Elden Ring: 7 Useful Tips the Game Won’t Tell You

Elden Ring is a huge game, with a colossal amount to do, and a lot of stuff that isn’t always super obvious or well explained. So! Let us make life a bit easier for you with these useful tips! Subscribe for lots more Elden Ring from Outside Xbox.
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[@richarddakazo2878]

Bonus bit for the last tip: Torrent breaks the skulls just by walking over them so you don't have to dismount to grab the Golden Rune

[@Jatt2613]

Or you can roll into them if already on foot. I don't know how long it took me to smash a skull at the start of the game as I just swung away, with the weird arc of my swing making me keep missing, until I facepalmed and remembered your friend for breaking everything in the game, the humble roll.

[@Terrorbag]

Or, just play on Xbox One S and find them totally absent from the game 🙃

[@greenbrickbox3392]

@@Terrorbag damn that sucks lol. I'm actually shocked by how well the game runs on xbox one x. Only a few times where the game bugs or frames drop so far and I don't feel like I'm missing out on much compared to next gen.

[@NeroBloodfire]

Or roll

[@caratownsend1166]

If you temporarily summon them, do that make them "loan wolves"?

[@jameshart2622]

Boooooo! Boo.

[@helloeverybodization]

An excellent pun. Well done, and good day.

[@bjornseine2342]

Could it be dog?

[@helloeverybodization]

@@bjornseine2342 It sure is a horse.

[@Varizen87]

There's footage on Reddit of a guy surviving Goddrick's Dragon Grab because someone appraised his message in the middle of the attack. Also, Free tip: Tanky Jellyfish has a story line associated with her you don't wanna miss. Pay attention to what Rodrika says when she gives it to you, AND read the description. She (as in the Jelly Fish, whose name is Auralia) has a sister somewhere in the world, and you will need to summon her in the area with her sister. The only hint I'll drop here is that it's a very late game encounter. Your reward is a gesture, and it unlocks the seal to the treasure area nearby which gives you a talisman.

[@swankycab6170]

I've just realised what I was missing with that - I assumed Aurelia was a separate legendary summon found later on. I'll pop back and get that soon. That is if I ever manage to beat a certain late game boss with my pure melee quality build.

[@ohlookabird5292]

Holding power attack on horseback drags your weapon along the ground and does damage to anything it hits. Good for running through groups or getting an extra hit in on large enemies.

[@StraightOuttaJarhois]

Also good when you want to mow down a flock of innocent sheep to harvest their sweet, sweet bones.

[@alphaxtitania5597]

Right up until you get jabbed by thirty torches and stun-locked off your horse and onto your ass.

[@johnwrath3612]

@@StraightOuttaJarhois as a Dex build I use bow a lot and I get sad at how many innocent rolling sheep I have had to murder

[@gamepassghost]

The soupcan opener… i know it well.

[@SolaScientia]

@@alphaxtitania5597 That's me, lol. I'm doing better now that I have the twinblade, but when I had just my scimitars and a flail I couldn't hit anything until I was basically standing on the enemies and then, as you said, I'd get stunlocked off Torrent and quickly killed. I didn't know the R2 trick before I read someone else's comment on here.

[@efficientsea]

One other tip that I found that the game doesn't tell you is that you can mark areas as complete when you finish them so you know where you've finished exploring. Open the map, then press Y to view the sites of grace. Then you can click in the right stick with one selected to mark it as complete.

[@thochaos13]

Ok, that's really useful too!

[@Jatt2613]

I guess you can use that to mark a place complete, but it's more useful to mark the sites of grace near the area's you're working on, especially if you play how I did where I'd go through one of the long dungeons, start wanting to just explore more instead of dungeon crawl and then travel to another site of grace in the world and explore around a bit before picking up where I left off. You can access a list of marked sites from that same menu, so it makes it easy to remember which site of grace in a dungeon is the latest one you found, or which mini dungeon or catacombs you found but didn't explore yet, etc., and then travel back to them fast instead of searching the map for the one you want. I used the markers on the map to mark the places I finished instead.

[@paultapping9510]

ohhh that's incredibly useful, thank you!

[@DFOS1001]

136 hours and 136 levels later and I learn this.

[@StormJunkie100]

oh damn, i used the regular marks to keep track of every boss I have defeated. turns out, 100marks are not enough 😂

[@spinal_capped]

As a shield user, my best tip was to use the Ash of War called “no skill” to replace the base skill. This way, your special move will default to whatever is in your right hand. Useful as hell, considering I rarely parry.

[@navdragoni]

Best shield skill is barricade shield tho. It comes with the turtle shield or you can get the ash of war from a Night Cavalry boss at night in weeping peninsula. Makes your regular shield as strong as a greatshield, and trivializes many enemies with guard counters.

[@paultapping9510]

conversely the same place you get the No Skill Ash of War, you can also get the Parry Ash of War which can give any(?) shield the ability to parry. I like making the Ninja Turtle Shield a parrying shield myself.

