The 2024 New Player’s Guide to Elden Ring
Whether you are new to Elden Ring, or a returning player, having a refresher is always handy. This guide will be both an introduction and a beginner’s guide for all players alike!
Inside this guide, you will find information about gameplay, how to level, decide your starting class, choose a weapon, get through the early parts of Limgrave, and general tips that will help your gameplay improve!
This is the perfect time to start playing Elden Ring with their long-awaited first DLC release on June 20th. Now is the time to start playing! With 2 months to go till the DLC, we have plenty of time to prepare for it.
The game has also been out for 2 years now having fixed all bugs that hindered the game at launch and after, making it perfect to start playing on a fresh character now!
Note: This guide will only contain very minor spoilers for Limgrave.
Starting Classes
To start this journey off we have to create our first character which poses some tough choices. First, we have the Starting Classes.
Vagabond
Vagabond is the jack-of-all-trades. It is the most well-rounded starting class. It starts with 2 weapons, a shield, good armor, a good amount of HP, and well-rounded stats if you decide to change your build later. I recommend this class for all beginners because it’s the most friendly with its bigger health pool than other starting classes.
Warrior
Warrior is the starting class if you decide to play a bit more aggressively, starting with dual blades making for good rush down, but a riskier playstyle. It starts with decent stats, but a lot less HP than the Vagabond for example. It does make up for this with an above-average Dexterity start, making it the perfect starting class if you decide to play for a Dexterity scaling Weapon
Hero
Hero fits the role of a Barbarian, wielding heavy, slow but hard-hitting weapons over the fast-paced weapons of a Warrior for example. It does start with a decent amount of Vigor and above average amount of Strength, making it a good starting point for any Strength build. It does however lack any spellcasting stats.
Bandit
Bandit is a very good starting point for bleed build because of the high amount of starting Arcane, with the rest of the stats being average or below. It makes up for this by being one of the only classes that starts with a Bow, which can be used in a lot of different situations. Bows can be used for ranged attacks, distractions, or destruction of items from a distance.
Astrologer
Astrologer is the perfect fit for any spellcaster, it starts with above-average Intelligence which is their most important stat. They also have an above-average Mind to cast more spells but start with every other stat being below average as compensation. They are also one of 2 classes that start with a staff for their spell casting.
Prophet
Where Astrologer is the starting class for spellcasters, Prophet is that for Incantation users. Similarly to the Astrologer, Prophet starts with above-average Faith and Mind for their spellcasting, with the rest being below average. They are also one of 2 classes that start with a Sacred Seal to cast Incantations with.
Samurai
Samurai has the best-starting weapon of any class, the Uchigatana. This is an A+ tier weapon at the very least and is a big allure for why speedrunners start with this class. It has very good stats across the board, with an above-average Dexterity. Next to the Bandit, this is the only other class that starts with a bow. If you aren’t starting as a Vagabond, this would be my second recommendation.
Prisoner
Prisoner is another class with very good stats across the board and is mostly intended as a fighting mage. Being the second class that starts with a staff it is the perfect balance between melee combat and spellcasting. If you are looking to do a hybrid spellcaster this would be your perfect class.
Confessor
Pretty similar to the Prisoner, Confessor is another hybrid class between Melee and Incantations, being the only other class to start with a Sacred Seal. It also starts with very good base stats, making it a good starting point for somebody looking for a faith melee build.
Wretch
As the name and look suggest, this class starts with the bare minimum, only giving you a club and every stat being average. This might sound like a hard-mode character, but it’s quite the opposite unless you want to do a Soul Level 1 playthrough(not leveling). It is like a canvas of paint, where all other classes have had a basic layout painted, the Wretch is an empty canvas. It’s the perfect class to start with if you do not know what you want to do or build yet. Not recommended for beginners.
Character Creator
Having made the tough choice of your starting class, we do have some more choices to make.
Upon entering the Character Creator you are met with this screen.
You can enter your character name, select your body type(male or female), and select your age at the top.
