merp
Darknut
- Pronouns
- He/him
Divided it into spoiler tags so the page wouldn't have trouble loading or buffering. So, err, let me know if you prefer it the other way.
1. What is Elden Ring? How does it involve FromSoftware and GRRM?
By now, many know the general gist of Elden Ring, at least from the high amount of ads, trailers, and general hype surrounding the idea of Hidetaka Miyazaki and George Martin working on a FromSoftware title. Basically, this is an open-world game (first of its kinda, in fact, like a certain famous game series by another studio that recently made the shift to open-world as well whose name WILL NOT BE MENTIONED HERE) by FromSoftware, the same devs that brought you the Dark Souls trilogy, Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekira: Shadows Die Twice. All of these titles have been much acclaimed by fans and gaming media outlets (and even those that aren’t necessarily gaming reviewers). George R. R. Martin, the same person behind the A Song of Ice and Fire series (of which the Game of Thrones TV show was based off of).
As for the game world itself, you are known as a Tarnished (a type of exile from the land that the game takes place in), who arrives at an area known as the “Lands Between,” after the destruction of the so-called “Elden Ring” (why it was destroyed is still a mystery). The destruction of the Ring leads to a series of events which set up the present of the game, but from what we know so far, you’re tasked in the game with finding and hunting down the fragments of the Elden Ring (known as the Great Runes) and becoming the Elden Lord after restoring the Ring (I take it that you’d essentially be the “big man” of the Lands Between afterword). One thing is to note is that the world itself doesn’t seem to be apocalyptic in the same sense as previous games; it seems that most of the destruction and carnage happens in the Lands Between and you’re essentially a foreigner that was summoned to set things right.
Oh yeah, and there's a theory that you travel back in time to around when all this is happening, but idk, I'm kinda trying to make sure that I don't learn more about the game past a certain point.
2. Who are you in this game? And who are the cast of characters?
There are several characters to make note of. I’ll cut to the chase:
Some Background Characters
Queen Marika the Eternal - Probably not in the actual game itself beyond flashbacks here and there or references, but her offspring are the inheritors of the Great Runes (the fragments of the Elden Ring). In a way, her legacy is what you’re ultimately battling at this point. Godwyn the Golden’s death (one of the first Demigods to fall) is noted as being particularly devastating to her.
Godfrey - The first Elden Lord, married to Queen Marika, and one that became Tarnished and exiled from the Lands Between.
Melania the Severed and General Radahn - Mentioned and shown to be fighting with each other in one of the trailers.
Current Characters
You - Basically the “ashen undead” of the Dark Souls series or whatever equivalent is in any other FromSoftware game. You are a “Tarnished,” one of the people that have been exiled from the Lands Between upon losing their “blessing” that was given by the Elden Ring as well as the "Erdtree" (basically the thing that gives life to the Lands Between and, since this is at least partly based off of Norse mythology, something of a fantasy analogue to the Yggdrasil or Mimameidr from legend). Already you can tell that this story involves the forces that banished the Tarnished from outside the world as wanting to bring them back, presumably out of a sense of desperation. You are also, again presumably, the descendant of the original Tarnished, though I wasn’t able to find how long this takes place from the background events.
Melina - The one that offers you, the Tarnished, an “accord” (in that same posh British accent that makes me want to say “accord” randomly here and there for no reason), or some such. Some liken her to the “Fire Keeper” role from previous FromSoftware games. She is quite prominent in the advertising leading up to the game, at least in one of the playtests. In that demo, she could be found in the overland of the open-world after finding 3 Sites of Grace (think: the Bonfires from the Dark Souls games, which restore health and magic and give some sense of protection from the players albeit at the expense of respawning enemy mooks in the games). She apparently wants to be taken to the Erdtree mentioned before.
Renna - Encountered at the Church of Elleh at Limgrave and the one that teaches you how to summon spirits sometime during the game. A witch of some sort, she is prominent in the advertising of the game, and seems to give you a quest after being able to summon your “spectral steed” known as Torrent. She has some sort of translucent reversed image of herself on her right (coinciding with where her right eye should be).
Noted Minor Character You’ll Meet
The Nomadic Merchants - the NPCs throughout the game and throughout multiple locations and provinces where you can sell and buy items (as well as learn more on how to acquire certain items). Each one has a different selection of items.
Smithing Master Hewg - A prisoner found at a place called Roundtable Hold (a hub area that is apparently outside the Lands Between and one that you can only fast-travel to) and one that will upgrade your armor and weapons for a price.
