The Hilarious Truth About Those Dog Notes In Elden Ring
For all the acclaim the game has garnered since its release, "Elden Ring" is an incredibly difficult experience. And why wouldn't it be? After all, this is FromSoftware's spiritual successor to the "Dark Souls" series, a collection of games known for their insane difficulty, especially when it comes to boss battles. In "Elden Ring," players will constantly have their patience and fortitude pushed to their max levels of tolerance and will die way more often than they don't. However, there are some lifelines available to players should they want to make their experience just a tad bit easier, even if these lifelines are triggered in unconventional ways.
"Elden Ring" gives players the ability to leave messages throughout the world for other players to find. In theory, these messages are supposed to provide cryptic hints for other players in getting past more difficult sections of the game. Should a message prove helpful, players can give it an "Appraisal" which offers the player who left the message a health boost. But these messages aren't just limited to hints — some of them contain jokes and misdirection, such as labeling every non-hostile creature in the game world as being a dog. One player tried this, and it actually proved to be a viable in-game strategy that provided them a massive boost when they needed it most.
One player was given several Appraisals for labeling a tortoise as "Dog"
During her playthrough of "Elden Ring," PC Gamer contributor Natalie Clayton decided to join in on the "Dog" trend. Because of their stationary nature and non-aggressive nature, Clayton decided to label a tortoise she came across as simply "Dog." Little did she know, this move would pay dividends later. Because many people like dogs and also enjoy this inside joke that has emerged from the community, many appraised Clayton's "dog" message left on the tortoise, giving her several health boosts during a particularly difficult section of the game where she was without flasks, an in-game consumable in "Elden Ring" that provides rebuffs to both a player's health points (HP) and Focus Points (FP). These boosts allowed her to get through an intense boss battle, which she shared to Twitter.
"I received four appraisals in the space of a minute," Clayton said, describing a moment where she was attempting to take a screenshot. "Whether I'm pushing myself through a painful corpse run or bashing my head against a boss, I'm constantly getting bursts of health from writing 'Dog', or 'Dog!', or 'Praise the Dog!'."
If you come across any non-hostile animals in The Lands Between, it's probably best to call them dogs. Seriously, it could save you!