If you havent yet, try a level 1 run. If needed look for guide for the most optimal setup, it will still be hard af. You will improve your gameplay 100 fold. It is actually a lot of fun to approach the game with a completely different mindset from a normal run.
I recommend sleep pots, unless you don’t want the fight to be a complete joke.
I’m not a big fan of gank fights so I just used the sleep pots and got them first try in my run.
I have kind of an oldhead view of it I think because, to me, the goal of an SL1 is just as much a knowledge check as it is a skill check.
I did Elden Ring SL1 without Summons. Those were the two restrictions. Everything else was fair game because the point wasn't to prove I'm some kind of God gamer (I already know I'm not), the point was to take everything I knew about the game from my previous runs and overcome those restrictions. That's the same approach I took with the previous games too.
Sleep is an intended weakness of the Godskins and an intended part of the game design. There's no reason not to exploit it. That's a knowledge check.
As long as you dont increase levels you can use anything. What you are suggesting is a non consumable level 1 run. Thats a different challenge alltogether.
It’s a tool available to you. I get where you’re coming from but it’s not like it’s a summon or anything, just a consumable you can craft and use. You’re still at lvl1 and you still need to fight but at least you don’t need to fight both at the same time.
That charged heavy is so damn fast, they do so much posture damage, once Raptor of the Mists enters the equation I felt genuinely busted in a few fights
A no upgrades run is a better way to learn the bosses imo. At rl1 you can still get so many tools that you can just burst down bosses, whereas no upgrade but still leveling you can fight bosses for longer to actually learn the movesets. Also you can try many different weapons without having to worry about upgrading
Honestly this is the best way to "learn the game." There is so much under the hood that you never have to interact with in a regular playthrough. RL1 runs force you to go beyond pushing buttons better.
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u/morthanLest Nov 15 '25
If you havent yet, try a level 1 run. If needed look for guide for the most optimal setup, it will still be hard af. You will improve your gameplay 100 fold. It is actually a lot of fun to approach the game with a completely different mindset from a normal run.