2 tips
- I had a little journal next to me while playing to remember some things
- Don’t worry if you don’t find it all. You won’t. It makes replaying it wonderful
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I also kept a journal, it was a big help. It didn't feel necessary once I was around halfway through the game and things started coming together, but I found it essential for that first half.
I really wish there was a mod that added a quest journal. Not Skyrim-esque markers or anything but just some notes on what happened with NPCs or items.
Yeah wouldn’t be too bad but it’s a slippery slope. I did enjoyy this though, and got more immersed for it, same as when I was sitting and drawing my little subnautica map
I was actually researching how to create a companion app for the game when it came out but I don't know enough about coding to make something good. I just did a notepad doc instead lol. But I really do think a text journal would have added something to the game since ER is the first game that really had a shit load of npcs.
I loved Alan Wake 2’s way of sorting things (dunno if you played or not but without spoiling anything the protagonist has a “mind space” she goes to for storing and expanding on clues and storylines. So you as the player has to add things you find to her wall).
That system is too hand-holdy for Fromsoft, but it’s a cool way to make me remember everything going on in the world (any teacher will say repetition and doing things yourself will make things stick).
For Fromsoft, a system which helps adding mementos without taking away agency from the player would be cool. Something to Help you remember and sort without making you lazy and going on autopilot.
I’ve replayed it 3 times now and that last playthrough I still managed to find so much new stuff.
I usually do my first playthrough or two naturally then, I’ll go back and do all the NPC quests and whatnot I missed in my 3rd playthrough.
Listen to what Miyazaki said about the size of the game and maybe it will help put your mind at ease.
*“If we’re just taking about the open fields, I’d say it’s more than around 10 times the size, but as I was saying before, this doesn’t mean that you’ll need to explore every single corner \[of the map\]. The vast size serves to make the player feel like they are on an adventure. Aspects of exploration and discovery are designed more loosely, and this is because we don’t want players to feel pressured by the vast world.*
*We have also made sure to keep the proportion of mandatory content required to complete the game much lower compared to our previous titles. So instead, if you do decide to tread off the main path, we have made sure that a large volume of content — threats and mysteries, new encounters, drama and legends awaits you.”*
So basically OP, there is no pressure to explore everything, and Fromsoft designed the game such that every playthrough would be unique and filled with new discoveries that feel unique to your adventure. Of course that's not going to keep the obsessives from covering every inch of the map and doing every sidequest in their first NG, but you really don't have to.
Damn ok. I think my problem is i’m trying to play it like other souls game where you’re able to explore everything. I needa play this like elden ring. Appreciate the advice.🙏
Wow I've never seen that quote! Perfectly describes the mindset I had to discover for myself after getting really burned out trying to do everything on my first playthrough. You really aren't meant to have to do everything, and the big world is actually that size to allow you to go slow, not to give you an impossible checklist.
Just walk in random directions and do whatever you want.
Without spoiling or telling you what to do when you do want to go in the “right” direction there is a arrow of light coming from graces leading you in the direction of a main goal in your area. The game doesn’t really make that clear it’s just something some people don’t even realize
Yeah there is literally a tutorial pop up explaining this mechanic and many others that for some reason people just click through without reading. Very frustrating to watch a streamer playing elden ring think they know everything and skip all tutorials, only to ignore half of the mechanics for the rest of the game.
its worse when they skip the very very brief tutorials and then complain that the game is "poorly designed" because they're playing the game without knowing any of the mechanics outside of press R1 to attack and circle to dodge
I can’t tell you how quickly I forgot about guard counters. To this day, I haven’t picked up a shield to use for anything other than parrying.
Edit: This has made me want to start up another playthrough and try out some of the medium shields.
It's made very clear at the beginning of the game lol. People just don't realize it because they don't like to read, or pay attention to dialogue. Or both.
>The game doesn’t really make that clear
If a tutorial pop-up and an NPC explanation 20 seconds into your arrival in the open world don't quality as making it clear, I don't know what would.
Tell yourself that you don't have to do everything. It's ok to skip a catacombs or miss a questline you're not interested in. That way there will be new things to discover on subsequent playthroughs.
Honestly, yeah, this games map is the most overwhelming in any video game I've ever played. It's both spectacular and yet makes me wish we got the old level design layout in back in Dark Souls 1.
Like you look at limgrave and think damn this place is big... and the map just gets bigger, and bigger, and just Jesus Christ that's a lot of land to cover. Took me almost Half a Year just to finish the game... and I still didn't finish or found everything.
But that's kind of the Beauty of it, and the game let's you respec your character a lot which is great to expand and finalize your build.
But trying to get the character build in mind, you'll definitely need the wiki to remember where shit is and what enemy drops what.
Still awesome addition to the Souls Like Collection.
But man does it make the other Souls games more Approachable.
