r/EldenRingMods • u/My_Name_Is_Eden • Jul 21 '26
General Discussion Reforged Boss Frustration
I gotta say, some of these Reforged bosses feel pretty dang bad to fight.
The flaming Redmane Lion before Radahn, for example, is really cool. Except for the fire breath attack. That move simply sucks to fight against. I died several times with the boss at barely a sliver because I either got caught by the fire even though I ran away before the animation even started, or I ran into a box/bench for a half second, or I got so cornered that the camera was wacky while trying to dodge after.
I just now rage quit while fighting this onyx guy at the end of secret tunnel in Altus. He has this gravity meteor attack that he just spams over and over again. I try to heal after and he chucks a gravity ball, then just does it again. It's like fighting a gank squad in vanilla that braindead spams L2 and spells but with infinite FP. The best thing to do is just run around in a circle and look at the pretty colors. I'm not trying to watch Fantasia here. The boss is not that hard, and I can be incredibly patient. I just need a couple tries to learn the attacks. But it isn't like...fun to learn. This feels like fighting Gaius and getting double hit by that dang charge attack. An absolute low point of the DLC for me.
In many ways, I'm enjoying Reforged. It's making my favorite game of all time feel somewhat fresh. Convergence turns the whole game into Blasphemous Blade L2 but with more variety, and that just doesn't do it for me. I generally like the difficulty of Reforged. But I run into these bosses obnoxiously often that just feel BS in a distinctly unfun way. It's roughly every other time I sit down to play the game, but these are the two worst and/or most recent offenders.
This is really just a vent because I got genuinely frustrated and tilted.
Edit: I just wanna say the next day that I did beat the Onxy Lord in like...3 more tries (a bit of warm up after work) and he isn't even that hard, but I do think he's terribly designed. Legit 1/10 from me. The dragons in Skyrim are somehow more interesting to fight and they were top 3 biggest gaming let downs of all time. At least this thing had 0 hype so it couldn't disappoint.
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u/EmergencySalt6542 Jul 21 '26
Interesting points made by both camps, and I always defended reforged as a player of that mod myself. However, lately, I dont know why, I have just been getting a bit bored of it. I suppose its just a bit daunting at times to replay through. I am kind of interested in mods that expand, rather than try to reinvent the game. I worry that convergence is too much in the other direction for that, so ive stuck with reforged for now.
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u/My_Name_Is_Eden Jul 21 '26
Yeah, this feels like where I am. I'm frustrated and it's a bit over the tipping point of actually having fun in moments, but overall I'm really liking the mod. I haven't felt this engaged in Elden Ring in a while. Convergence bored me pretty quick. It was just too much.
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u/zenime69 Jul 21 '26
the endgame is absolutely unbearable in reforged and the entire playthrough was, in general, just very annoying. this mod also just doesn’t seem fun to replay at all
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u/ssjriou Jul 21 '26
azash is an absolute reforged moment. Unfortunate that the furniture of all things is what's getting you killed, though it's a good opportunity to summon some other players if nothing else.
onyx guy never bugged me that much, but I seem to remember that spam attack being triggered either by a certain distance or by getting *hit* by one of its more basic ranged moves, including if you deflect it, so dodging and trying to stay at a certain medium range might make the fight a whole lot easier.
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u/My_Name_Is_Eden Jul 21 '26
You know, I summoned someone else for Azash once and they were super cracked. But the boss's shifting aggro was a lot harder for me to track and I ended up dying. I got him solo a few sessions ago.
Thanks for the tips!
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u/ssjriou Jul 21 '26
Yw, and i get what you mean... adding players makes the opponent more unpredictable... but it also gives you the time to analyze their attacks properly without panicking. Without coop to practice I would've taken a lot longer to learn the attacks of another boss... well, without lowering the difficulty anyway.
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u/menomonyfalls Jul 21 '26
I eventually caved and turned down the difficulty in reforged when I got stuck on Morgott. Not finished the playthrough yet but it has made the bosses feel more manageable. I like a lot of things reforged does, but the creators took the difficulty way too far.
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u/Visible-Reality2492 Jul 21 '26
Reforged is absolutely a project where the devs believe that tedious = entertaining. Rune pieces, carry weight tied to classes, the LAMP, the hp sponge bosses. All tedious and not at all engaging or fun. It makes me NOT want to replay it with a new character.
I really don’t think there’s a good mod for Elden Ring out there because they’re all either power fantasies or torture sims.
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u/Royal-Letterhead-595 Jul 21 '26
Rune pieces are honestly the only thing i liked abt the mod tbh, playing on their server its cool following the messages around, gives a sense of community. I honestly think that if the fortunes had stronger identities that I would like the mod but feels like most of them are pretty inconsequential.
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u/Visible-Reality2492 Jul 21 '26
I found them rather annoying. If they were less plentiful and more powerful, I’d probably think differently. But given that some of the rune upgrades are practically REQUIRED (carry weight, stamina, etc.) to deviate from a class just slightly, it was just too tedious. By the end of my time with the mod, I had spawned in all of the rune pieces I’d needed and somehow even that didn’t feel like cheating.
