Elden Ring: Try Some New Builds Ideas In Shadow Of The Erdtree!

In Elden Ring’s most successful Shadow of the Erdtree DLC to date, there are dozens of new bosses. Some of them require you to find them with great effort, but some will quietly meet your challenge there, and Blackgaol Knight Boss is one of them. Although Blackgaol Knight Boss is about the same size as Tarnished, it is difficult to defeat it. You need to develop some combat strategies and learn some combat skills before the battle. In addition, the rewards, for example, Greatsword of Solitude you get after defeating Blackgaol Knight Boss are also very generous, which is worth your time. This guide will introduce you to the various moves you will encounter when fighting Blackgaol Knight Boss and its weaknesses, so that you can develop corresponding strategies for it. Without further ado, bring your weapons and come with me! How To Find Blackgaol Knight Boss? Blackgaol Knight Boss is located in Western Nameless Mausoleum in the game. You need to go through the area northwest of your spawn point in the DLC, where there are Gravebird-infested and gravestone-ridden. Alternatively, you can go southwest of Three-Path Cross site of Grace and find a tunnel near the Tower Settlement Belurat. By riding your Torrent here, you can greatly increase your exploration speed. Eventually you will reach the westernmost entrance of Mausoleum surrounded by cliffs. Once you enter, you will encounter a staircase leading to the bottom, and at the end of the stairs is the door to the arena where you fight the Blackgaol Knight Boss. Once you step in, the battle begins. If you are unfortunate enough to die during the battle, you will not respawn at the original Site of Grace, but at the entrance to the arena. When you’re ready, you can re-enter the arena.  But please note that if you fail the battle, you will not be rewarded with Elden Ring Runes. So before you challenge again, please make your build more powerful. The most important thing is survivability and damage ability. Pre-Battle Preparation With the location of Blackgaol Knight Boss solved, now you need to understand its weaknesses so that you can strengthen them. First, the armor of Blackgaol Knight Boss is very thick, so when choosing a build, you can directly abandon those that rely on melee attacks and choose some that rely on sorcery and incantations. In addition, Blackgaol Knight Boss has a very high resistance to Bleed, Frostbite, or Scarlet Rot, so when choosing weapons, you should avoid damage from these elements. This enemy has no resistance to Magic and Lightning damage, so when choosing a class, you can choose those Sorcerers and Incantation-wielders. In addition, if you don’t want to change builds or classes frequently, you can also directly use spells like Greatblade Phalanx, which can also cause a lot of magic damage to Blackgaol Knight Boss. Blackgaol Knight Boss’s Moves Now you need to know what moves Blackgaol Knight Boss will use, and how to counter them during the fight. These counter-attack strategies are just for reference, and it’s totally fine if you try to find a strategy that suits your own operation habits. Greatsword Attacks Blackgaol Knight Boss will attack you with its Greatsword, and each swing will have a four-hit animation. But whether it is used with one hand or two hands, you can jump to dodge it first, and then use a heavy attack on it. This will effectively prevent Blackgaol Knight from using a combination of attacks on you. If you fail to prevent it, you can hide in a corner for a while and attack again when you have a free time. Storm Blast And Follow-Up After swinging Greatsword, Blackgaol Knight Boss will raise it and then fire a wave of physical damage forward, and finally it will quickly dash forward and attack you. What you need to do is to dodge its physical attack wave first, and then retreat or dodge its sprint continuously. Here you need to remind you that the final sprint attack of Blackgaol Knight Boss will not stop because of your dodge, because it can also be cast at a long distance. So inevitably, you will be injured in this move, and you may need to prepare some healing flasks for emergency use. Crossbow Barrage Besides Greatsword, Blackgaol Knight Boss will also use a crossbow to fight you. It will continue to shoot crossbows at you, and the frequency and speed of the shooting will become faster and faster over time. When you are at a medium or long distance from it, you can move along the side of the arena. Don’t roll or dodge, because the moment you stand up, you are likely to be hit by the crossbow and suffer a lot of damage. Dash Slash When Blackgaol Knight