Roderika - A “spirit-tuner” and one that again moves to Roundtable Hold after coming across her. Apparently found at Stormhill Shack while going to Stormveil.
Finger Reader Enia - An ancient woman albeit one that can wield a huge club and can be found again at Roundtable Hold after meeting her.
Thops - A student sorcerer or mage and one that will teach you spells for donations in Runes (the currency of the game). He can be found at the Church of Irith at the area known as the Liurnia of the Lakes.
Knight Bernahl - A Knight and a fellow Tarnished someplace in Stormhill. Will sell you Ashes of War in exchange for Runes.
More will be added to this list here and there as more people play the game.
3. What do you do in the main campaign or storyline? How about the side-quests and supplementary missions and things to do? What is the genre of the game?
Elden Ring is a modern open world adventure game, designed with nearly a dozen primary classes to choose from. You and your double-jumping horse will discover six distinct areas in the Lands Between, and all the ethereal haunts and horrors within. NPC denizens will dwell in a persistently online world where they know each other, and react to your deeds- some might even offer personal quests, given you meet their demands.
Game director Miyazaki: “More so than our previous games, Elden Ring has a vast world with an open overworld, so we were faced with the ordeal of how we maintain our gameplay style while offering a renewed sense of openness. So with elements like balancing the player’s exploration alongside boss fights, the order of progression that players go through the game, and the progression of the events themselves throughout the map–trying to expand on player freedom while balancing all of this was a significant challenge.” [Source]
Some things to keep mindful of:
Be on the look-out for “Golden Seeds” as they help you upgrade your flask; use a Site of Grace afterward which will increase the amount of flasks that you have. Keep in mind that more flasks = more healing and more magic replenishment, among other things.
They can typically be found around Golden Trees
Look for “Sacred Tears” (which will increase the quality of the flasks, which means that they will heal more/replenish more). You can find them at churches (like the Church of Irith, for example).
Collect area maps whenever you can, but be on the look-out for this icon here in order to find them:
Specifically, the unmapped areas of your world map are generally a brownish color and you won’t know what’s there, but you can find area maps by making way to where the icon here should be. You’ll find a map in a chest at the base of the pillar (which the icon represents).
Get a crafting kit when you’re able to. Basically, this:
Generally recommended by merchants and sold by them.
An Ash of War is something you’ll come across throughout your playthrough and quite important.
These are special items that allow you to replace the Weapon Skills and Affinities of your own weapons, armor, etc. with newer and generally better affinities and skills. Your weapon or armament will be tuned to your playstyle and build as you level up, though certain unique weapons that you encounter throughout the game will not be affected by Ashes of War.
Lastly, there are quests, but the more you progress the game’s main storyline, the more you’ll either lose them (before completing them) or progress the questline of the characters you encounter in different ways depending on what you do before you afterwards progressed the main story.
Okay, err, that was quite the run-on sentence there. Basically, I’ll try to break that down: you kill a boss while a character that you met is intimately tied to the boss. That boss’s death (before you did what the character asks or perhaps before you even met the character) will progress not only his or her storyline, but the storyline of the game AND you may inadvertently end the storyline/quest permanently. It’s complicated, though enticing (I honestly hope other open-world games copy this). I hope I’m explaining it right, but I can clarify if anyone wants (or perhaps edit in a better explanation).
Following videos are from Fextralife, Ratatoskr, Silver Mont, and FP Good Game. Here are the following classes:
Wretch
Prophet
Confessor
Samurai
Bandit
Vagabond
Paladin
Mage
Warrior
Hero
Elden Ring Classes Guide - What Class is Best For You? Which Keepsake to Choose? Character Creation [Fextralife]
4. How does this differ from other FromSoftware games? Do I need to play other FromSoftware games like the Dark Souls series or Bloodborne?
While Elden Ring is not necessarily beholden to any of its predecessors, many design elements and philosophies persist from previous entries.
Common enemies hit hard – Greed will always be punished- never underestimate common ghouls or random foes in the field, as nearly everything is generally lethal. [Source]
You are never really losing – Every obstacle in these games can be beaten with the right items/builds/strategies, and generally it’s much more fun deciphering the puzzle yourself than using a search engine to discover each boss’s weaknesses. Game Director Miyazaki: “In general, I’d like new players to feel unpressured and that they can approach the game at their pace. I don’t want to enforce any playstyle or particular route because I’d like them to experience that sense of freedom. And I realize that while we offer games with a high level of challenge, we design them in a way that feels fulfilling to overcome. But I don’t want new players to worry or stress about that difficulty too much.
