Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s latest ‘Soulsborne’ entry, a genre of games known for their brutal difficulty and unrelenting cryptic information. If you’re about to head into the Lands Between for the first time and need some tips on how to survive the early game hours, we’ve got you covered with some handy tips. Here’s our Elden Ring Beginner Guide!
Elden Ring FAQ: Every Guide You’ll Need
ELDEN RING BEGINNER tips
1. KNOW HOW TO LEVEL UP
Levelling up and getting stronger is a crucial part of the Elden Ring experience. Knowing how to do this, and more importantly, what you want to do with your character, is extremely important to surviving the game. Whether you want to increase your health, your damage, or your magical abilities, it’s useful to know exactly where your level up points are going. Luckily, we also have a full guide on this that you can read here.
2. EXPLORE EVERY CAVE
There are many caves and mines located throughout The Lands Between. Entering them will usually give you a Site of Grace to rest at. Keep going, pushing past enemies and traps, and you should eventually come to a boss. While these areas provide quite a bit of challenge for new players, the rewards can be quite substantial. So it’s worth exploring these caves to find said rewards. We especially recommend going into mines, as they are known to reward you with Smithing Stones that can upgrade your weapons.
3. TALK TO EVERY CHARACTER
Stuck on what to do next? Elden Ring luckily tells a lot of its story through NPC dialogue. More specifically, White-faced Varré next to the The First Steps Site of Grace will always give you a little hint of what to do next if you’re unsure. He may talk in riddles sometimes, but it’s always a nice idea to pay him a visit if you want to progress to the next part of your journey.
4. IF STUCK, COME BACK LATER
Oh no, a boss has killed you! If there’s one section of the game giving you extra grief, consider simply leaving and coming back later. The good thing about Elden Ring is its open world allows you to explore in a myriad of different directions. So if one area is particularly gruelling for you, there are other places to explore in the meantime. Go away for a bit, level up and get stronger, then come back and finish it with much less hassle.
5. KNOW THY FLASK
Flasks in Elden Ring allow you to restore your health points or focus points depending on which you use. At any Site of Grace, you can upgrade your flasks using Sacred Tears and Golden Seeds (see below), so be sure to always be keeping them topped up. You can also split your flask charges between the Flask of Crimson Tears or Flask of Cerulean Tears, allowing you to use them all for your health, all for your focus points, or a bit of both. Flask charges reset when you rest at a Site of Grace, but you can also restore them by defeating groups of enemies.
6. USE THE SPECTRAL STEED
Torrent, the Spectral Steed, is your loyal horse and will allow you to cover more ground when exploring the overworld of The Lands Between. Not only does travelling on Torrent allow you to move faster throughout the world, but you can also deal more damage when mounted as well as use his double jump ability to reach more places. We have a guide on how to unlock Torrent and use his abilities here, by the way.
7. USE SPIRIT ASHES
Obtaining the Spirit Calling Bell from Renna the Witch or Roundtable Hold will allow you to summon Spirits to help you during combat. Any of the Spirit Ashes you’ve collected can be used, as long as you’ve activated the Rebirth Monument located nearby. These resemble pointed stone obelisks and can be found in many places, especially near boss arenas. Summoning a Spirit Ash ally incurs a FP cost, and you can only summon once before you need to rest at a Site of Grace. But they are really worth the investment.
8. WATCH FOR SMALL GOLDEN TREES
While you’re out exploring The Lands Between, you may come across small golden trees dotted around the place. No, I’m not talking about the giant ones you can see in the distance, but rather ones that are about as tall as your character. Each of these trees have a Golden Seed located at the roots. You can use the Golden Seeds to upgrade your flasks so they have more charges. It’s useful for prolonged combat sequences!
9. REST AT SITES OF GRACE OFTEN
Let’s face it – in Elden Ring you’re going to die a lot. You’ll be dying so often that you’re going to need to be setting regular checkpoints. This is where the Sites of Grace come into play. Find a golden streak out in the world and discover the Lost Grace. It’ll allow you to rest at this point and reset your position when you die. Resting at a Site of Grace will allow you to level up, apply upgrades and manage your storage. Beware though, resting at a Site of Grace will also mean all enemies (besides bosses and minibosses) will respawn.
10. SUMMON HELP
Having trouble with a certain boss? You can bring in help! Summons can take different forms. You can bring in Spirit Ashes (detailed above), NPC summons, or even other human players. We have a guide on multiplayer here, but even if you can’t play with another human we’d recommend summoning an NPC to give you a hand.
Be sure to check out our other guides on Elden Ring. We have starter tips on upgrading your Sacred Flask, using Ashes of War and Spirit Ashes, as well as how to use Torrent. If you want to know more about levelling, check out our guide to each class in the game, how to level up, and the best locations to farm runes. And finally, if it’s boss encounters you’re after we also have some tips to help you beat the early game bosses.
SHOP WITH GAMEBYTE!
Don’t forget you can find great games and more on the GameByte Shop! Our store is stocked up with the latest games, merch and accessories. We might even have a new-gen console or two! Sign up to our newsletter to be notified of our console drops, deals and more. Please note the GameByte Shop is available for UK customers only.