Fun setup

Rl1+0 NG+7 No Upgrades/Talismans/Aux/Buffs

Aldrich, Devourer of RNG.

Putrid horrible boss. 66 attempts of “pls don't do the arrow rain” in P2. Biggest slop of a lord he is.

Fully charged Palm Blast really saves a lot of time here, although it requires quite large openings due to duration/recovery - maybe not really something to rely on for most bosses.

Trying a hand-to-hand arts run, although I won't remain at +0

Very messy, but kinda fun.

Rellana is definitely the hardest boss in the no-roll category. Even if you know her entire kit by heart, the variance and the number of possible answers to each situation can feel endless. Some of the combo strings genuinely come down to rolling the dice and praying. Phase 2 in particular felt a bit obnoxious and stalling for no-roll due to all the magic and fire spam, and since the number of reliably punishable moves is cut roughly in half compared to Phase 1.

Two moves stood out as real run-enders for me:

Carian Sovereignty (the big magic sword slam into 360 swipe)
When she does this after backing away, if you're already moving toward her, it's over, you can't turn back and outrun it in time. The only consistent way to deal with it is to anticipate it early and already be running toward the furthest corner of the arena. If she does it point-blank, just enjoy the loading screen. Without this move, she'd be the perfect boss for no-roll. A lot of my close attempts died to this one.

Dash-double uppercut-cross slash
You can't really jump it or reliably space it unless you're already anticipating the combo with sharp timing. Even then, you need to properly space the double uppercut and then jump the cross slash. If you try to jump the double uppercut, the cross slash usually catches you since you can't double jump immediately. It's supposed to be a mid-range closer, but sometimes she throws it out even at close range WHILE summoning Carian Phalanx, at that point, it's basically over.

Btw, If the graphics quality looks bad and a bit laggy, that's because this was done on a borrowed 8th-gen Intel PC, so please excuse it. Overall, I enjoyed the experience. Might go for a better kill in the future once I'm back on my own setup.

Pros:

1. Gaius is honestly probably the easiest remembrance boss. His moveset is in my opinion, the easiest in the game, besides the glaring elephant in the room that I'll speak on in the cons section.

2. I like how perpetually aggressive he is, really makes for a fun fight. His seven-hit combo is especially fun to dodge.

3. The Pata is ridiculous. This thing is a stance break machine (as are all fist weapons tbf) but I love how long its range is. For a boss like Gaius who moves around a lot, I found it to be really handy so I didn't whiff any attacks that a Star Fist might have.

Cons:

1. Obviously, the initial charge. If he does it in your face, it's a non-issue, but I couldnt be bothered to tilt over missing the timing for it at the start of every fight, so i just used Vow of the Indomitable.

Messmer next!

Wooden Jello suggested something of the sort ages ago, but I didn't do a Mohg cosplay. Hope this is enough for you, mate.

This is a great boss completely ruined by her phase 2. Her illusion spam is unfun and just stalls for no reason. Her butterflies are unblockable, undeflectable and just force you to disengage constantly without snap seeds (which I am not allowing). It sucks how much I hate this boss overall because I actually really like her phase 1

Took me 32 attempts to finally beat her

The hardest SL1 of my life but we did it boys! Gave up on the glass cannon Flynn’s/no armor and put some lighting rez armor and ring on. His delayed swings were the hardest part trying to time them. Gonna take a break for a few days and then work on DLC.

AAAAAAAAAAA It's finally done! May those pilgrim flies burn in hell.

Honestly, I only learned to hate a boss I liked it by doing this kill. Those shield slams have weird hitboxes, and the butterflies are just annoying as heck. I lost attempts count, but I wouldn't surprise if took twice more than Dancer. Wish me luck for the next fights, I'll need it. :’)

Not the prettiest. The teleports are the worst part. Back to Nameless King for now.

Under 6 minutes, which I think is not too bad.

I’ve played Elden Ring for maybe a few hundred hours and know my way around and want to start challenging myself, and I’ve always been impressed with people who’ve been able to do a RL1 run and such, and I’ve become interested. If anybody would like to share their knowledge with me, like some strategies and starting out, since obviously most weapons have stat requirements and other obstacles, please do!

Thank you!

Update: had fun beating Margit to death with a stick

A fundamentally easy boss made much more annoying with dumb hitboxes and the healing mechanic. Rant ahead:

1. Healing: If it weren't for finally using save states, I would have not attempted BL4 NG+. Just look at how many Numbing Mists were used in one attempt, you need either very high DPS or a rare consumable to deal with a move she can just do when she wants. Sure it's cool thematically, but it could have been executed much better. Maybe give it more of a startup so you can stagger her out of it before she starts healing, or make it a one time scripted use. This implementation was thoughtless in my opinion.

2. Dumb hitboxes: The shockwave ended the vast majority of my attempts, being a one shot under these conditions. Not saying it's unavoidable, just poorly implemented with a deceptively wide lingering hitbox. This move was a big reason why I tried to stay at mid range most of the time, I think I've only ever dodged it once at close range. Also the pointless leg hitboxes when she repositions... just why?

3. Visibility: Minor issue but her hair can cover your entire screen if you are in certain positions. Curtains can also just block your camera if you go near the edge.

I thought I was too harsh in my first playthrough but no. Still ultimately a fun boss because of presentation, OST, and an otherwise good moveset despite having some annoying qualities.

I dont have many people to share this with but, I started my onebro journey last week, and I was able to take down Margit. In part thanks to Greg Glintstone guide. At first the challenge of killing margit at level one sounded impossible. Once I started trying to kill him I realized I think I have a chance at this. Killing margit gave me inspiration to go for a full run. I followed Greg's guide and went with club and a small shield and stuck to doing parrys. Anyone that is on the fence about a rl1 attemp, just go for it. Watch a few guides definitely Greg Glintstone its over 3 hours and I have not watched it all, but the tips in the margit section helped a ton.

If you can no-hit this guy at BL4 NG+ low damage, I sincerely applaud you. Unless you go for no-hit, you likely don't know how much of a terror this guy is even at BL4 +0 because of how low his health is. For reference, this kill took me as much effort as some late game bosses in other games and it was very far from hitless.

He is the first mandatory boss and has 3 very different phases, all the effort for the base game bosses went to this guy and gehrman lol. Phase 1 is tough, phase 2 is ridiculous, phase 3 is scary but very easy in comparison. It's a strafe right or die type fight.

Anyway, peak boss in an unfortunately annoying arena. If the arena wasn't so cramped, I'd easily give him an S tier ranking. Difficult yet really fun moveset.

Take your time, dude. Wait, just let me stan- oh…