Elden Ring DLC: Have You Ever Thought About The Lore? - Some Interesting Lore

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.

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!

The arrival of Shadow of The Erdtree DLC has dropped a lot of new gear, especially some Samurai-related weapons. If you enjoy destroying anything with wild swings and inflicting bleeding on your enemies, then this Raging Rakshasa Samurai Build is definitely what you are looking for. In this guide, we will cover the play style of this build, what gear to use, the best amulets, useful gameplay tips, and more. So that eventually you will master the enormous power of the newest weapons in DLC and delete everything that stands in your way. Gameplay Raging Rakshasa relies heavily on the power of Rakshasa’s Great Katana, hence the name. Swinging this Great Katana violently is able to deal a lot of raw damage and apply additional bleeding effects, making it even more deadly. In addition, when making said swings, players will also gain a huge Hyper-armor to focus more on destroying enemies, especially bosses. Raging Rakshasa also has high Strength and Dexterity, and a little Faith Stat that grants attack and defense boosting buffs. Its overall gameplay is simple but very effective. Weapons Now that the basic gameplay is out of the way, let’s move on to the gear you need to complete Raging Rakshasa. Main Weapon: Rakshasa’s Great Katana Let’s start with the major weapon of the build, which is Rakshasa’s Great Katana, one of the newest weapons added in DLC. This Great Katana requires 12 Strength, 27 Dexterity, and no Arcane Scaling, which is really weird in my opinion, and it’s D scaling for Strength and B for Dexterity. Not only does Rakshasa’s Great Katana look really exceptional, but it also offers a devastating skill, Weed Cutter. This skill cuts the target horizontally and removes it like a weed, so its name matches its ability. As long as they have Stamina, the user can extend the use time of Weed Cutter, and it only costs 8 FP per use, which is crazy. This skill hits like a truck every time it swings, and since it has an additional bleed effect on top of the original damage, you’ll be dealing a ton of damage in a matter of seconds. Additionally, the user will gain Hyper-armor in the middle of the animation, allowing them to defend against or face normal attacks. While it sounds OP, it has its downsides. While having Hyper-armor is good, the user will also take more damage in the process. And I think the animation of Weed Cutter is very slow, and if you don’t use it correctly, you’ll be vulnerable. Secondary Weapon: Finger Seal Moving on to the secondary weapon for this build, I recommend using Finger Seal. While any Seal will work, Finger Seal is the easiest one for us to get. And by equipping Seal, we can get the buff later. Finger Seal is the starting equipment for Confessor and Prophet classes. If you don’t choose either of these classes, you can also choose to get it directly from Twin Maiden Husks for 800 Elden Ring Runes. Spells With the weapons out of the way, let’s move on to the suggested spells. Flame Grant Me Strength I mentioned that we’ll be getting buffs when using this build, so the first one on the list is Flame Grant me Strength, which provides an additional 20% Physical Attack Boost and Stamina Recovery Buff. Golden Vow The second buff on the list is, of course, Golden Vow. This buff increases overall damage by 15% and adds 10% Damage Negation, which is very helpful for us to offset the negative effects of Weed Cutter. Related: The Best Route To Quickly Complete Ymir And Jolan Questline In Elden Ring! Talismans Next, let’s get to the best Talismans for this build. Shard of Alexander The first Talisman on the list is our major hit, Shard of Alexander, which increases skill damage by 15%, especially when performing Weed Cutter. So be sure to slot this one. Lord Of Blood’s Exultation Since we deal with Bleed procs a lot with this build, I recommend slotting Lord of Blood’s Exultation. This Talisman will provide another 20% attack damage if blood loss procs occur near the user, which happens all the time when using this build. Two-Headed Turtle Talisman Next on the list is Two-Headed Turtle Talisman, which greatly increases Stamina Recovery. This is an upgrade from Green Turtle Talisman, and it will become the main Talisman I use in my build. My gameplay and strategy always revolves around super aggressive gameplay and strategy, so most of the time, I’m completely running out of stamina. Therefore, the faster my stamina recovers, the more damage I can do to the enemy. What’s more, there are a lot of times you’ll find yourself with no stamina, especially after using Weed Cutter skill. Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman For the next Talisman, I recommend slotting Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman for an extra 20% Physical Damage Negation. There’s a good chance you’ll be taking a ton of damage, especially when using Weed Cutter skill, so the damage reduction this Talisman provides will greatly help you survive. Not to mention that almost every enemy in DLC can take 1 or 2 shots and die, so you need this talisman. Stats Let’s move on to the stats for Raging Rakshasa. Starting with Vigor, 50 points have been assigned to it. Since I’m used to Glass Cannon Builds, I rarely assign a lot of points to Vigor, however, since this build is more likely to go head-to-head with enemies, I think 50 points are best. If you’re really good at the game, you can lower it. But if you’re still tuning in, make sure to assign 50 points, otherwise you’ll have trouble resisting the impact of all the enemies in DLC. Next up is Mind, which has 25 points assigned to it. You can at least bump it up to 20 if you want and add it to your other stats since this build doesn’t require that much FP and Weed Cutter is very cheap to use. Talking about Endurance next, we have allocated 30 points to it since the intended gameplay for this build is super aggressive. You will be facing off against bosses most of the time and will continue to use Weed Cutter skill, so I feel 30 points is enough for now. Of course, Endurance being an offensive stat, the more you have, the more damage you will be able to do. In addition, you will also want to have at least 50 Strength and 79 Dexterity so that you can match up well with Rakshasa’s Great Katana. These two are the key attributes of this build, so pay attention to them.  Next is Faith. We allocated 25 points so that you can use the aforementioned Golden Vow and Flame Grant me Strength. Finally, since we don’t need Intelligence and Arcane, no points were allocated to them, they remain at 10 points. How To Optimize This Build? Now that stats are out of the way, let’s move on to Raging Rakshasa’s gameplay and optimization tips. Prepare Wakizashi The first tip I have for you is to prepare Wakizashi and fuse it with Ash of War: Golden Vow. Now, this tip is only for when you don’t want to invest up to 25 points into Faith. While it’s relatively weak, with it you can still increase your damage by 11.5% and increase damage negation by 7.5% across the board. Of course, feel free to use any dagger, I just used Wakizashi to match the theme of the build. Improve Your Opener Secondly, optimizing your opener is also crucial. When the fight starts, I usually use Flask of Wondrous Physick first to make my continuous attacks more powerful. And, to get more damage negation, I will choose to cast Golden Vow to deal more damage and damage reduction. Finally, pop Flame Grant me Strength for more attack boosts, then rush the boss and start executing Weed Cutter skill. Use Weed Cutter Wisely The third tip is to manage Weed Cutter skill wisely. You can still die if you use this skill carelessly, so use it intentionally and leave time to use the skill. Gear Up Properly For the last tip, if you are playing well and don’t need damage reduction, you can swap out Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman for something like Rotten Winged Sword Insignia to get more damage. You can also remove Opaline Hardtear and choose something like Strength-knot Crystal Tear, or get more stamina regeneration by equipping Greenburst Crystal Tear. That’s all about Raging Rakshasa Samurai Build. More top builds are coming soon as more new gear emerges. Try to choose the one you like best and start your adventure!

