Saturday Morning Gaming: Advice for Elden Ring
When I got my PS5, one of the first games I grabbed was Spider-Man: Miles Morales. I knew that I *LOVED* the original Spider-Man for PS4. I wanted to play the sequel! (Heck, I wanted to play the prequel!)
While I was checking out the games I found myself asking “is this all there is?” Like, I didn’t know that the pickings were so sparse. It reminded me of the PS2, actually. It took me a year to get my hands on one. When I finally did, I found myself saying “holy cow… there’s a fireworks game… and that’s it?” (this was a couple of months before FFX and GTA III came out). And back when I got my PS2, I played PS1 games on it (I beat FF9, if I recall correctly) and when I got my PS5, I started beating PS4 games on it.
Ah, synchronicity.
But at one of my Saturday Evening Tabletop Gaming Nights, a dear friend asked everyone at the table “Have you guys played Elden Ring yet? It’s pretty awesome!”
None of us had.
So I stood there and looked. The buddy was a darn good DM. I knew that he and I had played a handful of board games in the past and his taste was exquisite (matched mine, anyway). So I held Elden Ring in my hand and figured… well, maybe I should try it.
So I tried it. I picked out a character, I picked out some starting equipment and I got my show on the road.
A minute later, I was dead.
So I wrote our gaming Discord channel with my plight and this is what happened, more or less.
Jaybird: I picked up Elden Ring. I died about a minute in. Then the game gave me a tutorial. I’m not sold quite yet.
Buddy: You lasted a minute? Good job! Or did that include character creation. I got the platinum trophy in exchange for wasting my life. I’d do it again.
We bantered back and forth for a bit before he said…
Buddy: Seriously though, I love this game and have even mused about how I would help someone through the first dozen hours of the game so let me know if you want advice.
Jaybird: If you have advice for the first dozen hours of the game, I would LOVE to read them. Hell, make it an essay and I’ll post it on the site. And I will write an essay talking about what it was like trying to do that.
Buddy: That could be fun–at the very least I’ll write some stuff here, not sure if it will be interesting enough to publish.
And, what follows, is the advice he gave to me. (It’s been lightly edited so if you see a mistake, assume that I made it rather than that he made it.)
STARTING CLASS: Doesn’t really matter. Choose something where you like the starting equipment and go from there. Unlike D&D where the main difference between a Fighter, a Paladin, and a Cleric comes from class abilities, in Elden Ring it’s not like that. You have no class. You are Tarnished, as Varre might say.
Instead your skills all come from the many types of equipment you get and the choices you make leveling up.
Oh, my idea with this advice is to avoid big spoilers, but to also tip you off about things that might drive you nuts early on.
PREPARE TO DIE: The game is very light on explanations, but it does try to teach you stuff along the way. The first creature you encounter, the one that looks like someone mooshed together eight guys to make a spider? That’s to teach you that the game is not always fair and you will die all the time.
STARTING KEEPSAKE: You have options for a small item to start with. None of them are amazing, but with the goal of making the first 12 hours of the game easier, take the Golden Seed which makes your flasks that restore HP and FP a bit more effective. (FP are “Focus Points” (I had to look that up, can never remember what FP are) and are manna/magicka/etc.: the resource you use for spells and skills and the like). Upgrade your flask while resting at any Site of Grace
LEVELING: Once you have rested at a few Sites of Grace, you will meet an important NPC who will allow you to trade in runes to level up. First, keep the rough number of runes needed to level up in mind and try not to carry more than that number with you. As you probably know, if you get killed, you drop the runes and are reborn with zero. You have a chance to go and retrieve those runes (there’s a marker on the map and the HUD) but if you get killed before you retrieve them, they are gone forever.
The wise Tarnished will level up immediately when they hit the number, but inevitably you’ll forget to level up after beating a boss or something, and then when trying to go and get the runes you’ll get mauled by a bear. At this point, it’s a good idea to take a walk or do some knitting or something. But honestly, it happens to everyone–you are going to get killed all the damn time, and sometimes you’ll lose runes and that’s just how it goes. Anyway, this is one of the most important tips in the “don’t delete the game in the first twelve hours” tutorial: ALWAYS LEVEL VIGOR. Vigor = HP and HP = not getting killed by dogs all the time.
Sneaking is not terribly useful, except to avoid fighting everyone at once in a given area.
Jump attacks are a little OP.
More on leveling: Eventually you will want your Vigor to be about 30, but for the start, aim for 20. It’s OK to level another stat if you really want to use a weapon or cast a spell that you found and you need a few points in something else. But really you’ll be happier with more HP.
WEAPONS: I really don’t like “looter shooter” games where you have to figure out if this weapon is marginally better than that weapon and are constantly discarding weapons for new ones. ER isn’t like that.
