Summary
The Mad Pumpkin Head is a boss that players are likely to find early enough inElden Ringfor the lessons the encounter teaches to have a significant impact. This early lesson comes mostly from the way that the Mad Pumpkin Head canmess withElden Ring’s cameraand the player’s reliance on keeping it focused on enemies.
Careful positioning has been a major contributor to player success across the entireSoulsborneseries, with calculating where a dodge will leave the Tarnished sometimes being as important as timing the input perfectly. Since the same trend continues intoElden Ring, an early boss like Mad Pumpkin Head is a great way to get new players up to speed with how much of an impact positioning will have on performance.
The Importance of Players' Location and Positioning
The key tofighting the Mad Pumpkin Headand its lesser variants comes from avoiding the giant pumpkin helmet that the boss is named after. Given that this helmet is the only armor that the Mad Pumpkin Head wears, it should be little surprise to find that any attack that connects with it will deal heavily reduced damage. Some attacks can even bounce off of the helmet entirely, depending on the type of damage being inflicted and how effectively the player character can wield their current weapon.
to get around this defensive point, a player’s best strategy is to get around the advantage by sidestepping completely behind the Mad Pumpkin Head. Of course, the tightenemy tracking inElden Ringdoes make this solution difficult to maintain for extended periods of time, or even to fully get completely behind the boss in the first place. So, dodging towards and behind the Mad Pumpkin Head right as an attack is about to land is usually the best option, as this will leave the player in the perfect position to counter without worrying too much about the helmet.
Mastering Weapon Movesets
A second key skill that the Mad Pumpkin Head is able to hammer home for the player is mastery of their own weapons. While it is possible to get through the game flailing around wildly with whatever attack will fit in a given punish window, mastery of a moveset will always lead to more successful encounters with enemies and bosses. In the case of the Mad Pumpkin Head, this means choosingweapons likeElden Ring’s halberdsthat have a wide, horizontal swing to swipe under the helmet and avoiding the need to position behind in the first place.
Mastery of a weapon can also help mitigate the risk of striking the Mad Pumpkin Head’s helmet and deflecting off the armor. Considering that this type of reaction can easily lead to getting hit with a massive counter by the boss, avoiding this state is a key factor to staying alive throughout the fight. So, if players have access to something like aMoonveil’s light Unsheath attack, then it might be best to stick to those attacks entirely. Otherwise, waiting for the proper position is the key when a weapon’s moveset doesn’t allow for frequent attacks.
Elden Ring Breaks the Soulsborne Lock-On Crutch
A common issue that players run into across the entireSoulsborneseries is becoming overly reliant on the lock-on system in order to make sure their attacks are connecting with enemies. However, in many cases, thelock-on system inElden Ringcan be as detrimental as it is helpful, as it struggles to follow giant, fast-moving enemies across an arena. In the case of Mad Pumpkin Head, this comes in the form of the lock-on system forcing attacks to hit the helmet. The result is a situation where aiming freely without the lock-on could lead to delivering better damage than relying on the system to target the enemy normally can.
Elden Ring
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ELDEN RING, developed by FromSoftware, Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to date. Hidetaka Miyazaki - President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls.George R.R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire - A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with the lovely Parris in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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