Elden Ring DLC: How To Treat The Negative Reviews Of Too Difficult? - They Are Completely Wrong

In Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC, Tarnished can finally use martial arts to fight enemies, as two new Hand-to-Hand style weapons have been added - Dryleaf Arts and Dane’s Footwork. This is excellent news for players who like to use Monk, because with the blessing of these two weapons, Monk Class will be more lethal. But before getting these two powerful weapons, you need to go through some challenges and tasks first. These tasks and challenges are not too difficult, and you can explore them on your own, but if you follow this guide, I believe you will get Dryleaf Arts and Dane’s Footwork more easily. Additionally, this guide will show you the best builds for Dryleaf Arts and Dane’s Footwork. How To Get Dryleaf Arts? When you enter the DLC, you will find yourself in Scadu Altus region, which is very convenient. What you need to do now is to find and go to Highroad Cross Site of Grace in Scadu Altus region, where you will find a sign that says May the Best Win, and a note called Monk’s Missive. These two messages will lead you east to Moorth Ruins, and after arriving at Moorth Ruins Site of Grace, you will find a boss you need to fight - Dryleaf Dane. You can use May the Best Win sign you just picked up when fighting it, and it will use martial arts and Holy magic on you. At this time, be careful of its Palm Blast skill, because it will kill you immediately if you are not careful. After you defeat it with high calmness and flexible mobility, you will get Dryleaf Arts and Dane’s Hat dropped from its body. Read More: How To Defeat Midra, Lord Of Frenzied Flame In Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC? - A Recommended Guide How To Get Dane’s Footwork? Unlike Dryleaf Arts, Dane’s Footwork is available only after you’ve completed most of Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, as it can only be found in the penultimate boss fight of the entire DLC. In this fight, you’ll face Miquella’s Followers, mainly Needle Knight Leda and Dryleaf Dane, who you’ve already fought before. Other bosses will appear after you’ve completed a quest or reached a certain level of progress. Besides picking up Dane’s Footwork in this fight against both bosses, you can also take their gear and numerous Elden Ring Runes directly after they’ve been defeated. The skills and damage types used by Dryleaf Dane in this fight are similar to the previous one, except that the previous Dryleaf Arts are replaced by Dane’s Footwork, which is not important. What needs to be noted here is Needle Knight Leda’s Needle Piercer skill, which is likely to cause unexpected damage to you when you’re not prepared. If you feel you’re having a hard time in this fight, you can use Pureblood Knight Ansbach’s summons to help you so you don’t get overwhelmed by the sheer number of NPCs you have to fight. Dryleaf Arts Build The biggest advantage of these Hand-to-Hand weapons is that you can put them in your off-hand, since you can switch them to two-handed moves in certain situations anyway, so they can be put in any build. For Dryleaf Arts, which build you want to put it in depends entirely on the build you are running. For example, if you are currently running a build centered on Flame, injecting Flame Arts into it will increase Fire damage and Faith scaling. Similarly, injecting it into a build centered on Magic will increase Magic damage and Intelligence scaling. In addition to this, you can also increase the base damage of Dryleaf Arts, since most of the damage of this weapon comes from Palm Blast. Here, you can use Shard of Alexander to increase the damage of Palm Blast by 15%, or use Godfrey Icon to increase the damage of Palm Blast by 15% when charging. When using this skill, Tarnished will gain an outstanding balance, allowing it to withstand attacks while charging. For Talismans, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman helps you take less physical damage while charging, while Two-Headed Turtle Talisman helps you regenerate faster, allowing you to unleash more Palm Blasts in combat. Dane’s Footwork Build While both Hand-to-Hand weapons are excellent in terms of stat stacking, Dane’s Footwork is a bit better given its Ash of War Dryleaf Whirlwind. It strikes four times in quick succession while also increasing kick damage. This weapon is a great addition to any combo build, especially those using Arcane. As mentioned above, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman increases your own physical damage cancellation, and equipped with Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, it increases all your attacks by 13% when you get max stacks. Alternatively, you can use the new Elden Ring Item in the DLC, the Shattered Stone Talisman, which increases the effectiveness of all kick attacks by an additional 10%. Combined with your newfound martial arts skills, enjoy punching and kicking in Shadow of the Erdtree. That’s all you need to know when using these two powerful Hand-to-Hand weapons in Shadow of the Erdtree. I hope you have fun playing this DLC. If you have better ideas for the build of these two weapons, you are welcome to express your opinions in iGMeet Discord. You may also get some runes as rewards.

