Elden Ring (George RR Martin and From Software)

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120069805#Comment_120069805

If you think there are places you haven't fully explored in the starting areas that you could handle with a low-level weapon, it would be worth doing those to help you try to collect smithing stones and also get used to the different playstyle, before you start progressing further. A few caves could help you buff the weapon to near enough where you're currently at.

keane2097

Is there anything important to do before starting NG+? I think I remember reading somewhere that you should cash in the items you get for killing bosses to get weapons or armour or something?

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120069867#Comment_120069867

Yeah you could duplicate whatever remembrances you can in the big mausoleum-walking things, then either use them for runes, or unlock weapons at the two fingers in the Roundtable Hold if you want them. If you think you might want to dual-wield any of the remembrance weapons (such as Radahn's sword), you can only get one per playthrough, so use the remembrence for them before starting NG+, then you can get the seond one for dual-wielding in NG+.

I'd also suggest collecting as many of the ancient smithing stones and gravewort flowers as you can, just in case you want to upgrade more weapons or summons. And buy as many upgrade materials from the Twin Maidens as you can, as some of the bell-bearings don't carry over, and I think things might become more expensive (but I'm not sure on that).

After that, just collect as many larval tears and stonesword keys if you know there are more out there you haven't found yet.

This probably gives the best breakdown of what carried over and what doesn't.

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/New%2BGame%2BPlus

EoinHef

All smithing stone bell bearings carry over to NG+. Worth collecting while you have the whole map unlocked.

MadYaker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120069551#Comment_120069551

Magic is strong in this game but you don't get the good stuff until you've levelled up your stats a good bit. The Katanas are very strong and require high dexterity to use effectively. If you haven't played any of the souls game before when levelling up pick a few stats to specialise in depending on what weapons / magic you'd like to use, rather than spreading the points around evenly. In the beginning it's important to level up your vigour a fair bit early on as once you move away for the starting areas the enemies start to hit hard and you always want to be able to tank a few hits from regular enemies.

I would say for your first playthrough don't bother with walkthroughs or wikies at all, if you get properly stuck post questions in this thread and we can give spoiler free hints.

Retr0gamer

Also I wouldn't worry too much about messing up stats as you can very easily re-spec after an early enough point of the game.

Zero-Cool

Quick overview on how to make a Witcher build and play as one too. This is actually great.

https://www.thegamer.com/elden-ring-playing-as-a-witcher/

Andrew76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120069805#Comment_120069805

Not sure how far you are into the game but maybe bookmark this link to use as a reference:

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Builds

It has lots of builds for different levels, fantastic resourse that wiki is.

I hadn't played the game since last summer I think - got stuck at the second phase of the second last boss and gave it a long break. My eldest started playing it over Christmas (his first From game) which got me back into it too. Decided to change build (was dex/arc with rivers of blood I think) to the Gravity God build from the above link - great fun it is. And got me past that second last boss finally.

Dcully

I started as a Samurai but want to go the magic route now so will probably start over with an astrologer.

adrian522

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120075172#Comment_120075172

You don't need to start over you can respec once you reach a certain point in the game. Not sure how far in your are though.

DeSelby83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120073514#Comment_120073514

That's a great resource, thanks for linking that

Dcully

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120076762#Comment_120076762

Im level 16 on both now, still in the starting zone apart going a bit further in to grab a staff.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120077471#Comment_120077471

You're probably in a bit of a middle ground. Closer to the start than where you'll become able to respec, but also far enough in that restarting might be a pain and not really worth it. Your time might be better spent just exploring everywhere in the starting areas as much as possible and simply putting all your runes into levelling up Int (for sorceries using a staff) or Faith (for incantations using a seal). That way you'll likely find decent weapons/items/upgrade materials that will be beneficial too.

The starting classes don't matter too much past the first area. You're still early enough that just levelling up different attributes or farming/exploring shouldn't take that long to re-jig your skills into the type of build you want rather than restarting. Any points you've already put into the likes of Dex might be required anyway to wield some better staffs later on.

Dcully

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120077625#Comment_120077625

Yeah im sticking with the mage for now ,exploring the starting zones and spending runes i get for leveling up int and mind so far mostly int.

Im wondering when i will be powerful enough to clear all castes and point of interest in the starting zones, just hit lvl 20.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120078101#Comment_120078101

You should be fairly capable for most stuff in the starting areas. The castle to the very south can be difficult enough, maybe leave it until last before moving North into the next areas, say Level 25 or so.

Dcully

Yeah the castle in the South was the one i was trying :P

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120078355#Comment_120078355

Hah yeah, it's tricky as f*ck. Use ranged attacks to pull enemies one by one where you can, and divide and conquer!

johnny_ultimate

I wouldn’t worry about clearing absolutely everything before moving on. There’s a lot of stuff you’ll encounter as the game progresses which is designed to be revisited at higher levels, and you’ll be back to previous regions pretty regularly if you do any of the side quests.

Penn

Yeah I'd explore until you level up a few more times just to rebalance your skill points and weapons to your new build, then don't be afraid to move on without having done everything. You'll start to get diminishing returns in terms of runes/items.

Dcully

Quick question, the "alter garments" option in site of grace isnt giving me upgraded stats if i choose to later garment.

Im still using the starting one but wondering if i upgrade a few times stats will improve?

As it is the option given to me now is worse stats than the starting one.

johnny_ultimate

There’s no armour upgrading in the game. Alter garments is mostly an aesthetic thing (and some additional lore here and there). You get more armour as the game progresses that’ll be more suited to particular builds.

MadYaker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120078101#Comment_120078101

Throw a few points into vigour as well yo increase your HP.

Kimbot

So I have done some of the caves and catacombs in Limgrave now and even killed my first dragon just east of the starting area :) Roughly 25 hours clocked up so far and starting to really get used to the combat etc with my new weapons :)

cml387

The most important thing to remember is that it's not necessary to kill everything. Unlike most games they only respawn anyway. If there's a treasure, rush in get it and die, but you'll still have the treasure. Especially ignore those big fugging knoghts.

Dcully

Cant shake the feeling i want the end to come now for my first playthrough.

Hate saying it but boredom is really setting in.

Markitron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120129156#Comment_120129156

I got a bit burned out on it too. Decided to leave 3 or 4 major areas until my second run with the DLC, that way I will still have loads of new things to do. I did this with Bloodborne and it was like having a whole new game to play through.

wayne040576

So I got this game on release. A year later 82 hours in, I still haven't completed it. I only get to play a couple of hours on Sundays. I reached the fire giant a few weeks back but decided to stop my progression of the main story there and start exploring the areas a bit more. The game still throws surprises at. Today, I killed a few bosses who had been giving me trouble earlier, then decided to travel back to round table for some enhancements only to find the place in darkness. That silent guard who normally stands in one of the halls had gone red and started attacking me a few seconds after I spawned.

It completely caught me off guard and took a few circles of the table before I could fight back. 😄

cml387

On NG+1 I succeeded in racking up 1,000,000 runes before the Rennala boss fight in Raya Lucaria and I was hoping for an award but...nothing.

cml387

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120264923#Comment_120264923

Actually what's the largest amount of runes players have accumulated before chickening out and cashing in?

Penn

DLC officially announced to be in development. Called "Shadow of the Erdtree"

https://twitter.com/ELDENRING/status/1630478058103734274?s=20