The Beginner’s Guide to Elden Ring

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April 16, 2022

Gaming

Watch at: 00:00 / 00:00:20When you play Elden Ring, you'll inevitably run up against bosses or areas that will humbleyou.While it's certainly possible that you've stumbled into an encounter you're not strongenough to face yet, it's important to remember that a lot of these obstacles are often thereby design.They do not block the path - they are the path.Through skill, or creativity..or just by coming back later - you can overcome any obstaclein this game, and this video will give you all the tools you need to do so.Watch at: 00:20 / 00:40Before you do anything else, you should try to master the basics of combat.At the core of combat is your stamina bar, the green bar under your red health bar.This resource is depleted when you perform the actions necessary for fighting.For example, sprinting ... dodging ... blocking attacks ... attacking ... all of these things,Watch at: 00:40 / 01:00and more, require stamina.As for the proper flow of combat - While locked on with R3, keep your shield raised with L1.This will prevent damage from any attacks that are too fast for you to react to.As you block them, your stamina bar will be depleted, so make sure to drop your shieldin-between attacks in order to regain that stamina faster.Watch at: 01:00 / 01:20Now, fast attacks often don't deplete too much of your stamina - but slow attacks area different story, and can easily break your guard, leaving you wide open.Thus, if you think you can anticipate a slow attack, it's often better to roll throughWatch at: 01:20 / 01:40it instead.Rolls have invincibility frames that nullify all damage if you roll around the instantwhere you would have been hit, and while more difficult to do, avoiding damage in this wayis much more stamina-efficient.You should try to wear the heaviest, most defensive armour you can - but make sure youstay below 70% equipment load so that your rolls stay fast and effective.Watch at: 01:40 / 02:00As you fight an enemy, pay special attention to their animations and try to memorise theirmoveset.Over time, you will learn the best way to avoid certain attacks, and where the openingsare.But learn to fight with a mixture of both blocks, and rolls.Watch at: 02:00 / 02:20As a general rule, you should block fast attacks, and roll through slow attacks.By fighting efficiently in this way, you'll avoid damage AND still have stamina left overto deal damage while the boss is left open.A new way to deal damage in Elden Ring is with Guard Counters, which are a core partWatch at: 02:20 / 02:40of Elden Ring's combat.Shortly after successfully blocking an attack, you can retaliate by tapping R2 and performinga Guard Counter attack.These counters are extremely powerful.If you recognise an opportunity to safely perform one, you should.They deal great damage, and many lesser enemies will immediately have their Super Armor broken,Watch at: 02:40 / 03:00opening them up for a critical attack with R1.But what is Super Armor?Well, it's an invisible meter that enemies and bosses have.It depletes when they take damage, and when you fully deplete it and break their SuperWatch at: 03:00 / 03:20Armor, you can perform a critical attack by tapping R1.As a rule of thumb, any R2 attack will do more Super Armor damage.Jumping R2 attacks do a lot ... Running R2 attacks are great too ... but fully chargedR2 attacks seem to do the most.Also worth noting is that Super Armor regenerates over time.Watch at: 03:20 / 03:40Therefore, it's important that you continually deal damage to your enemies.If you sense a boss is close to breaking point, go on the offensive with your R2 attacks.Often, you'll be rewarded.On the other hand, if you're simply just looking to do consistent damage - well, tapping R1Watch at: 03:40 / 04:00is the probably the way to go.R1 attacks generally come out much faster, and aren't as risky to perform.If you really want to prioritise damage over defense, then you can two-hand your weapon.The input for this is to hold Triangle or Y, and tap R1 or L1 to two-hand your right-handWatch at: 04:00 / 04:20item, or left-hand item, respectively.In addition to granting you a new moveset, you will have more strength, more damage,more super armor damage, and you can also often avoid recoil when striking an enemy'sshield.So if your shield isn't helping much with an encounter, consider two-handing for damageWatch at: 04:20 / 04:40instead.While you'll mostly be dodging for defense in this state, it's worth noting that youcan still block while two-handing, and while you'll take some chip damage - it's stilla good idea to block in many situations, especially if you want to utilise guard counters.Watch at: 04:40 / 05:00Another offensive alternative to two-handing is powerstancing, which can be achieved byequipping two weapons of the same class, one in each hand.With this, you'll get access to a special L1 attack that utilises both weapons.Just like your R1 attacks, your L1 attacks do a combo of attacks, and can be utilisedWatch at: 05:00 / 05:20in jumping attacks as well.Speaking