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Elden Ring: Best summon, where to find it, and why it's so powerful

BadRubberPiggy469,276

Posted on 04 March 22 at 20:34
Elden Ring has a host of Spirit Ashes to discover, allowing you to summon an AI ally to fight by your side. Some are great, others not so good, but one is just ridiculously strong. Spoilers ahead... you have been warned!

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BloodGodAlucard1,909,622

Posted on 04 March 22 at 21:04
Hmm seems familiar.
DirtyI301,137,921

Posted on 04 March 22 at 21:10
Incoming nerf?
Been separating the artist from art since Michael Jackson.
SquiSquiSquidio779,389

Posted on 04 March 22 at 21:28
only bad thing I'd say is that it takes half your health to use, so if you use it at a boss that rushes you right out of the gate, you better get lucky. Most of the time you're ok, but there's been a time or two where I couldn't get a heal off because the boss rushed me as soon as I entered.
MGaskell687,619

Posted on 04 March 22 at 21:30
Can’t wait for this game to go on sale so I can buy it. Won’t be for a while tho.
Sneaky G Wizard1,335,630

Posted on 04 March 22 at 22:55
It's meh

Marionette Soldier Ashes are by far the most useful once upgraded a little. At least for my build and style
I have to politely disagree, they are all better off neither seen nor heard
geordiedeviant1,782,558

Posted on 04 March 22 at 23:17
Starscourge Radahn is an arse! That is all.
geordiedeviant1,782,558

Posted on 04 March 22 at 23:21
Jellyfish gang rise up!!
BadRubberPiggy469,276

Posted on 04 March 22 at 23:25
Sneaky G Wizard said:
It's meh

Marionette Soldier Ashes are by far the most useful once upgraded a little. At least for my build and style
Yeah, it's not a one-size-fits-all solution without a lot of extra menuing, but it's crazy strong when your build supports it. What are you running that makes it feel weaker, out of interest?

geordiedeviant said:
Jellyfish gang rise up!!
Haha yeah, jellyfish put in work for me early in the game. Poison damage isn't much but it's a nice bonus, plus it's the tankiest summon you get for a long time.
Sneaky G Wizard1,335,630

Posted on 04 March 22 at 23:52, Edited on 04 March 22 at 23:53 by Sneaky G Wizard
BadRubberPiggy said:
Sneaky G Wizard said:
It's meh

Marionette Soldier Ashes are by far the most useful once upgraded a little. At least for my build and style
Yeah, it's not a one-size-fits-all solution without a lot of extra menuing, but it's crazy strong when your build supports it. What are you running that makes it feel weaker, out of interest?

geordiedeviant said:
Jellyfish gang rise up!!
Haha yeah, jellyfish put in work for me early in the game. Poison damage isn't much but it's a nice bonus, plus it's the tankiest summon you get for a long time.
It's more of a stragey issue I have with it

The Marionette Soldiers absolutely hail arrows, they really aren't shy. So if you can summon them one place, then aggro the boss from another angle - they quickly find themselves between a rock and a hard place. I maintain a decent amount of damage on the boss (they seem aggro'd by pure numbers it seems) but I have a 100% block, stamina build so I can tank almost anything, all the while they are getting arrows raining into their back

I've put down almost all the decent bosses with this, hard to recommend another Ash in my opinion, even the renowned ones
I have to politely disagree, they are all better off neither seen nor heard
BadRubberPiggy469,276

Posted on 04 March 22 at 23:56, Edited on 04 March 22 at 23:56 by BadRubberPiggy
Sneaky G Wizard said:
It's more of a stragey issue I have with it

The Marionette Soldiers absolutely hail arrows, they really aren't shy. So if you can summon them one place, then aggro the boss from another angle - they quickly find themselves between a rock and a hard place. I maintain a decent amount of damage on the boss (they seem aggro'd by pure numbers it seems) but I have a 100% block, stamina build so I can tank almost enything, all the while they are getting arrows raining into the back

I've put down almost all the decent bosses with this, hard to recommend another Ash in my opinion, even the renowned ones
Fair play, that does sound solid. I've only tried a handful of the special ones (don't have the FP for most) but didn't see anything special. Mimic, though, I used once at base level, and it was +10 within minutes. Running a pure STR build with greataxe, and the stunlocks are real.
Sneaky G Wizard1,335,630

Posted on 05 March 22 at 02:04
BadRubberPiggy said:
Sneaky G Wizard said:
It's more of a stragey issue I have with it

The Marionette Soldiers absolutely hail arrows, they really aren't shy. So if you can summon them one place, then aggro the boss from another angle - they quickly find themselves between a rock and a hard place. I maintain a decent amount of damage on the boss (they seem aggro'd by pure numbers it seems) but I have a 100% block, stamina build so I can tank almost enything, all the while they are getting arrows raining into the back

