#Maern's adventures

[conjoinedpubes]

Adventures of Maern - Chapter 6: Reflection

Since the last update, Sister Maern reached endgame. Sadly, I did not take much notes + didn't play ER for a few months after. As a result, this journal is mostly reflection and not a specific breakdown of end-game.

6.1 TIME FOR REFLECTION

One thing that became clear attempting at this co-op build is that a dedicated healer in ER is a very flawed concept.

EMERGENCY HEALS

Emergency healing assumes 3 things - position, timing and coordination. Achieving position and timing could be best done by closely hugging allies at all times - but is that fun? I personally found it draining...

- Constantly trying to 'hug' a host also removes the ability to split attention, arguably the strongest advantage in co-op (both in PVE and PVP). - Its also much harder to do in late-game, where monsters have more complex/faster movements. - Another strange issue was that - because monster attacks have multiple ways of being countered; dodging/running in a way different to an ally often leaves you out of position to heal.

As for coordination; taking to public co-op maybe wasn't the best idea. If someone takes life-threatening damage - they're just going to flask. No-one (rightfully) assumes that a random gold-phantom is playing a dedicated healer.

SLOW HEALS

Maybe the better idea is to provide slow heal/regeneration, save your friends on flask charges? This it turns out, was the more flexible/generally applicable use for a support character.

- Regen buffs are static value healing. Stronger at lower levels due to Hp being lower, also less flask uses available. I found regeneration buffs to be useful all game, absurdly good IMO at low levels. - Theres alot of small damage sources (poisons, projectiles etc). Not worth spending heal flask to stay topped of all the time, but a really good place for slow regen to keep one's Hp at full.

Despite all this, bringing a regen incant may not be that big of a deal. Heal on kill effects and warming stones are a common sight in public co-op, requiring little to no character specialisation to use.

- IMO, regen incants are still the most convenient way to access over-time recovery - Warming Stones to after all require players to stand still. They also stack, so you could also just bring both.

OTHER BUFFS

The main ones are the barriers and Golden Vow. Not much to say other than; great in PVE. Like regen buffs, these effects dont scale in any way.

OFFENSE

While we ran Blackflame effects initially for theme reasons, it ended up being effecient PVE damage. This was due to monsters having more hp in co-op + Blackflame having a %max hp burn effect.

Black Flame Tornado (BFT) Will single-handedly cover boss damage in the lategame. Takes some positioning and planning to use, but absurdly good vs everything. Black Flame Ritual (BFR) Better in PVP than BFT. The lingering fire circle helps with zoning, not needing to channel is a lifesaver on a low-poise character like this one. Scouring Black Flame (SBF) Nothing great about this one, but I do enjoy it. Takes some manual aim, as the flame always rise with travel distance. Occasionally causes a 'double hit' on enemies. Can be acquired earlier than BFT/BFR. Black Knife Weapon Art Another good one, the '%Hp Cut' effect is a great bossfight debuff. While you can try to spam this, I didn't enjoy the playstyle + it eats into Fp that could be used for heals/buffs. Great opener to help againt late-game boss hp.

Weapon wise, Scythe had some intresting upsides. Scythe swings often have natural hyper-armour, helping mitigate the low character poise.

- Combined with wide sweeps and good stagger, Scythe was a good weapon to handle groups of small agressive monsters (ie. rats/dogs). - Having natural bleed status was minor. Between stopping to cast + not being bleed focused; bleed procs rarely happen on anything thats not a large and immobile boss. - Grave Scythe is better in every way except weight, but farming in ER is a pain, so I did not use it.

SYNERGIES

By far my favourite tool in this build was the Ritual Shield Talisman (+Absorption on Full Hp) + Regen effects.

- A common pattern in combat is: dampen the first hit + regen to bring you back to full. Since the first hit is reduced, you regen to full faster, gaining back to bonus. Exceptional on slow, hard hitting enemies.

That said, this combo does take a talisman slot and is not great in scenarios with status or just vs multi-hits generally.

6.2 LESSONS

Since 'non-scaling buffs' ended up being the best aspect of the character, it brings up the question of faith-hybrid/faith dip support builds.

