Elden Ring is perfectly happy to let you walk into the wrong cave, challenge something twenty times your size and lose an evening’s worth of runes because you attempted a heroic jump onto a roof.
That freedom is part of its appeal, but the game explains surprisingly little. Many of its most useful systems are hidden inside menus, item descriptions or conversations with NPCs who speak as though clarity is a personal weakness.
These Elden Ring tips cover combat, character builds, weapon upgrades, exploration, bosses and the easily missed mechanics that can make the Lands Between considerably less hostile.
Elden Ring Tips at a Glance
| Tip | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Raise Vigor early | More health gives you time to learn from mistakes |
| Keep a medium equipment load | You retain a useful dodge roll without sacrificing all protection |
| Upgrade one main weapon | Weapon level often matters more than damage-stat investment early on |
| Explore south before pushing north | The Weeping Peninsula offers useful upgrades and gentler encounters |
| Mark unfinished locations | The map does not track every cleared dungeon or field boss |
| Exhaust NPC dialogue | Quest progression often depends on repeated conversations |
| Use Guard Counters | They inflict strong stance damage after a successful block |
| Spend runes before a boss | Entering with an empty wallet removes a great deal of unnecessary stress |
| Change your damage type | Some enemies strongly resist particular weapons or status effects |
| Leave and return later | A difficult encounter is not always intended to be fought immediately |
Prioritise Vigor During the Early Game
Vigor is the safest early investment for almost every character. It increases maximum health and improves your ability to survive mistakes, which you will make because Elden Ring contains bears that behave like natural disasters.
A large health pool does more than prevent death. It gives you another chance to heal, study an attack pattern or escape an ambush. Damage stats are useful, but early weapon damage is often improved more effectively through upgrades.
As a general guide:
- Aim for around 20 Vigor during the opening areas.
- Move towards 30 to 40 as you enter the middle portion of the game.
- Consider 50 to 60 for late-game characters, particularly melee builds.
- Avoid spreading points across every offensive stat.
- Increase Endurance when stamina or equipment weight becomes a genuine limitation.
These are guidelines rather than sacred commandments. Experienced players can survive with less health, although “simply never get hit” is not especially helpful advice for most humans.
Weapon Upgrades Matter More Than Scaling Early On
A weapon’s damage comes from its base attack power and the additional damage provided by attribute scaling. During the early game, its upgrade level usually makes the greater difference.
Standard weapons are improved with Smithing Stones. Unique and special weapons generally require Somber Smithing Stones. Special weapons are often easier to upgrade quickly because each level needs only one stone of the appropriate rank.
Try to:
- Choose one or two weapons to upgrade consistently.
- Avoid spending every Smithing Stone on equipment you have not tested.
- Visit the smithing table at the Church of Elleh during the opening hours.
- Use Smithing Master Hewg at Roundtable Hold for more advanced upgrades.
- Search mines and tunnels, which are reliable sources of upgrade materials.
- Collect Smithing-Stone Bell Bearings to purchase certain stones later.
A modest sword at a strong upgrade level can outperform a supposedly legendary weapon that has been left untouched in your inventory.
Understand Attribute Scaling Before Spending Levels
Weapons can scale with Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith or Arcane. Scaling grades run broadly from E at the weakest end to S at the strongest.
However, the letter shown on the equipment screen does not tell the entire story. Upgrade level, weapon affinity, base damage and your current attributes all affect the final result.
| Attribute | Common uses |
|---|---|
| Strength | Greatswords, colossal weapons, heavy affinities and large shields |
| Dexterity | Katanas, curved swords, spears, thrusting swords and keen affinities |
| Intelligence | Sorceries and magic-infused weapons |
| Faith | Incantations, sacred damage, fire damage and support magic |
| Arcane | Status build-up on suitable weapons, item discovery and certain spells |
Do not invest heavily in three or four offensive attributes unless you have a very specific build in mind. Focused characters normally become effective sooner.
Two-Handing a Weapon Can Solve Strength Requirements
Holding a weapon with two hands effectively increases your Strength contribution by 50 per cent for relevant requirements and scaling calculations.
For example, a weapon requiring 30 Strength can be used two-handed with 20 Strength, provided you meet its other attribute requirements.
Two-handing also:
- Changes the weapon’s attack moveset.
- Prevents normal use of the item in your other hand.
- Improves the effectiveness of Strength scaling.
- Makes attacks less likely to bounce from certain hard surfaces or guarded targets.