If you like your starting weapon, you could conceivably keep upgrading it with smithing stones and use it for the entire game. There are certainly better weapons out there, but there’s a lot to be said for learning the moveset for a particular weapon and just sticking with it for a long time. At the same time, one of the joys of the game is that there are a lot of different weapons out there and many of them feel very different–it’s not like Skyrim where I always felt like I was flailing around with a 2×4.
Locations and NPCs: You should return to locations and NPCs from time to time, especially ones that seem more central. After you meet Varre and he tells you to follow the direction that the site of grace points to, you’ll come to the first merchant and a place to upgrade weapons. Make sure and return there from time to time in the early game. Also when talking to NPCs, keep prompting them to talk until they repeat themselves. Sometimes you talk to them, they say a few things, then you need to “talk” again and they’ll be like “Oh, and another thing…”
DON’T FIGHT BOSSES ALONE: Bosses in this game are not designed to be fought without help. The easiest way to get help is with Spirit Ashes. One of the reasons I said to return often to the Church of Elleh where you meet the first merchant is that you’ll meet an NPC who will give you the ability to summon AI spirits to fight alongside you. The first ones you get are wolves, which are pretty good. You will find others that are more powerful–all can be eventually upgraded in a way similar to weapons. You can’t summon the spirit ashes everywhere–you’ll see a little blue and white spirit door or something on the lower left of the screen when they are available. But they are always (I think?) available in boss fights.
You can also look for gold messages on the floor outside boss arenas. Sometimes there are NPCs available to summon to help. There’s one outside the first main boss’s area, but after that it’s hit or miss.
Then you can also summon other actual players. There are items called Furlcalling Finger Remedies, and if you use one you can see gold summoning signs on the floor for other players. People usually put them outside boss areas. If you summon another player, you won’t also be able to summon spirt ashes.
Anyway, if you were some Souls Veteran who already got gud a long time ago, you could solo the bosses. And heck, might as well try! But really , expect to use at least spirit ashes every time. The big bosses in this game are often VERY aggressive and you need something to distract the boss long enough for you to move, think, and heal.
THE “COMMUNITY”: Soulsborne players have a reputation for being jerks and trolls, of telling everyone to “get gud” and leaving messages in-game telling you to jump when you shouldn’t and marking every wall as a secret door. This isn’t really my experience (though the in-game messages are about 1/3 helpful, 1/3 trolling, and 1/3 comedians). On the wiki and in r/Eldenring people are usually just big fans of the game who want to share what they know in ways that are usually helpful, sometimes a bit excessively gamer.
(ALMOST) NOTHING IS IRREVOCABLE: Don’t go around killing NPCs on a whim–that’s pretty much irrevocable. But most other things you can change/fix. You can apply an “Ash of War” to a weapon to give it a special ability and if you don’t like it, or if you want to try that same ability on a different weapon, it’s easy to change it. If you realize you made mistakes leveling up and want to reassign your points, you can do that after beating a pretty early boss, and you can re-spec more than a few times (though not infinitely).
So like when I started my first character, I thought I was going to do STR/DEX, but then I found I really liked using magic and a particular katana that required INT. So I re-specced my STR down to the minimum to use the weapon and boosted my INT instead.
If you accidentally aggro an NPC (but don’t kill them!) you can pray at a certain church and restore your relationship.
You can’t re-use the upgrade materials (Smithing Stones and Somber Smithing Stones and the materials for upgrading ashes) and at first those are a bit scarce, but then you can find sources to buy infinite stones as you progress.
Which comes to another point, JUST USE THE CONSUMABLES. Seriously, don’t save that fire grease that temporarily gives your weapon fire damage. Just use that stuff on the next boss-type-thing you fight. If you like it, eventually you will find a cookbook where you learn how to craft it.
I usually hate crafting in games (the main reason, along with breakable weapons, I couldn’t get into Breath of the Wild) but this is maybe the least annoying crafting system possible. No animations, fairly plentiful materials, craft anywhere.
One thing that new players don’t realize: Cracked Pots are reusable. You can find and buy a few in the early game and make things like firebombs with them. But you only have a few. But! When you rest (or respawn) you get the pots back, though you have to craft the specific item (firebomb, magic bomb, stinkbomb, whatever) each time. Like Molotov cocktails where the bottles are boomerangs, but you need to find the kerosene each time.
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So I will be embracing that advice, or trying to, in the days to come. Now that I know that Gotham Knights has a different button layout for combat, I am less worried about adopting another game’s layout for fighting.
And I will try to take on Elden Ring again… Maybe after I beat Arkham Knights.
So… what are you playing?
(Featured image is the Elden Ring opening screenshot.)
Got it on my wish list. Normally I’d wait for it to go on sale but I might pull the trigger anyway.Report
okay
Started with The Spear Dude.
That was a mistake.
Excellent distance striking, everything else felt like I was walking through molasses.
Tried the second dude over. Much quicker, much more responsive.
Sighed, tried the first dude.
This guy moves like I’d expect. My first interaction in the real world was with the giant guy who is keep going straight and down to the left.
