Elden Ring Beginner's Guide: 9 Essential Tips For New Players

Elden Ring is the largest From Software game to date, certainly the studio’s best work, and full of secrets and challenges around literally every corner. I understand how intimidating the renowned developer’s releases are to a newcomer, so I’ve created an Elden Ring beginner’s guide containing nine essential tips and tricks to help you make the most of your journey to The Lands Between.
Timestamps:
00:00:32 - Don't Miss The Crafting Kit
00:00:58 - Learn To Run Away
00:01:15 - Sites of Lost Grace Point Toward Objectives
00:01:51 - How To Use Spirit Summons
00:03:10 - Dodge Roll Speed Correlates To Equipment Load
00:03:44 - Upgrade Your Weapons ASAP
00:04:34 - Upgrade Your Flasks By Exploring
00:05:28 - How To Find Map Fragments In Elden Ring
00:06:05 - Don’t Miss The Tutorial
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#eldenring #guide #tipsandtricks

[@johnathanmanuel780]

Pretty sure the spirit witch at the church is a trigger, cause i met her on like my 4th trip there....4th death to the golden knight.

[@LooksKindaSketchy76]

I believe you just have to speak to Melina at the gate, and then the witch appears once you fast travel back, or spawn back in your case. I spoke to her without yet trying to fight gold knight Edit: it also may need to be at night

[@liambanning3674]

I’m pretty sure you also have to visit the church at night for the witch to appear

[@DatHombre]

@@nathanielapgar4284 Were either of those times during the day?

[@holycloud2900]

you have to have Torrent

[@jfg1787]

Something i havent really seen anyone do in any videos, if you use L1 and L2 during mounted combat, you will attack enemies on your left side. It is quite helpful.

[@joejohnson8966]

thank you

[@MSDGAMEZ]

I've only played for 4 hours and I can say it's definitely a little overwhelming at first. I feel like leveling up is a lot slower and I feel weaker than in other games at first

[@gameinformer]

Level up your weapons and try to find some loot caves. That made a big difference for me early on.

[@Maikeru101]

Just gotta get better and change up your strategy

[@jengaaaaa]

I've beaten around 6 bosses with a +1 weapon and wolf summons. It's not sobad once you upgrade your weapon.

[@dakodabaldur3037]

I feel the opposite I feel very op I've only played little under 3 hours and I've beaten 6 bosses already

[@atroe143]

Same, I'd say I'm good at souls games but WOW am I getting my ass handed to me lol. Maybe it's because I'm going for a build ive never done though

[@riv.k1302]

I’ve gotten you guys magazines since I was a kid I’ve literally grown up with you people & seeing this was like a walk down memory lane keep it up

[@gameinformer]

Thanks friend!! Glad to see you’re still around.

[@andrewlleach007]

Dude that was brilliantly done and explained really well. Thanks for taking the time to make this guide and please Andrew Reiner keep him doing more. Hes got a great voice for the voice over. :)

[@gameinformer]

Appreciate you!

[@seancapri]

I'm about five hours into Elden Ring and watching your video - thanks for showing me a few things I've missed. Great job as always, Alex!

[@QurlyDrawsStuff]

I think another good tip to add is to listen to (some of) the player left messages, cus they can really save you from an avoidable death, unless the messages are telling you too jump off a cliff, or open a trapped chest

[@gameinformer]

Agreed. You can leave a “Liar Ahead” message to warn folks of bad faith messages.

[@paulskinner6739]

Ya but how do I know the chest is trapped. I'm new to dark souls kinda games

[@QurlyDrawsStuff]

I don't know exactly how to tell, I haven't really noticed anything 'off' about the trapped chest I activated, other than that it was a bit too easy to get to. So if you go into some dungeon area and it's a small dungeon with easy enemies and one single chest at the end, it might be too good to be true, lol

[@midgetydeath]

To get access to Roundtable Hold early, use the side road that goes around Stormveil castle and rest at a site of grace in liurnia then talk to Melina. Look up a guide for this, it’s very easy though. I’m not sure if going to the Weeping Peninsula will work for this, too.

