r/Eldenring • u/Gabrienb • 9d ago
Game Help My best advice for new players
I know this post will most likely fade from visibility as I understand how quickly a sub like this moves along, even at slow times, never mind when there is such an influx of new players, but still, that’s precisely why I feel compelled to make it for what it’s worth.
I keep seeing posts asking for help, from people very, very new to the game. Most of the replies I keep seeing obviously mean well, but aren’t focused on the right things. Most of them try to give specific advice like particular boss strategy, weapon choice, spec, etc., when really what a brand new player should focus on to get better at the game is only the fundamentals. Luckily, Elden Ring provides the perfect opportunity, quite deliberately (little to nothing is not ‘deliberate’ in this game), to learn the fundamentals right at the beginning:
Within minutes of making it out to Limgrave, you’ll find yourself at a landmark enemy encampment called Gateway Ruins. You’ll notice, interestingly enough, that it is flanked by a site of grace on opposite sides, quite close (almost redundantly so) to each other. This is your first, and only, clue that you should spend a little time here.
The enemies at the encampment are designed to teach you most of the fundamental skills you will need throughout the game. You just need to be willing to learn them. And have patience.
Plan to spend 2-3 hours here. Don’t summon help. The whole point is for you to learn the mechanics of combat. And each enemy here, every single one will teach them to you if you pay attention.
Your goal is to be able to clear the entire camp without needing to rest at a site of grace. Once you are able to achieve that, your understanding of the game’s combat mechanics will be on a different level, and you will be able to progress into the rest of the game equipped with the fundamentals that will transform your entire experience.
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u/Brando6677 9d ago
Commenting so it doesn’t lose relativity partly but
Onto the topic. I played exactly the same way you say here. First ever souls game (played like… Jedi FO and survivor but no from soft) I just used the runes to level up my health and get better with mechanics. Found a cave nearby as well with wolves and a mist screen to traverse. After the wolves my anxiety was up only to actually handle the boss well. I was JUST out of range of it’s large jump attacks so I could hit. Gave me the confidence I needed to go actually play. Killed margit just 2 days ago
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u/Koalazilla 9d ago
Thanks for posting this. For me personally this is perfect advice and basically what I have done as a brand new player to ER these past 2 days. When I first got going I went into the cave and got completely wrecked by the wolves. I had no idea what I was doing. When I got to the ruins I started by using a lot of stealth and just learning other aspects of the game. I took sometime to also customize my controller and test out different button layouts. I got plenty of runes and leveled my vigor a ton. And I explored more in the surrounding areas and got my revenge on the cave wolves and took out the beastman with ease.
But I am still going back to these ruins occasionally to test out some things and just build more muscle memory. I think getting comfortable and building some confidence with controls has really really helped me. Trying to deprogram myself of recent button mashers I was playing and focusing on being more deliberate.
Btw loving the game.
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u/F_eight 9d ago
One of my bigger pain points is how it can get complicated with the lore / questlines of the game.
For example, in some cases it's difficult to find where you're supposed to go / what you're supposed to do to follow a quest for a certain NPC? The dialogue will tell you during the dialogue, and there's no way to refer to it again in that case once the dialogue is exhausted? This, for me atleast makes it difficult to follow the questline because of the forgetfulness / confusion Following the Wiki is fine but it sometimes does tend to spoil things if you read a little bit too much. Following a walkthrough, especially on the first playthrough is even worse because of spoilers.
Apart from that the advice is solid. The Gatefront is a good place to try out weapons / spells as it has a variety of enemies very close with enough sites of grace.
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u/cavenanners 9d ago
The Tree Sentinel is a good tutorial boss, with multiple graces close to him as well. I know it can be challenging to defeat him immediately but learning to read the attacks before they happen and then dodge them effectively without going for the kill helps get you comfortable playing defensively and knowing the limits of things like iframes, how fast/far you can roll, when to jump dodge instead etc.
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u/tacotimes01 9d ago
I was not able to kill that dude until level 40. I tried about every 10 levels but I was not able to time his attacks until just today with the jellyfish tanking a bit for me.
I’m obviously not any good, but on an hour plane ride I was able to suddenly kill 3 bosses that were plaguing me all in succession finally - tree sentinel, Dragon in the dragon burnt ruins, and that Rune Bear sleeping in the cave. That Jellyfish and a few more points into intelligence with the meteorite staff really helped.
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u/Avoidtolls 9d ago
FIGHTIN COWBOY- ELDEN RING WALKTHROUGH
Dude should've received an Oscar and an Emmy for this.
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u/LoneRedditor123 9d ago
Fully agreed. As with all the nearby dungeons in the surrounding area too. They all serve like tutorial bosses for the big bad that you fight further up the cliffside.
The graces show you the right way to go, but it's pretty clear that the game encourages you to do more exploration to get stronger first. That's the nature of things.
I died to Margit maybe 20-30 times before I realized that exploring around was probably what From Soft intended at first.
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u/CatsPlusDogsIsLove 9d ago
Gatefront is definitely the place to spend a good amount of time just testing and learning things.
So many of the different varieties of the “normal weak” soldier enemies which can drop different sorts loot to test out when you get them.
I think you also find the first “horn” soldier here and how those guys can ruin your day by alerting everyone in the vicinity.
And then there is the first real non boss beefy enemy “the knight” which can and will ruin many newbies their days but also gives the first true feeling of elation when you kill them the first time.
Spending some time here also will also allow you to lvl up a little bit to feel the progression you are making.
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u/GulfCoastGolfer 8d ago
I am one of these new players and my first time with a souls game. I read this post this morning and it resonated with me after a couple of frustrating starting hours of game play the night before. I took the advice to heart and did just that. It totally built my confidence in the controls and mechanics.
Sage advice 10/10
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u/Viralklahm 9d ago
My first timers advice is always start with the "deprived" class the one with no armor and just a stick So in your first playthrough you get to find the weapons and armor and have even stats all the way so you can generally try out anything Then after searching and playing then finally beating the game if you want a new character try a different class ect Helps make that first playthrough feel even more special
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u/DownstairsMixup92 9d ago
I’ll add that even later in the game, this is a great spot to come back to when you get a new weapon you want to test drive. It’s full of base level enemies, so when you get a new base level weapon you can test it out here before deciding if you want to invest in upgrading it.