12 Top Tips for Elden Ring Beginners

elden-ring.jpg

We could fill a book with advice for Elden Ring. As you slither through the Lands Between, there are opponents to battle, personalities to converse with, and a plethora of goods to discover. However, knowing every element of Elden Ring ahead of time can destroy some of the game's most memorable moments, such as when you stumble onto something you didn't realise the game was capable of.

These hints will not include any major spoilers, but they should still be able to assist you in overcoming some of the game's early challenges. Don't think that every time you encounter a tough fight, you'll have to spend hours grinding runes.

Elden Ring may throw you for a loop early on if this is your first FromSoftware game. It's not structured like most other RPGs, and the way you interact with its NPCs and other features isn't always obvious. The suggestions below will not prevent you from getting lost—being lost is half of the fun—but they will assist you in locating the tools you require to continue.

1. Select A Good Starting Class​


Veteran Souls gamers will tell you that the starting classes are unimportant. In some ways, this is correct: you can increase your stats in any direction, so choosing a beginning class is more of a convenience than a decision that ties you into a specific position. That still holds true in Elden Ring, but because the game moves at a slower pace than the previous Souls games, your beginning class has a significant influence on the first dozen or so hours.

Read over the stats and choose one that matches a melee or spellcasting-based character using the explanation option in the menu (default E on keyboard or Y on controller). I'd recommend the Vagabond for beginning Souls players because of their balanced starting numbers, or the Hero because of their emphasis on Vigor (health) and Strength. It's not a major issue if you start the game with a sword and shield and later elect to use magic, but it may mean you'll have to save some foes or bosses until you've levelled up your Intelligence to meet their challenge.

Choose the Astrologer if you don't like the concept of sparring with employers. Some conflicts can be made considerably simpler by using strong magic spells from afar. Learn how to get and use Elden Ring dragon spells.

2. Gather Everything​


Elden Ring is a free-to-play game that includes a crafting system. Make careful to overuse the button you use to pick up objects as you pass over shrubs and flowers while galloping across the Lands Between on your horse Torrent. You don't need to go out of your way to find herbs to harvest; nonetheless, you should make it a practise to clear a path on your journey to your objective. You'll be able to make helpful goods like firebombs, multiplayer summoning items, and arrows this way.

3. Make Use Of Stealth​


I can't emphasise how important it is to use the stealth system. Elden Ring's stealth mechanism appears to be inspired by Sekiro. When you're crouched, enemies can only hear you from a certain distance, and if they do, they only look where they last saw you. That means you can utilise stealth to get to things that are hidden behind a few foes, or to position yourself for a nasty, high-damage backstab.

Some aspects of the game nearly demand stealth, so getting used to it early will give you an advantage when the time comes.

4. Don't Start With The Large Castles​


This may appear to be an odd suggestion, given that following the crucial route is the simplest method to play many games. But don't head directly to the large castle or the structures at the end of every main section in Elden Ring. It's easy to rush for anything that appears to advance the plot as quickly as possible, but that's not how the game is built. Go for it if you want a tremendous challenge, however Elden Ring is more structured like an MMO. Exploring, undertaking side quests, killing minibosses, gathering stuff, and levelling up are all possible in the open world. The dungeons, or castles, are more akin to raids, with more challenging enemies and several phases.

You'll be rewarded for wandering around the overworld for a while, acquiring crafting materials for upgrading your flasks and hunting down golden seeds.

5. Prioritize The Map Fragment Icons​


Filling up Elden Ring's map is an excellent way to begin exploring a new place. Even if you want to let the game take you to places on its own, it's a good idea to have the map fragment accessible in case you require precise directions. Open the map and search for a stone tablet icon when you reach a new area of the Lands Between. That is where the map fragment item will be found. They're normally near to the entrance, however they might be difficult to find at times.

It will remove the fog on the map and allow you to view the key roadways once you have it. You can disregard the map, but if you die and really want your runes back, it'll be useful to have it nearby to assist you in returning to your body.

6. Make Sure You Are Not Carrying A Lot Of Gear​


You may be tempted to equip anything with greater stats than what you had previously when you discover new weapons and gear. That's alright, but keep an eye on the "equip load" field in your character's state column. Your endurance stat determines your maximum equip load, and Elden Ring kindly indicates whether you're carrying a light, medium, or heavy weight based on your equipped armour and weapons.

You'll be able to avoid roll quicker and further with a low or medium load since you'll have more "invincibility frames" than with a large load. Avoid carrying a large load: you'll suffer the dreaded "fat roll," which slows you down, makes you a prominent target for bosses, and drains your stamina with each roll. If you wish to wear stronger armour or use particularly hefty weapons, increase your endurance. The mobility of a lighter roll is nearly always preferable to the protective numbers that stronger armour provides.