of jumping attacks, they are incredible gap closers, allowing you to cover distanceand queue an attack simultaneously.If an enemy is left open, but you're far away - close the distance with a jumping attackto see how effective they can be.Watch at: 05:20 / 05:40Jumping R1 attacks are generally better for flying or mounted enemies... and jumping R2attacks are generally better if you want to inflict damage and posture damage upon groundedenemies.Damage can be healed with your Flask of Crimson Tears, which will always replenish when youwarp, or sit at a grace checkpoint.Watch at: 05:40 / 06:00Additionally, you can get extra flask charges by clearing out a group of enemies ... orby defeating these small red creatures.At grace checkpoints, you can upgrade your flask with Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears.Golden seeds are found at minor erdtrees, and increase the amount of flasks you canWatch at: 06:00 / 06:20carry.Sacred Tears are found at Churches of Marika, and increase the amount healed by your flasks.Furthermore, you can balance the allotment of crimson flasks and cerulean flasks youcarry at a site of grace, to better suit your needs.To quickly access your crimson healing flask at any time, consider making it the firstWatch at: 06:20 / 06:40item on your quick-select bar.This way, if you hold down on the d-pad, you'll always shortcut to it instantly.At the top of the d-pad, you'll be able to cycle through your current selection of spells.New spells can be memorized at a site of grace.These spells will either be incantations, which must be cast with an equipped seal...orWatch at: 06:40 / 07:00sorceries, which must be cast with an equipped staff.Cycle through your equipped armaments by pressing left or right on the d-pad.If you die, then you'll drop all your runes at your point of death.If you don't pick them up during your next life, then they'll be gone forever.Make sure to seek them out using your compass, whenever you can.Watch at: 07:00 / 07:20When you do die, you can choose to resurrect at a site of grace, or sometimes at a Stakeof Marika.If you see this statue ... or this icon, then it's probably an indication that you're ina difficult area, or near a boss, as a Stake of Marika is nearby.Watch at: 07:20 / 07:40Respawning at a Stake of Marika will usually make your run back to your runes less severe,so it's often best to choose that option, unless you'd prefer to move on from what killedyou.If you're out in the open world, one way to overcome difficulty is by choosing the rightscenarios to fight on your mount.You'll receive your mount after visiting your third site of lost grace.Watch at: 07:40 / 08:00Against large or mounted enemies that struggle against hit and run tactics, the mount isdefinitely the way to go.While mounted, R1 and R2 give you light and heavy attacks on the right side, and L1 andL2 give light and heavy attacks on your left side.If you hold your heavy attacks, you can charge them up, dealing continuous damage while youWatch at: 08:00 / 08:20charge, culminating in a strong attack at the end.While mounted, you automatically wield the armament in your right hand.If you would prefer to wield the armament in your left hand, use a two-handing input- so hold triangle or Y, and tap L1 or R1.Torrent can take damage separately from the player, but his damage can be healed by yourWatch at: 08:20 / 08:40crimson flasks, as well as craftable rowa raisins.If he does somehow die before you, then you'll have to sacrifice a crimson flask to revivehim.As you get hit on your mount, you run the risk of losing your posture and getting knockeddown for an extended period of time.If this happens, you are extremely vulnerable.If you're taking damage, then at a certain point, no matter what you're fighting, it'sWatch at: 08:40 / 09:00probably wise to dismount and fight them on foot for a while.Jumping attacks off your horse are a great way to transition into melee combat.Dismount with L3, and slam them with L1, R1, or R2.The distance you cover with this is absurd, and initiating a fight in this way gives youWatch at: 09:00 / 09:20an immediate advantage.As the fight goes on, consider if mounting up again for a burst of speed would be toyour benefit.Against Flying Dragon Agheel, for example, certain attacks are better off being outpacedon a mount.For a reliable way to mount up quickly, I would recommend binding your Spectral SteedWatch at: 09:20 / 09:40Whistle to your pouch - a secondary D-pad menu that can be edited in the menu screen.You can quickly access these all four of these bindings by holding down triangle or Y, thentapping the appropriate d-pad button.This way, you'll have a consistent input for mounting up, instead of toggling rapidly throughyour items looking for your Spectral Steed Whistle.Watch at: 09:40 / 10:00This same logic applies to any other item you want quick, reliable access to.In addition to your double jump for extra height, be on the lookout for Spirit Springs,which take you to incredible heights.Conversely, you can safely jump into a spirit spring to negate all fall damage.Watch at: 10:00 / 10:20