I've put down almost all the decent bosses with this, hard to recommend another Ash in my opinion, even the renowned ones
Fair play, that does sound solid. I've only tried a handful of the special ones (don't have the FP for most) but didn't see anything special. Mimic, though, I used once at base level, and it was +10 within minutes. Running a pure STR build with greataxe, and the stunlocks are real.
How does a pure STR build fair against invaders (other players)? Although, on that subject, I've clocked 60hrs and the only multiplayer I have seen was one summon signal at the Village of the Albinaurics...
I have to politely disagree, they are all better off neither seen nor heard
BadRubberPiggy469,276

Posted on 05 March 22 at 02:21, Edited on 05 March 22 at 02:22 by BadRubberPiggy
Sneaky G Wizard said:
How does a pure STR build fair against invaders (other players)? Although, on that subject, I've clocked 60hrs and the only multiplayer I have seen was one summon signal at the Village of the Albinaurics...
Yeah, in almost 100 hours, I only had one actual invader, and they were quickly turned into jam. When your attacks are naturally slower due to your big heavy weapons, it’s quite easy to sneak in a hit between the usual quick panic roll sequence you tend to see after a punish. Helps that the only other stats that matter are VIG and END so you should have better survivability than the opponent, although I certainly feel squishier in tank gear here than, say, in full Havel set in DS.
geordiedeviant1,782,558

Posted on 05 March 22 at 02:31
Pretty sure matchmaking calibrations were running a version behind on xbox (which basically meant it was borked) and behind the other platforms. I recall reading some ranting on Twitter.

I didn't look into it more after that as I play offline (in game offline) as I can't be arsed dealing with invaders after DS3. Even if that means I don't have the option of getting a carry from some jolly co-op.
Sneaky G Wizard1,335,630

Posted on 05 March 22 at 03:37
geordiedeviant said:
Pretty sure matchmaking calibrations were running a version behind on xbox (which basically meant it was borked) and behind the other platforms. I recall reading some ranting on Twitter.

I didn't look into it more after that as I play offline (in game offline) as I can't be arsed dealing with invaders after DS3. Even if that means I don't have the option of getting a carry from some jolly co-op.
Yeah, it was a version behind from launch, took me two days to get the updated version

I wouldn't let fear of invasion stop you from playing online, this is nothing like DS3 and i'm sure everyone here will agree with me
I have to politely disagree, they are all better off neither seen nor heard
Yuppppppppie80,659

Posted on 05 March 22 at 05:02
MGaskell said:
Can’t wait for this game to go on sale so I can buy it. Won’t be for a while tho.
Or you could just buy it? As a non SF this game is worth it.
Sneaky G Wizard1,335,630

Posted on 05 March 22 at 05:18
SansetMi said:
MGaskell said:
Can’t wait for this game to go on sale so I can buy it. Won’t be for a while tho.
Or you could just buy it? As a non SF this game is worth it.
Well, without knowing their financial situation, you shouldn't really make comments like that...

It is worth it if you can make it work somehow though
I have to politely disagree, they are all better off neither seen nor heard
Yuppppppppie80,659

Posted on 05 March 22 at 06:47
Sneaky G Wizard said:
SansetMi said:
MGaskell said:
Can’t wait for this game to go on sale so I can buy it. Won’t be for a while tho.
Or you could just buy it? As a non SF this game is worth it.
Well, without knowing their financial situation, you shouldn't really make comments like that...

It is worth it if you can make it work somehow though
True and true
Mask of Hate644,159

Posted on 05 March 22 at 07:07
geordiedeviant said:
Pretty sure matchmaking calibrations were running a version behind on xbox (which basically meant it was borked) and behind the other platforms. I recall reading some ranting on Twitter.

I didn't look into it more after that as I play offline (in game offline) as I can't be arsed dealing with invaders after DS3. Even if that means I don't have the option of getting a carry from some jolly co-op.
Invasions aren't much of a problem in this game.

Invaders will generally only invade you after you've already summoned a co-op helper, with the way the invasion items are set up.

It takes a somewhat rare, expensive consumable to invade a solo player; the freely usable invasion item forces them into worlds with at least 2 players. Plus there's a cheap item (1000 runes) that lets you passively have a status which will automatically summon willing helpers as soon as an invasion happens.

The pros definitely outweigh the cons.
xx990940,252

Posted on 05 March 22 at 21:03
MGaskell said:
Can’t wait for this game to go on sale so I can buy it. Won’t be for a while tho.
Aw mate, I think you'll be waiting a long time. It's a great game, it'll be worth the wait.

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