The choices I will mostly help you with here are your Origin(starting class as discussed before) and Keepsake.
Keepsakes
Every keepsake has its pros and cons.
-
- Crimson Amber Medallion is a Talisman that increases your Vigor, you can also find this a bit later in the game However.
- Lands Between Rune is a run you can consume for a decent amount of souls.
- Golden Seed is used to increase your healing flask amount.
- Fanged Imp Ashes is a summon you can use early game, this is however found later in the game as well.
- Cracked Pot is an item used for crafting pot items, which are consumables that can be used to damage enemies.
- Stonesword Key are items that are used to open Stonesword Imp Statues. These may contain good items, dungeons, or NPC’s.
- Bewitching Branch is a consumable that can be thrown at enemies to charm them.
- Boiled Prawn is a consumable that can be used to boost your physical damage negation(take reduced physical damage)
- Shabriri’s Woe is a talisman that attracts enemy aggression (DO NOT CHOOSE AS A BEGINNER)
All these have their uses (except for Shabriri’s Woe), but for any beginner, I recommend the Golden Seed. This will increase your early-game survivability.
After this, you can move on to choosing your base Template and Detailed Appearance which change the look of your character. I will not advise on this, this is your character, customize it towards how you would like your character to be! This has 0 influence on gameplay.
Leveling
Leveling in Elden Ring requires you to level up your stats, Every level is also Guaranteed to increase your Defense Power, Body Power, and Attack Power, ensuring you get stronger with each level.
Leveling up increases your Defense Power, which in return makes you more resistant against damage types as the game goes on. This means if you enter an area at level 20 you will take a lot more damage than when you enter at level 90.
You also level your Body while at this. This in turn makes you more resistant to Poison, Rot, Hemorrhage(bleed), Frostbite, Sleep, Madness, and last but not least, Deathblight.
Leveling specific stats like Strength and Dexterity levels your Attack Power as well, increasing your damage.
Stats
There are a couple of stats inside Elden Ring that you can level, all have their purpose, and some will be useless for particular builds, so let’s explain them all! But first, we will explain Soft Cap and Hard Cap.
- Soft Cap is the level where a stat will give you less value.
- Hard Cap is the level where the value a stat gives will drastically lower to the point where leveling is no longer worth it.
This is not necessary but it is handy to know when leveling your character.
Vigor
Arguably the most important stat in the entire game, Vigor levels your hit points. It also increases your resistance against Fire and gives a bonus to your Immunity stat.
- Soft Cap = 40, Hard Cap = 60
Mind
Mind increases your FP which is used to cast Spells or Weapon Skills. It also increases your Focus stat.
- Soft Cap = 50, Hard Cap = 60
Endurance
Probably the second most important stat, Endurance increases some of the most important stats. It gives you as the name suggests more Stamina, allowing you to run longer, attack longer, and roll longer. It also increases your Max Equip Load which is used for your Armor and Weapons you have equipped at the time. It also increases your Robustness.
- Soft Cap = 30, Hard Cap = 50
Strength
Strength is one of four damage stats. This increases the damage you deal with physical/strike/slash/pierce attacks and provides Attack Power scaling for weapons that utilize the stat.
- The Soft Caps are 55/80 with the Hard Cap being 99.
This however changes when you 2-hand any weapon because this increases your Strength modifier to 1.5 making 66 the hard cap!
Dexterity
Dexterity is another damage stat. This boosts the attack power of dexterity-scaling armaments, reduces the casting time of Spells, softens fall damage, and makes it harder to be knocked off your horse.
- Soft Caps are 55/80 with the Hard Cap being 99.
Intelligence
Intelligence is used for Spellcasting in every sense. It increases Spell damage, Intelligence-scaling Weapon damage, Magic Resistance, and Player Magic Defense.
- The Soft Caps are 55/80 with the Hard Cap being 99.
Faith
Faith is the only way to cast Incantations. Leveling this increases Incantation damage and Faith-scaling Weapon damage.
- The Soft Caps are 55/80 with the Hard Cap being 99.
