With a lot of returning and new players traversing the Lands’ Between in the arrival of Shadow of the Erdtree for Elden Ring, the time is ripe for the bloodthirsty and wicked tarnished to pluck the harvest again. Returning veterans and new players who are drawn by the downloadable content will not be expecting an intimidating invader with a well-coordinated armor set to overwhelm the host.
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There are a ton of different NPCs you meet throughout the Lands Between. These are the ones that, when killed, don't impact the game all too much.
When the seasoned red phantom has already mastered their hunting skills from combat and builds perspective, the only thing left to harness is how to intimidate through appearance while wearing the talisman to conceal the hostile phantom aura.
7 Smirking Smough
Combination Of Horrendous Unique Identities
- Omensmirk Mask
- Lionel’s Armor
- Alberich’s Bracers
- Eccentric’s Breeches
- Any Hammers, preferably
If any of the Souls series’ veterans ever wondered how weirdly scary Smough’s laugh and his introduction melody with Ornstein, the cause might’ve been due to his terrifying nature. Smirking Smough emphasizes that aspect of Smough, it’s recommended to have an aggressive playstyle and have a charging weapon art from the ashes of war to flawlessly replicate Smough’s overwhelming power and lightning speed.
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While changing the character's appearance doesn't affect the gameplay, it's more enjoyable to customize your own character.
Gameplay-wise, the Smirking Smough grants 54 poise, 29% physical defense, 27% Strike defense, 31% Slash defense, 29% Pierce defense, 25% Magic defense, 25% Fire defense, 22% Lightning defense, 24% holy defense to damage negation, 104 Immunity, 151 Robustness, 69 Focus, 105 Vitality to resistances. Smirking Smough weighs 34.5 equip load. Combined with an equipped hammer’s weight like the Rotten Battle Hammer, it’s recommended to wear the Great-Jar Arsenal talisman and have at least 20 endurance or more to be not encumbered. It’s most certainly not an easy feat to repel Smirking Smough’s terror, not to mention this set also resembles a certain infamous burly murder clown known for its shark teeth and running speed to chase its prey. One would be surprised or even terrified by its humongous stature and eerie attire.
6 Rotten Drake Knight
Combination Of Rotten Duelist & Drake Knight
- Rotten Duelist Helm
- Drake Knight Armor
- Drake Knight Gauntlets
- Royal Remains Greaves
- Vyke War Spear
- Smoldering Shield
There’s nothing more intimidating than an invader or hostile phantom dyed in red. A knight with drake wings, rot spreading through, and lava-illuminating weapons be one without even needing to use the red aura that hostile phantom has by default. While Vyke War Spear and Smoldering Shield blend with the visual theme of the set combination, they also utilize the catacombs traps and caves’ hazardous environment well to ambush enemy hosts. Smoldering Shield is able to tank fire damage well to follow enemy hosts through fire-breathing pillars in catacombs, and Vyke War Spear’s madness-inducing lightning weapon skill has vast options to be used in dark, cramped areas of caves.
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Rotten Drake Knight has 46 poise, 23% physical defense, 21% Strike defense, 25% Slash defense, 23% Pierce defense, 23% Magic defense, 23% Fire defense, 19% Lightning defense, and 20% holy defense to damage negation, 78 Immunity, 115 Robustness, 74 Focus, 74 Vitality to resistances. Basically, Rotten Drake Knight uses a dark environment, thus invading through caves and catacombs is the ideal way to play as a hostile phantom. The combined dark environment with the hard-to-spot armor set will be intimidating for most players who have the honor of being invaded with this specific set of armor.
5 Hunting Scarab
Combination Of Royal Remains, Lionel, And Scarab Helm
- Cerulean Tear Scarab
- Royal Remains Armor
- Lionel's Gauntlets
- Royal Remains Greaves
- Erdtree Greatbow
- Great Omenkiller Cleaver
Hunting Scarab gives the impression of a predator in the wild. Equipped with an invisible camouflage ability and an explosive that comes from either spells or items, the set’s a perfect combination for invasion in an open area and forestry alike. The Erdtree Greatbow has a great range and stagger power to attack unalerted enemy hosts, while Great Omenkiller Cleaver provides a powerful heavy melee attack.
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Players who are keen on defending themselves from lightning damage in Elden Ring should don these useful armor sets.
Hunting Scarab set provides 48 poise, 16% physical defense, 16% Strike defense, 18% Slash defense, 17% Pierce defense, 13% Magic defense, 14% Fire defense, 10% Lightning defense, and 11% holy defense to damage negation, 120 Immunity, 147 Robustness, 80 Focus, 61 Vitality to resistances, it’s recommended to wear extra defense talisman and more health because of the Scarab helm defense penalty. Overall, Hunting Scarab has a rather unique aesthetic and is a breath of fresh air in a set combination to go invade with. The unsettling factor of the Scarab helm will be intimidating enough for the players, as they will feel being stalked by a dangerous predator from a distance.