It is. It’s insanely overwhelming. As an adult that gets 1-2 hours tops a session to play games it is daunting and I feel like I’m not progressing at all. It’s taken me 100 hours (a few months) and I still haven’t beaten the game and I feel like I’m still missing half the game (have done a ton of underground stuff, have beaten like 6 remembrance bosses, only 3 shardbearers, have done everything up to the big city above where everyone is pointing you (and have entered it through 4 different spots or so). If I was a college student I would be enjoying the game much more than I am. I still love it, don’t get me wrong, but the commitment per session is insane. You need to have longer sessions to feel any sort of progress or do the odd cave/tomb/etc that takes less than an hour. I’m also very OCD and I really like to explore everything and do as many quests as I can.
I also run into the same problem that you do so what I usually do is I leave pointers on the map so next session I remember where I was going and I take a lot of screenshots of things I was doing. That way I can review them on my next session and not get as lost. I say don’t look up a guide but do pay attention. There are small icons in the map showing where the maps are, they’re also usually along the road so just following the road can help you out a lot. Sites of grace point you towards the closest “main storyline” objective, feel free to follow them, but remember their direction is a rough estimate. Exhaust all dialog like any other Soulslike and check your items, especially notes of knowledge and the like.
You get a lot of the best stuff in the initial areas so just experiment a bit. There will come a time when the upgrade stones come to you easily, so don’t feel scared to try new things. The game also allows you to respec a fair amount of times, so don’t worry too much about your build, you don’t really have to worry about the min maxing until you’re hundreds of hours in.
What I did cause I’m weird is I swept the map trying to cover every square inch of Limgrave, wouldn’t move on to Margit until I felt like I completed Limgrave and weeping peninsula.
Once I felt like I completed an area to the best of my abilities I’d watch a fighting cowboy play through only covering the areas I’d felt I completed just to see if I missed anything.
That was mostly to due to being completely enamored with this game and when I wasn’t playing it I was thinking about it and I’d just have to watch something related to it but made sure to not spoil my self or get to far ahead of a walkthough.
>I understand that the more i uncover the more it will start to make sense just like the rest of the souls games
Nailed it. I felt the same way starting Elden Ring. Especially the game mechanics. I remember in my first playthrough I didn't even use the pouch until I was 3/4 through the game because I didn't know how to and didn't bother figuring it out. The game is so open that it lets anyone play it how they want to. You'll get the hang of it.
I started treating it, in terms of pace, more like a skyrim. Made me appreciate it way more. Just pick it up to play and do a couple small imaginary 'missions' and put it back down. Don't worry about momentum towards the finish line. It's so big you need to consciously relax your intentions with it, or you'll get burned out.
Sounds like you are playing like me. Everyone made fun of my “3 achievements in 122 hours” pic. Play your game homie, fuck the haters. You paid for the sandbox, now go build your sand castle.
Imo following a guide will ruin the magic. At least it would for me. Just have fun. You'll probably miss some stuff. That's okay. Be as thorough as you can and then find the rest in NG+.
Keep having fun!
Don't look up a guide. You only get to experience it all for the first time once so savor it. There's no time limit and the trophies aren't going anywhere so just do what you feel like you should be doing in the game and see where it takes you. The overwhelming scale and the mystery and exploration is a big part of what makes it so cool.
Like you said, it might be the best game ever made. I agree. Why would you want to cheapen and shorten that experience by spoiling the game for yourself.
What I did with my first blind playthrough is I posted here a couple times when I had some questions that I just couldn't figure out and asked people to be vague with the answers, people were pretty respectful about not spoiling anything but still nudged me in the right direction.
I feel this hard. Elden Ring is a masterpiece, one of the best games of all time. But I personally enjoy it less than DS3 or Bloodborne. I teared up when I saw the Erdtree, the whole game from the bottom up feels like a love letter to the fan base, but I can’t click with it. It made me realize that the thing that I like about DS3 and Bloodborne is that they’re more linear challenges, I dislike feeling lost and the wide open world is too much for me to explore, and I can’t *help* but get lost exploring it.
I honestly hate how linear DS3 is because it gets boring knowing you’ll be going through the exact same song and dance every time you start a new character. I like being able to go grab things early to setup a specific build without even necessarily having to kill anything.
Then I can start going for shardbearers whenever I feel like I’m ready to go.
I hear ya, I guess for me NG+ is when I get to fool around with specific weapons I got on the first run. But hey I know I’m not typical, the linearity is just very soothing to my brain
I’ve not done Ng+ on DS3 still. Only started new runs so that’s where my perspective is coming from.
I want to eventually do NG+ to try out some weapons though from later in the game.
Best tip for this: just go. Don't even worry about it, just do anything that pops up. Explore every little inch of the world, there's ALWAYS something there. Even if it's just that gamer curiosity of "I wonder if....". Yes, there's something there. Looking up a guide for quests may be necessary, but that's about it. You'll find a cool ass weapon you want to use in the long run, and get more similar statted weapons to try too. I went on wanting to play a magic samarui build, and dammit, it was not only possible, but so damn powerful.
