11 Elden Ring tips to help you master the Lands In Between

Some Elden Ring tips will do a lot to help those first few hours feel less bumpy, especially for first-timers to FromSoftware games and learning the ropes. Elden Ring is a little more accessible than its predecessors, but that doesn’t mean much and we don’t blame anyone for asking for guidance and help to give them direction and understanding of what they’re dealing with. So, check out these 11 Elden Ring tips for you to understand the Lands In Between and git gud.

1. You don’t have to kill everything, so don’t try

Being able to go any direction in Elden Ring, being able to hide in the bushes and outrun most threats on your horse means there are plenty of enemies and stray bosses that you can run away from or just leave their own space. For example, the starting Elden Ring Tree Sentinel is an optional boss that you absolutely must not fight until you continue the game. Learn to choose your battles, run when it makes sense, and fight when it’s profitable. They’ll still be waiting when you’re ready, then you can try again for loot and the Runes they carry.

2. Commit a build and weapon early and make changes later

Once you have chosen one of the Elden Ring classes, you will need to commit to strengthening your build as soon as possible. As you spend your Runes to level up your Attributes, pour them into best-in-class as well as some Vitality and Stamina to really help you play to your build’s strengths. If you really want to re-specialize and tinker with your Attributes, you’ll be able to find a specific item that can be traded to reallocate spent Attribute points, but that’s pretty far from the game.

This also goes for upgrading your weapons with Smithing Stones. If you have a reliable sword or other weapon, just keep upgrading that weapon because you don’t want to spread your Smithing Stones to improve a few mediocre weapons, but on some you may have only one perfect weapon to see you through. tough bosses

3. Use map markers to track discoveries and highlights

Elden Ring’s map evolves as you explore and find map pieces, but an important piece of information is that you can place up to a hundred custom markers at locations, beyond just standard waypoints. These are really useful as there are a lot of things the map doesn’t show once found, like traders or optional bosses. Use these to keep track of everything and you’ll thank yourself later.

4. Explore Limgrave from start to finish to maximize loot and buffs

Elden Ring has an incredibly vast open world for you to explore, filled with nooks and crannies and possibly free of fearsome monsters. Take advantage of the fact that you can get away from the critical path and use it to explore and level up early. In doing so, you’ll not only learn the game’s ropes before facing off against some seriously tough story bosses, but you’ll likely find some good loot as well.

To get you started, you can find a Gold Seed to upgrade your Holy Vial on the main road to Stormhill, Iron Stones abound in the Limgrave Tunnels, and the Warmaster’s Shack around Stormhill introduces you to a merchant who sells powerful Ashes. Fight for your weapons. Exploring will also allow you to find many Grace Sites that will make navigating Limgrave and all of the Lands In Between a lot easier thanks to fast travel.

5. Equipment is just as important if not more important than your level

Leveling up allows you to improve your base stats and resistances, but it’s equipment that turns those numbers into weapons and turns them into true progression. Consequently, if you are a warrior or a knight, it is not enough to keep pouring Runes into Power levels; You’ll want a good melee weapon with good Power Scaling and you’ll want to upgrade it with an anvil or a blacksmith. Even the way your weapon moves is important as part of attack patterns – long range, quick moves and wide swings can all be very effective.

6. It’s good to have at least one ranged attack option

Much of the combat in Elden Ring tends to be up close and personal, whether you like it or not, as monsters and enemies attack you with drawn weapons. So while it’s good to be able to fight on this front, it’s very useful to have at least one ranged attack, even if it’s not your primary weapon. Bow, bullet spells, crossbow or the like can kill enemies before they reach you, and some bosses will really struggle to fight you if you can stay away from their swings and shoot them in the face.

7. Shields are good, but rolling is better – especially if you’re light

A shield with 100% damage reduction is a really good choice for a new player, it can stop any sword or arrow with just a slight drop to show your stamina. Even if you don’t start with one, you should probably buy one from Kalé, the merchant of the Wood Sentinel in Elleh Church.

But don’t get addicted to it. As useful as shields are, it’s always better to stay out of the way of an attack, especially when bosses use devastating spells and divine attacks that will break your block. Learn to avoid attacks until you dodge, using the shield as a safety net. You also want to make sure you don’t wear too much equipment in your stats to carry Heavy Loads, as this will make you “fat-roll”, a slower version of the dodge that burns more stamina than normal.

8. Summons destroys bosses and gives you a real opportunity to reciprocate

Some FromSoftware experts might not like it, but if you’re struggling, we see nothing wrong with using the tools the game has to offer – and calls are some of the most powerful tools around. Players can interact with gold markers on the ground to bring NPCs to their aid, but these are extremely rare and contextual. However, you can also use Ash summons when an obelisk has a small white symbol on the left side of the screen. By adding them to your equipment inventory bar, you can spend some FP (mana) and ring a bell to summon these helpful spirit monsters. As you play the game, you will find more Ash summons and strengthen what you have.

Summons range from incredibly powerful fighters to useless bumblers, but even the worst can serve a very useful purpose – distraction. Enemies and bosses crushing them not crushes you, giving you a chance to heal, cast a spell, or go in and stab them in the back.

9. Seek Gold Trees and Churches to upgrade your Health Vials

The items you’ll use the most in Elden Ring are your Flasks of Crimson Tears and probably your Flasks of Cerulean Tears if you’re a mage. These restore health and FP, but their limited use and the fact that they are normally only restored at Sites of Grace means you have to be careful with how they are used.

So you have to look for small Golden Trees (not the tall ones, they are a little taller than you) and dilapidated Churches. Both of these are found throughout the Elden Ring and in the Lands In Between. At the base of the Golden Trees are the Golden Seeds, and the Churches have the Sacred Tears. Both of these items are used in Sites of Grace to upgrade your Flasks: Golden Seeds increase how often you can use them, while Holy Tears increase how much HP or FP they give you. Depending on how often you rely on Flasks for survival, this makes Seeds and Tears one of the most valuable items in the game.

10. Enemies with golden eyes drop extra Runes

It’s a small thing, but you’ll occasionally see an enemy with glowing golden eyes. They won’t be any tougher or deadlier than the others, but they’re worth killing for – a special randomly spawned enemy that will drop a lot more Rune than any other. The actual number seems to vary slightly by enemy, level, and location, but they’re never worth the kill.

11. Ringing bells mean a scarab is nearby

If you hear a sound like a wind chime and can’t tell where it’s coming from, it’s a scarab/scarab running around. These large bugs will flee when you get close, roll their balls away from you, and soon disappear if they don’t take damage. However, it’s almost always worth killing them – depending on the scarab, they’ll refill your Bottles and even drop special loot, especially Ashes of War, which you can use to customize your weapons.

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