This Elden Ring guide breaks down everything players need to know before stepping into FromSoftware’s massive open world. The Lands Between can overwhelm newcomers and veterans alike. Between cryptic quests, punishing bosses, and dozens of hidden areas, knowing where to start matters. This guide covers class selection, exploration strategies, combat fundamentals, character building, and must-have early-game items. Whether someone just picked up the game or hit a wall against a tough boss, these tips will help them push forward with confidence.
Key Takeaways
- This Elden Ring guide recommends beginners start with the Vagabond class for high Vigor and forgiving early encounters, or the Samurai for versatile damage options.
- If an area feels too difficult, explore elsewhere and return later—Elden Ring rewards exploration with powerful weapons, upgrade materials, and runes.
- Prioritize Vigor above all other stats early on, aiming for 40 by mid-game to survive more mistakes against tough bosses.
- Use Spirit Ashes like the Lone Wolf or Mimic Tear to split boss aggro and significantly ease difficult encounters.
- Weapon upgrades boost damage more than leveling stats, so clear Limgrave Tunnels early for Smithing Stones to reach +3.
- Grab the Flask of Wondrous Physick at the Third Church of Marika—it’s an essential tool for customizing your advantage in boss fights.
Choosing Your Starting Class and Keepsake
Elden Ring offers ten starting classes, each with different stat distributions and starting equipment. The class a player picks doesn’t lock them into a specific playstyle, it simply determines where they begin.
For beginners, the Vagabond provides high Vigor and solid armor. This makes early encounters more forgiving. The Samurai starts with a katana and a bow, offering excellent damage and range. Players who want to cast spells should consider the Astrologer for sorceries or the Prophet for incantations.
The Wretch starts at level 1 with no equipment. It’s a blank slate for experienced players who want complete control over their build from the start.
Picking the Right Keepsake
Keepsakes are one-time gifts that provide small advantages. The Golden Seed adds a flask charge, always useful. The Stonesword Key unlocks fog gates that hide valuable loot. For a smoother early game, these two stand out as the best options.
The Crimson Amber Medallion boosts HP, which helps squishy classes survive. Avoid the Bewitching Branch, it’s too situational to matter early on.
Players shouldn’t stress too much here. Every keepsake can be found later in the game. This Elden Ring guide recommends prioritizing survivability for first-time players.
Understanding the Open World and Exploration
The Lands Between is massive. Unlike previous FromSoftware titles, Elden Ring gives players freedom to go almost anywhere from the start. This freedom can feel disorienting at first.
Here’s the key insight: if an area feels too hard, leave and come back later. The game doesn’t punish exploration. It rewards it. Players can find powerful weapons, upgrade materials, and runes in optional zones.
Using the Map Effectively
Map fragments reveal each region’s layout. Players find them at stone pillars marked on the map by small icons. Limgrave’s fragment sits near the Gatefront Ruins, grab it early.
Grace sites act as checkpoints and fast travel points. When resting at a grace, golden trails point toward the next story objective. Following these trails keeps players on the main path.
Torrent Changes Everything
Players unlock Torrent, their spectral steed, after visiting three Sites of Grace. Torrent makes exploration faster and opens up mounted combat. Double-jumping on Torrent reaches areas that seem inaccessible on foot.
This Elden Ring guide strongly suggests exploring on horseback. Torrent can outrun most enemies, making dangerous zones safer to traverse. If a dragon or field boss attacks, players can simply ride away and return when they’re stronger.
Combat Fundamentals and Boss Strategies
Elden Ring combat punishes button-mashing. Every attack, dodge, and block costs stamina. Running out of stamina mid-fight usually means death.
Spacing matters more than aggression. Most enemies telegraph their attacks. Players should learn these patterns, dodge through them, and counterattack during recovery windows. Rolling has invincibility frames, use them.
Guard Counters and Jump Attacks
Guard counters are new to Elden Ring. After blocking an attack, pressing heavy attack triggers a powerful riposte. This move staggers enemies quickly and opens them up for critical hits.
Jump attacks also build stagger damage fast. Two-handing a weapon and spamming jump attacks works surprisingly well against many bosses. It’s not elegant, but it’s effective.
Spirit Ashes Make Bosses Easier
Spirit Ashes let players summon AI companions during certain fights. The Lone Wolf Ashes come early and split boss aggro across three targets. Later, the Mimic Tear (found in Nokron) copies the player’s build and essentially doubles their damage output.
Using Spirit Ashes isn’t cheating. The developers put them in the game for a reason. This Elden Ring guide encourages players to use every tool available.
Boss-Specific Tips
Margit the Fell Omen blocks progress into Stormveil Castle. He’s optional at first, players can explore elsewhere and return at level 25-30. Buying Margit’s Shackle from Patches stuns the boss twice per fight.
Godrick the Grafted follows Margit. Stay close to his legs during phase one. When he grafts the dragon head, avoid standing in front of him. His fire breath covers a wide area but leaves him vulnerable from behind.
Leveling Up and Building Your Character
Runes serve as both currency and experience points in Elden Ring. Players spend them at Sites of Grace to increase stats. Dying drops all carried runes, die again before recovering them, and they’re gone forever.
Prioritizing Stats
For new players, Vigor should be the first priority. More HP means more mistakes before dying. Aim for 40 Vigor by mid-game.
Endurance increases stamina and equip load. Players who want to wear heavier armor need this stat. Light-rolling builds can ignore it somewhat.
Damage stats depend on weapon choice:
- Strength powers colossal weapons and greatswords
- Dexterity boosts katanas, curved swords, and bows
- Intelligence scales sorceries and magic weapons
- Faith scales incantations and holy weapons
- Arcane affects bleed buildup and dragon incantations
This Elden Ring guide suggests picking one or two damage stats and focusing on them. Spreading points across everything creates a weak character.
Respeccing Your Build
Players can reallocate stats after defeating Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon in Liurnia. This requires a Larval Tear, a limited resource found throughout the game. Don’t worry about making mistakes early. Respeccing fixes them later.
Essential Items and Weapons to Find Early
Certain items make the early game significantly easier. Players should prioritize these before tackling major bosses.
Weapons Worth Grabbing
The Uchigatana sits in the Deathtouched Catacombs in Limgrave. This katana causes bleed buildup, which chunks enemy health bars. Samurai players start with one, but anyone can dual-wield two.
The Reduvia dagger drops from an invader near Murkwater Cave. It shoots blood projectiles and melts early bosses.
For strength builds, the Grafted Blade Greatsword waits at Castle Morne’s southern tip. It hits like a truck and has one of the best weapon arts in the game.
Crucial Upgrade Materials
Weapon upgrades matter more than levels for damage output. The Limgrave Tunnels east of Agheel Lake contain Smithing Stones [1] and [2]. Clear this dungeon early to upgrade weapons to +3.
Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears upgrade flasks. Golden Seeds add charges. Sacred Tears increase healing per use. Check churches and minor erdtrees throughout the map, most contain one or the other.
The Flask of Wondrous Physick
Players find this reusable flask at the Third Church of Marika in eastern Limgrave. It combines two Crystal Tears for custom effects. The Crimson Crystal Tear provides instant HP recovery. The Greenspine Crystal Tear boosts stamina recovery. This Elden Ring guide considers this flask essential for boss attempts.