This time in Elden Ring, we have many options at the player’s disposal to confront challenging situations and use their cunning to outsmart enemies and bosses. They can come back to something later when they’re at an impasse so that they can have this freedom of progression and not have to bang their head against a wall over and over. They can figure out what to do and how to approach it again, at their own pace. Like our previous games, we have multiplayer elements, but the barriers to entry have lowered to make it a lot more accessible. So we hope players take full advantage of that.” [Source]
Blind is often best - Also tied to the idea that you’re never really losing is the freedom “one life’s run” in these games actually gives you- each time you’re hopefully advancing a little closer toward your destination, gaining more knowledge and power. This series is often inscrutable, but not impossible- maddening but delightful. Game Director Miyazaki: “Mainly, we want players to feel the importance of the level of freedom that we’re focusing on this time. We want them to enjoy the game in their own way and feel liberated in this new open world that they can explore at their own pace. If possible, we want players to try and steer clear of spoilers or guides and go in with a completely fresh, open mind and enjoy that initial sense of adventure. That’s how we’d want to experience the game if we were going into it for the first time. And that’s how we hope our players can experience the game comfortably at their own pace with this new sense of wonder.” [Source]
In addition, several of the following tips are adapted from forgotten lore.
Examine the item - There is a lot of information tied to item descriptions, way more than most games.
Respecs exist - They are limited and they are expensive, but your starting class, weapons, and gifts matter much less than you initially might think. While you shouldn't necessarily ignore the class you choose, it's always been possible to simply distribute points into whatever style you wish to play.
Soft caps exist - Every skill has an unstated ceiling where it stops scaling at large rates, the community will determine these numbers quickly enough.
Trust/Do Not Trust Patches - There will always be Patches.
5. What tips and tricks are worth mentioning? What other things should I know in general?
1. How to stop walking mausoleums…
2. You will not be able to change your class and keepsake (the starting item you’ll be given at the beginning) during your playthrough.
3. The Ash of War - Glintblade Phalanx is considered a good Ash of War for any class that you’re using, especially at the start.
4. In regards to stealth, hitting stronger enemies and then running away until they lose aggro (before going back to finish them off) is a tactic that is recommended.
5. Mounts are a must, especially when it comes to fighting dragons as it’s easier to dodge them that way. Also, when it comes to mounts, weight doesn’t matter which means you can have the heaviest armor (and thus the heaviest) defense and still not be weighed down. Using the mount Torrent also gives you a special sprint ability.
6. Caves/tunnels make use of mid-way drop-off points where you have to land in specific places as you fall down so be mindful to toggle the camera downward whenever there’s a hole or slope as you may spot another tunnel or alcove with an outward ledge.
7. Certain puzzles (and you’ll come across them in tunnels/caves/dungeons as well as the overworld at times) may require you to use a jester (like an emote, the ones that you find in Final Fantasy XIV).
8. The game gives you little guidance on what to do and where to go when you start; it is a bit like BOTW (shit!) in this sense.. That said, it is generally recommended that you first go through the following places:
Limgrave > Weeping Peninsula > Stormhill > Stormveil Castle
Afterward, you go north to a place called Liurnia of the Lakes.
9. It is recommended that you focus or specialize your specs (not spread them out).
Also, you can only respec after completing a certain boss in each area from what we know so far.
10. Use your map and follow the arrows pointing from the Sites of Grace:
Where you see the arrows and where they point toward is basically the general direction you have to go to progress the story.
11. Toggle the “Explanation” button in the menu of the game (after clicking the “Help” button, which is found at the bottom of the screen). After you click it, you should be able to be given an explanation over whatever button you’re hovering over in the menu. For example, if you hover over your stats or specs, you’ll be given an explanation on what they actually do and what purpose they serve. I would recommend this to anyone, especially if you’ve never played a Dark Souls game or Bloodborne or any FromSoftware game before.
The menu should look like what you see above. Again, click “Explanation” and then you should be able to get explanation windows like this:
(The explanation window for the “Runes Needed” bar is what I’m referring to.)
12. You’ll be launched in the air whenever you come across a “Spiritspring” with your steed Torrent, basically helping you to traverse the mountainous landscape. They should look like this:
However, what’s not said is that you can fall down and land safely if you drop from a long height and land on the Spiritsprings, thus giving you a safe way down.