7. Don't Be Scared To Return At A Later Time​


Because to Elden Ring's non-linear structure, you'll encounter bosses and opponents that are far too difficult for you right now. In fact, even with bosses in the same region, this can happen at any time during the game. You should get in the habit of leaving difficult encounters or dungeons until later when you're a little tougher, like you should in a lot of other open world games.

Unlike previous Souls games, Elden Ring allows you to quickly go to a checkpoint from almost any location. I spent 60 hours playing the game for our Elden Ring review, and there's still things in the early portions that annoys me.

8. Assist Other Players In Defeating Bosses And Dungeons To Obtain Runes​


In Elden Ring, other players can assist you with numerous challenges, but if you help them instead, you can win a bundle of runes without danger. Allow other players to call you into their gaming world by placing your Tarnished's Furled Finger item at a place of grace in a dungeon or just in front of a boss entrance. You'll receive runes for every opponent either of you kills while you're there, and there's no risk: if you die, you'll just return to your own game and keep all the runes you gathered.

Allowing other players to call you is a terrific method to level up and "safely" explore dungeons and difficult encounters before tackling them in your own game.

9. Use Spirit Ashes and NPC Summons To Your Advantage​


Skipping the Spirit Ashes is the greatest mistake you can make in Elden Ring. After the tutorial, look for remains of a church at the first Site of Grace (bonfire) after the first hour. Go there at night, meet the lady with the huge hat, and ask her for the Spirit Bell. If you can't find her, go to Roundtable Hold, the game's central region, and purchase it from the two dead maidens (don't ask how, it's a FromSoftware game).

There are bosses and groups of foes in the open world across the Lands Between that are tough to destroy without careful play, therefore it's frequently far simpler to divide their focus with AI companions. Check the bottom left of your screen for the grave icon, which enables summoning, whenever you enter a new region or chamber. Skeletons, archers, and wolves are among the dangerous allies you might locate and unlock. You may even upgrade them to cause more damage if you do enough exploration.

Also, keep an eye out for a yellow NPC summon sign near a boss door, especially in Stormveil Castle, the first dungeon. You'll have to look about the courtyard area until you discover the character, but once you do, they'll assist you in defeating the zone's final boss. Players can be summoned in the same fashion, except the sign will mention their name when you pick it. If you choose to summon Souldierboy420 instead of an NPC, it's entirely up to you.

10. When Fighting Difficult Foes, Use Bleed And Freeze Abilities​


Elden Ring's massive monsters are scary simply to look at, but watching their health bar extend across your whole screen—and how little of it chips away when you strike them—is even more intimidating. Using weapons that generate bleed is one technique to swiftly deplete your health. If you hit an adversary enough times, you'll fill up an invisible blood loss metre, and they'll lose a significant amount of health. Because bleed damage is dependent on a percentage, it's particularly powerful against bosses with a lot of health.

Bleed abilities come standard on katanas, daggers, and a few other weapons, but you may also add them using Ashes of War.

Ice strikes are also quite useful: if you build up enough frost on an adversary, they will get frostbite, which delivers a percentage of damage and debuffs them for a short period, making them absorb more damage.

11. Learn How To Use Two Weapons At The Same Time​


In Elden Ring, if you equip two weapons of the same type, your character will enter a "powerstance," giving you access to a special attack on the L1 button. Yes, you'll have to give up your shield, but in exchange, you'll be able to do some significant damage.

Powerstancing does not necessitate the use of two identical weapons, but they must be of the same sort, such as two straight swords, two daggers, or two scythes. To acquire a sense for the combination and range, equip a matched pair and play with the L1 attack animations (don't forget to attempt leap attacks). It's a more aggressive playstyle, but avoiding blows from Elden Ring's hardest adversaries is frequently preferable to blocking them.

12. Experiment With Different Types Of Ashes Of War​


Elden Ring provides a new type of weapon skill that frequently consumes your blue FP. Ashes of War are unique attacks performed by weapons and shields, such as holy missiles, magic deflection, and attack strength enhancements. They also have an impact on how effectively some attributes scale with your weapon.

Because various types of damage are weak against specific opponents and bosses, it's a good idea to experiment with the Ashes of War you have mounted on each weapon. There's no catch: you may switch between different Ashes of War at any time, and they'll never be consumed or tied to a weapon.

If you're on a boss run, test out a couple new talents and see if you can incorporate them into your rotation. Weapons skills aren't supposed to be used in place of conventional fighting, but they can assist you get an advantage over a particularly difficult boss.

What do you make of our Elden Ring guides? Let us know in the comments below!
 

Latest content

General chat
Help Show users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
      There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
      Back
      Top