The Elder much harder since H&H?

[Sidewinder]

This is my first time playing since H&H released. Prior to it I never got that far, (never beyond 3rd Boss).

I recall having a decent but manageable challenge with the 2nd Boss, The Elder. This is where i'm up to on my current game. Playing it through now however, despite knowing what I'm doing (to the extent of the tech-tree I'd played previously), I do not recall him being THIS hard. His ranged damage is PHAT. Mine is puny (mid 20's), using the 2nd Bow. (First playthrough i was only using the 1st). My food barely gets a chance to do its work and heal me.

I can only assume they went ahead and made things harder. But it feels over the top.

[Wizard of Woz]

If you are using a bow, how are you losing HP?

[Meatball]

use fire arrows

[paincanbefun]

I thought he was a bit harder, too. They may have tweaked him. If you line of sight his ranged attack and quickly run out of his AOE field, use fire arrows, you will grind the old geezer down. Take that, boomer.

[Shrike Alfare]

I only fought Elder after H&H so I dunno how he originally was, but IMO he was such a step up from the first boss I genuinely thought I was doing something wrong. It was too late for me to change the terrain so I could no longer fight him melee, so the best I could do was cheese him from far. Even that required some figuring out to do with Trolls popping up and trees falling all over the place.

[Happy]

He's about the same roughly, from memory, I literally just helped a friend kill him last night. He wasn't that strong. As long as you dodge the root ability & hide from his ranged vine attack, use fire arrows and a few good cooked foods, you should be fine.

[vonVile]

I saw a video on this yesterday. Hide behind the pillars of his altar and hit him with arrows.

[kameltoes]

Why do people always use arrows on the elder? Once you learn how to parry, melee him to death! The fight is so easy! Quickly run over to him as he spawns in and quickly melee him 4 or 5 times for a few free hits, then stay super close to him (within 5-10 meters).
The name of the game is bait the stomp attack, parry, and then hit hit hit

Staying in melee range (about 10m) will prevent The Elder from NOT using his ranged attack. Instead, he will switch between 2 different attacks.

1. Stomp. This is the attack you're trying to bait. It's so easy to parry with a copper buckler and then hit him like 2 or 3 times for extra damage.

2. Vine summon. If he summons vines, carefully avoid them by moving to a the closest spot where a vine can't hit you but you're still within that 10m sweet spot. You don't want to run off too far because he will then switch to his ranged attack.

You need to be aggressive in this fight. Eat the best foods available and take stamina potions. I beat him without using any but if you're not confident you should take them and any other item that could save your life. I beat him in like 3 min using only a copper buckler and a copper ax

Trust me! Use this strategy and the next boss, Biomass will be just as easy!

[Jigsaw]

goes faster to kill him with a sword then shooting arrows :D

[sibbs]

Originally posted by Let's Go Brandon:

Why do people always use arrows on the elder? Once you learn how to parry, melee him to death! The fight is so easy! Quickly run over to him as he spawns in and quickly melee him 4 or 5 times for a few free hits, then stay super close to him (within 5-10 meters).
The name of the game is bait the stomp attack, parry, and then hit hit hit

Staying in melee range (about 10m) will prevent The Elder from NOT using his ranged attack. Instead, he will switch between 2 different attacks.

1. Stomp. This is the attack you're trying to bait. It's so easy to parry with a copper buckler and then hit him like 2 or 3 times for extra damage.

2. Vine summon. If he summons vines, carefully avoid them by moving to a the closest spot where a vine can't hit you but you're still within that 10m sweet spot. You don't want to run off too far because he will then switch to his ranged attack.

You need to be aggressive in this fight. Eat the best foods available and take stamina potions. I beat him without using any but if you're not confident you should take them and any other item that could save your life. I beat him in like 3 min using only a copper buckler and a copper ax

Trust me! Use this strategy and the next boss, Biomass will be just as easy!

The Bow is just as quick at killing the Elder and a lot safer, the Bow is the Apex weapon of this game.
The next Boss you mention Biomass can be easily killed with the Bow and you don't have to worry about adds for they do not spawn with a ranged weapon.
Moder dies so fast that you feel sorry for her, infact the Bow is now stronger than ever and after the last update it makes all other weapons obsolete.

[kameltoes]

Originally posted by sibbs:

Originally posted by Let's Go Brandon:

Why do people always use arrows on the elder? Once you learn how to parry, melee him to death! The fight is so easy! Quickly run over to him as he spawns in and quickly melee him 4 or 5 times for a few free hits, then stay super close to him (within 5-10 meters).
The name of the game is bait the stomp attack, parry, and then hit hit hit

Staying in melee range (about 10m) will prevent The Elder from NOT using his ranged attack. Instead, he will switch between 2 different attacks.