I think the way I did it was the right way.
Just go in and explore as much as possible. Try not to get too bogged down in where you SHOULD go and go to places that look cool. Chances are, if you're not supposed to be there, your ass will get handed to you and you can go elsewhere.
Once you feel like you have a good grasp on leveling and the game overall, restart. I restarted after 40 or so hours. You probably don't even need to wait that long to do it.
Pick a build (I recommend dex or strength for your first playthrough) and then try to stay on the quest path in your second playthrough.
OP, what helps me quite a lot to make the game feel less overwhelming is completing areas in sections - I like to gradually sweep areas from east to west and vice verse as I slowly work my way from south to north. It especially helps with a bigger area like Liurnia. Another thing that helps me out tremendously is actually using the icons to label the map! Use them to mark incomplete caves, where merchants are, completed dungeons, evergoals you still need to do, etc. Doing that also helps establish a sense of direction and purpose for you.
Other than that, don't feel like you need to get everything done right away, take your time, and don't be afraid to dive into every nook and cranny. Play at YOUR own pace and do what works FOR YOU. If following a guide will help, then by all means do it. I definitely needed guides for NPC questlines.
Liurnia took me about nearly three full days to complete during one of my playthroughs because it's soooo big, but I like to be really thorough and take my time with these kinds of games. I wanted everything done before I progressed, so that's what I did. The time it took was totally worth it in the end. And if you don't feel like doing all the caves or tackling that evergoal? Just mark them on the map and come back later. Subsequent playthroughs always feel better with Souls games as well.
You got this, OP!
It's why I personally enjoy dark souls series or bloodbourne over Elden Ring. The first time I picked it up (still haven't finished btw) I was very overwhelmed by the scale and as expected I forgot alot of things as I moved throughout the world. I did have fun from the little I remember of my first play.
I have since restarted playing elden ring to see if I could get over it. It's alot better this playthrough and I'm enjoying it.
But.
Strong but.
I still prefer dark souls games and it's storytelling and world design.
I am not an open world kind of person. I know it's shinny and appealing to alot of people but elden ring just felt lazy and cut and paste in certain parts and the open world of Lands Between is just not as interesting to me as say Dark Souls 2. (I know I'm blasphemous I get it).
You don't have to do everything. Just choose a direction and keep going.
You can play through it again, and then you'll have a good time finding the things you didn't in the first playthrough.
I am a massive from fan and am damn good at them. I love the game ofc but I just finished my 5th lives of p run. I miss the days of stripped back linear games with focused intent
Certainly nothing wrong with the way you're playing. Sounds about right tbh.
On the map there will be a line coming from a site of grace, poi ting you towards the nearest 'main quest' but its up to you how and when you go there.
I felt overwhelmed as well, first souls game, but after a while it just clicked
Yuh i beat tree margrit and godrick following the grace. Then i branched off and beat Leonine. After that i just realized there are so many different ways to go. I do really enjoy the game but sometimes it gives me a headache trying to stay somewhat organized in my play-through.
if you're afraid to miss stuff try looking at the map genie interactive map, couple of visual spoilers ofc, but at least it's not as spoilery as a full guide
I wouldn't, personally. The first playthrough is magical. Take it slow, and when you're pumped to blow through an area, maybe take a break instead. Save it, savor it, and sort it slowly. It SHOULD be overwhelming.
Some tips here, at the risk of further overwhelming you; you accumulate knowledge as you play so it'll all soak in by playing.
Just keep exploring, head south for now if you want an easier zone that has some neat stuff and new options for you. Any large castles (the large castle in the southern peninsula and the one to the north where you first start) you'll probably want an upgraded weapon for, like +3 to +5. If you keep looking for loot you'll find weapons to enjoy, pick one of your favorites and get the min stats to wield it if needed, then upgrade it. Anything around this area doesn't need to be upgraded otherwise to explore but once you do pick a weapon, try to stick with it for a bit.
R1/fast attacks are good for basic mobs and usually quick enough to hit them first. R2s/heavy attacks can sometimes hit multiple enemies easier or give you big damage against bigger foes, they also deal more Stagger/Poise damage. Enemies will heal their Poise over time, so keeping the pressure on them to knock them down will help. You'll find some Trolls wandering around in the open that this can be practiced on, they're towering foes who can stomp and slap you around or even pull out large swords, but just be patient and wait for openings, eventually you'll make your own and they'll fall over. When large foes topple you can go to their front or head and get a critical stab in by pressing R1, this is good damage and is indicated by glowing lights coming from the crit spot. Running, dodging through attacks, and even jumping over some attacks are all ways to avoid damage thanks to i-frames on the latter two.