The other big takeway is that ER late-game is just not the place where a healer shines. Monsters are faster, players are not lacking in healing resources. In addition, most of the lategame co-op is boss kill centric, while this character's focus is 'adventure endurance' in dungeons.

Were I to recreate this character, a mid level (60, +12/5) setup would be better. Strike a balance between having interesting tools, long dungeons and a place where having healing spells are still a great addition.

Its been fun.

[tommygunhazard18]

EuroTrip 2019 Part Fifteen: Welcome to Venice! 🇮🇹

I set the alarm for 7:30 A.M. so I could be up and ready for the train ride today. I got showered and ready to check out, but finding my platform was another adventure.

After going in the wrong entrance, I had to run to the other end of the train station and then down to platform 5 on the far corner. I had trouble pulling up my ticket but I got to my booth five, seat twelve window seat.

I arrived at 11:50 A.M. and quickly jumped into my friends car. Isabella is my friend who I am staying with, and I had a chance to meet her parents. Her family is so lovely, they cooked me lunch which was so good! We had some risotto to start, followed by salad and then some oysters for final course along with wine.

We left for the city at close to 3:06 P.M., and arrived a half hour later, but the drive was so cool. We had to go across this long bridge in order to get to Venice, since it’s all on an island.

My friend Alessandro (Ale for short) was already at the station waiting for me and Isabella, and right away we went to the Terrace he booked. As we walked through the narrow maze-like streets, crossing over small bridges above the rivers, I was in awe.

Our reservation was at 4 P.M., and we got there ten minutes late; we only had five minutes to look out. It was such a stunning view of the city, seeing so many old historic buildings.

We crossed the oldest bridge in Venice called “Rialto Bridge”, walked along the Main Street (which was so busy), and saw Saint Mark’s square. In Italian it is called “Piazza San Marco” square especially was so huge, and just how people could have done this architecture so many years ago was truly brilliant.

Around the corner was the old parliament building back when Venice had control over more area. Beside this was the old jail, where they would make the prisoners walk across this bridge which was almost like death row for America.

Isabella works as a translator and she had to go work at 6 P.M., so me and Ale went for a walk around some other cool parts of Venice. We talked about beer, since he is a huge beer fan, so we were comparing alcohols from Europe and North America.

We stopped at this small restaurant and ate gelato and talked about Ale’s job. He is a co-owner if his custom made Dungeons and Dragons dice. He started at 17 to play DND, and after this he and his friend decided to make their own dice. He’s now grown his brand across Europe, going to many Comic cons along the way. I gave him a small gift from Canada; a couple of magnets, to show my appreciation for him coming one hour to meet me.

It was so nice to just walk around, talk about different things and listen as he was teaching me about Venice and some of it’s historical places. Some of the cool spots we checked out was High Water Library; which is the oldest bookstore in Venice.

Another building that shocked me was the hospital, as it was a huge white marble building, which it didn’t look like a normal hospital by any means. Along the water you could see the graveyard for Venice, which of course was on an island too.

It was so different seeing boat taxis, police boats, ambulance boats, boat gas stations; it was like I was in another world. He wanted me to try this dessert called Fornarina Veneziana, which was a specialty dessert. It was short lived though as I got mugged by a seagull only two bites in, I felt like calling the police but I feel like my case wouldn’t have been taken seriously.

We went our separate ways just after 8 P.M., as I was taking the train back to my stop called Maerne di Martellago. When I got back to Isabella’s place, I gave her some gifts from Canada. I brought some maple syrup, and two fridge magnets to add to her collection. Her parents made tuna with peas, and it was amazing; I can’t leave here now because of the food. For dessert I had a glass of champagne, a pear and a kiwi (first time eating one).

I spent probably close to three hours talking to Isabella’s parents and herself about Canada, and exchanging photos of our travels. I learned a lot today like Venice is amazing, home cooked meals here are to die for, and I have amazing friends.

More to come...

[conjoinedpubes]

Adventures of Maern - Chapter 5: We have a build?

Experiments continue while some semblance of a build takes form. The author reflects and attempts to refine the mess.