[@vVAstrAVv]

@@navdragoni best shield skill is a weapon art that just stunlocks the final boss lol

[@Sinknight212]

One good tip is that you should clear the weeping peninsula before going for the first story boss/dungeon, area is a lot easy then stormveil castle and you get a lot of decent weapons there.

[@fabi3790]

Haha well I did explore with map fragments. So I did stormveil first. Tbh I didn't found it that hard But I bet I had an way easier time in the south than others

[@Shadowfury45]

Folks should invest in the Beast Repellent torch from the vendor near the Isolated Merchant Shack in Caelid. So many creatures like the T-rex dogs, down to rats or rot-hounds are classified as Beasts. the torch keeps them away from you and for a 5k investment, it made life so much easter.

[@enomisv9830]

Where in Caelid is the merchant shack?

[@kalin6149]

Yeah I love this. By the way those tough as nails monster lions in castles are beasts too

[@madalice5134]

I went to Caelid underleveled and got wrrreeccckkkeeeddddd. I haven't been back since, but now that I know this, I guess I'm making a trip. Thanks

[@kalin6149]

@@madalice5134 there's a certain treasure chest in a swamp that if you open it transports you to a mine in caleid. I know I fell for it and that was my first exposure to that zone. But it got me a zombie dog spirit so that's cool

[@doge7877]

@@enomisv9830 at the divine tower past caelids ravine/swamp, theres a road nearby that will lead you up to the shack. Also note the repellant doesn't work on the giant birds

[@azuredragoon2054]

One thing I learned is that the only requirements for swinging a weapon properly are strength and dexterity. So a weapon that naturally requires Faith, Intelligence or Arcane in addition can still be used for its raw physical power, although with a potentially weaker special effect if your stats aren't high enough. This even extends to the various Seal/Staff weapons for using Incantations and Sorceries. You can still cast those spells, but the scaling will be slightly hurt if your stats don't match the weapon.

[@kes-3d]

You are a legend, I had no idea about this. Do you know if it was this way in other Soulsborne games aswell?

[@azuredragoon2054]

@@kes-3d If I could think of weapons in those games that actually had those requirements, I'd check. Although I could only test the other Dark Souls games, not Demon's Souls or Bloodborne.

[@johnwrath3612]

Oh shit, really? I’m gonna use those arcane daggers then. Good damage and bleed.

[@SolaScientia]

@@kes-3d With Bloodborne I know that if you equip a special gem, such as a fire or bolt gem, in a weapon but you don't have high enough arcene, the weapon will do the fire/bolt damage but won't have the physical damage. I was using a bolt gem in the saw cleaver but my arcane was like 8 or 9, so the bolt actually removed the physical damage scaling. I was better off using the saw cleaver + bolt paper instead. There are special arcane weapons/items in Bloodborne that the player can't use if they don't have the arcane (call beyond, hunter's bone, argur of Ebrietas, Cainhurst gloves, etc). There are a couple trick weapons that require a certain level of bloodtinge, so I can't use them. I'm not far enough in Dark Souls 3 to have any special weapons like that, and I'm not doing a magic/miracle build anyway.

[@loudassknifeprime8915]

@@johnwrath3612 the bleed build up on reduvia scales with arcane, apparently.

[@justinhaegelin9362]

You can also sell the golden runes to a vendor for full value. Saving a bit of time if you are going to use a bunch…or if you wanna know how much they are worth.

[@johnsansker7064]

There is another option under use, use selected, allows you to pick a number of runes to use. So, if you have 30 level 1 runes, you can use 25 at a go or, whatever number you want. Level 1s stack up to 99.

[@SinglExplosiv]

@@johnsansker7064 the only difference is that with use selected, you dont get value totals and after selecting, the animation plays and you have to menu again if you ended up a bit short of what you were expecting

[@thrasherxv2061]

The fact that Andy’s the one explaining a Fromsoftware game and not Mike is by far the best thing of 2022.

[@gamehunter88]

Well Mike was busy riding Andy's horse off a cliff. Guess he got bored trolling him with horses in red dead online.

[@lordeowstheking]

Your comment is the dumbest of 2022..

[@ShieTar_]

Well, the script included a lot of Mike-shaming (for his fat-rolling and off-cliff-riding endavours), so it just made sense to select somebody of the non-Mikean persuasion to present it.

[@wrenstark6320]

@@lordeowstheking how hurt can you get from a comment?😂 poor little snowflake

[@dan333onlyhalfevil]

@@lordeowstheking ooh scathing....

[@GeneralNickles]

I just happened across the merchant that sells the lantern when I was avoiding Margit, and hot damn is it ever the most useful item in the entire game. It lights everything up, and it doesn't even break stealth. There's literally no reason not to get it, and immediately put it on your quick item wheel.

[@spinal_capped]

Exactly! No more worrying about having a heavy torch in my offhand, which I usually use for my shield.

[@alexharrison2743]

Which merchant is this???

