Kai Cenat, another popular streamer, is well-known for marathoning FromSoftware titles, with his Elden Ring content breaking streaming records, averaging over 96,000 viewers during the week that he powered through the game.

The copycat claims come from Tyler1’s set up for his own marathon of the game, featuring a themed backdrop, much like what Cenat used during his streams, as well as Tyler wearing a warrior costume when initially jumping into frame to introduce the stream. While some fans were excited and on board, citing previous “cosplay” streams that Tyler had hosted on his Twitch, others weren’t nearly as excited.

Other fans say that Kai Cenat deserves more credit for popularizing the concept of a streaming marathon, and that Kai really went out of his way to make themed streams feel like a spectacle, and that seeing Tyler do it now feels too much like copying.

While fans are decided – one thing is for certain – watching Tyler1 endure the endless trials that Elden Ring throws at its players, especially the boss fights, will be a spectacular show all on its own.

Should You Free Blaidd in Elden Ring?

Image: Attack of the Fanboy

What Happens If You Don’t Free Blaidd?

If you choose not to free Blaidd and leave him in the Evergaol, nothing will happen. You can continue your adventure, delve into Nokron, Eternal City, or go explore elsewhere. Blaidd will escape the Evergaol regardless, and his questline will continue regardless of your choice here. Your decision here does not matter. Nothing will change in the story, and Blaidd’s full questline will still be available to you no matter what. Most players don’t even come across Blaidd in the Evergaol anyway, instead opting to just explore Nokron and wonder why he’s not there. Before you can see Blaidd again, you must complete Ranni’s entire questline. There isn’t much left to it at this point, but you will need to seek out some rare items in Nokron and return to Ranni for your final few instructions. After completing Ranni’s storyline, you can find Blaidd at Ranni’s Rise to complete his quest. Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

What Do the Gold Lines Mean Near a Site of Grace?

The gold lines on the map in Elden Ring point toward your next objective. They’re called the Guidance of Grace in the lore, and they guide the Tarnished on their journey. If you ever find yourself stuck, just follow those lines and you’ll be back on track in no time. It’s not just limited to the map, either. When you rest at a Site of Grace, some of them will emanate a sort of golden trail of dust through the sky. Not all of them do that, only those that indicate a certain landmark in the game that leads into a possible quest or dungeon ahead will have them. The game doesn’t hold your hand too much in outright giving you some sort of quest log or something in the UI to show you your next destination. The tradeoff here is that there’s a sense of exploration you should fulfill for tidbits of lore, new wares to collect, and bosses to conquer. These gold lines serve as a bare minimum of leading you in the direction you should go. The choice is yours. You’re not locked out from progressing any further if you don’t follow the lines either. Admittedly, it can get confusing if you’re traveling east towards Caelid and start seeing the Sites of Grace show the lines too. The correct way to through the main story of the game is to make your way north from Limgrave, through Stormveil, then the Raya Lucaria Academy, and so forth. Even when you complete an entire area, those lines will still appear. The only way to really keep track is to use the map’s marker options to indicate if you have cleared an entire area of its boss and one-time pickups. Elden Ring is out now for the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series S/X, and PC.

6. Mohg’s Great Rune

It’s unfortunate that the Lord of Blood is perhaps one of the hardest bosses in the game and his blessing is nothing particularly rewarding. Mohg’s Great Rune, according to the game’s description, “grants a blessing of blood to phantoms.” In short, this is a PvP item. It’s not yet known if this affects Spirit Ashes, but it works on summoned players when playing online. The aforementioned “blessing of blood” heals players when their summons kill an enemy. It’s basically a lifesteal Rune that works when the summons do the work. It’s too niche to really recommend for single-player use. Mohg’s Great Rune is rewarded to you after you defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood at the Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum, not to be confused with Mohg the Omen in the lower sections of Leyndell. It is to be activated at the Divine Tower of East Altus.

5. Malenia’s Great Rune

Malenia is another extremely brutal boss to fight in Elden Ring. Unfortunately, her Great Rune isn’t all that useful. It grants lifesteal for a short time after taking damage. Lifesteal is extremely strong, but the effect is not permanent. You only have about five seconds before that “short time” runs out. Most of the time, unless you’re playing a tank build, five seconds only gives you enough time to hit an enemy once. Within five seconds of taking damage, a smart player waits until there’s a safe opening to attack. Being reckless after getting attacked may not be enough to restore enough HP to take the next hit. The life restored cannot exceed that of which you lost, making this not a great choice either. Unless you’re using other equipment to give you passive health regen, this Great Rune can be skipped. You can obtain Malenia’s Great Rune by defeating her at Miquella’s Haligtree. The Rune itself can be activated at the Isolated Divine Tower.

4. Rykard’s Great Rune

This is where the Great Runes start to be useful. Rykard’s Great Rune is a better variant of Malenia’s Great Rune because you restore 185 health per enemy killed. This works extremely well when clearing mobs. It may not be the best when it comes to bosses, but sometimes, when farming enemies for drops, XP, or getting through tough dungeons, this can be a lifesaver. Pair this with his signature Blasphemous Blade and a Taker’s Cameo to maximize HP gains. You can basically charge through hordes of enemies without burning through your Crimson Flasks. Of course, you still shouldn’t play recklessly or else you have to pop another Rune Arc to get the effect. To get Rykard’s Great Rune, you must defeat him at the end of the Volcano Manor questline. You then need to activate the Rune at the Divine Tower of West Altus.

3. Morgott’s Great Rune

Morgott’s Great Rune serves a better purpose in being an all-rounder choice if you use Rune Arcs. This Rune “greatly raises maximum HP” If your Vigor stat is high, this can possibly prevent getting one-shotted by the next boss you fight. Morgott’s Great Rune is obtained after defeating him in Leyndell. You’ll have to activate it at the Divine Tower of East Altus.

2. Radahn’s Great Rune

Starscourge Radahn’s Great Rune is very similar to Morgott’s, but it sacrifices some health gained and allocates that to FP and Stamina. If you’re an all-rounder and need a boost in every other bar you have, this is a strong pick to use your Rune Arcs on. To obtain this, you’ll have to defeat Radahn, a boss who is considered to be the toughest in the game. Bring his Rune over to the Divine Tower of Caelid to activate it.

1. Godrick’s Great Rune

Godrick’s Great Rune provides the best benefit to the Tarnished when in use. It’s extremely strong and useful for basically any build. This Great Rune adds 5 levels to each stat of your player level. This includes things like Vigor, Mind, Faith, Dexterity, and so on. It’s essentially a +40 to your character’s level for free. You’ll need to defeat Godrick the Grafted and bring his Great Rune to the Divine Tower of Limgrave to activate it. Elden Ring is out now for the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series S/X, and PC.

Should You Learn From Sellen?

As you begin your quests in Limgrave, you’ll come across Sorceress Sellen in the Waypoint Ruins in the eastern part of West Limgrave. She will appear after defeating Mad Pumpkin Head, and is located near the Site of Grace titled “Waypoint Ruins Cellar“. As she sends you on her questline, you’ll fight enemies and fetch items for her, and once you complete this quest, she will open her Sorceries Shop, allowing you to spend Runes to unlock new types of Magic. For players working on a Magic-based Build, her shop can aid you to get some powerful spells quite early in the game, especially if you’ve tracked down the Scrolls that are required to get some of the better spells, like the Conspectus Scroll to unlock Glintstone Cometshard. If you take the time to help her out, you’ll find yourself rewarded quite well. However, if you are going for a Melee Build, her unlocks may come to little use for you, unless you are aiming to 100% your run. Her questline does send you to some interesting locations, so it may be worth your time for the chance to explore some new parts of the world, ultimately culminating in you choose if you wish to challenge Sellen to a battle, or assist her in fighting the Witch-Hunter Jerren in the Grand Library. Choosing to assist Sellen and defeating Jerren will also reward the player with the following items:

• Eccentric’s Hood
• Eccentric’s Armor
• Eccentric’s Breeches
• Eccentric’s Manchettes

If you instead side with Castellen Jerren and challenge Sellen, you’ll be rewarded with the following:

• Witch’s Glintstone Crown
• Sellen’s Bell Bearing

No matter which option you choose, you’ll find out that once you learn from this Sorceress, she’ll be happy to start Sellen you anything you need to help you in your journey and help you learn some great new Magic along the way. Elden Ring is out now for the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and PC.

How To Open the Divine Tower in Limgrave and Activate Godrick’s Rune

The route to the Divine Tower of Limgrave in actually within Stormveil Castle where you origianlly defeated Godrick. To get to the Tower, you’ll need to take a portal from the castle to the tower bridge. For the purpose of this guide we’re going to explain how to get back to this area by backtracking from the Godrick boss fight.  You’ll need to head back to the areas that you just  fought though to make it to the castle gates.  Hopefully you unlocked the Liftside Chamber Site of Grace while making your way to Godrick in the first place.  This one was near the ogre and open area with many soldiers. Backtrack past the ogre in the courtyard area and instead of heading due south which would’ve been the way you approached this area the first time, instead, go left (east) and head down the stairs toward the main courtyard and Stormveil Castle Gate.  At the bottom of the stairs you’ll come to another open area with a ton of guards as well as a Vanguard Lion.  At the bottom of those stairs hook a left and head through the main door past the lion.

How to Open the Divine Tower of Limgrave Path

The easiest way to do this is to try and run past these enemies but it’s also a good opportunity to collect runes so choose to approach it how you wish.  Once you get to the room with the knight statues kneeling you should be safe if noone is on your tail.  Keep heading straight and you will be at the Limgrave Tower Bridge.  Rest at the Site of Grace and then head onward to the tower. You’re not quite out of the clear yet, the long stretch is a straight run to a teleporter that will actually take you to the tower.  You’ll need to make your way past three giants: two wielding axes, and one with a bow and arrow.  The easiest way to get past them is to run straight ahead until you see the teleporter and then use it to go to the Tower.  If you choose to fight, the ranged giant (closest to the teleporter) is going to be able to hit you while you’re fighting the first and second giants – so be prepared for a tough encounter. If you chose not to fight, and you took the teleporter you are in the clear and you are now at the Divine Tower of Limgrave.  You are in the clear for the time being.  Head up the lift and activate Godrick’s Rune.

The Basics of Bows and Crossbows in Elden Ring

In order to use a bow or crossbow in Elden Ring you’ll need to have one equipped, obviously. This can be in your left or right hand as your primary or secondary item.  If you are using a bow you will not be able to use any of your secondary weapons like shields in-between your attacks, however, with the crossbow, shields are a bit easier to use. While it may be obvious to some players, for either of these items you need to also have bolts, arrows, or great arrows equipped so that you have something to shoot. Assuming that you’ve got all this down: You can shoot the bow, great bow, or crossbow just like you’re using any other weapon.  You can either manually aim a shot or you can lock on to the target and the shot will track the target automatically.

How To Aim With the Bow & Crossbow

To properly aim using base PC controls: Press and hold E and right click to two hand, then hold right click to aim. To properly aim using a controller: PS4/5: Press and hold “triangle” to two hand and then use L1 to aim. Xbox Controller: Press and hold Y and use the right bumper to two hand, then use your left bumper to aim. Once you bring up the crosshair, you can line-up your shots to take down enemies or shoot down hidden items. That’s all you need to know about aiming bows and crossbows in Elden Ring.  For more tips on the game, check out our Elden Ring Guides section.

Building off the lore from the base game and introducing a variety of challenging new mechanics for players to navigate, memorize, and strategize around, the boss roster in Shadow of the Erdtree is nothing to scoff at; but of these new additions, which of these new adversaries stands out for being the best?

Honorable Mention

Unfortunately, Bayle the Dread is not a remembrance boss in Shadow of the Erdtree, but he’s become such a cultural icon thanks to Igon’s iconic quote: “CURSE YOU, BAYLE!” in addition to the boss fight just all around encompassing the feeling of fighting an ancient, mighty dragon that it’s hard not to give him a shoutout. Not to mention, Bayle has one of the best themes in the entire DLC and excellently written lore than makes felling him all the more satisfying.