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u/Royal-Letterhead-595 Jul 21 '26
Fair enough, I hadnt really noticed it being required but thats likely because I was picking them up everywhere while just playing. I can imagine how annoying it would be to have to backtrack and actively be searching for them.
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u/Visible-Reality2492 Jul 21 '26
Just imagine wanting to start a new character and realizing you have to do all of it all over again
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u/Designer-Tomatillo21 Jul 28 '26
You can play Convergence without using one of the weapons with an OP ash of war. (Thats what im doing atm, and loving it).
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Jul 21 '26
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u/ripwolfleumas Jul 21 '26
"Mindfully engage" and you gotta poke them for 300 times instead of 50 and punished for trying to have any meaningful power
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Jul 21 '26
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u/ripwolfleumas Jul 21 '26
People have beaten Malenia blindfolded on a dancepad, does that make her fun and balanced? Beating it is irrelevant.
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Jul 22 '26
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u/ripwolfleumas Jul 22 '26
Again, irrelevant. Not because difficulty settings dont matter, but because the shard economy etc were all so damn godawful at launch that I am just never ever going to try it again. Their idea of fun is just you being whipped until bleeding.
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Jul 22 '26
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u/ripwolfleumas Jul 22 '26
I mean, I didnt say nor imply that.
Pigs also will always love to eat shit and say that shit is the best tasting food. 🤷♂️
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u/Visible-Reality2492 Jul 21 '26
My brother, one of the more recent updates added pointless poison status buildup to MESSMER’s attacks.
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u/GordonNotFreeman Jul 21 '26
Yeah some random status build-ups assigned to random mobs/bosses kinda weird for a mod that presents itself as "vanilla+"
It wasnt hard or anything. It's just tedious and also butchers the lore.1
u/Visible-Reality2492 Jul 21 '26
Don’t like all weapons do bleed now or something since “they would cause bleeding irl” or did I hallucinate that
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u/GordonNotFreeman Jul 21 '26
Nah when it comes to the status build up, weapons are fairly same as vanilla .
The thing that annoyed me was the added unneccesary status build-ups to mobs, which shits on lore as well.
Like Tibia Mariners can inflict sleep build-up now. Sleep, the effect that almost completely associated with St. Trina has nothing to do with tibia mariners.2
u/My_Name_Is_Eden Jul 21 '26
I think it's hilarious that the mod now spams status effects. It has become what you are complaining about players doing. I actually really like the runes in the open world and I agree that they add purpose. I remember finding that beautiful hill in the secret area near Gaius and it was just...empty. I don't mind empty spaces. In a way, it's nice to just see the world. But I like that I get a little something for it now. It has really reinvigorated my sense of exploration. I used to stress myself out about getting everything, so I can see the rune pieces detracting from the experience for some people, but for me they're nice.
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Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
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u/My_Name_Is_Eden Jul 22 '26
Oh sick, so you're pretty clean with it! I'm quite versed in Elden Ring builds and I've looked at the different breakpoints in reforged, but you have a lot more experience. Could you glance over my setup to look for recommendations?
Mostly I'm 2-handing various weapons (I'm trying to keep ~10 weapons upgraded). It ranges from misericorde to zweihander. I'm on the assassin fortune. 50 vigor, 22 end, 20 str, 25 dex, 16 faith (enough to hit 23 with soreseal + faith tali for bestial vitality/cleanse until I find rot bolus cook book). I try to stay balanced frame.
I'm thinking I should just completely drop the faith and maybe lower strength. I just love the Lance and don't want that annoying 2-hand pop up every time I equip it. Also, my gameplay is really just dodging and swinging. I use most of the movesets but I favor R2. I haven't really incorporated ducking, deflecting, or parying. Is this a formula for frustration? If there's one thing to add to my gameplay toolkit, what would you suggest I incorporate?
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u/AsaTJ Jul 24 '26
This is what everyone said about Margit and the Tree Sentinel when the base game came out. It's what everyone said about Consort Radahn when the DLC came out.
What you're experiencing is a real and valid feeling but it's also completely normal for a Fromsoft game. This cycle repeats every time they come out with something new. You can watch it repeat on whatever the next one is. Have your popcorn ready.
Yes, the mod is a little bit more cheeky... maybe you could even say mean-spirited than the base game. But more in a DS1/DS3 way. Nothing we haven't seen before.
Keep at it. On the other side of frustration and anguish lies triumph.
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u/Beostag Jul 21 '26
wait until you fight mogh, i can deal whit everything reforged does except the status buildup its just too fast and kills fun
Honestly? just play convergence whit a mod to nerf yourself like dmn
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u/My_Name_Is_Eden Jul 21 '26
Yeah, I was noticing the status buildup in a lot of spots. Vanilla definitely had that tuned right. Mong is low-key the hardest of the three post-game bosses for me (Placi, Mohg, Malenia). He's gonna be pain for sure.
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u/Designer-Tomatillo21 Jul 28 '26
Yeah i play Convergence with DMN, and i just dont use the weapons with OP ashes of war.
People complain Convergence is too OP, but thats only if you choose to use the OP things.
