Elden Ring Hug Lady blessing and red square debuff revealed

Fia, the Elden Ring hug lady known as the Deathbed Companion, is a character who will hug you to give you a red square debuff as well as Baldachin’s Blessing. The effect of this is unknown at first but we can explain what Elden Ring is doing here, its advantages and disadvantages and what it has to do with a less obvious mechanic called Poise.

So should you hug Fia, and if so, what does it do? Is Baldachin’s Blessing worth it, what does it do, and what is the red square debuff? It’s not very well explained, but we’ve made it all clear for you in our guide to the Elden Ring red square debuff and the embraced lady pick Fia below.

Whether or not you should hug the Deathbed Companion, Lady Fia, in Elden Ring is debatable, but if you’re a shield-focused character about to get into a boss fight very soon, you probably should.

Hugging Fia gives you a special item that increases your Poise stat (which we’ll explain in a moment), but it also bucks you with a small penalty to your max HP that won’t go away until the item is used. We’ll get into the details below, but that’s the key choice here—whether you want this arguably good item and whether you’re willing to tolerate a temporary reduction in health to have it.

People have turned their back on Fia and her offer since they discovered that her hug had its downsides, but depending on the situation you’re in, it’s probably worth it. If you don’t let him hold you back, he’ll say the offer will stay open no matter what – which it does, you can return even if you already have the product for a quick hug and pat on the head at any point. .

However, if you let Fia embrace you, you’ll get a new consumable in your inventory called Baldachin’s Blessing. However, there will also be a red square below your stamina bar with an arrow pointing down that wasn’t there before. Let’s talk about that.

The red square added to hug Fia the Hug Lady is a sign for a debuff – specifically, a debuff that reduces your maximum HP by 5%, so the actual numerical loss depends on how much health you start with.

This sounds pretty brutal, but don’t worry, it’s not permanent. Using Baldachin’s Blessing with its standard effect will free you from the debuff. If you regret being hugged, use the blessing and it’s all over. Of course, you may think that the blessing is worth it because of its effect.

Baldachin’s Blessing is a single-use consumable that costs 20 FP to use, but temporarily increases the player’s Balance (actual amount boosted seems to vary based on player level and stats).

Balance itself is a statistic that affects your ability to counter enemy attacks without staggering. It won’t prevent you from being hurt more than usual by them, but you’re less likely to be knocked back or left open as a result. A very good stat for those who block attacks rather than dodge.

All this is why Fia’s hug isn’t as simple as being good or bad. A health penalty isn’t pretty, but it’s not huge, and the sooner you use the blessing, the less of a problem. Meanwhile, the ability to take hits without being knocked across the room isn’t much of a help to ranged fighters, but it’s a pretty good item to have for frontline shielders.

It is also worth noting that Fia will hug you whenever you feel like it. If you’ve used Blessing and decide you want another one, just go back and talk to him – he’ll gladly agree.