The Ultimate Level 1 Elden Ring Guide

[@GredGlintstone]

Hi Tarnished, I've tried to make this as comprehensive as possible but this game is huge. There are a ton of options that are incredibly strong that I didn't talk about here. There are also a bunch of alternative strategies to deal with certain attacks as well. I didn't cover summons here because I find playing with them very difficult at level 1 but they're absolutely viable. I don't play particularly defensively but that's a sound strategy too. I also don't stack buffs because I don't have the patience. So, if you think my damage is wild at level 1, it could be much better. There are a lot of different ways to play this game so feel free to share anything that you think I missed. Reply here with more super strong options to use at level 1 that I didn't cover to help a future onebro.

[@BBQcheese]

Gred, you did a phenomenal job! I've done dozens of RL1 runs (I've done 7 since your last upload 😂) and there's still a lot I was able to learn and take away from this. Well done!

[@BBQcheese]

On the section with the archers before haligtree you can run partially up the steps on the opposite side and either use a bow or throwing knife on the archer. When she turns and aggros on you she will remain turned in that direction and when you go back from the other direction just use gambit she won't turn back around. Hope this helps someone. Also, I know of a VERY easy and consistent method to get through the bird section in Farum Azula. You can gambit and basically just stick to the walls avoiding the lightning. Get to the very edge of the roof, and use a long bow with mighty shot to shoot the dragon it can be a +0 bow the damage doesn't matter just the range (short bow doesn't have enough range) this will despawn the dragon. Gambit again sneak up behind the first bird on the left and charged attack it on NG with a +25 you should one shot it if not it'll stagger after just crouch spring about halfway across the bridge and then start sprinting. I learned this from Recycle in his no hit guide so if I'm doing a poor job explaining plz reference that.

[@wallyrus104]

At 1:43:30, you were talking about how to dodge the waves if you are on torrent. A lot of people don’t know this, but if you dismount in place instead of jumping off you can get I-frames, which lets you dodge the first swing of the combo.

[@GredGlintstone]

@@wallyrus104I could be wrong but from my testing the i-frame dismount will frame trap you and the second wave will kill you. But that could be a timing thing on my part. Either way it’s very tight.

[@sprootfromnz]

Only other option that I didnt see mentioned would be the dragon halbard. You can get the rot dog super early into the game (or the jelly fish, both work). Theres a teleporter that takes you to the boss fight where you can easily poison them and run away. Super strong pierce weapon that has lightning and frost infusion as an ash of war. Heaps of stance damage and the frost damage is nice early on

[@stargazer6556]

My build: The most basic of knights you could make. With the knight armour, kite shield and longsword. It's not optimal in the slightest. But it's fun being a little weak knight guy fighting gods. Really makes you feel like the guy on the cover.

[@GredGlintstone]

It's a classic for a reason!

[@Mr.Starlight_gaming]

33:00 you can also hop on one of the corpse mounds in the arena and then jump to avoid the shockwave. Also for elden beast, getting on and off the horse gives a bunch of i frames you can avoid the sword beam with that.

[@lignagirroc]

My eyes have been opened to the fun and satisfaction of playing the game at Level 1. There's just so much you can do. In other Souls games, you're basically railroaded at Level 1. But in Elden Ring, the open world and the massive number of weapons and other options combine to make an extremely versatile and customizable experience. Thank you for this video!

[@JoseViktor4099]

W for using Karolos Glintstone Crown all the way trough fr fr. Thats dedication.

[@GredGlintstone]

It my face.

[@Greendawn-di3dl]

Finally someone made a video about a level 1 guide for elden ring. My prayers have been answered!

[@OnTheRun_DontTellEm]

I will likely never attempt beating Elden Ring at lvl 1, and if I do I it will certainly be so far in the future that I will have forgotten all things discussed here; but that wont stop me from watching this because god this series has no right being as entertaining and relaxing as it is!

[@HeyTarnished]

Oh we have a peak video on our hands here, gonna watch it today! Thank you for this massive effort, Gred.

[@bepkororoti8019]

51:20 even easier than Giant Hunting Mirriam is to enter the inverted tower until they aggro, quit out and reload and they're gone, only the fingers and specters to worry about. Won't give you the spell obviously but you can always come back and kill them later.