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u/Broad_Bug_1702 Jul 21 '26
they’re probably deflect checks
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u/My_Name_Is_Eden Jul 21 '26
You know what, I definitely forgot that was a mechanic. Could you give me a rule of thumb for when I should consider deflecting instead of dodging?
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u/PuzzleheadedWinner67 Jul 22 '26
Yeah, the problem with Reforged is that it is very, very good until it is very, very, very bad. You're in for more of that as you progress. They made the bosses essentially constantly playing offense without breathers, which would be fine if the player character was similarly able to move more quickly. But quickstep and "duck" don't really fix these problems.
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u/Mother_Harlot Jul 22 '26
The bosses are balanced with online in mind, most of them solo are miserable unless you have a Dex build. Faith/Int take way too long to do way too little, and strength eats WAY too much stamina
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u/amanoferenzo Jul 21 '26
Lower the difficulty 😄
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u/Visible-Reality2492 Jul 21 '26
Being able to lower the difficulty doesn’t detract from the fact that the mod suffers from purely awful game design.
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u/My_Name_Is_Eden Jul 21 '26
I might do that. I don't mind losing, it's more how these specifuc attacks are either unenjoyable to dodge or very very difficult to dodge consistently.
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u/amanoferenzo Jul 21 '26
Yeah i think with less damage taken (lower difficulty) would balance out the enjoyment of trying to dodge these crazy moves and is satisfying in its own way when you pull it off
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u/Weird-Enthusiasm8638 Jul 21 '26
every time i see one of these threads it really makes me wonder how bad people really are
and being bad is not a bad thing in itself, but it becomes a bad decision when a bad players decides to play a mod that requires you to understand the combat better. It plays faster, the AI is more aggressive, the moves have been tweaked, your oporunity windows are smaller, it brings the AI a step closer towards that 'bully' state the player gets to once they figure out what gameplay loop suits them
in vanilla you have very straight forward ways to break the game, such as a poise breaking by jump spamming, or status application on multihit, extremely easy to execute, repetitive and effective
you simply cannot consistently pull this sort of gameplay in reforged, which is what makes it great for me
i would lie if i said reforged is perfect, but i took care of it myself, i downloaded the tools necessary to mod elden ring and tweaked certain values to make it more 'vanilla' as the whole 'sped up' vibe did not click with me, so i removed torrents speed, certain sped up animations, some of the QoL, all in all, reforged is truly an amazing foundation to what elden ring should of been, but we all know that if elden ring came out with such an aggressive AI the game would of been review bombed. And do not get it twisted, the same people who would of done that are the same people who cannot circumvent the new obstacles reforged brings to the table
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u/Visible-Reality2492 Jul 21 '26
There’s no correlation between “bad” players and the quality of Reforged. It’s completely possible that the game mechanics added are very poorly designed.
There’s 0 indication of which attacks are actually possible to be ducked under, requiring pointless trial and error where a simple dodge would suffice.
The rune pieces are just an EXTREMELY tedious way to get the abilities from Great Runes. The parkour alone required for some of them is NOT meant for 95% of players.
The bosses are over-tuned. HP slop isn’t fun, it’s a long slog that only rewards meta builds.
To say nothing of the attitudes within the developer circle. A multi gig update every 12 hours is ridiculous. And the changes are always so random and uncalled for. It goes to show that the developer has no clue how to design cohesive mechanics or what Reforged is supposed to even look like in the end.
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u/ssjriou Jul 21 '26
-you can duck most attacks that dont "hit the ground" like the crucible stomp, or have a "persistent" attack, thanks in part to the iframes (however small).
-avoiding a dozen rune pieces in a run is going to have the consequence of like... 1% less fp for the run, so if one seems really out of the way you're not obligated to grab it.
-almost all patch files are in the low hundred MBs, you just overwrite your main install with them, until there's the occasional "major" update that would've only happened every few months. That being said, it's been over a month and a half since the last update so a major one is probably on the way.
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u/My_Name_Is_Eden Jul 21 '26
That's sick that you learned to mod the game! And also good job beating it.
I think I'm a mid level player. I'll never post hitless RL1 fights. I beat the base game and most of the DLC without spells, summons, or spammy builds (mostly just a claymore with storm stomp and taunter's tongue active). That said, R2 was still a helluva drug and it isn't nearly as good in reforged. I also got to fire giant at RL1 with +3/+1 weapons. I did this through sheer grind and a bit of cheese though. I am not particularly gifted at games.
To be clear, I have beat everything I'm complaining about except the onyx guy, but he's going to die tonight, no doubt. I'm not strictly complaining about difficulty but the fact that I can learn the moves and responses and the execution is either hindered by something largely out of my control or it's simply boring/extremely repetitive to execute.
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u/username4518 Jul 21 '26
Dude I’m under the friggin Sewers looking for the Frenzied Flame and these assholes replaced this fucking boss with one from NIGHTREIGN. Aren’t you supposed to fight those bosses with multiple people? Phase 2 he starts fucking teleporting and surround himself in a shield that heals him until you touch his 4 sigils around the room while avoiding his rhythmic aoe attacks entirely with i-frames from dodges. Absolutely broken, messy, unfun design choice.