Elden Ring’s official gameplay reveal during Xbox’s E3 2019 conference showcased a horse, a jump mechanic, and a jumping horse. Enjoyers of Hidetaka Miyazaki’s work were thrilled upon witnessing what seemed to be a double jump performed by the player character’s steed as they were attempting to evade a dragon’s lightning bolt that it had summoned from the skies. Once the initial hype settled down (although it arguably never did) folks began to theorize what jumping could bring to Elden Ring, and how it would evolve the FromSoftware formula. Many hoped for jumping to be implemented into combat and were not disappointed when the title released, with interactions still being discovered to this day.
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In a montage uploaded by u/lakeho, the player is seen perfectly timing jumps and the casting of incantations to avoid a variety of attacks against a few of the most intimidating bosses in the game, as well as poor Iron Fist Alexander, the Warrior Jar. Spliced together to the tune of Godfrey’s raucous battle theme, the first of many acrobatics on display is during Hoarah Loux’s mid-phase transition, which sees the player character flawlessly time two consecutive casts of the Black Blade incantation in-between Hoarah Loux’s successive arena wide shockwaves.
Another notable moment is during the battle with Maliketh, the Black Blade, who’s sweeping follow-through is evaded by the player jumping and, while airborne, casting Ekzykes’s Decay, a draconic incantation often used to apply Scarlet Rot. The height provided by this causes Maliketh’s otherwise deadly attack to pass underneath without danger.
Finding which attacks are avoidable by dodging has become a hobby for a few Elden Ring players, and the reason for this being possible was explained by famed Dark Souls content creator Zullie the Witch. They noted that when the player character jumps, rather than applying invincibility frames, hit detection is disabled for specific regions of the player’s model. It effectively means that attacks hitting the upper torso or lower will not register, providing adequate - albeit inconsistent - safety from horizontal threats. Elden Ring’s hit detection has been considered the best of FromSoftware’s titles, with many compilations of satisfying and incalculably near misses being a popular feature within the community.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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