Starting Class Guide
Elden Ring offers ten starting classes, but not all are beginner-friendly. Your choice determines your starting equipment, stats, and spells — though you can build any character into any playstyle later through leveling. The key difference for new players is how forgiving the early game feels.
Vagabond
Best for first-time players. High Vigor, a 100% physical block shield, and solid armor let you survive mistakes. Starts with a versatile longsword and halberd.
Samurai
Excellent starting weapon (Uchigatana) that inflicts bleed and carries through the entire game. Good for players who want a dex-focused aggressive style.
Astrologer
Best for magic users. Starts with Glintstone Pebble (the best early sorcery) and enough Mind to cast it repeatedly. Ranged combat keeps you safer.
Confessor
Best hybrid starter. Balanced strength and faith stats with healing incantations and a 100% block shield. Ideal for players who want magic support without going full caster.
Combat Basics
Elden Ring combat rewards patience and observation. Every enemy has tells — visual and audio cues that telegraph their next attack. Here are the core mechanics you need to master:
- Dodge Rolling: Your primary survival tool. Roll into attacks (not away from them) to exploit the invincibility frames (i-frames). Light equip load gives the fastest roll with the most i-frames. Medium load is standard and works for most of the game. Heavy load makes your roll nearly useless — stay below 70% equip load at all times.
- Blocking: Hold your shield up to reduce or negate incoming damage. A shield with 100 physical block negates all physical damage at the cost of stamina. Guard Breaking (stamina depleted) leaves you stunned and vulnerable — know when to lower your shield and recover stamina.
- Parrying: A well-timed parry with a small shield or buckler opens enemies for a critical riposte. The parry window starts immediately on small shields (buckler has the most frames). Not all attacks can be parried — jumping attacks, colossal weapons, and most boss attacks require dodging instead.
- Guard Counters: After blocking an attack, press the heavy attack button immediately to perform a guard counter — a fast riposte that deals heavy poise damage and often staggers standard enemies. This is Elden Ring's most beginner-friendly new mechanic and makes shield builds much more viable than in previous FromSoft games.
Leveling & Stats
You spend Runes to level up at Sites of Grace. Each level lets you raise one of eight attributes. For new players, the priority order is straightforward:
Priority Order for Beginners
Vigor is your most important stat. Get it to 40 as fast as possible. More health means more mistakes you can survive. Follow this rough roadmap: Vigor to 25 before upgrading anything else, then 30 by Liurnia, 40 by Altus Plateau, and 60 by the Mountaintops (the final soft cap).
Soft Caps Explained
Attributes have diminishing returns at certain thresholds called soft caps. Vigor soft caps at 40 (first) and 60 (second). Damage stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, Arcane) soft cap at 20 (first), 55 (second), and 80 (third). Endurance soft caps at 25 and 50. Mind (FP bar) soft caps at 20 and 55. Leveling past the second soft cap offers very small gains per point and is usually not worth it.
Sample Early Build (Level 50)
If you are playing a melee character, aim for roughly these stats by level 50: Vigor 30, Endurance 15, Strength 20, Dexterity 20. For a caster: Vigor 25, Mind 20, Endurance 10, Intelligence 40 (or Faith 40). Adjust based on your class and the weapon requirements you want to meet.
Flask Upgrades
Your Flask of Crimson Tears (HP) and Flask of Cerulean Tears (FP) are your most important survival tools. Upgrading them early makes a dramatic difference in how much you can explore before needing to rest.
Golden Seeds (Increase Flask Charges)
Golden Seeds are found at glowing golden sapling trees scattered across the Lands Between. Each seed permanently increases your total flask charges by one (diminishing returns: the first few seeds give a full charge, later seeds require 2-3 per charge). Key early locations: the tree just outside the First Step site of grace, the tree on the cliff path east of Gatefront Ruins, and the tree near the Church of Elleh. There are over 30 Golden Seeds in a single playthrough, enough to max out your flask at +14 charges.
Sacred Tears (Increase Flask Potency)
Sacred Tears upgrade how much HP or FP each flask charge restores. They are found inside churches marked on your map by a small building icon. Each Sacred Tears increases healing by roughly 20-30 HP per charge. The easiest to grab early is at the Church of Elleh (just north of the First Step), followed by the Church of Pilgrimage in the Weeping Peninsula. There are 12 Sacred Tears total, allowing +11 upgrades to your flask.
Spirit Ashes & Summons
Spirit Ashes are one of Elden Ring's most beginner-friendly features. They let you summon AI allies during boss fights and tough encounters, drawing aggro and dealing damage while you focus on surviving.
Lone Wolf Ashes
Your first summon, received from Ranni at the Church of Elleh. Three wolves that apply pressure and stagger well. Excellent for early game bosses.
Mimic Tear Ashes
The strongest spirit in the game. Summons a copy of your character with all your equipment and items. Found in Nokron, Eternal City. Requires 660 HP to summon.
