Elden Ring Beginner's Guide: Avoid Early Frustration, Best Builds
The timeless action RPG masterpiece, ELDEN RING, swept the 2022 Game of the Year awards. Its vast and beautiful world, highly free-form exploration, and FromSoftware's signature challenging combat system captivated gamers worldwide. However, many Tarnished, overwhelmed by its daunting difficulty, may have given up early on. This article provides practical strategy information for such beginners, helping them overcome early hurdles and enjoy their adventure in the Lands Between to the fullest.
Overcome the First Wall! Recommended Classes and Keepsakes
Character creation is the first step of your adventure. What you choose here significantly changes the difficulty of the early game. The selection of your "class" and "keepsake" is especially crucial.
"Samurai" or "Astrologer" are Solid Class Choices
ELDEN RING offers 10 different classes, but "Samurai" and "Astrologer" are highly recommended for beginners.
- Samurai
The starting weapon, "Uchigatana," is very high-performance. It has long reach, straightforward and easy-to-handle attack animations, and inflicts "Bleed." Since Bleed is extremely powerful in this game, it's reliable even in boss battles. Additionally, starting with a bow allows for tactics like safely chipping away at tough enemies from a distance. Its high Dexterity stat makes it easy to decide on future build directions. - Astrologer
This is a mage-type class with high Intelligence. Its biggest advantage is the ability to attack enemies with sorceries from long range, making it less prone to taking hits and safer to play for those who are not good at action games. The starting sorceries are already powerful enough, but obtaining the powerful staff and sorcery mentioned later in the early game will make progression even easier.
Keepsake: "Golden Seed" is the Only Choice
You can choose one keepsake from a selection of items that give you a slight advantage in your adventure. Here, without hesitation, choose the "Golden Seed." A Golden Seed is a valuable item that increases the number of uses for your "Sacred Flasks," which restore HP and FP. It significantly expands your exploration range and dramatically increases your survival rate in boss battles, making its benefits overwhelmingly greater than other keepsakes.
Powerful Early-Game Weapons and Ashes of War
Just a little exploration in Limgrave can yield powerful equipment that will serve you well until the late game. Make acquiring these items an early-game goal.
How to Get "Bloodhound's Fang," One of the Strongest Physical Weapons
If you plan to focus on melee combat, "Bloodhound's Fang" is an absolute must-have weapon. This is a great curved sword with a bleed effect, characterized by high attack power and its excellent unique Ash of War, "Bloodhound's Step." This Ash of War allows you to significantly retreat with invincibility frames while attacking, enabling hit-and-run tactics while avoiding enemy counterattacks.
It can be found in the "Forlorn Hound Evergaol" in southern Limgrave. You acquire it by defeating the boss inside, "Bloodhound Knight Darriwil." The boss is tough, but if you summon the cooperative NPC "Blaidd the Half-Wolf" before entering the Evergaol, he will fight alongside you, significantly lowering the difficulty.
The Astrologer's Friends: "Meteorite Staff" and "Rock Sling"
If you're playing as an Astrologer, prioritize acquiring these two items. They are located in the "Street of Sages Ruins" in "Caelid," a high-difficulty area east of Limgrave. The enemies along the way are strong, but you can avoid combat and obtain them by riding past on your Spirit Steed.
- Meteorite Staff
It boasts an incredibly high S-scaling in Intelligence and requires no reinforcement, allowing it to deliver high sorcery attack power immediately upon acquisition. It also enhances gravity-type sorceries. - Rock Sling
This sorcery can be found in the basement of the same ruins as the Meteorite Staff. It unleashes three projectiles of rock at enemies. Being a physical attack, it's effective against foes with high magic resistance. Furthermore, it has the characteristic of easily staggering enemies, making it very powerful.
Efficient Rune Farming and Level-Up Guidelines
In this game, both leveling up and upgrading equipment require "Runes," which are obtained by defeating enemies. Knowing efficient places to farm Runes in the early game will significantly smooth your progression.
Near the "Fort Gael North" Site of Grace in Caelid
A famous early-game Rune farming spot is around the "Fort Gael North" Site of Grace in Caelid. Numerous relatively easy-to-defeat soldiers are stationed here, and each drops more Runes than those in Limgrave. In particular, the huge "Fire Chariot"-type enemy nearby can be defeated in one hit by using a plunging attack from the cliff above, yielding approximately 2,500 Runes. Since it's close to the Site of Grace and easy to repeat, it's recommended to farm here intensively if you feel your level is too low.
Stat Allocation (Attribute) Priority
Deciding which attributes to raise when leveling up (stat allocation) is crucial for build creation. Beginners should prioritize the following:
- Vigor is Top Priority
First, aim to raise your Vigor to around 25-30. If your HP is low, even weak enemy attacks can often be fatal. Raising HP simply increases your survival rate and allows for more attempts to learn enemy movements. - Secure Endurance Too
Next, allocating around 15-20 points into Endurance will increase your Stamina, allowing for more attacks and dodges. It also raises your equipment load limit, enabling you to equip heavier (and higher defense) armor. - Boost Your Main Damage Stat
Once Vigor and Endurance are secured, it's time to increase your damage output. For a Samurai using Uchigatana or Bloodhound's Fang, focus on "Dexterity." For an Astrologer using sorcery, focus on "Intelligence." Allocate points intensively into the stat that provides the highest attribute scaling for your main weapon.
Key Adventure Tips to Remember
Finally, here are some basic techniques that will be useful in exploration and combat.
Actively Utilize Spirit Ashes (Summons)
When you just can't win a boss battle, use "Spirit Ashes" to summon spirits. Spirits will draw the enemy's attention, giving you time to safely attack or heal. Even the "Lone Wolf Ashes" obtainable early on are quite powerful.
Master Jump Attacks and Guard Counters
Beyond just repeatedly attacking, a jumping heavy attack is a powerful action that can easily break an enemy's stance. Also, immediately after guarding an enemy's attack with a shield that has 100% physical damage negation, pressing the heavy attack button will unleash a quick and powerful counterattack called a "Guard Counter." Simply being mindful of these two techniques will significantly increase your combat stability.
Conclusion
ELDEN RING is indeed a difficult game, but its high degree of freedom means that players can discover countless ways to overcome challenges with a little ingenuity. The classes, weapons, and leveling methods introduced in this article are just a few among many strategies. However, if you can use these as a reference to overcome the early-game hurdles, an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and a vast, endless world of adventure await you beyond. Do not fear failure, Tarnished, and strive to become Elden Lord.