Arcane
Arcane is probably the most interesting stat giving you a ton of stats. It is one of the only ways to increase your Item Discovery and increase your Holy and Deathblight resistance. However, the most important thing about this stat is that it increases both the damage and chance of bleeding, Poison, Madness, and Sleep occurring.
- The Soft Cap = 40, Hard Cap = 60.
Controls
Gameplay is the biggest part of Elden Ring and can be quite intimidating for new players.
That is where I come in. In this guide, we will name controls with controllers in mind. I will be referring to Playstation controls. If you play keyboard and mouse, you can still follow along but we will not be writing those controls.
Playstation Controls | Xbox Controls | Control Info |
---|---|---|
Left Joystick | Left Stick | Move Character |
Right Joystick | Right Stick | Move Camera |
L3 | LSB | Crouch |
R3 | RSB | Lock On Target |
X | A | Jump |
□ | X | Use Item |
△ | Y | Interact |
O | B | Roll |
O + hold | B + hold | Sprint |
R1 | RB | Normal Attack |
R2 | RT | Heavy Attack |
L1 | LB | Block |
L2 | LT | Weapon Art |
Dpad Up | Dpad Up | Scroll Through Spells |
Dpad Down | Dpad Down | Scroll Through Items |
Dpad Left | Dpad Left | Scroll Through Left Equipped |
Dpad Right | Dpad Right | Scroll Through Right Equipped |
Start | Start | Menu |
Select | Select | Map |
△ + R1 | Y + RB | Twohand Right Equipped |
△ + L1 | Y + LB | Twohand Left Equipped |
△ + Dpad Up | Y + Dpad Up | Use Pouch Up |
△ + Dpad Down | Y + Dpad Down | Use Pouch Down |
△ + Dpad Left | Y + Dpad Left | Use Pouch Left |
△ + Dpad Right | Y + Dpad Right | Use Pouch Right |
Gameplay Mechanics
Now that you know the controls, let’s get onto the main mechanics of the game.
Combat Mechanics
Basics
It is important to first understand all the controls, so if you do not look at the scheme written above or go into the settings of the game. That way understanding everything will be a lot easier! Understand the basics and we move on!
Shield/Parry
The Shield is a versatile weapon, which can be used offensively and defensively. On defense, you can use it to block enemy attacks, which will either reduce or fully negate the damage depending on the type of shield you are using. It can also be used offensively however by parrying the enemy attack, this is not recommended for beginners since the timing can be very tight.
Regular Attacks + Ashes of War
Regular attacks are your way of dealing with damage for the most part. You can use Normal Attacks for faster attacks that deal a bit lower damage, or Heavy Attacks for hard-hitting attacks that take time charging up. This is up to personal preference but some enemies or bosses do not allow you to rest so charging a Heavy Attack can cause you unwanted damage. You can also 2 hand your weapon to increase the damage from attacks.
Ashes of War are used to compliment each player’s playstyle, These are often extra attacks, Buffs, or spells that can be bound onto a weapon, often giving it access to different scaling, allowing you for example to put Bleed onto a Strength weapon. This gives access to a huge variety of build options!
Dodging Attacks
There are 2 ways of dodging attacks. Those being Rolling and Jumping. Jumping can dodge ground attacks or lower attacks, where rolling can be used on everything but the timing can be tight for ground attacks.
Jump Combos
Jump Attacks are underused but super strong attacks that can easily guard-break an enemy. Guard Break occurs when the posture of an enemy is worn out, this allows you to critically attack the enemy. The best weapons to use for Jump Attacks are heavier weapons because they do more posture damage!
Roll Attacks
Roll attacks are also an interesting attack that is often not used. Especially with Ultra Greatswords, this can be a powerful attack. After you roll and instantly attack, you will attack, and for Ultra Greatsword this will be a fast stab forward which does a lot of fast damage!
Spells
Spells are cast to either act defensively or offensively. Some spells give buffs, but most are projectiles that deal heavy ranged damage to enemies. Each spell has its Charge Up time, Damage, and FP cost. Some are ranged, and some are even melee. Finding your preference for what type of spell you like is done by discovering them! Everybody has their own playstyle.