4 Great Beetle
Combination Of Golden, Disturbing Invaders
- Incantation Beetle Helm
- Malformed Knight Armor
- Crucible Tree Gauntlets
- Crucible Tree Greaves
- Any Great Axes or Fists
The Great Beetle comes with an extra majestic-ish vibe befitting for an invasion around the Leyndell Royal Capital. The Golden Beetle is perfect for blitzkrieg to kill enemy hosts. In other words, the playstyle works around charging through to assert dominance with incantations and emphasizes the uncrowned excellence of the ruling King Morgoth who rules Leyndell Royal Capital as a whole.
Great Beetle set provides 64 poise, 24% physical defense, 20% Strike defense, 24% Slash defense, 23% Pierce defense, 18% Magic defense, 18% Fire defense, 17% Lightning defense, 18% holy defense to damage negation, 147 Immunity, 166 Robustness, 99 Focus, 98 Vitality to resistances. Great Beetle gives a breath of fresh air with its rather unique aesthetic, but with a few extra steps as the set ought to be used around the area which is supposed to be an endgame area. The factor of being invaded by a player with this unsettling set of armor in the endgame area will create an air of tension, intimidating even the strongest veteran of the game.
3 The Black Knight
Portrayal Of A Ruthless Knight
- Night's Cavalry Helm
- Maliketh Armor
- Maliketh Gauntlets
- Maliketh Greaves
- Helphen's Steeple
The Black Knight set portrays a dark knight that wanders the Lands Between in the night. The black plating with the golden stripe perfectly matches with the helm, while also resembling an alternate form of a certain knight from a famous series that goes through suffering multiple times. The invasion set uses a Ghostflame Greatsword as its arsenal and utilizes an aggressive playstyle.
The Black Knight has 51 poise, 26% Physical defense, 23% Strike defense, 27% Slash defense, 26% Pierce defense, 21% Magic defense, 23% Fire defense, 19% Lightning defense, and 25% Holy defense to damage negation. 85 Immunity, 135 Robustness, 57 Focus, 108 Vitality to resistances. The Black Knight weighs 42 equip. With the Helphen’s Steeple weapon’s weight, it’s recommended to have at least 18 endurance. This particular invasion set will come off just as, if not more menacing than the Night Cavalries when invading during the night with its full armor plating and a weapon’s dark flame that blends with the night. The eerie atmosphere and the armor set will combine to create a hostile environment that can scare off players who are not sufficiently prepared for an invasion, intimidating them further.
2 Renegade Hunter
A Hostile Hunter With Experience Of Hunting Beasts
- Traveler's Hat
- Fingerprint Armor
- Traveler's Gloves
- Nomadic Merchant's Trousers
- Vulgar Militia Saw
- Crepus's Black-Key Crossbow
The Renegade Hunter certainly looks like a hunter who belongs in a classic era where werebeasts and other miscreant shapeshifters roam the towns of old Europe. Renegade Hunter utilizes a long-cutting weapon and crossbow specialized in killing the ones who lurk in shadow and roam during the night.
Renegade Hunter has 37 Poise and a sizeable increase in various damage negations. Since Renegade Hunter weighs 18.1 equip load, the set is worthy of low investment in endurance with its very light load. Renegade Hunter fights enemy hosts by switching ranged and melee weapons in between to confuse the opponents while moving unpredictably quickly with Bloodhound Step. When combined with the invader aura, a fast-moving invader with this armor set can intimidate even the seasoned veteran of the game.
1 The Stars’ Inquisitor
Invader That Wanders Where Stars Shines
- Lionel's Helm
- Blaidd's Armor
- Blaidd's Gauntlets
- Fire Prelate Greaves
- Dragon Halberd
The Stars Inquisitor set represents a cavalier who has seen and traveled to the stars. After a long voyage, the cavalier returns to the lands between and now resides and invades the area between Nokron and the other similar forgotten city, displaying an eerie aura of the stars.
This unique set uses Lightning Halberd, which is excellent for the wet surface of the underground forgotten cities. Stars Inquisitor has 74 poise and great damage negations for an armor set. Moreover, the set weighs 42.7 equip load. Therefore, it is hard not to get encumbered with both its heavy armor and weapon weight. As such, it's recommended to heavily invest in up to 40 points of endurance with Great-Jar Arsenal talisman. Players who encounter an invader with this specific armor set will find themselves both mesmerized and terrified by the intimidating combination, as it means that the invader will have huge damage negations for their attacks while also giving off an eerie presence.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
- Platform
- PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- June 21, 2024
- Developer(s)
- FromSoftware
- Genre
- Soulslike , RPG