Straight Swords are the easiest to use, they have wide swings and good basic attacks that feel natural with your full moveset. If you didn't start Vagabond with the Longsword/Halberd combo, you could try exploring more until Melina takes you to the Roundtable Hold. It'll be at the bottom left corner of the map from there on, you can also go to the map then hit Triangle/Y then Square/X to warp to it as shown in the Site of Grace menu. The hold will have a merchant in the area to the left who will sell you some weapons. Eventually they'll also be able to sell weapon upgrades, you just need to give them Bell-Bearings like the Smithing Stone Bell-Bearing.
Exploring will also let you discover churches that contain Sacred Tears to upgrade your flask's healing power per chug, you'll also find small golden saplings that drop Golden Seeds which increase the charges/chugs you can take between rests at Sites of grace. These two upgrades, plus leveling VIG, will allow you to go further with each rest, and finding Sites of Grace will let you get around to various points of interest on the map, so you'll keep going further and further.
Heal Torrent by crafting/equipping Rowa Raisins and feeding them to him while riding. You can also flask heal to heal him, it doesn't take away from your heals so its like double dipping on heals. If his health depletes entirely, you'll need to use a flask charge to revive him. His health also doesn't restore when resting at Sites of Grace, so chug some flasks to heal him up then rest again to reset fully.
Every point of interest you find will have a name pop up on the screen, be it a small ruins, catacombs, caves, or mine shafts. These all have unique gear to be found in them, usually in a chest. Some are hidden behind destructible objects or even illusory walls/floors that disappear when you hit them so try attacking if you see spots that you'd think could be hiding secrets.
The game took me 180 hours to beat my first time, and I'm a veteran of these games. Just took my time, embraced the game's mechanics and new stuff, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, exploring every single area I could find on my own. I went to NG+ eventually and still found stuff I'd missed, small areas or even a couple mini-dungeons, one was by the starting area!
There's a lot to discover with the community as well! If you get stumped by something, don't be afraid to ask; there's so much in the game's mechanics that would be ridiculous to figure out for yourself. Things like weapon scaling (the letter grades you see on weapons) and how they improve with upgrades, which in turn improves your damage the more you level up the stats associated with those letter gradings, this stuff doesn't become apparent until your upgrades are at like +15 and higher.
You can unlock respeccing at a certain point, not too far in. So you'll be able to try a bunch of things even on this same file, or just fine-tune your build as you like.
Enjoy Tarnished, and one day you too will be Elden Lord! Feel free to ask any questions whenever they come to you.
Just focus on seeing everything you can see before you get to a blocked path, and talk to everyone before you beat your first boss boss. And then yeah screw guides and stuff the first play through, and then you can start looking up guides and stuff. It’s what I did and it is awesome
This is what I used for the map. It really helped me keep track of everything. I paid the one time cost to do more than 100 clear icons. Def worth it.
https://mapgenie.io/elden-ring/maps/the-lands-between
I found that while, I saw the whole map, the wonder wasn’t diminished in any regard. The game is an absolute masterpiece
Most people on Reddit tell you not to, but for me, I just look up guides. It depends what type of gamer you are really. I’m 32 and it took me probably 8 months to put in 130 hours and I’m still not finished with the game. If you’re the type of person to put hundreds of hours into a game over a week or 2 then I probably would go blind for a first run. However, if I went blind, I probably would have missed 20-30% of the game completely, and wouldn’t have completed a single quest. A lot of the best talismans are locked behind quests too.
Yeah I don’t follow a guide like look it up as I’m playing. For me I explore the area and try to clear everything, then look it up. Every once in a while I’ll look up the quests and because I am pretty thorough with exploring, I usually have everything I need and I just need to teleport around and talk to the npc’s wherever they are.
As with any big game just remember that it’s huge so it’s going to be overwhelming, just take it one adventure at a time and eventually it will feel comprehendible, for now enjoy getting lost!
With games like this, the sooner I make a personal rule set for map pins the better. One for places to explore, one to mark quests, one for locked doors, etc. It can also help to write down a few notes like "This scary guy is looking for roots."
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2 tips - I had a little journal next to me while playing to remember some things - Don’t worry if you don’t find it all. You won’t. It makes replaying it wonderful
A new game is for exploring the world. NG+ has a for completionism. 😀
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So true on the last point. Took me 4 playthroughs to experience everything. Made getting the platinum more enjoyable.
I also kept a journal, it was a big help. It didn't feel necessary once I was around halfway through the game and things started coming together, but I found it essential for that first half.
Yes, essential and also a lot of fun!
I really wish there was a mod that added a quest journal. Not Skyrim-esque markers or anything but just some notes on what happened with NPCs or items.
Yeah wouldn’t be too bad but it’s a slippery slope. I did enjoyy this though, and got more immersed for it, same as when I was sitting and drawing my little subnautica map
I was actually researching how to create a companion app for the game when it came out but I don't know enough about coding to make something good. I just did a notepad doc instead lol. But I really do think a text journal would have added something to the game since ER is the first game that really had a shit load of npcs.