Maern's Status

Sister Maern is between level 40-60, weapon +8 to+12

Everything is in flux; weapons, fashion and so on. Trying everything and anything.

1.Altus via Dectus

With the Dectus route open, Maern arrives on the Altus Plateau. This area has the largest number of useful treasures for the character. Before that however; a short detour...

2. Ruin-Strewn Precipice

The main reason for using the medallion route was that I did not have confidence in the build to clear the 'Ruin Strewn Precipice'. Despite that, I decided why not just stock up on [Smithing Stones] and have a try at the Magma Wyrm Boss?.

Turns out; the wonky [Erdsteel Dagger] + [Poison Moth Flight] setup delivers. I strongly underestimated how 'free' status damage is in the early game; even without being specialised for it.

Thus,we head back to Altus...

3. Assorted Altus Adventures

3.1 Skirting the Capital

Many [Golden Seed] are found at the Capital Outskirts; bulking up our flask uses.

The current aim is to keep an equal Blue+Red flask uses. Max Flask uses should always be an even number - summoned phantoms in co-op have their flask uses halved.

3.2 Dominula. Windmill Village

Farmed this area for the fashion in between co-op sessions.

It was at this point, I realised that the [Blue Festive Garb] features a 'Godskin' emblem. Godskin Incants have a natural '%health based burn', perhaps a way to damage bosses while maintaining fp efficiency? The [Godslayer Seal] also gives said incants a direct damage boost.

Additional treasures in this area are the [Celebrant Skull]; a light and low-stat requirement greathammer. Fashionable with our current look.

This weapon never really saw much use. I don't enjoy the Greathammer moveset and was set on using the [Sycthe] instead as a main weapon. The Scythe + Celebrant fashion ended up informing the 'core look' of the character going forward. Harvests and profane incantations...

From the boss; [Godskin Peeler] and [Scouring Black Flame].

The Godskin Peeler was a weapon I unfortunately slept on. (The dex requirement was too high). (In hindsight, I realize the weapon skill alone shreds bosses, the Ash-version being only accessible in the late-game.) [Scouring Black Flame] was an automatic inclusion at first. Large sweeping AOE that lingers and burns on contact. But really, it was the novelty of never having used said incantation.

3.3 Grabbing Golden Vow

We picked up [Golden Vow] near Mt.Gelmir. This is the 'Aura Buff' of choice; raising all damage and absorption; thus being a very strong all-purpose combat buff.

3.4 The Woodfolk Chasm

A large chasm sits in the centre the Altus Plateau. Here we grabbed the following treasures.

[Golden Slam]

Not the most thematical Ash, but another source of Holy Infusion. I do recall running with this for awhile, though never used it much.

[Icon Shield]

Mechanically, a great addition to this build. However; it is poor fashion. At this point, we were still aiming for a potential light-roll defense, a greatshield for *some* passive regen was deemed not worth the weight. Thus, we did not use it.

[Wrath of Gold]

[Wrath of Gold] was what made me realise how many incantations have a utility+direct damage element. The shockwave effect meant we now had an all purpose AOE damage + 'get off me' type spell. An automatic inclusion.

3.5 Other Treasures

[Black Knife]

Another automatic inclusion if power is the only consideration. This weapon is very strong in both PVE and PvP. I used to as a sidearm briefly, but came to the conclusion that acrobatic moves were not 'on-theme' for the character.

[Protection of the Erdtree]

The 'all-purpose' barrier incantation. I had forgotten its location, assuming it was much later in the game. As a result, while it did end up in Maern's arsenal, that was much later in the playthrough.

4. Sister Maern (Final?) Form

The general form of Sister Maern ended up as follows.

Main Weapon: Sacred Scythe

Sacred Infusion is very weak late-game. Thus, if there was time to use it; now would be. Scythe was largely a theme and novelty choice. Never used one, might as well. The ash selection for this weapon class is also rather limited. I did test poison infusion for awhile, but the reduction of raw AR was too much.

Sidearm: Erdsteel Dagger

The jank tech of Poison Dagger + Poison Moth Flight continues. Its really fun to use on bosses. In the early-mid game, the lack of optimization for poison is not an issue.

