I'm confused on how to get into the pvp and duel aspect of elden ring.

[Nuriyokan]

So basically I've beaten the game ONLY ONCE . I plan to play it a few more times via different saves and get all the endings . I'm a huge fan of hidetaka miyazaki's games and have played them all in chronological order except for bloodborne . I however have never played a single souls game ONLINE before . I want to get into it seeing as how the new DLC is coming soon.

I'm not asking for a cheap build guide , or a " how to cheese people guide " I simply want to know when am i supposed to get into pvp , or duels ? Let me clarify exactly what i mean. On one save file I've beaten the entire game thus getting one ending . So should i take that end game character and find a summon sign ? Could i try it with a new character ? or is the online duel/pvp stuff a completely different experience ?

I don't mind learning how to get better overtime but I'm unsure of exactly how I'm supposed to start. yes i can read and yes I'm patient enough to read all in game items and listen to NPC's speak. I know you use the fingers and orbs i think ... to do invasions but like is that all their is too it ? Just some little area or can you go online and explore all of elden ring ?

YES I KNOW I HAVE A TON OF QUESTIONS BUT JUST HEAR ME OUT .
I keep hearing that with the new dlc multiplayer is being changed .
This makes me wonder if old guides on YouTube will be obsolete.
I'm just looking for a starting point .

So to put it simply :
1.) Should i use and end game character for online pvp/duels ?
2.) should i wait until the DLC drops since multiplayer is supposed to be different ?
3.) is the online aspect of the game just some small area ? or will it allow for you to play everywhere in elden ring ?
4.) Can new players still get into pvp ? or is it one of those things like " hey if you didn't play dark souls 2 online don't even bother " ?

[LuckyCheshire]

1) For me at least, using an endgame character is the most fun, since you have more flexibility with your builds.
2) We don't know. People will still try all of the same tactics though and it's still several months till the DLC, so go for it! Try it out!
3) You can play everywhere, yes. If you want to do co-op play though I'd take a look at the seamless co-op mod, I haven't tried it myself but I've heard good things. Mostly it improves your connection and cuts way down on lag.
4) Yes! PvP is... a little stunted in Elden Ring, even more than most souls games, but it's still quite fun. I prefer the Arena much more than invasions, so that's what I'd recommend you get started with. There's a bit of a learning curve and you'll run into some people with some very irritating builds, but there are no consequences to losing so you can just keep playing as long as you like.

If you have any other questions, ask away, and there's a thread near the top of the forum with a guy offering free advice for people getting into PvP that I'd check out.

[psilocybe]

Originally posted by Nuriyokan:

So to put it simply :
1.) Should i use and end game character for online pvp/duels ?
2.) should i wait until the DLC drops since multiplayer is supposed to be different ?
3.) is the online aspect of the game just some small area ? or will it allow for you to play everywhere in elden ring ?
4.) Can new players still get into pvp ? or is it one of those things like " hey if you didn't play dark souls 2 online don't even bother " ?

1- Get the highest level weapon (+25, or +10 somber), those are the only people left playing pvp
2- DLC is going to change a LOT of stuff.. multiplayer is sure to take a drastic change as well...

HOWEVER, currently... general pvp levels are: 50 / 80 / 120 / 150 / 250 / 345

3- level 80 invasions for luniria of the lake... level 120 invasions for atlas plateau.
(all other pvp levels are for colosseum)

4- any item is useful for over-world invasions, where the environment and other monsters can be a distraction...
HOWEVER, in the colosseum.. there is a very strict meta with only a very few option per weapon catagory (and even fewer options build variety per weapon)

[Nuriyokan]

Originally posted by LuckyCheshire777:

1) For me at least, using an endgame character is the most fun, since you have more flexibility with your builds.
2) We don't know. People will still try all of the same tactics though and it's still several months till the DLC, so go for it! Try it out!
3) You can play everywhere, yes. If you want to do co-op play though I'd take a look at the seamless co-op mod, I haven't tried it myself but I've heard good things. Mostly it improves your connection and cuts way down on lag.
4) Yes! PvP is... a little stunted in Elden Ring, even more than most souls games, but it's still quite fun. I prefer the Arena much more than invasions, so that's what I'd recommend you get started with. There's a bit of a learning curve and you'll run into some people with some very irritating builds, but there are no consequences to losing so you can just keep playing as long as you like.