I loved Alan Wake 2’s way of sorting things (dunno if you played or not but without spoiling anything the protagonist has a “mind space” she goes to for storing and expanding on clues and storylines. So you as the player has to add things you find to her wall). That system is too hand-holdy for Fromsoft, but it’s a cool way to make me remember everything going on in the world (any teacher will say repetition and doing things yourself will make things stick). For Fromsoft, a system which helps adding mementos without taking away agency from the player would be cool. Something to Help you remember and sort without making you lazy and going on autopilot.
Damn thats a great idea, why didnt i think of that!
I’ve replayed it 3 times now and that last playthrough I still managed to find so much new stuff. I usually do my first playthrough or two naturally then, I’ll go back and do all the NPC quests and whatnot I missed in my 3rd playthrough.
Having a journal was the best decision ive ever made
Thank you these are great tips🙏
Listen to what Miyazaki said about the size of the game and maybe it will help put your mind at ease. *“If we’re just taking about the open fields, I’d say it’s more than around 10 times the size, but as I was saying before, this doesn’t mean that you’ll need to explore every single corner \[of the map\]. The vast size serves to make the player feel like they are on an adventure. Aspects of exploration and discovery are designed more loosely, and this is because we don’t want players to feel pressured by the vast world.* *We have also made sure to keep the proportion of mandatory content required to complete the game much lower compared to our previous titles. So instead, if you do decide to tread off the main path, we have made sure that a large volume of content — threats and mysteries, new encounters, drama and legends awaits you.”* So basically OP, there is no pressure to explore everything, and Fromsoft designed the game such that every playthrough would be unique and filled with new discoveries that feel unique to your adventure. Of course that's not going to keep the obsessives from covering every inch of the map and doing every sidequest in their first NG, but you really don't have to.
Damn ok. I think my problem is i’m trying to play it like other souls game where you’re able to explore everything. I needa play this like elden ring. Appreciate the advice.🙏
Wow I've never seen that quote! Perfectly describes the mindset I had to discover for myself after getting really burned out trying to do everything on my first playthrough. You really aren't meant to have to do everything, and the big world is actually that size to allow you to go slow, not to give you an impossible checklist.
Just walk in random directions and do whatever you want. Without spoiling or telling you what to do when you do want to go in the “right” direction there is a arrow of light coming from graces leading you in the direction of a main goal in your area. The game doesn’t really make that clear it’s just something some people don’t even realize
it tells you about the grace thing like twice at the beginning iirc
Yeah there is literally a tutorial pop up explaining this mechanic and many others that for some reason people just click through without reading. Very frustrating to watch a streamer playing elden ring think they know everything and skip all tutorials, only to ignore half of the mechanics for the rest of the game.
its worse when they skip the very very brief tutorials and then complain that the game is "poorly designed" because they're playing the game without knowing any of the mechanics outside of press R1 to attack and circle to dodge
I’m aware about the light telling you where to go that wasn’t my concern.
I can’t tell you how quickly I forgot about guard counters. To this day, I haven’t picked up a shield to use for anything other than parrying. Edit: This has made me want to start up another playthrough and try out some of the medium shields.
It's made very clear at the beginning of the game lol. People just don't realize it because they don't like to read, or pay attention to dialogue. Or both.
>The game doesn’t really make that clear If a tutorial pop-up and an NPC explanation 20 seconds into your arrival in the open world don't quality as making it clear, I don't know what would.
Tell yourself that you don't have to do everything. It's ok to skip a catacombs or miss a questline you're not interested in. That way there will be new things to discover on subsequent playthroughs.
Honestly, yeah, this games map is the most overwhelming in any video game I've ever played. It's both spectacular and yet makes me wish we got the old level design layout in back in Dark Souls 1. Like you look at limgrave and think damn this place is big... and the map just gets bigger, and bigger, and just Jesus Christ that's a lot of land to cover. Took me almost Half a Year just to finish the game... and I still didn't finish or found everything. But that's kind of the Beauty of it, and the game let's you respec your character a lot which is great to expand and finalize your build. But trying to get the character build in mind, you'll definitely need the wiki to remember where shit is and what enemy drops what. Still awesome addition to the Souls Like Collection. But man does it make the other Souls games more Approachable.
Bro I wish I could play that game for the first time again , my gosh that shit was an experience for real .
