses and never had to attempt any of them more than three times. This final boss though, woof. I’m trying to decide if I want to completely re-spec to one of the cheese builds I’ve found on yt or test out some tweaks to my current character.
I also just discovered that upgrading your shield actually does make a difference to its defensive value through guard boost. I’ve been using a +0 shield the whole game 
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I agree with pretty much everything you mentioned. Bayle took a few tries for me as well, but in that case I had the feeling I was actually getting better at fighting him and the victory felt like an achievement in the end.
For the final boss of the DLC, it was as much luck as it was perseverance. In most attempts, he would just kill me with a combo of his gravity pull, letting the floor explode and then a 5-6 hit combo that ends in lots of golden beams. I don’t know how to survive that. Unblockable and undodgeable for me. And I had the most effective physical and holy damage negating charms equipped. Or when he rises up in the air and lets his golden beams rain down. Start sprinting a split second too late and you’re guaranteed to get hit. Most of the game was pretty easy coming from sekiro, but the guy at the end was just downright unfair imo. And no fun. Sekiro was hard af, but still good fun even in the hardest fights (except demon of hatred, f*ck that guy).
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lol, me too 
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My most satisfying moment in Sekiro was jumping onto that roof that makes DoH fall off of the cliff edge.
I am not above cheesing, under any circumstances.
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I didn’t know he could be cheesed like that. I beat him the regular way, but it took an ungodly amount of attempts and a bit of my sanity.
As you get towards end game you should be able to collect all the bell bearings you need to upgrade every weapon to +24 (regular) /+9 (somber). It’s just the Ancient Dragon / Somber Ancient dragon stones that you won’t be able to buy.
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Funny that it was my favorite fight in the DLC, maybe in the entire game. I went in unspoiled / blind and the entire mountainous area there was incredible. I also had an incredibly lucky run early on againt Bayle, using Waves of Gold and the Swordmaiden / Nightmistress summon (as well as Igon). The boss and arena design had me so pumped.
All that goes to say, you’re certainly right about build having a big impact on which bosses bother you. I struggled a whole lot against the big flower, and the final DLC boss was extremely tough as well, I did end up having to respec a couple of times to figure out something that worked.
In about a year I want to go back and do an ER /SotE playthrough from level 1. I’m afraid the magic won’t be the same but I still love the game so, so much.
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Finally beat it! Didn’t have to re-spec, just upgraded my shield, gave mimic tear some healing items (didn’t know that was a thing until just now), and learned to consistently dodge enough of the worst attacks to be able to power through.
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Awesome, this is helpful info. I actually simply didn’t check the proper bell bearing shop for regular stones. Turns out i can buy a handful currently 
Post-Liurnia Journey So Far
Before leaving, I gave Thops the second key. A friend told me to go look for him, so I did. I’m starting to realize just how true the “finishing peoples’ quests generally ends horribly for them” discussions online are. That one hurt, I liked him.
I went to Castle Redmane at Ranni/ Blaidd’s request. Beat Radahn in five tries, but I’ll admit I took the easy way out - summoning everybody while riding around in circles waiting for him to die and occasionally taking pot shots. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out the summon sigils respawn in random locations, which would have made things a bit quicker. The soundtrack for the fight was utterly incredible, something I’d listen to outside the game. Also learned how Alexander, uh, works and that was… something. Explored Caelid and northern Caelid a little more, but got my arse handed to me pretty handily in Dragonbarrow and left. I also pissed off Gurranq by attacking the big guard outside his temple, oops.
Returned to the Hold to meet what I assume is Dung Eater, holy hell that character is evil. I’m not easily unsettled but his writing and voice acting are sinister. Fia did her thing with the knife. Was absolutely not expecting that, what the hellllll. I knew something was gonna happen the way she said someone was gonna keep it in their heart, but not that.