[@popesinbengal]

Im sure you've had a long and storied career, but I'm just now finding you. From my perspective you've come out of nowhere and bested Thingfishy, who I assumed was one of a kind. This is important work in it's own way and we're grateful for all the work you put in

[@justinvicktory]

Proud to say you motivated me to start a RL1 run with your last video. i am stuck trying to beat margit with a club and no armor. got him halfway but definitely didn’t have a good set up though. no physick. no upgraded flasks. no upgraded weapons. it’s tough but im getting better and more patient

[@mtstomack7053]

I got to do a paper on this same topic for school just about a month ago so it's awesome to see one of my favorite creators cover it too :)

[@lordloss5464]

In the Inverted tower you can jump from the platform with the npc onto the chandeliers and then to rafters. Makes it much nicer going through there

[@calpowers1856]

Another great video! I've beaten Godrick RL1 now and was really looking forward to this upload. Cheers!

[@bepkororoti8019]

I've got no specific build but stomping Godrick into the ground with a Fire affinity Zweihander doped up on Cragblade at RL1 feels rather satisfying. I like to gather stuff from the Lands Between so this will be the next ten hours or so 🙂

[@piikae]

28:09 You can just kill Irena, though it locks you out of Hyetta's quest. There's also another dead maiden you can use in liurnia at the church where vyke invades you.

[@bananafishbones5724]

I beat every remembrance in the base game before you got this guide out (thanks to the first video spurring me to try an RL1) so that must mean I'm at a good pace. I love all your videos and I'll gladly keep this on while I'm grinding Rellana. Keep up the good work!

[@GredGlintstone]

Wow! So fast. Congrats dude!

[@bepkororoti8019]

27:50 you only need to invade three times, they don't need to be successful for being able to do Varré's quest. That is if you can live without the second Greatstars weapon wielded by Magnus, of course 🙂

[@rakhoo5236]

Idk how much it relates to the video but instead of doing rl1 runs with new character I just equip +0 weapon instead and just fight the boss with weapon I usually don’t use but think looks cool. Also I would consider this kind of a shortcut for the lazy part of the audience to try it out haha

[@TimsGamesDoneHard]

I did my RL1 run shortly after the game came out as my 3rd run of the game. I had seen other people doing RL1 runs with all the buffs and absolutely destroying the bosses. I decided to do what Lobos was doing and beat the game with just the Ringed Finger, because it looked funny. But this video has really shown the wide variety of options for a RL1 run that is still hard but allows more combat expression than the finger did. Might want to try another run! At the very least I'm showing this is my other friends that are on the fence about level 1 runs. This might change their mind about it.

[@RxAxIxNxBxOxW]

Damn! You dropped the video while I'm getting to Malekith, after beating Malenia jajajaja. Great video!

[@entroponetics]

Aussies are natural Soulslike players because they gain valuable IRL experience dodging and fighting dangerous native fauna from birth. Also, no mention of the Death's Poker? That thing absolutely carries through large chunks of the game (especially useful progressing through levels since it melts trash mobs) and trivializes furnace golems.

[@GredGlintstone]

Death's Poker was in an earlier draft. Originally the set-up section was like an hour and a half and I went through almost everything that is great at RL1 (death's poker, dual pickaxes, venomous fang etc). I ended up having to limit myself to 2 smithing stone weapons and 1 somber weapon for each damage type and tried to find a way to litter more throughout but it was really tough because I couldn't fit a ton of great stuff in the video. Saves some room for the DLC though! I'll definitely be talking about more options for those fights and I already have some ideas.

[@NiccoNeko]

For dodging Malenia clones, the easiest way i found is to stay running back when she goes into the air, then jump when the first clone comes slashing towards you. Then you just have to dodge the 3 hits at the end of the attack and can dodge into Malenia and punish

[@Mason-hs5bj]

I saw your post on r/onebro. That’s how I found your channel and I like it

[@gnperdue]

I’m down to Malenia, Bayle, and Consort Radahn on my RL1 All Remembrances (plus Bayle) run… I’m gonna get ‘em eventually, LOL. I strongly, strongly encourage everyone on the fence to give RL1 a try!

