Elden Ring: Do You Know How To Defeat Golden Hippopotamus? - Locations & Steps

There are a lot of new fun and powerful builds in Shadow of the Erdtree that come with excitement, especially when facing some extremely tough challenges, such as boss difficulties. As you know, they are not completely new content in DLC, they are still at least as powerful as before. Today we will talk about a build from the base game, which completely destroys DLC. These will be something you can at least build up before stepping into Shadow of the Erdtree, and then feel as powerful as possible from that position. Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike, which is pretty much the most powerful thing in Elden Ring base game, it requires a one-charge spell to be cast somewhere near the boss, and as long as the setup is correct, the boss will be defeated. If you want to RNG multiple lightning strikes on them, it sometimes takes a couple of tries, there’s no real trick to it, just get it to line up, this isn’t really different in Shadow of the Erdtree, bosses have more health,but there are ways to increase this damage further in Shadow of the Erdtree Blessing Level system. Just because of DLC itself, it might take an extra cast, just to show how strong it is. Optimize Spell Damage This is largely just the base game version of the build, with only minor upgrades. You want the spell itself, you ideally want two Gravel Stone Seals, one in each hand, as they enhance Dragon Cult Incantation Spells by 15%, and this stacks, but you usually only get one of these per play, maybe try using Elden Ring Items in exchange for a second Gravel Stone Seal if you want to stack damage quickly. Another alternative offhand is the dagger with Endurance Weapon skill, so you can actually cast spells more consistently as well. On top of that, you also need to put a Light Straight Sword in your actual offhand, just to actually put seppuku on. Because we’re going to use this to trigger White Mask and Lord of Blood, increasing all damage we deal by 30% for 20 seconds after doing this. When And How To Spellcasting? You only need to use this before starting a boss fight, because if the fight ends with no spells in 20 seconds, then, you’ll still be glad you had it in the first 20 seconds because the boss is probably almost dead, after that, you can use Godfrey Icon Talisman, for 15% increased charged spell damage, or Lightning Scorpion Charm, for 12% increased lightning damage. Then Flock’s Canvas Talisman, for 8% increased spell damage. Of course, you also have the lightning damage boost in your flask. You can even use it with an upgraded Boosts Poise or Ironjar Aromatic. The damage will be high. So much so that the guaranteed casting itself has an enormous benefit to general stats. For this, you mainly just need to reach 80 Faith, otherwise you need the stamina to get some heavier armor. This is the version built from the base game, and it completely smashes Shadow of the Erdtree from start to finish. The vast majority of his powers also appear before you touch Madding Hand and enter the realm, and while his basics haven’t changed since the release of DLC, they’re actually getting better with every new addition to the game, so you can even improve them on your journey through DLC.

Thiollier is a key NPC in Elden Ring, and he has an important questline that runs throughout Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Here, we’ll cover the entire Thiollier Questline and the many unique rewards that can be obtained along the way. Let’s get straight into it! Finding Thiollier The first thing we need to do is find Thiollier. From Gravesite Plain Sites of Grace, we’ll move northeast, across Ellac Greatbridge, and to Castle Front. We can then move southeast along the main path, which will eventually branch off into a side path that will take us to Pillar Path Cross. We can find Thiollier nearby. After speaking all of Thiollier’s dialogue, we’ll be able to obtain poison-related items from him. Obtaining Thiollier’s Concoction Next, we can head to Main Gate Cross, where we’re going to talk to another NPC, Moore. If we choose “Talk to Moore” option, he should give us Black Syrup Key Item. Then, on the way back to Thiollier, we can choose “Give Black Syrup”, then “Ask about Black Syrup”, and finally “I’m weary of life”. This will give us Thiollier’s Concoction. Of course, we can also get more of this consumable from Thiollier for 30,000 Elden Ring Runes each. However, I only know of one legitimate use for it. At some point during Dragon Communion Priestess Quest, before fighting Bayle, it is possible to give Thiollier’s Concoction to her in order to use her as Spirit Summons after defeating Bayle, instead of her Priestess Heart and Flowerstone Gavel weapon. Unfortunately, I haven’t tested this myself yet. Talking To Needle Knight Leda Anyway, to progress further on Thiollier’s quest, we need to approach Shadow Keep and talk to Thiollier. He should say that Miquella’s charm for him is gone, and that he is haunted by the memory of St. Trina. If we want, we can do something completely optional. We can go to Highroad Cross Site of Grace and talk to Needle Knight Leda. She will ask for our help in finding those who betrayed Miquella. We should be able to advise Thiollier, but we don’t actually have to. From my testing, doing so will not prevent us from completing Thiollier’s quest, but if we want to play it safe, we can just not make any suggestions or talk to her at all. Instead, to advance Thiollier’s quest line, all we have to do is rest twice at Site of Grace. After doing that, we can talk to Thiollier again and he will tell us that he is heading south. Get Southern Shore Map Next, we need to head south to Cerulean Coast, which is located in Southern Shore region. Let’s move on to how to get the corresponding map for the region. We will start at Castle Front Site of Grace and move southeast, this time along the east side of the main road. Behind a few Soldiers of Messmer, there is a series of steep but climbable descents that lead to Ellac River. Once down the hill, we can enter a cave system to the south, near an enormous pink Miranda Flower. We will then head southwest through the caves, free to explore along the way. We can pick up a Revered Spirit Ash before discovering Ellac River Cave Site of Grace. From there, we will continue south through the cave system. Note that there are several platforming sections here that need to be handled with caution to avoid death from fall damage. Another enormous threat is the lines of Gravebirds along the way. Despite the dangers, we should eventually reach Ellac River Downstream Site of Grace. From here, it’s a little further south to exit this cave. That being said, we still need to continue moving south, passing a few Lightning Sheep and a Furnace Golem. We can then turn west and walk through a forest to reach Cerulean Coast. We still need to continue moving south to find a map of this area. Be careful of Ghostflame Dragon here, though, which will swoop down near the center of the field. It’s much more powerful than the one found in Gravesite Plains. Not far from the dragon, we’ll find Southern Shore Map, and further ahead, one of Miquella’s Crosses, as well as Cerulean Coast Cross Site of Grace. Heading To Stone Coffin Fissure From here, we’ll continue moving south. Near the southern end of this area, we’ll find a large fissure with a series of drop-offs that will require careful climbing to reach the bottom and discover Site of Grace. Next, we’ll head south from Stone Coffin Fissure Site of Grace and head into the lower reaches of this area. There’s a loose rock here that will break off when we step on it, and we’ll somehow land safely on the ground below. Before descending further, we can move northwest from Fissure Cross and descend into a secluded area. Watch out for falling putrescent oozes. We can then move a short distance east to find Velvet Sword of St. Trina. We can then return to the last Grace and begin our descent in earnest. This time, we’ll head north, making our way from coffin to coffin. There are a few Gravebirds guarding the path here, as well as a nasty Lookout Stone enemy that periodically fires lasers with pinpoint accuracy. If you want to play it safe, just take your time through this section, dealing with Lookout Stones as you go. Eventually, we should reach Fissure Waypoint Site of Grace. From here, we’ll move northeast and jump onto a natural stone path. There’s a Shade form of a Lionel Misbegotten up ahead, so we might want to deal with Skeleton Warriors before moving on. Anyway, Lionel Misbegotten shade drops a Multilayered Ring of Light incantation when defeated, and from there it’s a short distance southeast to reach Fissure Depths Site of Grace. Defeat Putrescent Knight Boss Next, we’ll head southwest along Coffin and jump off the end to reach the boss chamber. Note that there’s a summon sign for Thiollier near where we land, so be prepared for a fight. Putrescent Knight Boss isn’t particularly powerful, but it’s also capable of dealing a lot of damage quickly. One of its blue flame moves is particularly dangerous, but can be avoided if timed correctly. After we’ve won, we’ll gain Remembrance of Putrescence, and Garden of Deep Purple Site of Grace will appear nearby. Main Quest Next, we can rest for a while at Site of Grace, then head west along the tunnel. We should find Thiollier talking to himself, and we can pick up St. Trina Disciple’s Cookbook [3] nearby. We’ll need to talk to Thiollier a few more times until he doesn’t have anything new to say. Next, we’ll need to return to Site of Grace and rest there a total of three times. Once we’ve done that, we can return to Thiollier, who will once again be talking to himself. We can talk to him again, but he won’t have much to say. For the next part, we will die a few times. We need to approach St. Trina and Imbibe Nectar, which will lead to our death. Then we need to repeat this step, Imbibe Nectar 4 times in total. After the fourth Imbibe Nectar, a new event should be triggered, and we can then be resurrected at Site of Grace. We can then go and talk to Thiollier once more and convey the words of St. Trina. He will tell us to stop, but despite this, we should try to do it again. After talking to Thiollier until his dialogue runs out, we can return to Site of Grace and rest there. Trying to return to St. Trina will trigger another battle, which is fairly easy. After we win, we will obtain St. Trina’s Smile Talisman, which increases attack power when sleep is triggered nearby. If we return to the cave and talk to Thiollier, he will ask us a question, but we can’t answer it yet. Instead, we need to Imbibe Nectar 2 more times from St. Trina, or until she has nothing new to say. Then we can return to Thiollier and deliver St. Trina’s last words, talking to him until there is no new dialogue. If we go to Site of Grace to rest and return to Thiollier, he will not do much except sighing when talking to him. The last steps of Thiollier Questline take place at the same time as the last part of the major story of DLC. We need to reach a place called Enir-Ilim. Reaching this location requires defeating the ultimate boss in Shadow Keep, as well as the last boss in Ancient Ruins of Rauh area. After that, burn Sealing Tree in Church of the Bud, which will bring us to Enir-Ilim. Given that the end of this questline is completed after defeating the last boss of DLC, which is extremely difficult, I recommend exploring Shadow Realm and collecting as many Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes as possible before continuing. Summon Thiollier For Final Boss Fight If you have completed all the steps in this guide, you should be able to summon Thiollier to assist you in the next boss fight. This is the second to last boss fight, and there are many rewards for completing it. Heading to Divine Gate Front Staircase, and following the stairs up, we will find a summoning sign for Thiollier, as well as a summoning sign for Ansbach, assuming we have not betrayed him at any point. I am not sure if summoning Thiollier is necessary to complete his quest, but I did summon him for the fight. If you want to take the risk and not summon him for the fight to see if you can still complete the quest, then that is your choice. As mentioned before, the ultimate boss is very difficult. For myself, I am level 225, using Heavy Armor and Fingerprint Shield to block his worst attacks, as well as top-level Talismans, focusing on improving my defense, stamina regen, and casting speed. Even so, it took me a few hours to finally defeat both Promised Consort Radahn and Radahn Consort of Miquella. If anyone has found a strategy that works particularly well against Radahn, I’m sure many others would be very grateful to you for sharing it. Rewards Anyway, once the last boss is defeated, we can move on to touching the memories left behind. We can find Thiollier’s body near the entrance to the arena and pick up Thiollier’s Hidden Needle Weapon and his Armor set. Finally, we can return to St. Trina near Garden of Deep Purple and pick up Legendary St. Trina’s Blossom Head Armor, which will slightly increase your max FP. It also emits a faint glow, so that’s great. That’s it for my complete guide for this Thiollier Questline. Have a great day!

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!

Elden Ring’s new expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, will be released on June 21, and many players are wondering if they need to complete the original main quest before entering the new content. Because the base content in Elden Ring is enormous, it will take players hundreds of hours to explore all the content in The Lands Between thoroughly. For those who just want to relax, it may be a very daunting task and take them a long time. The time spent in the game depends on the player’s skill level, and most players will need 40-50 hours. This time is only enough to defeat the 11 necessary bosses, complete the quests in a hurry and do not have a deep understanding of all the plots, etc. But those who are worried about missing out on these plots can breathe a sigh of relief. It has been revealed that the missed content will come in handy when this DLC is finally released. Because FromSoftware did this with previous expansion. Need To Complete The Main Quest? Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has been confirmed to fully complete the main quest before entering the new expansion, but you still need to reach the area where the expansion entrance is located. For example, in Bloodborne Old Hunters DLC, players need to defeat Vicar Amelia's boss to enter Hunter’s Nightmare. This operation has been tried in many DLCs of previous FromSoftware games, including Elden Ring Colosseum DLC. Which Step Can You Unlock New Expansion At? To unlock Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC in the regular way, it takes quite a long game session, but there is an easy way! You only need to defeat two special bosses to enter the new expansion directly. The first is to defeat Starscourge Radahn, which will unlock Eternal City Nokron. Of course, you need to fight Radahn by completing the quest of Ranni or activating Site of Grace by reaching Altus Plateau. After defeating the boss during Radahn Festival, you need to enter the questline in Varre to obtain Elden Ring Items required for Mohgwyn’s Palace in the underground area. You then need to go through this area to find Lord of Blood Mohg - the last boss to be dealt with before entering the new expansion. Once you have killed him successfully, you can actively access DLC by touching Miquella’s hand at the far end of Mohg’s arena. You Can Go Deeper Into Story As You Wish While players are always strongly encouraged to progress in the game, from my point of view, it is best not to lose the battle before entering the new expansion. The first reason is that it takes a long time to defeat both bosses, especially if you want to increase your progress by killing the bosses that appear on the road. If you plan to run it a second time with New Game Plus, it may take longer. The second reason is that New Game Plus makes your game more difficult. Therefore, players may need to defeat Radahn and Mohg besides updating the clearance content. In the worst case, they may not unlock Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. While New Game Plus in some ways increases the health of bosses and other enemies, in another way it also allows players to complete the first attempt of Elden Ring DLC ​​at a higher level. For players who are constantly looking for new and harder challenges, this makes sense. But for players who already find the base game difficult, New Game Plus does increase the difficulty of DLC. Different people have different opinions. Of course, this does not prevent you from making a lot of progress in the game and picking up some of the best endgame weapons and gear. But in fact, you are better off getting as deep into the base game’s campaign as possible. Summary In addition, during Elden Ring DLC ​​hands-on preview sessions, you are also better off setting your character to level 100 or above in advance, so that you can get higher stats and better equipment later. FromSoftware has always had a tradition of DLC being much more difficult than the base game, especially with featured bosses. For example, the ultimate boss of Bloodborne DLC, Orphan of Kos, is a very typical example. What? You think it’s not strong enough? What about Darkeater Midir and Slave Knight Gael from Dark Souls 3? Therefore, players who find the base game difficult are strongly advised not to use New Game Plus to enter the new expansion. However, there are exceptions. Players who rely entirely on Marika’s Hammer or Sacred Relic Sword can kill a lot in those “hard modes”. These two weapons will drop last before the credits. In addition, players can try different builds and weapons in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC to achieve different effects. It should be noted that the weapons obtained by defeating Maliketh, Radagon, and Elden Beast in Elden Ring are the best weapons in the game. But with the updated equipment provided in DLC, you can also try a lot of new options. Like you, I am looking forward to Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which will be officially released tomorrow. See you in the game and wish you a merry game.