Stealth
In the open world of Elden Ring, there are a ton of different enemy camps, these camps can be fought head-on but this will usually end with you becoming overwhelmed. So the smart choice is to use the Stealth system of the game. This allows you to sneak past undetected making you harder to detect and maybe even backstabbing enemies. Once you have thinned out the enemy’s lines, you can storm in to kill the rest!
Spirit Ashes
Spirit Ashes are helpful companions that can be summoned to fight bosses. These have a large roster of different Spirit Ashes to choose from which all suit different occasions, some offer weaker but larger groups of summoned helpers, while others offer 1 really strong helper!
Resources
Keep your eyes on your Health and Stamina. Running out of any can mean death. Heal once you get low on Health but ensure you are at a safe distance from your enemy or boss, because if they react in time, the heal can be interrupted and can mean death instead.
Running out of Stamina can have the same effect because you won’t be able to dodge attacks, or block attacks for that matter. Try to conserve Stamina and always have some saved in case of an emergency.
Kicks
Kicks are fast, low-damaging attacks that are put on some weapons as a weapon art. Many people will think this is useless because of the damage, but this is the perfect attack for dealing with Shields. Kicking a shielding enemy can give you an instant critical attack!
Upgrades
Upgrades are an important part of Elden ring and there are 3 major upgrades inside the game, I will explain all of them below.
Weapons
There are 2 different types of weapons: Smithing Stone Weapons and Somber Smithing Stone Weapons, both have a bit of a different upgrade path.
Smithing Stone Weapons can be upgraded till level 25, requiring 12 of each Smithing stone to fully upgrade it. Whereas Somber Smithing Stone Weapons can be upgraded to level 10, requiring only one of each Somber Smithing Stone.
There is 1 big difference between the 2 however. You cannot add Ashes of War onto a Somber Smithing Stone weapon.
These Smithing Stones can be found inside mines, on corpses, and bought from merchants.
Spirit Ashes
Spirit Ashes have a similarity with weapon upgrades having 2 different types. You have Grave Glovewort upgrades and Ghost Glovewort upgrades, both upgrading Ashes of War till level 10
These are often found inside Catacombs, Hero’s Graves, or bought from NPC.
Sacred Flask
Sacred Flasks have 2 different upgrades as well. Sacred Tears and Golden Seeds. Golden Seeds are used to increase the amount of flasks you have, whereas the Sacred Tear increases the amount of Health or FP they restore. Sacred Tears can be found in churches throughout the Lands Between, where Golden Seeds are drops from some bosses, looted from specific corpses, or most commonly looted from small Erd Trees.
Buffs and Debuffs
Spells and Weapon Skills can be used to either Buff yourself or Debuff the enemy.
Buffs come in the form of Spells, Weapon Skills, and Consumables which can either increase your stats or add a damage type to your weapon.
Debuffs are far more limited and only found on very few items of the same type.
These can complement a build, but it can be overstimulating for beginners having to do a lot of different things before combat even starts.
Status Effects
There are 7 big Status Effects, let’s discuss them.
Poison
Poison is a debuff that deals a small amount of damage over a long period. The damage and duration depend on the source.
Scarlet Rot
Scarlet Rot is a debuff that deals much more damage than poison over a long period. The damage and duration depend on the source.
Blood Loss
Blood Loss is a stacking debuff that stacks when an enemy with bleed keeps hitting you, once the bar is full you will take a large amount of bleed damage.
Frostbite
Frostbite is a debuff that once active deals a considerable amount of damage, a debuff to your resistance, and a debuff to your stamina recovery speed. This debuff can instantly be cured by receiving fire damage.
Sleep
This is a debuff that once activated puts the target to sleep. Can be situationally very strong against the right enemy, and in PVP.
