Since its release, Elden Ring hasn’t stopped breaking records. With a Metacritic score of 97, it became one of the highest-rated games ever. However, it can be a bit difficult for those who are not used to this kind of game.
That’s why we bring you a series of Elden Ring tips for beginners, perfect if you haven’t started playing yet… or even if you’ve already been exploring the Midlands for a few hours.
Table of Contents
1. Prepare to die
For our first Elden Ring tip, prepare to die.
If this is your first experience with a FromSoftware game, here’s the first thing you need to know: you’re going to die. A lot. The sooner you come to grips with it, the sooner you understand that death is an essential part of the journey in these games, and the sooner you will enjoy what they have to offer.
There will be times when you despair, get frustrated, and want to give it all up, but persevere and you will make it through. We guarantee that the effort is worth it.
2. What is the best initial memory?
At the beginning of the game, when you create your character, you will have to choose the initial memory from a list of objects. All of them have their usefulness, but if you don’t know what to choose, these are the three best memories:
Red amber medallion: slightly increases health.
Golden seed: with this item, you can increase the number of uses of the vial of crimson tears (to heal health).
Stone sword key (two): these keys are quite rare (or expensive) and are used to enter places where there are usually useful objects. However, we do not recommend that you do NOT use them in the Abandoned Tomb, as they lead to a rather dangerous place that you want to avoid for the moment.
3. Buy the torch
After passing the tutorial and going out to the Midlands, the beam of light from the Place of Grace will guide you to the Church of Elleh, where Kale, the first merchant, is waiting. He himself will recommend you to buy the creation kit (300 runes). It is the object that gives you access to the creation of objects.
But, in addition, we recommend that you also buy the torch (200 runes). The catacombs of Elden Ring are dark places where you will not be able to advance without a light source, so during these first hours, the torch is essential. Later you will be able to buy a lamp, which is placed on your waist leaving both hands free.
4. Find the map!
Elden Ring is the first souls like from FromSoftware that includes a map and it is very useful. But when you reach a new area, you won’t know where you are until you find the map.
Luckily, you can find it easily if you know how: when you press the map button in an area where you haven’t found it yet, you will see a symbol. It indicates the place where there is a kind of monument where you will find the map of that section.
5. Use the horse
When you meet Melina, besides being able to level up, you will get Torrent, the faithful steed that will accompany you throughout the adventure. Of course, moving on horseback will allow you to cover more distance in less time, and thanks to the double jump you will be able to reach places that your character will not be able to reach by himself.
But you can also fight mounted on Torrent and we recommend that you do so.
The speed of the mount will allow you to get close to enemies, hit and run away, a tactic that, although it may be considered bad in previous games, here is the basis of the adventure.
Torrent is especially useful when fighting large enemies, enemies that are also mounted on their own horses, and groups of enemies, so don’t hesitate to ask for its help whenever you are in the open world.
6. Break the enemy’s stance
Elden Ring brings back a mechanic from Sekiro: the stance. For those who haven’t played FromSoftware’s previous game, it’s a system that makes the enemy lose his balance when he receives a series of hits.
But in Elden Ring it works a little differently: for starters, we don’t have a bar that tells us the enemy’s stance, so you’ll never know for sure how much time is left to break it.
What we do know is that there are a series of attacks that break it more easily: the strong attack (the longer you hold it down, the more damage to health and stance), the jump attack and the counterattack, performed after blocking a hit. Many bosses, in addition, usually have a weak point that when hit with any attack, they receive huge posture damage. In many cases it is the head, so do not hesitate to try to hit it if the opportunity arises.
When you break an enemy’s stance, you will hear a characteristic sound and see it lose its balance for a few precious seconds. Instead of continuing to attack, stand in front of the enemy and press the execute button.
In the case of bosses and some large enemies, you will see orange particles at the spot where you can perform the execution, so when they fall to the ground, look for this spot and run over to deal heavy damage.
7. If you encounter an enemy or difficult situation…
Despite being an open-world game, Elden Ring maintains FromSoftware’s usual level design in the many fortresses found throughout the Midlands. These are special “levels” riddled with traps, enemies, treasures, shortcuts, and the occasional boss.
Sometimes, in these locations, you will encounter seemingly impossible situations, such as a gigantic enemy accompanied by several smaller enemies. One of the essential tips to play Elden Ring is that you can leave the fortress, upgrade and come back later, but if you are attentive, it is likely that there is an alternative method: a secret path, a stealthy way to pass that will allow you to avoid the enemy and continue advancing.
So, before abandoning all hope, explore the location well in search of paths you haven’t gone down. Expert tip: keep an eye on rooftops and other platforms, as they will often allow you to reach places using your jumping ability.
8. Statues of Márika
If you see one of these:
It means that you are about to enter a particularly complicated area or a boss fight. If you are short of vials of tears, it is probably worth returning to the nearest place of grace.
9. Beware of Fia’s blessing
After beating the first boss in Elden Ring, Melina will invite you to visit the Table of Lost Grace.
You will meet several characters, including Fia, a woman who will offer you a hug. After accepting and spending some time in her arms, you will receive her blessing in the form of a consumable item that will go into your inventory. When you use it, it will increase your poise for a while, very useful!
Now then… Having this item in your inventory causes your total health to be lower PERMANENTLY; you will know this because a red icon with a downward pointing arrow will appear under the health bar. The item description doesn’t mention it and no character explains this, so it’s hard to find out.
If you want to avoid this negative effect, go into the inventory and use Fia’s blessing as soon as possible.
Final Thoughts
Those are 9 essential tips to play Elden Ring. Do you have any tips that you think other players can use? Leave them in the comments! Newer players will thank you.