Boss uses a sword with both hands, it will also dash forward and launch a slash after attacking you several times. At this time, you can dodge to ensure your safety. Battle Strategy The above are just the counterattacks you need to do in front of a certain move. But before the battle, your battle strategy is also very important. For example, when Blackgaol Knight Boss is firing and reloading crossbows, it is very vulnerable, so you can attack it immediately at some medium distance. Slowly walk to the boss at medium and long distances to avoid all the fast-firing crossbows. But it should be noted here that the avoidance mentioned here is walking forward, not just walking to the side, because this will make you fall into the barrage when you stand up. Blackgaol Knight boss often attacks the player with weapon skills such as Blasphemous Blade, which will launch a wave of physical damage when it lowers Greatsword. It will always follow up with a charge, so be careful to avoid physical explosions and close-range attacks. If you have trouble with any boss battle in the game, you can always go out and explore other areas to become stronger, and then come back and try again. This is the most effective strategy to defeat any boss in the game. Blackgaol Knight Boss Rewards After you successfully defeat Blackgaol Knight Boss in Western Nameless Mausoleum using the right strategy, you can get Greatsword of Solitude and Blackgaol Knight armor set. The armor set is a very defensive and stylish armor set. Greatsword of Solitude mentioned in the title is one of the most powerful weapons in the DLC. You can use it to replicate Blackgaol Knight Boss’s slam and charge combo in battles with other enemies. In addition, Ash of War of Greatsword of Solitude is also very powerful, which can shoot a beam of physical damage forward. If operated properly, this beam is unavoidable for most enemies and will cause a lot of damage to them. The above are some strategies and tips for defeating Blackgaol Knight Boss in Elden Ring DLC ​​and obtaining Greatsword of Solitude. I hope this guide helps you overcome it. If you have questions about the build in Elden Ring, you are welcome to ask questions in iGMeet Discord. You will also have the opportunity to get some free runes on it. I wish you a happy game!

One of the newest Katanas in Shadow of the Erdtree, Star-Lined Sword, is known for its unique skill attack combination. If you’re looking to build an effective build for this Katana, don’t miss this guide. Here we’ll go over the playstyle for this Cosmic Samurai Build, the gear to use, the best Talismans, and tips for using the game. Let’s get straight to it! Build Basics First, let’s go over the basics of this build. Cosmic Samurai is unique in terms of gameplay, as this build utilizes Damage Overtime Tactics while also utilizing Star-Lined Sword’s skills to perform hard-hitting combos. You’ll see fast high damage numbers when performing combos. It’s also versatile in a lot of situations because of having more ranged spells on its gear. Stats Cosmic Samurai has high Dexterity and Intelligence, and as usual has a little Faith Stat to use spells that enhance attack and defense. Let’s take a look at how the attribute points are distributed for this build: First start with Vigor. I have allocated 45 points to it because you need to dodge properly with this setup. However, if you think this is too low, you can increase it to 50, especially if your Scadutree Blessing is low. Next is Mind, which has 35 points allocated to it, because when using this build, you will be casting a lot of spells and skills, so you need to allocate at least 35 points and above. Next comes Endurance, which has 25 points allocated to it. The unique skill of Star-Lined Sword consumes a lot of stamina, but I think 25 points is enough. You need 10 points of Strength to use Star-Lined Sword, so be sure to allocate at least 10 points. Next up is Dexterity, and since this is our key attribute, it is assigned 69 points. While keeping an eye on Intelligence, another 60 points should be invested here so that our Sorceries can wreak havoc on our enemies. Next up is Faith, with 25 points allocated to Faith so that you can use attack and defense boosting spells to increase the offensive capabilities of the build. Finally, we didn’t assign any points to Arcane because we didn’t need to. Gear Now that the basic playstyle and build stats are covered, let’s move on to Cosmic Samurai’s gear. Main Weapon: Star-Lined Sword Starting with the chief weapon for this build, the aforementioned Star-Lined Sword. This Katana requires 10 Strength, 23 Dexterity and 21 Intelligence so that you can