10. Scadutree Avatar

Despite the fact that the Scadutree Avatar has a very well-designed arena a perfectly orchestrated battle theme, the creature is lacking in the lore department, with what is known about it being mostly left up to presumption.

With three separate phases, the Scaduetree Avatar’s moveset and mechanics can feel clunky, as many of its abilities fail to truly flow with the beast or capture what makes its design so interesting. While being an interesting challenge to go up against, it’s by far the DLC’s weakest Remembrance fight.

9. Putrescent Knight

Located in the Fissure Depths, the Putrescent Knight is a hulking mass of rotting flesh dedicated to serving St. Trina. While lacking in the lore department, the Putrescent Knight has an amazing accompanying track when fighting him, and his mechanics can be really fun to learn and strategize around.

Unfortunately, though, the hulking undead knight is overshadowed by the DLC’s other boss battles with fleshed out lore. While fun, the Putrescent Knight lacks the substance to make him a truly memorable foe.

8. Commander Gaius

A friend to Messmer who was once noted as a legendary military strategist and warrior, Commander Gaius was once a rival to Radahn, and similarly to his friend, is a rather tragic figure in the lore; cursed from his heritage as an Albinauric to someday lose the use of his legs who accompanied Messmer when he left for the Land of Shadow on Marika’s orders.

Gaius’ fight is no joke – it’s easily considered one of the most difficult and frustrating in Shadow of the Erdtree due to his relentless combos. However, despite how frustrating it can be to go against him and his hulking boar companion, his arena looks incredible, and perfectly fits Gaius’ story – even if weaving around the abandoned weaponry can add to potential frustrations when trying to evade his attacks. Plus, the flashy flavor in his abilities make him a memorable foe to take down.

7. Divine Beast Dancing Lion

Easily possessing one of the best designs and battle themes in the DLC, as well as an incredible introductory cutscene, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion fight is unforgiving mechanically, and at times can feel a bit clunky, even on repeat attempts. Unfortunately, despite the Dancing Lion’s incredible design, the arena the boss is placed in is relatively bland.

Filled with potential due to Divine Beasts being seen as “Messengers of the Heavens” in Elden Ring‘s lore and other intricate bits of design flavor, there were unfortunately too many aspects of the Divine Dancing Beast that caused it to fall flat when compared to other bosses encountered in the DLC.

6. Romina, Saint of the Bud

A horrific amalgamation of different insects and humanoid features, Romina can pose a challenge for unprepared players while still being relatively well-balanced. The fight against her is unavoidable, and her lore is condensed compared to other encounters in the DLC.

Something particularly interesting about Romina despite her condensed origin story and lore is how seamlessly she’s integrated with her environment. Located in the Church of the Bud, Romina is an incredibly well-planned boss that clearly had a lot of care put into her design and battle mechanics.

5. Metyr Mother of Fingers

One of the more grotesque bosses appearance-wise, Metyr is a visual spectacle of a battle with lore implications that run deep into Marika’s backstory. Thanks to Ymir’s questline, players are finally able to face off against the Mother of Fingers, and it delivered.

Located in an ethereal arena in the Finger Ruins of Miyr, Metyr moves rather slowly, but is capable of creating distance to deliver devestating magic attacks against the player. While her battle is far from being the most difficult in the DLC, the visual flair she provides in addition to being arguably one of the most lore-relevant encounters in the game makes her one of the most memorable.

4. Promised Consort Radahn

The official final boss fight of the DLC, the culmination of every quest and encounter the Tarnished has accomplished on their adventure through the Land of Shadows, the battle against the Promised Consort Radahn is nothing to scoff at. In a cinematic confrontation, Miquella, after enchanting Mohg and putting Radahn’s soul into his body, uses him as a “puppet” to fight back against the Tarnished to further his plans to create an “ideal” world using his charms.

Capable of using the same Bloodflame and Gravity Magic, this fight is an uphill battle to say the least. With a flashy moveset in the first phase that morphs into an epic battle against both Radahn and Miquella in the second, the fight is excellently designed, with only a few drawbacks for how overloaded some of the pair’s abilities are.

3. Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame

Midra Lord of Frenzied Flame is an incredibly interesting and challenging boss fight in Shadow of the Erdtree. After previously attempting to become a Lord of Frenzied Flame and failing, Midra finally succeeds in ascending after coming into contact with the Tarnished. The encounter also provides more insight on the Frenzied Flame from the base game.

The fight poses a good challenge for players, with a strong mixed of ranged and melee abilities that forces players to try and fight him in close-quarters combat. All-in-all, it’s a solid fight that, despite being optional, every player should try at least a few times.

2. Rellana Twin Moon Knight

Despite being an optional boss in the DLC, Rellana is a battle that every player should experience. Heavily tied to Messmer the Impaler’s lore – even being known as “Messmer’s Sword”. Rellana was once a princess of the Carrion family and is the younger sister of Rennala, who left behind her life to remain at Messmer’s side once he was sent to the Land of Shadow.

The fight against Rellana is one of the game’s flashiest and feels incredibly rewarding. Her abilities and moveset boast incredible visuals that excellent precursor to the battle against Messmer the Impaler.

1. Messmer the Impaler

Widely considered the secondary antagonist in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Messmer is a Demi-god and the son of Queen Marika, who was used as a weapon to wage war on any who opposed his mother before being sent to the Land of Shadow. In the lore, Messmer is a shockingly tragic figure who was used by his mother to become a detestable warlord – but he realized this truth too late.

Mechanically, the fight against Messmer is a very fair but extremely challenging fight that tests the player’s ability to memorize his fiery combos. He has two phases, each of which offer insight on his tragedy and his relationship to Marika. His arena is hauntingly gorgeous, and the music that accompanies the fight against him is absolutely perfect, making Messmer hands-down the best Remembrance boss in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

Seluvis’s Basement Location in Elden Ring

Seluvis’s secret room can be found beneath some illusory flooring in between Renna and Ranni’s Rise in the Three Sisters section of Caria Manor. Attacking the pavement in question will open up access to players, letting them travel downward into the basement.

Players will know they are at the correct location of Seluvis’s secret room if they’ve spotted aristocrats wielding staffs nearby. They are not exactly difficult enemies, and appearing in an area that is mostly void of enemies serves more as a tell as opposed to being obstacles in the player’s way. I found it easy to defeat these enemies with a few swings of my sword.

Check out the image below for the exact location of Seluvis’s basement:

Make sure to avoid the giant dragon in the area unless you feel confident enough to take it down. I made the mistake of getting too close and having to start over from the last Site of Grace after dying.

After venturing into Seluvis’s secret room, players should immediately be able to ascertain why exactly it is that Seluvis has entrusted them with the duties of delivering potions to other individuals and the potential consequence of such deeds. Littered about the grounds of Seluvis’s basement are motionless husks of test subjects Seluvis has conducted experimented upon. This matter is only made more apparent by the illusionary wall at the end of Seluvis’s secret room, depicting the outcome of the player’s decision regarding their potion delivery quest.

Questioning Seluvis

Now that players are made aware of the goings-on beneath the ground of the Three Sisters, they’re free to use that knowledge as leverage. Head into Seluvis’s Rise and converse with Seluvis; a new dialogue option should have opened up that would allow players to inquire why Seluvis’s secret room even exists. Seluvis, upon hearing such inquiries, will scold the player for their breach of personal privacy but will acquiesce to the player’s demands for a puppet if asked.

Seluvis will give players the option to pick from his collection freely. The choices available include Finger Maiden Therolina Puppet, Jarwight Puppet, and Dolores the Sleeping Arrow Puppet. I recommend picking Jarwight Puppet, which I found to be the strongest out of the options.

Players don’t have to contemplate their choices too much if they’ve collected starlight shards during their exploration of the Lands Between, since the remaining puppets will be made available to the player later down the line, with starlight shards being the trading currency.

Can You Miss The Seluvis Storyline?

It is important to note that this opportunity to confront Seluvis about his puppet room will become void after substantial progression is made through Ranni’s storyline. If the player’s already acquired the secret treasure of Nokron as Ranni desired, Seluvis will be found dead at his tower, with his corpse lootable for the Preceptor Set and his Bell Bearing containing the sorceries you’ve yet to purchase. After the fact, his corpse can still be interacted with as a way for players to obtain puppets, again, using starlight shards. Players should also check up on Pidia, as there’s some event that’s also occurred on his end.

What’s In Seluvis’s Basement?

Aside from Seluvis’s shop and secret shop, players can also find the following items:

• Memory Stone
• Finger Maiden Therolina Puppet
• Jarwight Puppet
• Seluvis’s Potion
• Seluvis’s Bell Bearing
• Seluvis’s Introduction

What Can You Buy from Seluvis in Elden Ring?

Here are the tables with items you can buy from Seluvis’s shop and his secret shop:

Seluvis’s Shop

Puppet Ashes Shop

Who is Preceptor Seluvis in Elden Ring?

Preceptor Seluvis is a mysterious figure in Elden Ring, serving Ranni the Witch. Although this sorcerer will help you by providing Ashes and Sorceries, he is anything but thrilled by his mistress’s decision to enlist “a Tarnished like you”.

How To Use the Primal Glintstone

Starting at the Site of Grace, head left down the stairs and out of the tower. Once you are outside, head northeast towards the stone arches. In between the stone arches, perform a ground attack to reveal secret stairs that lead down. Head down and reach the main room with blue crystals and a few bodies. At the back of the room, attack the back wall that has branches on it to reveal another hidden room. Press “Transplant Primal Glintstone” and talk with the woman. The next location of this wild goose chase is the Witchbane Ruins, which is south at the Weeping Peninsula south of the Fourth Church of Marika. This is where Sellen’s original body was. You’ll need to make your way to the bottom where you’ll talk to the person you spoke with before the Festival before defeating Starscourge Radahn. Apparently, Sellen was the most powerful and dangerous sorcerer ever and you just used the Primal Glintstone to give her a new body. And that is the end of the Primal Glintstone quest. Though there doesn’t seem to be any physical rewards from this quest as of writing this, more evidence may come out as time passes. Plus, it is unclear what either helping Sellen with the Primal Glintstone or going against her has to do with anything. In the meantime, be sure to check out our Elden Ring guides. We cover everything from quests, weapons, items, bosses, and much more. Elden Ring is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Before he departs, Blaidd asks you to meet him “where the falling star bit the Earth”. However, Blaidd will not be in the Eternal City when you go to look for him. Here’s how to find Blaidd in Nokron in Elden Ring.

Where Is Blaidd In Nokron?

Elden Ring is a game where even basic instructions from NPCs can be cryptic or misleading. Unlike the previous moments when Blaidd would ask for you to meet him somewhere, like the Siofra River beneath Limgrave and Caelid, Blaidd will not be in Nokron when you go to look for him after defeating Radahn. However, there is an excellent reason why Blaidd is not able to meet you at the Eternal City, as he has found himself in a somewhat awkward situation.

Return to the Forlorn Hound Evergaol in Limgrave where you should have fought the Bloodhound Knight Darriwil alongside Blaidd earlier in the story. As you approach, you’ll hear the signature wolf howl that signals Blaidd is nearby, followed by the wolfman telling the Tarnished that he’s been trapped by Iji. Note: You can only progress Blaidd’s questline if you agree to help him break free. Once you’ve freed him by interacting with the Evergoal, a grateful Blaidd will depart to discover why Iji has seemingly betrayed Ranni’s cause, promising to meet you in Nokron afterward.

Unfortunately, Blaidd never makes it to Nokron. If you confront Blacksmith Iji yourself at the Road to the Manor Site of Grace in Liurnia, he will reveal that he imprisoned Blaidd to keep him from going feral, which he is fated to do. At this point, you must complete the rest of Ranni’s quest before interacting with Blaidd again.

Once you have finished Ranni’s questline, you can find Blaidd one last time at Ranni’s Rise, surrounded by the corpses of Black Knife assassins sent to kill Ranni and consumed by an animalistic fury. Lost in his madness, Blaidd will mistake you as a threat to Ranni and attack you, leaving you with no choice but to put him out of his misery.

“They didn’t seem right” or “They were magnificent”?