- Can increase the stance damage dealt by some attacks.
It is one of the easiest ways to use a heavy weapon earlier than your character sheet appears to allow.
Keep Your Equipment Load Below Heavy
Equipment load affects the speed and distance of your dodge roll.
| Equipment load | Effect |
|---|---|
| Light load | Longest and fastest-feeling roll |
| Medium load | Reliable standard roll |
| Heavy load | Short, slow roll with a lengthy recovery |
| Overloaded | Prevents normal rolling and severely limits movement |
For most builds, medium load offers the best balance between armour and mobility. If your character suddenly begins rolling like a wardrobe pushed down a staircase, check what you recently equipped.
You can lower equipment load by:
- Wearing lighter armour.
- Removing unnecessary secondary weapons.
- Increasing Endurance.
- Equipping talismans that raise maximum equipment load.
- Carrying unused equipment in your inventory rather than an active weapon slot.
Only equipped items count towards the total. Your collection of seventeen helmets can remain in your pockets without causing a problem.
Stop Panic-Rolling
Repeatedly pressing dodge can feel productive, but it often allows enemies to catch you at the end of one roll with a delayed attack.
Watch the enemy’s weapon rather than its body. Many bosses lift, pause and then strike specifically to punish an early reaction. Roll when the attack begins moving towards you, not when the wind-up starts.
Rolling towards or diagonally past an attack is often safer than retreating from it. Moving through the strike can place you beside or behind the enemy, ready to counterattack.
A good rhythm is:
- Observe the opening attack.
- Dodge the damaging part of the animation.
- Wait for the rest of the combination.
- Attack only when the enemy has finished.
- Preserve enough stamina to escape.
Every empty opening is not an invitation to swing six times. Sometimes one hit is the correct answer, however emotionally unsatisfying that may be.
Use Guard Counters Against Ordinary Enemies
After blocking an attack, immediately use a heavy attack to perform a Guard Counter. This delivers considerable stance damage and can break an enemy’s posture.
Guard Counters are especially effective against soldiers, knights and enemies using predictable melee combinations. They are less reliable against opponents with long attack chains, grabs or heavy elemental damage.
Watch your stamina when blocking. If an attack empties the stamina bar, your guard will break and leave you exposed.
A shield’s Guard Boost value determines how much stamina is lost while blocking. Higher Guard Boost generally means more efficient defence.
Lower your shield between attacks so stamina can recover properly. Holding it up continuously feels safe, but it quietly prepares your character for a very public collapse.
Learn How Stance Breaking Works
Enemies possess an invisible stance meter. Heavy attacks, charged heavy attacks, jumping attacks, Guard Counters and certain weapon skills inflict substantial stance damage.
Once that hidden meter is depleted, the enemy staggers and may become vulnerable to a critical hit.
Useful stance-breaking tactics include:
- Charged heavy attacks during long openings.
- Jumping heavy attacks with larger weapons.
- Guard Counters against shielded or predictable enemies.
- Repeated weapon skills designed for posture damage.
- Throwing knives or quick attacks to prevent stance recovery.
Stance damage fades if too much time passes between attacks. Maintaining pressure matters, but charging forward without a plan remains an excellent way to become part of the scenery.
Do Not Ignore Jumping
Jumping is a proper combat mechanic, not merely a way to misjudge cliffs.
A well-timed jump can avoid certain low sweeps and ground-based attacks. Jumping attacks also close distance quickly and deal strong stance damage.
Use jumping attacks carefully against:
- Shielded soldiers.
- Large enemies with slow recoveries.
- Opponents vulnerable to stagger.
- Bosses after clearly telegraphed attacks.
Not every attack can be jumped, and the upper part of your character remains vulnerable. Experiment when the rune total at risk is low.
Ashes of War Can Transform a Weapon
Ashes of War determine a weapon’s skill and can also alter its affinity. This lets you adapt ordinary weapons to different builds.
Common affinities include:
| Affinity | Typical effect |
|---|---|
| Standard | Preserves the weapon’s normal characteristics |
| Heavy | Favours Strength |
| Keen | Favours Dexterity |
| Quality | Supports combined Strength and Dexterity |
| Magic | Adds magic damage and Intelligence scaling |
| Sacred | Adds holy damage and Faith scaling |
| Blood | Adds or increases blood-loss build-up |
| Cold | Adds Frostbite build-up |
| Occult | Favours Arcane while retaining suitable native status effects |
Whetblades expand the affinities available when applying Ashes of War. Test different skills at Sites of Grace before spending rare upgrade materials on an entirely new weapon.