use it properly. In terms of scaling, it has a Strength of D, Dexterity of B, and finally Intelligence of D. This is why we focus on Dexterity in the stat distribution, while having Intelligence will further boost the power of this Katana. In addition, it has an innate blood-loss build-up, which is a delightful bonus. It just shouldn’t be prioritized. Weapon Skill: Onze’s Line Of Stars Star-Lined Sword is indeed an interesting Katana because it is able to perform a heavy-hitting combo attack when performing Onze’s Line of Stars. This is a unique skill that allows the user to perform a series of attacks, up to three combos, when L2 button is pressed. Secondary Weapon: Carian Regal Scepter Moving on to the secondary weapon of this build, I used Carian Regal Scepter mainly because of its appearance and because it fits the theme of this build. It also has an S scaling in terms of Intelligence, and we can also use it to boost the effectiveness of our Sorceries. In addition, we can also access the attack buff of this build by using Finger Seal, which only costs you 800 Elden Ring Runes. Pros And Cons Next, let’s talk about the pros and cons of this Star-Lined Sword. There’s no doubt that the entire heavy-hitting combo will hit the enemy like a truck when the user manages to do it. Since this skill increases its effectiveness after each subsequent attack, anyone can see the amazing range of Onze’s Line of Stars, especially when performing the skill’s combo finisher. This skill can also make ordinary enemies flinch easily when you cleave with its ranged attacks, especially when dealing with humanoid-type targets. This makes this weapon a satisfying weapon to use in the field or in dungeons. Ordinary enemies can barely do anything to this weapon, so you’ll have the upper hand in most cases, and clearing enemies is a breeze for this weapon. Of course, like any other weapon, it also has its drawbacks. Onze’s Line of Stars is definitely powerful, but it’s difficult to complete the long attack animation in most cases. Its combo transitions are quite slow, so there are situations where humanoid-type enemies can act or counterattack even when you’re performing a full combo. I was surprised to find that Sword of Night’s fully charged attack is much easier to pull off than Onze’s full combo, so you can see how long the preparation time is. Also, since its attacks get stronger after consecutive follow-ups, its initial attack is pretty weak. Especially since you’ll be using the first set of attacks most of the time, and that’s the only thing you can do, especially against fast-moving targets. If you want to extend your combo, you’ll be under attack from enemies most of the time, so you can only perform the initial L2 attack. You can easily see that this skill is difficult to maximize, especially when the bosses in DLC are very aggressive and don’t leave you a little time to counterattack. Spells Enough with the weapons. Let’s move on to the spells I recommend. As always, our top pick is Flame Grant me Strength, which grants an additional 20% physical attack boost and stamina recovery buff. The second buff in the list is of course Golden Vow. This buff increases overall damage by 15% and adds 10% damage negation, which is very helpful. Since this build revolves around the power of stars, Stars of Ruin is a great fit for this build. This is a rechargeable spell that will serve as the main area attack for this build. Additionally, I recommend inserting Founding Rain of Stars, which adds a lot of fun to this build. What I usually do is cast it before the target gets close to me, and when it explodes, it rains stars on the target, dealing continuous damage. It is worth noting that you can use Onze while Sorcery is still active. It easily increases the damage. However, only use this combo if you are confident that you can pull it off, as its usage varies from boss to boss. Talismans For the best Talismans for this build, Shard of Alexander is still our top pick. This can increase skill damage by 15%, especially when performing Onze’s Line of Stars. Since Onze’s Line of Stars leaves you vulnerable, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman is a great addition to this build. Its 20% damage reduction can increase your chances of survival, especially if your Scadutree Blessing is low. I still use Rotten Winged Sword Insignia and Millicent’s Prosthesis combo, because I prefer to deal with super high-attack damage when successfully executing Onze’s full combo. But you can always replace Millicent’s Prosthesis with Magic Scorpion Charm to deal more damage. Armor Set Now that the main gear is done, let’s move on to Cosmic