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.
