Elden Ring secrets are mundane, but the hidden mechanics are a step up, with gameplay twists that aren’t obvious until you discover them – and a few of them can help you dodge the world’s greatest perils. Hand Ring completely! We’ve compiled some of the best Elden Ring secrets we found while playing, so you can try them out for yourself. Some are more obvious than others or just cute tricks, but some will completely change the way you play!
1. Weather affects your magic damage
We’ve discussed this before on GamesRadar+ but it’s worth repeating – magic damage changes with weather. Specifically, it’s rain, which seems to have an effect: if it’s flooding your torrent, fire damage is reduced, but lightning damage is increased! From what we’ve gathered, it’s only a 10% change in either case, but it’s a cute quirk that can still make a difference in long-term fights, especially for those with a lot of spells to choose from.
2. Riding your horse makes you briefly invulnerable
Just as battle rolls give you a short window of invincibility, so does summoning Torrent with Steed Whistle. It’s very fast, but there is a moment in the animation where your character enters the Torrent and takes no damage! You can use this sparingly to avoid deadly damage from single hits, even in boss fights like the Fire Giant.
3. Large enemies deal friendly fire damage
You may have noticed that some enemies can open friendly fire on enemies while others don’t, and there’s a reason for that: size. For some reason, anything larger than eight feet is considered either a clumsy bum or a reckless killer, dealing damage to all other enemies caught in its attack – including equally large ones. Giant swamp crabs, clumsy trolls, any gigantic dragon – all of which can kill their allies as easily as they kill you. Browse through the torrent and you could potentially trap them into beating each other – this doesn’t turn them against their teammates, but the damage is damage.
4. Golden leaves at night Improves Rune farming
At night, players have a chance to get a rare weather effect with golden leaves floating down from the sky. It’s not just aesthetic – Erdtree’s blessing means players will get a small increase in Runes gained from killing enemies while this happens.
5. Lightning strikes hitting the water spread outward
This can potentially be an advantage or a threat, depending on who makes the choice. Any lightning spell or attack that hits a watery surface (for example, when exploring Liurnia of the Lakes) will have a minor bonus effect where electrical damage radiates outward from that point of contact in a circle. It doesn’t go very far, a few meters, but that means a single lightning bolt can hit multiple close opponents, or any bolt that misses your target can still pick it up. Note that this can work as well against you as it does for you – as we’ve gathered, these radiating electric circles never hurt the wheel, but that doesn’t mean a cunning foe can’t hold you back with their own expanding shockwave.
6. Combo attacks deal stack damage, some more than others
Each weapon has a standard combo obtained by smashing R1/RB, but these combos get stronger the longer you can keep them going! It’s not a huge difference, but each hit deals a few bits of extra damage, and some weapons increase damage more than others. Try them out and see which of your favorites stacks up more!
7. Quickstep and Bloodhound’s Step Weapon Arts are great for traversing swamps and lava
Many speedrunners and pro players use it, but the Quickstep Weapon Art and its enhanced version, Bloodhound Step, cause players to jump or teleport a little fast. They’re no better than sprinting in most cases as they drain FP, but if you’re stuck in one of Miyazaki’s poisonous swamps or lava up to your ankles, both of which slow your character down, you can still quickly advance. them by stepping fast! Jump through them to get your FP back and finally shoot a Bottle of Cerulean Tears.
8. Fiery pillars in catacombs can be downloaded remotely
If you’ve explored numerous catacombs and dungeons, you’ve probably seen raised pillars, demons spewing fire into corridors at regular intervals. You probably also know that a good hit with a sword or hammer will cause them to snap back to the ground – but it doesn’t have to be a melee weapon! As obvious as it may sound, a damaging spell or arrow shot from the lane causes them to lay down as effectively as any blade, so you never have to risk being burned by fire on approach.
9. Rolling in toxic swamps will make things worse
Back in the toxic swamps – standing in them is bad enough, so every player’s instinct is to try and get through and out as fast as possible. Bad idea! Rolling through the swamps infuses your character from head to toe with this poison, so you’ll continue to suffer from status suffering for a while after you leave the swamp. To give yourself a chance to improve your health, use the Quickstep method above or look for stepping stones in the leak.
10. You can evade grab attacks faster by crushing the trigger buttons.
This has been a secret in Souls games for a while, but it applies here too. If an enemy puts you on a snatch attack, start furiously crushing R1/L1 or RB/LB depending on your controller (any action buttons seem to work, but quick pressing them is easiest). You won’t be able to dodge right away, but multi-damaging grab attacks will set you free sooner than they should. If one of the rolling iron girls pulls you in, it’s time to beat and crush you.
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