Samurai’s Armor Set. For this build, I’m wearing Land of Reeds Helm to preserve the identity of the build, and the rest are Oathseeker’s armor pieces. It really gives a space samurai feel, not to mention that this armor looks really cool in terms of details. Gameplay Finally, let’s talk about the gameplay and optimization tips for this Cosmic Samurai Build. Optimize Your Opener The first tip on the list is to optimize your opener as usual. Before or at the start of a fight, I usually cast Golden Vow and Flame Grant Me Strength. This is followed by popping my Flask of Wondrous Physick for an overall attack boost and dealing as much damage as possible in this burst opener. Use Onze’s Line Of Stars Wisely Next, I must remind you to use Onze’s Line of Stars wisely. As mentioned above, the full combo of this skill is difficult to pull off, and it is wise to stick to the skill’s first attack animation and rely on it instead of doing normal attacks. Depending on who the boss you are facing, mastering this skill takes time and patience. When you use this build, you will know when to perform its full combo, mostly when the enemy is staggered or doing an attack with a long recovery time. Switch Talisman Appropriately When your Scadutree Blessing is high enough, you can swap out Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman for something like Graven-Mass Talisman to increase the effectiveness of your sorcery. Regardless, Cosmic Samurai is a fun build, especially when exploring. By following this guide, you will be able to use it to its full potential and help you gain a foothold in Elden Ring DLC!

It’s a well-known fact in many communities that Elden Ring DLC ​​is difficult. Even for those who already have super high levels, weapons, and Spirit Ashes in the base game, navigating Shadow of the Erdtree can be a bit difficult. So before you even touch Withered Arm in the base game, you need to find the best gear, weapons, and more to prepare for your DLC journey. With this solid foundation, you’ll have more power in your quest. This guide will detail the effects of some Elden Ring Items so that you’re prepared before you enter Shadow of the Erdtree. Best Talismans Haligdrake Talisman +2 Throughout DLC, most of the hard bosses will cause Holy damage to you. Although there are many Talismans for Holy Damage negation in the base game, the 20% damage reduction effect of Haligdrake Talisman +2 is very outstanding in comparison. Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman And Pearldrake Talisman +2 These two Talismans are suitable for long-term wear in DLC, because they can greatly improve your overall defense ability in various battles. If you do find a better talisman and want to replace one of them, take Pearldrake Talisman. Because Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman can reduce your physical damage by about 10%. And throughout the game, almost all enemies will cause some physical damage to you more or less. So Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman must not be replaced casually. Great-Jar’s Arsenal Talisman This Talisman may not increase your damage or resist some damage like the previous two, it can only increase your equipment load by 20%. This will allow you to equip heavier armor, which will indirectly increase your defense. In addition, with the increased equipment loadout, you will also can equip the all-new Shadow of the Erdtree Armor sets. Bull-Goat Talisman Many enemies and bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree have extremely high attack speeds, which means you also need a high Poise attribute. Bull-Goat Talisman can increase your Poise by about 20%, even pushing it to 50 and 100 breakpoints. This can all be done without the help of heavier armor. Best Melee Weapons - Dexterity Weapons & Strength Weapons Dual Bleed Weapons Like some classic combos, Dual Rivers of Blood still performs as intended in DLC. In addition, there are many niche combos, such as Dual Bleed Scavengers Curved Swords or Twinblades, which can give you a greater chance of winning when facing some bosses that cannot resist Bleed effect. Heavy Thrusting Sword & Shield If you want to build a pure Dexterity build, Dragon King’s Cragblade will definitely give you a distinct surprise. Add Shield, and you can protect yourself while using Thrusting Sword. Moonveil Moonveil is originally an Intelligence attribute weapon, but it can also be used to enhance your Dexterity. This is also one of the best samurai swords in the base game of Elden Ring. Moonveil’s Ash of War lets you kill some enemies in DLC with one strike, and get to the last reward, Elden Ring Runes, faster, especially