[@hhowdy]

Great video, I haven’t finished it yet, but you’ve already proved to me you can make great content. I’m basically 40 minutes in at this point and it’s great, so I know the rest is gonna be good. This is also a great video for me not just if I actually want to do a rl1 but also just in general. I don’t know what it is maybe I have autism, lol? But I OVER think some things WAYYY TOO much sometimes, not just Elden Ring irl too. I get overwhelmed by the size and span of everything in Elden Ring and I start overthinking how specifically I will be playing. How I will use the rest of my character slots properly. On top of the fact that I sometimes play the game as if it was just my first play through again. It is ANNOYING, it’s like me and my brain are literally two separate entities because I can recognize how dumb this is. Anyway this video is a help because it’s not just a guide it’s also a culmination of just Elden Ring information, you show the locations of items, how fast to get them, the best route to get them. What each damage type does (slash, pierce, blunt, standard) etc. So thank you, for the sake of my mind. Also at 20:00, so off topic but I just gotta bring up the coincidence. When I read Kalè I ALSO thought it was pronounced “Kayle” but the proper way to pronounce Kalè is “Ka lay”… Time for the coincidence: KAYLE is actually a character in my story and is such a rare name, so thanks for the epic reference.

[@GredGlintstone]

Haha, thanks! Yeah, sounds like decision fatigue to me. I get it too. I overthink the experience I want to have because I worry about missing out on a better one. I get it all the time with open world games but weirdly don't get it with Elden Ring. I think because I like to treat boss's like they're puzzles to solve. So, I'll happily switch up my build or strategy for each fight to target their weakness or move-set. Makes me feel like a tactician. I love it.

[@ender4334-4]

I would watch a 3 month long RL1 guide video if you made it... But seriously, good work my man. Glad I decided to stick around after watching (super popular ER video) to see what else you were gonna make!

[@oskarpernak7858]

Thank you Mr Glintstone, your content is incredible

[@HeinzBeanz2002]

I’ve done two RL1 runs, one before the DLC and one after. First run i basically just used Bloodhound fang with the occasional Serpent hunter and i even used Stormhawk Deenh for that spicy damage and posture damage boost. I got destroyed by some of these bosses over 50 times but eventually i took them down, thankfully i don’t think any boss took more than 100 tries. Radagon was probably my hardest fight, no not including elden beast, just Radagon, his rampant teleporting in the second half of that fight was too oppressive and i had a bad time dealing with it. But once i did, Elden Beast took no more than 5 tries. My second RL1 run was with the DLC, i ran with the bloodhounds fang again, but this time i wanted to beat up mogh early so i could grab my new favourite weapon, the Milady + wing stance. Mogh was tough with a not fully upgraded weapon and i felt like i could not be consistent enough with his moveset to fight him at this weapon level. Then i decided i’d level up to +10 after a little bit of collecting and i beat him first try with the new weapon level. And then i proceeded to throw my BHF to the wayside as i grabbed myself my favourite weapon. The Milady was pretty much made for me honestly, so fluid, heavy attacks stance break well, great at statuses (i used bleed for basically all of it unless the boss didn’t bleed), and last but not least, Wing Stance. This AOW made fighting bosses so fun because of its heavy attack and how it lets you dodge certain attacks when done at the right time. its basically a jumping attack into a devastating poke, this was before the rellana’s cameo buff so i might even try it again one day with that talisman. And so i proceeded to decimate the base game with the milady, bosses I struggled with BHF all fell much easier, Melania died in only 4 or 5 attempts because the weapon counter her so well with staggers and finding the stagger windows was very rewarding. Radagon, the guy that gave me the l most trouble last time, became almost scripted, Elden beast put up a better fight but tbh it was probably because i suck. With Basegame done, proceeded with the DLC, tried Dancing lion without fragments, realised immediately i was in over my head with this decision and used fragments before i deluded myself further. Dancing Lion was very fun once you realise that lightning phase is best fought defensively and ice attacks are pretty jumpable. Rellana was so damn cool and really shows how good wing stance is, every time she staggers you can do a charged heavy and a follow up slash with the milady before taking the critical, she stay stance broken forma very long time. Some move are jumpable which made wing stance even better and with enough scadutree levels and ritual shield talisman you can survive 1 slash of each sword in a combo. Scadutree was mostly fine tooC though the thorn were a real… thorn in my side… hehe Putrescent knight was very fun as i changed from wing stance to the holy slash for that holy damage buff. Gaius was surprisingly fun, the change is a little jank but everything else is fine. Metyr is probably the fight i had the least fun with but it was still manageable and fine when it comes to RL1. I realised that during the phase transition you get knocked down by the initial AOE but it doesn’t kill you so i tend to do as much damage as possible before i get knocked down and then heal and proceed to heavy attack or wing stance away. The big fuckoff laser sweep also doesn’t one shot with scadu levels and ritual shield so i just tanked the first one and then threw kukris while she was in the air. Bayle was done with Igon and the dragonslayer great katana, i might redo this fight without Igon one day so i can really learn the fight because bayle is probably my hardest fight in the DLC after all the PCR practice. Midra was my favourite fight of this run as usual, one that iMd happily so again, so many moves you can dodge in fun ways and the madness is a lot more deadly as one proc will most likely kill you, just such a fun fight. Speaking of fun fights, Messmer is as peak as always, he kicked my ass the most out of all the bosses so far bur i had a great time the whole way through. Then i got to Radahn… and oh boy… pre nerf made me want to scream, probably the second worst Souls experience i have had. And yet i still did it before the nerf, any negative feeling I had was replaced by pure hype as i took down this broken mess of a final boss and i still wish i had it recorded. Post Nerf Radahn is one i had to mod boss refights in for because i reallt wanted to see if the fight was any more fun, and thankfully, it was! He is so much more readable now, his openings feel great and i feel like deaths are more my fault than before, they did good with Radahn and now i love the boss again. Annnyways, yeah, RL1 was an experience alright