[@midgetydeath]

In addition to Margit’s Shackle (if there is a fog wall, lead the invader away from the cave and then double-back to it, that might work or maybe coming down the river from the north), kill the Tibia Mariner miniboss in Summonwater at the northeastern most point of Limgrave. This will get you the spirit ashes for undead soldiers. These guys are great at holding aggro and reform when killed. This also lets you start D’s short quest to get his armor and starts the path of getting beast incantations. He’s at the graveyard west of Summonwater. Talk to him after killing the Mariner. Go to Roundtable Hold and talk to D at the round table. Then go talk to Fia and let her embrace you. Don’t know how many times but once or twice and she will ask you to return a weather dagger to its owner. Give it to D and fast travel to Roundtable Hold. Go to the smith’s room and down the hall past him (not the stairs). The door at the end should be open with Fia inside and D’s corpse. Loot his corpse.

[@noahwen-li]

Great tips for new and returning players, that bit about the pillars was huge for me! Thank you.

[@gameinformer]

No problem!

[@midgetydeath]

Go to the gatefront grace and Melina will meet you. This will also set the time to night, which probably was to make meeting Renna easier. Fast travel to the Church of Elleh and Renna will be there on the edge of the broken wall in the direction of the gatefront. Talk to her and then talk to her again for some extra dialogue.

[@artorias1008]

Thanks for the guide GI. Have Elden Ring downloading at home while at the gym, can't wait to get home and start my journey.

[@gameinformer]

Have fun!!

[@Maikeru101]

Remember to explore everything, even if it doesn’t look like something you could get to because things can always be there and have fun

[@deridionentertainment]

thanks man finally someone who knows what he is doing. I couldnt figure out how to cast summon i didnt know i had to get a summon bell at night from a witch lol. Thanks bro this should help me greatly in my future fight

[@anthonymonroejr]

Then you use the spirit summon like a consumable...I had everything and still didn't know that lol

[@delwigzieful]

This guide is absolutely excellent for beginners like me helped me big-time thanks for posting you have my sub i really appreciate this guide Thank you,

[@gameinformer]

No problem! We’ve got more coming :)

[@mattwinter5847]

Excellent guide, well done Alex on the video and vo and great job Dan Tack on the advice and review

[@gameinformer]

Thank you!

[@bubba2010firefly]

Note that you can also buy the bell from the round table hold from the sisters if the witch doesn’t spawn for you.

[@midgetydeath]

Rule #1: Invest a lot into health and some into endurance early in the game. Until the damage you do becomes a problem, there is little benefit in increasing stats like strength and dexterity. Rule #2: If you’re using a quality or hybrid build, focus on one damage stat at first outside of meeting weapon requirements. A higher leveled stat will scale better than two low level stats and the other can be raised more heavily later. Rule #3: Try out different starting classes so you can get a feel for their weapons and style of fighting to find what works best for you. Don’t worry about what you prefer until you git gud, winning is fun and doing what works helps you win. Rule #4: Enhancing your weapon is far more important for damage than stat level and will improve scaling. *There are degrees of scaling within each scaling level, not just the big letters.* Rule #5: On the details screen when you’re have selected a weapon in the inventory/equipment window, the damage shown after the + (such as 115 +54) is the bonus damage from boosts such as stats. This plus the base damage (the left number) is the actual power of your weapon.

[@scottcurry9599]

Wish i could find a guide to understanding the stats of your gear when upgrading, changing gear/weapons, adding ashes of war, and other augments to your gear. for example a sword does 100 + 10, but i change the ashes of war and it changes to 90 +20 with magic boosted damages. what does all that mean?

[@hardeepsingh2505]

Great vid!!!

[@gameinformer]

Thank you!

[@sneaky5141]

no spoilers apart from the name of a mob in the first area being a spirit summon the mantra that spirit summons do no damage is just false, there is a demi-human group spirit summon that absolutely shredded the boss atthe southern most region dungeon under limgrave by THEMSELVES is this possibly a faith related thing? i have high faith and maybe thats why theyre more effective? i dont at all know that thats a thing but everyone seems to think they dont do damage but theres also a single summon that inflicts rot and it WRECKED margit again by itself

[@sherlockbones8446]

I really want this to be the fromsoft game I get into. Tried so many before but couldn't find anything to hook me enough to fight through the difficulty curve

[@gameinformer]

I hope you enjoy it. - Van Aken

[@clintbeasthood9758]

I honestly can't believe how good this game is. I stayed up all night and have 7 hours in and I can confidently say, this is my favorite game of all time. It is insanely addictive.

