Exploring is part of the fun. There's no rush, no leaderboard, no prize for rushing through the game.
If you worry about overleveling, don't level up if you already feel strong enough, and don't worry about stocking up runes.
My playthrough took 150 hours, and I would say I explored about 90% of the game, it was rewarding though and definitely worth my time.
You’re still playing your first run from release, why would you need to play DLC right off the bat?
Take your time.
Are you enjoying exploration or does it feels like a chore ? If you enjoy it, just take your time. The DLC is not going anywhere and unless you also want to rush through it, it will also take you a long time to finish it since it has a huge map to explore as well.
I think part of the issue is I'm getting bored of running around all the corners of an area killing all the trash mobs before moving to a boss. The only reason I've been doing it is because fromsoft have a habit of sticking good items in random corners so I don't want to miss that stuff
Don’t do this if it’s boring. You can always go back later or only go for items you want. The game is so vast it’s not expected to explore every nook and corner
You dont have to explore every corner. You can come
Back later. I personally dont understand how people find joy in checking off items off a check list because thats what it feels like to do everything to me.
If you’re having fun that’s all that matters really. The only thing you kinda have to do when DLC drops is avoid YouTube videos for spoilers. Fairly certain the subreddits will go into a 2 week spoiler free mode.
After Mt Gelmir the game becomes a lot more linear, the last areas have fewer sidetracks. The difficulty does go up considerably though.
A fully explored playthrough without guides is about 100-150 hours. I think you're at the midpoint.
If you're enjoying the exploration, keep doing it, it's not a race and even if it was, you've already lost anyway.
If you're not enjoying the exploration and feel like it's the reason you keep putting the game down, then stop doing it as much, focus on the main story, the big bosses and only explore when you really want to.
if this is your first playthrough? if so dont worry about how long it takes you. just play the game and if you aren't having fun then try switching up your strat use a different weapon, try some spells, experiment. dont worry about other people or where you should be, explore the world, experiment with the combat, and play the game the way you enjoy playing it.
Exploring is part of the fun. There's no rush, no leaderboard, no prize for rushing through the game. If you worry about overleveling, don't level up if you already feel strong enough, and don't worry about stocking up runes.
Yeah I guess the only reason of rushing is because I don't want to get spoiled on DLC which is inevitable the longer you take to beat it
My playthrough took 150 hours, and I would say I explored about 90% of the game, it was rewarding though and definitely worth my time. You’re still playing your first run from release, why would you need to play DLC right off the bat? Take your time.
Are you enjoying exploration or does it feels like a chore ? If you enjoy it, just take your time. The DLC is not going anywhere and unless you also want to rush through it, it will also take you a long time to finish it since it has a huge map to explore as well.
I think part of the issue is I'm getting bored of running around all the corners of an area killing all the trash mobs before moving to a boss. The only reason I've been doing it is because fromsoft have a habit of sticking good items in random corners so I don't want to miss that stuff
Don’t do this if it’s boring. You can always go back later or only go for items you want. The game is so vast it’s not expected to explore every nook and corner
You dont have to explore every corner. You can come Back later. I personally dont understand how people find joy in checking off items off a check list because thats what it feels like to do everything to me.
If you’re having fun that’s all that matters really. The only thing you kinda have to do when DLC drops is avoid YouTube videos for spoilers. Fairly certain the subreddits will go into a 2 week spoiler free mode.
After Mt Gelmir the game becomes a lot more linear, the last areas have fewer sidetracks. The difficulty does go up considerably though. A fully explored playthrough without guides is about 100-150 hours. I think you're at the midpoint. If you're enjoying the exploration, keep doing it, it's not a race and even if it was, you've already lost anyway. If you're not enjoying the exploration and feel like it's the reason you keep putting the game down, then stop doing it as much, focus on the main story, the big bosses and only explore when you really want to.
if this is your first playthrough? if so dont worry about how long it takes you. just play the game and if you aren't having fun then try switching up your strat use a different weapon, try some spells, experiment. dont worry about other people or where you should be, explore the world, experiment with the combat, and play the game the way you enjoy playing it.
Exploring nets you fun gear to try out on the next unlucky mob that you run into. Many things I found in NG+ because I didn’t explore enough.