Spinning Gravity Thrust is one of the craziest newest Ashes of War builds from Elden Ring DLC, and it’s so powerful that I made an OP build specifically centered on it, Berserker Samurai Build. Here I’ll cover the play style for this Berserker Samurai, what gear to use, the best Talismans, helpful gameplay tips, and the pros and cons of this build. So if you’re looking for an effective build for this Ash of War, this guide is for you. Build Basics Berserker Samurai’s insane damage output can instantly break almost any boss in the game, with bleed procs raw firepower. This is a super aggressive build that trades hitting and taking damage to deal as much damage as possible in a short period, so this build theme really matches its playstyle. Berserker Samurai has high Dexterity and Arcane, and a little Faith Stat, with access to attack and defense boosting spells as mentioned above, to improve its overall firepower and survivability. Pros & Cons Speaking of pros to this setup, aside from the insane damage output of this weapon and Ash of War, as mentioned before, Spinning Gravity Thrust makes it like a sitting duck as it makes the target flinch and nearly stuns them. Humanoid Types are pretty much powerless compared to this setup. And giant targets or bosses will definitely die faster than anything because of its jaw-dropping firepower and Bleed procs. However, every setup has its weaknesses and drawbacks, and Berserker Samurai is no exception. The first one I want to talk about is the obvious issue with Ash of War, which is that its long animations make you more vulnerable to attacks. Since you’re already in mid-air, you’ll be dodging ground attacks more often, but you’ll still take damage most of the time, especially if you’re still adjusting to Ash of War’s timing. While the idea is that you will take damage to deal massive damage to your opponent, if you over-abuse Spinning Gravity Thrust, 90% of the time it will result in your death. Ash of War has a very slow acceleration animation, so when you are facing fast-moving targets, you will find yourself often missing a lot of targets or hitting the air. The last thing I want to say about its disadvantages is that Spinning Gravity Thrust consumes a lot of Stamina. This means that you will be using up Stamina most of the time, especially when rushing to the target, which is the regular play style of this build. Gear Now that the basic play style and overview are over, let’s move on to the gear that Berserker Samurai needs. Main Weapon: Great Katana Let’s start with the chief weapon of this build, Great Katana. This Katana requires 14 Strength and 18 Dexterity to use effectively, and this time we will infuse it with Blood. In terms of scaling, it will have D for Strength, C for Dexterity, and lastly D for Arcane. Now this may seem bad, but trust me, this weapon is more than enough to wipe out an enemy in seconds. Weapon Skill: Spinning Gravity Thrust Moving on to the core of this build, Ash of War Spinning Gravity Thrust. This is one of the deadliest Ash of War I have seen so far. What it does is it lifts the user into the air and performs a violent multi-hitting spinning thrust attack that not only does a ton of damage per attack, but it also causes the target to flinch during the attack. In addition to its insane damage multipliers, you also trigger Bleeds when using Ash of War, which makes its damage even more insane. Pressing L2 allows you to fire Ash of War, and pressing L2 again after the first animation finishes will perform another set of animations, but the second set of animations will have a powerful Sweeping Finisher that will knock the target back. Secondary Weapon: Dragon Communion Seal Moving on to the secondary weapon of this build, I am using Dragon Communion Seal here in case we need to slot Arcane Scaling offensive Incantation later. I’m only using Seal for the attack buffs for this build, but you can definitely use any Seal you want as long as you have enough Elden Ring Runes. Spells With the weapons out of the way, let’s move on to the spells I recommend. The first is Flame Grant me Strength, which grants an additional 20% Physical Attack Boost and Stamina Recovery Buff. The second buff is of course Golden Vow. This buff increases overall damage by 15% and adds 10% damage negation, which is very helpful. Talismans Next, let’s look at