[@gameinformer]

It’s so good.

[@TheNamezZ]

Played 6 hours…. 4 of which I spent trying to beat the first stone seal area. Other 2 I spent traveling the land and visited 2 of the trees and was on my way to the big one.

[@godofwar2790]

I've never played a Dark Souls game, but played Bloodborne briefly as well as Sekiro. I left both those games due to frustration. I took the plunge, and bought Elder Ring yesterday. After playing for around 3 hours, after dying MANY times, I actually killed my first small dungeon boss.....and LOVED every second of it. Yes, there is a STEEP learning curve it seems (you will die a lot), but i'm being drawn to the game due to its size and all the things you can do and discover. The fact it is not linear, but open-world, makes me think this game will welcome many newcomers to this style of gameplay.

[@rev0lverocel0t]

You don't need to be two handed to use ashes of war. (You said arts of war btw kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5SvgKaClLuDj5o) You can apply the "no skill" ash of war to a shield to remove its ash of war so you can use a shield and the weapon in your right hand at the same time and your right hand's ash of war.

[@marcus1227]

Qual a classe para usar essa espada em chamas?

[@midgetydeath]

Remember that the scaling level of your casting tool for incantations and sorceries also matters more than your stat level for it, Faith and Intellect.

[@austinconner1268]

The lake in the first zone has a series of catacombs where you can easily get smithing stones.

[@cabalmn9082]

Io você sabe onde fica a armadura bloody wolf ?

[@amalshakur]

Once I downloaded enough to start play, I just ran the tutorial over and over again gathering runes until the download was complete. So I have a bit of currency at the start. Just something to do while waiting.

[@binkyknuttsoff9282]

How do I use the health flask ?

[@blackwhite2361]

*I have never played any of the souls games (I usually stay away from games that people claim are hard) but i really want to play Elden Ring but i got some questions:* 1. Will summoning the spirits make the game less challenging for me? 2. Can I summon spirits at every boss battle? 3. Can i request for help from an online player at every boss battle or that feature is reserved for specific boss battles

[@pazuzu603]

Yes! But what's the fun in that? This is my first Fromsoft game and I think it's easy mostly because I treat it like a game which it is. lol don't think to hard about it just play and have fun.

[@Magicman1625]

For some reason I can't connect to the servers it forces me to play offline. I know it's not my internet so idk why I can't connect

[@MukiMuki688]

What Fromsoft really succeeded in is implementing 8-bit NES levels of difficulty into a boss battle combat scheme which teaches you through trial and experience rather than cheap attacks. Street Fighter 6 - Ryu Theme Guitar MV - EX Plus Alpha kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpTSmmWPpdickMk King of Fighters 15 Nameless theme Guitar MV kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2qam4anra6aZtk Gundam Hathaway Main Theme Guitar MV (Senkou) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZCUaYabecSmj6s

[@brandonian6940]

Any chance you know how to roll quicker with vagabond? Supper sluggish and slow

[@tristanlennard9444]

You have to uneqip somthing. Your probably above 70% equip load.

[@liambanning3674]

I’m a complete noob when it comes to DS games - I’ve never played one before. Decided to pick vagabond for my first ever character, and I’m already regretting it

[@DG-jr9ir]

Your starting class doesnt really matter, keep at it! Everything will click eventually if you dont give up

[@mbuledawg]

That was the tutorial area??? I thought it was a trap seeing as its a souls game and you don't know who to trust. Good tips!

[@gameinformer]

I went 35 hours without playing the tutorial lol

[@thatllputmarzipaninyourpie3117]

A game has never made me so paranoid to go near anything as this one has. It is hard. Potential death hiding behind every rock. Not knowing what I'm doing isn't helping matters. I can usually feel my way through games, but not this one. Need to take a semester of classes to improve I think.

[@gameinformer]

I recommend learning to fight north of the church of elleh. There’s some foot soldiers there who are good practice.

[@thatllputmarzipaninyourpie3117]

@@gameinformer Thank you. I'll give that a try.

