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‘Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree’ At ‘Mixed’ Reviews on Steam Because It’s Too Hard

DragonNCM

Member
Entered DLC full of confidence with my 325 lv character (NG+4), full geared with good build(I don't play easy mod cheesy builds or weapons).......first naked enemy with Backhand Blade's wiped my ass in 3 hits...ty Miyazaki.
FUCKING BEST DLC I ever played in my life!!!
No,no,no this is not DLC.....this is a fuckin full AAA game. Till now 76h full blind playthrough chasing side quests & enjoying explorations & killing bosses. Amazing value for your money.
Actually I'm like it more then Elden ring, DLC has perfect passing & length.
 
I've not got around to the dlc yet. I'm trying to complete octopath traveller 2 first.

My son is currently playing it and he says it's amazing. He says its super tough but very rewarding.

Sounds amazing to me!
Good for him! It is difficult for sure but I've not come across anything so far that was as difficult as Orphan of Kos or Maliketh the Blade, those two bosses were fucking horrible.

On another note, I don't see what all the complaining is about, its no harder than some of the other souls games or Sekiro. I have only come across one section so far where I used all of my flasks. Otherwise it has been fine and I'm no expert player by any means.
 

TrebleShot

Member
Entered DLC full of confidence with my 325 lv character (NG+4), full geared with good build(I don't play easy mod cheesy builds or weapons).......first naked enemy with Backhand Blade's wiped my ass in 3 hits...ty Miyazaki.
FUCKING BEST DLC I ever played in my life!!!
No,no,no this is not DLC.....this is a fuckin full AAA game. Till now 76h full blind playthrough chasing side quests & enjoying explorations & killing bosses. Amazing value for your money.
Actually I'm like it more then Elden ring, DLC has perfect passing & length.
Is this a parody? If not I sure hope so.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
I started the DLC with why the heck is this so hard!? Then it hit me... couse I'm in NG++

I don't think main game cycle has any effect whatsoever. Its all about the Scadutree items. If that's low for the area of the DLC you're in, you are going to deal less/take more damage.

Its one of the reasons I'm kinda luke-warm about the DLC, there's very little sense of progression from combat/exp. Its ALL about finding those items first, which essentially boils down to discovering the hidden routes into the later map sections.

Generally though its mainly hard in the way that Dark Souls 3 was hard; If you enjoyed fighting mobs like the Outrider Knights in DS3 with their endless mashy combo's, you'll love the DLC.
 

Kacho

Gold Member
Fucking hell. Is it really that bad and I mean I've seen people posting to TikTok how they're getting curb stomped right off the bat but wow lol

Honestly don't think they should dial down the difficulty. We had the January 6th Capitol riots. We'll get another from Elden Ring fans.
Ymmv

I’m just not in the right mindset to deal with it. Plus it’s summer so I’m out a lot. I think I’ll jump back in this winter.
 

Rivdoric

Member
Bad reviews are also about performance.
All from software PC releases are shit, and i'm a FS fan. Need to rely on mods to get basic functions like FPS unlock or ultrawide.
They are among top best selling studios now but still don't bother releasing a polished PC game.
I fully understand why people are mad.
 
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DragonNCM

Member
FromSoft games are notoriously hard. The first Elden Ring had loads of very difficult zones and fights. But it appears Shadow of the Erdtree may have broken a significant amount of players, even longtime veterans.

Almost every negative review cites the difficulty, with players complaining their stats or level is not protecting them from getting 2-3 shot by early enemies. Some deem it not fun, others say it’s so bad they’re just quitting outright. Here’s a small sampling of loads of these reviews:

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  • “The gameplay makes the game hard to recommend - spastic bosses with jerky roll-catch movements and a plethora of physically nonsensical moves make the bosses in this DLC hard to put up with….As someone who beat all the Fromsoft games with gimped Lvl1 characters for fun (the base game included), I'll be calling quits on this one.”
  • “While the world design and colors are really beautiful and a lot of enemy designs too, there's a big problem with balancing, right now even with 60 vigor you get bishotted by nearly every enemy that's not pure fodder.”
  • “I really want to like this DLC but those enemies and boss fights are the worst parts of the whole game. I'm genuinely surprised whoever play tested this approved the golden hippo boss fight.”
  • “Was able to beat it but the bosses were so overtuned and aggressive that even being almost maxed out with the Scadutree fragments didn’t make it any easier.”