If you have any other questions, ask away, and there's a thread near the top of the forum with a guy offering free advice for people getting into PvP that I'd check out.

ok and thank you for your reply .

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by psilocybe:

HOWEVER, in the colosseum.. there is a very strict meta with only a very few option per weapon catagory (and even fewer options build variety per weapon)

I gotta disagree. I like to use all kinds of weird weapons, and I come across a number of people doing the same. I fought someone with a Blade of Calling today. I even saw someone with a Torchpole a while ago. Sure, most people are using katanas or twinblades. But there's plenty of variation besides the sweaty min-maxers.

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by Nuriyokan:

ok and thank you for your reply .

Np!

[Nuriyokan]

Originally posted by LuckyCheshire777:

Originally posted by Nuriyokan:

ok and thank you for your reply .

Np! :praisesun:

I'm curious if playing on my other save files and doing the alternate quest lines ( the ones that give you different endings ) will allow me to better learn about builds . The thing is i like to explore and learn things . I don't really want to have to rely on looking on the internet because then all I will find is just meta builds that are broken , or OP. The same way the game allows you to " know well the lands between " , I'd like to approach the online part of the game with the same mindset . The only thing is how do you gain knowledge online ? or is it the very same knowledge that can be found in single player ?

Sorry if my questions sound weird but being a noob in a souls series is like trying to communicate in Japanese when you only speak English. I really hope I'm making sense .

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by Nuriyokan:

I'm curious if playing on my other save files and doing the alternate quest lines ( the ones that give you different endings ) will allow me to better learn about builds . The thing is i like to explore and learn things . I don't really want to have to rely on looking on the internet because then all I will find is just meta builds that are broken , or OP. The same way the game allows you to " know well the lands between " , I'd like to approach the online part of the game with the same mindset . The only thing is how do you gain knowledge online ? or is it the very same knowledge that can be found in single player ?

Sorry if my questions sound weird but being a noob in a souls series is like trying to communicate in Japanese when you only speak English. I really hope I'm making sense .

No, it's fine, I got the gist.

Doing the alternate quests won't really offer much, no. The Millicent questline is the main one, and the two different talismans you can get at the end are pretty similar. I'd recommend grabbing the other one in NG+ if you do that though. The Sellen/Jerren one is the only other choice I can think of, and that just boils down to one moderately fun dagger versus an extra max level upgrade stone.

I definitely agree that the best way to learn is to just experience more yourself though. Explore around, experiment, try out weird-ass weapons even if they aren't very good. The point of the game is to have fun, after all. You can also, once you get into PvP play a bit, just see what other people are using and what their strategies are. Do they work well? Don't they? Why? If you pick up some tricks that way, as well as how to counter them, that will probably serve you the best.

The internet is a good place to find hard facts (what weapon deals the most damage per hit?) but any subjective opinions you find are, well, subjective. I wouldn't bother trying to copy anyone's build, it's pretty easy to figure out what's effective. I would recommend looking at a wiki for trying to figure out what talismans to use though. Some of the choices for what the Roar Talisman affects, for example, are pretty random.

[psheue]

If you're going to make new characters anyway, start with one of those and play with others as you go through the game. It's always a good idea to backup your save file regularly.

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by psheue:

It's always a good idea to backup your save file regularly.

^ This. I thankfully haven't had any problems with corrupted saves yet, but I read a lot of people complaining about their saves getting wiped. Don't freak out about it, it's a rare problem, but common enough that creating a backup of your saves is a very good idea.

[Nuriyokan]

Originally posted by LuckyCheshire777:

Originally posted by psheue:

It's always a good idea to backup your save file regularly.

^ This. I thankfully haven't had any problems with corrupted saves yet, but I read a lot of people complaining about their saves getting wiped. Don't freak out about it, it's a rare problem, but common enough that creating a backup of your saves is a very good idea.

Ok so i was under the impression that steam automatically backs up my save files to the cloud . Even still how do i go about manually doing this ? Where are the save files located ?

