Well, it’s been almost 2 weeks, and a lot has changed from my initial Elden Ring experience.

I’m now 35 hours in at level 58, and boy, this really is the game that keeps on giving! I’ve expanded my map quite a bit and have even defeated not one but two ‘big bads’; Godrick the grafted and Rennala Queen of the Full Moon.

Elden Ring Diaries Part 2

Moonveil Katana Experience

Yes, I am now a Moonveil katana user; I’ve mostly kept away from walkthroughs and YouTube videos as to not spoil myself in the experience that is exploration in Elden Ring, but I just couldn’t get past the feeling that the Twinblade wasn’t the best option for my spellcaster build. Don’t get me wrong, I actually think the Twinblade is an awesome weapon or I guess weapon type to use, but since I focused on raising my Intelligence, it just didn’t seem like the best weapon to use for my playstyle. I feel like the full potential of a Twinblade, requires it to be used two-handed, as the combos just feel better and of course, there is a damage boost.

Getting in close and 2-handed didn’t really play towards my style. I would spam Rock Sling until a boss or strong enemy would get stunned, switch to 2 handed as I’m running in, and hope I have enough time to land a critical blow; otherwise, I combo for a few attacks and run away, hoping I didn’t queue up 1 too many attacks because if I did, I was most certainly being countered.

So, yes, I looked up a good weapon that scaled well with Intelligence; lo and behold the Moonveil katana. I had no idea it was the PvP Meta…but I don’t really care. I haven’t touched PvP yet, and probably won’t — it was never really my thing in From Software games.

This sword changed the dynamic of the game for me. I removed a shield from my left hand, now my staff was a permanent fixture in my left hand. I would now study the enemies for a bit, deciding if I should run in for some light attacks with the Moonveil or keep my distance with Glintstone Pebble or Rock Sling.

As I leveled and received some better armor, talismans (specifically the Assassin’s Cerulean Dagger, which upon a critical hit, restores FP), upgraded my gear and leveled my flasks — I now felt comfortable using Transient Moonlight more liberally. If you didn’t know, Transient Moonlight is Moonveil’s skill, a sheathing of the sword while holding L2. Following up with R1 shoots a short-range horizontal magical wave and R2 shoots a medium-range, vertical magical wave, typically stunning enemies (and most bosses), allowing for a follow-up critical. Combine this with Assassin’s Cerulean Dagger, and gain a hefty amount of FP upon landing a critical.

Moonveil Katana Disadvantages

Moonveil Upgrade Material

While I’ve managed to upgrade the Moonveil to +5, I haven’t found any higher material, yet. This is a bit of a disadvantage as I have other upgrade materials to take standard weapons up to +15.

Ashes of War

Since Moonveil cannot be equipped with Ashes of War, I haven’t really messed around with them at all. Transient Moonlight is the only skill available, and it’s been nearly 20 hours with this weapon. I won’t complain too much, it’s really fun to use and katanas are sick. I just haven’t really used Ashes of War at all; when I found the Twinblade, I immediately equipped an Ash of War that scaled with Intelligence to make it stronger.

Elden Ring Sorcery Spells

I’m still waiting for a sorcery spell to really wow me. I have quite a few, but still mostly just use Glintstone Pebble and Rock Sling, with the occasional Glintstone Arc for mobs.

Interestingly enough, as I continue to upgrade my Intelligence (currently 36), I find myself using Moonveil more and more, as its damage is really starting to outpace even my S scaling Meteorite Staff.

35 Hour Elden Ring Thoughts

Wow, though, so much has changed; 35 hours is a long time to play a game, and I don’t feel like I’ve even scratched the surface of Elden Ring. I doubt I’m even close to halfway through the game, even at this point. I’m really enjoying my time with it. I still can’t believe the world the From Software created with the Lands Between. I am still finding more catacombs, caves, NPCs, secret areas!

One of the most memorable scenes for me — I warped to roundtable hold, it was dark, no NPCs, and I was invaded. After defeating the invader, I got Edgelord’s armor and I think a weapon. I was wearing that for a while because it looks so badass.

I’ve seems some complaints about no quest logs, and I’m starting to understand that a bit. There are so many little things thrown at you in Elden Ring, it’s hard to keep track of all of them. Blaidd (the half-wolf guy) for example, I finally found him and started his quest. I kept remembering that I needed to use the Snap emote somewhere in some woods, so I warped and rode around to different forest areas for a while until I heard the howling.

An unexpected surprise — I went down what I thought was just another puzzly catacomb with a boss; well I found the Ainsel River – a huge underground tunnel system with giant ants, and a lightning Dragonkin Soldier boss at the end.

I found the Ainsel River because I was having trouble in Raya Lucaria Academy, so I decided to run around the map a bit until I found some new areas for leveling. I did not expect to find such a huge place! I was there for a couple of hours.

I keep saying it, but there are just so many cool things to find in Elden Ring.

• The creepy Latin singing siren/ harpy things.
• I was walking around a cliffside and found a weapon and there was this object that just felt off nearby, For the hell of it, I smacked it with my sword and an NPC cried out to stop and revealed themself! I just opened a new questline.

There must be more of these NPCs hidden as shrubs in the environment. How many have I walked past?

What an experience Elden Ring has been. I started this diaries series so I can look back at this all later down the line. I truly believe I’m undergoing one of the greatest game experiences of my life, and I want to document it.

I’ve been pretty much playing it every single day, if only sometimes, just for 20 or 30 minutes. It just feels nice playing it at my own leisure and taking my time with it; as it’s really designed that way. Struggling too much in one area? Pick a direction and explore there for a few days.

When I finally went back to Raya Lucaria Academy, I wouldn’t say it was a cakewalk, but it was a much more forgiving experience than the first time around; even if I wound up summoning in the Rennala boss fight. I have no shame in summoning. I typically give bosses a handful of goes; if I’m getting one-shot, I bounce. If I’m close but need some help after 7 or 8 tries, I summon and move on with my life.

I’m excited to see where Elden Ring takes me in the next week. I didn’t mean for part 2 to take nearly two weeks, but I honestly just wanted to keep playing.

In Part 3, you’ll hopefully see me around 50 hours. Check out my Elden Ring Diaries Part 2 video if you haven’t. Let me know how your experience in Elden Ring has been thus far.

See the original post & Video on my blog, Current Kick - please stop by!

Thanks for writing these up, duder. I find myself wanting to check in on these but also wanting to avoid spoilers. You're ahead of me so I'm just dropping in to say, stay at it! I'll read them when I can without too much concern for my own experience.

I'm really enjoying the game and I'm a bit bummed that what I have allowed myself to read and listen to indicates my sword and shield build is maybe not ideal for this game. Oh well, I'm having a lot of fun and it sounds like a respec is also possible later so maybe I can play around with builds when I get to that point.

@constantk: Thanks, duder!

I'm trying my best to not get spoiled either. I have watched a few build videos because you can truly make some insane characters and I'm curious. As for walkthroughs and "go grab this talisman/weapon/armor" videos, I've been staying away. They'll be plenty of time to min-max, either with another playthrough or a respec. If you're having fun, and it's letting you progress, it doesn't matter.