"I love running for 20 minutes in an open area with absolutely nothing to pick up random consumables that I'll never use against bosses that are insanely tedious to fight. Very miserable experience," said one unhappy Tarnished.

"Game is literally unplayable," added another. "I've been trying since launch to open the game and I can't no matter what I do. I see many others having the same issue and there are no solid fixes yet just random individual fixes for every different person.Yes I have tried EVERYTHING."

"Kinda just feels like they just put all of the assets from the base game in a blender and hit pulse a few times," opined another disappointed player. "It is still fun overcoming the challenges, but I was hoping for more innovation out of this DLC and it's certainly not worth $40."

Source
Yeah...no more killing poor dragon for easy runes, respone him & killing him again & again & getting OP early so you can 3 hit bosses. This time you will need L2P for a change.
 

Dr. Claus

Banned
That’s his point.

You have to have a very specific build.

For me… gimme dem summons baby. Y’all are getting too wrapped up in this soloing thing

You don’t need a very specific build. It’s the opposite. The boss only punishes a handful of very specific builds. The vast majority of builds work just fine.
 

Raven117

Member
You don’t need a very specific build. It’s the opposite. The boss only punishes a handful of very specific builds. The vast majority of builds work just fine.
It really shouldn’t punish any build…. All should be viable. You literally have to go change your entire strategy if you are one of these builds it punishes… because…

I love Souls games (and Elden ring) but this is always my biggest issue and is incredibly irritating. (Monster hunter does this so much better… but, of course that’s a very different game)
 

JCK75

Member
I don't get the issue.. I mean I went into ER as a souls noob and it took me a whie but I eventually did everything there was to do..
going into this I died a few times.. it feels like when I started ER.. am I wrong in believing I should feel like I did at the start of ER when the DLC is a whole new adventure beyond the main game?
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
On level 180 with 50 VIG, so far it's challenging (as it should) but nothing impossible lol.
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Radahn Consort is funny. The second phase it's literally like a Super Sayajin vs Mr. Satan.
 
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Seems like every other Souls game as far as difficulty.

Learn the bosses move set by dying and trying again. Learn enough to roll and attack at the right times. Some bosses require you to change your tactics as well.

I
 

Mattdaddy

Gold Member
For all of my Souls gaming life Ive been fully into the dodge-roll style versus heavy armor and shield... but I have to admit this DLC made me change.

Im simply not good enough to make the dodge roll work on this one, the bosses are so hyper-aggro in your shit with giant spastic AOE attacks, I was just getting absolutely mopped.

I actually changed my build to go heavy armor and greatshield and started having way more success just tanking these fuckers and then getting in slow hits wherever I can. I just block everything and then get a quick hit or two in when they finally pause for a second. Its much slower and not sexy... but it allowed me to progress again lol.

Im also only doing this for bosses... Im still rocking dodge-roll with a two hander when just bopping around the world. But if youre hard stuck on some of these psycho maniacs, might give it a try. If you do though Id highly recommend that turtle talisman for fast stamina regen.
 

Tajaz2426

Psychology PhD from Wikipedia University
Some folks on here screaming that it is too hard and that they have beat all the games and complaining is ok.

Feeling like a newber all over again being told to get good. Oh the velvet knife hurts, feels good man but hurts in the heartish region of my chest because alas, I have told someone myself to “git gud”. The tragedy of it all.

