Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree - Tips for Beginners

Tips for Beginners for Elden Ring

Below are some tips for beginners for Elden Ring. Included are useful advice for players who are new to Souls-style action RPGs, general tips when starting the game’s main story, and important things to keep in mind to make the game easier.

Main Story Walkthroughs

When choosing a starting class, consider your preferred playstyle and build.

At the beginning of the game, you will need to select your character’s starting class which will determine their initial level and spread of stats. It is recommended to choose a character class that best suits the playstyle you are most comfortable with, whether it be focused on melee or ranged combat.

Best Starting Class to Choose

Below is a summary of all starting classes’ natural playstyles in the game to help you pick the one that best suits your preferences.

Starting Class	Playstyle
Vagabond	Has good overall stats, giving them the most flexibility to main different melee weapons and dabble in spells and incantations to complement close-range combat. Can benefit greatly from weapons that scale with both Strength and Dexterity. Highly recommended starting class for beginners.
Warrior	Recommended for those who prefer to use fast weapons such as daggers, curved swords, short swords, katanas, spears, and bows because of having the highest initial Dexterity stat out of all starting classes.
Hero	Recommended for those who prefer to use heavy weapons such as great swords, great axes, hammers, and clubs because of highest initial Strength stat out of all starting classes.
Bandit	Recommended for those who prefer to use fast weapons such as daggers, curved swords, short swords, katanas, spears, and bows because of high initial Dexterity.
Astrologer	Recommended for those who prefer to wield Intelligence-scaling spells complemented by Dexterity-scaling melee weapons such as daggers, curved swords, short swords, katanas, and spears. Boasts the highest initial Mind and Intelligence stats out of all starting classes.
Prophet	Recommended for those who prefer to wield Faith-scaling incantations complemented by Strength-scaling melee weapons such as longswords and axes. Boasts the highest initial Faith stats out of all starting classes.
Samurai	Recommended for those who prefer to use fast weapons such as daggers, curved swords, short swords, katanas, spears, and bows because of high initial Dexterity. Boasts the highest initial Endurance stat out of all starting classes, granting them more stamina, robustness, and the ability to use heavier weapons and armor compared to other Dexterity-focused classes.
Prisoner	Recommended for those who prefer to wield powerful offensive spells complemented by Dexterity-scaling melee weapons such as daggers, curved swords, short swords, katanas, and spears.
Confessor	Recommended for those who prefer to wield Faith-scaling incantations complemented by Dexterity-scaling melee weapons such as daggers, curved swords, short swords, katanas, and spears. Can benefit greatly from weapons that scale with both Faith and Dexterity.
Wretch	Recommended for those who are going for extremely unorthodox or experimental builds as this starting class’ initial stats are all set to a value of 10.

Choosing the best starting class is important as it allows you build your character in the most optimal way possible without misallocating any stat points.

While it is true that reaching high enough levels will allow you to raise your parameters to your desired levels regardless of your starting class, you are likely to achieve your desired build much later than if you had chosen the right template (starting class) and spent skill points on stats that allow you to use certain weapons, armor, talismans, skills, and spells that best complement your character’s playstyle.

Be aware of stat soft caps.

Stat soft caps are a numerical thresholds that represents the value at which adding more points to a specific stat will actually grant less increase in the parameters they affect. In general, you want to stop allocating points on stats that do not grant you significant benefits. The Runes you use to level-up could instead be used on leveling up other stats or for purchasing and upgrading weapons in the game.

Stat Soft Caps Guide

Choose the Golden Seed Keepsake.

You will also be asked to choose a Keepsake at the character creation screen. For beginners, it is highly recommended to get the Golden Seed Keepsake which increases your Healing Flask’s number of uses. This grants you better survivability during tough encounters, especially bosses throughout the main story.

Best Keepsake to Get

Spend Runes before going into boss fights.

Runes are the main form of currency in Elden Ring, similar to Souls found in the Souls games, that allow you to level up at a Site of Grace, purchase items, upgrade weapons, and avail of other services in the game.

Rune Farming Guide

When you die, you will drop all of your accumulated Runes which you can retrieve from the spot you were killed. Dying a second time without getting your dropped Runes will cause the currency you collected to be lost forever. \

Because of this, it is generally a good idea to spend Runes before entering boss fights. The reason behind this is that boss areas are often a good distance away from the Site of Grace where you will respawn after dying. The path back to the boss may be filled with traps, narrow walkways that can cause you to fall off ledges, or are blocked by numerous enemies that can kill you before you even make it back to your dropped runes.

Most NPCs do not respawn.

Non-player characters (NPCs) that you meet throughout your journey across the Lands Between will not respawn when killed. Many of these named characters are tied to certain side quests that let you earn useful rewards like weapons, armor, talismans, and other items. Because of this, it is highly recommended to avoid killing NPCs without knowing the consequences as this may bar you from side quests that are only available when certain characters are alive.

General Tips to Make the Game Easier

Take each death as a learning experience.

As with the Souls games, Elden Ring has been designed to encourage you to learn the game’s mechanics as best you can. Since a large part of the game’s difficulty stems from combat against various enemies, try to observe each foe’s attacks carefully by taking note of their range, direction, and tendency to use them relative to your position. You should also try to remember how fast a specific enemy can recover after throwing out an attack to help you decide when to attack and when to pull back.

Knowing and exploiting enemy weaknesses to certain damage types is also important and may make certain encounters much easier. Using certain elemental weapons or applying weapon buffs that foe’s are vulnerable to lets you deal significantly more damage than simply using a non-elemental or unbuffed armament.

Learning to dodge is essential.

It cannot be stressed enough that dodging enemy attacks is among the most important mechanical skills to learn in the game. Even if you have the best armor and shields to mitigate as much incoming damage from foes as allowed, it is always possible to die in just a few hits. After getting confident with evading enemy attacks, you are likely to find the game easier and much more fun.

Dodge Roll and Equipment Weight Guide

Level up to improve your character’s performance.

Another way to get around difficult obstacles like boss fights is to simply raise your stats by leveling up. Try to find areas where you can easily farm enemies for Runes and use them to gain levels. Afterwards, try attempting the boss fight again if you can fare better than the last time.

Do not be embarrassed to ask for help.

You can summon other players to help you clear difficult areas using the Furcalling Finger Remedy. Elden Ring is indeed a challenging game and there is no shame in asking other Tarnished to help you defeat certain bosses that you simply have a hard time beating on your own. Co-op in the game is among the most fun you can have and may even earn you a friend online in some instances.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Recommended Article List

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Guides

DLC Useful Guides

DLC Side Quest Walkthroughs

DLC New Weapon Classes

Elden Ring Character Build Guides

Elden Ring Strategy Guides

Beginner Guides

Useful Guides

Elden Ring Walkthroughs

Main Story

Side Quests

Elden Ring Boss Guides

Elden Ring Game Database

Weapons

Shields

Armor

Items

Skills and Magic

Merchants

Other