Seal: Godslayer Seal

Same old. Now, the decision to run Godslayer incants would lock us into this seal choice for the forseeable future.

Fashion: Festive Garbs

Swapped pieces ehere and there with the Travellers, Cloth and Prophet sets. Anything neutral coloured and light in weight. Swapped pieces ehere and there with the Travellers, Cloth and Prophet sets. Anything neutral coloured and light in weight.

Spells: Golden Vow, Blessing's Boon, Great Heal, Wrath of Gold, Scouring Black Flame.

The support incant are self-explanatory. Choice of offensive incantations was based on the idea that they had 'zoning' or area denial utility. Great in theory, fun to use. In practice - a hit and mis in protecting other players during multiplayer. Though, I find thats also dependant on cooperator behaviour/build.

Summary

The build's main skeleton takes shape. A full support arsenal exists, build feels 'mechanically complete'

Next: Capital and Late-game

[conjoinedpubes]

Adventures of Maern - Chapter 2: A Chaotic Start

In chapter 1, a rough plan of the character. Now, the adventures of Sister Maern begin in earnest.

Truth be told, I walked into this adventure unprepared; leaving the starting levels chaotic and poorly documented. Combined with the perceived 'lack of options', I ended up rushing through the early-game.

1. The First Steps

Getting summoned right away upon emerging at 'The First Step' and at Base Level (7 for Prophet) is rather rare. Effectively limited to players attempting to rush down the [Tree Sentinel] boss.

Thus, to even begin our co-op focused adventure, some preparations:

1.collect multiplayer items (Small Golden effigy) 2.unlock Torrent 3.stop at (Level 15, Weapon +3) before moving on 4.unlock Ashes of War via. [Whetstone Knife] 5.meet Kale', grab [Torch] and [Crafting Kit]

The [Small Golden Effigy] was the first grab, without it there is no long range co-op, a must have. Next, headed to 'Gatefront Ruins' where Melina handed over Torrent's summons and the [Whetstone Knife] could be found.

Optional: the [Lordsworn's Greatsword] can be found at the 'Gatefront Ruins'. Prophets can wield this at base stats, I opted not use it for theme reasons.

From there, the aim was to ride around Limgrave and unlock the common summoning pools (ie. minor dungeons, Margit, Agheel). Runes went into buying a [Torch] and [Crafting Kit] then any leftovers into levels and weapon upgrades.

Limgrave: common co-op areas. (realized after post that Tree Sentinel is not shown in this map)

1.1 Co-op Concerns

As the idea is to co-op as much as possible, we would like the widest matchmaking pool. The limit of (Lvl 15, Weapon +3) being the highest (level+weapon) that could be summoned by all Classes (excluding Wretch) at starting level and with no weapon upgrades.

NOTE: Of course, you don't need to wait until that point to start co-op. Summons start to roll in frequently at (~Level 12, Weapon +1) and with a few dungeons unlocked. Being the at highest level for base level co-op simply gives you the largest matchmaking pool, since you can also be summoned by players who overlevel the area.

The focus on a wide pool also means that one should avoid overgearing the area, both in character level and weapon upgrade. For Example: its easy to get a +6 weapon in Limgrave (or even +7 from Patches). But keeping weapons at the mid-point of +3 allows matchmaking with +0 to +6 weapons. Effectively, this means that at no point are levels and upgrade materials an issue; as we are always somewhat under the maximum upgrade level an area allows.

It was also at this point I realised that some PVP functionality would be necessary, being summoned means having to defend Host players from invaders. This concern ended informing much of our later offense tools.

1.2 Early Impressions

Very early gameplay on this build was rather strange.

On one hand, combat was at it's least hectic; giving ample to time heal mid-fight. Flasks are severely limited, making that 'one extra heal' that much more impactful. At no other point in the game is a healer more useful.

The flip side is that its rather boring. At starting Mind, [Heal] has 2 uses. Outside of topping-off the health of allies, you simply poke things with a [Short Spear]. Spare fp can used to [Catch Flame].

