Elden Ring: Uncover The Secrets Of Twin Consumables In Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC - Iris Of Grace & Iris Of Occultation

FromSoftware’s extensive Faith builds have been a favorite for many players, including dozens of incantations, seals and weapons. We can see this trend in Elden Ring as well. Among them, as a powerful weapon, Black Steel Greathammer is also expanded through Faith builds. This article will provide detailed information about how to build Black Steel Greathammer to make it a powerful weapon. It is undeniable that we will encounter various difficulties and dangers in the game and getting some Elden Ring Runes will reduce the bumps of the journey absolutely. Players can find Black Steel Greathammer by finding Black Knight in Church of Consolation in southeastern Gravesite Plains. Black Steel Greathammer is very compatible with STR/FAI builds, and you can use them together. Strengths And Weaknesses Of Black Steel Greathammer Strengths: Fast move, buffable and infusible, together with fabulous stance damage Weaknesses: Low Range and only obtainable very late in-game The true power of Black Steel Greathammer is unleashed when infused into a Flame Art or Sacred in a Faith-focused build. Players can adjust scaling with its Ash of War infusion. This is its biggest advantage. Similar to Black Knights, Black Steel Greathammer also has a special Guard Counter. After the counterattack, a circle of holy light will appear on the ground with an explosion effect. The attack power is proportional to Faith. Best Stat Distribution For Black Steel Greathammer As mentioned earlier, Black Steel Greathammer is powerful when combined with a STR/FAI build. As a versatile weapon, Faith is the best stat distribution for Black Steel Greathammer. Strength is another stat distribution that has a perfect fit. However, in a Strength-focused build, the overall damage output of Black Steel Greathammer is slightly less. Best Talismans For Black Steel Greathammer Curved Sword Talisman: Increases 20% Guard Counter damage Greatshield Talisman: Decreases 20% stamina damage taken while being blocked Two-Headed Turtle Talisman: Upgrades the speed of stamina recovery speed by 22.5% Crimson Seed Talisman +1: Enhances HP restoration from Flask of Crimson Tears by 30% Best Shields For Black Steel Greathammer Black Steel Greathammer can only be used to its full potential when Guard Counters are employed. Players can choose to use Guard Counters with a shield. In an emergency, dual wielding is also an option. However, considering that it can only cause physical damage negation of 76 under normal circumstances, it is not recommended to use Guard Counters with dual wielding. As for which shield is better to choose, the key factor lies in the player’s Endurance and maximum equipment load. The weight of the shield is often positively correlated with its defensive capabilities. Therefore, heavier shields should theoretically be the first choice for players. However, considering practical factors, for example, their weight is often not suitable for most builds. Medium shields take into account both weight and defense value and are widely used by most players. Serpent Crest Shield and Brass Shield are two best medium shields, sharing of great significance. Serpent Crest Shield owns the highest guard boost in the category of medium shields, together with extremely lightweight, which can be obtained by solving Incursion Painting in Land of Shadow. And on the other hand, Brass Shield is one of the most balanced shields in the game, which could be farmed by the soldiers along the way back in Limgrave. It is the best replacement of Serpent Crest Shield for players. If players have necessary Endurance to wield a Greatshield, those two shields are the most appropriate options for them: Verdigris Greatshield: Best Greatshield definitely, which can be acquired by completing Moore’s questline, taking place of the crown from Fingerprint Stone Shield. Haligtree Crest Greatshield: A lighter variant among those Greatshields with a sharp difference of weight. Best Incantations For Black Steel Greathammer Players can choose the appropriate incantation based on their own situation. The following are two incantations that directly improve the effectiveness of Black Steel Greathammer: Golden Vow: Boosts attack and defense for self and allies by 15% and 10% separatively. Flame, Grant me Strength: Upgrades physical and fire-affinity attack power by 20% There are also some incantations that are also worth recommending, such as Pest-Thread Spears, Flame of Frenzy and Knight’s Lightning Spear. Best Crystal Tears For Black Steel Greathammer Deflecting Hardtear: Upgrades spontaneous guard, receiving a 5-minute long buff that enhances the damage of Guard Counters. Greenburst Crystal Tear: Temporarily boosts the speed of stamina recovery. If being equipped with two-Headed Turtle Talisman, boundless stamina will be given for three minutes. Let’s enjoy the game first. Moreover, if you would like to embrace more game resources, please access to iGMeet discord. It boasts a Giveaway channel where relevant product gift messages will be released sometimes. Please participate in the discord group to know more details. The above is some sharing about Black Steel Greathammer build, mainly referring to its strengths and weaknesses, and which stat distributions, shields, incantation, and crystal tears could make it a weapon with particular significance. Hope you have a fabulous game journey.

While Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC was a success overall, as it gave players a lot of new content to explore, many players felt cheated by the developers after experiencing the DLC, as it did not live up to its promises. During the promotion, the developers said that Shadow of the Erdtree included a lot of important revelations and basic backgrounds from the base game, and completely redefined most of the base game. But this is not the case. This article will list a few examples of developers “cheating” players, hoping that late DLCs can be improved. The Earliest Trailer Image In the earliest trailer image of Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Miquella was riding Torrent. However, after players completed the entire DLC’s quests and main storyline, they found that Miquella and Torrent had never appeared or been described together in the game. Although the figure in the picture only has a back view, based on the special length and braids, as well as the white clothing, it is roughly Miquella. The white wildebeest is also believed to be Torrent, because no other such creature appears in the base game of Elden Ring. Therefore, many players will think that some clear connection between Torrent and Miquella will be explored in Shadow of the Erdtree, but in the actual game content, it has not yet. Although Miquella and Torrent both appear in the DLC, their identities are completely different. There is also no indication that they have been seen before, let alone Miquella will ride Torrent through Shadow Land, as shown in the picture. Although the DLC is very interesting in terms of new content, this will still disappoint some players, because there is also less explanation about Torrent in the base game, making it more mysterious. Very Little About Torrent As mentioned earlier, there is no further explanation of Torrent’s lore in Shadow of the Erdtree, and a brief explanation in the base game, which makes players know nothing about Torrent’s mystery. However, based on the concept of art in the trailer, we can infer something about this Elden Ring’s spectral steed. At the beginning, Melina gave them a Spectral Steed Whistle when she first met the Tarnished to summon Torrent. But her mind is more than just a simple gift, because before meeting Melina, Torrent had already chosen Tarnished to help him seize the Elden Ring. In the final storyline of the DLC, Melina admitted this after defeating Godrick. So, although Torrent seems to be on Melina’s side, it already has its own thoughts, conscience, and preferences to help him make the right decision. Witch Ranni is one of the few NPCs who knows Torrent’s name, both in the base game and in the DLC. When you talk to Ranni after Tarnished is first in Church of Elleh, she will reveal Torrent’s name to you. Read More: How To Defeat Promised Consort Radahn In Elden Ring? - Five Builds For You During the conversation, she will hear that the enemies are riding a spectral steed, which triggers Torrent’s name, and will give Tarnished a gift said to be from Torrent’s previous owner - Spirit Calling Bell. This item will allow you to summon Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring. In addition to this, Ranni will tell you two important pieces of information: the first is that Torrent once had an owner, and Ranni knows him. The second is that if you can find that owner, it will only benefit Tarnished’s success. But when the same Tarnished begin to follow Miquella's soldiers, posing a threat to them, Miquella is forced to join, becoming the enemy you need to fight in the game, and will provide you with a tons of Elden Ring Runes and the ultimate weapon. In the concept art of Shadow of the Erdtree - the teaser image, it may be hinted that Miquella is Torrent’s previous owner. At the end of Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Miquella will tell you that she and Tarnished have the same goal - to end Golden Order’s tyranny and usher in a new era. Many players will guess that when Torrent was running around Land of Shadow, he left his former master in Lands Between, and could find Tarnished by smell and form an alliance in Land of Shadow. But when the same Tarnished began to follow Miquella’s soldiers and posed a threat to it, Miquella was forced to join and become the enemy you need to fight in the game. In these hints, the connection between Miquella and Torrent has always been subtle, vague, and contradictory. But I believe that players who often come into contact with FromSoft’s series of games should have become accustomed to this kind of vague and contradictory legend, and are accustomed to relying on these discontinuous points to piece together the complete storyline. In Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, there are still many mysterious things waiting for you to explore, and I hope to see you in Land of Shadow!