[@mcman9999]

Me and my 3 friends ALL MISSED THE CRAFTING KIT

[@SSJCyan]

Co op is weird.its hard. But fun

[@tom2gunzbombadil689]

Never played any Souls or Soft games... ppl always say Hard, and not for Everyone. Well I'm 45 n been around since Atari 2600. Whats so hard about this ? Save points, hard bosses, large lengthy open world. Sounds great to me. I loved witcher 3 n don't mind a challenge.

[@pgquips3703]

FromSoftware games are only difficult because it stacks your actions. If you could cancel an attack and change your mind (like you can in real life) then it wouldn't be so punishing. It makes you feel like you made a mistake, but it ends up feeling sluggish and frustrating to most people.

[@lillglutassimracing4253]

Tryed it out today before work, oh man i have no clue what im doing or wher i should go, only thing i learn is how to die….

[@kevinkenealy1179]

Thanks I just beat the guard dog

[@gameinformer]

Nice!

[@R.Q.C.]

Redo the co op and game of the year

[@mrdurva9532]

Apart from server issue what do you want them to change?

[@DaddyDaughterGaming5]

I’m not a big souls fan at all and I’m 50/50 right now if I should buy this it a hard decision

[@lareka11]

game is excellent but if you did not like them before you will not like them again

[@gameinformer]

We have impressions going up today on the website from a non-souls fan.

[@DaddyDaughterGaming5]

@@lareka11 it’s not that I don’t like them it’s just I work full time and a dad full time so it’s hard to have time to keep playing and no progress I really liked bloodbourne but I got stuck on the 3rd or4th boss and gave up

[@DaddyDaughterGaming5]

@@gameinformer I can’t even say I’m a non souls fan cuz I really enjoyed bloodbourne just got stuck on the 3rd or 4th boss and just gave up cuz I’m a full time dad and work full time and it takes a lot to progress

[@lareka11]

@@DaddyDaughterGaming5 go get it, take your time, it is more forgiving

[@absoluteandrew398]

Bro I should not have been playing this game all settings on high and with recording software 💀💀💀 it ran fine but my PC was HOT

[@makemelaughyouants]

Also first timers this is important: Don't be too proud to play Coward Souls. This is when you run as fast as you can away from the monsters and gather as much loot as you can then run back to safety. Famously in Dark Souls 1 you could run through a deadly graveyard and gather some of the game's best weapons before running away like a bitch. Where there are dangerous enemies, there is powerful loot. This isn't guaranteed to always work, FromSoft is clever and there are traps and ambushes that will annihilate you but learn as you go.

[@faithless9816]

I didn't know there was a tutorial lmao

[@shugogh12]

A true souls game, even the tutorial is hard to find

[@anthonymonroejr]

Right. I didn't jump down cause I thought I would die from fall damage lol

[@Helloim_anthony]

It was fun the first couple of days but traveling around dungeon to dungeon to defeat bosses with clear meaning or no coherent narrative gets boring.

[@tarnished1601]

Bro were you wielding an anchor?

[@gameinformer]

Yessir

[@Megadeth50]

Just got to church at night rested no spirit turns up to give bell update actually get torrent at camp further up then go back at night she’s there

[@jusjo]

Lit

[@sk8terboy2823]

THERE WAS A TUTORIAL?!?!?!

[@GAMINGwitJEFFY]

What’s a heavy roll ? I think you mean FAT ROLL

[@gameinformer]

LISTEN

[@GAMINGwitJEFFY]

I mean BIG MAN roll

[@Gorog002]

Become... Giant....

[@cmoneytheman]

Mine came 20 mins ago today is my bday

[@gameinformer]

Happy birthday!

[@cmoneytheman]

@@gameinformer I should say to you happy elden day

[@gamedadmike]

Pro tip! Don’t start a boss fight with a low battery controller.

[@Bokumetsu_TV]

How is he running around with a orange flame and blue flame sword >.>

[@garyburginjr1366]

Hewg is my dad

[@surideedesigns]

Err... I managed to miss the tutorial...

[@marcuskane1040]

Main tip - don't buy it on PC. It's beyond terrible even on top-tier GFX cards.

[@palm5225]

Works okay for me. Minimal stutters and other than that no problems. Seems to differ from pc to pc and no consistency. Safest bet to buy on ps5 but more people have a pc than ps5

[@RobertoAnile]

i run it on a 7700k and a 3070ti pretty flawlessy on high settings @1440p, not sure what the problem you mention is.

