About Elden Ring
Elden Ring is the 2022 Game of the Year from FromSoftware, directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki with world-building by George R. R. Martin. This open-world action RPG represents the studio's most ambitious project, selling over 25 million copies within its first two years and redefining what a Soulslike can be. Set in the Lands Between, a sprawling dark fantasy realm ruled by demigods and shattered by the destruction of the titular Elden Ring, the game offers an unprecedented level of freedom in exploration, character building, and combat approach.
The game departs from FromSoftware's traditional linear level design in favor of a fully open world spanning six major regions: Limgrave, Liurnia of the Lakes, Caelid, the Altus Plateau, Mountaintops of the Giants, and the optional but essential underground areas including the Siofra and Ainsel River wells. Each region is densely packed with legacy dungeons, minor dungeons, field bosses, NPC questlines, and hidden secrets. Players can approach the world in almost any order, with the game's difficulty scaling organically through enemy placement and environmental hazards rather than level gating.
Combat in Elden Ring builds on the foundation established by the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne, adding several mechanics that dramatically expand player options. The Spirit Ash summoning system lets players call AI allies into boss fights, ranging from simple soldier packs to legendary warriors like Black Knife Tiche and the Mimic Tear. The Ashes of War system allows players to swap weapon skills and affinities freely, creating build combinations that were impossible in earlier FromSoftware titles. Mounted combat on Torrent, the spectral steed, adds mobility and tactical depth to open-field encounters. The Guard Counter mechanic rewards defensive play with a powerful riposte option that breaks enemy posture.
Character building offers more variety than any previous FromSoftware game. With eight starting attributes (Vigor, Mind, Endurance, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, Arcane) and ten starting classes, players can create pure strength builds with colossal weapons, intelligence-based sorcerers wielding the legendary Comet Azur, faith builds drawing on dragon communion incantations, arcane-based bleed builds that melt boss health bars, and hybrid spellblades combining melee and magic. The inclusion of respeccing through Larval Tears means experimentation is always an option, and the community has discovered dozens of viable endgame builds that excel in both PvE and PvP.
The lore of Elden Ring is its deepest and most discussed element. The story revolves around Queen Marika the Eternal, her demigod children who claimed shards of the shattered Elden Ring (Great Runes), and the Tarnished -- exiled warriors called back to the Lands Between by the guidance of grace. The game explores themes of ambition, decay, faith, and the cyclical nature of power through its multiple endings, each representing a different philosophy for remaking the world. The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion (2024) adds an entire new region -- the Land of Shadow -- with its own pantheon of bosses, legacy dungeons, and narrative revelations that recontextualize the base game's story. With a community that continues to discover new secrets, builds, and lore connections years after release, Elden Ring has cemented its place as one of the defining games of its generation.
TarnishedGuide covers every aspect of this vast game. Our boss guides catalog every remembrance boss, field boss, and dungeon boss with detailed moveset breakdowns. Our build guides feature curated PvE and PvP setups for every starting class and playstyle. Our weapon database covers every armament in the game with scaling, skill, and location data. Our quest guides provide complete walkthroughs for every NPC story with branching decision points clearly marked. And our map section offers region-by-region walkthroughs for every legacy dungeon and open-world zone. Whether you are a first-time Tarnished or a veteran preparing for NG+7, we have the information you need.
