I could write a lengthy write-up on this fight but I'm thinking an in depth video would be better. I don't think words alone can convey how utterly abhorrent Bayle can actually be when pushed to this kind of extreme and I honestly feel vindicated about everything I said in that "I Don't Love Elden Ring" video. Anyway, I muled over a load of gear to play around with and eventually found my setup. The Divine Beast Head grants 4 STR and DEX, making it pair up pretty nicely with the Cold Broadswords B scaling. The Blessed Blue Dew Talisman combined with Square Off's low FP requirement and the fact you may have significant downtime between usages means I never had to take a sippy during phase 2 and the Two-Headed Turtle Talisman allowed me to play a little more offensively. Shard of Alexander gets huge value here since the vast majority of my damage is coming from Ash attacks. Besides that, the usual Red-Feathered and Twinbird Kite Shield hyper mode shenanigans to pump my damage up further. The Physick here uses Magic-Shrouding and Intellegence-Knot crystal tears, taken during the phase 2 transition because phase 1 doesn't matter. Oh right, I used Raptor of the Mists during the laser attack. For whatever reason I couldn't evade those explosions after the beam reliably (I think there's some slight variance based on the distance but the tight timing exacerbates it) so I just took any chance out of the equation. I lose an opportunity smack him after he lands but that's better than dying. But no, really. At first I thought I'd enjoy this fight but there's a lot of things that make it genuinely badly designed. Such as: - If he starts off with the frontal flame breath right out of the gate, it's a crapshoot whether you'll get out unscathed. - Furthermore the hitbox on this is whacky as hell and becomes VERY erratic if it makes contact with a wall. I've seen it somehow hit me from BEHIND more than enough times. - The aiming behaviour isn't consistent either and I've seen him snipe me despite making exactly the same movements that have proven to be reliably safe. If you're not within mid range when this comes out it's usually gg to begin with. - You can be hit by random lightning strikes during the phase transition attack, which you won't notice because you'll be too busy looking at the sky trying to avoid fireballs. - Furthermore, it's very easy to get into a bad position during the phase transition and it makes evading the dive bomb impossible if you're too close to a wall. This guy's arena is genuinely too small and I constantly find myself getting close to edge whether I like it or not. - RNG combo extension galore! The fact so many of them can lead into him jumping off towards the opposite side of the arena to sneeze at you also means you can't counterattack at all either. It's so tedious! I love it! - And even if you do get close, he can cancel the flame breath anyway! Screw you! - The flame particles on the point blank breath AoE aren't consistent at all. Sometimes you can run through them, sometimes you can't. It's better to find a safe route before charging in but this also means you need to play it more safe than necessary. I have a clip where I literally run through 2 fire particles before being hit by a 3rd. Whatever, I don't plan on touching this game again for a while. Nothing says skill based combat like the feeling of playing a slot machine. If it's not the actually unfair nonsense that blindsides you it's the boss being arbitrarily harder by an order of magnitude because the funny number generator decided you're not allowed to hit it.
I described a lot of this happening in DaS 3 and it’s nice to see an old uploader mention this exact problem. I understand that you can average out and take calculated risks against combo extensions but it feels like someone is conditioning you to a behavior specifically for the purpose of punishing you for it later.
You know, to a player not at this level, watching these kinds of challenge runs is hard to appreciate in terms of how much harder it is than, say, doing the same thing to Midir or the older bosses. It's not something I think I'd be able to do for any of them, so they all kinda get lost in the generalized "impossible" sauce. What this video *does* demonstrate on how things have changed, however, is how much harder it is to *watch* than older similar challenges. I could watch a level 1 NG+7 hitless Midir run and never think I'd be able to do that, but I'd be able to watch everything happening and understand how I'd have to do it in theory, and not lose track of the action. Between the blinding explosions, camera fuckery, and generally all over the place movement, there are places in this video where it's hard to even keep track of what exactly is happening, much less how you're not dying to it. Like that other commenter below thinking you hadn't rolled what should have been a fatal explosion and you having to point out your stamina bar dips there because you did roll, and that's pretty much the only way you can demonstrate that you did something because the visual noise is overwhelming. So hey, point well taken. Also, damn fine work.
One thing I don't understand with FROM is: They added a bit of camera distance with the Midir fight 7 years ago, but now we just go 2 steps back and fight the camera again with these big bosses.
I know you really wouldn't want to do this, but this sort of analysis on a lot of the bosses would be appreciated. You put into words my thoughts and feelings better than I can. I went through the DLC at 150 with a square off longsword, and honestly had a blast, but resonated heavily with your recent video. My honest sword and board knight can keep up, but it just isn't that fun. I had a bit of fun with Radahn at the end believe it or not, but I can't imagine doing a no hit run of him. I'm not asking you to do that or anything... not at all... Thanks for all the content you've put out. Your old long-form SL1 playthroughs were great, the Demon's Souls one is still peak content. It makes me sad there can't really be one for Elden Ring. I guess to some extent it's possible, but it would be way less methodical, and more just banging your head against the key moments like bosses while you gallop past most everything else, just as you mentioned. Like the whole game is just Flamelurker on steroids. Really nails home the design difference.
Square Off is great because of how flexible it is, rather than most other Ashes of War that have such lengthy animation commitment that they're completely unusable without trading hits against a number of bosses. You can't go wrong with it. But yeah, I was contemplating doing an NG+7 series for ER but I really struggled to think how it wouldn't just be about bosses because a lot of the map just ends up feeling like filler. Hell, even just getting this guy into the DLC after starting NG+7 involved the better part of an hour just riding from point to point and not really doing anything at all.
I honestly don't understand how so many people in the community are saying that this boss is S-tier and among the best. The only S-tier things in his fight are visual spectacle, atmosphere, music, and Igon, but beating him on NG+7 without summons and without cheesing him, made me understand how flawed his hitboxes and camera actually are; such errors cannot be justified in a 2024 From game for me, especially after all their years of games and experience. It's like most players rate bosses based only on how epic they are, totally forgetting the most important part of the combat system. He is among the best bosses if we only judge everything that is not based on technical aspects of gameplay, but since I am a player who prioritizes readability and clean fights, he is BY FAR the worst fight in the entire DLC.
from software bosses turned into what scrubs thought they were back in 2011 i used to do ng+ sl1 runs in dark souls 1 but after i saw how much random unavoidable chip damage you take in elden ring i did not feel like putting myself through that, you're a stronger man than me
You're right, every challenge run should exclusively be a no hit run while equipping absolutely no weapons, no armour, no talismans and include no item usage.
2:46 im honestly not sure how you didnt take damage there, didnt see a roll or even a jump animation. could just be all the lighting effects blinding me though...
The initial down thrust only damages you if you're close up. If you're asking about the explosion afterwards (which makes it impossible to see anything), I did roll - look at the stamina meter.
Please, do yourself a favor and delete this game. If you are hesitating to buy it, do not buy this pile of crap. You will have more fun playing with a stick and a rock that playing Elden Ring.
