Starting Elden Ring? 10 Tips for New Players

Elden Ring’s meteoric rise in popularity makes it the best-selling game from developer FromSoftware. Within a month of its release, Elden Ring has sold a staggering 12 million copies, and it’s still going strong, according to analytics site SteamCharts.

For those new to FromSoftware games, you’ll need to understand a few lessons veterans already know. But even those familiar with Dark Souls, Bloodborne or Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will come across features not seen in previous entries from the developer. 

Here’s a rundown of tips for Elden Ring players as you navigate the Lands Between

What starting class should I pick? 

When setting up a character, there are 10 classes to choose from. As is the case with previous Souls-like games developed by FromSoftware, the starting class determines your weapons and stats, but ultimately your character’s growth will be open-ended. Classes designed for melee combat can eventually learn spells and become adept magic users as players level up their characters. 

If you want to start off with a melee character, go for a Warrior, Hero, Vagabond or Samurai. All four have strong starting weapons as well as defensive stats to take a hit. The Samurai has the advantage of having a bow for long-range attacks, a shield, and the Ushigatana with its strong Unsheathed weapon skill while the Vagabond is the more beefy class in both strength and health. 

The Astrologer and Prophet are the two magic starter classes. The former casts sorcery, while the latter uses incantations. Sorcery has the bigger damage spells, and incantations can both heal and protect characters along with offensive attacks. 

The Confessor is a hybrid class making use of both melee and incantations, while the Prisoner can do physical attacks and use spells. The Bandit is a unique rogue class designed to be stealthy and fight from a distance. Then there’s the Wretch, a class that starts with minimal equipment and stats designed primarily for veteran Souls players who want an added challenge. 

Use your weapon skills

Almost every weapon in Elden Ring has a weapon skill, which is a powerful special attack that uses focus points (FP). This is different from other Souls games where skills were only available on rare weapons. This means you can use special attacks even with starter weapons, such as the Uchigatana’s skill, Unsheathed. 

To use them, you’ll need to two-hand the weapon or equip a shield that doesn’t have its own skill. Weapons skills are useful throughout the game, and they can really make the early game less frustrating. Later on, these skills can be switched out by finding Ashes of War and going to a blacksmith. 

Ride on Torrent whenever possible

To help traverse across the Lands Between, you’re given a spectral steed called Torrent. Not only can the horse move fast, it can also take hits for you. 

Get accustomed to fighting on horseback. It’ll add a bit of defense, while also letting you escape when things get bad. Some of the overworld boss fights are easier to win while on horseback than on foot. 

Just keep in mind that if Torrent takes too many hits, it’ll disappear leaving you knocked down on the ground and an easy target for a follow-up attack. 

Collect all the resources

Elden Ring has a crafting system that, over the course of the game, lets you make a wealth of items to help in battle. To craft these items, you’ll need resources taken from defeated enemies or found scattered across the world. 

These resources are plentiful — plants can be found practically everywhere — but they’re not just helpful in making items. You can also sell them for runes, the game’s currency. If you gather all the plants along your path, that’s thousands of runes that can be spent on leveling up your character when needed. 

Pay attention to the map

The Land Between is huge so having a map is essential. It also has a lot of clues. As you fill sections of the map, it will show buildings, islands, and other structures of note. These places on the map can be the location of bosses, dungeons, items or characters. 

But the map is split into sections that you have to find first. If you’re in a new land with no map, look for a brownish lantern-like symbol. That’s where the map fragment for that area is located. 

When traveling, keep an eye out for shacks and campfires. Shacks will usually contain items or characters to talk to. Merchants will always be next to a campfire so make sure to seek them out. 

If you find a point of interest you want to go back to, leave a marker for that spot. You can place 100 different marks on the map. 

Keep an eye out for churches and golden trees

Two important items you don’t want to pass up are Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears. A Golden Seed can be used to increase the number of charges of the Sacred Flask, which is the primary item to replenish your health. They can be found primarily at the base of golden trees found all over the map. Sacred Tears increase the amount of health each drink from the Sacred Flask recovers. You can find them at churches scattered across the world. 

Find the Flask of Wondrous Physick

If you’re in need of a bit more health in a fight, there is another healing item to help. The Flask of Wondrous Physick can be found at the Third Church of Marika (see map below) and can be used to both heal and buff your character. It works differently than the Sacred Flask as it only has one charge and makes use of different Crystal Tears that have different effects. The Crimson Crystal Tear can be found with the flask, and it will heal 50% of your health. Other Crystal Tears heal your FP, boost stats, negates damage and even make you explode. The Flask of Wondrous Physick can be found early on in the game by taking a detour from the broken bridge east of Stormhill. 

Read messages and leave your own

One common feature in FromSoftware games is the ability to read and leave messages on the ground. These messages from other players can give hints on what to do in a certain spot such as letting you know an enemy is nearby hiding, there’s a trap in the room or to head a certain direction to find an item. 

Always take a few seconds to read the message and make sure to applaud them. This gives the writer of the message a health boost. Also, feel free to add your own messages in the area. Even if it’s similar to the same message you applauded, someone could return the favor to you by applauding your message and giving you some health in return. Keep in mind, a few players will throw some purposely wrong messages to troll others. 

Keep returning to the Roundtable Hold

Somewhat early in the game, you’ll be transported to the Roundtable Hold. Like in other FromSoftware games, this area acts as a hub for talking with other characters, upgrading equipment and learning more about the game. 

What’s important to remember is that this hub will change as you progress through the game. New characters will show up, more areas will open and more items will be available. 

So it’s important to come back to the Roundtable Hold often. Specifically, whenever you defeat a boss or talk with a character in the world. Transport back to Roundtable Hold to see if anything changed. 

If you’re having trouble, come back later

Unlike previous FromSoftware games, Elder Ring is open world. This means there is a huge map to explore making it easier to find better weapons, summons and more importantly, more runes to level up. You’re not obligated to proceed in a linear path, and areas don’t have a level requirement so there’s nothing stopping you from returning at a later time. It’s also very likely there were dungeons and other areas that you missed out on. 

Elden Ring is out for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles for $60.