[@GeneralNickles]

@@alexharrison2743 he's at the edge of the lake north of stormveil castle.

[@spinal_capped]

@@alexharrison2743 I got mine from the merchant shack at the southwestern edge of Weeping Peninsula

[@blitzgirl6522]

A carryover from Bloodborne I am so happy to have!

[@Jatt2613]

Shoot the balloons that you see the marionette soldiers hanging from sometimes, like in Liurnia. They'll give you a golden rune, and a decent one. The ones in Liurnia give you like a level 6 one, and I think the later ones are like level 10 or 12. Nice little bonus that just costs a single arrow or spell. You can lock onto them or just manually aim with a bow.

[@coltonsteele4146]

The flask of wondrous physick plus the twiggy cracked tear is an absolutely insane combination. Essentially makes it impossible to lose runes upon death if you time your flask usage correctly (3 min buff where you can’t lose runes)

[@Spencer-wc6ew]

This also keeps your runes from your last death from disappearing too. So if you died without that effect in place, then die with it in place, your runes are still where you died the first time. (Sorry, not sure how to explain it better)

[@Loctorak]

Alternatively, the flask of wondrous physick + i think the cracked branch or whatever? There's a usable item that achieves the same effect, allowing you to use a physick slot for another effect if you want

[@ChivalrousPotato]

Huh, that rainbow stone thing was actually great advice. Thanks for that!

[@marhawkman303]

It's one of those things they probably forgot to explain because of how many games it's been in.

[@juandemarko8348]

Great advice I only learn this now lol after 36 levels

[@sharpfang]

Be careful though. It's safe to land where the stone landed. Not necessarily two steps left from it, which happens to be an inch lower and deadly.

[@Loctorak]

​​​​​​@@marhawkman303are you guys serious? This is - word for word - the item description as it currently (and always) appears in game: _"Ruin Fragment that has undergone some simple processing._ _Craftable item._ _Stones such as these shine with the colors of the rainbow, making them useful markers when placed on the ground._ _Can also be dropped to gauge the distance of a fall. The higher the pitch of the sound, the higher the likelihood of the fall being fatal._ _Once used to entertain children on the fringes of the Lands Between."_ So yeah IF ONLY they had explained what these stones do, but unfortunately the sentences _"Can also be dropped to gauge the distance of a fall. The higher the pitch of the sound, the higher the likelihood of the fall being fatal"_ are too obtuse and cryptic for anyone to interpret what to do with them. Amateur hour, lol. Imagine reading anything ever...🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@marhawkman303]

@@Loctorak It amazing how many peopel play games without reading the in-game tooltips.

[@clysmic]

There is a shortcut to fast travel to Roundtable hold! Press triangle when on the map to bring up a list of sites of grace then square to go straight home.

[@SolaScientia]

Thanks for this! I didn't know that. Or maybe I did that by accident before and then forgot, lol. I think I recall bringing up a list of the sites early on, but I haven't done that since.

[@gamepassghost]

Mind blown.

[@crestfallenwarrior5719]

Wholesome how you consider it your home.

[@gamepassghost]

@@crestfallenwarrior5719 yeah… first time back there I was involved in a fight.

[@crestfallenwarrior5719]

@@gamepassghost mmmm...which one man?

[@foxmind2490]

My advice: “Turn your camera, and use the lock-on”. So many times in a dungeon I am suspect there is an ambush waiting for me. Turning my camera and I spot the enemy, and if I can’t the lock-on will.

[@scottbecker4367]

This works to a certain extent. I find that your character has to be facing the enemy to lock on.

[@Zoso14892]

100 hours into my save and I FINALLY find out there's a sort button... I knew there was a reason I've been waiting for this list!

[@pinewolfpresents]

Right? I'm damn near done with the game by now 😂

[@Zoso14892]

@@pinewolfpresents to be fair I'm only just past the capital. I've searched every part of the game I can find. It's one of the best games I've played and I'll be gutted when I finish it

[@fabi3790]

120h and I am at the mountain top I also didn't know you could sort. But I don't think I will ever use it ^^'

[@Zoso14892]

@@fabi3790 it can be useful if you are trying to find a new item you just picked up but that's about it.

[@fabi3790]

@@Zoso14892 yeah I just skip through to menu until I find it xD I think others have way more uses for it so I am glad it exists

[@druinofodd1762]

Rune tips - The Gatekeeper npc in Stormveil steals some runes from you if you die in the area. Kill him to get them back. - Make rune-farming easier by crafting gold fowl foots. Recipe is bought in murkwater cave near big lake in first area. Ingredient locations: you can find the rowa berries on bushes everywhere, gold fireflies in ponds near erdtrees, and the feet on birds along the coastline south of 3rd church of marika. -speaking of, north of 3rd church is a portal to a late game area where you can cheese 2 field bosses to get enough runes to get you from starting level to level 45. Head southeast till you find a bridge (to the left of the dragon bridge) Cheese the night's cavalry (only spawns at night) by leading him though the poison plants to the north of his spawn point. Then cheese the sleeping dragon near the minor erdtreee by hitting it from behind with bleed weapons. Use gold fowl foot for extra runes.)