Then I killed the Magma Wyrm, stumbled into Altus, let blonde lady teleport me to Volcano Manor, walked away from the agreement to kill people (might take them up later, idk), and made my way down to Nokron via the absolute crater Radahn created. The place is gorgeous, I don’t want to leave or do something that messes it up in the future. I also finally have a strike weapon - a flail from a cloaked horseman in Weeping Peninsula. It’s refreshing to use a weapon occasionally that doesn’t have a massive wind-up animation.
I’m hoping that Nokron might be where I find out what the actual hell is going on because I’m utterly bewildered plot and backstory-wise beyond the bare basics, even with reading item descriptions and thinking about things. I want to know, but don’t want spoilers.
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This is the way.
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I beat the final boss of elden ring. Fun fight, but it was a breeze after the final boss of the DLC 
All in all, it was a 10/10 experience. I wish I could wipe my memory of it and start again completely fresh. What a game!
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This is how I got past Elden Ring’s DLC final boss.
MY SHAME
I did that exploit where you hit him with big rot pots after sneaking around the arena while casting that invisibility magic and mimic veil.
Even then, it was pretty tricky and took several attempts. This was before the latest patch that tunes a few things. I’m not even sure if that fight got any better or not recently.
I know a lot of people were disappointed with the ending and I understand why now. I’m just glad/relieved to have finally finished that.
I’m firmly in the camp where that one fight in particular was just bogus. Everything else in the game felt like I could just git gud and overcome.
Going back to finish the main game again after all that was a cool winning lap.
Yeah! That Bayle fight was so rad! And I loved how ominous and dangerous the climb up to it was. Like a classic medieval fantasy story of a knight vs dragon but done so metal.
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I’m towards the end game of Dark Souls 3 (played Elden Ring/Shadow of the Erdtree then Bloodborne now DS3). The levels were great and it has been a solid ride but I’m realizing I just don’t care about the lore or the story at all. I’ve spend so much time now in the spin cycle of Freide, Nameless King, and the Twins that I have forgotten whatever plot there was in the game. Probably a natural thing and FS has certainly hooked me as I want more but I really care less and less about any of the plot the more of these games/bosses I play. As with everything, it would be great to wipe my brain clean and go back to that first taste,
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Soooo….Nightreign? Listened to a couple of play test videos and it at least sounds like fun!
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Nightreign looks interesting - but it does sound like quite a departure from the Souls or Elden Ring format. Sounds more like a boss rush type game for small group multiplayer. Not a bad thing, just a departure. Unfortunately, I’m such a massive fan of ER that I can’t imagine not purchasing Nightreign to try it, whether or not the format seems like something I want to play. I also haven’t been glued to any announcements or press about it. I watched the reveal trailer and that’s about it.
And From is very good at making games so I cant say I’m expecting to be disappointed or anything
Would love to know everyone else’s thoughts.
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sorry I tried to like the AC6 game but it was way too difficult and frustrating for me to get past first beginning boss level. I finished the Dark Souls games.
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First boss level has a trick to it. It’s meant to teach you to stay up in the air and move. Movement doesn’t have to be precise, you just have to be up there. If you are, it’s fairly easy.
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Polishing off my second (PS5) platinum trophy for Armored Core VI - loved getting the first (PS4) platinum so much that I had to do it again. It looks so good on PS5 in 4k, the levels load really fast and controlling my metal monstrosities feels even better on the PS5 controller.
The camera mode is so good on AC6 that I find myself pausing and admiring the graphics several times during a mission. I need to share my favourite snaps on here.
As for Nightreign… I have to say, it’s not for me at all! I find Battle Royale-style games a massive turnoff, so won’t be playing this. I’m sure it’s a fun, quirky and daring take on the formula, and I hope it makes FS enough money to work on exciting new single-player, story-led offerings.
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I also hope FS will deliver something as magnificient as Bloodborne or Sekiro again, but with Nightreign, i’m more and more afraid than the golden era is over.
I’m on the disapointed side of Elden Ring+DLC, despite all the many incredible elements.
I may be wrong, but NR seems to tick all the wrong boxes.
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