To obtain this quest for Varré in the first place, players must defeat one of the demigods and meet the Two Fingers at Roundtable Hold. When first meeting Varré at the start of the game, he’ll recommend that the player defeats Godrick the Grafted first, which can prove to be a quick and easy way to achieve this task.

The next time you meet Varré will be at Rose Church in Liurna of the Lakes, where he’ll ask you what you think of – as he describes – the supposed “masters of the grace”. To continue his questline, players must choose “They didn’t seem right” to gain new dialogue from Varré.

However, this choice doesn’t matter very much. Saying “They were magnificent” simply has Varré feign agreement with you, and you can speak with him again to receive the prompt a second time. Following each of Varré’s prompts will simply let you continue with his quest; there is nothing major that you’ll miss if you join his side, despite how consequential his words are made out to be.

This is a trait that, surprisingly, is shared with numerous other important NPCs. This includes Ranni the Witch and the loathsome Dung Eater. There are still certain questlines that the player can miss out on in certain contexts, but there’s no need to worry about this choice Varré gives you.

Varré’s Quest Progression and Rewards

To advance Varré’s questline, players must meet him again at Rose Church in Liurna of the Lakes. Here, Varré will ask about the Two Fingers. Regardless of the choice made, players can continue the quest by re-engaging with Varré. The quest involves invading other players’ worlds using the Festering Bloody Finger and soaking the Lord of Blood’s Favor at the Church of Inhibition.

Completing these tasks rewards players with the Pureblood Knight’s Medal, which grants access to Mohgwyn Palace. This area is significant for progression and farming valuable resources.

Who is White-Faced Varré in Elden Ring?

White-Faced Varré is a mysterious and influential NPC players encounter early in their journey. He serves as a guide, introducing the concept of the Two Fingers and the importance of defeating demigods. His questline, while initially seeming complex, provides valuable rewards and deeper lore about the game’s world.

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

For fans of the series that are already knee-deep in the DLC, or for those who haven’t quite had the time to dive in just yet, there’s no better time to build on hype surrounding the Shadow of Erdtree release by watching and reading anime and manga that situate themselves in the dark fantasy genre.

Hellsing

While Hellsing doesn’t take place in a medieval fantasy setting, it does have all the grime and gore that fans of Elden Ring‘s brutal battles can’t get enough of. Hellsing follows an elusive organization that investigates a variety of supernatural threats. After being called in to look into a vampire terrorizing the village of Cheddar and turning the townsfolk into ghouls. The organization dispatches their most valuable member to look into the threat: a vampire called Alucard.

Hellsing is such a unique spin on dark fantasy in the way that it combines post-modern politics and social commentary in with a grisly, bloody story. Plus, for anime fans that love delving deep into franchises they love, Hellsing is an early example of a series that received the “Brotherhood” treatment. The original Hellsing anime only follows the manga up to a certain point before diverting slightly, while Hellsing Ultimate follows the manga’s story much more closely.

Bastard!! -Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy-

Action-packed with just the right amount of self-awareness to be fun and occasionally campy, 2022’s Bastard!!, based on the original manga by Kazushi Hagiwara and produced by Liden Films, embraces every eccentricity the series has to offer.

After an apocalyptic event caused by a demon named Anthrasax who was subsequently slain by the Dragon Knight, Earth is sent spiraling into a dark age. In the present day, a kingdom known as Metallicana is invaded by the “Dark Rebel Army”, who aim to bring the demon back to life. These events lead the the kingdom’s high priest requesting that his daughter reawaken Dark Schnieder, the leader of the Dark Rebels, who reincarnates in a young man named Lucien. While the story can be campy, with all the flashy designs and humor that comes from a series that originally released in the late 80s, it’s infectiously fun.

Dororo

Based on Osamu Tezuka’s manga of the same name, 2019’s adaptation of Dororo by Tezuka Productions and MAPPA is a haunting blend of historical fiction and dark fantasy. The story follows Hyakkimaru, who, when he was born, had his organs and limbs sacrificed to twelve demon gods by a feudal lord in exchange for his people’s prosperity. He’s later adopted by a doctor named Jukai, who gives him his name and raises him as his own.

As Hyakkimaru becomes a teen, he is attacked by demons, but develops the idea to see their silhouettes and fights back. He reigns victorious, and regains the ability to feel pain. His adoptive father sends him on a journey to regain his body, and on his way meets a young child named Dororo. The two begin traveling together, learning many of the harsh realities of the world around them, and more importantly: what it means to be a human being.

Claymore

Perhaps one of the most iconic high fantasy manga ever written, Claymore, created by Norihiro Yagi, takes place in a traditional medieval setting where humanity is being ravaged by beings called “Yoma”, shape-shifters that feed on humans. A group known only as “The Organization” maufactures Yoma-hybrids to fight back against this threat. Referred to as “Claymores” or “Silver-Eyed Witches” by the public, this elite force of female warriors are powered by demonic energy that gives them superhuman strength, similar to that of the Yoma.

Claymore‘s world is incredibly vast, and Norihiro’s artstyle is nothing short of breathtaking. The illustrations of the Yoma seems to loom off the page, and the fight sequences between the Claymores and their otherworldy prey are heartstoppingly intense. For fans of Elden Ring’s unique world and visually impressive monsters, Claymore is an instant favorite that diehard fans of the games shouldn’t go overlooking.

Berserk

While it may seem like the obvious choice, for the uninitiated, Berserk is hands-down the best manga that fans of Elden Ring should be reading. In addition to the games constant nods and references to Miura’s legendary dark fantasy manga, Berserk is nothing short of a horrifying, gorgeous adventure story.

The manga follows Guts, a swordsman who, in the beginning, is a lone wolf; and Griffith, the leader of a band of mercenaries called the Band of the Hawk. The two eventually bond – but the story doesn’t end happily with the pair becoming some sort of adventuring party. Quite the contrary, with Griffith later betraying Guts and his crew, sacrificing them to a powerful demonic being. After this cataclysmic event, Guts journeys onward to seek revenge on Griffith. While there’s plenty of details being left out of such a simplified synopsis, Berserk is a legendary fantasy franchise, and while the series struggles to be adapted into an animated medium, it still stands as one of the most influential pieces of dark fantasy fiction to ever be released.

Should you Tell Roderika About What the Blacksmith Said in Elden Ring?

You should tell her what the blacksmith said. This will set Roderika on the path to becoming a Spirit-Tuner, which is essential for upgrading your best Spirit Ashes and starts a quest later in the game concerning the Blacksmith. There’s no downside to this choice.

If you try to return to the shack you found her at and give her the item, you will notice that she is missing. This is because she has taken up residence in the Roundtable Hold and should be your first clue that there is more to this NPC than meets the eye.

After you give her the item, you may notice a new option appears when talking to the Blacksmith to talk about Roderkia. Asking him about it will make him tell you that she has great power from his perspective.

He says she has the ability to become a Spirit-Tuner, something that has not been talked about by any other NPC at this point. From here you have two options, You can either tell Roderika about what the Blacksmith said and have her start down the path to become a Spirit-Tuner, or let her keep standing around the Roundtable hold doing nothing.

Obviously, as mentioned before, you will want to tell her about what the Blacksmith said and get her started down the Spirit-Tuner path. There is no real downside to telling her about this, it is the only way to upgrade your Spirit Ashes and it begins a quest later in the game concerning the Blacksmith.

A lot of things in Elden Ring can seem really confusing about what you should do. But when it comes to this choice, there really is no choice. You should always tell Roderika about what the Blacksmith says.

It’s not because you should tell her what the blacksmith said that you should always do everything an NPC says in Elden Ring, especially if you want them to stay alive. But in this one situation, nothing bad can happen. If you need any more help with Elden Ring make sure to check out our other guides.

Who is Roderika in Elden Ring?

Roderika is initially found in a shack on the way to Stormveil Castle. She appears fragile and scared, speaking about her fear of being grafted onto a spider monster. Her transformation into a Spirit-Tuner, facilitated by your intervention and the blacksmith’s guidance, allows you to upgrade your Spirit Ashes, enhancing your combat capabilities significantly.

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Where to Go After Beating Rennala Queen of the Full Moon

Once you have defeated Rennala in Elden Ring, head towards the Atlus Plateau on the northern side of the map. You can reach it through the Grand Lift of Dectus, which requires both halves of the Dectus Medallion to operate. Fast travel to the Academy Main Gate Site of Grace, then interact with the seal to the north. This will teleport you to Bellum Highway. Once there, just follow the road north to reach the Grand Lift of Dectus. You can also see its location on the map below. Alternatively, you can make the choice to go through the Ruin-Strewn Precipice dungeon in to reach the Atlus Plateau if you’d rather not search for the Dectus Medallion pieces. To get there, simply follow the river near Bellum Highway as it winds northeast. Past the ravine, you should see a clearing with a Golden Seed. At the end of it near the cliffs, you can kill a Dung Beetle to obtain the Ash of War: Barbaric Roar. The goal is to climb to the top. From there, you can enter the mines. Mines and tunnels tend to have crystalline or rock-infused mobs. That means blunt weapons will deal more damage to them. Make sure you have an item or spell that can cure poison in case you trigger traps. Upon exiting the mines, you’ll be at the cliffs once more. Beware of ambushes here from none other than Giant Bats. Once you make it through this area, it’s time for the boss fight against Magma Wyrm Makar.

How to Beat Magma Wyrm Makar

If you have a ranged weapon, like a bow, it is relatively easy to fight this boss. Magma Wyrm Makar does lunges as it runs toward you, and it also spits out lava. While it’s moving around, Makar will leave trails of lava, too. You can use the large pillar in the center to keep it in one particular spot. Run around it and get the boss to do an attack animation, then move back and shoot. Even in its second phase, moving away and using ranged weaponry is still advised. With enough dodging and shooting, you will beat this boss in no time. After defeating Magma Wyrm Makar, you’ll clear the Ruin-Strewn Precipice in Elden Ring. When you go outside, you’ll see the Abandoned Coffin Site of Grace.

How to Get Rennala’s Full Moon Spell in Elden Ring

After beating Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, you will receive her Remembrance. This Remembrance, called “Remembrance of the Full Moon Queen,” can be exchanged at the Finger Reader Enia in the Roundtable Hold. Enia will reward you with Rennala’s Full Moon spell, a powerful sorcery that could be great for a sorcerer build. Rennala’s Full Moon spell creates a moon projectile that dispels sorceries it hits and temporarily reduces enemies’ magic damage negation. Players can use this against stronger enemies with high resistance against magic, as it will increase the damage output of your other spells when summoned. My favorite way to use Rennala’s Full Moon spell is by casting it in the area and switching over to Glinstone Pebble as my primary way to attack and deal damage.

All Remembrance Weapons and Rewards in Elden Ring

How to Use Remembrances

To exchange a Remembrance for a boss weapon, travel to the Roundtable Hold and speak with Enia the Finger Reader. She’s behind a door near the Table of Lost Grace that only opens after you obtain your first Remembrance. Inside are the Two Fingers, but you can ignore those for now. Speak to her and you’ll be given the option to exchange a Remembrance for either of its associated weapons. If you’d like to get the sum of Runes from a Remembrance instead, then you can just use it like a consumable item and the Runes will be added to your total. You can save them or use them right away, the number of rewarded Runes will not change. These are basically just amped-up versions of Golden Runes if you’re going to use them for this purpose, which is still a nice reward.

How to Duplicate Remembrances

You can obtain a copy of any Remembrance by taking it to a Walking Mausoleum, but there are only 7 of them in the game so you must choose wisely. Duplicating a Remembrance is a good idea if you want to obtain both weapons from a particular boss, but if you want to duplicate one just for the additional Runes, make sure you’re duplicating one that’s fairly valuable instead of a cheaper one like Remembrance of the Naturalborn. Here are all 7 Walking Mausoleum locations in Elden Ring:

• Weeping Peninsula: Located west past the Church of Pilgrimage
• Liurnia of the Lakes: Found northeast of Raya Lucaria Academy near Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel
• Liurnia of the Lakes: There are two located near the Mausoleum Compound that only duplicate Remembrances from secret bosses.
• Mountaintop of the Giants: Located outside Castle Sol in the northern area
• Mountaintop of Giants: Found northwest of Ordina next to Apostate Derelict Site of Grace
• Deeproot Depths: Located near The Nameless Eternal City Site of Grace

What is the Best Remembrance Weapon in Elden Ring?