if you have very high Scadutree Blessing levels. Dual Greatswords The repeated Heavy attacks of Dual Greatswords can make many enemies paper-thin and very easy to attack, even some very challenging bosses. You can also use it with Starscourge Greatsword, which makes it very good in some mixed builds. Giant Crusher When you Two-Handed it, Giant Crusher can give you Defensive properties similar to a shield. If you use it with Deflecting Hardtear, you can play very good Guard Counters and Perfect Block damage from enemies. Blasphemous Blade Blasphemous Blade is a weapon that changes with your Faith. In Shadow of the Erdtree, you can use its Ash of War to attack Blackgaol Knight. Its Flame damage can counter many enemies in the game that are not resistant to this type of damage. Best Spells Comet When you use this skill, you fire some Comet forward and deal huge Magic damage to the enemy. Don’t worry about it being very short-lived, because it can be cast in rapid succession and can be charged to deal more damage. Glintstone Icecrag This skill differs from Comet. It fires a Freezing projectile forward, which forms Frostbite on the target it hits. Although Glintstone Icecrag is technically slightly weaker than Comet, the ability to form Frostbite makes up for the technical shortcomings. Greatblade Phalanx Greatblade Phalanx is a very good Phalanx-type spell in the base game, which summons three gigantic swords above your head and automatically tracks attackers. This skill can greatly help you break Poise faster when using Magic-Melee hybrid builds. Rock Sling Some enemies in DLC are somewhat resistant to magic damage, so most spells won’t do much Poise damage to them. But Rock Sling can cleverly solve these problems. It will lift three large rocks from the ground and deal a lot of Physical damage to your attack target. Shard Spiral Although it can deal less damage than the previous skills, it can continue to cause damage when facing large bosses such as Divine Beast while passing through large creature models. Shard Spiral will fire two Glintstone projectiles forward, and after you hit a target, it will not stop and will continue to attack the enemies behind it. If you aim, each release can cause thousands of points of damage. But this requires your luck. After reading this guide, I believe you will have enough confidence to enter Shadow of the Erdtree to explore more unknown stories and plots. I wish you a happy game in Shadow of the Erdtree!

Paintings are easy items to overlook in Elden Ring, but as you explore Lands Between, you may come across some strange and mysterious paintings inside a building called Artist’s Shack. Players are also looking forward to whether Paintings will change in the upcoming Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which is released on June 21. These Paintings may drop rewards after you find them, whether you are a casual player or a player with a determined goal. What Are Paintings? There are 7 Paintings to find throughout Elden Ring. Finding Paintings in Artist’s Shack is only the first of two steps to getting rewards. When you find a Painting, use Triangle button to approach it and interact with it. Pick up the painting, whose image and description are in Notes tab in your Inventory. Remember to go to the place where the painting was taken (the crafting location), but not to the place described in the painting. Therefore, you need to match your location in the open world to the perspective of this painting. When you reach the right location, you will see a Ghost that looks like an Artist. Approach it and they will disappear and leave an item as a reward. You can keep these items for yourself or take them to the trading place for Elden Ring Runes. Below is a list of all Paintings locations and rewards to help you find them better. Homing Instinct Painting Artist’s Shack Location From Summonwater Village Outskirts, use Torrent to go south and then jump on the rocks in front of you. After walking along the small cliff, Artist’s Shack is in front of you. You need to interact with Homing Instinct Painting inside. Reward Location Continue to use Torrent to fast travel to Seaside Ruins. Once you arrive, drive north and you will pass some bats. There is a small graveyard in front of you. The small mound on the right is Artist. Walk up to Ghost and it will disappear, leaving you an Incantation Scarab. Prophecy Painting Artist’s Shack Location This Artist’s Shack is located in the main open area of ​​Stormveil Castle, and there are many guards standing in a row behind the fortifications. Behind them is another enemy equipped with a greatsword and a dog next to him. This enemy