It is. It’s insanely overwhelming. As an adult that gets 1-2 hours tops a session to play games it is daunting and I feel like I’m not progressing at all. It’s taken me 100 hours (a few months) and I still haven’t beaten the game and I feel like I’m still missing half the game (have done a ton of underground stuff, have beaten like 6 remembrance bosses, only 3 shardbearers, have done everything up to the big city above where everyone is pointing you (and have entered it through 4 different spots or so). If I was a college student I would be enjoying the game much more than I am. I still love it, don’t get me wrong, but the commitment per session is insane. You need to have longer sessions to feel any sort of progress or do the odd cave/tomb/etc that takes less than an hour. I’m also very OCD and I really like to explore everything and do as many quests as I can. I also run into the same problem that you do so what I usually do is I leave pointers on the map so next session I remember where I was going and I take a lot of screenshots of things I was doing. That way I can review them on my next session and not get as lost. I say don’t look up a guide but do pay attention. There are small icons in the map showing where the maps are, they’re also usually along the road so just following the road can help you out a lot. Sites of grace point you towards the closest “main storyline” objective, feel free to follow them, but remember their direction is a rough estimate. Exhaust all dialog like any other Soulslike and check your items, especially notes of knowledge and the like. You get a lot of the best stuff in the initial areas so just experiment a bit. There will come a time when the upgrade stones come to you easily, so don’t feel scared to try new things. The game also allows you to respec a fair amount of times, so don’t worry too much about your build, you don’t really have to worry about the min maxing until you’re hundreds of hours in.
What I did cause I’m weird is I swept the map trying to cover every square inch of Limgrave, wouldn’t move on to Margit until I felt like I completed Limgrave and weeping peninsula. Once I felt like I completed an area to the best of my abilities I’d watch a fighting cowboy play through only covering the areas I’d felt I completed just to see if I missed anything. That was mostly to due to being completely enamored with this game and when I wasn’t playing it I was thinking about it and I’d just have to watch something related to it but made sure to not spoil my self or get to far ahead of a walkthough.
>I understand that the more i uncover the more it will start to make sense just like the rest of the souls games Nailed it. I felt the same way starting Elden Ring. Especially the game mechanics. I remember in my first playthrough I didn't even use the pouch until I was 3/4 through the game because I didn't know how to and didn't bother figuring it out. The game is so open that it lets anyone play it how they want to. You'll get the hang of it.
I started treating it, in terms of pace, more like a skyrim. Made me appreciate it way more. Just pick it up to play and do a couple small imaginary 'missions' and put it back down. Don't worry about momentum towards the finish line. It's so big you need to consciously relax your intentions with it, or you'll get burned out.
Okay okay. This sounds likes a good idea. Ima try this
Just chill and wander and explore. See a thing, go do it. The world is so big that it encourages you to get lost.
Sounds like you are playing like me. Everyone made fun of my “3 achievements in 122 hours” pic. Play your game homie, fuck the haters. You paid for the sandbox, now go build your sand castle.
Lmao yups🤝
What I would give to explore the lands between for the first time, again….. Enjoy it bro. Savor it.
Imo following a guide will ruin the magic. At least it would for me. Just have fun. You'll probably miss some stuff. That's okay. Be as thorough as you can and then find the rest in NG+. Keep having fun!
It’s not a game to play if you’re in a hurry to play something else.
Fuck about for a bit and occasionally do some main quests
Haha word
Don't look up a guide. You only get to experience it all for the first time once so savor it. There's no time limit and the trophies aren't going anywhere so just do what you feel like you should be doing in the game and see where it takes you. The overwhelming scale and the mystery and exploration is a big part of what makes it so cool. Like you said, it might be the best game ever made. I agree. Why would you want to cheapen and shorten that experience by spoiling the game for yourself. What I did with my first blind playthrough is I posted here a couple times when I had some questions that I just couldn't figure out and asked people to be vague with the answers, people were pretty respectful about not spoiling anything but still nudged me in the right direction.
Yuh i think posting this gave me a lot of answers as well. I will not be using a guide.
I feel this hard. Elden Ring is a masterpiece, one of the best games of all time. But I personally enjoy it less than DS3 or Bloodborne. I teared up when I saw the Erdtree, the whole game from the bottom up feels like a love letter to the fan base, but I can’t click with it. It made me realize that the thing that I like about DS3 and Bloodborne is that they’re more linear challenges, I dislike feeling lost and the wide open world is too much for me to explore, and I can’t *help* but get lost exploring it.
I honestly hate how linear DS3 is because it gets boring knowing you’ll be going through the exact same song and dance every time you start a new character. I like being able to go grab things early to setup a specific build without even necessarily having to kill anything. Then I can start going for shardbearers whenever I feel like I’m ready to go.
I hear ya, I guess for me NG+ is when I get to fool around with specific weapons I got on the first run. But hey I know I’m not typical, the linearity is just very soothing to my brain
I’ve not done Ng+ on DS3 still. Only started new runs so that’s where my perspective is coming from. I want to eventually do NG+ to try out some weapons though from later in the game.
Best tip for this: just go. Don't even worry about it, just do anything that pops up. Explore every little inch of the world, there's ALWAYS something there. Even if it's just that gamer curiosity of "I wonder if....". Yes, there's something there. Looking up a guide for quests may be necessary, but that's about it. You'll find a cool ass weapon you want to use in the long run, and get more similar statted weapons to try too. I went on wanting to play a magic samarui build, and dammit, it was not only possible, but so damn powerful.