13. An interesting aside, but if you fast-travel to certain places, when you appear there, you’ll sometimes come across characters like Melina or the witch Renna and an encounter or small cutscene will ensue. So, yeah, just by fast-traveling randomly to places, you could encounter a character when you appear there (or sometimes even bosses or enemies).
14. One thing to keep in mind: if you come across a boss or powerful enemy and you decide to run away, eventually they will teleport back to their original location. HOWEVER, if you return to them, the health that they had before (let’s say that you managed to halve it before you were forced to run away) will be the same as how you left it. So you can basically take your sweet time finding other items and flasks and consumables to prepare for another bout with the enemy and come back at full health/magic while that same boss is weakened.
15. In order to defeat skeletons without holy magic completely (they’ll regenerate after you manage to beat them), there will be an animation where the skeletons (or “Those That Live In Death”) will resurrect themselves (a white light will also appear). Hit them again, maybe a few times, while they’re replenishing and the skeleton warriors will stay dead for good.
16. If you see these imp statues with a white-ish barrier next to them
then you’re going to need what’s called a “Stonesword Key” to get through them. However, there are many different Stonesword barriers and statues and while each Stonesword Key affects them, you won’t always have one for each and every one of them (and perhaps never, though that hasn’t been confirmed yet in-game or by any devs yet). Basically, it’s recommended that you consider using one before you actually use it as you may not be able to use it on another one during certain times of your playthrough.
17. Once you kill a Demi-god and attain the corresponding Great Rune of the boss that you killed, you must go to the Limgrave Tower to activate its power and then you can go to a Site of Grace. Once you’re at one, you can use its full power and ability by activating the Great Rune or Rune Arc until the next time you die.
18. Oh yeah, and: like most Souls or FromSoftware games, you cannot pause, or at least, not pause traditionally (think: Dead Space video games by EA and the fact that enemies could attack you while you’re paused).
19. You can choose whether to be resurrected or replenished at a Stake of Marika or a Site of Grace after you die. This should be what you see after an enemy beats you:
Keep in mind: the Stakes of Marika are near enemies (which may mean that you can come across your previous possessions that you had before you died, which are always left behind where you last were after you spawn at a Stake of Marika or Site of Grace).
20. Honestly? I suggest looking up brief guides and primers while you're playing just to get the gist of the basic controls, strategies, and tactics that you can use, never mind the exploits and "cheats" (not actual cheats, but stuff you can do in the vanilla version to get an advantage). Do that for the first 2, maybe 3, days even if you think it's not helping as that generally assists me in just sort-of knowing how everything works at a basic level. Keep in mind that the game is a bit dense to newcomers who have never played a FromSoftware game, though it is at least somewhat streamlined.
6. Here are a list of official trailers and videos (well, at least two of them are from separate channels aside from the Namco Bandai one) for Elden Ring:
(This trailer above is kinda spoiler-y so maybe watch after you’ve at least played a few hours as I haven’t even watched it yet.)
Some supplementary videos:
Some nice music to listen to
:
"Return to Slumber" from Demon's Souls
"Firelink Shrine" from Dark Souls
"Majula" from Dark Souls II
"Epilogue" from Dark Souls III
"Hunter's Dream" from Bloodborne
"End of a Vicious Struggle" from Sekiro
"Main Theme" from Elden Ring
7. Here are some reviews and early impressions that you’ll find helpful (I made sure to keep spoilers to a minimum).
Video reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Uybg4wSwo
Written reviews:
https://www.ign.com/articles/elden-ring-review
https://www.wired.com/story/elden-ring-review/
https://genvel.com/elden-ring-is-fr...-zero-negative-reviews-and-historical-record/
https://www.latimes.com/entertainme...wares-most-impressive-open-world-game-to-date
https://globalcirculate.com/elden-ring-is-the-game-of-the-year/
https://www.thegamer.com/elden-ring-difficulty-approachibility/
https://www.thegamer.com/elden-ring-difficulty-approachibility/
Done.
Read, plox.
(And yes, I did just make a RuneScape reference. Idk. Maybe I'm making out-there references because I'm excited, but the game literally comes out in an hour in my timezone. Literally. I am literally using the word literally in a profuse manner. I, quite literally (quite!), can't contain myself right now.)
Oh, and enjoy!
Edit:
I was tired af once I was done. I was going to make this in a separate post, but I've decided to put it here:
Thank you to:
@aus89
and
@afternoon delight
for helping me work on this.
Also, thanks to @maebe for inspiring the ST thread name.
Proof that she did so:
famiboards.com
Yes, she's the one that coined it and I put it int here as soon as I was done.
Again, thanks!