the best Talismans for this build. The first Talisman on the list is once again Shard of Alexander. This can increase skill damage by 15%, especially when performing Witching Hour Slash skill, so be sure to slot this one. Since we’re dealing with Bleed procs a lot with this build, I recommend using Lord of Blood’s Exultation. It will give you another 20% attack damage if blood loss procs are happening nearby. This happens all the time, so it will help you deal a ton of damage. Of course, since we’re dealing with fast multi-attacks, as usual, slotting in Millicent’s Prosthesis and Rotten Winged Sword Insignia is optimal for this build. You’ll always have the multi-attack buff active when performing Spinning Gravity Thrust, so make sure to prioritize these Talismans. However, I’ll have other Talisman suggestions later that will suit different combat situations. Armor Set Now that the main gear is done, let’s move on to the best Armor Set for Berserker Samurai. For this build, I’m wearing Land of Reeds Helm to preserve the identity of the build, in addition to using White Reed Armor and White Reed Gauntlets, and finally Land of Reeds Greaves. However, you can also choose to wear Rakshasa Set for a higher Attack Rating, as this Armor Set provides a damage boost overall. In summary, you can wear whatever you want, as long as you have about 51 poise, which is enough most of the time. Stats Then, let’s move on to Berserker Samurai’s stats. First, we start with Vigor, which I have assigned 60 points to. Since this build will be engaging enemies in melee combat, you will be taking damage quite often, so having 60 Vigor is essential for this build. Next is Mind, which I have assigned 20 points to. Now, you may find this quite low, especially with 26 FP required to use Spinning Gravity Thrust. However, enemies and bosses usually die quickly after 1 to 4 spins, so I don’t need more than that. In the event that the boss survives after 2 to 4 spins, you can also finish the fight by opening the flask easily. Next, talking about Endurance, I have assigned 30 points to it. Even though Spinning Gravity Thrust will drain your stamina in a few seconds, it’s actually OK to only have 30 points. As mentioned, enemies die very quickly. Then you also need to have at least 14 Strength to effectively wield Great Katana. Since Dexterity is our main stat for this build, I have allocated 75 points in total. And since we have equipped Millicent’s Prosthesis, it can even go up to 80. Next is Intelligence. We don’t need these, so it will be 10 points. Then Faith has been allocated 25 points, giving you access to the previously mentioned Flame Grant me Strength and Golden Vow. Finally, we have allocated 45 points to Arcane so that we can have more Attack Rating, while increasing our blood loss to 132 so that we can ensure that it triggers more often. Gameplay Now that the stats are taken care of, let’s move on to the gameplay and optimization tips for Berserker Samurai. Optimize Your Opener First, you need to optimize your opener as usual. Before or at the beginning of the battle, I usually cast Flame Grant me Strength and Golden Vow, and finally Bestial Vitality. Next, we can turn on Flask of Wondrous Physick for damage reduction and multi-attack boost. With all the buffs active, this build will be super aggressive and do as much damage as possible in this opening. Use Spinning Gravity Thrust Properly I know this build is a Berserker, however, if you miss Ash of War too many times as mentioned before, you will pay the price with death because of its overly long animation. Beyond that, you still need to master the timing of casting Ash of War. Unfortunately, getting good at it requires experience, and its usage varies from boss to boss. However, most of the time you will win the fight because of its damage output. Use Gear Wisely Now for the last tip, I recommend swapping Millicent’s Prosthesis for Crusade Insignia when exploring the overworld or dungeons, so that you can get a lasting buff while you’re on the landscape. Of course, if you think you need more protection, swap the aforementioned Talisman for Dragoncrest Greatshield. Berserker Samurai is a difficult Samurai build to master, and its satisfying violent thrusts can wipe out enemies in seconds. If you want to melt bosses with ease, don’t miss this guide. See you next time!