And I actually got rid of half of his HP before he killed me!
Got the horse, switched to the halberd.
Using the halberd on the horse is significantly different than using the halberd on the ground. The halberd on the ground? Might as well be standing still. On the horse? You can time it to hit right as you pass. Do massive damage and then, a second later, be 20 feet away.
This is not helping me against Margit the Fell something something.
Resorted to googling. Going to wander around and find the spectral jellyfish.Report
I started playing ER a while back, but I got distracted some time after beating Margit, and I haven’t gotten back. I plan to play more, but I don’t know when. I use walkthroughs, and I don’t feel bad about it.
I’m playing a few different games at the moment, but today I will focus on Vampire Survivors (normally $4.99 on Steam but $3.99 for their Halloween sale). Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software described is as a Twin Stick shooter that plays with one stick. Between that and the price, I gave it a try.
You start out with your survivor, wandering around with bats coming at you and automatically firing your weapon at regular intervals. Kill a few things, pick up a few crystals, Bam! you level up and get to choose from random upgrade. Maybe you can level your weapon, buy a different weapon, or buy a power up. As time goes own, enemies increase in power. You have to kill quickly enough to level up enough to stay ahead of the enemies. After a little while, you die. Then you get to start again.
As you play, you get coins, which you can use to buy “permanent” upgrades between playthroughs. Permanent is in quotes because you can always refund them and respec.
As you find objects, level up weapons enough, and meet other achievements, you will unlock other weapons, power ups, and characters. Between that and the permanent upgrades, eventually you will stumble on a build that is essentially unctouchable. You will beat the stages boss monster and maybe even last all 30 minutes. For me, I went from getting stuck around level 15-16 and around 10 minutes to suddenly surviving to the end. It was very satisfying.
All in all, it has been an addictive game, and I still have a lot to discover. I easily got my $4.00 of value out of it, and I have been largely neglecting games that I paid a lot more money for.Report
Heh. Nope. Twitchy and punishing and dickish? That’s what work is for.
Played some Total Warhammer III – meh. Is it weird that the game makes me hate resolving combat using the engine that is the studio’s entire raison d’etre? I play it like a terrible 4X game.
Updated Lost Arc (Ark?) but didn’t actually play… can’t get past the aesthetic.
Played some Undecember(?)… it was ok; but not convinced that the complex systems are cool or dumb.
Played some Grim Dawn (again)… it is very nearly a good game.
Played some Last Epoch … I *want* to believe, but it’s just meh.
Guess I’m just waiting for POE 2 and will probably have to try Diablo IV to discover how they misunderstood their game and player-base. I saw their mobile game on Google Play and could only muster a wry chuckle… not even a curiosity download for $0.Report
I got oldest boy to share his Steam liberry with me today so I started Elden Ring. I created a character who looks like he’d be at home in an 80’s rock band or on Metalocalypse (and received a touch of criticism from said boy for not digging more deeply into the characterization options.
I also chose to start as a Wretch. I figured why not maximize my suffering by building this guy from the ground up? So it’s my 80’s rock god and his loin cloth and trusty club.
It took me 8-10 tries to beat the Soldier of Godrick, and when I did I managed to perfectly execute a jump strike, which knocked him off his axis, after which I just pummeled him to death with my loin cloth…er…club.
I don’t normally play games like this, and never with a controller, so I’m struggling with all the buttons and sticks and triggers and pulling/pushing/toggling everything at the right time, but so far it’s been fun.Report
Your buddy is a fricken genius. Seriously though, the game was everything I wanted it to be when I heard “open world Dark Souls.” I just love those games, though I’m not any good at them. Glad you gave it a try.Report
There’s a lot of “how do you beat this guy?” (googles) “okay, I beat him… how do you beat *THIS* guy?” (googles).Report
Nice. I’m currently level 160 or so. I’m mostly a faith build (incantations are the bomb, yo) and I use the blasphemous blade. I’m near the final levels, but I take my time with open world games. A good early spirit ash is Banished Knight Engvall, but eventually Mimic Tear or Banished Knight Oleg will be better choices (or Black Knife Tiche, but I don’t have her yet).
Once you accept death (and more death) as a reality and manage your runes, the game works better. You have to be prepared to change tactics when you’re strategy isn’t working as many of the dungeon areas are puzzle-like when it comes to deciphering how to best kill the enemies and avoid death yourself. Also: YOU DON’T HAVE TO FIGHT EVERYTHING. In the early game, you can grab many weapons/upgrades/etc by running and avoiding enemies.
Also, stay the eff away from rune bears. Seriously.Report
I started over and had thoughts about it. I’m still sword/shield based and Bloody Slash has treated me *VERY* well.Report
Yeah, bleed builds are pretty powerful. I didn’t see the newer post, lol. Exploration is key–walkthroughs are helpful, and that’s kind of annoying. There should be a middle-ground between “here’s everything you need” skyrim type of help and “screw you” information in Elden Ring.Report