July 2024 - Stacy Lyn Jensen

Castle Morne in Elden Ring

black and white photo of arched door in a castle

I am currently sitting around level 34 or so. After I spoke with Kenneth Haight, I decided to go ahead and check out this Fort he needed to be cleared out. I struggled with that a bit, but I was able to get Fort Haight cleared, and I got half of a disc thing.

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Making my way to Castle Morne in Elden Ring

I then decided to travel down the Weeping Peninsula. I wasn’t ready to take on Stormveil Castle yet.

I enjoyed the area. First, I fought a demi-human in some ruins and got her staff. Then, I went up a tower or two. After that, I was able to finish out a catacomb and fight the boss. This area helped me feel like I was getting the game, I was doing better, I was handling the enemies. Feeling like things were going well.

Meeting Irina near Castle Morne in Elden Ring

As I got closer to Castle Morne, I met a girl with a blindfold on, her name was Irina. She asked me if I’d deliver a letter to her father. I agreed. I hoped that her father would come to her quickly.

When I first entered the Castle, I came across a gigantic pile of burned bodies, with a bunch of feathered demi-humans dancing on their corpses. The demi-humans were not difficult to fight, thanks to the wolf summons that I’ve been using. I was able to kill them after a few tries.

Inside Castle Morne in Elden Ring

After I went up a ladder, things got more difficult. There were some of the demi-humans flying, and I wasn’t sure how to do a jump attack. I just had to make due. I was able to fight my way through. Once, at the top, I found Irina’s father. But, then I remembered that I needed to fight the boss before delivering the letter.

I was very nervous about the boss, because I’d heard that they are the “first real boss” but then other people say it’s not the first real boss. So I wasn’t sure exactly what the difficulty level was going to be. I did summon, and it took two tries, but I got it done. I was very proud of myself. But then, when I went to go back through Castle Morne in Elden Ring to give the note to Irina’s dad, I died like four or five more times, so I guess it all worked out.

Fighting the Boss of Castle Morne

The boss for the area moved strangely, and I think that the best way to go is to be aggressive. I’m finding that that is the way to win fights, to be aggressive, don’t hang back, get in there and swing. I’m sure it’s not going to work with everything, and I’m still figuring out how to get away, but it’s working better than hanging back.

What’s Next

Right now, I need to work on figuring out if blocking is even for me, or if I just need to get better at rolling, and I need to get better at knowing when to use my Ash of War, my heavy attack, my light attack, or my spells.

So that was my adventure working my way through Castle Morne in Elden Ring, I’ll update to discuss Stormveil Castle, but it may be more than one post because it’s a big area, and I’m worried about getting through it in one piece.

NPC’s and a Dragon in Elden Ring

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I’m definitely still in the beginning of Elden Ring. I’m currently at level 34, still using a samurai character. The last few times I’ve played, I’ve essentially gone around, killed some skeletons and talked to a bunch of NPC’s and I killed a dragon.

NPC’s

I talked to a guy named Kenneth Haight (he wants me to go to some unspecified fort and take it back for him), a girl that gave me Jellyfish ashes, and a pot, and Blaidd (he wants me to let him know if I see a guy somewhere, I forgot his name though). I also went to the Roundtable place and talked with several people there.

Normally, I am a player of linear one-person type games. I prefer horror games. I like to be able to play “intensely” for a few days, or several weekends in a row or whatever, and then be done with the game. But, Elden Ring, and all the NPC’s that are in the game, and just the vastness of the world makes it so that the idea of being done after a couple of weeks even is impossible.

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Because I do play a different kind of game, normally, I think that this game may be one that I pick up and put down. One that I play while I’m in between other games, that kind of thing.

One thing, I know this has to be on the wiki or something, but how do I know what to do for each NPC? Like, I talk to a person, and then later I have something for them, but how and when do I know when I’ll have the thing. Does the game ever let me know, does it make the object for the NPC a different color or indicate somehow who or where that item should go?

Dragon

The other thing I’ve done recently is kill a dragon in Caelid. It was a dragon that was just sitting there, and it didn’t take anything from me but time. Now, I have a bunch of dragon hearts and stuff, but I don’t know where the dragon church is.

So right now in the game, I feel like I need to find the dragon church, and then the fort that the guy wants me to help him with. I know that Blaidd also will help or need help with something, but I don’t know what, exactly. I also would really like to get something that will allow me to use magic.

Elden Ring: The Beginning

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I’m a late to the game. As with most things, I’m late to begin playing Elden Ring. I just started the game last weekend, and after I started, I read about a journaling technique that is used to help you learn. So I thought it would be fun to journal my way through. To see if it helps me learn the game. So here I go, journaling my Elden Ring experience.

Journal for Elden Ring

Basic Info

I’m using a Samurai. I’m currently at level 17, and I don’t dare go near anything that looks like a boss of any kind. So far, I’ve talked with Varre (sp?) at the very beginning, and I found Blaidd today. I spoke to a guy who was a bush. I also have my horse, Torrent, my Ashes of War, and my summon. Furthermore, I was able to locate the temple that allows me to get the glorious physick today, as well.

Today’s experience playing Elden Ring

I died a bunch today from falling. I actually ended up leaving a bunch of runes behind because I kept falling in the same spot, and I got sick of getting the runes and then falling again. Generally, though, I am starting to feel a little bit better about fighting. But I don’t dare face anything that is on a horse, or has a name.

I also, when I was going under some ruins, heard someone that needed help. But, I looked and looked, and I couldn’t find them, so I will be going back to that area to see if I can find them. I don’t remember what they said their name was.

I also found the map for West Limgrave, and I got some kind of axe something. Not sure exactly what that is for yet. I was able to upgrade my weapon as well using a smithing stone.

Future Goals for Elden Ring

I am trying to make it to Caelid so that I can beat up the white dragon that is sleeping so that I can get a bunch of runes and level up. I also want to make it to a spot that has a big ball that if it falls off a cliff, I get a bunch of runes for as well.

For now, what I would like to be working on, while I’m trying to get to Caelid is to get better at aiming at enemies, because I always forget to do that in the heat of battle. Also, rolling, I need to get better at rolling out of the way or blocking.

Final Thoughts

The other thing, is how do I decide if I want to upgrade Faith or Intelligence? Or Arcane? Or all of them? Do I just find a spell or a weapon that needs one, and then go from there? So many questions. Elden Ring is very big, and I have a lot of questions that I can only answer by going through the process of playing.