I'm so lost...

[Martial.Lore]

Edit: Thank you all for your replies below! I am having a much superior all round experience on my second campaign, starting as a wretch and deciding to follow a quality faith build. The only truly hair-pulling experience so far was the crucible knight great enemy in the Limgrave gaol. What a beast! Mostly cleaning up in Lithurnia now, with Caelid and the Academy ahead of me. Having a blast. Definitely funny how my experience with Dark Souls 3 was similar: frustrating first campaign followed by hundreds of hours of enjoyment.

Original post: So I have defeated Maliketh and have gotten back to the capital which is now ruined. But there is a whole section of the mountaintops I never figured out how to reach, as well as the area above the Albinaurics' village (I presume there must be a way up there but I never found it), not to mention the Carian Hall area which is upside down (I never found the sorcery questline giver/NPC so Ranni? won't talk to me, etc.), and who knows what else I've missed.

This is the problem with a non-linear, open-world game like this with so many obscure secrets. I am almost at the end of my first game (I just did a walkthrough/guide search for the first time in order to see where the hell I'm at in the game because I was so confused that there are still so many locked doors and unreachable areas, etc.) and my main feeling is now pure frustration: not with the content I've enjoyed but with what is obviously a ton of stuff I never figured out in time to enjoy.

Where do I go from here? Is a second playthrough now the only way to find what I've missed?

[BoxerDanc]

If you don't want to look up - area above Albinaurics village - part of Ranni quest, part of mountaintops - Consecrated snowfield, need to find medallions in Lakeside Crystal Cave and Castle Sol.

Edit: part of Carian Hall area - also need item from Ranni to get there.

[fangdrasil]

I use the wiki when I'm completely stumped.

[ᴠ̅̅ɪ̅̅ᴘ̅̅ᴇ̅̅ʀ]

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Elden+Ring+Wiki

[Martial.Lore]

I think I will replay the game with my existing knowledge and hope that I find everything second time round.

I never even got hold of any powerful sorceries that I could use late game (still using great glintstone shard), never figured out how ashes of war work, never learned how to buff my character before fights, and on and on.

Mostly my first game was one of exploration of the world, which is why it is frustrating to reach the end game with so many things undone. I only used player summons just once though (for Maliketh) so I do feel a sense of accomplishment for that.

But I really don't think I have a hope in hell of ever beating the final 2 bosses as my current character stands so I think that's it for my first campaign. (I just watched those 2 fights on YouTube. Beast Clergyman/Maliketh was bad enough. My weak as anything sorcerer just won't cut it without me riding the coattails of better players.)

Good game. Frustrating at times. But good. Mostly satisfying. My first experience of Dark Souls 3 left me with mixed feelings too, and now I have over 900 hours in it.

[Toad]

I highly recommend this guide any time I run into someone who prefers a more guided journey. It's almost completely spoiler free (there are spoiler tagged hints that you can look at for extra help), and runs you through the 'intended' route of the game.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2782682709

[psheue]

You can explore and kill every boss in the game, even after killing the Elden Beast.

[Witcher]

Game expects you to play thru 3 times if you want to unlock 3 endings' achievements. I'm still finding new quests, dungeons and items in my Journey 3.

[Majrick]

Originally posted by psheue:

You can explore and kill every boss in the game, even after killing the Elden Beast.

As well, while you are a strong character, relatively, in (NG) spend some time finding achievements toward 100% as the difficulty in all things increases when rising to NG+. At the least you should be able to collect all achievements from the areas available to you leaving a few articles for the higher/more challenging level. Currently I am conducting payback to those early mini bosses while collecting achievements, now I am enjoying the game!!

[Martial.Lore]

Thank you all for your replies below! I am having a much superior all round experience on my second campaign, starting as a wretch and deciding to follow a quality faith build. The only truly hair-pulling experience so far was the crucible knight great enemy in the Limgrave gaol. What a beast! Mostly cleaning up in Lithurnia now, with Caelid and the Academy ahead of me. Having a blast. Definitely funny how my experience with Dark Souls 3 was similar: frustrating first campaign followed by hundreds of hours of enjoyment.