Recently, a lot of Elden Ring fans were invited to Paris for a preview of Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. How can you preview an expansion for what is already one of the largest and most flexible games ever? When what players like and dislike is largely dependent on specific choices in terms of builds, an expansion as massive as Shadow of the Erdtree, coming two years after Elden Ring, only makes things more complicated and impossible to describe with any degree of generality. Here, we’ll analyze some reports of players’ preview experiences and discuss some of the weapon arts, environments, bosses and difficulty that will be added to the expansion! Before Entering First, I have to say that it feels almost impossible to effectively preview Shadow of the Erdtree. I’d wager that a large portion of even its most devoted fanbase has yet to personally experience everything that Lands Between has to offer. For example, the parts of the game that people have experienced, which areas they enjoyed, and what problems they may have had in the base game all depend on countless personal choices made in terms of highly specific builds. Now, with Shadow of the Erdtree coming on June 21, 2024, we’ve suddenly expanded that initial dilemma: more zones, tougher bosses, more gear to experiment with, and more variables by which your own experience will subtly change. As a result, you might feel that your personal experience is harder to convey to an audience with any real generalizability. New Content Available For Preview Anyway, let’s take a look at what’s available in Shadow of the Erdtree preview event. We have three classes to choose from: Warrior, Knight, and Sorcerer, and each class is set to level 150. The team says this is just an arbitrary number they settled on for the preview, and that you can access the class after defeating Radahn and Mohg, with different stats prioritized differently for different classes. We have access to two large, separate areas of the huge new world that Erdtree offers: Castle Ensis and Belurat Castle Settlement, and have three hours to do and see what we can. However, this simplified campaign structure does nothing to prepare players for what’s coming. Add to that the inherent weirdness of any preview, you’re in a strange place, aware that you’re being watched. The biggest difficulty is how to begin to convey what actually happened in that narrow preview window. So this preview won’t be a completely comprehensive analysis of everything in the expansion, just an accurate recollection of what players experienced and were impressed by. Still, there’s so much to dig into here! DLC Is Difficult I think one of the first things you notice when jumping into a DLC is that it’s going to be hard for most players. Almost every player in Early Access booted up Elden Ring in the first few days, either to get to DLC access points or just to brush up on the control mechanics. If you haven’t already, I recommend doing so to regain muscle memory of Elden Ring’s unique and sometimes unforgiving pace. It’s also worth stocking up on some Elden Ring Runes and consumables in advance. As we wandered across this vast new plane, it was hard not to be struck by the scenery before us. Ephemeral Graves dotted the landscape, stretching as far as you could see, and the light from the cracks in Erdtree illuminated it. A far cry from the alluring golden glow of the original game, a dreamlike, beautiful, and intimidating picture. But be careful, because just when you’re enjoying all this, an enemy suddenly appears from nowhere and knocks us down with a single fierce attack. Players need to bravely fight this new opponent, but there are dangers all around, and some people were killed before they even reached the two custom areas we were allowed to explore. In short, from the beginning, Shadow of the Erdtree is an experience that requires constant vigilance. The already occasionally unbearable brutality of its base game is increased tenfold, and this brutality has not really weakened in the three-hour preview. Ordinary enemies will increase their own strength and attack you in groups, and the most insignificant enemies will usually punish you quickly because you underestimated them. Seriously, although you can enter DLC after defeating the two must-kill bosses, if you haven’t raised the vigor level to a reasonable level, you’re dying here. Even though Warrior class I’ve been using for most of this has been upgraded to level 55, the highest of all the available builds, it’s still tough. And since we’re heading into the full version of New Game+, things will inevitably get more challenging. New Weapon And Skill Selection Tougher than any of the enemies, however, is the choice paralysis I felt for a while during the preview. While most spells are obviously limited to Sorcerer, there are a number of new weapons for any build to try, including a variety of Axes, Spears and Swords, as well as a host of weapons that are becoming popular favorites in the form of new Martial Art skills. If used correctly, they can quickly wear down