Some unique weapons have fixed skills and cannot be modified.
Damage Type Matters
A build can feel powerful in one area and strangely useless in another because enemies have different resistances.
Physical damage is divided into standard, strike, slash and pierce. Weapons may also deal magic, fire, lightning or holy damage.
Keep at least one alternative option available:
- Use strike damage against miners, crystalline enemies and certain armoured targets.
- Try thrusting attacks against enemies vulnerable to pierce damage.
- Switch away from elemental damage when a boss strongly resists it.
- Carry a ranged option for flying or inaccessible enemies.
- Use weapon grease when the weapon permits it.
A katana may solve many problems. It does not follow that every problem is secretly asking for a katana.
Status Effects Are Powerful, but Not Universal
Blood loss and Frostbite can remove a substantial portion of an enemy’s health. Poison and Scarlet Rot apply damage over time, while Sleep can disable certain targets temporarily.
Status builds are strong because repeated hits fill an invisible resistance meter. When it is filled, the effect activates.
However:
- Some enemies are highly resistant or completely immune.
- Rapid weapons usually build status more consistently.
- Arcane only improves status build-up when the weapon has appropriate Arcane scaling.
- Repeated status activations may become harder as enemy resistance increases.
- Raw physical or elemental damage is sometimes the better answer.
Keep a backup weapon for enemies that refuse to bleed. Skeletons, statues and other uncooperative anatomy rarely care about your carefully optimised haemorrhage build.
Customise the Flask of Wondrous Physick
The Flask of Wondrous Physick is found at the Third Church of Marika in Limgrave. It can be customised at a Site of Grace by combining two Crystal Tears.
Depending on the tears selected, it can provide:
- Temporary attribute increases.
- Improved elemental damage.
- Better stamina recovery.
- Damage negation.
- Gradual health restoration.
- A protective bubble.
- Effects tailored to specific spells or weapon types.
Treat it as part of your build rather than an emergency healing flask. It refills when you rest, so there is little reason to save it for a retirement that your Tarnished is unlikely to enjoy.
Upgrade Your Healing Flasks
Golden Seeds increase the number of flask uses. Sacred Tears improve how much health or Focus Points each flask restores.
Sacred Tears are generally found in churches, while Golden Seeds frequently appear near small golden saplings.
At a Site of Grace, you can:
- Increase the number of flask charges.
- Improve the amount restored per use.
- Divide charges between Crimson and Cerulean Flasks.
- Memorise spells and adjust other resources before a difficult encounter.
A melee character may want mostly Crimson Flasks. A sorcerer or skill-heavy build will need more Cerulean charges. Change the allocation when circumstances change rather than treating your original choice as permanent.
Use the Pouch for Essential Items
The pouch provides quick access to selected items without forcing you to cycle through a crowded item bar.
Good pouch choices include:
- The Spectral Steed Whistle.
- Spirit Ashes.
- The Lantern.
- A favourite consumable.
- Multiplayer items.
- Prattling Pates, if confusing strangers is central to your build.
Keeping Torrent’s whistle in the pouch makes mounted combat and emergency escapes much easier. It also prevents you from scrolling past six varieties of throwing pot while a dragon prepares to breathe fire.
Explore the Weeping Peninsula Early
If Stormveil Castle feels punishing, travel south from Limgrave into the Weeping Peninsula.
The region contains:
- Sacred Tears and Golden Seeds.
- Early weapons and upgrade materials.
- Churches, caves and catacombs.
- Castle Morne and its associated quest.
- Enemies that are generally more manageable than those beyond Stormveil.
It is one of the best early-game areas for gaining levels and learning systems without resorting to repetitive rune farming.
Follow Grace, but Do Not Obey It Blindly
The golden trails extending from some Sites of Grace point towards important objectives. They are guidance, not instructions.
If the suggested route leads to an enemy that flattens you instantly, explore elsewhere. The open world is designed to let you find equipment, levels and experience before returning.
A sensible early route is:
- Explore central and western Limgrave.
- Visit the Weeping Peninsula.
- Clear several mines and smaller dungeons.
- Improve your flask and primary weapon.
- Return to Stormveil Castle.
- Move into Liurnia after defeating or bypassing Stormveil.
There is no prize for reaching the main boss underprepared, apart from an extremely detailed understanding of its opening animation.
