Let Me Solo Her adds fashion icon to his resume as Star Wars showrunner credits 'Elden Bling' for the design of The Acolyte's villainous Sith

Let Me Solo Her
(Image credit: KleinTsuboi)

My attitude to soulslikes has always been that, fundamentally, assigning stat points to Vigor is an act of submission. After all, your goal should be to not get hit at all, which means you really shouldn't need more than a single hit point if you're playing optimally.

It is a terrible philosophy that has brought me nothing but pain. Yes, I will be playing Shadow of the Erdtree the same way. Thank you.

Anyway, it's not just my attitude, it's an ideology shared by such FromSoft folk heroes as Let Me Solo Her, the jar-headed guardian angel who will take on the game's hardest bosses in nothing but a loincloth (and a jar). You know who else agrees? The Stranger (alias Qimir) from Star Wars: The Acolyte, who the showrunner says was actually inspired by those kinds of Elden Ring legends.

In an interview with Inverse, Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland says the crew "lost their mind" when she suggested that Qimir go armour-less. But Headland countered, "Why would you wear armour if you're not going to get hit?" and compared Qimir's outfit to "The Elden Ring costume. The Elden Bling," adding that "When you summon people [in Elden Ring], you always summon the people that aren’t wearing anything, and it’s like, “These people are fucking crazy.”

And you know what? I can see it. Sure, the Stranger isn't gallivanting about in a loincloth like the Elden Ring heroes of legend, but he sure is pretty armour-lite. More to the point, that thing on his head is downright bulbous. Jar-like, even, one might say. Do you reckon Let Me Solo Her knew he'd have that kind of influence when he first donned his iconic helm back in 2022?

Discussing Elden Ring, and the true warrior philosophy that underpins both Qimir's design and my own approach to FromSoft games (we're basically the same guy, when you think about it), Headland said "You have to go in with that offensive attitude, especially with those bosses. You can't be getting back and panic rolling. You have to be aggressive with them. You have to roll into things."

I couldn't have said it better myself, which is precisely why I'll be continuing my Vigor-less, armour-less philosophy when I eventually find my way into Shadow of the Erdtree. Anything else would be submitting to Jedi lies.

TOPICS
Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Read more
The Dark Queen of Mortholme screenshots
I finally understand why all those Soulslike bosses hated me so much, thanks to The Dark Queen of Mortholme, which pits you up against some plucky upstart who just keeps coming back
Junya Ishizaki next to an image from Elden Ring: Nightreign
Elden Ring Nightreign director didn't want to 'encroach too much' on the lore fans hold sacred by including Dark Souls bosses, but admits 'I thought it'd be kind of fun'
Avowed Envoy with mustache and visible mushroom growths looking to their left at the camera.
Avowed lets you pretend your character's not a stinky mushroom person, but that's the coward's choice
Margit, grinning
'I strive to be half the hater he is': Elden Ring Nightreign players have decided that Margit was the most annoying invader during the playtest
Casting a fireball at a mushroom creature in Avowed.
My respec in Avowed turned the combat from Skyrim into Dishonored, and now I'm having a blast as an invisible parkour sword-mage
Double headed wizard man holding arms up looking sad
A tabletop RPG designer made a game about the way FromSoft NPCs say cryptic stuff and go 'heh heh heh' all the time, and the result is a love letter to the 'grubby little weirdos'
Latest in RPG
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Sphene applauds in Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story.
I'm not yelling 'we're so back!' yet, but Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story could be the first sign the MMO is returning to what made it so critically-acclaimed
Latest in News
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'