2. Brancing Out

I felt that gameplay options for the character at this point had been exhausted; therefore it would be best to push for progression. Next, 'Limgrave East' then toward the 'Weeping Peninsula'. But before that, finished the 'Murkwater Cave' for the [Cloth Set]. Sister Maern now has shoes.

2.1 Limgrave East Errands

At 'East-Limgrave', Maern found the [Physick Flask] then completed Kenneth Haight's quest for the [Erdsteel Dagger]. One of the few weapons with an innate Faith-scaling while also accepting Elemental Infusion. It was prime Sidearm candidate and a place to stick [Endure].

NOTE: I forgot to meet Bernahl and grab [Endure]. As a result, I only acquired that weapon skill much later in the game. Near Kenneth Haight is also [Ash of War: Sacred Blade], the earliest source of Holy Infusion; compatible with almost all weapon classes. I also forgot to grab it.

2.2 Weeping Peninsula

The peninsula contains a large number of Flask upgrades, securing flask potency for the forseeable future. In addtion, a wide assortment of useful tools could also be found here.

Entering the 'Weeping Peninsula', Maern found the [Morning Star].

This is Sidearm candidate 2. Good stopping power and a [Bleed] effect to make up for the build's lack of raw damage. A [Strike Damage] weapon also makes 'Mine-type dungeons' much easier. Especially useful, as they are common co-op areas.

The eastern side of the peninsula holds 'Oridys Rise', completing the puzzle awarded a [Memory Stone]. Maern now has 3 spell slots.

A teleporting scarab to the south rewards the [Poison Mist] incantation.

One of the initial ideas was to use [Poison] for slow but fp effecient Boss killing in the early-game. This resulted in 2 realizations; 1. My preconception of pure-Faith casters being limited to throwing fireballs and lightning bolts for damage. Incantations wield a suprising number of spells with either status effects or utility+damage combined. 2. I should stop by Caelid for more Poison effects.

Next, the first [Erdtree Avatar] boss. This one rewards the [Opaline Bubbletear] and [Crimsonburst Bubbletear], decent choices for early-game physick flask.

Last item was the [Blessed Dew Talisman], via. 'Tower of Return'.

I could not come up with any other 'must have' talisman at this point in the build. Regen is good at low-levels, flasks are limited for summons; pretty good for general adventuring. This also sparked the idea of deeper regen focus later down the line.

Lastly, a few items useful for this build that I did not pick up.

1. [Winged Scythe], as I prefer an infusable weapon. 2. [Faith-Knot Crystal Tear] +10 Faith in Physick. I forgot this existed. 3. [Flame of Frenzy] and [Lightning Strike] incantations. Good damage, but I wanted to lean away from direct damage or 'fireball-type' casting. 4. [Sacrificial Axe]. No idea why I didn't get this, fp sustain is incredible for co-op.

And that is the Weeping Peninsula adventure; mostly a treasure hunt. Co-op in the 'Weeping Peninsula' is suprisingly rare despite the numerous caves and side dungeons. When summons do occur its almost always to 'Castle Morne' or the [Erdtree Avatar] field boss. Perhaps its due to optional nature of the zone?

Next chapter: To Stormveil we go!

[conjoinedpubes]

Adventure's of Maern - Chapter 4: Soul Searching

In this chapter; Sister Maern runs around trying many things while making little progress. On my end, a good stop and think occurs over the character's identity and theme. The answer shapes the rest of the adventure.

Maern's Status

Sister Maern is now ~level 46, weapon+8

Fashion: Prophet Blindfold, Commoner's Simple Garb, Bandit Manchetes, Commoners' Shoes

Weapons: Morning Star [Storm Stomp], Godslayer's Seal

Spells: Poison Mist, Heal (I don't recall the 3rd spell, likely Urgent Heal or Rejection)

Talisman: Blessed Dew, Anything

1.The Old Chaos

Liurnia and Caelid are now open for adventure, Maern wanders far and wide. Many trials, many errors.

This part of the adventure has very little continuity, I simply grabbed various interesting items in Liurnia and Caelid. The idea was to test anything remotely thematic or intresting in the attempt to make a more coherent build. As a result, this chapter is mostly just author notes.