Use Map Markers Properly
The map includes several marker types, but the game does not automatically label every completed dungeon, defeated boss or interesting location.
Create your own simple system. For example:
| Marker | Suggested use |
|---|---|
| Skull | An undefeated boss or dangerous enemy |
| Sword | A combat location to revisit |
| Chest | A merchant, treasure or locked area |
| Plant | A useful crafting-material location |
| Person | An NPC or unfinished quest |
| Building | A dungeon not yet cleared |
Remove markers when the task is complete. Otherwise, your map gradually becomes a mysterious record of decisions made by someone you no longer understand.
Mines Are Visible on the Map
Mining tunnels are often represented by small dark openings with a reddish or orange outline on the map. These locations usually contain Smithing Stones and a boss.
If your weapon feels weak, look for these symbols before farming runes for more offensive attributes. A few upgrade levels can produce a much more noticeable improvement.
The walls inside tunnels may also contain glowing deposits that can be collected directly.
Night Changes the World
Some bosses and events only appear at night. These include Night’s Cavalry riders, Death Rite Birds and certain Bell Bearing Hunters.
You can change the time of day while resting at a Site of Grace.
Night exploration can reveal:
- Unique field bosses.
- Special weapons and Ashes of War.
- Different enemy placements.
- Additional atmosphere, in case the Lands Between did not already feel threatening enough.
If a night boss fails to appear, rest until night and then leave the Site of Grace. In some cases, resting again or reloading the area may be necessary.
Talk to NPCs Until They Repeat Themselves
NPC questlines rarely use conventional journals or objective markers. Progress often depends on exhausting every line of dialogue.
When meeting an NPC:
- Speak to them repeatedly.
- Rest and return after important events.
- Check whether they have moved.
- Read the descriptions of items they provide.
- Revisit Roundtable Hold regularly.
- Listen for new dialogue after defeating a major boss.
Some quests can advance or close when the world changes. If a character seems important, do not assume one conversation was sufficient.
Buy Notes From Merchants
Merchants sell information notes containing clues about enemies, locations and unusual mechanics. These can sound optional, but several provide genuinely useful guidance.
The notes may reveal:
- Effective tactics against particular creatures.
- Hidden locations.
- Ways to interact with unusual structures.
- Details about wandering enemies.
- Hints connected to valuable equipment.
Read purchased notes through the inventory. Buying information and then never opening it is painfully realistic, but still inefficient.
Spirit Ashes Need Upgrading
Spirit summons can distract bosses, apply status effects or provide ranged pressure. Their effectiveness depends heavily on upgrade level.
Roderika can upgrade Spirit Ashes at Roundtable Hold after her early quest progresses. Regular Spirit Ashes use Grave Glovewort, while renowned summons require Ghost Glovewort.
Spirit Ashes can only be summoned in eligible areas, usually indicated by a small monument icon on the left side of the screen. They also cannot normally be used while a multiplayer ally is present.
Choose summons that complement your build:
- Durable summons can hold attention for fragile spellcasters.
- Ranged summons support aggressive melee characters.
- Groups can overwhelm enemies with poor crowd control.
- Status-focused summons can help trigger poison, frost or blood loss.
- Mobile summons survive better against large area attacks.
They are a deliberate game system, not a confession of moral failure.
Torrent Can Dodge Without Rolling
Mounting or dismounting Torrent briefly removes your character from the normal mounted position and can avoid some attacks when timed correctly.
Torrent is particularly useful for:
- Closing distance against dragons.
- Escaping large area attacks.
- Fighting slow field bosses.
- Reaching an enemy’s weaker side.
- Collecting dropped runes during an outdoor battle.
Mounted combat is less suitable in cramped areas or against quick enemies that can strike Torrent repeatedly. Remember that Torrent can be revived using a Crimson Flask charge if defeated.
Spend Runes Before Entering a Dangerous Area
If you are close to gaining a level, use a Golden Rune or defeat a few nearby enemies before entering a boss room.
You can also spend spare runes on:
- Smithing Stones.
- Arrows and bolts.
- Crafting recipes.
- Stonesword Keys.
- Useful consumables.
- Merchant notes.
- Armour or spells you plan to use later.
Entering a difficult encounter with very few runes makes learning the fight much less stressful. Suddenly, death becomes research.
Retrieve Lost Runes With a Plan
Dropped runes appear on the map and compass after death. You lose them permanently if you die again before collecting them.
When attempting a recovery:
- Ignore ordinary enemies where possible.