[@lobselvith7828]

All birds drop the feet needed so just kill any normal birds you see.

[@stevenn1940]

Important to note: you must kill the gatekeeper *before* you defeat godrick. After you beat him, he stops being a shop keeper and your runes are lost for good

[@SolaScientia]

@@stevenn1940 So he's an NPC that's okay to kill? I tend to avoid killing NPCs in these games unless it's one like the suspicious beggar in the Forbidden Woods in Bloodborne.

[@stevenn1940]

@@SolaScientia to my knowledge yes, no negative repercussions or content missed. Use him as a savings account, withdraw before beating godrick

[@SolaScientia]

@@stevenn1940 Oh, he gathers up runes each time? That's interesting. I'll be sure to off him before I face Godric then. Does it work only in the castle or when I'm out in the world after I've met him and then decided to explore elsewhere for a while?

[@Brewhouse4519]

You can also run the glowing skulls over with Torrent. It makes picking them up much easier in my opinion

[@StraightOuttaJarhois]

Or roll over them on foot.

[@gamepassghost]

@@StraightOuttaJarhois or spend 15 minutes trying to get em with a greatsword 😅

[@SolaScientia]

@@gamepassghost The amount of times I've kicked skulls for what felt like halfway across Limgrave I don't even know. If I've found them on foot I've summoned Torrent solely for trampling them. I hadn't tried rolling over them, but I'll give that a go.

[@gamepassghost]

@@SolaScientia GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL! 😂😓 Yeah I think rolling over them is where i landed.

[@TheJakeJackson]

*Combat tips!* There are a few states enemies can be in that will cause them to take lots of bonus damage from you. One of them is the repel state, where they are stunned for a moment from bouncing off your shield. Not all attacks will bounce off of all shields, but if you see it happen take advantage quick for hundreds of points of extra damage! Another such state is the counter hit state. This one is a little abstract as it's only true for weapon attacks unless the enemy is unarmed, but hitting someone during their attack animation can give you a big damage boost. This is carried over from Dark Souls and I'm not done testing it, so keep in mind these "maybe" factors: the counterattack window might extend to their recovery frames like in DS1, and the bonus might only be available to thrusting weapons this time around. *These are also not guard counters, that's another technique. When using curved swords or thrusting swords (basically when playing as a swashbuckler), pressing backstep while charging a heavy attack will cancel the heavy into an evasive quick attack that can let you stay safe from enemies. And speaking of backsteps, the backstep in this game no longer has i-frames, but to make up for it you can now maintain your block throughout the entire backstep! This can allow you to safely try and make your opponent overextend themselves so that you can score that thrusting sword counterattack. En garde!

[@Spencer-wc6ew]

The attack states is good to look at for ranged attacks. If you see a strong enemy casting a spell, breathing spell, etc, shoot them then. If you're using a greatbow or hand ballista, waiting a few seconds for that moment is really worth it

[@madalice5134]

I got a message appraisal right when I was fighting Night Calvaryman and had already used my last flask. It saved my bacon and I finally killed him, after he had killed me several times previously. I make sure to appraise messages as much as I can now.

[@damien27]

Another tip: Rest at the church of Elleh at night after you get Torrent. That'll allow you to actually use the summons you get.

[@TheJakeJackson]

Love how the capture for fatrolling they had was helpfully labeled "Mike".

[@GhostingAbout]

Selling your runes gives you the exact amount using them would. So you dont have to guess or hope it gives you enough, you'll just know.

[@richarddakazo2878]

I wish that was the case for Coldbloods in Bloodborne. That always bothered me.

[@SolaScientia]

@@richarddakazo2878 Even now if I want to see how much a coldblood will give me if I use them for leveling up or buying something, I end up googling it and then, if I have multiple coldbloods, whipping out a calculator to see if what I have on me is enough for my needs. At least in Dark Souls 3 you can go to one of the merchants and see how many souls the various lost souls will give you if consumed.

[@E3Zen]

If you hold down down or up button on dpad, it will scroll all the way to the first assigned item. Makes uses of flasks and spells much easier.

[@kamen.rider.decade]

6:33 "The Lands Between" really does sound like a Google Translate adventure of "Middle Earth," doesn't it?

[@ShadowedHandParish]

Shoot The Fire Pillars..they are not static but will recess into the ground when you hit them

[@dainbramage9508]

Holy Solair, I've been getting every one of those skulls I've seen (Torrent can open them with his hooves) and I've been waiting for whatever npc or recipe needed them, I didn't think they were the equivalent of a soul of a wandering soldier Also great tips Andy 👌 👍 they'll definitely help, I completely forgot about Roderica after I told her to fulfill her potential, looks like I've got some spirits to level up lol

[@andrew4731]

One thing you might not know is that you can "struggle" out of an enemy grab attack by mashing buttons. This usually makes the attack end sooner and thus you take less damage. It's a feature of Elden Ring, the Dark Souls series, and Bloodborne, (probably DS and Sekiro too) but none of the games bother to tell you lol

[@alexharrison2743]

Is it any particular button or just all of them?? 😅

[@andrew4731]

@@alexharrison2743 Any buttons will work, although in the Dark Souls series, it's specifically the attack buttons so if you plan to go back and play them doing it the Dark Souls way is a good habit to get into.