Madness
Madness is a debuff that stacks fast dealing a considerable amount of damage once activated and stuns the target briefly. Practically useless in PVE but insanely useful in PVP
Deathblight
The only Instakill mechanic inside Elden Ring. Once activated you will die and lose all the runes you had permanently
Weapon Types
Now that we know a bit about Combat and mechanics, let’s go into the different types of weapons and what makes them good or bad, there are a lot so sit back.
Daggers
Daggers have extremely short range but make up for that with their fast attack speed and high Critical Damage which makes them the best for parry builds and Backstabbing with the stealth mechanic.
Straight Swords
Straight swords are a reliable well-balanced weapon that has a standard range and provides both slashing and thrusting damage. They attack at a decently fast attack which makes them very good in combination with a shield for fast follow-up attacks.
Greatswords
Greatswords are the big parent of Straight Swords. Being capable of inflicting massive amounts of damage but sacrificing mobility and attack speed, leaving you more open for attacks. In combination with a shield, they can be heavily utilized for Guard Counters(more on this later).
Colossal Swords
The Biggest weapons inside the game, often oversized with the highest range in the game together with the Heavy Thrusting Swords. They are extremely heavy and slow, but make up for that with the highest range and massive damage output with each hit. You do need a large amount of Strength to wield these.
Thrusting Swords
Thrusting Swords have decent damage, fast attacks, and good range, while mostly doing piercing and slashing damage. They are a very balanced weapon with a ton of variety in weapon scaling.
Heavy Thrusting Swords
The direct parent of the Thrusting Sword focuses purely on piercing damage and is best used as a counter or follow-up on an enemy’s attack. They weigh a lot more than the normal thrusting sword but pack a bigger punch and give even more range.
Curved Swords
The perfect rushdown weapon, Curved Swords specializes in slashing attacks which can deal a good chunk of damage with their high attack speed. Dual-wielding these can also make you a monster in PVE, especially when you put status effects onto them.
Curved Greatswords
Still specializing in slashing attacks, the Curved Greatswords have a much slower attack speed and mobility as a sacrifice for their increased damage per slash. These however are not recommended to dual wield in comparison to the normal Curved Swords.
Katanas
Probably the most used weapon class in Elden Ring, and for good reason. Katanas are a weapon that specializes in mid-range combat and can inflict heavy bleed damage through the Hemorrhage status effect which can deal massive amounts of damage. They are also a perfect balance between attack speed and attack damage making them easy to use and very well loved.
Twin Blades
Finally making their comeback from Dark Souls 2, the Twinblades are weapons that can be pretty difficult to wield when first picked up. Their Strength comes in 2-handing the weapon, however. This makes these weapons AOE damage machines able to delete crowds of enemies like it’s nothing. They specialize in slash damage with a very fast attack speed once 2-handed.
Axes
Axes are close combat heavy-hitting Strength weapons. They do good damage and attack at a fast pace making them fine weapons in combination with a shield pretty similar to the Straight Sword.
Greataxes
Far heavier than normal axes, Greataxes can easily break guards while dealing massive amounts of damage. They are however very slow leaving you open to attacks. They also require a large amount of Strength to wield like the Colossal Swords
Hammers
The most underrated weapon in Elden Ring will be the Hammer. They specialize in destroying heavily armored enemies, destroying shields, and breaking guards. They do have a slower attack than normal weapons to make up for this, however.
Flails
Flails are very unique since they cannot be parried. They are slow, long-reaching, heavy-hitting weapons that have a unique sweet spot mechanic if you hit the enemy with the ball of the weapon, which will deal a lot more damage.
Great Hammers
Like their smaller counterpart, the Great Hammer is great at destroying heavily armored enemies and shielded enemies. However, you will need a lot more Strength for this because they deal a ton more damage.
Colossal Weapons
Colossal Weapons are more Unique than Colossal swords while still requiring very high Strength to wield properly. They are still capable of inflicting massive damage while still being very slow weapons.
Spears
Spears are very safe long-distance pierce weapons that allow for attacking while keeping your shield raised, making them the best defensive weapon. They are also superior to most weapons on horseback because of their range advantage. They do deal a bit less damage than most weapons as a trade-off.