Iris of Grace and Iris of Occultation are two twin consumables in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree that are easily overlooked and not very clear in-game for their purpose. However, these two Elden Ring Items can be collected as weapons or Spirit Ashes from one of two very powerful NPCs. If you obtain the Irises, try not to use them yourself. You should turn one Iris in to Swordhand of Night Jolán and Fire Knight Queelign. Iris of Grace will give you a new Spirit Ashes, while Iris of Occultation will give you a new weapon. If you are not sure which one to turn in, you can read this guide. This guide will go into detail about their locations and usages. Location Of Irises Of Grace Both Iris of Grace can be found in Shadow Keep, which is also the dark castle where players fight Impaler Messmer in Elden Ring. Iris of Grace is tied to Spirit Ashes, so both Spirit Ashes unlocked by using it are higher level, and one of them unlocks Spirit Ashe for the entire game. While you can only choose between Jolán or Queelign for Iris, you can find two copies of Iris. So don’t play favorites, and if you prefer Spirit Ashes over weapons, you can focus on two Irises of Grace instead of Irises of Occultation. You can hold up to 99 Iris of Grace, but can store up to 600 Iris of Grace. Here are the locations of the two Irises of Grace: Location #1: On The First Floor Of Warehouse Take the elevator to the lower floor, defeat Flesh Pot Monster nearby, then collect Irises of Grace nearby. Location #2: In Tree-Worship Sanctum After draining Church district, you can find Iris of Grace next to Statue of Marika south of Scadutree Avatar boss fight in Elden Ring. Location Of Irises Of Occultation There are two Irises of Occultation at opposite ends of Scadu Altus. The first is in the basement of Fort of Reprimand, and the other is in Shadow Keep’s Church District. Before you head to Tree-Worship Sanctum Site of Grace to get the second Iris of Grace, you can stop by to find Shadow Keep Iris. Like Iris of Grace, you can hold up to 99 Irises of Occultation, but you can store up to 600 Irises of Occultation. Here are the locations of the two Irises of Occultation: Location #1: Church District Entrance Once you’ve cleared Church District, take the elevator to Blessing Point at the entrance to Church District and defeat Cankered Tree Spirit. You will receive Iris of Occultation and some Elden Ring Runes as a reward. Location #2: Fort Of Reprimand Located at the southern end of Skadu Altas, it forms part of a secret route to this area if you want to skip Ensis Castle and its final boss battle with Twin Moon Knights, Lelana, at Graveyard Plains. Go underground through the hole in the main arena and defeat the Lesser Omenkiller to get the Iris of Occultation. Give Irises To Swordhand Of Night Jolán Jolan is a knight in black armor and a spiked helmet who will be waiting for you between two cliffs in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree with a sword in hand. Swordhand of Night Jolán will appear during Count Ymir’s quest. Ymir will ask you to ring three different Finger Ruins, which will culminate in a battle with Metyr, Mother of Fingers, Jolán herself, and then Count Ymir. When you talk to Jolán, you can give her either the Iris of Grace or Iris of Occultation. If you give her Iris of Occultation, you will receive a Dexterity Katana, Sword of Night. Similarly, giving her Iris of Grace will give you Swordhand of Night Jolan Ash. This Ash is one of the very important necessities mentioned above in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. Give Irises To Fire Knight Queelign Fire Knight Queelign is Marika’s knight. He is not so friendly and will try to kill you, but this is your best chance to get close to him. You can first encounter Queelign as an Invader in Tower Settlement in Belurat. After defeating him there, you will be rewarded with a Crusade Talisman. Afterwards, he will prepare to ambush you in Church of Crusade. During this battle, Prayer Room Key and Ash of War can be dropped. After this, when you reach Shadow Keep and Church District, you will find the true body of Fire Knight Queelign in Prayer Room. After you give Iris of Grace to Fire Knight Queelign, he will give you Fire Knight Queelign Spirit Ash. This Spirit Ash is very aggressive and can cast fire spells. Similarly, after giving him Iris of Grace, he will drop Queelign’s Greatsword. Queelign’s Greatsword is a Heavy Thrusting Sword, and like Sword Lance, it is one of the lesser-known weapons in the game. In Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, no matter which path you choose, you can enjoy exploring the Land of Shadow and get corresponding rewards. I wish you an auspicious time in DLC!