For a Samurai build who wants to level up quickly in the latest expansion, I prefer to prioritize finding one of the newest weapons that fits our play style, Great Katana. Many players are also looking forward to getting this weapon. If you want to get Great Katana as early as possible in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree without being spoiled, then don’t miss this guide. In this guide, I tell you the best way to get the earliest Great Katana in the game, as spoiler-free as possible so that you can get a fresh experience before venturing into the core of DLC. At the same time, here I also provide my first impressions of Great Katana. Without further ado, let’s get started! Great Katana Breakdown Great Katana is a new weapon in Shadow of the Erdtree. This Heavy weapon is a sound choice for those who like to use Katana but want to stance-break more effectively and deal more damage at the same time. Great Katana scales primarily with Strength and Dexterity, making it one of the best weapon choices for Dexterity and Arcane Builds. In addition, this weapon comes with Ash of War: Overhead Stance. When using Ash of War, you can enter a stance that holds Katana high above your head. Normal attacks will push you forward for a downward slash, while heavy attacks will do a series of overhead slashes. Location To get this super cool weapon, we still need to access DLC. You need to first defeat Starscourge Radahn, then go to Mohgwyn Palace and defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood. Once you’ve completed both of these steps, you can interact with Miquella’s Cocoon, which is located in Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum, where you’ll fight Mohg, thus entering Land of Shadow and starting DLC. Although we need to enter DLC to get this weapon, luckily, we don’t have to fight any bosses in Land of Shadow. Once you enter DLC area, we just need to head straight to it. This is a real Godsend, as it’s not far from your first Site of Grace, Gravesite Plain. From Gravesite Plain Site of Grace in DLC, we need to head north. To speed things up, you can ignore all the enemies you may encounter along the way. Of course, if you’re not in a hurry, you can just hack and slash around to collect some Elden Ring Runes. Our goal is to reach a lake located just north of our current location. Now, if you look at the map, you’ll see that there are three large lakes around this area, but the one we need to go to is the middle one. Once you reach the location, you’ll notice a sleeping dragon. You don’t need to fight this mini-boss, as you can get around it by crouching down. Note that there is a corpse near the dragon, and that’s the corpse we need to loot. Slowly crouch down close to the corpse and loot it to get Great Katana. It’s totally simple and easy. Personal Impressions Great Katana looks and feels great when wielded. I knew this weapon would resonate with me the first time I saw it, and it didn’t disappoint. All of its current moves are really refreshing. Its normal attack reminds me of Monster Hunter’s Longswords, especially when performing an upward swing. Its basic skill Overhead Stance is definitely familiar and Sekiro players will notice it immediately because it is similar to Ichimonji Combat Arts. There is no doubt that this skill hits like a truck. However, because of its long preparation time, doing this stance may be intimidating to some people. But since I go for skill, I am happy with it. Of course, if you don’t like this skill, you can always change it. Not to mention that we will see a lot of new Ashes of War in DLC area, which makes this weapon have a longer range, so I think it will be a deadly tool when playing PVP. As for damage, Great Katana hits hard at the maximum upgrade, but its slow attack speed is very obvious. When dealing with fast-moving targets or bosses, such as Maliketh, the Black Blade and others, the safest attack we can perform per opening is two or three hits. Conclusion Overall, Great Katana feels really good so far and it hasn’t been disappointed. I can’t wait to build around it, and just thinking about the different Samurai theme setups we can get from it makes me excited. So, expect me to provide an early Samurai Build in case you want to use such a build for your first play with this weapon in DLC. My major goal is to get you to master this weapon, so stay tuned. Anyway, I hope you found this quick guide useful. Of course, this is not a be-all and end-all guide for Great Katana, as we’re sure to discover more potential for this legendary weapon as time goes on. Do you think this DLC is worth trying so far? If you already own this weapon, please share your experience with us!