Demystifying the Controversial Art of Cheesing Bosses in Elden Ring

Hey friend! Have you tried wheeling a giant ballista into place to one-shot Malenia from a safe distance? No? Well, you may be wondering – is that even allowed? Welcome to the wild world of "cheesing" bosses in Elden Ring!

As a hardcore Souls fan myself, I get the debate around cheesing strategies. Should we stubbornly bang our heads against walls until we "git gud" and master intricate boss movesets? Or is creatively sniping that dragon‘s tail through a tiny window totally fair game? Elden Ring has ignited more discussion around cheesing than ever before.

Let‘s dig into what cheese tactics actually entail, why players use them, and examine whether they undermine the game or enrich it! I‘ll share my experiences and you can decide where you stand on cheesing this controversial genre.

Cheesy Goodness: Elden Ring‘s Most Delectable Strats

I won‘t judge if you summoned your Mimic Tear and let it solo Malenia for you. Here are some of the most outrageous and effective cheese strats players have discovered:

• Hoarfrost Stomp Spam – Stack boosts to this Frost attack and stun-lock bosses while they melt away. So long, Godrick!
• Cliffside Bow Snipes – Lure bosses like Tree Sentinel to an edge then shower them with arrows till gravity claims them.
• Carian Retaliation Exploit – This Ash of War previously let you one-shot invaders in PvP. Patched, but still wrecks PvE bosses.
• Putrid Corpse Pots – Toss these at Malenia to poison her and watch her health tick away from safety.
• Bloodhound Step I-Frames – This Ash of War lets you blink through boss combos unscathed.

And those are just the tip of the cheeseberg. I once beat Radahn solely by resummoning NPC allies to draw his aggro!

Why Do Players Turn to Cheese?

I‘m convinced most fans actually want to beat these epic enemies through skill alone. But when you‘re stuck late at night before work with only an hour to play, cheesing can be tempting. Here are some of players‘ motivations:

• Victory feels just out of reach after countless attempts. Lower the difficulty bar.
• Speed up grinding runes and rare loot from challenging bosses.
• Maximizing rewards while minimizing frustration and time invested.
• Finding optimal, almost scientific strategies is enjoyable theorycrafting.
• Co-op with friends who aren‘t as skilled, so they don‘t feel totally stuck.

Elden Ring has ignited more cheesing than previous Souls games largely due to its vast open world. With so many tools and options available, exploiting busted builds becomes inevitable.

To Cheese or Not To Cheese? Player Perspectives

The community seems divided on whether cheesing should be embraced or shunned. Here are some perspectives I‘ve seen:

"These games are meant to be challenging. Cheesing defeats the purpose."

"If the devs left an exploit in the game, then it‘s fair to use it. That‘s just strategy."

"I like finding the most efficient bosses farms. It satisfies my min-max brain."

"I don‘t always want a stressful, epic duel after a long day."

As a hardcore Souls veteran myself, I get the purist argument. But as long as you‘re not ruining others‘ experience in PvP, I believe you should play single-player however brings you joy. Elden Ring is all about freedom after all!

Does Cheesing Go Against the Vision?

I don‘t think developers intend for every cheese tactic to exist. But they do intentionally design these games to be exploited. Finding your own path to success by any means is part of the DNA of Souls.

And cheesers actually help the community in a way by discovering the most broken weapons, spells and tactics. The developers can then patch the real game-breakers. The rest become accepted as part of the ecosystem.

After countless hours across every FromSoft game, I‘ve made peace with cheesing‘s place in this genre, for better or worse. How about you? Got any controversial cheese strats you‘re willing to share? I promise I won‘t judge!

Hope this gives you a better understanding of the discourse around cheesing in the Souls community. Time to go spam some Hoarfrost Stomp…for research purposes only of course! Let me know if you have any other thoughts on this hot debate.