1. What is Elden Ring? How does it involve FromSoftware and GRRM?
By now, many know the general gist of Elden Ring, at least from the high amount of ads, trailers, and general hype surrounding the idea of Hidetaka Miyazaki and George Martin working on a FromSoftware title. Basically, this is an open-world game (first of its kinda, in fact, like a certain famous game series by another studio that recently made the shift to open-world as well whose name WILL NOT BE MENTIONED HERE) by FromSoftware, the same devs that brought you the Dark Souls trilogy, Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekira: Shadows Die Twice. All of these titles have been much acclaimed by fans and gaming media outlets (and even those that aren’t necessarily gaming reviewers). George R. R. Martin, the same person behind the A Song of Ice and Fire series (of which the Game of Thrones TV show was based off of).
As for the game world itself, you are known as a Tarnished (a type of exile from the land that the game takes place in), who arrives at an area known as the “Lands Between,” after the destruction of the so-called “Elden Ring” (why it was destroyed is still a mystery). The destruction of the Ring leads to a series of events which set up the present of the game, but from what we know so far, you’re tasked in the game with finding and hunting down the fragments of the Elden Ring (known as the Great Runes) and becoming the Elden Lord after restoring the Ring (I take it that you’d essentially be the “big man” of the Lands Between afterword). One thing is to note is that the world itself doesn’t seem to be apocalyptic in the same sense as previous games; it seems that most of the destruction and carnage happens in the Lands Between and you’re essentially a foreigner that was summoned to set things right.
Oh yeah, and there's a theory that you travel back in time to around when all this is happening, but idk, I'm kinda trying to make sure that I don't learn more about the game past a certain point.
2. Who are you in this game? And who are the cast of characters?
There are several characters to make note of. I’ll cut to the chase:
Some Background Characters
Queen Marika the Eternal - Probably not in the actual game itself beyond flashbacks here and there or references, but her offspring are the inheritors of the Great Runes (the fragments of the Elden Ring). In a way, her legacy is what you’re ultimately battling at this point. Godwyn the Golden’s death (one of the first Demigods to fall) is noted as being particularly devastating to her.
Godfrey - The first Elden Lord, married to Queen Marika, and one that became Tarnished and exiled from the Lands Between.
Melania the Severed and General Radahn - Mentioned and shown to be fighting with each other in one of the trailers.
Current Characters
You - Basically the “ashen undead” of the Dark Souls series or whatever equivalent is in any other FromSoftware game. You are a “Tarnished,” one of the people that have been exiled from the Lands Between upon losing their “blessing” that was given by the Elden Ring as well as the "Erdtree" (basically the thing that gives life to the Lands Between and, since this is at least partly based off of Norse mythology, something of a fantasy analogue to the Yggdrasil or Mimameidr from legend). Already you can tell that this story involves the forces that banished the Tarnished from outside the world as wanting to bring them back, presumably out of a sense of desperation. You are also, again presumably, the descendant of the original Tarnished, though I wasn’t able to find how long this takes place from the background events.
Melina - The one that offers you, the Tarnished, an “accord” (in that same posh British accent that makes me want to say “accord” randomly here and there for no reason), or some such. Some liken her to the “Fire Keeper” role from previous FromSoftware games. She is quite prominent in the advertising leading up to the game, at least in one of the playtests. In that demo, she could be found in the overland of the open-world after finding 3 Sites of Grace (think: the Bonfires from the Dark Souls games, which restore health and magic and give some sense of protection from the players albeit at the expense of respawning enemy mooks in the games). She apparently wants to be taken to the Erdtree mentioned before.
Renna - Encountered at the Church of Elleh at Limgrave and the one that teaches you how to summon spirits sometime during the game. A witch of some sort, she is prominent in the advertising of the game, and seems to give you a quest after being able to summon your “spectral steed” known as Torrent. She has some sort of translucent reversed image of herself on her right (coinciding with where her right eye should be).
Noted Minor Character You’ll Meet
The Nomadic Merchants - the NPCs throughout the game and throughout multiple locations and provinces where you can sell and buy items (as well as learn more on how to acquire certain items). Each one has a different selection of items.
Smithing Master Hewg - A prisoner found at a place called Roundtable Hold (a hub area that is apparently outside the Lands Between and one that you can only fast-travel to) and one that will upgrade your armor and weapons for a price.
Roderika - A “spirit-tuner” and one that again moves to Roundtable Hold after coming across her. Apparently found at Stormhill Shack while going to Stormveil.