2.Liurnia

The following is non-exhaustive list of things I tried to incoporate into the build;

[Lucerne]

Halberd with vertical swings, ran with this as the Main Weapon for quite awhile. Ended up dropping it for the weapon below.

[Scythe]

Thought back to the idea of using the [Festive Set], then it hit me; harvest witch fashion. Combined with never having played with the Scythe weapon class, this instantly sealed the deal - Maern's main weapon would be the Scythe. Having a settled main weapon allowed for a target str/dex stat. In this case; 14/14. The Grave Scythe is a potential replacement. I opted to not use it due to weight and having to farm for it. Still, its on the table depending on how the late-game turns out.

[Two-Finger Heirloom]

I adore +5 stat talismans. With nothing better to run, this became the defacto talisman 2.

[Testu's Rise]

Puzzle rewarding a Memory Stone. Now 4 incantation slots.

[Miriel, Pastor of Vows]

Trains [Blessing's Boon], the first regen incantation. All round incant trainer.

3.Caelid

[Bestial Sling]

Crude and earthy, great with the new fashion theme. Also gave better options for PVP.

[Radagon's Soreseal]

Stats, O stats. Allows one to wield, and therefore test more equipment. Picked up Dectus half while there.

[Traveller's Set]

Traveller's Set for a travelling healer. Would end up swapping in pieces of this set here and there. Fashion continues to be a work in progress.

[Posion Moth Flight], [Poisonous Mist]

[Erdsteel Dagger] with [Poison Moth Flight] was an intresting combo. Cheap damage at this point in the game.

[Sacred Rings of Light]

Since I forgot about [Sacred Blade] existing, this was the first Holy damage infusion source. The actual Weapon Art was great for utility, given that Maern had no ranged attacks otherwise. Doesn't hit very hard, but excellent at knocking down flying monsters.

[Flame of the Redmanes]

Our first source of Fire infusion. Decent area damage, the spread pattern inspired a later incantation choice.

In Summary

Maern now uses a Scythe and elemental weapon options. Talismans are more settled. Off-hand poison shenanigans continues.

Next; Soul Searching in Altus.

[conjoinedpubes]

Adventures of Maern - Chapter 3: Stormveil in a Blur

Image: No images exist from the Stormveil Castle arc. This one is from co-op session at a later time.

Madness, just madness. Stormveil Castle is one my favourite areas; interesting foes, mutiple methods of traversal, abundant secrets and sidepaths etc. I have no idea what came over me to simply grab the essentials and go. Might have been the previous chapter's residual urge for map progression. Also, new format.

Maern's Status

Sister Maern is currently ~Level 27, Weapon +3

Fashion: Prophet Blindfold, Cloth Set, Bandit Manchetes

Weapons: Morning Star [Storm Stomp], Two-Finger Seal

Spells: Poison Mist, Heal (I don't recall the 3rd spell, likely Urgent Heal or Rejection)

Talisman: Blessed Dew

1. Loose Ends, Limgrave Edition

Before entering Stormveil Castle, Maern ran a few sporadic errands around Limgrave. Acquired the 'Storm Stomp' Ash of War from a roadside scarab, finally a Weapon Skill to use.

She also bought the Bandit Manchetes from a merchant, finally covering the hands. Leftover runes went to Smithing Stones, Cookbooks and Stonesword Keys.

Bandit Manchetes would be the glove of choice until the late-game. Neutral coloured, grimy looking and very light at just 1.7 weight.

Maern also cleared out the 'Limgrave Tunnels' and 'Deathtouched Catacombs'.

Tunnels gave all the upgrade materials needed for the immediate future. A Deathroot for the Gurranq quest and the eventual Caelid detour.

Nothing left but to challenge Margit.

Strategy is pretty standard melee. Poison Mist stacks up on early-game enemies very quickly; easy damage although slow. As with the previous chapter, there are no 'must haves' in the talisman slot for now. With the second talisman, anything goes. Dont recall what I used here.