Black Knife Tiche
An S-tier spirit that is extremely aggressive and deals %-based HP damage with her blade of death. Found in the consecrated snowfields evergaol. High FP cost but worth it.
Skeletal Militiamen
Two skeletons that resurrect themselves if not hit while reviving. Excellent for distracting bosses since they keep getting back up. Found in Summonwater Village catacombs.
Weapon Upgrades
Upgrading your weapon is the single most effective way to increase damage output. Each upgrade level adds base damage and improves scaling. At higher upgrade levels, you also unlock stronger Ashes of War affinities.
Standard Path: Smithing Stones
Most weapons use Smithing Stones, upgrading from +1 to +25. The tiers are: Smithing Stone [1] and [2] (+1 to +3), [3] and [4] (+4 to +6), [5] and [6] (+7 to +9), [7] and [8] (+10 to +12), [9] (+13 to +15). Regular enemies drop lower-tier stones, while higher tiers require mining tunnels or purchasing from the Twin Maiden Husks in Roundtable Hold after giving them the proper bell bearings.
Special Path: Somber Smithing Stones
Unique weapons and boss weapons use Somber Smithing Stones, upgrading from +1 to +10. Each Somber Stone upgrades by one level. These are much rarer but each upgrade provides a bigger damage boost. Most somber weapons can be found in mines, dungeons, and specific locations throughout the world. The Somberstone Bell Bearings let you purchase unlimited stones up to +9.
Early Upgrade Path
Head to the Limgrave Tunnels (north of the starting area) for Smithing Stones [1] and [2] to get your weapon to +3. Then progress to the Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel in Liurnia for Smithing Stones [3] and [4] to reach +6. At +6, most early-game areas become significantly more manageable. Do not hoard upgrade materials early — stones [1] and [2] become buyable after you give the first bell bearing to the Twin Maiden Husks.
Open World Tips
Elden Ring's open world does not point you in a clear direction. Knowing where to go and what to prioritize saves hours of frustration. The game expects you to explore freely, but there are smart routes and dead ends to be aware of.
Where to Go First
After the tutorial area, follow the golden light from Sites of Grace (the guidance of grace) toward Stormveil Castle — but do not enter it yet. Instead, explore all of Limgrave first, then head south to the Weeping Peninsula. This entire region is scaled for low-level characters and contains: two Sacred Tears, multiple Golden Seeds, a complete armor set, weapon upgrade materials, and useful talismans. Clear the peninsula before attempting any legacy dungeon. After Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula, head north to Liurnia of the Lakes via the Stormveil Castle gate or the cliffside path east of the castle. Avoid Caelid (the red swamp east of Limgrave) until you are at least level 50-60 — the enemies there hit disproportionately hard.
Map Fragments
Each major region has a map fragment that reveals the full area map. Look for a small obelisk icon on your blank map — these mark the map fragment location. The first fragment is at the Gatefront Ruins in Limgrave, held by a soldier camp. For Liurnia, find the fragment on the main road just north of Stormveil Castle's back exit. Always grab the map fragment as soon as you enter a new region — it reveals key landmarks, churches, dungeons, and important NPC locations.
General Exploration Rules
If an enemy kills you in two hits, you are in the wrong area — mark your map and come back later. Sites of Grace often point toward points of interest with a golden trail. Churches always contain useful items (Sacred Tears, flask upgrades). Mining tunnels (marked by a dark cave icon on the map after discovery) are your best source of upgrade stones. Evergaols contain powerful field bosses that test your skills. Catacombs offer useful talismans and spirit ashes. If you feel stuck, explore a different direction — Elden Ring's open design nearly always gives you another path forward.
Multiplayer Basics
Elden Ring's online systems let you summon help, invade other players, and leave messages. While the game can be completed entirely solo, multiplayer adds significant flexibility and community interaction.
Cooperative Play (Summoning)
Use a Furlcalling Finger Remedy (crafted from two Erdleaf Flowers) to reveal summon signs on the ground. Gold signs are friendly players offering help. You can summon up to two cooperators for boss fights and area exploration. Summoned phantoms have reduced healing flasks and are dismissed when the area boss dies or the host dies. If you get stuck on a boss, summoning help is not a failure — it is an intended mechanic. The most active summoning spots are outside major boss arenas.
Invasions (PvP)
Other players can invade your world when you have a cooperator summoned or if you use the Taunter's Tongue. Invasions are 2v1 (host plus phantom versus invader) by default. If you want to avoid invasions entirely, play solo and do not summon — solo players cannot be invaded unless they activate the Taunter's Tongue. For structured PvP, use the Duelist's Furled Finger to place a red summon sign for honorable 1v1 duels.
Messages
Players leave orange messages on the ground that you can read and rate. A highly rated message heals the writer. Messages can warn you about hidden enemies ("be wary of left"), point toward secrets ("hidden path ahead"), or troll you ("try jumping"). Always check messages near cliffs and walls — but stay skeptical of messages suggesting you jump off ledges. The message system creates a shared community knowledge layer that makes exploring feel less lonely even in single-player mode.