- Use Torrent in the open world.
- Equip a Sacrificial Twig if another death seems likely.
- Collect the runes before attacking the boss.
- Consider leaving the area once they are recovered.
- Spend them before trying again.
You do not have to defeat whatever killed you. Grabbing your property and running away is a respectable tactical withdrawal.
Use Rainbow Stones Near Suspicious Drops
Rainbow Stones can help determine whether a fall is survivable. Drop one over an edge and listen.
If the stone lands and remains intact, the descent may be possible. If it shatters with a sharp sound, the fall is fatal.
This is helpful, but not infallible in every awkward piece of terrain. Ledges, slopes and collision boundaries can still turn a sensible experiment into slapstick.
Crafting Is Worth Using
Crafting looks optional because the game rarely forces it upon you. Several crafted items are extremely useful, especially when exploring hostile regions.
Worth keeping include:
- Neutralising Boluses for poison.
- Preserving Boluses for Scarlet Rot.
- Sleep Pots against vulnerable enemies.
- Fire Pots for ranged fire damage.
- Holy Water Pots against suitable undead enemies.
- Bone Darts for pulling individual enemies from groups.
- Pickled Turtle Neck for stamina recovery.
- Soft Cotton for quieter movement and reduced fall damage within survivable limits.
Cookbooks unlock recipes, so purchase or collect them whenever possible.
Rainbow Arrows and Throwing Knives Can Test Encounters
Cheap ranged items are useful even on characters with no dedicated ranged build.
They can:
- Pull one enemy away from a group.
- Interrupt certain actions.
- Maintain stance pressure.
- Trigger environmental hazards.
- Test whether an apparently inactive creature is hostile.
- Finish an enemy with almost no health remaining.
There is no honour bonus for walking directly into six soldiers at once.
Great Runes Do Nothing Until Activated and Equipped
Defeating a shardbearer grants a Great Rune, but obtaining it is only the beginning.
Most Great Runes must be restored at a corresponding Divine Tower. You must then equip the restored rune at a Site of Grace and consume a Rune Arc to activate its benefit.
The effect remains until death.
Because Rune Arcs are limited during ordinary exploration, use them when:
- Attempting a difficult boss.
- Entering a dangerous legacy dungeon.
- Testing a build that benefits strongly from the bonus.
- Playing carefully enough to preserve the effect.
Do not hoard every Rune Arc for a hypothetical future emergency. The final credits are not interested in the contents of your inventory.
You Can Respec After Defeating Rennala
After defeating Rennala at the Academy of Raya Lucaria, you can use Larval Tears to redistribute your attributes.
Respeccing allows you to:
- Correct inefficient early stat choices.
- Change from melee to magic.
- Build around a newly discovered weapon.
- Adjust health, stamina or Focus Points.
- Experiment without beginning a new character.
Larval Tears are finite within a single playthrough, so avoid using one to alter only a couple of levels unless the change is important.
Your character’s starting class cannot be changed, but this rarely prevents a viable new build.
Save Weapon Tests for Weak Enemies
Before upgrading a weapon, test its complete moveset against weak enemies near an early Site of Grace.
Check:
- Light and heavy attacks.
- Running attacks.
- Rolling and crouching attacks.
- Jumping attacks.
- Guard Counters.
- One-handed and two-handed moves.
- Power-stanced attacks where applicable.
- The weapon skill.
Damage numbers matter, but reach, speed and recovery time can matter more. A weapon that feels awkward will not become enjoyable merely because a spreadsheet approves of it.
Power-Stancing Requires Matching Weapon Types
Equipping two compatible weapons of the same class unlocks a dual-wielding moveset through the left-hand attack button.
Power-stancing can provide:
- High burst damage.
- Rapid status build-up.
- Strong jumping attacks.
- More aggressive combinations.
The cost is reduced defensive flexibility and greater stamina use. You also need to upgrade two weapons rather than one.
Two weapons that look similar do not necessarily belong to the same class. Check their equipment descriptions before planning the matching outfit.
Use Stealth to Control Enemy Groups
Crouching reduces the noise your character makes and allows you to approach unaware enemies. A successful attack from behind can trigger a critical strike against many humanoid opponents.
Stealth is valuable for:
- Removing sentries.
- Reaching spellcasters or horn blowers.
- Avoiding unnecessary fights.
- Separating enemies from a patrol.
- Exploring while carrying a large number of runes.
