Elden Ring - Where To Go First. Beginners Guide
Elden Ring is the latest game From Software and it is massive. It's incredibly big and, as it's a From Software game, it can be challenging, so I prepared a guide for you on a helpful beginner's route you can take that should help you get through the beginning of the game. With that said, if an area is too difficult for you, you can always leave and come back later when you have better weapons, ashes, or are at a higher level.
There are definitely ways to overcome challenges in this game, but I know it's easy to get lost and end up somewhere overwhelming thanks to the sheer scope. So, without further ado, let's get into it. Your starting class is totally up to you. This is something you can very easily change and customize as you progress through the game, so don't stress out about it too much.
Choose something that sounds fun. For more on it, make sure to check out our starting class guide by Billy Givens. As far as your starting gift is concerned, I'd highly recommend choosing the golden seed. Golden seeds allow you to upgrade your flasks of tears, your main healing item in the game, so you have more uses for it before you have to return to and rest at the sight of Grace.
If you're new to the game, first things first: make sure you don't miss the tutorial area, The Cave of Knowledge, as it can actually be surprisingly easy to miss if. If you're an experienced player, feel free to skip it, although it does teach some of the new mechanics, such as guard countering, once you've opened the door outside of the stranded graveyard and into Lim's grave the world truly.
The world is your oyster, but don't be overwhelmed. Your first goal is to activate three sites of grace, as this will bring Melena to you, who will not only give you the ability to access torrents via the spectral stade but also the ability to level up to easily access torrents. I advise adding the spectral Steed whistle to your quick item menu, which you can access in the equipment section.
That way, you can just hit the action key and the corresponding directional button to quickly call them to you. This means you won't have to spend time scrolling through your item menu, so you can quickly escape from situations that get a bit sticky. You'll also want to find your first map fragment so you can more easily explore and find things in the massive Overworld.
Your first sight of Grace is easy enough, right? In front of you at the first step, you'll want to head directly north and avoid the tree sentinel hanging out on the path where you'll find the Church of Ella on the other side of Grace. A blacksmith, a table, and Kali the merchant. If you need a hand finding these three, just follow the golden path.
Kali, the merchant, sells a number of useful items. This will allow you to use all of the crafting materials you've gathered throughout the game and craft whatever you choose. I highly recommend buying a torch here; it's only 200 runes and you'll definitely want one for the dungeons ahead. He also sells a note about the flask of wondrous physics; this is another killing flask you can find which can be incredibly useful.
This note clues you in on the location just northeast of the force, which is your next destination. This leads you to the gate front ruins and your first map fragment. If you need help tracking down these map fragments, open your map and look for these icons. That's where you'll find them. Make sure to fully explore these runes as there's a secret basement that contains a wet stone, which is what allows you to equip ashes of war under your weapons, which are very useful skills you'll find throughout the game.
On top of that, on the north side, you'll find a chest with the Lord Sworn's great sword. While you might not have the stats to be able to wield it yet, this is a great starting weapon for any type of strength build, and if you're new to these games. I recommend trying it out and leveling up your strength stats to wield it when you can.
The weapon's a little slower but is powerful enough to allow you to briefly stagger many enemies you otherwise couldn't just by hitting them with a two-handed attack or even sometimes a one-handed attack. Not only that, but to the northwest and southeast of Gate Front Ruins, you'll find sites of Grace.
Rest down one of these and both torrents, and the ability to level up is yours once you've done all of this. I want you to hop on the torrent and run through the storm gate to the west of the gay front sight of Grace and. Follow the path up to the Stormhill shack. Along the way, you'll find another golden seed, which you'll definitely want as it will allow you yet another upgrade to your flasks of tears.
Not only that, but at the Stormhill shack you'll find an NPC who will gift you Spirit jellyfish, ashes in. In my opinion, this is an incredibly useful spirit ash as you can use it to help distract bosses and take their aggro away from you. However, you can't use spirit ashes yet, but now that you have torrent, you can now find the spirit calling bell, which allows you to do this.
The first thing you need to do is rest at your site of grace and pass the time until night, as the MPC who gives you this only appears at night. Next, we're back to the church of Ella, where you'll find the witch Rena. Talk to her and she'll gift you with the spirit calling bell as well as Lone Wolf ashes.
Now you have an extra tool to aid you in combat. From here, there are two dungeons I'd recommend checking out. These are the Storm Foot Catacombs and the Grove side cave. There are low-level dungeons that are well suited for beginners, and completing these will give you a way to earn runes and level up your character.
One of these locations is along the cliffside northwest of the Church of Ella. Your next location is the Waypoint Rune Cellar. This is going to be southeast of the gatefront ruins and the Egg Hill Lake north side of Grace Cross. The bridge and finding the waypoint runes Within these runes you'll find the Mad Pumpkin head boss fight.
After defeating him, you'll find both the sight of Grace and a secret location with sorceress Selen Selen. This is going to be your way to buy new sorceries, so this is definitely a must-visit location if you're doing a sorcery style build. Next, we travel to the Lime Grave Tunnels. This tunnel is located north of Agil Lake and north of the Dragon Burnt Ruins.
You can attempt to take on the Flying Dragon Agul if you feel ready, otherwise. Feel free to run past him and to the bottom of the cliffside, where you'll find the tunnel. I'm taking you here because Lim's Grave Tunnel is filled to the brim with smithing stones. The stones are your key to leveling up your weapons, so if you're doing any kind of melee build, you absolutely want to head here early.