The best Remembrance weapon in Elden Ring is the Blasphemous Blade. Not only is the Blasphemous Blade powerful in its base form, but it can be turned into something pretty incredible when leveled up fully. Besides high attack power, this Remembrance blade has a passive buff that heals the user whenever they kill an enemy or deal damage. This is a great way to stay alive longer against hordes of enemies. Its unique skill, “Taker’s Flames,” deals pure fire damage while healing the wielder with 10% of Max HP + 150 flat HP on hit. This is especially powerful when paired with the Mimic Tear Ashes, considering your Mimic will also be wielding this sword, meaning it will heal itself. This fact makes it the best Remembrance sword against the game’s challenging bosses and enemies.

All Reapers (Scythes) in Elden Ring Ranked

4. Halo Scythe

The Halo Scythe deals fantastic damage with low stat requirements, and even boasts its own unique Ash of War. The reason it’s not ranked higher, however, is because it’s the hardest Reaper to obtain. You will need to defeat Cleanrot Knights wielding the weapon in Caelid, which means trudging through the deadly Scarlet Rot along the way. Additionally, this weapon’s base damage and scaling are both relatively low; it relies mostly on the Ash of War to gain a great damage output. It’s worth using if you can find it, but other Reapers have greater potential and are much easier to obtain.

3. Scythe

The basic Scythe is, surprisingly, not the easiest Reaper to find. It can only be obtained in the Cliffbottom Catacombs at Liurnia of the Lakes. It has the lowest overall stat requirements while boasting fair damage, but lucky and observant players will likely have a better Reaper already. It does have great Dexterity scaling, but this hardly matters in the long run – especially when it’s possible to perform Rebirth later on.

2. Winged Scythe

Travelling to the Weeping Peninsula and exploring the Tombsward Ruins will net you the Winged Scythe. Its stat requirements are nothing to scoff at, but it makes up for this with great Holy damage and a special Ash of War. It’s the easiest Reaper to obtain in all of Elden Ring, and it can even outclass the Halo Scythe against enemies weak to Holy attacks. Its physical damage might be disappointing to some, but the Winged Scythe is still the best Reaper a player can start out with – as long as their level is high enough to use it effectively.

1. Grave Scythe

The Grave Scythe might require some farming to obtain, as it’s only dropped by skeletons wielding it. Thankfully, these skeletons can be found throughout the Lands Between, meaning a dedicated player will come across it eventually. This Reaper is worth such dedication; with the right setup, it can outclass every scythe in Elden Ring. It has higher base damage than the regular Scythe and can beat the Winged and Halo Scythes’ Holy damage with a Sacred Ash of War. Simply put, the Grave Scythe is worth farming for – moreso than any other Reaper you might find on your journey.

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

What Does the Sacred Order Skill Do in Elden Ring?

The Sacred Order skill comes with the massive benefit of increasing your damage by 10% in PVE. It grants the weapon you have equipped Holy Essence. However, when you cast it in PVP you will still get a damage increase (just a lesser amount) so it isn’t only useful in PVE. The skill costs 18 Focus Points to cast and it isn’t chargeable in any way, just a base cast.

Related: Elden Ring Patch 1.07 Completely Changes PVP for the Better

This Ash of War went through changes in Patch 1.07 and instead of a 30-second duration it was increased to have the Holy Essence applied for 60 seconds. With that change, the skill in my opinion is a necessity to have but especially when battling Undead enemies since you will deal more damage to them when Sacred Order is active. Not only that but skeletons can’t get back up again if you eliminate them while the Holy Essence is on your weapon.

Related: Elden Ring Godrick Cheese Strategy: How to Easily Beat Godrick the Grafted in Elden Ring

Sacred Order Skill Patch 1.10 Changes

It should be noted that before Patch 1.10 the effects of Sacred Order could accidentally carry over to other weapons you switch to — this has now been fixed. I know that this may change people’s views on the skill since it was exceptionally more powerful for that glitch, nonetheless, it is still an excellent Ash of War to acquire.

How to Get the Sacred Order Weapon Skill in Elden Ring

The Treespear weapon has the Sacred Order Weapon Skill automatically equipped on it so if you acquire the Treespear during your travels then you can get it that way. However, a quick and easy way to get it is by obtaining the Sacred Order Ash of War which is ultimately better since you can equip it on other weapons. Shown below is a video by Axiom that showcases in detail the exact location of where you can get it.

Related: Best Faith Weapons in Elden Ring

Now that you know what the Sacred Order skill does in Elden Ring and how to get it, you can jump back into The Lands Between and wreak Holy Essence havoc on your enemies.

Elden Ring Ancestor Spirit Boss: All Flame Pillar Locations in Siofra River

The Siofra River is one of the biggest underground areas in Elden Ring, and you’ll need to find and light eight pillars scattered across the region before you can fight the Ancestral Spirit. Once you’ve cleared the network of hallways that leads into the main area, you’ll want to stop by the steps leading up to Hallowhorn Grounds and note the eight torches sitting besides the stairs. As you light the torches around the area, the ones here will light up individually, too. 

The map above highlights the locations of all eight torches in Siofra River. They are laid out in a fairly striaght-forward order, so you can get most of them going in a straight line. Once you’ve found one, just interact with it to set it ablaze. However you will encounter resistance from the barbaric Ancestral Followers, who hit hard and are surprisingly fast. Don’t think you can cheese this by riding on Torrent either, as these enemies like to snipe you off your trusty steed with frustrating accuracy.

Once you’ve lit all the pillars, you’re free to challenge the Ancestral Spirit.  Acscend the steps of the Hallowhorn Grounds and you’ll spot the beast’s remains at the center of the ruins. Examine it, and you’ll be transported to a doorway you can pass through to fight the Ancestral Guardian. This is a reasonably challenging boss, as it can leap across the room, breathes freezing mist, and hits like a truck at early levels. However, I found that sticking the boss’s flanks allows you get a few good hits in before it starts jumping around again. 

Once you defeated the Ancestral Guardian, you’ll get Ancestral Follower Ashes, which allow you to summon the Ancestral Follower wherever you see the Arch icon. If you enjoyed fighting the Ancestral Guardian, you’ll be pleased to know that Nokron, the Eternal City is home to a tougher version of this boss called the Regal Ancestor Spirit.  There’s always a bigger fish, even if this fish lives on land and has antlers that can turn you into an armored kabob.

This concludes our guide to all of Siofra River’s flame pillar Locations in Elden Ring! However, the game is home to many other tough challenges and tricky puzzles, so be sure to check out our other guides if you’re having trouble. If you want to know our thoughts on Elden Ring as a whole, take a look at our review!

Where is Fort Haight?

Kenneth says his fort is to the south beyond the Mistwood, which isn’t too far away. The Mistwood is the giant forest area in the eastern half of Limgrave, and it’s just across the road to the south of Kenneth’s position. Mount Torrent and ride all the way through the forest. Fort Haight is on the southern side of the woods overlooking the ocean on a hill. The main road that runs through Mistwood will lead you straight to it. You can see the fort’s exact location on the map below. Once you arrive, you’ll find that the place is overrun with knights just like Kenneth said. There are quite a few of them outside and a particularly tough one waiting at the top of the tower, so I recommend unlocking the Site of Grace to the right of the fort before attempting to retake it.  The outside of the fort has a large group of knights and a giant enemy similar to Mad Pumpkin Head, so be careful. Inside, there are enemies tossing firebombs attempting to kill you with hidden explosive barrels, so watch out for that. There are rats too, so don’t let them surprise you. At the top of the fort is a lone knight who is much stronger than the rest. He’s the Stormveil knight commander that Kenneth mentioned, so you have to put him down. It’s a tough fight if you’re undergeared or underleveled, but it’s manageable if you’re cautious and calculated. When the fort is cleared, it’s time to return to Kenneth Haight for your reward.

Should You Pledge Your Service to Kenneth in Elden Ring?

When you return to Kenneth Haight with the good news, he will give you the Erdsteel Dagger as a reward. This dagger stands out because it actually has a minimum Intelligence requirement alongside the usual attributes. If you keep talking to Kenneth and exhaust all of his dialogue options, he’ll ask you if you would like to enter his service in the hopes of becoming a knight yourself one day. So, should you pledge your service to Kenneth?

If you do not pledge your service, then nothing happens and you can go along on your way. If you do decide to pledge your service to Kenneth, however, then he will ask you to meet him at Fort Haight for a ceremony. You can fast travel back to the Site of Grace nearby to avoid the Mistwood and get there faster. Once you arrive, you’ll find it inhabited by a group of demi-humans, at least on the ground floor. You can make quick work of them though, and once you do, you can find Kenneth at the top of the fort where you fought the strong knight. Speak to him and you’ll learn the truth. Kenneth can’t actually make you a knight, at least not right now, so he just used you to get his fort back. If you kill Kenneth Haight, he drops a Golden Seed that you can use to upgrade your Healing Flask at a Site of Grace. You need two of them in order to afford the upgrade, but you can also grab a Golden Seed at the golden tree in front of Fort Haight.

Finishing the Kenneth Quest in Elden Ring

Ever since the Elden Ring 1.03 patch, there is a final section to Kenneth’s questline. You can now find Kenneth next to the Nepheli at the throne room in Stormveil Castle at the Godrick the Grafted Site of Grace. There are three criteria that need to be met in order to complete Kenneth’s Quest. Here are those three criteria:

• Complete Nepheli Loux’s questline and give her the Stormhawk King.
• Defeat Morgott the Omen King.
• Malekith the Black Blade must still be alive.

If all three of these things are done, you will be able to talk to Kenneth and finish the quest. If Kenneth or Nepheli aren’t appearing where they should, rest at the Site of Grace outside. It is not enough to fast travel to it; you must rest there. After talking with Kenneth and Nepheli, you will receive an Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone. And with that, you have completed the Kenneth Haight quest in Elden Ring. If you are having trouble with any other quests in Elden Ring, or just want to upgrade your armor, we’ve got you covered.

Every Bell Bearing Hunter Location in Elden Ring

Bell Bearing Hunters can be found in any order you would like, but this guide will go in the order players will most likely encounter first. Remember that Bell Bearing Hunters only spawn at specific times of the day. Here are all the Bell Bearing Hunter Locations in Elden Ring.

Bell Bearing Hunter Location #1 – Warmasters Shack

The first Bell Bearing Hunter can be found at Warmasters Shack in Stormhill. This Hunter only spawns at night, so rest at a Site of Grace or wait until nighttime for it to appear. You’ll know when the Bell Bearing Hunter is about to occur as there will be a change in music. Once defeated, the Hunter will drop the Bone Peddler’s Bell Bearing — here is everything the Bell Bearing adds to the Twin Maiden Husks Store.

• Thin Animal Bones
• Heavy Beast Bones

Bell Bearing Hunter Location #2 – Church of Vows

The next Bell Bearing Hunter can be found at the Church of Vows in the eastern part of the Liurnia of Lakes region. Like the other Bell Bearing Hunter, this one will spawn at nighttime — so wait until evening by selecting the option at a Site of Grace. It can take more than one try, so if the Hunter doesn’t spawn, wait until nighttime again. Once defeated, the Hunter will drop the Meat Peddler’s Bell Bearing. Below is everything the Bell Bearing will add to the Twin Maiden Husks Store.

• Lumps of Flesh
• Silvers of Meat
• Turtle Neck Meat

Related: Elden Ring: All Legendary Talisman & How to Get Them

Bell Bearing Hunter #3 – Hermit Merchant’s Shack

You can find another Bell Bearing Hunter at the Hermit Merchant’s Shack in Leyndell Royal Capital. This Hunter will only spawn at night, so follow the previous steps and wait at a Site of Grace until nighttime. Once defeated, the Hunter will drop the Medicine Peddler’s Bell Bearing. Below is everything the Bell Bearing will add to the Twin Maiden Husks Store.