[@brookeboyd7095]

Thank you for explaining how to get the upgrades to the summons. I had her at Roundtable but couldn't figure out why she wasn't letting me upgrade yet. I also had no idea what rainbow stones were used for. Also found helping other players in multiplayer in Stormveil Castle is a really good way to level up. It doesn't look like you lose the runes you get from defeating enemies in other players' worlds if you die while helping them out.

[@seanrshivers]

I never went back to that starting church after the first visit... so i couldn't figure out how to get the spirit summoning bell....

[@crows2808]

My real advice? Usually, what you start with doesn't make much of a difference, but this time it does. You won't get a variety of weapons that early. If you want to do any sorceries (intelligence based) pick a class that does that. You can level up your intelligence whenever, but you won't run into a staff or even be able to buy one that early. Also, Wretch is way more punishing this time around. Not saying don't do it. Saying be aware. Also, dog, but hole.

[@SolaScientia]

People scoffed at Miyazaki when he said he really wouldn't advise picking Wretch in Elden Ring. He outright told people it was going to be harsher than starting as that in Dark Souls. I never start as that, so I wasn't concerned, but given the trouble I'm having starting with proper gear and weapons, it's obvious Wretch players are in for a very rough time.

[@LOLWHATBRO]

@@SolaScientia I actually preferred wretch over the others. I don't think it's particularly more difficult than any other class ngl.

[@kyrothegreatest2749]

You can get the meteorite staff without fighting any enemies, but you have to know where to go.

[@seanrshivers]

@@SolaScientia I mean, it doesn't get bonus stats as it has in previous games (or rather, other classes don't get fewer stats than levels)... but wretch is still the best class. You trade a little bit more difficult start for 10000x more versatility later in the game. You can't respec a stat lower than its starting value... so wretch allows you to respec completely. Doesn't matter if you know what build you want to play and are perfectly happy rerolling other characters to do it.

[@SolaScientia]

@Sean Shivers Good point. I went with warrior because of the higher dex and because I knew I'd be doing a dex-focused build. Samurai was my 2nd choice. I might start a second save with a samurai class character just to see how it compares. I put 4 levels in strength so I could use the crossbow I found in Roundtable Hold. I wouldn't have had to put points there to use it had I started with samurai. That said, I won't have to add as many levels for magic since warrior has slightly better stats for that if I want to use magic or whatever.

[@vulpez650]

Here's another tip that might be easily missed: Invest in those little papers that the merchants across the land sell. You might think they're just little silly hints like "ooo, swing your sword to do damage" but they are actually fairly decent hints at certain enemies weaknesses or areas of interest. Coupled with the fact that they're usually cheap, it's a good thing to nab them when you can.

[@84jesterx]

You're going to have to make almost three more 7 tips-videos for this game alone. As usual FromSoft demeanor, there is SO MUCH that really isn't explained that well at first. Still my GOTY pick!

[@CreppyGamer]

more than the skulls, find the stone coffins, there's a lot of golden runes for you to just pick up and can be pretty usefull

[@TheTraDoko]

you can buy a white ring from the puppets at the roundtable hold, which automatically calls for help when ever you get invaded, summoning players with a blue ring active that are in the same area. p.s.: you can then access both of these in menu -> multiplayer

[@callumdixon5177]

You can switch which weapon you ate using while on horseback, using the same controls as 2 handing This is incredibly useful if you have casting items in your off hand and want to cast while riding

[@spinal_capped]

It’s my first FromSoft game, but I’ve watched so many playthroughs on Oxbox/Eurogamer that I feel right at home with Elden Ring. It’s like I can hear your guiding voices in my ear! That said, I’m 50hrs in, still rubbish, and loving every moment of it! All thanks to you great folks!

[@YRhandlesathing]

I miss the dark souls prism stones instead of these rainbow stones. Those ones screamed in pain if the fall would kill you

[@mduckernz]

That is definitely a Souls flavoured item, lol.

[@PLAYER_42069]

These are good tips I actually didn't know about. Kudos! Although, it is funny hearing Andy narrating the video and not Mike, or Luke, considering those two are the big Soulsborne gamers on the channels. Keep up the great work, Oxbox!

[@llRoBoBinHoll]

My tip: you can see where map fragments are on the little squares on the empty map

[@djturley509]

Thank you! I’ve put 80+ hours in and had no idea about it glowing more orange, I thought it was random

[@kes-3d]

The only useful stat on armour is the amount of Elden Bling you get from it.