Golden Hippopotamus is one of the easier bosses to find in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and has a relatively small set of attacks compared to bosses like Divine Beast Dancing Lion and Rellana. But having a few moves doesn’t mean it’s easy to defeat. During the battle, one slight mistake on your part could put you in trouble. This guide will introduce the steps to defeat Golden Hippopotamus and its location, so that you are prepared for this battle. Locations Of Golden Hippopotamus Golden Hippopotamus is located in the courtyard in the center of Shadow Keep, and you will collide with him head-on if you enter from the southern entrance of Scadu Altus. Technically, this boss is an optional boss, but defeating him will give you two Scadutree Fragments as a reward, so it’s worth fighting him. If you don’t have an NPC ally to help you, you can summon your Spirit Ash companion. Preparation Before The Battle As far as we know, this monster is weak in slashing damage and also has a poor balance. So you can break its balance by using gravity magic or strong attacks. In terms of skills, Rock Sling is recommended. Even if you miss the hitbox that provides you with a critical hit during the fight with it, you can still cause serious damage by attacking its head. In terms of weapons, swords, greatswords, and daggers are all very reliable helpers. Backhand Blade may not have such high scaling, but it provides fast strikes and unique Ash of War that allows you to dodge around the target, so you may also consider bringing it. In addition, Blackgaol Knight’s sword is also a good choice. If you are using a magic build, any Elden Ring Items that can increase Faith or Intelligence can be used for you. If you only want assists, then you need to start Hornsent’s questline first, because they can become your combat allies in this battle. In addition, you can also let your Spirit Ash summon do the work, especially if you have a Mimic Tear. With Mimic Tear at level 6 and above, and Revered Spirit Ash at level 4 and above, Golden Hippopotamus can be defeated entirely with Spirit Ash companions. Besides this, Black Knife Tiche, Nightmaiden and Swordmistress Puppets, and Swordmaster Yosh, can all make you a cup of tea in battle. It is important to note that you must make sure to upgrade your Elden Ring Items. If you run out of Smithing Stones or Glovewort, you need to return to Lands Between and get some Bell Bearings for Maiden Husks for them. Steps To Fight Golden Hippopotamus behaves similarly to Ulcerated Tree Spirits, with most of its lethal damage coming from its head and mouth. It has a long body and neck that stretches far out to prevent you from running away. On the plus side, Golden Hippopotamus is afraid of direct damage because of its enormous size, which means you have more safe attack points to fight it than other bosses, especially since you have Spirit Ash to distract it. Phase 1 Golden Hippopotamus will only attack you a few times in the initial stage, which may sound difficult to deal with, and it is, as these attacks are linked together. Golden Hippopotamus also moves faster than you think, so it is easy to be grabbed and knocked down before you can react. After you fall, it will greet you with its mouth wide open and rush towards you. This attack will knock you to the ground again, leaving you vulnerable to follow-up attacks. Even if your armor is strong, you should try to dodge forward or sideways. You can also avoid its head attacks this way. For example, if it’s running towards you with its mouth open, you can roll forward; when it’s about to bite you, you can dodge sideways. Phase 2 When you get Golden Hippopotamus down to half its health, it will stop for a moment and golden branch-like thorns will grow on its back. You can use this time to perform some additional attacks from time to time, but be careful not to stay too long. At this time, Golden Hippopotamus will send a burst of holy water spikes around, and it will occasionally repeat this attack if you stay close to it for a long time. It will signal this by shaking its body, so you need to be prepared in advance. This attack has a range of about two dodge rolls, so you don’t need to retreat too far. Avoiding the spikes is mainly based on luck, because all the spikes are strewn with sizeable gaps between each spike. Rolling sideways at this time will put you in danger, so the best way to deal with it is to dodge forward. The most dangerous attack is when Golden Hippopotamus jumps into the air and stays there for a few seconds before falling and rolling forward. This move is very powerful and can kill you if you are not at full health. Given the size of Golden Hippopotamus, your best bet for surviving is to dodge forward as it falls, or, if you are far from the impact point, dodge forward as it rolls towards you. At this stage, Golden Hippopotamus will replace the previous head swing with a powerful bite. It will lunge forward to bite, then turn its head to the side, so you need to stay away from its face. In addition, its major method - charging is also used at the same time. Both attacks give you the opportunity to get close to the side or back of Golden Hippopotamus and quickly reduce its health with your melee attacks. If you want to deal more damage, you can use string or charged attacks and powerful weapon skills to break Golden Hippopotamus’ balance. When you defeat Golden Hippopotamus, you will get: Aspect of Crucible: Thorns incantation Inspired form Hippo’s spines Two Scadutree Fragments Hopefully, you can easily defeat Golden Hippopotamus according to the steps in this guide, and have fun exploring Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC!