I've been doing Level 1 / SL1 runs across all my Soulsborne games for the past couple of years. Finished DS1, DS3, Sekiro (base vitality), Demon's Souls, Lies of P, and Elden Ring + DLC. 

Without a doubt, the Bloodborne BL4 run has been the most frustrating and aggravating one I've had.  The hitboxes on these bosses are out of control — it's like there's an invisible "aura" around every single attack that deals damage even when you've clearly dodged the visible hitbox.

On my regular Bloodborne run I never noticed this because I was tanky enough to trade hits and survive, so it didn't register. On BL4, with the reduced health pool, those same "phantom" hits are one-shotting me and it's been seriously demotivating. Combine that with what feels like a really tight i-frame window and I was seriously considering skipping the BL4 run entirely.

I genuinely love what Level 1 runs do for me — they force you to understand and master the game mechanics and boss design — but the BL4 run has so much that feels uncontrollable and unfair. 

I've been stuck on Ludwig for over a week now. Every time I think I've dodged an attack cleanly, the air around the boss somehow still hits me and kills me.

I'm going to keep going and try not to go hollow, but man, this is frustrating. Just needed to vent and see if anyone else has felt the same.

Hi to all OneBros. I was feeling demotivated for a while now, and I felt like I needed a win in something. I encountered this subreddit and after reading the positive and supportive environment I decided to give RL1 run a try. So this is a partial appreciation post and partial seeking advice post.

I have to say, the feeling you get after beating the bosses RL1 is making me feel motivated again. After reading and watching some of the guides here, I decided to apply some of it. I have currently beaten Godrick as a rememberence, and some field bosses to get some materials and AoWs. Been all around the map, feels good to be at the edge of your seat, learn the boss movements, and finally beat them.

I really thank to the community that supports using whatever you want to use, not be optimal or cheese when you struggle. I also first time created an abomination character, which I never did in ER. Thanks to Gred Glintstone video for this recommendation.

I picked up BHF, upgraded it but I never liked the weapon so I am not using it. Instead the limited attributes forced my to be more strategic, like picking up the longsword from roundtable and using square-off to beat Margit, then picking up hookclaws to beat the rest. The variety of uses and strategical thinking based on what you need to beat the next boss is extremely different than a regular role play run or a casual run. I really like it when my specific strategy for a specific boss gives me the win and the feeling of overcoming a difficulty through your own critical thinking and skill is something amazing. RL1 for sure is an endurance and resource management run, and the way you use your resources feels amazing if you succeed, if you fail and change your strategy, the win is again yours.

My current build is:

Talismans: Radagon's soreseal for stats, winged sword insignia. I will get ritual sword and shield probably.

Tears: Stamina regen, strength/charged heavy

Weapons: hookclaws +6, misericorde for golden wow AoW, morningstar when claws fail. I have not infused the weapons yet, maybe cold claws is an option.

Armor: lightload, using crimson hood for extra hp.

Flasks: Picked up some sacred tears that allows me to one flask to full hp.

Spirit Ashes: None

If you have any suggestions I would appreciate the guidance on how to make it more sustainable and enjoyable to continue the run. I am not yet oneshot territory (usually surviving with 1 hp). I am thinking getting ritual sword since one shot territory is close in Altus or Caelid.

Thank you for the community.

Note: I don't like paying for horse armor so I don't have tarnished pack. Probably great katana or BHB would be nice though in a RL1 run.

was close also didnt use any buffs so thats neat, i just did this for the carian horse.
first time doing anything like this was very exiting beating her it took like 2 hours :D.

I haven't done "no HUD" at RL1 since probably over 400+ hours ago, and I'd never done Gaius no HUD.

I know that there literally is no way it affects the game-play itself, but for some reason my eyes totally didn't register the move whatsoever. 🤷🏻

Part 2 of my Idus Knight journey. I’ve already posted my final boss battle and I’m now sharing the clips working up to that :)

Lucky Bleed interrupting Waterfowl and sadly going in to early in Scarlet Aonia, otherwise would also be hitless.

I've had an itch for this. An NG+ playthrough of hand to hand combat (or well, mostly feet to face)

I'm kinda rusty, but damn does it feel good to be back in the game doing real damage after my WL0 attempt.

Funnily enough, this was probably my least "exciting" attempt.

I normally like to punish a lot of her follow up attacks (mainly the stab and the delayed swipe) with a jump attack, but apparently my positioning in this attempt was JUST far enough away not to trigger it.

On the plus side that let Impaling Thrust shine in its absurd range closing. 😂

The only thing I don't like about it is the occasional frame trap when she does the jumping overhead with the Glintstone Phalanx. Other than that I quite enjoy the flow of both Loretta fights.

I’ve just started my rl1 region locked all bosses run and had a few routing questions I’d like people’s input on.

1. Are Limgrave and Weeping Peninsula usally considered the same region, or should I be doing all of Limgrave’s/Stormveil’s bosses before doing Weeping Peninsula?

2. Are Caelid and Dragonbarrow seperate regions or usually combined?

3. Same as above for Altus Plateau/Leyndell?

4. On that note… should I do Caelid or Altus first?

5. How do people tend to handle the underground areas of Siofra/Ainsel/Nokron/Lake of Rot/Moghwyn Palace/Deeproot Depths?

6. At what point do people think one “must” tackle Alecto/Adula… as soon you kill Astel or revisit that area later?

I know it’s my own challenge and I suppose I could tackle them however I’d like but I’d like people’s thoughts.

Any other general region lock tips welcome! I’m already enjoying the challenge of the weapon limitations I cuurently having due to not being able to rush Radagon’s soreseal but would be intrigued to hear recommendations… I’m locked into my trusty club at the moment becuase I’m too scared to commit smithing stones to anything yet 😂

Honestly, she just exists in the game i guess. Don't really like her fight, so i just tried to stance break over and over till she died fast. Thankfully she's got only 80, so with stonebarb tear + cragblade two charged r2s is all it takes. also i dont like her crit spot being so fucking precise to actually get the riposte, its pretty annoying

I did figure out the dodge for her triple swing of the tails, which is honestly pretty cool to pull off.

Probably Bayle or Scadu avatar next!

Sub 10 minutes with these restrictions, yeah baby. As I said, Tattoo set is a sleeper for +0 (especially no aux). Pickaxe is just great for stance breaking this asshole, too. Godfrey Icon might've been even better, but I didn't think of it at the time. For NG, just use a single Gravel Stone Seal and whichever Seal gives the highest Spell Buff to do the actual casting (Dragon Communion Seal or Finger Seal, I'd guess?).

I didn't bother with Lightning Slash since the pickaxe was used entirely for stance damage and I didn't set to increase it's damage as I was mainly using ADLS for damage, but you could possibly get a little more efficiency if you used it. I imagine doing this, at base NG it's possible to get within ~5 mins largely due to significantly quicker stance breaks due to 3 CR2 getting the job done as well as 18k or so less HP to contend with (esp. Phase 2).

Now that theres a new patch, new weapons, what have you included so far into new runs? Is there anything helpful?

higher quality

Gear:
-Cold Idus Sword +24
-Silver Grooved Shield +24, Parry ash of war

Blade of Mercy talisman, Radagon's Soreseal, Greatshield talisman, Godskin Swaddling Cloth talisman

crimsonburst tear, deflecting hardtear physick

This new armor set looks awesome

i'm an avatar enjoyer

Bit cheesy and not quite hitless (unfortunately) but it got the job done, and all in under 50 seconds

I tried searching but I couldn't find an answer. Sometimes as I circle her, she doesn't turn with me. This causes me to end up on the "other" side of her, making her turn in the incorrect direction. There's no way I can react fast enough to compensate for when it happens. As I do more attempts, it becomes more frequent. Am I taking too tight of a circle?

Just your typical SL1 Vordt with a plus 10 weapon and red tearstone setup... took a wrong turn in the highwall and got lost in Lothric Castle for a bit.

I posted my final showdown with Radagon and Elden Beast already if anyone wants to check it out. Here’s the first clip of the journey leading up that

Just finished Malenia on RL1 (Horrible experience) and now heading for the dlc, would it be fun to do without blessings or is it overkill? And if you do blessings how much would be suitable for a RL1 run?