[@mduckernz]

Poise is occasionally helpful, but yeah I still favour fashion over it :p

[@stryder8460]

If you are a faith/arcane build get Rotten breath from either the church or cathedral of Dragon. That incantation has done so much for me. Most bosses may need two applications but since it inflicts Scarlet Rot it's great against invaders too

[@etiletsatsi5130]

When you're in a place that's dark or overgrown and you know there's an enemy somewhere nearby but just not where exactly, press the lock-on button and you'll instantly know where and also target them for a missile or throwing weapon to flush them out. This works from much further away than it did in Dark Souls 3.

[@omriahuvia]

1. You can get most of the tears for the flask of wonders physics by going to minor erdtrees you might need to fight a boss or you might get lucky and they will just be laying around there 2. You can see a sort of brown smudge on your map in places of interest you haven't been to yet 3. If you don't have the map fragment to your current location you can just look on your map for a brown smudge in the shape of a small tower the map fragment should be there 4. Elden ring is an alagory for America

[@osurpless]

Thanks for the tip with the Flask of Wonderous Physic, as I have plenty of the seeds from killing Minor Erdtree mini bosses, but really didn’t know when I would get to use them. Also, when it comes to the glowing skulls, just roll over them, as they can be a bit imprecise to hit with most weapons. Or have Torrent run over them as well.

[@ghostderazgriz]

Other useful tips. 1.) Hold up on D-pad to cycle your spell to the first spell slotted. 2.) Hold down on D-pad to cycle to first quick slot item. 3.) Holding Dodge and Heavy attack together performs and evasive maneuver attack for certain weapons like curved swords and rapiers. 4.) Feed torrent raisons so you don't waste flasks on revives. 5.) When an item increases the cost of something (i.e more FP to cast spells) all the costs are updated when the item is equipped so no need to check the wiki to see the difference. Same for stat changes like damage or damage negation.

[@acattygamer3065]

Andy giving tips for a FromSoft game? What’s next, Mike winning at Hitman 2 multiplayer- oh wait.

[@serevine9730]

Jane making a FIFA guide

[@CodaBlairLucarioEmperor]

@@serevine9730 she does play it every year

[@KhaoticKatarin]

If you grab the item from the castle, Rodericka will give you a golden seed, used to increase your flask count

[@bunnarchist8965]

Andy is clearly just in denial about the amount of dogs in this game during that first tip. Some dogs can have shells, Andy!

[@lukesig4302]

Is this Dog?

[@StraightOuttaJarhois]

Calling everything dog is my favorite running message joke in Elden Ring.

[@weneedaladder8384]

Oh, I figured it was a comment on pavlovian responses to behavior. I may have over thought this one.

[@Jatt2613]

You can rest at the table in Roundtable Hold, just like at any other site of grace. I didn't know this until literally the very end of the game when it told me that if I didn't want to start NG+ then, I could do it later from the table in Roundtable Hold. I had been annoyed a couple of times while playing that there was no site of grace in the hold so I always had to travel away to level up, haha.

[@JackSilver1410]

Brilliant and original messages. The first time I started up the game, one of the messages that greeted me read, "good luck, but hole."

[@coyoteone6197]

I added the oxbox group password, and immediately two bloodstains spawned in my vicinity, both depicting someone on horseback leaping off a cliff. I feel like I've come home.

[@G.0.N.E_Ghoul]

Literally same I’m having the greatest time

[@thochaos13]

I had no idea about the inventory sorting. That's going to be so helpful.

[@nelsonharrington9847]

4:16 lmao that's an extremely specific denial there Andy

[@Auridus]

You're so right about the lantern, holy crap. I thought I was fine but decided to buy it on a whim, it is so nice.

[@andrewspence1569]

Riding Torrent over the golden skulls is a good way to break them and you can pick up the item while mounted. :)

[@Becktastic01]

The rainbow stone idea is so helpful!

[@raggedcritical]

A few that I've noticed that are that you can equip a quick pouch from the top-level menu screen with items that you can use by clicking Y/triangle and a d-pad direction. Also you equip great runes from the site of grace.

[@wwklnd]

I'm sure someone has mentioned it, but scrolling down I didn't see anything in the first 20 or so comments, so I'm mentioning it here: Here and there, you'll find what looks like glowing silver footsteps running around and round following a fixed path, left by something invisible. If you try standing in the way of whatever it is, it'll just pass right through you, and you can't lock onto it in order to attack. However, if you time your strike so you manage to hit it without locking on (trickier than you'd think as they move pretty quickly), you can kill the thing in one hit, causing it to drop an Ash of War.