I guess even some veterans are newbies again.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I still dont know why people still complain about difficulty, if you not in to difficult games then there are 1000 up on 1000 other games out there that are easy with easier difficulty option.

People just need accept the fact some games is just not for them,
 
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reezoo

Member
My 11 year old defeated Devine Beast Lion without summon, without shield, using only dodge/rolling & great katana. What these guys are talking about?
 
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Dr. Claus

Banned
It really shouldn’t punish any build…. All should be viable. You literally have to go change your entire strategy if you are one of these builds it punishes… because…

I love Souls games (and Elden ring) but this is always my biggest issue and is incredibly irritating. (Monster hunter does this so much better… but, of course that’s a very different game)
Not all builds are created equal and some builds are just objectively bad. It would be like putting all your stats into luck or running a party of only white mages.
 

Arachnid

Member

It is wild to me that these people got all the way through Mogh and still don't get it lmao

I think people just got comfortable with their late game builds destroying and got shook when they basically got reset to SL1. There are quadriplegics and women out here beating the DLC using their fucking minds lmao. Time to git gud again, scrubs.
 
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Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
My issue is not the difficulty so much as the limitations the DLC places on the player to mitigate the difficulty.

Bottom line is that these are RPG's, gear, stats and experience level is how the player makes things easier or harder on themselves; tying it so strongly to the number of special items they've found undercuts that severely.

Not to mention that it flies in the face of what the game's taught us elsewhere. Which is a pretty big deal considering how the whole Souls risk/reward formula is based on death costing us EXP which in the long run costs character growth, which means more difficulty moving forwards, yada yada.

The point is that in SOTE, EXP doesn't matter and therefore EXP loss basically doesn't matter either.

Not saying that's the worst idea ever, just that its different.
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
My issue is not the difficulty so much as the limitations the DLC places on the player to mitigate the difficulty.

Bottom line is that these are RPG's, gear, stats and experience level is how the player makes things easier or harder on themselves; tying it so strongly to the number of special items they've found undercuts that severely.

Not to mention that it flies in the face of what the game's taught us elsewhere. Which is a pretty big deal considering how the whole Souls risk/reward formula is based on death costing us EXP which in the long run costs character growth, which means more difficulty moving forwards, yada yada.

The point is that in SOTE, EXP doesn't matter and therefore EXP loss basically doesn't matter either.

Not saying that's the worst idea ever, just that its different.
Yeah souls really don’t matter except to purchase boss gear.

If your build is fucked you can just go to respec to fix.

I’m going to likely post my level/stats tomorrow night on here to see what people recommend to beat final boss the easiest.
 

ssringo

Member
Still working my way through. Not gonna weigh in on the difficulty but I will say that I felt unsatisfied after several of my boss wins. Like I didn't really earn it.

Luckily I backed up my save file before stepping into the DLC and will use it for a second playthrough.
 

Raven117

Member
Not all builds are created equal and some builds are just objectively bad. It would be like putting all your stats into luck or running a party of only white mages.
Sure, but you get my point. There are a handful of builds that are popular and viable. To then say… nah… not those builds specifically for this fight… is bull shit.
 

Gideon

Member
Just beat messmer and I found him (and the dlc overall) very rewarding and amazing :D so I don't understand the complaints (beside the performance, they fucked that up somehow with 1.12 (how?))
 

Mossybrew

Gold Member
People just need accept the fact some games is just not for them,
Yup. I'm not even picking this up right now because I'm just not in the mood for a frustrating game. I will probably grab it at some point down the road. Aside from Elden Ring and Bloodborne I don't even like these kinds of games, soulslikes are usually Not For Me and that's fine, no shortage of other games to play.
 

Dr. Claus

Banned
Sure, but you get my point. There are a handful of builds that are popular and viable. To then say… nah… not those builds specifically for this fight… is bull shit.

Those popular builds are still viable. You may just have to switch to a different weapon that provides faster attack times.
 
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