Finger Reader Enia - An ancient woman albeit one that can wield a huge club and can be found again at Roundtable Hold after meeting her.
Thops - A student sorcerer or mage and one that will teach you spells for donations in Runes (the currency of the game). He can be found at the Church of Irith at the area known as the Liurnia of the Lakes.
Knight Bernahl - A Knight and a fellow Tarnished someplace in Stormhill. Will sell you Ashes of War in exchange for Runes.
More will be added to this list here and there as more people play the game.
3. What do you do in the main campaign or storyline? How about the side-quests and supplementary missions and things to do? What is the genre of the game?
Elden Ring is a modern open world adventure game, designed with nearly a dozen primary classes to choose from. You and your double-jumping horse will discover six distinct areas in the Lands Between, and all the ethereal haunts and horrors within. NPC denizens will dwell in a persistently online world where they know each other, and react to your deeds- some might even offer personal quests, given you meet their demands.
Game director Miyazaki: “More so than our previous games, Elden Ring has a vast world with an open overworld, so we were faced with the ordeal of how we maintain our gameplay style while offering a renewed sense of openness. So with elements like balancing the player’s exploration alongside boss fights, the order of progression that players go through the game, and the progression of the events themselves throughout the map–trying to expand on player freedom while balancing all of this was a significant challenge.” [Source]
Some things to keep mindful of:
Be on the look-out for “Golden Seeds” as they help you upgrade your flask; use a Site of Grace afterward which will increase the amount of flasks that you have. Keep in mind that more flasks = more healing and more magic replenishment, among other things.
They can typically be found around Golden Trees
Look for “Sacred Tears” (which will increase the quality of the flasks, which means that they will heal more/replenish more). You can find them at churches (like the Church of Irith, for example).
Collect area maps whenever you can, but be on the look-out for this icon here in order to find them:
Specifically, the unmapped areas of your world map are generally a brownish color and you won’t know what’s there, but you can find area maps by making way to where the icon here should be. You’ll find a map in a chest at the base of the pillar (which the icon represents).
Get a crafting kit when you’re able to. Basically, this:
Generally recommended by merchants and sold by them.
An Ash of War is something you’ll come across throughout your playthrough and quite important.
These are special items that allow you to replace the Weapon Skills and Affinities of your own weapons, armor, etc. with newer and generally better affinities and skills. Your weapon or armament will be tuned to your playstyle and build as you level up, though certain unique weapons that you encounter throughout the game will not be affected by Ashes of War.
Lastly, there are quests, but the more you progress the game’s main storyline, the more you’ll either lose them (before completing them) or progress the questline of the characters you encounter in different ways depending on what you do before you afterwards progressed the main story.
Okay, err, that was quite the run-on sentence there. Basically, I’ll try to break that down: you kill a boss while a character that you met is intimately tied to the boss. That boss’s death (before you did what the character asks or perhaps before you even met the character) will progress not only his or her storyline, but the storyline of the game AND you may inadvertently end the storyline/quest permanently. It’s complicated, though enticing (I honestly hope other open-world games copy this). I hope I’m explaining it right, but I can clarify if anyone wants (or perhaps edit in a better explanation).
Following videos are from Fextralife, Ratatoskr, Silver Mont, and FP Good Game. Here are the following classes:
Wretch
Prophet
Confessor
Samurai
Bandit
Vagabond
Paladin
Mage
Warrior
Hero
Elden Ring Classes Guide - What Class is Best For You? Which Keepsake to Choose? Character Creation [Fextralife]
4. How does this differ from other FromSoftware games? Do I need to play other FromSoftware games like the Dark Souls series or Bloodborne?
While Elden Ring is not necessarily beholden to any of its predecessors, many design elements and philosophies persist from previous entries.
Common enemies hit hard – Greed will always be punished- never underestimate common ghouls or random foes in the field, as nearly everything is generally lethal. [Source]
You are never really losing – Every obstacle in these games can be beaten with the right items/builds/strategies, and generally it’s much more fun deciphering the puzzle yourself than using a search engine to discover each boss’s weaknesses. Game Director Miyazaki: “In general, I’d like new players to feel unpressured and that they can approach the game at their pace. I don’t want to enforce any playstyle or particular route because I’d like them to experience that sense of freedom. And I realize that while we offer games with a high level of challenge, we design them in a way that feels fulfilling to overcome. But I don’t want new players to worry or stress about that difficulty too much.