Great Spears
Like the normal Spears, Great Spears are very safe long-distance pierce weapons that are defensive monsters. They deal a lot more damage than normal spears but trade their attack speed and immense weight for it. Only the Lance from the Great Spears can be modified with an Ash of War making these weapons very rigid and not flexible.
Halberds
Halberts are quite different from spears because they specialize in Strike and Thrust damage. They still have good damage and a long reach making them good poking weapons, they however cannot be used behind shields like the spears.
Reapers
Reapers have a very unique sweeping moveset with a sweet spot at the scythe part of the weapon. They have long reach and good damage, but are very scarce having only 4 weapons inside this weapon class. They are also very good for dealing with shields allowing the user to bypass it thanks to the sweeping attacks with proper spacing.
Whips
Whips are very unique weapons because like the Flail they cannot be parried. The whips have a lot of downsides, however. They perform very badly against heavily armored enemies, inflict below-average damage, and CANNOT be used for critical attacks. They do have long reach which does not make up for all the downsides.
Fists
Firsts are the shortest-ranged weapons in the game. They do however have the fastest attack speed in the game and can be used to inflict Status Effects at an insanely fast pace.
Claws
Claws are very short-range weapons that excel at fast rush down with their high attack speed and innate Bleed buildup. They have a bit more range than the fist weapons but are exclusively Dexterity weapons.
Light Bows
Coming to the ranged weapons, the Light Bows are used to fight an enemy from a distance. What makes the Light Bows unique from the other bows however is that you can quickly fire an arrow immediately after rolling, sprinting, or jumping, allowing more aggressive use of this weapon.
Bows
Bows are the bigger counterpart of Light Bows, dealing more damage but being unable to use the quick-fire that the Light Bow can. It can however still fire mid-jump.
Greatbows
Greatbows are the ultimate long-range Bows that can be used to deal heavy damage and easily break guards. They use Great Arrows as ammunition, unlike the other Bows. You however cannot shoot mid-jump with this bow.
Crossbows
Crossbows deal high damage from a distance. Unlike Bows, however, they need to be reloaded before each shot. This does in turn mean you can reload beforehand and instantly fire a shot without a draw animation.
Ballistas
There are only 2 Ballistas in Elden Ring. The Hand Ballista and the Jar Cannon. Both have a very high damage output but have 0 scaling for any stats making all damage on these weapons from leveling the weapon. They also have an extremely slow reload animation to make up for the high damage.
Glintstone Staffs
Glintstone Staff are required to cast Sorceries. This is also their only purpose. Some Staff give a bonus to certain Sorcery types making them much more suited for that specific spellcasting.
Sacred Seals
Sacred Seals are required to cast Incantations. Like the Clintstone Staff some Sacred Seals buff specific Incantations making them suited for that specific purpose.
Torches
Torches aren’t weapons but they can be used as one. Their main use is to scare off unwanted beasts like rats and light up a cave to make it easier to explore.
Combat Tips
With the weapons out of the way, you might have chosen what weapon type would suit you! Now we need to discuss some combat-specific stuff that will help you out inside the game, with general tips to improve your gameplay!
Understand how to roll
Rolls can save your life if timed correctly, they however can also cost you your life if timed incorrectly. The game has a mechanic called Input Delay. This happens when you are midroll for example and input another button, this will be buffered and used after the animation ends. This is the cause of many deaths and will most likely cause some of yours too.
This however does bring up one topic of discussion: Panic Rolling. Panic Rolling is a term used to describe when people are being attacked and instead of timing their rolls they will spam the button in good faith, this however is like gambling and won’t always work. I also recommend not getting into the habit of spam rolling because it’s hard to get out of.
Know when to attack
Attacking is your only way of dealing damage inside Elden Ring, which is why often people prioritize it above anything else. This does tend to make people more on the aggressive side making you vulnerable to counterattacks. The better way to attack is to wait and sit back, and learn your enemies’ attack patterns. Each enemy and boss has unique attacks that can be studied. Once you know them, you can also deal much better with them.