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by Nuriyokan:

Ok so i was under the impression that steam automatically backs up my save files to the cloud . Even still how do i go about manually doing this ? Where are the save files located ?

It does. Those files in the cloud can get corrupted versions saved in them too occasionally though for some reason. For me (on Windows), the files are found in C:/users/(your name)/AppData/Roaming/EldenRing/(elden ring user id, long string of numbers)/ .

The files are a .sl2 and a .sl2.bak . Just copy those and paste them in a folder where you can find them. If your files ever get corrupted, just paste them back into that folder over the corrupted saves. Oh, also, for some reason the AppData folder is hidden by default, so you'll probably have to select 'show hidden files' to get it to appear.

if you're not on Windows, I'm not sure, you'll have to check online somewhere.

[Nuriyokan]

Originally posted by LuckyCheshire777:

Originally posted by Nuriyokan:

Ok so i was under the impression that steam automatically backs up my save files to the cloud . Even still how do i go about manually doing this ? Where are the save files located ?

It does. Those files in the cloud can get corrupted versions saved in them too occasionally though for some reason. For me (on Windows), the files are found in C:/users/(your name)/AppData/Roaming/EldenRing/(elden ring user id, long string of numbers)/ .

The files are a .sl2 and a .sl2.bak . Just copy those and paste them in a folder where you can find them. If your files ever get corrupted, just paste them back into that folder over the corrupted saves. Oh, also, for some reason the AppData folder is hidden by default, so you'll probably have to select 'show hidden files' to get it to appear.

if you're not on Windows, I'm not sure, you'll have to check online somewhere.

ok thanks , and i was just informed by someone that i shouldn't level past 175 because I'll lose pvp interaction ? I'm confused on what exactly that means . Something about getting bombarded with invasions ? Also I just realized that my end game character on one save file is level 145 . Lol i had no idea my character was even that high to begin with . I could have sworn i was like at level 40 ish last i played but i forgot I made a build for millennia so i could beat her .

[LuckyCheshire]

Ah. The 'meta' for leveling is level 150, so theoretically that's where you'll find the most people to match with. That level was decided on back in Demon's Souls though, and hasn't changed since through sheer inertia. It's a totally arbitrary number. So if you're too far under or over that level, you won't be able to match quite as fast, but I can still find plenty of people to fight in the arena at level 265 so that's definitely not the only viable range.

[Nuriyokan]

Originally posted by LuckyCheshire777:

Ah. The 'meta' for leveling is level 150, so theoretically that's where you'll find the most people to match with. That level was decided on back in Demon's Souls though, and hasn't changed since through sheer inertia. It's a totally arbitrary number. So if you're too far under or over that level, you won't be able to match quite as fast, but I can still find plenty of people to fight in the arena at level 265 so that's definitely not the only viable range.

There is a lot to learn and i know you can't just tell me everything because It would be too much to type but i do appreciate your help. So to my understanding I can do duels in the areas around the map for starters right ? I still want to do the other story-lines because I love this series but I'll have to take the online stuff one thing at a time . I'm sure its not as gargantuan as I'm making seem but again noob mindset lol.

I figured online in this series would be just tons of players running around and if you're low level they just smack you up. It seems to me ( correct me if I'm wrong ) that the game is the same as I know it ( via one play through ) and the online part is simply in the form of an invasion or pvp battle between one or more players vs me correct ?

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by Nuriyokan:

There is a lot to learn and i know you can't just tell me everything because I'd be too much to type but i do appreciate your help. So to my understanding I can do duels in the areas around the map for starters right ? I still want to do the other storylines because I love this series but I'll have to take the online stuff one thing at a time . I'm sure its not as gargantuan as I'm making seem but again noob mindset lol.

I figured online in this series would be just tons of players running around and if you're low level they just smack you up. It seems to me ( correct me if I'm wrong ) that the game is the same as I know it ( via one play through ) and the online part is simply in the form of an invasion or pvp battle between one or more players vs me correct ?

Yup. You can invade someone (ie: appear in their world as an enemy), if you have certain items, other people can invade you, and you can look for matches in the Arena for a much more controlled environment. I prefer the latter personally since it's a fairer match and honestly I can find people to fight a lot faster, but I can see the appeal of showing up randomly.