2. The Castle

Stormveil Castle was blur; defenses were breached, treasures were grabbed. Little is remembered of that incident. The major loot from the Castle was as follows;

[Godslayer Seal] and [Godskin Prayerbook]

Best pure-Faith scaling Seal until late-game, this replaced the starter Two-Finger Seal. Godslayer incantations have an innate %life damage, a possible offense option.

[Commoner's Simple Garb]

Light armour, neutral colours, gives +1 Faith. This was an immediate equip.

[Iron Whetblade]

The initial plan was for Weapon buff incants to play a major role in our offense. More physical infusion options couldn't hurt.

[Misericorde] and the [Pike]

These weapons were contenders for later use. Pike being the longest normal spear, Misericorde having uniquely powerful criticals.

3. Godrick

And the lord of Stormveil was felled with ease...

I did not expect a smooth fight, given how all over the place our offensive kit was. Turns out poison and bleed just deal damage no matter what. The %life compoent of these effects also mean that damage scales somewhat with multiplayer. Throw mist and swing away; Godrick falls even if your attacks don't seem to do much. Reward wise; opted not to use his Great Rune for the time being, as it does not work for summoned players. None of his remembrance items are useful to us either.

In Summary

Maern found a new seal and chestpiece. A few new potential weapons for later use. Due to the speed of this chapter, very little co-op happened.

Next; Lost in Liurnia, Caelid and Altus?

[conjoinedpubes]

Adventures of Maern - Chapter 1: Origins

I never got into the multiplayer of Dark Souls; outside of the odd invasion or end-game summon anyway. With Elden Ring, I decided to change this and take the plunge into the fabled and strange world of Fromsoft multiplayer. The idea was to make a themed character, then take them through the game, doing multiplayer whenever possible. This is a 'build journal' of these adventures.

Contents

1.Origins 1.1 A Clerics Arts 1.2 Offensive Options 2. Build Plan 2.1 Fashion and Theme 2.2 Spreading Stats 2.3 Armaments and Armour 3. Cross the Fog

1. Origins

The initial idea was for a co-op focused, support spellcaster with a 'rustic' visual look. In short: a wandering cleric always ready to lend a hand to fellow adventurers.

I stuck to the following rules when making the character:

1. Theme Must have a specific playstyle or fashion. 2. Smooth Keep equipment and spell arsenal to a manageable amount. Balance versatility with minimal need for 'hard swaps'. 3. Natural Playthrough Character grows into their playstyle/theme through 'normal progression'. No rushing late-game bosses, player trades or consumable duping. Though, being an open adventure; what counts as a normal playthrough is rather subjective.

1.1 A Cleric's Arts

There are a few common 'team-support' effects found on spells and items:

Heal Incantations. The main way one can quickly heal allies. Higher level versions are also more Life-to-Fp effecient.

Life-Regen. Incantation buffs that recover a fixed-amount of life over time. The [Warming Stone] consumable and [Holy Ground] skill heal in a fixed area, and stack with above regen buffs.

Aura. Boosts combat stats of allies, for Incantations there is just [Golden Vow]. The remainder are on consumables and weapon skills.

Barriers. Defense buff Incantations against specific damage types. Simillar to defense consumables, but able to affect allies.

Enemy Debuffs. Defense Shredding is category of its own, most debuffs however are unique, and thus freely stack. They tend to come from weapon skills and consumable items.

Image: Buffs and Debuffs, Fextra Wiki

The [Incantation] magic school holds most of the support spells in Elden Ring; with the [Faith] stat being required for all but a few exceptions (eg. the Golden-Order 'Laws'). Also, most buffs have no scaling component. Only [Healing] and [Weapon Buff] Incantations scale with one's stats and equipment.

Specifically, it is the Faith scaling of one's casting-tool that increases healing. Simply put, Healing Spells are strongest when cast using a purely Faith-scaling Sacred Seal.

It is therefore possible to bring a wide variety of buffs while not needing a faith-focused build.

1.2 Offensive Options

Coming up with the offensive portion of this character was the main challenge, and is something I am *still* in the process of refining. The main issues are as follows:

Damage spells drain valuable fp that one needs to cast supportive incantations. A large list of damage and support spells is also harder to manage in combat.

