Elden Ring: Scadu of the Nerdtree. 94 OC/95 MC. Is it too hard? Poll.

[Runa216]

Now that I've had some time to think it over, the only real problem I have with the DLC is that all the awesome weapons can only be acquired super late into the game. I want to be able to START games with these weapons and play through. This can be achieved through trading but that adds a lot of extra steps to the process which is a shame.

Playing the whole game through with Backhand Blades or Milady or the Great Katana or the basic beast claws would be so good. Instead you have to wait until you've already beaten Mohg, arguably one of the hardest bosses in the game (which is a shame).

I still think the difficulty curve from the base game is pretty spot-on (That controversy was dumb as hell; use the tools at your disposal, refusing to do so isn't the intended way of playing the game it's a challenge run), And to this day I still feel Malenia is the hardest boss. Though...after coming back from the DLC I beat her on second attempt. After two and a half years not being able to defeat her solo. Seriously, prior to a few weeks ago I had NEVER beaten Malenia 1v1. Tried dozens of builds, tried many styles, different cheese tactics, any combination of spirit ashes, etc. Nothing worked. Only way I could beat her was with friends, and then she's really easy. But after coming back after Radahn, who only took me a few hours spread across three days, I used the deflecting hardtear and DESTROYED her. Completely bodied her. Which...I am okay with.

I'm doing this elongated boss ranking thing and I don't know if I love her or not. I love her moves, I love her lore, I love so much about her but actually fighting Malenia REALLY pisses me off. All the complaints people make about Radahn in the DLC seem silly to me (get a tank ash in phase 2 and body him or just use the holy braid to defend against his holy attacks), but I still think they tuned her too hard. which is weird because none of her moves in and of themselves are that bad. I look at every sweep, attack, grab, slash, and kick she does and they're all tough but fair moves. HEr blooming move is....50% accurate, meaning half the time I can avoid it with ease the other half it doesn't seem to matter what I do she hits me. She does the clone move which LOOKS like it would be easy to find the rhythm but is actually insanely hard to dodge unless you run. And that effin waterfowl dance is GARBAGE. I hate that move. I hate that unless you're actively anticipating it it's virtually impossible to avoid. I hate that it hits so many times and each slash does so much damage. I hate that it heals her. I hate that even if ou're literally on the opposite side of the arena from her it can still catch you. If you're not anticipating it, then it's impossible to dodge, basically. so playing the game appropriately by staying in close and dancing with her -the most fun way to play in my opinion - is a honey trap to destroy you.

like 75% of her fight is peak boss design. the other 25% is so utter trash fire garbage that I genuinely don't know how anyone can forgive her.