• Neutralizing Boluses
• Stanching Boluses
• Thawfrost Boluses
• Stimulating Boluses

Bell Bearing Hunter Location #4 – Isolated Merchant’s Shack

The last Bell Bearing Hunter can be found at the Isolated Merchant’s Shack in Dragonbarrow of the Caelid Region. Like any other Hunter, this Bell Bearing only spawns at night — so wait at a nearby Site of Grace until nighttime. Once defeated, this Hunter will drop the Gravity Stone Peddler’s Bell Bearing. Below is everything that this Bell Bearing will add to the Twin Maiden Husks Store.

• Gravity Stone Fan
• Gravity Stone Chunk

There you have it — all Bell Bearing Hunter locations in Elden Ring. It’s good that you’re collecting all these Bell Bearings considering they help you craft more items!

When the update patch notes were released for players, people were quick to navigate to Reddit to debate the Ray Tracing feature. Some users had made comments about the fact that there was no DLSS or FSR support, specifically relating to the upscaling functionality. Without any way for this to happen, it can mean that the Ray Tracing features can’t be fully realized by many players.

The last thing that people want to have happen is to test out Ray Tracing with barely a noticeable difference. Ray Tracing implementation is highly requested for any game so having the proper support to make sure that features will run smoothly for players is important. Of course, the developers will likely know what the best strategy is to implement a feature for their own game.

Related: 10 Things the Elden Ring DLC Needs to be Truly Golden

Key Changes in the Elden Ring 1.09 Update

Even though DLSS or FSR haven’t been supported with the update, there were plenty of impressive changes included with the Elden Ring 1.09 update. The list we have written below showcases a few of these.

• Ray Tracing Support was added for the game.
• There is now a period of invincibility after you respawn in the Colosseum.
• Increased overall running attack speeds for weapons such as the Straight Sword and Curved Sword.
• The grab range with Lifesteal Fish Ashes of War has been increased.
• Lots of PvP changes such as decreasing the power from any two-handed jump attacks.

Update 1.09 is definitely something that you will want to install sooner rather than later. You will be able to find the Ray Tracing options inside the “Game Options” menu on consoles or the “Graphics” menu on PC. In the meantime, while you are waiting for the update to install, you can try Ray Tracing in other games for a good comparison.

Best Faith Weapons in Elden Ring

The following are weapons that you should definitely incorporate into your build if you plan on using Faith as your main stat in the game.

Coded Sword

The Coded Sword, unfortunately, is a bit of a late-game weapon. It can prove to be very powerful for clearing most of the game on subsequent playthroughs or if you still have not explored the whole map. It deals primarily Holy damage, but it scales exclusively off Faith. This is a good all-rounder melee weapon to use if your other weapons of choice consist of Sacred Seals.

The Coded Sword is located in the Fortified Manor area of Leyndell. You can miss this weapon if you defeat Maliketh before going to this location.

Sword of Night and Flame

If you run other stats like Intelligence and Dexterity in your build, this weapon can work very well with multiple stats scaling. Especially after this sword was buffed quite a bit, it can deal a bunch of damage. Thanks to its dual stats and unique skill, it’s a good melee option if you’re running low on MP.

The Sword of Night and Flame can be obtained in the Caria Manor.

Erdtree Seal

This is a faith-only Sacred Seal that’s a basic all-rounder. It doesn’t have any sort of bonuses for certain incantations like other seals, but it can still work wonders. What it can do is outshine many other Finger Seals for having the best scaling with the Faith stat.

The Erdtree Seal can be obtained near the Prison Town Church Site of Grace at Volcano Manor.

Finger Seal

Since it’ll take you some time to get the Erdtree Seal, the Finger Seal can do quite well in a large majority of Elden Ring. It doesn’t have anything special in particular but does have Strength as a secondary stat. If you rock a heavy weapon that also utilizes faith, you have your close-ranged options covered.

The Finger Seal is a starting weapon for the Prophet and Confessor classes. You can also obtain it from the Twin Maiden Husks at a later time.

Dragon Communion Seal

Dragon Incantations are some of the strongest ones to use in the game. They’re also some of the coolest ones to use (subjectively). If you want a boost to those types of incantations, then you should get this Sacred Seal.

The Dragon Communion Seal can be obtained at the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave.

Blasphemous Blade

Rykard’s sword works perfectly for a Faith build. Not only does the weapon scale with the stat, but the fire damage from the Taker’s Flames ability scales with it. The weapon also has innate life steal, making you, the wielder, harder to kill. It’s a must-have.

The Blasphemous Blade can be obtained after defeating Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy at the Volcano Manor. You then take his Remembrance and give it to Enia to receive the weapon.

Nagakiba

The Nagakiba is a powerful katana that is probably one of the most versatile weapons in the game. Since it isn’t a unique weapon, you can use an Ash of War to change it into a Sacred Nagakiba. What you then have there is a sword that scales with Faith as its primary stat. It also has innate blood loss buildup, making it very strong in nearly all cases.

Related: Best Katana in Elden Ring: The 5 Strongest Katanas to Use For a Samurai Build

The Nagakiba can be obtained by killing Bloody Finger Yura at Murkwater Cave or by completing his quest line. 

Staff of the Guilty

If you’re running a sorcerer build in Elden Ring, but want to spec into Faith, this is just the weapon for you. With this, you can utilize spells and incantations, making you the ultimate summoner. Just know that this will require a lot of MP as you will dip into the same bar to cast your abilities.

The Staff of the Guilty can be obtained by defeating Thorn Sorcerers with the fiery staffs. 

Maliketh’s Black Blade

An alternative to the Blasphemous Blade is Maliketh’s sword. It’s a bit heavier to wield than it, but it also scales with the Faith stat. With its recent buffs to faster casting time for its ability, this only makes the weapon much more viable.

Maliketh’s Black Blade can be obtained by defeating him in the Crumbling Farum Azula. Then, take his remembrance item and give it to Enia for the weapon.

Golden Order Greatsword

This spot would have been given to the Sacred Relic Sword, but what this weapon has over the best farming weapon in the game is that it has stats that scale better with Faith. Not to mention, it can be used as a substitute for the Blasphemous Blade.

The Golden Order Greatsword can be obtained by defeating the Misbegotten Crusador at the Cave of the Forlorn.

Things the Elden Ring DLC Needs to Build Upon

There’s a lot offered by Elden Ring’s base game that could be so much better if there was simply more of it to enjoy. Shadow of the Erdtree should try to follow this trend through its additions instead of changing formulas that were already established to work well.

Spell Variety

Elden Ring has a fantastic pool of magic spells to choose from. All the DLC really needs to do is add more spells into that pool. There are existing templates for more interesting damage-type combinations that already make for great magic attacks, including the Frozen Lightning Spear and even skills like Ghostflame Ignition. If this is paired with an increase in spell slots through additional Memory Stones, there might truly be no limit to how creative some builds can get.

Weapon Variety

There are hundreds of different weapons already in Elden Ring. Sadly, many weapon types end up underutilized or overspecialized, with numerous katana weapons becoming infamous due to their staggering strength and potential. Meanwhile, weapons like scythes barely get more than a few variations, forcing players to abandon those options if they don’t fit their playstyle. There’s no question that the DLC will add more, but it should give some love to the types that were left behind in the sea of swords and colossal weapons.

Ashes of War

Similarly to weapons, many Ashes of War go unused by most players due to their lack of flexibility. Only some weapons can equip the ones you find out in the wild while others come equipped with skills that can’t be changed at all. These fixed skills range from useless to utterly broken, making it difficult to use anything other than the best. Shadow of the Erdtree doesn’t need to rebalance the whole system, but it should add a wider variety of Ashes of War along with more reasons to use them in the first place.

Multiplayer Functionality

Though Elden Ring has some great online options already, they could be made even better. Lack of Torrent, 4-player limits outside of arenas, and constantly being kicked out after beating bosses are just a few restrictions this game really didn’t need. Depending on who you ask, the lack of invasions outside of co-op is also a pretty big bummer. Elden Ring’s multiplayer has the potential to be heart-pounding, chaotic, and simply much easier to enjoy. The game’s DLC might be its chance to realize that potential.

What the Elden Ring DLC Needs to Build Upon Most: Legacy Dungeons

There aren’t many large-scale dungeons in Elden Ring, but the locations that provide a classic Souls-esque experience are truly incredible. From Stormveil Castle to Miquella’s Haligtree, the Legacy Dungeons rewarded players for exploration and occasional puzzle-solving in ways that many games only wish they could match. One Legacy Dungeon is to be expected in Shadow of the Erdtree, but two or even three would be more than welcome, especially if they’re designed at least half as well as what’s already there.

Related: Elden Ring – 10 Things You Need to Know Before Playing

Things the Elden Ring DLC Needs to Avoid

Even a beloved title like Elden Ring isn’t completely perfect. There are some notable issues the base game suffers from that the DLC should try to avoid at any cost. After all, many of Elden Ring’s issues can be overlooked due to the sheer size of the game itself. Like The Old Hunters, Ashes of Ariandel, and The Ringed City, Shadow of the Erdtree will mostly be judged on what it provides on its own, meaning every part of it will need to stand up to scrutiny.

Easily Missable Questlines and Items

Trying to keep track of Elden Ring’s many NPCs — and points where you fail their quest — is practically impossible without a guide. If you reach a certain part of the game, you even lose access to an entire Legacy Dungeon, including the rare items and powerful weapons within. These points where you’re locked out of obtaining items or other special rewards only discourage exploration in the long run. Shadow of the Erdtree should try to avoid any instance of this, or at least make it easier to track NPC questlines with such notable rewards.

Repetitive Areas

Elden Ring’s catacombs and caves are fine when filling out space, but only a small percentage of them actually offer unique challenges, items, or bosses. Finding one on your journey to the story’s end isn’t too bad, but you’ll quickly get sick of them if you try to clear every area in the Lands Between. Depending on how big Shadow of the Erdtree is, it might still need these smaller areas to fill up otherwise empty fields. But it should try to make each location as unique as possible, especially when it comes to what you find within.

Nonsensical Item Locations

Honestly, there’s no reason why the ever-popular Bloodhound’s Step Ash of War should be dropped by a Night’s Cavalry rather than an actual Bloodhound Knight. Elden Ring is filled with these strange and often confusing item placements, to the point where Radagon’s Soreseal and Marika’s Soreseal are found at completely opposite points of gameplay. The DLC should at least try to put a bit more meaning into these placements, allowing for some more consistency between smaller foes and Remembrance bosses.

Useless Damage Types and Weapons

Elemental resistances and massive foes make sense in an RPG, but they end up making a lot of weapons pretty useless in the Lands Between. Using a weapon like the Coded Sword outside of PVP will feel like you’re just slapping foes with a wet noodle, and using it to fight larger foes will practically turn your camera into a wet noodle as well. There are still ways to make even bad weapons effective, but Elden Ring’s DLC should try to avoid negating entire damage types…even if it makes sense in lore.

What the Elden Ring DLC Needs to Avoid Most: Gimmicky Bosses

Of all the things the Elden Ring DLC needs most, it’s to refine how the game designs its bosses. Mohg and Malenia are extremely powerful foes on their own. Still, the game takes it a step further by giving them extremely deadly attacks that need to be carefully anticipated or countered through items. Astel and the Elden Beast make for marvelous spectacles, but their large size and constant running make them an absolute slog to battle. And, of course, the Godskin Duo…exists.

The Elden Ring DLC needs to avoid making bosses overly strong or unbearably tedious simply for the sake of being hard. Challenge and difficulty go hand in hand, but the latter outweighs the former quite a lot in the base game. Shadow of the Erdtree has a lot to learn not just from Elden Ring itself, but also from older titles like Dark Souls III and Sekiro. Hopefully it will put those lessons to use instead of forcing players into something like a Godskin Trio fight.

Related: Is Elden Ring Related to Dark Souls? Characters and Lore Similarities Explained

Regardless of everything else, the upcoming Elden Ring DLC simply needs to be fun. Between its charming characters, tight gameplay, and expansive world, the base game has already put in plenty of effort in that department. There are plenty of things the DLC will need to do to truly be great, but it won’t need to do them all to still be fun.