[@callumdixon5177]

It's incredibly easy to hit them with certain spells, dragon breath or similar AoE when it rolls past and you'll almost never miss

[@chitt77]

Also you can hold the sprint button and down on the direction stick to slide down ladders and for soulsbourne vets like me something new if hold the button and up you actually do clime faster not much but noticeable

[@gamepassghost]

The beast repellent torch will have all dogs, rats, blood hounds, plague hounds and general carnivorous s#*twranglers fleeing from you, it’s nerve wracking but in most dungeons will buy you time and help vision. Just don’t walk into them as it will trigger a fight. Hold R1 or L1 to hold aloft. Edit: grammar

[@jekebe4858]

Andy: ...find yourself in dreaded fatroll territory... *cut to footage of livestream Mike* Savage as always, Andy, savage as always. Haha.

[@sneaky_sly1237]

Poison swamps can be navigated with Torrent for no poison build up

[@PriceMw123]

Good video. I was hoping that I could upgrade my wolves.

[@azazelleblack]

Here's a tip for people playing on PC: go into your graphics options and set Anti-Aliasing to "Low". This will disable TAA and enable FXAA, which isn't quite as sharp overall, but will be MUCH SHARPER in motion, as you won't have to deal with terrible, blurry motion artifacts from the TAA. Because all three are post-processing effects, your choice of FXAA, TAA, or "no AA" has no real effect on performance unless you're using a very, very slow graphics card.

[@SsinssriggErrdegahr]

To add to the skulls tip, torrent breaks them by stepping on them, so you don't have to smack them manually.

[@DanMarston117]

Rolling also, if you're not on horseback

[@kes-3d]

The location of the Stele for filling in the map is marked by a little pillar icon on the "blank" map once the fog of war is lifted.

[@warlock257]

40+ hours in, didn't know about the inventory sorting. Thanks!

[@DFOS1001]

I learned yesterday that you can actually pause the game. Go to menu, select whichever section you want ( i go with equipoment because it's the first one) and press the sub-menu button. Select menu explaination and the game will pause.

[@fernandosoliz2327]

Didnt know about the rainbow stones. Thats pretty usefull so thanks

[@TotallyNotRedneckYall]

Best early grind area: trolls southeast of warmaster's shack. There are five of them, thousand runes a piece, just fast travel back to the shack to rinse and repeat. Just watch out for the bell bearing hunter that pops up there after nightfall.

[@justins9886]

The rainbow stone tip! THANK YOU.

[@DaxCyro]

Ever wonder about those statues that shot a blue light when you interact with them? Their beam points toward nearby catacombs.

[@DaxCyro]

And a quick follow up. Never bother to save up runes. If you can level up on them, level up at once. This mentality enables you to go for more risky tactics. As having zero runes means you got nothing to loss. Like dashing like a mad person through dangerous parts, then grabbing the next grace you find. Remember there's a lot of very strong weapons and armor sets laying around in unprotected chest and corpses. Only a quick run away.

[@Bukejuice22]

I don't think I've ever played a game for 90 hours and not got at least a little bored. Inching it's way to favorite all time.

[@matthewguthrie3989]

I think Andy's way of doing the voice over for videos is the best.

[@jackpfefferkorn3734]

My tip is to play with an Xbox elite controller with the paddles on the underside. I have them mapped to A, B, Y, and D-pad Down. I can press two paddles to immediately summon torrent, hold B to run while still being able to look around, and quickly cycle my equipped items. I didn't get the elite controller just for Elden Ring necessarily, but my old controller was really showing it's age and there are things you really want to be able to do quickly in this game.

[@damionk3258]

Did not know that about the pebbles, nice tip, though group passwords are just a quick way for gank squads to congregate.

[@kes-3d]

On the map once its filled in, there is a little orange ring that marks certain mining caves. These caves usually contain an abundance of smithing stones, and are also where you find the item needed to unlock infinite amounts of them in the shop.

[@blitzgirl6522]

There's an area in SW Limgrave where i see one of those mines on the map but when I go to that spot there is no cave. Just a bunch of vampire bats, and the edge of the cliff is just the ocean with no way down.

[@kes-3d]

@@blitzgirl6522 Is that in the weeping peninsula? That one's an ass to find but it is there, you have to come at it from the north.

[@Philiplone]

*"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago and the next best time is now"* I consider this to be best motivational quote I've heard in a very long time. But motivational quotes are useless if you don't practice what you preach*

[@globalpandemic8450]

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[@mortenbolin7481]

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[@commerceusa]

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[@commerceusa]

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[@cainguyen2974]

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[@thejoshuary]

#8. Something that a lot of people are ignoring is the Pouch (those inventory boxes above your gestures in the menu) for storing/activating items quickly. You can put things there for easy access instead of lumping everything in with your flasks, that way you don't have to cycle through 5-6 items *every time* just to find the thing you need. I keep my Torrent ring, Ash summons, and lantern in there, and it has been a game changer. It's surprising to see even veterans like Aoife and Ian not taking advantage of it.

[@stevenn1940]

I would recommend putting the lantern in the pause menu slots, instead of the held Y slots. I put my flask there, instead You're not going to need your lantern super urgently, or activate it in combat, are you

[@ebmike8]

The skulls! OMG lol I just walked by them when I wasn't kicking them around lol

[@JackalopeHope]

The glowing skulls remind me of the random chests you'd find around the world in Assassin's Creed II. Seriously, who leaves their money lying around next to a haystack??

