need advice

[whatsorceryisthis]

as a pure strengh build how do you deal with these ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ birds and flying things and also is there an ash of war that does aeo damage when enemies surround you

[Alby]

Have a backup bow or seal with some ranged incants on deck. Theres a seal that scales with STR/FTH, although it isn't the best. Assuming you're using a colossal weapon, Astel's remeberance AoW is pretty good for an AoE

[GladiatorM47]

Originally posted by areuokmert:

as a pure strengh build how do you deal with these ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ birds and flying things and also is there an ash of war that does aeo damage when enemies surround you

There is a note sold by a nomadic merchant which says "Gravitational power that pulls can bring flying foes low." So maybe 'Ash of War: Gravitas' will help

[Krazy Wallet]

Are you a pure strength, or are you including faith or int? Int has gravity magic that trivializes them and I found that fireballs work decently well against them for faith users. If all else fails, you can use firepots, especially for the ones in stormveil that carry explosive barrels. Just blow it up and watch them go poof in a million feathers.

[Grizzly]

some int or some faith in any build is usually great, if you really really dont want to do that get yourself a bow and upgrade it, they are really not so bad

[2001 Space Oddity]

Shield + block counter works wonders, but it does depend on the weapon. Or if you're two-handing a big weapon you can still block counter them.

Another thing that works is throwing a kukri at them as they attack, it usually breaks them out the their attack and you can kill them before they recover. And if you have good timing you can just time your attack to land just as they fly into range.

If you're in Stormveil, use fire arrows to blow up the barrels they're perched on.

[Tetsuya_Kurogane]

Ah yes, the birds. Not my first time giving advice for that.

Some very good point were already being told. My best advice for pure melee is the guard counter. The stormhawks will stagger when hitting your shield giving you a chance to riposte.

For group of ennemies, you can find early Spinning Slash from the Warmaster Shack. On a long reach weaopn it will efficiently clear some space around you.

[Yal]

Originally posted by areuokmert:

also is there an ash of war that does aeo damage when enemies surround you

Yeah, and you can actually get it super early too!

There's two beaches near where you start, the one BEHIND you (without goblin fellas, might need to horse down some Spiritsprings to reach it) has a miniboss (malnourished gravity guy with a big sword), kill him and he drops the Gravitas ash-of-war. He walks around so he might be a bit hard to spot, but you'll know him when you see him.

Gravitas creates a shockwave that pulls enemies in, there's better options later (Earthshaker, Waves of Darkness) but fwiw it can be used on a lot of regular-sized weapons instead of great/colossals only like a lot of the other big hits

[Simbolic]

No matter your build you should be well rounded, with atleast like 20-40 on all stats can still generally build strength the most. Still best to have a bit of everything, for instance there are is boss/mini boss I have encountered. He just spams spells there is even objects around him to avoid them. I was strength build myself but felt fighting him in melee would be a serious pain. Didn't have many spells haven't used them much in this game. So figured to try some. So used greater glintstone spell I think. Just kept popping out of the barricades to get a few shots at him. My intellect was maybe at 20 still did crazy damage to him. Like he was weak to it, which made him a breeze. Bows can be as equally helpful at some times. I have had to use them when in a pinch a few times.
I realize after while it's insane not to ever use any range. Given so many enemies use it. It's like a knife verse a gun there is no contest when comes to range attacks. So best to just say to yourself ♥♥♥♥ you game! I can use them to :)

[whatsorceryisthis]

thanks for all the answers guys ! i will definetly use them and birds will be a no trouble anymore ! and the ash of wars you mentioned as well

[Lenox]

If you don't do Ash of War: Gravitas, as GladiatorM47 and Yal mentioned, which is the best option, a second option is Rejection. It's quite hilarious to see a bunch of birds or bats go flying from the air to the ground. And then you can wack them as they try to get back up.
However, unlike with Gravitas, they will not get stunned.

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Rejection

[Doom Squid]

A guard counter knocks down the knife birds just fine. and a single follow up attack finishes them off. I usually aggro them with bone knifes, as the attack 'startles' them and causes their explosive barrels to break. This has also worked for the flying puppets too, but the fire bombs they throw at you sting less than the barrels so they aren't as much of a problem.

[23shieldsc]

Originally posted by areuokmert:

as a pure strengh build how do you deal with these ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ birds and flying things and also is there an ash of war that does aeo damage when enemies surround you

I SPAM JUMPING L1 AND KEEP A CROSSBOW ON ME I AM GOING TO PVP NOW THANK YOU YOU INSPIRED ME TO PLAY THE GAME

[Lenox]

Originally posted by 23shieldsc:

Originally posted by areuokmert:

as a pure strengh build how do you deal with these ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ birds and flying things and also is there an ash of war that does aeo damage when enemies surround you

I SPAM JUMPING L1 AND KEEP A CROSSBOW ON ME

I like the crossbow idea too. I do that for fun, even though it's a bit of equip load. Sometimes 2-3 hits and they die. But I can at least get off the pull.

[DragonSoundxSG]

1. Stormblade

2. You'll get some REALLY good Str AoE skills as you progress. Rem: Str = Heavy AND Fire. For early on, don't underestimate butt slam (seriously lol). And then there is one where you slam your weapon into the ground with a follow-up...it's a quality PvP move too. There are others, use your mind's eye to find them.

[Simbolic]

Originally posted by Doom Squid:

A guard counter knocks down the knife birds just fine. and a single follow up attack finishes them off. I usually aggro them with bone knifes, as the attack 'startles' them and causes their explosive barrels to break. This has also worked for the flying puppets too, but the fire bombs they throw at you sting less than the barrels so they aren't as much of a problem.

Think while in air they can grapple you or could be thinking of other flying enemies. Remember that happened to me once when was blocking with shield. So never tried that again lol