is a bit tougher to fight, so you need to be careful. After defeating them, you will find Prophecy Painting inside a building to their left. Reward Location After getting Prophecy Painting, fast travel to Church of Pilgrimage in the north of Weeping Peninsula. Be careful not to enter the church, just outside, and go to the edge of the cliff, where there will be a small ruin sticking out of the ground. Two birds will rest on the edge to the right of it. To the left of the ruins you will see Ghost, which will also disappear and leave you with Warhawk Ashes. Resurrection Painting Artist’s Shack Location Artist’s Shack, where this painting is located, is located on the east side of Liurnia of Lakes and is perched on rocks. If you have explored Carian Study Hall before, you will find the location faster because it is located to the west of Carian Study Hall. Just enter and interact with Resurrection Painting. Reward Location Once you have Resurrection Painting, head to the back of Caria Manor as soon as possible. If you are unsure how to get there, head toward Three Sisters you can see and then go around the manor to get there. Once you are there, continue east until you find a graveyard. Ghost will then appear on the right side of the area, on the other side of the rock jutting upwards. Approach it and it will drop you a Juvenile Scholar Cap, Juvenile Scholar Robe, and a Larval Tear, which are very generous rewards. Redmane Painting Artist’s Shack Location First you need to be in Town of Sorcery Sellia in Caelid, then go to Site of Grace called Sellia Under-Stair. Go up the stairs and turn right. Redmane Painting is in the ruins to your left. Reward Location You need to stay in Caelid at this point and don’t go anywhere else. Continue to Dragonbarrow Fork, then east to Minor Erdtree. If you see a bunch of large broken jars to your right, you’re on the right! Find the right side of Minor Erdtree and go through the wind tunnel, which will help you to the upper ledge until you find the single large jar on the left. Use the branches below and slowly find the ground beneath the broken archway. Some small drops can be done by yourself, but some large drops should rely on Torrent. Once you are on the ground, walk to the middle and Ghost will appear. However, you can’t touch it, and it will leave you with Ash of War: Rain of Arrows. Champion’s Song Painting Artist’s Shack Location You need to head to Shaded Castle, more specifically Shaded Castle Ramparts. Turn left at the stairs behind you and follow the castle wall until you find an area on the left where you can descend. To the right of this area is a wooden shack, Artist’s Shack, with Champion’s Song Painting waiting for you on the first floor. Reward Location From Site of Grace called Rampartside Path on Altus Plateau, continue southeast until you come across a small camp. There is a path to your right that will allow you to go back the way you came. Once you reach the top, you need to move to the cliff overlooking Sainted Hero’s Grave slowly. Here, you will easily find Ghost, who will reward you with a Harp Bow. Flightless Bird Painting Artist’s Shack Location This shack is located in Fortified Manor in Royal Capital Leyndell. It is a building that looks like a round table fortress, so remember to observe it more. Flightless Bird Painting is on the first floor of the hut and is also very easy to find. Reward Location This reward requires crossing the map. You need to go to Windmill Village in Altus Plateau. Head straight to the southeast corner of this area, where Ghost will be waiting for you and will eventually reward you with Fire’s Deadly Sin spell. Sorcerer Painting Artist’s Shack Location The last painting is located in Castle Sol on Mountaintops of Giants. As soon as you exit the main entrance, turn left and go through some barbed barricades. Head up the stairs and enter the room on the left. Go up the ladder inside and walk straight along the castle wall to the end. You will find another ladder going down, and Sorcerer Painting is waiting for you at the bottom of the castle. Reward Location Do not leave Mountaintops of Giants and continue to Snow Valley Ruins Overlook. Go all the way west and cross a valley full of skeletons that are drilling out of the ground. Eventually there will be a bridge on your left, and Ghost will be sitting in the middle of the bridge to rest. Approach it and you will be rewarded with a Greathood armor piece. These are all Paintings locations and reward locations in Elden Ring. I hope it will be helpful for your exploration, and we look forward to the release of Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC on June 21!