[@hadenplouffe3976]

For those struggling on either regular or mini Mohg, I will add to Gred's point about strafing the fire explosion - if you circle around his right instead of his left, it's tighter, but means you don't have to worry about dodging the followup and you can get off a full charged heavy on even a colossal sword with that!

[@bananafishbones5724]

Even better: if you strafe to YOUR right and start charging a heavy attack after the explosion, the follow up will always whiff. Once you get used to it I think it's a very free and fun punish.

[@hadenplouffe3976]

@ thank you for the correction, my brain was futzing - this is what I meant to say!

[@benschmitt7035]

First video came out just after I had beaten margit rl1, second vid comes out just after I beat morgott rl1! Timing is impeccable haha now I just need to figure out how to get past Niall without being able to hit trade so I can go fight Malenia, she was my favorite boss first playthrough I freakin loved learning and overcoming her challenge, can't wait to get back to her to fight her some more!!

[@wrenchgg]

Great videos man. Found it on Reddit. Subbed.

[@mikel8083]

nice guide but i think part of the most fun in challenge running no hit lvl1 etc is learning how to do so with your own strats and such no hate towards you or anyone if they want to be guided but thats the souls games for me u figure it out the first play through and u figure out how ur gonna challenge run it

[@dondante23]

Alexander would be so proud at how far we've come..

[@sneezingcat9446]

Maliketh is also my blocker now. Cuz I mainly use star fists and that miss a lot. Time to change weapon

[@GredGlintstone]

Star fists are rough on Maliketh for sure. I really like the zweihander move-set on him but I find that still misses him a bunch on phase 2 ('m really bad at free-aiming though).

[@joej78]

It's always cool to see what strats people use for RL1. I did mine with a mix of Zwei, Great Mace, and Antspur (only for Godfrey/Radagon, was tearing my hair out after a few hours of attempts). Definitely not optimal but I just love the crisp shiny aesthetic and the Zwei charged heavy. Any plans on doing DLC RL1 video? I've been putting off a DLC RL1 run off cause it feels 10x more intimidating than base game.

[@GredGlintstone]

Yup! Will be a while off but definitely coming at some point.

[@BBQcheese]

DLC is significantly easier than the base game if you use Scadutree Fragments. The routing is a lot easier as well and you can have a grace active for every rememberance except PCR at the same time. It's a huge collect a thon then a huge boss rush.

[@frerejere330]

4 bangers in a row. You gotta get a subscribe

[@BBQcheese]

Gred, bruh... Why does your character look incredibly similar to mine?😂 Crazy coincidence!

[@BBQcheese]

@Gred and fellow one bros... @28:00 he's talking about Varre's quest but you don't need to fight grafted scion you can just end that Lady by the bridge at the entrance to weeping peninsula as well. Faster and easier. Either way is valid but it's always nice to have more options.