an enemy’s stance. Beyond that, the new combat options, such as the wealth of new weapon arts, make me feel like any of them could become a new favorite if we had more time to practice. But unfortunately, we had to look at the class requirements of the available content as much as possible before I could thoroughly master all of this stuff. Given the challenges of the above content, this strategy requires honing in on the builds that work for the time being. For me, that would come in the form of Backhand Blade, as this weapon seems to be the most satisfying choice between damage output, range, and reach, and its associated weapon art, Blind Spot, further enhances this ability. Plenty Of Areas To Explore If you only have three hours to see what’s on offer in DLC, efficiency is important, as the two areas we were allowed into look at least as densely populated as some of the larger castle areas in the base game. Castle Ensis, for example, seems to be the more difficult of the two castles, and it reminded me of Raya Lucaria Academy, with its emphasis on Sorcerers and Magic. The more densely populated Belurat Castle reminded me of the decay and decay of Leyndell. You’ll be carefully examining every visible nook and cranny before moving on, as you can guarantee there’s something waiting to pounce on you compared to the base game. Why The New Expansion Is Worth The Wait? If there’s anything exciting about this preview, it’s not necessarily any single design element, enemy, or gear, but the fact that in a few weeks we’ll suddenly have all new Elden Ring to decipher, a whole new world full of secrets waiting to be uncovered. FromSoftware really seems to have used the two years since the base game’s release to make this happen. While players have three hours to explore two enormous areas of this world, they definitely haven’t seen everything these two areas have to offer. By the end of the preview, you’ll realize that these two areas are just a tiny dot on the much larger map of this expansion. There’s so much more that you can’t even imagine, which is incredibly exciting. What do you think of this new expansion? Are there any other things you’ve discovered that were surprising? Anyway, let’s look forward to Shadow of the Erdtree in a few weeks!

If you want to become the most powerful Samurai in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, then do not miss this guide. Here we will bring you Moonlight Katana Samurai Build. We will cover its play style, gear to use, best Talismans for this build, tips for using the game, and more. With this guide, you will eventually master the great power of Moonlight and have fun in the new DLC. Gameplay With Transient Moonlight, Moonlight Samurai can deal tremendous damage from both melee and ranged. The skill of releasing shockwaves, which is great for ranged attacks, however, in melee range you will deal even more damage because Katana will also hit the enemy. Moonlight Samurai has high Intelligence and Dexterity, allowing the user to perform all the most powerful magic to their liking. With this build, you will cast a lot of Stance damage and tear bosses to pieces with ease. Gear Now that the basic play style is out of the way, let’s move on to the best weapons for Moonlight Samurai. Main Weapon: Moonveil Katana Let’s start with the main weapon for Moonlight Samurai, which is without a doubt Moonveil Katana. To use it effectively, the user needs 12 Strength, 18 Dexterity, and 23 Intelligence, and it scales primarily with Intelligence and Dexterity. But its best feature is the aforementioned Transient Moonlight skill, which gives the user versatility in combat. This weapon can deal with regular Unsheathe attacks with a special arching shockwave when L2+R1 is pressed. R1 Transient Moonlight is often used to deal with large groups of enemies, while pressing L2+R2 allows for an overhead Unsheathe attack with a vertical projectile, similar to Ash of War: Unsheathe. This will become your go-to skill, especially when dealing with bosses. Many times, enemies’ stances will be broken because of the massive Stance damage of this skill. Secondary Weapon: Carian Glintblade Staff Next, I decided to go with Carian Glintblade Staff as a secondary weapon, since this build is centered on Intelligence, anyway. This Staff requires 6 Strength, 22 Intelligence, and 12 Dexterity to use effectively. I chose this Staff because it boosts the strength of Glintblade Sorceries by 15%, and we’ll be using either Glintblade or Greatblade Phalanx Sorceries in this build. Of course, if you have more Elden Ring Runes budget, you can also use Azur’s Glintstone Staff, which will give you more casting time. Sorceries Speaking of Sorceries, I chose Phalanx Sorceries for more Stance damage, and it also matches up well with Moonlight Sumarai. Glintblade Phalanx Or Greatblade Phalanx Also, I recommend using either Glintblade Phalanx or Greatblade Phalanx as a secondary damage source. Both of these Sorcery will help you deal extra raw and Stance damage, which will complement your Moonveil Katana while not disrupting your attack