[@alexharrison2743]

Totally agree with the ACII reference, though given that runes are kind of like the gold-dust that inhaled from the Elden Ring's shattering, and you gain the runes of those you've slain, it makes sense that those skulls might be from long-dead fighters who died of natural causes/falls etc, whose runes never dissipated into their killer

[@Herowebcomics]

Wow! This game is so cool! These are great tips!

[@DodderingOldMan]

'Hopefully by now you've had a chance to play some Elden Ring...' As it happens, yeah, I've done almost nothing else for the last two weeks... I'm currently on New Game+2... EDIT: Oh, and as for my tip - Hoarfrost Stomp, an Ash of War, is game-breakingly good. You can get it from an invisible Scarab in Liurnia.

[@CuppaLLX]

bonus tip: Check out Spiffing brits vi which gives the location of some nice tears for your flash

[@blazebane9995]

The group password was very useful, thanks a lot

[@SolaScientia]

That's neat about the stones. I sold the few I had when I was acquiring enough runes for the shackle. The sorting feature is also very helpful since I haven't been doing that. Not that I have all that much on me that I need to sort through yet. I love the jellyfish and I love how she talks about it and that it has a name (starts with an A, but I've forgotten it. whoops). I need to get the flask from that church. I haven't ventured into eastern Limgrave except for getting teleported there once thanks to a certain NPC I don't want to spoil. I was surrounded by those bears, so I noped out of there as fast as possible. The skulls are about the most annoying thing to hit. If I'm on Torrent, it's fine because he just runs over them and I can pick up the golden runes. If I'm on foot it's a nightmare. I usually end up kicking them for a bit before I stand in just the right way so as to smash them open instead of once again kicking them. Ooh. There's a lantern. As in, the same sort of lantern in Bloodborne? I'm having that as soon as I find the seller with it. I picked up the torch at the first seller, but if the lantern lets me keep both hands free as in Bloodborne, then that's a much better item for me. I also need to find that bloodfang sword, although I'm loving the twinblade.

[@bloodmurcy]

a decent way to break the skulls I've found is to roll on them if you can't be bothered to summon Torrent and don't want to try swinging at it for 500 years

[@zjoee]

If I'm not mounted, I'll just dodge roll over a skull to break it without punting it over the nearest cliff, which has happened to me several times haha.

[@SolaScientia]

@@bloodmurcy I'll try rolling next time I find one. Thanks!

[@SolaScientia]

@@zjoee I'll try that! Thanks! I swear I kicked one halfway back to the site of grace I'd used. I'd get so close to hitting it only to kick it. I feel sure that anything nearby was just watching me make a fool out of myself. "Look at that dumbass. Can't even break a fragile skull." I have more success since I have the twinblade and can get in range to hit it before my feet find it.

[@zjoee]

@@SolaScientia I use a longsword but I still can't hit it haha.

[@MrGhostTheBigRoast]

dont try to hit the skulls, use your horse to trample them or roll through them to smash them. not all attack animations can hit it reliably.

[@codgod2908]

yet another absolute great video

[@TheRedCourage]

I applauded this video and got an HP buff and it restored.💪

[@docette2015]

Appraising people's messages heals the writer? That's actually kinda sweet. :) And heh, any game with a horse you can ride off cliffs is a good game in your eyes, eh Andy? XD

[@Bob-yb5om]

Another useful thing is to go to the isolated merchant in Caelid and buying the beast repelling torch. So long as you have it in your hand it stops animals like rats and dogs from aggroing, even if you're on Torrent or two handing your main weapon. There are some exceptions to this, however, such as attacking them or shoving yourself in their face.

[@MumonguGaming]

When going to ruins, roll and you might discover the ground disappear and reveal a hidden secret. Also some cliffsides have illusionary walls as well (these are harder to locate)

[@franzfullbring4939]

The fastest way to use all of your runes at once is to warp to a merchant and just sell them all to him, much less menu scrolling involved.

[@markclifford5712]

My tip; the quick select item slots to the right of the screen in the pause menu, it is the new home for my cerulean and crimson tears, flask of wonderous physick and my spectral steed whistle. I can use any of them at any time now by holding down triangle (Y on Xbox) and pressing the corresponding D pad button, try it out if you haven't yet.

[@mduckernz]

I use up for Torrent, left for lantern, down for telescope, and right for whatever consumable I need right the hell now where I am (particularly important for scarlet rot...)

[@LungsOutJem]

The three lone wolves are giving me flashbacks from the movie Airheads. 🤣

[@jaystrongeagle5]

“The three lone wolves....don’t know what lone means but whatever” LMFAO

[@SelkieGirl]

You have 2 sets of d-pad quick slots, you can edit them on the right side of the "pause" menu, and hold Y/Tri to use them