[@GredGlintstone]

Yup! I went by the four bellfries to do Nepheli's quest at the same time but that's a good option too.

[@thisisrika]

Thx for the guide im on fire giant and thx for remeber me his questline before i kill fire giant doing some questline

[@dagothkronk348]

more delicious dinner from gred glintstone!!! yabba dabba carian retaliation!!!!

[@mikekoivusalo5962]

Yes! Ringed Finger love. ❤

[@GredGlintstone]

Ringed Finger vs Metyr is a sure thing for part 3.

[@AnL2Spammer]

“One of the hardest games in the world” sure

[@jdthegimp]

fuck yeah, lets go gredheads!

[@entroponetics]

1:25:30 So annoying that they were able to work around this issue with Malenia, but not the other bosses.

[@GredGlintstone]

So weird it still hasn't been fixed (and is particularly bad on DLC Radahn).

[@MakioGoHardio]

Buddy really called ER “one of the hardest games ever made” 💀

[@shade0636]

Do you like playing shmup bullet hells? They're a good genre for people that like continually honing their skills to overcome great challenges.

[@GredGlintstone]

Love shmups. Definitely a shmup video on the cards at some point in the future.

[@shade0636]

@@GredGlintstone Looking forward to it. :)

[@amrmans2]

This video will piss me off based on how good it is. The better this video the better I will have to make my video. I will leave a comment later on my total thoughts

[@BBQcheese]

That's what you get for taking too long...😂

[@amrmans2]

@BBQcheese Not my fault my parents aren't allowing me to monetize my channel 😴

[@BBQcheese]

​@@amrmans2 I was JK my guy

[@amrmans2]

@BBQcheese I'm aware dude im not that dumb lol but I wanted to release my rl1 vid before gred did 😔 I can't release the vid since I only have the script completed but would have grinded it out and released it sooner if I didn't have to wait until April minimum I've been sitting on this video idea for literally 16 months and you guys deserve the best content possible so the day I get monetization I will release it.

[@hhowdy]

You’re in Arkade’s server

[@lordloss5464]

How viable is shield poking rhykard at level one? Thats what i have taken to doing

[@matrixreal4742]

Level 1 Weapon +0 Thats the only Way 😌

[@GredGlintstone]

I honestly don't think I'm good enough, haha. Maybe one day.

[@matrixreal4742]

Try it and enjoy the Game 😎

[@TBOTNS]

What are the character sliders?

[@PumptyDumpty83]

Hell yeah.

[@sneezingcat9446]

Btw how can you deal with the furnace golem for some tears. I have trouble with those guys even when playing normally.

[@GredGlintstone]

There's a few which are easy to throw a furnace pot into but honestly I just whack away at their legs on torrent with a high stagger weapon. It's slow and boring but it's pretty safe if you respect the stomps and way easier to jump over the fire with torrent. I should definitely find a way to do it though because I hate doing it lol. Definitely the worst thing about the DLC for me.

[@sneezingcat9446]

@ yeh I saw someone mentioned in r/onebros that using Death Poker is recommended. I’ll try that once I beat base game 😭

[@DaitylSword]

Couldnt you just scale the cliffs and kill Makar witnout needing to collect the two great runes

[@GredGlintstone]

That will get you to Altus, yeah. But you'd still need the great runes to get into the capital. It's the dectus medallion that gets you up the lift not the great runes.

[@DaitylSword]

@GredGlintstone but doesn't the capital have a side entrance if you kill draconic tree sentinel. I remember not needing runes for that but it's been a hot minute.

[@GredGlintstone]

@@DaitylSword It does but it's blocked off until you get the two runes. When you kill the tree sentinel there's a blocked door like the deeproot depths door after mini-mogh.

[@thespacecat3514]

Comment for the algorithm

[@OBUNGUS487]

how old are you?

[@glisteninggames2981]

no roll guide when?

[@GredGlintstone]

when I get gud :(

[@glisteninggames2981]

@GredGlintstone noroll gaius is peak, try it. admiraljub has a sick playstyle

[@strxbxrryfixlds]

this video could’ve been perfect, but that horn riff at the end was 5 beats, and yet you only showed 4 bosses. you could’ve used rellana, bayle, or any other rememberance boss 🥲🥲