rotation too much. Glintblade Phalanx only costs 18 FP to use, while Greatblade costs 30 FP, so this is something you’ll want to consider as well. You can use either one, it all depends on your preference. But personally, I use Glintblade Phalanx for lower FP costs, and I tend to focus on using Moonveil instead of casting Glintblade Phalanx. Terra Magica The next Sorcery on the list is Terra Magica, which casts a magic puddle or a sigil that increases magic damage by 35% for 30 seconds. All of our damage sources are magic based, so this will improve the overall damage of the build. Talismans Next, let’s get into the best Talismans for this build. Shard Of Alexander The first Talisman on the list is our Shard of Alexander. This provides a 15% increase in skill damage, especially when performing a Transient Moonlight. Magic Scorpion Charm Next up is Magic Scorpion Charm. Since we’re dealing primarily magic damage with this build, the 12% extra magic damage this amulet provides will be beneficial in exchange for the 10% increase in physical damage taken. Green Turtle Talisman The next Talisman on the list is Green Turtle Talisman, which increases Stamina recovery and is one of the go-to Talismans I use because my gameplay and strategy always revolves around ultra-aggressive gameplay and strategy, so most of the time, my Stamina is running low. So, the faster my Stamina recovers, the more damage I can do to the enemy. Carian Filigreed Crest Finally, for general use, I recommend Carian Filigreed Crest. This Talisman reduces FP cost of skills by 25%, allowing you to deal more Transient Moonlights before popping a Cerulean Tear. Stats Let’s move on to Moonlight Samurai’s stats. Starting with Vigor, it has 40 points assigned to it. If you feel like you need more HP to survive, feel free to bump it up to 45-50 since we’ll be using Godrick’s Great Rune later on, anyway. And since I’m used to Glass Cannon builds, I don’t usually invest a lot of points in Vigor. Next up is Mind, which has 30 points assigned to it since this is a build that requires FP. Constantly using Transient Moonlight while setting up buffs will deplete your FP, so I highly recommend having at least 30 points in Mind. Moving on to Endurance, it has 40 points assigned to it since the intended gameplay of Moonveil Samurai is super aggressive. You’ll be spending most of your time face-to-face with bosses, or pulling out Transient Moonlight from a distance. Personally, I deplete Endurance faster than anything when optimizing for combat, so I highly recommend having at least 40 points in Endurance. I consider Endurance to be the offensive stat in any Souls game I play, because the more stamina you have, the more damage you can do. Next Strength is at least 18, so you will use Nagakiba. Also, I recommend at least Dexterity at 60 and Mind at 75, so you can maximize the damage of Moonveil Katana and Glintblade Phalanx or any magic you want to use later. For Faith and Arcane, 0 points have been assigned to them since we don’t need these stats in this build. How To Optimize This Build? Now that stats are out of the way, let’s move on to Moonlight Samurai gameplay tips and optimization techniques. Learn 5 useful tips that will help you master this build. Utilizing Wakizashi The first tip I have for you is to prepare Wakizashi and fuse it with Ash of War: Golden Vow. Having the ability to cast Golden Vow will increase your damage by 11.5% and increase damage negation by 7.5% across the board. Optimize Your Opener The second tip on the list is to optimize your Opener. At the start of a fight, I usually cast Flask of Wondrous Physick first, get more magic and stance, then cast Golden Vow, and have my Glintblade Phalanx ready. Finally, rush the boss and start casting Transient Moonlight. During this time, try to deal as many attacks as you can, as the stance buff from physics doesn’t last. If you manage to fight off the boss, you will have a huge upper hand. Use Terra Magica Effectively The third tip on the list is to make sure you cast Terra Magica and stand on Sigil first, then use Transient Moonlight in succession. You can also do this at the melee range to deal as much damage as possible. Prepare A Katana We never know how many magic-resistant enemies DLC will throw at us, so preparing at least another Katana, such as Nagakiba, will still give you an advantage. Customize The Build The last tip on the list is to customize the build to your liking. As mentioned before, this build has access to the most powerful Sorceries in the game, so if you don’t like my personal setup, feel free to get creative. You can be a full mage with this build, as you will have high Dexterity anyway, so your cast times will be much faster. Utilizing spells such as Comet Azur or other destruction spells in the game may give you more options or variety in combat. Consider changing Staff to Azur’s Glintstone Staff if you choose to go this route. That’s it for the complete guide to building this Moonlight Katana Samurai Build. Hopefully, it helps you get off to a better start as you enter Shadow of the Erdtree!