Currently, the only things known about the DLC are its name and a picture to represent it. This is notably different when compared to previous DLC announcements by FromSoftware. In the case of Dark Souls III, the reveal of new content was usually paired with a trailer and release date. The DLC for Elden Ring was announced without any sort of date. Combined with the announcement tweet’s wording, this implies that fans will still have to wait some time before more information is revealed.

Related: Elden Ring Crossplay Details: Is There Cross-Platform or Cross-Gen Multiplayer?

Thanks to the image shared by the announcement, however, it’s possible to speculate on what the DLC will include. True to its name, Shadow of the Erdtree will feature a massive blackened tree with gold spilling out of it, giving a notably different feel to the shining tree found in the base game. The area shown surrounding the tree has similarities to Altus Plateau, though its layout is unfamiliar, implying players will get to explore locations they haven’t seen before.

The image paired with Elden Ring’s DLC announcement also has a strange figure riding Torrent. There are occasional mentions of Torrent having a former master in the base game, making it seem as though players will get some answers to their steed’s origins. The mysterious figure also has similarities to Queen Marika — namely, her golden hair and ornate headdress. Whether or not this figure has any relation to Elden Ring’s queen, it’s clear that there will be more to speculate on than gameplay before the DLC releases.

How Elden Ring is Related to Dark Souls in Terms of Lore, Characters, and Gameplay

Elden Ring is a FromSoftware-made Action RPG set in a medieval fantasy world. In other words, it’s closer to Dark Souls than most games, including Bloodborne and Sekiro. Many Talismans in Elden Ring share effects with rings from Dark Souls, and many weapons had their attacks ported over and expanded in various ways. Gameplay-wise, Elden Ring is as close to a Dark Souls sequel as players will get… for now, at least.

When it comes to lore, however, Elden Ring and Dark Souls are entirely unrelated. Even with similar storytelling and gameplay styles, neither game has been officially stated — or even hinted — to share the same world. There is no evidence of Gwyn, the First Flame, or any events in the Souls series happening in Elden Ring.

Related: Who is Ranni? Backstory, Questlines, and Boss Battles

Despite the lack of lore connections, Elden Ring shares some important characters and items with Dark Souls. Patches returns with similar weapons from his appearance in previous FromSoftware titles. Additionally, the Moonlight Greatsword appears in a new form, imps use the same attacks as thralls from Dark Souls III, and even basilisks make a return in multiple locations throughout Elden Ring. The story of Souls titles might not be related to this game, but long-time fans can still expect plenty of callbacks and references to enjoy.

Thankfully, the game offers many powerful armor pieces that can give your mage the defense it needs. Some of them might have low physical defense, but they will more than make up for that with high elemental resistance or other similar attributes. They also boost your other stats as well.

The Best Armor Sets for Elden Ring Mages

Alberich’s Set

This set enhances Aberrant Sorceries or the coll ability to call forth thorns that deal damage. It was first shown in the game while being worn by the Mad Tongue Alberich at the large arena. You can acquire this from the Fortified Manor located in the western section of Leyndell.

All-Knowing Set

This cool-looking set doesn’t add much to your stats but it significantly increases Poise—the main stat responsible for preventing your character from staggering. You can get this late in the game after defeating Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing. You can fight him after defeating Maliketh in Crumbling Farum Azula and destroying Leyndell.

Azur’s Glintstone Set

This set allows you to boost your spells in exchange for more FP. You can acquire this after completing Sorceress Sellen’s questline after meeting her in Limgrave, then returning to Primeval Sorcerer Azur in Mt. Gelmir. Make sure to side with Sellen at the end of her questline.

Related: Elden Ring: Best Builds to Try in New Game +

Lusat’s Set

This armor set is made available through Sorceress Sellen’s questline but can be acquired from a place called Selia Hideaway. After completing the questline, you must revisit the Selia Hideaway cave on Caelid map and enter the room where you encountered Lusat. You’ll find his armor set there. Lusat’s Set is the armor with the highest magic negation prowess in the game, defending you from spells easily.

Carian Knight Armor

This armor, once worn by Carian Knight Moongrum, provides significant protection and Poise . You can get this from a graveyard past the Church of the Cuckoo Site of Grace in Raya Lucaria Academy. Go to the Church site, then out the left door at the end of the hallway. You’ll enter the graveyard. Once there, follow the path through the gravestones until you reach a large elevator. Drop down on the cliffs, then look for the armor at the foot of a certain gravestone. This armor looks great on battlemages.

Twinsage Glintstone Crown

Considered a part of the Raya Lucarian Sorcerer set, the Twinsage Glintstone Crown is the best mage helmet in Elden Ring. It increases overall intelligence by six levels in exchange for a 9% reduction penalty to both HP and stamina. This intelligence boost is the best in the game. You can get this headpiece by killing a certain Crystalline Crab. Go to the Debate Parlor Site of Grace, jump along the rooftops in the courtyard and across several gaps until you find the blue Crystalline Crab. Defeat it to get the Twinsage Glintstone Crown.

Queen of the Full Moon Set

This four-piece set originally belonged to Rennala, the Queen of the Full Moon. You can acquire this from Enia in the Roundtable Hold after you defeat Rennala. The Queen’s Crescent Crown is the most interesting piece here as it increases overall intelligence by three stats without any downsides. We highly recommend picking it up if you haven’t yet.

Snow Witch Set

This mage set boosts cold sorcery spells, so it’s perfect if you’re the type to play with ice magic and frostbite. You can acquire this by progressing through Ranni’s quest enough to gain access to Renna’s Rise. Climb up the ladder once you get there and open the chest behind the shaft. The armor set will be there.

How to Sheath Your Weapon in Elden Ring

When it comes to performing a weapon sheath, it depends on what weapons you have for each hand. 

For example, if you are dual wielding, you can stow one weapon away while single-handing or double-handing another. This also applies if you are using weapons like shields, bows, magic items, and ballistae. To do this, press and hold your Event Action button. For default controller settings, this is Triangle on PlayStation and Y on Xbox. 

Press your left or right armament button to focus on that weapon specifically. This will then stow away the weapon that you didn’t press. It’ll also put you into a two-handed stance for the weapon you chose. 

However, if you are looking to single-hand wield a weapon while sheathing the other one, you have to make sure there is an empty slot on that hand. You can choose up to three weapons on each hand slot. By leaving at least one empty slot on each hand, you can sheath your weapon.

In terms of your weight class which can affect mobility and stamina consumption, it’s optimal to have at least one empty slot on each hand. This way, you don’t have to hold your Event Action and combine it with your armament buttons. Sometimes, in the heat of battle, you want to swap weapons and sheath another. Scrambling while finding an empty slot can lead to a few unnecessary deaths. 

Elden Ring is out now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

How to Switch Arrows in Elden Ring

First off, the arrows you can use while actively in combat depend on which order they are in for your equipment. From left to right, the arrows will be used in that regard. It should also be noted that arrows are different than bolts. Arrows are specifically for bows, bolts are for crossbows, and great bolts are for ballistae. 

With that out of the way, you don’t switch arrows per se. Instead, with two types of arrows, you can alternate between them while firing your weapon. While aiming or locked onto an enemy, you can shoot one of two arrows. Your normal attack will be bound to whichever arrow/bolt is in Slot 1. Your heavy attack will be bound to the arrow or bolt in Slot 2.

If you’re looking to swap quickly either for new bolts and arrows, it’s probably best to find a safe area or use a Site of Grace to be away from combat. Alternatively, you can have one of each type of weapon to rotate. 

If your bow starts running low on ammo, you can swap to a crossbow that uses different types of ammunition and materials. This way, you can still assume the role of an archer or ranged character and not burn through all the certain types of ammunition. 

Of course, since materials can be scarce, you may have to farm some up or buy certain wares from vendors.

Elden Ring is out now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Elden Ring Lore: Who is the Half-Wolf Blaidd?

Constantly referred to as her loyal shadow, Blaidd was a gift to Ranni imparted by the Two Fingers. He befriended both her and Iji from childhood, swearing loyalty to her even when she abandoned her role as an Empyrean. This would, however, lead to deep conflict within Blaidd, as the Greater Will still held influence over his mind. Though he’s able to resist this inner turmoil up until the end of Ranni’s questline, this is the reason why his own questline ends with him attacking the player. It also hints at why the Baleful Shadow that attacks the player during Ranni’s questline looks like him, as it’s an instrument of the Two Fingers defending itself. The Baleful Shadow is likely not Blaidd, but it shows what Blaidd would become with enough time.

When Ranni decided to fight against the Two Fingers, Blaidd swore an oath to stay by her side, imbuing his sword with cold sorcery as proof of his loyalty. He was actually not too fond of the cold, wearing a cape to try and ward it off. Regardless, he would stay by Ranni’s side up until the events of Elden Ring, interacting with a few other characters such as the merchant Kalé and Bloodhound Knight Darriwil. Blaidd’s connection with Darriwil is unknown, but seeing as how he names the latter as a traitor, it can be assumed that Darriwil once served Ranni alongside Blaidd before betraying her in some manner. Blaidd is later imprisoned by Iji in the same Evergaol that Darriwil is trapped in, so the connection isn’t too unlikely.

Many of the encounters with Blaidd are optional. The first time the player can meet him is at the Mistwood Ruins, asking for help to find Darriwil’s Evergaol. He can be summoned to help during this fight, giving the player a taste of his unique moves. The next time he’s found is at Ranni’s Rise, where he states his intentions to visit Siofra River and find Nokron, the Eternal City. Following his lack of success in this mission, he ends up appearing at the Radahn Festival, where he can be summoned to fight the conqueror of the stars. He then states his intentions to visit Nokron, but Iji imprisons him before this can happen out of fear that Blaidd will turn on Ranni.

The next time Blaidd is seen is at the end of Ranni’s questline, having indeed gone mad from his inner turmoil. Notably, corpses of Black Knife Assassins can be found near him. Why they showed up in the first place is a mystery, as they have ties with Ranni thanks to the Night of Black Knives, but their exact allegiances by the time of Elden Ring’s main story are still a mystery. Regardless, following his victory over the assassins, Blaidd will uncontrollably fight the player, forcing them to kill him and ending his questline.

Blaidd is quite powerful, as one can see when he is summoned to fight Darriwil and Radahn. He’ll use many wide, sweeping slashes against the player, making him particularly dangerous to fight up close. Though he’s apparently not fond of cold, it’s a better idea to use Poison, Scarlet Rot, and Fire attacks against him. You can also take advantage of a crippling weakness Blaidd has to backstabs, and you can stagger him with enough strong hits, allowing you to deal a critical attack. Help Blaidd escape his inner turmoil by any means necessary, especially if you want to get your hands on some particularly stylish gear!

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Elden Ring Lore: Who is Starscourge Radahn?

Radahn is the child of Rennala and Radagon, much like his sister Ranni. Unlike Ranni, he stayed alongside Radagon up until the Shattering, finding himself enamored with the visage of Godfrey and even designing his armor to reflect the first Elden Lord. He also kept around a scrawny steed, but he eventually grew to such a massive size that the steed couldn’t support his weight. Still, Radahn loved his frail horse, studying gravitational magic under the teachings of an Alabaster Lord simply to ensure he wouldn’t crush the poor thing. Knowledge of this magic also gave Radahn the ability to “challenge the stars,” though the exact nature of this isn’t entirely clear.

According to a sword monument found in Caelid, Radahn held back the stars to save Sellia — possibly from a meteor shower. After defeating Radahn, the stars move once more, but they crash into Limgrave rather than Sellia. Why Radahn held back the stars or how he even accomplished such a feat is unknown. Nonetheless, the ordeal led to him gaining the title of Starscourge and becoming established as one of the most powerful demigods in the Lands Between.

During the Shattering, Radahn and his forces took part in numerous battles, facing off against his siblings until eventually battling Malenia. The two of them would fight to a stalemate, though Malenia was the one to land the final blow. Her attack caused the affliction of Scarlet Rot to bloom from her body, covering the region of Caelid in the disease and infecting Radahn directly. The infection would go on to eat away at his mind and body, turning him into nothing more than a mindless beast eating the bodies of fallen soldiers when the player finds his arena. To honor his legacy, the Radahn Festival was created, gathering warriors from the Lands Between to come together in an effort to slay the demigod in battle and end his misery. Interestingly, despite being infected by Scarlet Rot, Radahn still uses his gravity magic to keep himself on his horse, showing how unbreakable their bond truly is.

