🔗 Share this article

If you've played the popular action RPG, or nearly any action-adventure title, chances are you're acquainted with the fantastic feature referred to as the “rolling dodge.” This avoidance maneuver lets your avatar to perform a forward, sideways, or backward tumble to avoid any enemy attacks and move away from opponents. Appears practical, doesn't it?

The evasion roll, though, has gotten significant backlash, and not only due to the tumbling; it's been called foolish, a cheap tactic, and an unbelievable technique — and occasionally, I concur. You should see me rolling around nearby enemy groups in a well-known fantasy game — they can't hit me! But the title's evasion move represents the evasion to outdo all previous dodge rolls, and here's the reason.

For this particular game, the developers found a great way to address all opinions suggesting the technique is not challenging enough: merely bestow all foes unreasonable strength, triple that, and every Tarnished who ventures close them will be eternally grateful thanks to their rolling skill, me included. Given the intense difficulty, successfully rolling to victory seems like an accomplishment, instead of an unfair advantage.

No other evasion method in Elden Ring matches this level of gratification and consistency, since rapid sprints offer limited distance and blocking attempts are easily broken by powerful foes. One player advised leaping as the primary game dodging technique, but besides failing to offer perfect repositioning, I couldn't understand how getting my skull smashed in could enhance my odds of overcoming challenges (lack of skill, maybe).

Learning the Move

Although this evasion move grants reprieve in a famously difficult title, it demands ability. Firstly, this title's rolling dodge merely initiates a frame of protection following you release the roll control, which stops a quick, panicky escape from perilous circumstances. Moreover, while it might move you aside from foes, it's much better to utilize it as a moment to move nearer, preferably behind the opponent, and deliver attacks. And, finally, you must still grasp and foresee foe assaults, since evading too early of a prolonged preparation may end your invincibility prior to the hit connecting… causing significant harm.

A Harmonious System

While dodge-rolling in fast repetition may look a bit ridiculous (kudos to the Witcher anew), this isn't truly feasible in this title. Of course, that still doesn't make it a realistic fighting maneuver — exactly the reason it would be dreadful to experience it in a product like Kingdom Come: Deliverance — yet we're discussing a dazzling imaginative experience we're talking about, so who cares?

Comparable to any well-executed evasion move, Elden Ring's dodge motion is improved by a small acrobatic jump at the commencement, offering a lively impression rather than plopping the player downward. Based on your equipment, the technique may seem super agile or somewhat sluggish, however, it's consistently faster and more fluid than the evasion moves featured in the earlier games. True, you will stick your oversized sword into the ground while equipped with it, but that's on you for avoiding ranged weapons (Just kidding — steer clear of Elden Ring with a crossbow).

Ideal Equilibrium

Elden Ring's evasion system forms an optimal harmony between difficulty and chance, providing prospects of success while risking the loss of that hope at the smallest error. Master this technique, and you'll be rewarded with more than triumph, but fulfillment.