1. Stomp. This is the attack you're trying to bait. It's so easy to parry with a copper buckler and then hit him like 2 or 3 times for extra damage.

2. Vine summon. If he summons vines, carefully avoid them by moving to a the closest spot where a vine can't hit you but you're still within that 10m sweet spot. You don't want to run off too far because he will then switch to his ranged attack.

You need to be aggressive in this fight. Eat the best foods available and take stamina potions. I beat him without using any but if you're not confident you should take them and any other item that could save your life. I beat him in like 3 min using only a copper buckler and a copper ax

Trust me! Use this strategy and the next boss, Biomass will be just as easy!

The Bow is just as quick at killing the Elder and a lot safer, the Bow is the Apex weapon of this game.
The next Boss you mention Biomass can be easily killed with the Bow and you don't have to worry about adds for they do not spawn with a ranged weapon.
Moder dies so fast that you feel sorry for her, infact the Bow is now stronger than ever and after the last update it makes all other weapons obsolete.

If you like playing easy mode, no risk/reward legoless, to each is own.... However, I recommend growing a pair and try things outside your comfort zone.

I do agree with bow vs Moder. Yes. Just be prepared to shot like 200 poison/obsidian arrows.

[johnpeach249]

usually there is a Burial Chamber in the area. Find it before attacking him then you can nip in and regenerate.

[Subsonic]

Originally posted by johnpeach249:

usually there is a Burial Chamber in the area. Find it before attacking him then you can nip in and regenerate.

Or just dig under the Elder platform and make a safe spot to dive into when you need a little break. Makes a nice, secure space later on too for an underground base. You can wall it up and make it accessible only via portal, too, and it's a safe room that no raid can get to. Good AFK spot, or place to create a portal chamber, something to that effect.

[Sidewinder]

Some cool ideas here. I'd never thought to manipulate the environment/prepare the combat area before fighting. I just now went back in for another try.

It seems I got lucky, or he bugged-out, or it's a genuine cheese tactic:

I logged back on, outside of The Elder's combat zone. I proceeded to approach the Boss area until i saw his name pop up on screen and the Boss Music initiate. At this point I took maybe another 10 paces via stealth to the point where I could see him in the distance. To start I was hidden behind a tree, (Eye Icon showing half-opened). I then popped out of cover quickly to snipe my first Fire Arrow, then popped back behind my tree. I hit him, but he did not aggro, nor did my stealth fail (Eye remained half open).

I couldn't help myself, so carried on sniping in this fashion until he was at half-health. Still no aggro. Then I thought i'd check even if it mattered i was stealthing, or if it might be I was simply still too far away for his AI to work. I now just stood in plain sight beside the same tree, no stealth, shooting away. No aggro. No challenge. No fight. Not even any Greydwarfs spawned to ambush me.

Truly a tale of two difficulty extremes. I feel like a bad casual.

[Wizard of Woz]

Originally posted by SonicSidewinder:

Some cool ideas here. I'd never thought to manipulate the environment/prepare the combat area before fighting. I just now went back in for another try.

It seems I got lucky, or he bugged-out, or it's a genuine cheese tactic:

I logged back on, outside of The Elder's combat zone. I proceeded to approach the Boss area until i saw his name pop up on screen and the Boss Music initiate. At this point I took maybe another 10 paces via stealth to the point where I could see him in the distance. To start I was hidden behind a tree, (Eye Icon showing half-opened). I then popped out of cover quickly to snipe my first Fire Arrow, then popped back behind my tree. I hit him, but he did not aggro, nor did my stealth fail (Eye remained half open).

I couldn't help myself, so carried on sniping in this fashion until he was at half-health. Still no aggro. Then I thought i'd check even if it mattered i was stealthing, or if it might be I was simply still too far away for his AI to work. I now just stood in plain sight beside the same tree, no stealth, shooting away. No aggro. No challenge. No fight. Not even any Greydwarfs spawned to ambush me.

Truly a tale of two difficulty extremes. I feel like a bad casual.

I always cheese the bosses, they are my least favorite part of the game.
For the Elder, I just dig a trench between me and him. He stays on one side I stay on the other.

[Kalysm]

Same ole Elder. Killed him wearing t3 Troll armor and a t3 Huntsman bow with fire arrows. I did die once but it was because I got stuck in the roots. Totally my fault. He paid for that.