Buffs are applied before an encounter and healing is reactive. When combat is going smoothly, FP is not being 'translated' into offense if one runs a purely support setup.

Holy damage is commonly found on Faith weapons but has few upsides. Besides that, being limited to weapon swings only is boring.

Incantations often involve status effects, but status scaling favours [Faith+Arcane] over pure-faith.

It is worth noting that these problems are theoretical, and how 'real' they end up being in practice is another thing.

2.Build Plan

The following is the preliminary plan I used for the build. As with all things, 'play and see' is in effect and much will change with experience and testing.

2.1 Fashion and Theme

The theme is 'Travelling Healer', light, rustic and humble is preffered look. Specifically, I have been looking for a chance to use the [Festive Set] body armour and will likely incorporate it into the final look. Any overtly shiny armour or equipment is off the table.

As the idea is to be support focused, most spells slots will be used for said spells (1. Healing 2. Regen 3. Aura 4. Barrier). A fifth slot is left for 1 offensive spell; either a scaling [Weapon Buff] or a status effect inflicter. Rationale being that these would save on FP in prolonged fights (ie. Bosses) over slinging fireballs. This would be especially useful in the early-game.

As [Golden Vow] and [Barriers] are late-game spells, 3 memory slots of (1. Heal 2. Regen 3.Offense) will be the inital setup.

2.2 Spreading Stats

Stat wise, pure faith is the choice here. Mostly because I had never played a healing focused character. In addition, many of the stronger buffs, such as [Blessing of the Erdtree, 38 faith] have naturally high requirements, despite no scaling. Its not really 'Faith-dipping' at that stat investment.

As flask supply is limited in summoned co-op, there is the option for a greater investment into [Mind] than a solo-player would normally need.

2.3 Armaments and Armour

[1H weapon + off-hand Sacred Seal], as being ready to heal on demand is essential for the playstyle. Powerstancing or 2H could be used in limited capacity. A sidearm swap is ideal for combat versatility. At least 1 weapon should be Ash-of-War infusable, as we want the [Endure] weapon skill for safer in-combat spellcasting.

Main Weapon: any Polearm or Spear type would be ideal. A moderately fast, long-range poking tool, lightweight and with minimal stat requirements.

Sidearm: any up-close moveset to cover for the Polearm's long-range pokes. A dagger or a club perhaps?

Sacred Seal: Pure-faith scaling for heals. This leaves [Godslayer] early-game and the option of [Erdtree] later.

Armour: [Festive Garb] is the 3rd lightest armour set, giving the option for a [Light-Roll] defense setup later. In the early-game, the Prophet, Commoner or Traveller sets are decent fashion and simillar in stats.

Buff use could also inform our defense. [Golden Vow] grants damage absorption, helping to offset light armour. The various life-regen blessings also suggest focusing on a more damage-mitigation over raw life value.

2.4 Quick Overview

Overview of the initial plan for the character:

Starting Class: [Prophet] starts with a spear, a healing spell and the look is passable for a 'wandering healer'.

Gift Choice: [Golden Seed], as flasks are very limited in early-game co-op. Or [Shabriri's Woe], help take aggro in co-op. Not important honestly, pick anything.

Consumable Items: I chose to limit the character to commonly craftable ones (eg. Pots). [Perfume Arts] thematically are a perfect fit for this character, but often require crafting materials that are in limited supply. To keep in line with "Rule 3: Natural Playthrough", Perfume usage is currently left at "maybe".

Early Item Grabs: [Godslayer Seal] found in Stormveil, best pure-faith scaling seal until late game. [Erdsteel Dagger], innate faith-scaling while also being infusable, potential good sidearm. [Commoner's Simple Garb] +1 faith chest, suitable fashion with Prophet starter.

3. Cross the Fog

All that said, this is Sister Maern. The tarnished that will undertake our chosen path of the travelling healer.

As of writing this, our tarnished has just cleared the capital and is entering the end-game. Should have taken more screenshots and documentation of the early-game, but alas.

As for how we got from the travelling healer to this more 'witchy' look? thats where future journal entries come in.