Tips vs. the Elder?

[pyremind]

I went out there with a Fine Bow and 60 fire arrows (I read he's weak to fire) and 50 reg arrows.

Had some stew and such for food, bronze armor. He kicked my ass.

He has SO MUCH HP, his health bar, even with fire damage, was going down just barely faster than my bow's Hp, that's how slowly I damaged him.

Is there any other trick than fire arrows? I really didn't enjoy shooting him for ages.

[Suzaku]

Upgraded bronze buckler and bronze axe. Stand at his feet and chop him down like the greatest oak in the forest. The only thing you need to worry about is failing a parry, and making sure not to get smacked from the roots he spawns.

[Science Dog]

Use the four pillars to line of sight his ranged attacks. When he summons vines and such where you're at, move to the next pillar. Repeat until he's deceased. Happy hunting!

[Keji]

gonna take more than 60 arrows bro, happy hunting! :)

[Sunny]

kite kite LoS, kite kite LoS, kite kite LoS, kite kite LoS, kite kite LoS

it takes forever

[Zep Tepi]

Did you know that some people build entire bases underneath that altar? (As long as it isn't right at sea level.) Just sayin.

[Faceplant]

Next thing you'll do is go into swamp, so you may as well enter a bit early and get some of the fruits of the swamp. The only thing The Elder gives you is the key to get into the crypts and get iron, which is great, but there are other things there that will make the fight with The Elder easier.

1) Look for the yellow flowers, which are turnips. These will allow you to upgrade your cauldron and make better food.

2) Kill some Draugr and get some guts to make sausage.

3) Kill some leaches to get bloodbags to make black soup and/or blood pudding.

3) I think you can make more advanced mead with other swamp items.

In the fight, I like to find a ruined tower nearby and fortify it a bit. Make a higher-level spot to shoot from where you can have some stone walls protecting you. Kite him that way and fight him with some protection.

If you have high health before the fight, you can get quite a few melee hits in before you get beaten down too much. As others have mentioned, an axe works. I prefer sword, which works pretty well with the secondary attack. Get as much damage in before your health takes too much of a hit and then run for the tower to finish him off.

[pyremind]

Originally posted by Zep Tepi:

Did you know that some people build entire bases underneath that altar? (As long as it isn't right at sea level.) Just sayin.

Why?

[Eradan]

I killed him in troll armor with a knife.
- Get behind a pillar, wait for him to come to you.
- Pounce (alternative attack), make a couple of standard attacks.
- Run behind the next pillar to get your stamina back.

Rinse and repeat. It should be over in less than 5 minutes.

[jonnin]

Originally posted by pyremind:

Originally posted by Zep Tepi:

Did you know that some people build entire bases underneath that altar? (As long as it isn't right at sea level.) Just sayin.

Why?

because they can :)
it has a free fire, an indestructible roof, and its kinda cool.
there is no super advantage though; its just something people do.

[Sunny]

Originally posted by pyremind:

Originally posted by Zep Tepi:

Did you know that some people build entire bases underneath that altar? (As long as it isn't right at sea level.) Just sayin.

Why?

Only way to build an "underground" base.

[pyremind]

So, do I need to make the sacrifice again when I go back, or will he just be standing there fully healed up?

[Zep Tepi]

Originally posted by pyremind:

Originally posted by Zep Tepi:

Did you know that some people build entire bases underneath that altar? (As long as it isn't right at sea level.) Just sayin.

..why?

Because that is one of the safest places to be in the entire game, and it has a free eternal fire. The roof is indestructible along with the dirt walls surrounding it, and it can be quite roomy under there when it is all cleared out.

If only you had a safe place to go to heal up during the fight...

People complain about telling others about the joys of terrain manipulation as it pertains to boss fights, but this was my standard go-to while doing solo permadeath runs.

[Zep Tepi]

Originally posted by pyremind:

So, do I need to make the sacrifice again when I go back, or will he just be standing there fully healed up?

He should still be there...too late for my suggestion.

[i have 2026 vision fear me]

He's just a big health bar, once you realise that he becomes nothing more than a mild nuisance due to how much time you have to spend hitting him. Use the pillars provided as a way to dodge the ranged attack, if melee, dodge roll or just walk away from his stomp, and for the roots, just move away from them or kill any that might be annoying.

Also make sure to turn off screen shake, that by far is the deadliest attack he has.

[UncleAcidic]

arrows aren't the only source of fire. just sayin.