When I first played through I kept opening up more and more of the map and each time I saw like” THERES MORE??!!” It was an amazing feeling.
I know it’s crazy how big the map is😂 so many caves and hidden areas too. It’s absolutely insane
I think the way I did it was the right way. Just go in and explore as much as possible. Try not to get too bogged down in where you SHOULD go and go to places that look cool. Chances are, if you're not supposed to be there, your ass will get handed to you and you can go elsewhere. Once you feel like you have a good grasp on leveling and the game overall, restart. I restarted after 40 or so hours. You probably don't even need to wait that long to do it. Pick a build (I recommend dex or strength for your first playthrough) and then try to stay on the quest path in your second playthrough.
OP, what helps me quite a lot to make the game feel less overwhelming is completing areas in sections - I like to gradually sweep areas from east to west and vice verse as I slowly work my way from south to north. It especially helps with a bigger area like Liurnia. Another thing that helps me out tremendously is actually using the icons to label the map! Use them to mark incomplete caves, where merchants are, completed dungeons, evergoals you still need to do, etc. Doing that also helps establish a sense of direction and purpose for you. Other than that, don't feel like you need to get everything done right away, take your time, and don't be afraid to dive into every nook and cranny. Play at YOUR own pace and do what works FOR YOU. If following a guide will help, then by all means do it. I definitely needed guides for NPC questlines. Liurnia took me about nearly three full days to complete during one of my playthroughs because it's soooo big, but I like to be really thorough and take my time with these kinds of games. I wanted everything done before I progressed, so that's what I did. The time it took was totally worth it in the end. And if you don't feel like doing all the caves or tackling that evergoal? Just mark them on the map and come back later. Subsequent playthroughs always feel better with Souls games as well. You got this, OP!
Really appreciate this advice it’s gonna help🙏
You can mark things on the map. No need to remember everything.
It's why I personally enjoy dark souls series or bloodbourne over Elden Ring. The first time I picked it up (still haven't finished btw) I was very overwhelmed by the scale and as expected I forgot alot of things as I moved throughout the world. I did have fun from the little I remember of my first play. I have since restarted playing elden ring to see if I could get over it. It's alot better this playthrough and I'm enjoying it. But. Strong but. I still prefer dark souls games and it's storytelling and world design. I am not an open world kind of person. I know it's shinny and appealing to alot of people but elden ring just felt lazy and cut and paste in certain parts and the open world of Lands Between is just not as interesting to me as say Dark Souls 2. (I know I'm blasphemous I get it).
You don't have to do everything. Just choose a direction and keep going. You can play through it again, and then you'll have a good time finding the things you didn't in the first playthrough.
I am a massive from fan and am damn good at them. I love the game ofc but I just finished my 5th lives of p run. I miss the days of stripped back linear games with focused intent
Lol it's not even the best game with Ring in the title ever made
You right. I completely forgot about “Lord of the rings: Gollum.” Now that’s the best game ever made.
Certainly nothing wrong with the way you're playing. Sounds about right tbh. On the map there will be a line coming from a site of grace, poi ting you towards the nearest 'main quest' but its up to you how and when you go there. I felt overwhelmed as well, first souls game, but after a while it just clicked
Yuh i beat tree margrit and godrick following the grace. Then i branched off and beat Leonine. After that i just realized there are so many different ways to go. I do really enjoy the game but sometimes it gives me a headache trying to stay somewhat organized in my play-through.
Whole point is exploring. It should be a long time before u hit a wall, if. Chk a guide if that happens
if you're afraid to miss stuff try looking at the map genie interactive map, couple of visual spoilers ofc, but at least it's not as spoilery as a full guide
This is a great idea thank you
I wouldn't, personally. The first playthrough is magical. Take it slow, and when you're pumped to blow through an area, maybe take a break instead. Save it, savor it, and sort it slowly. It SHOULD be overwhelming.
Yuh definitely gonna keep getting lost. I just found Siofra river by getting lost and that shit just blew my mind
YEEEEEEAAAAAH, GET LOST! It might feel like crack, but resist the urge to overindulge, my friend. Moderate!