[@palm5225]

@@RobertoAnile its a know issue that has nothing to do with the pc specs. Fromsoft even addressed it on steam saying they are aware of the problems with the pc version

[@thatllputmarzipaninyourpie3117]

My PC is running it fine on high settings. Haven't tried it on max yet. I got a buttload of RAM though.

[@kambion]

They'll fix it in like a week... every From Souls title has some dumb ass problem like that. DS had the delayed lock on.... DS2 Remaster had the weapon durability thing... etc... but yea, I got in on PS5

[@phatmillips]

Um what. I completely missed/skipped the tutorial??? Lmao

[@johnlee2579]

The game doesn't even tell me how to get runes. I have 0 to buy the crafting kit with

[@atroe143]

Just kill enemies

[@mrdurva9532]

Runes aka souls are from dead enemies and you use them to buy, upgrade, and level up

[@ReplaceWoN]

Bored 30 hours in. First 2 bosses down. Just don't care anymore.

[@timsmyth7942]

xbox 💀

[@Kimnl]

Ok sorry, but why tf do you show clearly late game areas in the intro?

[@adamfowler350]

Tips for new players? LOL. So basically tips for 99.99% of the people who got the game 3 days ago...

[@MacMcandy]

Tip number 10: don't buy the pc version right now

[@RellshouldBsleep]

Instant regret souls games are not my thing but I got caught in the hype and It was a waste for me. They say nothing of how to do anything or how game mechanics work and that’s supposedly them not holding my hand… how do I use magic oh that button well now I’m out of magic how do I get more does it regenerate over time….???esoteric gaming lives on enjoy your game 😒

[@amalshakur]

Do the tutorial. Jump into the hole the spirit tells you about. Ran it a couple of times and got all the basics down pat.

[@mrdurva9532]

I'm so glad we have games that don't hold the players hands....tired of all these point and click instant win games

[@JTX-mv5ln]

No offence to Game Informer that made brilliant videos but my best advice is to not watch any tips and tricks and just to experience the game how intended blind

[@gameinformer]

Fair!!

[@boxerboy860]

This game sucks and I suck at it 👎🏾

[@mrdurva9532]

So the game sucks just because you can't do good at it?

[@boxerboy860]

@@mrdurva9532 I love the game now that I’ve had more time with it, that was a smug comment after raging on a boss for an hour and a half 😁

[@matthewwheeler8411]

"learn to run away" visions of coward!!!

[@lareka11]

no diss to the game but the theme in these souls games are pretty soulless, depressive for me.

[@kambion]

Your opinion, I disagree. Also, the theme in this game is CLEARLY playing off Demon's Souls.

[@mrdurva9532]

That's literally the ENTIRE point of the games 🤣

[@K.A-87]

FIRST CHARACTER GOT STUVK AT THE ROUND TABLE SECOND CHARACTER IS TRAPPED IN A CAVE THIS GAME IS GARBAGE

[@riv.k1302]

That means ur garbage 🗑 & what ever you’re playing on needs an upgrade

[@kambion]

LOL you had bad luck... sorry. Workin fine for me.

[@liambanning3674]

What do you mean by stuck? To get out of the round table area you just need to fast travel out of there..

[@ivanjovanovic7118]

The game looks soo bad on my PS5 out of all next gen standard and expecting, Demons Souls for PS5 is far better looking, can't stand Elden Ring look especially buildings and it's repetitive textures as person from art school trained for viewing cant look at it 5-6 minutes, start it and must turn of that ugliest popular game I'm feeling cheated by uneducated KZbinrs and reviewers which do not respect 2022 standards and our free time

[@mrdurva9532]

Someone sounds salty lol

[@toddjakaitis2982]

Dan Tack should have done this video and because he didn't i'm not watching this garbage

[@gameinformer]

I’ve produced every single one of our Elden Ring cover videos, the video review, have played the game for 40 hours, and have lead our ER content alongside Dan, but sure, go off. - Van Aken

[@toddjakaitis2982]

@@gameinformer it's not the same

[@frotworth]

Something that is not mentioned is gaining the ability to level up from Melina -- which I managed to miss during five hours of exploration.