This time in Elden Ring, we have many options at the player’s disposal to confront challenging situations and use their cunning to outsmart enemies and bosses. They can come back to something later when they’re at an impasse so that they can have this freedom of progression and not have to bang their head against a wall over and over. They can figure out what to do and how to approach it again, at their own pace. Like our previous games, we have multiplayer elements, but the barriers to entry have lowered to make it a lot more accessible. So we hope players take full advantage of that.” [Source]
Blind is often best - Also tied to the idea that you’re never really losing is the freedom “one life’s run” in these games actually gives you- each time you’re hopefully advancing a little closer toward your destination, gaining more knowledge and power. This series is often inscrutable, but not impossible- maddening but delightful. Game Director Miyazaki: “Mainly, we want players to feel the importance of the level of freedom that we’re focusing on this time. We want them to enjoy the game in their own way and feel liberated in this new open world that they can explore at their own pace. If possible, we want players to try and steer clear of spoilers or guides and go in with a completely fresh, open mind and enjoy that initial sense of adventure. That’s how we’d want to experience the game if we were going into it for the first time. And that’s how we hope our players can experience the game comfortably at their own pace with this new sense of wonder.” [Source]
In addition, several of the following tips are adapted from forgotten lore.
Examine the item - There is a lot of information tied to item descriptions, way more than most games.
Respecs exist - They are limited and they are expensive, but your starting class, weapons, and gifts matter much less than you initially might think. While you shouldn't necessarily ignore the class you choose, it's always been possible to simply distribute points into whatever style you wish to play.
Soft caps exist - Every skill has an unstated ceiling where it stops scaling at large rates, the community will determine these numbers quickly enough.
Trust/Do Not Trust Patches - There will always be Patches.
5. What tips and tricks are worth mentioning? What other things should I know in general?
1. How to stop walking mausoleums…
2. You will not be able to change your class and keepsake (the starting item you’ll be given at the beginning) during your playthrough.
3. The Ash of War - Glintblade Phalanx is considered a good Ash of War for any class that you’re using, especially at the start.
4. In regards to stealth, hitting stronger enemies and then running away until they lose aggro (before going back to finish them off) is a tactic that is recommended.
5. Mounts are a must, especially when it comes to fighting dragons as it’s easier to dodge them that way. Also, when it comes to mounts, weight doesn’t matter which means you can have the heaviest armor (and thus the heaviest) defense and still not be weighed down. Using the mount Torrent also gives you a special sprint ability.
6. Caves/tunnels make use of mid-way drop-off points where you have to land in specific places as you fall down so be mindful to toggle the camera downward whenever there’s a hole or slope as you may spot another tunnel or alcove with an outward ledge.
7. Certain puzzles (and you’ll come across them in tunnels/caves/dungeons as well as the overworld at times) may require you to use a jester (like an emote, the ones that you find in Final Fantasy XIV).
8. The game gives you little guidance on what to do and where to go when you start; it is a bit like BOTW (shit!) in this sense.. That said, it is generally recommended that you first go through the following places:
Limgrave > Weeping Peninsula > Stormhill > Stormveil Castle
Afterward, you go north to a place called Liurnia of the Lakes.
9. It is recommended that you focus or specialize your specs (not spread them out).
Also, you can only respec after completing a certain boss in each area from what we know so far.
10. Use your map and follow the arrows pointing from the Sites of Grace:
Where you see the arrows and where they point toward is basically the general direction you have to go to progress the story.
11. Toggle the “Explanation” button in the menu of the game (after clicking the “Help” button, which is found at the bottom of the screen). After you click it, you should be able to be given an explanation over whatever button you’re hovering over in the menu. For example, if you hover over your stats or specs, you’ll be given an explanation on what they actually do and what purpose they serve. I would recommend this to anyone, especially if you’ve never played a Dark Souls game or Bloodborne or any FromSoftware game before.
The menu should look like what you see above. Again, click “Explanation” and then you should be able to get explanation windows like this:
(The explanation window for the “Runes Needed” bar is what I’m referring to.)
12. You’ll be launched in the air whenever you come across a “Spiritspring” with your steed Torrent, basically helping you to traverse the mountainous landscape. They should look like this:
However, what’s not said is that you can fall down and land safely if you drop from a long height and land on the Spiritsprings, thus giving you a safe way down.
13. An interesting aside, but if you fast-travel to certain places, when you appear there, you’ll sometimes come across characters like Melina or the witch Renna and an encounter or small cutscene will ensue. So, yeah, just by fast-traveling randomly to places, you could encounter a character when you appear there (or sometimes even bosses or enemies).