The battle against Radahn can be extremely difficult, especially for players fighting him to achieve their second or third Great Rune. Luckily, due to the nature of his festival, players can constantly summon groups of NPCs to help them battle the demigod with practically zero downsides. With the summons on your side, it’s a good idea to use Torrent to occasionally move in and hit Radahn a couple of times. If you decide to fight him solo, only use your own steed to close the gap. It’ll take a lot of time to survive his onslaught of arrows at the start, otherwise — and you might not survive his phase transition without it!

As the fight progresses, Radahn will use his powers of gravity to use more dangerous moves. Oftentimes, he will create waves of purple energy in front of himself, forcing players to either jump using Torrent or to simply roll through them. As bad of an idea as it might seem, it’s generally wise to get as close to Radahn as possible. Getting close will help you take advantage of his lore-accurate weakness to Scarlet Rot if you have any weapons or moves that can inflict it. Additionally, many of his attacks are quite telegraphed, and circling around to his rear will cause most of his gravity-based moves — and many of his slashes and forward slams — to completely miss. Use his size to your advantage, and eventually you’ll conquer the Starscourge himself!

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Elden Ring Lore: Who is Malenia the Severed?

Malenia is the child of Queen Marika and Radagon, the second Elden Lord. She and Miquella were born as twins, leading to her becoming extremely attached to him above all the other demigods. However, because of the existing connection between Radagon and Marika, both twins were born with a curse. Malenia was afflicted with the deadly Scarlet Rot disease, which would eat away at her body and eventually take her eyes and right arm. Scarlet Rot affects both the body and mind, likely being a reason as to why Malenia is so quick to attack the player when entering her arena.

Before the Shattering, Miquella crafted a needle to help keep Malenia’s rot at bay. This needle defends against the influence of outer gods, referencing the fact that Scarlet Rot is sourced from such a god. Likewise, Malenia would defend Miquella to the best of her ability, staying by his Haligtree up until the war of the Shattering began. She would go on to battle against Godrick the Grafted, humiliating him in battle before eventually going on to face Radahn in a final duel. This duel would lead to no victor, with Malenia triggering the Scarlet Rot within her to create a massive, blooming flower that covered all of Caelid — especially Radahn — in her affliction. She only managed to survive thanks to the efforts of a loyal Cleanrot Knight carrying her comatose body back to the Haligtree, where she would await Miquella’s return fruitlessly.

Interestingly, the NPC Millicent is said to share her blood with Malenia, but the extent of her relationship is not known. Additionally, it is stated in the description of Malenia’s Scarlet Aeonia spell that she will become a goddess when she “blooms” a third time. She uses the spell multiple times throughout the fight and is even titled as “Goddess of Rot,” but the message that appears after defeating her is simply “Demigod Slain.” Each of her two blooms seem to occur during her fight with Radahn and during her fight with the player. In other words, Malenia never manages to reach her true potential by the time players manage to defeat her.

How to Fight Malenia

While players can simply cheese Malenia with frostbite and blood loss, learning most of her attacks will make the fight incredibly simple. Malenia has deceptively good range thanks to her long sword. Many of her swipes will hit the player if they choose to dodge backwards, especially when she does attacks like her quick 4-swipe combo and her leaping thrust. It’s better to dodge diagonally towards her, moving into her side so her wider slashes will miss you entirely. This will set you up to deal some big damage with charged attacks and weapon skills without a need to worry about repercussions.

Malenia’s deadliest attack is her Waterfowl Dance, which will easily destroy any player unprepared for it. Trying to dodge it while too close to her will simply lead to your death. Instead, prepare yourself for when her health is around 75% and try to stay as far away from her as possible. Then, run away from her first volley of slashes and use rolls to avoid the second and third volleys. Alternatively, you can use items like Freezing Pots or equipment like shields with 100% physical blocking ability. The former will knock her out of the attack before she can even use it while the latter will help you avoid any damage at the cost of your stamina and some of her health being restored.

In phase 2, Malenia will use new attacks that might not be so easy to predict. Her Scarlet Aeonia will have her try to slam into the player before blooming a deadly flower of rot. You’ll want to dodge her slam and run away as fast as possible. Even just a petal could tear through your health in seconds! She’ll also add a jumping slam to some of her combos, creating an explosion of Scarlet Rot that leaves her surprisingly open to retaliation. She can also use a long, jumping sweep that ends in a thrust. On occasion, she’ll combine this with flowery apparitions of herself, unleashing a volley of slices at the player. You can avoid this fairly well by timing your rolls, but you can also block the apparitions to avoid damage with practically no drawbacks.

Even if many of Malenia’s attacks can be blocked and even parried, you shouldn’t rely on your shield too much. Each attack she lands will heal her even if it only hits a shield. You’ll have to be just as aggressive as her, especially considering how easy it is to stagger her. Jumping attacks will commonly leave her open for a quick light attack follow-up. You’ll also be able to eventually break her stance and deal a critical hit, but she’ll regain her posture fairly quickly. Keep an eye out for when she kneels to the ground!

Fire and Lighting are particularly effective against Malenia. They’ll be the strongest sources of elemental damage even when taking the water in her arena into account. If you’re having trouble with her second phase, consider taking along items or spells that can remove Scarlet Rot. This will prevent her from outlasting you as long as you can consistently dish out damage while avoiding her attacks. In terms of lore, Malenia might be the strongest boss in all of Elden Ring. But in terms of gameplay, enough skill and patience is all it’ll take for you to overcome her!

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Elden Ring Lore: Who is Lunar Princess Ranni?

Ranni was born as a child of Radagon and Rennala, making her one of the demigods. She was born as an Empyrean, making her a potential successor to Queen Marika as ruler of the Lands Between. In celebration of this, the Two Fingers gifted her with a faithful follower known as Blaidd, whom she became close friends with as a kid alongside the blacksmith Iji. She also met a strange witch and learned about the dark moon, with Ranni becoming the witch’s pupil as a result. The demigod would go on to model her doll body in the visage of this witch, meaning the form Ranni takes in Elden Ring does not even resemble her true appearance.

As she grew older, Ranni found herself wishing to escape the influence of the Greater Will, granting humanity the chance to live life without being controlled by gods. To achieve this, she conspired with assassins that would come to be known as the Black Knives, imbuing their blades with traces a stolen Great Rune that would allow them to kill demigods. She also gave traces of this rune to her brother Rykard, as mentioned in the Blasphemous Claw item‘s description. While these assassins killed Godwyn, Ranni sacrificed herself at the Divine Tower of Liurnia, killing her flesh and creating a Cursemark of Death. This event freed her from her duties as an Empyrean, but it also led to Marika shattering the Elden Ring and basically set the entire game into motion.

By the events of Elden Ring, Ranni has employed the services of Seluvis alongside Blaidd and Iji to help her further her goals. At some point, she also met Torrent’s former master, which is what leads to her granting the player a Spirit Calling Bell. It’s unknown how she and Seluvis first met, but one can guess that their connections come from Rennala and the Carians found throughout Liurnia. Notably, she seems to take over the second phase of Rennala’s boss fight, but this has little bearing on her questline or attitude towards the player.

Before meeting Ranni in her tower, she uses the name Renna. The importance of this alternate name is questionable, though it’s implied that this is more than an alternate name due to the existence of Renna’s rise. The player might find Ranni on their own or be directed to her through Fia’s questline, due to her part in the events that led to Godwyn’s death. When the player starts Ranni’s questline, she tasks them with finding the Fingerslayer Blade. She doesn’t seem to have any connection with it, the city of Nokron where it lies, or Radahn, whom the player must defeat to reach it. She also doesn’t seem to have any connection with Nokstella, which is where she heads after receiving the blade.

With the blade in hand, Ranni sets out to kill a special variant of the Two Fingers. They seem to be personal overseers of Ranni, separate from the ones found in the Roundtable Hold. However, Ranni is prevented from killing them by the appearance of a Baleful Shadow, which she tasks the player with slaying. After doing so, nothing stops Ranni from achieving her goal and killing the Fingers, leading to her simply resting on their corpse. Should the player go after her by retrieving the Dark Moon Ring and killing Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, they will become her consort, allowing them to trigger the Age of Stars ending. This ushers in Ranni’s wish for an age without the influence of gods, taking the player with her to embrace the stars and end humanity’s dependence on the Elden Ring.

Overall, Ranni has some of the deepest and most intricate lore of any character in Elden Ring. Though she isn’t fought in a boss battle, she still requires the player to overcome many challenging obstacles. She is tied to her own special questline as well as Fia’s questline, the questlines of her followers, and even the main conflict that triggered the events of Elden Ring. Completing her goal might not lead to many enticing rewards for players that don’t use magic, but those invested in the game’s story will almost certainly enjoy discovering Ranni’s influence throughout their travels.

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

How to Drop Weapons in Elden Ring

To perform this, you simply have to do the following:

• Press options/pause.
• Select Inventory.
• Press X or A or the confirm button to whichever key it’s bound to on PC.
• Hit “Leave” or “Leave Selected Number”.
• Confirm the item you’re leaving.

The only major reasons why you’re dropping weapons are either because you have duplicates or if you’re performing a trade with someone. Though your inventory has no cap, it does significantly create clutter especially if you go for New Game+ runs, collecting things you have already obtained. 

So, you’re probably doing this for trading or helping other players out. If you have a friend who wasn’t able to collect all the legendary armaments or talismans, you can help them out by temporarily letting them borrow those that they missed. This method actually works if you let a player borrow the items they’re missing for the achievement/trophy they missed.

You could also just use dropping weapons as a trading method. Say you ran out of Somber Smithing Stones and you can’t level them up anymore because you don’t have enough runes; someone can do that for you by leveling the item you relinquished to them. Of course, there are some limitations to how much you can level them and give them back based on the player’s current plus level for items.

PSA: If you are dropping weapons for another player in a cooperative session, make sure to do it fast so you won’t get invaded and possibly lose these items.

Elden Ring is out now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Elden Ring — Millicent Questline: All Steps, Paths, and Rewards

Millicent’s quest can only be started once you reach Caelid. Going to its southern area — specifically, just south of Sellia, Town of Sorcery — will lead you to an NPC known as Gowry. He’ll ask you to find a special golden needle guarded by a boss within the nearby rotten swamp. There’s actually a chance you’ll encounter Millicent as an NPC invader in the swamp, but it’s not a requirement and defeating her won’t alter the questline at all. Once you obtain the needle, Gowry will share his knowledge regarding Sellia’s secrets. Re-obtain the needle from him after reloading the area and follow his words to eventually reach the Sellia Backstreets, and follow the path to a nearby church to finally meet Millicent in person.

When you meet Millicent, you’ll have to give her the needle and rest at the nearby Site of Grace. She’ll give you the Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom as thanks for your assistance. Once you’ve depleted her dialogue, return to Gowry’s abode to gain some additional dialogue with both Millicent and Gowry after an area reload or two. You should also be able to purchase some spells from Gowry at this point, as well. This will mostly end your time in Caelid from here, but Millicent will appear in a few more places afterwards. You can summon her for the fight against Magma Wyrm Makar, but the next time you’ll meet her in person is at the Erdtree-Grazing Hill Site of Grace in Altus Plateau.

When you reach her new location, she’ll talk about how she wishes to follow Malenia’s path. At this point, you can head to the Shaded Castle just up north in search of the Valkyrie’s Prosthesis. Giving this item to Millicent will allow her to be summoned for a boss fight in Dominula, Windmill Village, the same place where you can find Celebrant weapons. If you’ve already beaten the boss, this won’t affect the questline negatively. Just rest at the nearby Site of Grace it leaves behind and you’ll find Millicent nearby, allowing you to speak to her once more to advance her questline.

As a side note, you can choose to return to Gowry to purchase a new spell from him at this point. Doing so will even earn you an extra gesture for being thorough!

The Split Path in Millicent’s Questline

Your next meeting with Millicent will likely be in the Ancient Snow Valley Ruins in the Mountaintops of the Giants. Afterwards, you’ll be able to speak to her at the Prayer Room in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. From here, you’ll have to defeat the Ulcerated Tree Spirit found near the Drainage Channel in Elphael. Doing so will allow you to choose between a split path.