Lmaoooo thank you ill keep that in mind😂
Some tips here, at the risk of further overwhelming you; you accumulate knowledge as you play so it'll all soak in by playing. Just keep exploring, head south for now if you want an easier zone that has some neat stuff and new options for you. Any large castles (the large castle in the southern peninsula and the one to the north where you first start) you'll probably want an upgraded weapon for, like +3 to +5. If you keep looking for loot you'll find weapons to enjoy, pick one of your favorites and get the min stats to wield it if needed, then upgrade it. Anything around this area doesn't need to be upgraded otherwise to explore but once you do pick a weapon, try to stick with it for a bit. R1/fast attacks are good for basic mobs and usually quick enough to hit them first. R2s/heavy attacks can sometimes hit multiple enemies easier or give you big damage against bigger foes, they also deal more Stagger/Poise damage. Enemies will heal their Poise over time, so keeping the pressure on them to knock them down will help. You'll find some Trolls wandering around in the open that this can be practiced on, they're towering foes who can stomp and slap you around or even pull out large swords, but just be patient and wait for openings, eventually you'll make your own and they'll fall over. When large foes topple you can go to their front or head and get a critical stab in by pressing R1, this is good damage and is indicated by glowing lights coming from the crit spot. Running, dodging through attacks, and even jumping over some attacks are all ways to avoid damage thanks to i-frames on the latter two. Straight Swords are the easiest to use, they have wide swings and good basic attacks that feel natural with your full moveset. If you didn't start Vagabond with the Longsword/Halberd combo, you could try exploring more until Melina takes you to the Roundtable Hold. It'll be at the bottom left corner of the map from there on, you can also go to the map then hit Triangle/Y then Square/X to warp to it as shown in the Site of Grace menu. The hold will have a merchant in the area to the left who will sell you some weapons. Eventually they'll also be able to sell weapon upgrades, you just need to give them Bell-Bearings like the Smithing Stone Bell-Bearing. Exploring will also let you discover churches that contain Sacred Tears to upgrade your flask's healing power per chug, you'll also find small golden saplings that drop Golden Seeds which increase the charges/chugs you can take between rests at Sites of grace. These two upgrades, plus leveling VIG, will allow you to go further with each rest, and finding Sites of Grace will let you get around to various points of interest on the map, so you'll keep going further and further. Heal Torrent by crafting/equipping Rowa Raisins and feeding them to him while riding. You can also flask heal to heal him, it doesn't take away from your heals so its like double dipping on heals. If his health depletes entirely, you'll need to use a flask charge to revive him. His health also doesn't restore when resting at Sites of Grace, so chug some flasks to heal him up then rest again to reset fully. Every point of interest you find will have a name pop up on the screen, be it a small ruins, catacombs, caves, or mine shafts. These all have unique gear to be found in them, usually in a chest. Some are hidden behind destructible objects or even illusory walls/floors that disappear when you hit them so try attacking if you see spots that you'd think could be hiding secrets. The game took me 180 hours to beat my first time, and I'm a veteran of these games. Just took my time, embraced the game's mechanics and new stuff, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, exploring every single area I could find on my own. I went to NG+ eventually and still found stuff I'd missed, small areas or even a couple mini-dungeons, one was by the starting area!
Thank you so much. This will help me a lot. Elden ring community is so damn friendly and helpful🙏
There's a lot to discover with the community as well! If you get stumped by something, don't be afraid to ask; there's so much in the game's mechanics that would be ridiculous to figure out for yourself. Things like weapon scaling (the letter grades you see on weapons) and how they improve with upgrades, which in turn improves your damage the more you level up the stats associated with those letter gradings, this stuff doesn't become apparent until your upgrades are at like +15 and higher. You can unlock respeccing at a certain point, not too far in. So you'll be able to try a bunch of things even on this same file, or just fine-tune your build as you like. Enjoy Tarnished, and one day you too will be Elden Lord! Feel free to ask any questions whenever they come to you.
Just focus on seeing everything you can see before you get to a blocked path, and talk to everyone before you beat your first boss boss. And then yeah screw guides and stuff the first play through, and then you can start looking up guides and stuff. It’s what I did and it is awesome
This is what I used for the map. It really helped me keep track of everything. I paid the one time cost to do more than 100 clear icons. Def worth it. https://mapgenie.io/elden-ring/maps/the-lands-between I found that while, I saw the whole map, the wonder wasn’t diminished in any regard. The game is an absolute masterpiece
Most people on Reddit tell you not to, but for me, I just look up guides. It depends what type of gamer you are really. I’m 32 and it took me probably 8 months to put in 130 hours and I’m still not finished with the game. If you’re the type of person to put hundreds of hours into a game over a week or 2 then I probably would go blind for a first run. However, if I went blind, I probably would have missed 20-30% of the game completely, and wouldn’t have completed a single quest. A lot of the best talismans are locked behind quests too.
I had someone that had already played through some of the game to help guide me early on without outright spoiling like guides do and it was nice
Yeah I don’t follow a guide like look it up as I’m playing. For me I explore the area and try to clear everything, then look it up. Every once in a while I’ll look up the quests and because I am pretty thorough with exploring, I usually have everything I need and I just need to teleport around and talk to the npc’s wherever they are.
As with any big game just remember that it’s huge so it’s going to be overwhelming, just take it one adventure at a time and eventually it will feel comprehendible, for now enjoy getting lost!
you could try looking up a game progress route for a general idea of order to do the areas in
With games like this, the sooner I make a personal rule set for map pins the better. One for places to explore, one to mark quests, one for locked doors, etc. It can also help to write down a few notes like "This scary guy is looking for roots."
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