14. One thing to keep in mind: if you come across a boss or powerful enemy and you decide to run away, eventually they will teleport back to their original location. HOWEVER, if you return to them, the health that they had before (let’s say that you managed to halve it before you were forced to run away) will be the same as how you left it. So you can basically take your sweet time finding other items and flasks and consumables to prepare for another bout with the enemy and come back at full health/magic while that same boss is weakened.
15. In order to defeat skeletons without holy magic completely (they’ll regenerate after you manage to beat them), there will be an animation where the skeletons (or “Those That Live In Death”) will resurrect themselves (a white light will also appear). Hit them again, maybe a few times, while they’re replenishing and the skeleton warriors will stay dead for good.
16. If you see these imp statues with a white-ish barrier next to them
then you’re going to need what’s called a “Stonesword Key” to get through them. However, there are many different Stonesword barriers and statues and while each Stonesword Key affects them, you won’t always have one for each and every one of them (and perhaps never, though that hasn’t been confirmed yet in-game or by any devs yet). Basically, it’s recommended that you consider using one before you actually use it as you may not be able to use it on another one during certain times of your playthrough.
17. Once you kill a Demi-god and attain the corresponding Great Rune of the boss that you killed, you must go to the Limgrave Tower to activate its power and then you can go to a Site of Grace. Once you’re at one, you can use its full power and ability by activating the Great Rune or Rune Arc until the next time you die.
18. Oh yeah, and: like most Souls or FromSoftware games, you cannot pause, or at least, not pause traditionally (think: Dead Space video games by EA and the fact that enemies could attack you while you’re paused).
19. You can choose whether to be resurrected or replenished at a Stake of Marika or a Site of Grace after you die. This should be what you see after an enemy beats you:
Keep in mind: the Stakes of Marika are near enemies (which may mean that you can come across your previous possessions that you had before you died, which are always left behind where you last were after you spawn at a Stake of Marika or Site of Grace).
20. Honestly? I suggest looking up brief guides and primers while you're playing just to get the gist of the basic controls, strategies, and tactics that you can use, never mind the exploits and "cheats" (not actual cheats, but stuff you can do in the vanilla version to get an advantage). Do that for the first 2, maybe 3, days even if you think it's not helping as that generally assists me in just sort-of knowing how everything works at a basic level. Keep in mind that the game is a bit dense to newcomers who have never played a FromSoftware game, though it is at least somewhat streamlined.
6. Here are a list of official trailers and videos (well, at least two of them are from separate channels aside from the Namco Bandai one) for Elden Ring:
(This trailer above is kinda spoiler-y so maybe watch after you’ve at least played a few hours as I haven’t even watched it yet.)
Some supplementary videos:
Some nice music to listen to
:
"Return to Slumber" from Demon's Souls "Firelink Shrine" from Dark Souls "Majula" from Dark Souls II "Epilogue" from Dark Souls III "Hunter's Dream" from Bloodborne "End of a Vicious Struggle" from Sekiro "Main Theme" from Elden Ring 7. Here are some reviews and early impressions that you’ll find helpful (I made sure to keep spoilers to a minimum).
Video reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Uybg4wSwo
Written reviews:
https://www.ign.com/articles/elden-ring-review
https://www.wired.com/story/elden-ring-review/
https://genvel.com/elden-ring-is-fr...-zero-negative-reviews-and-historical-record/
https://www.latimes.com/entertainme...wares-most-impressive-open-world-game-to-date
https://globalcirculate.com/elden-ring-is-the-game-of-the-year/
https://www.thegamer.com/elden-ring-difficulty-approachibility/
https://www.thegamer.com/elden-ring-difficulty-approachibility/
Done.
Read, plox.
(And yes, I did just make a RuneScape reference. Idk. Maybe I'm making out-there references because I'm excited, but the game literally comes out in an hour in my timezone. Literally. I am literally using the word literally in a profuse manner. I, quite literally (quite!), can't contain myself right now.)
Oh, and enjoy!
Edit:
I was tired af once I was done. I was going to make this in a separate post, but I've decided to put it here:
Thank you to:
@aus89
and
@afternoon delight
for helping me work on this.
Also, thanks to @maebe for inspiring the ST thread name.
Proof that she did so:
Elden Ring Hype Thread [Release date February 25th, 2022]
Sekiro is the only Souls-like I’m fine with combat. I hope I have some place here
famiboards.com
Yes, she's the one that coined it and I put it int here as soon as I was done.
Again, thanks!
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it's halfway now. Maybe ill do a all nighter it's been a while.