Tall grass and darkness can help conceal you, although enemy awareness varies. Armour is less important to stealth than movement and positioning.
Illusory Walls Are Real, but Do Not Hit Everything
Illusory walls disappear when struck or rolled into. They can conceal rooms, routes and valuable items.
Look for:
- Suspiciously blank walls.
- Architectural spaces that appear too small.
- Player messages near an ordinary surface.
- Dead ends with room visible on the map beyond them.
Most walls are entirely innocent. Attacking every stone surface will mainly produce noise and a growing sense of distrust.
Read Item Descriptions
Important lore and mechanical information is frequently hidden inside item descriptions. These can explain where an object should be used, which character may want it or what happened in a particular location.
Pay special attention to:
- Keys.
- Quest items.
- Maps and notes.
- Talismans.
- Remembrances.
- Armour associated with named characters.
- Cookbooks and cracked pots.
- Unusual consumables.
Switch between the short description and expanded information when the interface allows it.
Bosses Do Not Always Need to Be Fought Immediately
If a boss defeats you repeatedly without any sign of progress, leave.
Explore another region, upgrade your weapon, collect flask improvements or change your equipment. Returning later is not cheating. It is one of the main reasons Elden Ring has an open world.
Before another attempt, ask:
- Am I being killed in one or two hits?
- Is my weapon properly upgraded?
- Am I dealing a damage type the boss resists?
- Is heavy equipment load ruining my dodge?
- Have I equipped useful talismans?
- Would a Spirit Ash suit this fight?
- Do I understand the attack that keeps killing me?
Levelling helps, but identifying the actual problem helps more.
Summon Other Players When You Want Help
Co-operative multiplayer allows other players to assist with areas and bosses. Summoning usually requires a Furlcalling Finger Remedy and a visible summon sign.
Multiplayer has limitations:
- Torrent is unavailable during most co-operative play.
- Enemy health can increase with summoned players.
- Invaders may enter eligible sessions.
- Progress is primarily retained in the host’s world.
- Connections end after certain bosses or player deaths.
A summon can rescue a difficult attempt, but adding more players does not guarantee victory. Three Tarnished can make three separate bad decisions with remarkable efficiency.
Shadow of the Erdtree Has Its Own Progression System
The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion uses Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes to strengthen characters within the Realm of Shadow.
Scadutree Blessing improves your attack power and damage negation in the expansion. Revered Spirit Ash Blessing strengthens summoned spirits and Torrent there.
If the expansion feels brutally difficult:
- Search for Miquella’s Crosses.
- Explore churches, ruins and side routes.
- Defeat enemies carrying glowing pots.
- Collect Scadutree Fragments before repeatedly challenging a boss.
- Upgrade your Revered Spirit Ash Blessing if you rely on summons.
- Treat these blessings as central progression, not optional collectibles.
A high base-game level does not replace the expansion’s blessing system. The Realm of Shadow has its own ideas about your impressive character sheet.
Common Elden Ring Mistakes to Avoid
| Mistake | Better approach |
|---|---|
| Increasing every damage stat | Build around one main weapon or spell family |
| Ignoring Vigor | Raise health before chasing minor damage gains |
| Hoarding consumables forever | Use them in encounters where they solve a problem |
| Wearing the heaviest armour available | Stay within a manageable equipment load |
| Upgrading too many weapons early | Focus materials on one reliable choice |
| Fighting every enemy | Run past encounters that offer little reward |
| Attacking NPCs experimentally | Speak first and keep your weapon under control |
| Skipping item descriptions | Check important objects for clues and instructions |
| Assuming every boss can bleed | Carry an alternative damage option |
| Following Grace exclusively | Explore side areas for levels, gear and upgrades |
| Treating death as failure | Use each attempt to identify one attack or mistake |
The Best Elden Ring Tip Is to Stay Curious
Elden Ring becomes easier when you stop treating every defeat as a demand for better reflexes. Sometimes the answer is a different route, a stronger flask, a changed affinity or a small item you ignored because its description sounded vague.
Experiment. Mark locations. Speak to strange people more than once. Carry a blunt weapon into a mine. Leave the enormous knight alone until you have a reason to fight it.
Most importantly, do not let anyone convince you there is one correct way to play. Use summons, magic, shields, colossal swords, status effects or whatever makes the journey interesting. The game provides all these tools because it expects you to use them.
The Lands Between are cruel, obscure and frequently ridiculous. Meeting them with a little preparation makes the experience far more rewarding.