Use Guard Counters when using a shield
Shields have a lot of advantages, one of them includes the Guard Counter. This happens when you quickly Heavy Attack after blocking an enemy attack. This does heavy posture damage and more than normal damage to an enemy making it a great tool against specific enemies and boss attacks. It especially works wonders when wielding heavier weapons.
Don’t be afraid to cast Spells and use Ashes of War
Spells and Ashes of War both cost FP. Which is finite, needing you to rest after a while to replenish it. Elden Ring developed a system to help you in the overworld, however. After defeating larger groups of enemies, you get flasks back. You also get flasks back by killing Teardrop Scarabs. These creatures have a golden glow and give you Sacred Flasks back upon killing them. You can use your Ashes of War and spells as aggressively as you want, and use these ways to replenish them without respawning every enemy in the area.
Equipment
Here is the Equipment Menu. This is where you set everything up to make your character play the way you want!
We will slowly go through it so no stress.
Here are the 2 most important sections. Your weapons and offhand equipment. In your offhand you either put: a second weapon, a shield, a torch, or a ranged weapon.
You can equip multiple weapons at the same time and swap between them, this however increases your Equip Load, which will make you roll slower and eventually be unable to sprint.
Here you equip both your arrows for your bows and great bows and your bolts for your crossbow.
In this section, you can equip your desired armor, mix, and match to make your most fashionable character!
Talismans are an important Section of the game. These complement your build by giving you either increased stats, more damage, or other effects that can improve your build!
They can often be found behind Stone Sword Gates or Dungeons. With some even dropping from Bosses.
Last but not least is your consumable slots. Here you can equip craftable items, Sacred Flasks, Torrents whistles, or any other consumable items.
Early Game Tips (Limgrave)
Now you have all the knowledge about how to use and play the game, it’s time I give some advice on the early game that will help you get through it better!
Don’t be afraid to run from a fight!
Elden Ring is an open-world game, and some foes can be very daunting the first time you encounter them. Don’t let this scare you off, if you have trouble beating a foe, don’t beat them! This might sound counter-productive, but there is a reason it’s an open-world game! Explore the game, get leveled up more, and return once you are stronger. They don’t get stronger, you do! We know plenty of players who lost their wits against this guy below.
Explore Dungeons
There are a ton of dungeons inside Elden Ring. Limgrave alone has 29 bosses already! This means there is a ton of room to get stronger and plenty of loot to collect! You just need to know where to go. Some dungeons can be easily spotted, like Mines because they are displayed as black holes with a red outline on the map like below. Others are a bit harder to find but can be found by exploring the map!
Don’t sit on your runes too long
Dying happens inside Elden Ring. Whether you are a beginner or a veteran, you will die. But for beginners, it’s a lot easier to die and die while trying to get to your runes. This is why we recommend spending your runes and not sitting on them for too long. You will have plenty of runes you can consume from the souls in your inventory. Use these for shopkeepers so that when you die, you won’t be heartbroken about all the hard-worked runes that you lost.
Take your time
Elden Ring is a huge game, and it will take upwards of 60-70 hours minimum to complete your first playthrough and upwards of 100 hours if you want to do everything! This means you shouldn’t hurry and go somewhere you are not supposed to be, if you find yourself facing a difficult opponent, like for example the boss guarding the first major dungeon Margit the Fell Omen. If he is tough, like we said before, take a step back, get stronger, and return to him once you are confident you can beat him!!!
In Conclusion
Getting into Elden Ring can be a very daunting experience. It is a very difficult game that requires patience, skill, and a sane mind. This is why recommend you to take things slowly, come back to this guide if you have any problems with something and see if it helps!
With the DLC only 2 months away no time is better than to start playing Elden Ring. with the DLC being said to be the size of Limgrave, we have a lot to look forward to.
In the coming weeks, we will be publishing more Elden Ring guides in preparation for the DLC helping all you Tarnished alike git gud!