• Invading Millicent’s world will pit you against her in a duel to the death. If you win, you’ll get Millicent’s Prosthesis, a particularly strong Talisman for fans of Dexterity weapons.
• Assisting Millicent will have you fight alongside her against her sisters. This will give you the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia Talisman as well as the Unalloyed Gold Needle, which can be used on the flower that appears after defeating Malenia to create Miquella’s Needle and reward you with a Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone. Miquella’s Needle is required to reverse the Frenzied Flame ending.

Either way, you can return to Gowry’s shack at this point and either kill him or loot his corpse to obtain the Flock’s Canvas Talisman. By the end of this quest, if you’ve done everything you can, you’ll obtain three Talismans, a gesture, four spells, and — optionally — a key item that can reverse a game-changing choice you might have made. Because of the decision at the end, you won’t be able to get every Talisman in one go, so consider starting a new journey and choosing the alternate route next time!

Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Where to Get Rock Sling in Elden Ring

This sorcery spell can be found at the Street of Sages Ruins in Caelid. The closest Site of Grace lies just before the ruins. It is called the Aeonia Swamp Shore. It’s a safe idea to rest up there before approaching the ruins, depending on how far you have gotten in the game.

At this point in the game, you will have access to your trusty steed, Torrent. Stepping on this dark red mud will cause Scarlet Rot to build up on your character. If you are on your horse, you won’t be affected by the status effect.

When fully inflicted with it, you’ll take damage over time. There are also a bunch of Servant of Rot enemies in this area. They are able to inflict Poison with their magic staffs. On top of the damage you receive from projectiles and two status effects, you can find yourself succumbing to all of the passive damage, so be wary of that.

Fighting through all the status effects will be worth it once you’re at the actual ruins here. Just clear the area and follow the staircase that leads underground. The spell will be inside the chest. 

This only uses one slot and requires an Intelligence level of 18. It’s a good substitute or another ranged spell similar to Glintstone Pebble for your staff. There is some startup time when casting it, so make sure you aren’t just casting it as an enemy goes on the offensive.

Elden Ring is out now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

How to Get to the Queen’s Bedchamber in Elden Ring

This Site of Grace is located shortly after defeating Godfrey, First Elden Lord. This is the fight where he appears as a golden shade, wielding a huge, two-handed ax. What might stop you from getting to the Queen’s Bedchamber easily is this fight. 

Unlike many other boss battles, this version of Godfrey is heavily resistant to status effects like Frostbite and Bleed. These status effects are known to be some of the strongest in the game, even after some nerfs. Don’t expect these status effects to cheese through his health so easily. It makes sense as to why a projection of a being cannot bleed. 

In any case, now that you know how to get to the Bedchamber, it’s a matter of being skilled or leveled high enough to take this unskippable boss down. What you’ll want to do is use lightning attacks if your build allows you to. He’s more susceptible to that damage type. 

Also, if you play more on the offensive side, being more consistent with attacks and using jumping-heavy attacks, you can break his poise. Most bosses in Elden Ring can make mincemeat of you in a matter of seconds, but Godfrey is quite agile and mostly attacks in triple combos. 

Once you’re able to telegraph his moves and use the proper element to wither his health down more, you’ll be able to not only unlock the Queen’s Bedchamber, but also the Erdtree Sanctuary Site of Grace!

Elden Ring is out now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Best Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring Ranked

10. Skeletal Militiaman

These spirits are very solid starters when it comes to mobbing and bossing. The Skeletal Militiamen aren’t anything to write home about in terms of damage output, but they sure provide a lot of utility when taking aggro off of you. When it comes to bossing, they can give you about 30 seconds of free damage before the boss takes them out. While they are squishy, they can resurrect, giving you value for summoning. The only thing is, if enemies have large AoE attacks, they can kill the Militiamen during their revive animation.

• This spirit can be obtained by defeating the Tibia Mariner in Summonwater Village.

9. Lone Wolf

This is the first Spirit Ash you’ll probably get in Elden Ring. The Lone Wolf summon is a bit misleading because you’ll actually summon three, providing decent aggro and possible stagger against your enemies. They attack at melee range, so don’t expect them to last too long, especially against bosses who deal massive amounts of damage. What they can do is help you whittle a boss’ health to a point where their Poise is broken, leading to a free Critical.

• The Lone Wolf spirit can be obtained by talking to Renna at the Church of Elleh. You’ll need to obtain Torrent first.

8. Noble Sorcerer

The Noble Sorcerer is a solid starter spirit summon for people who are focusing on a melee build. You’re essentially taking the aggro from the boss or enemy you’re fighting while you have the Sorcerer shooting magic bolts from afar, helping you break their Poise. They also have some defensive potential thanks to their greatshield.

• This spirit can be obtained by defeating the Erdtree Burial Watchdog at the Stormfoot Catacombs.

7. Ancestral Follower

The Ancestral Follower is basically a better version of the Noble Sorcerer, but it can also put up a fight at close range. They also tend to have better staggering abilities against certain enemies thanks to their heavy bow.

• You can obtain this Ash by defeating the Ancestor Spirit boss in Siofra River.

6. Stormhawk Deenh

Stormhawk Deenh provides extremely good aggro and is hard for many enemies to hit. While the spirit doesn’t do much on the damaging side, it can even fake enemies out thanks to its nimble flight patterns.

• You can obtain this Ash at the Chapel of Anticipation later in the game. You’ll have to go here by teleporting from the Four Belfries.

5. Marionette Soldier

Marionette Soldiers are extremely annoying enemies in Elden Ring. They send a flurry of ranged and melee attacks when provoked, providing a lot of pressure against their aggressors. As Spirit Ashes, they assume more of the archer role, providing constant barrages of arrows against your foes. This helps in whittling down their Poise, making it easier to hit downed enemies with a Critical blow

• The Marionette Soldier Ashes can be obtained in the graveyard by the Church of the Cuckoo Site of Grace at the Raya Lucaria Academy.

4. Nightmaiden and Swordstress

The Nightmaiden and Swordstress are very powerful Ash Spirits in terms of damage output. They are a dynamic duo who can use a wide variety of spells and ranged melee attacks. Their only downside is that they don’t last too long in the heat of battle due to their lack of defensive capabilities. If you want to brute force a certain enemy or boss down, they are a solid pick

• Their Spirit Ashes can be obtained behind a veiled Stonesword Key statue in Nokstella, Eternal City.

3. Lhutel the Headless

Lhutel the Headless is a strong overall spirit in terms of tanking damage, dealing damage, and providing utility like the Death Blight status onto enemies. She can mostly fare on her own, even against groups of enemies and tight spots against bosses. Her teleportation paired with her greatshield blocking allows for her to not die in battle, so you always have another source of aggro for enemies to lock onto.

• Her Ashes can be obtained after defeating the Cemetery Shade at Tombsward Catacombs.

2. Greatshield Soldier

The purpose of Spirit Ashes is to provide some aggro so you can take down the health of threatening enemies in Elden Ring. The Greatshield Soldier Ashes are perhaps some of the most bang-for-your-buck utility this game has to offer. Shields in this game are very strong, providing very good damage negation and even staggering those who lose posture when attacking them. When it comes to fighting even the most fearsome enemies like Demigods, the Greatshield Soldiers can hold their own, almost trivializing fights.

• They can be obtained by looting a body in Nokron, Eternal City.

1. Mimic Tear

The Mimic Tear Spirit Ashes are perhaps the best summons in Elden Ring. They can trivialize almost any boss, especially when you have a solid build for them to mimic. This Spirit Ash copies your build, including any passives, and turn up the ante. If you’re a spellcaster, they have unlimited FP. That means they can spam abilities without draining any sort of meter. This includes abilities from your weapons like Hoarfrost Stomp as an example.

They also cost health to summon instead of FP, meaning you can essentially create a spellcaster for some sacrificed health. In some instances, they’re so powerful that they can solo bosses or cheese even the toughest ones out there!

• These Spirit Ashes can be found inside a Stonesword Key statue at Night’s Sacred Ground.

Spirit Ashes can trivialize the game’s legendarily difficult boss battles but are completely optional. There are many other Spirits that can do the job just fine, but these are a general selection that doesn’t require players to venture off the beaten path to get to. These serve more for players who play conventional builds in Souls games, complementing areas that may be lacking.

Elden Ring is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

Best Strength Weapons in Elden Ring

Colossal Swords

Ruins Greatsword

Of all the Colossal Swords in the game, the Ruins Greatsword takes the cake. It has the most damage in terms of raw numbers. There’s no gimmick to it other than having some magic damage, plus it scales extremely well with Strength. Once you upgrade it to +10 with Somber Smithing Stones, it’s graded with an S, meaning it’ll heavily get boosted by the stat. You need minimal intelligence (16) to get the most out of it.

You can earn this weapon by defeating the Misbegotten Warrior and Crucible Knight double battle at Redmane Castle.

Other alternatives for weapons of this category are:

• Starscourge Greatsword (Traded for the Remembrance of the Starscourge)
• Grafted Blade Greatsword (Rewarded for defeating Leonine Misbegotten at Castle Morne)

Greatswords

Flamberge (Heavy Ash of War)

The Flamberge is a rather versatile Greatsword that deals decent physical damage and has Blood Loss as a passive ability. If you want to get the most physical damage out of it for a strength build, equip a Heavy Ash of War on it (Lion’s Claw, Upward Cut, etc.). When you do so, the weapon will only scale with Strength at level B and maintain its blood loss passive. You can deal even more, and lethal damage to even the toughest foes with this.

To obtain the Flamberge, you have to find it at Redmane Castle. It’s by a Pumpkin Head enemy.

Curved Greatswords

Beastman’s Cleaver

Most Curved Greatswords have some kind of gimmick or primary damage stat to scale off of since most of them deal Blood Loss. However, if you like their playstyle and want that raw damage, the Beastman’s Cleaver can do just that. You can either keep it as is or put in a Heavy Ash of War to make it scale even more with Strength.

To get this weapon, you have to farm Azula Beastmen in hopes that they’ll drop it. They are only found in the Crumbling Farum Azula area of the game. It can either be accessed through the Four Belfries portal or by late-game story progression.

Great Axes

Great Omenkiller Cleaver

This is one of the few Great Axes that has passive Blood Loss in it. It’s also a strength-based weapon, meaning that you can dish out big chunks of damage with occasional bigger damage thanks to the bleed buildup. You can also put Strength Ashes of War to further tune it to scale with Strength.

This weapon can be obtained by either Omenkiller you encounter. They are fought at Volcano manor or Perfumer’s Grotto.

Other alternatives for weapons of this category are:

• Rusted Anchor (Obtained after defeating Scaly Misbegotten at Morne Tunnel)
• Gargoyle’s Great Axe (Obtained after defeating the Valiant Gargoyle in Leyndell)

Great Hammers

Brick Hammer

The Brick Hammer is an extremely strong Strength weapon because of its high base damage and its capability to stagger enemies. It can even break the poise of the toughest bosses, giving you a free hit for a finisher move. You can upgrade its physical damage capabilities further by putting a Strength Ash of War on it so it can scale with an S for Strength.

This weapon is obtained in Stormveil Castle in the Wine Cellar.

Other alternatives for weapons of this category are:

• Battle Hammer (Obtained by defeating the Grave Warden Duelist)
• Rotten Battle Hammer (Obtained by defeating the Rotten Duelist by the Consecrated Snowfield Site of Grace)
• Great Stars (Obtained from a chest on a wagon in Altus Plateau)

Colossal Weapons

Prelate’s Inferno Crozier

This Colossal hammer has an extremely cool design, but it also hits like a truck. If you give it an Ash of War to prioritize Strength, this can stagger enemies and put them in a finishing position in no time. Not to mention its ability, Prelate’s Charge, is good for crowd-controlling mobs.

The Prelate’s Inferno Crozier is obtained by defeating the Fire Monk prelate enemy inside of Fort Laeidd, west of Volcano Manor.

Other alternatives for weapons of this category are:

• Rotten Greataxe (Obtained by defeating the Rotten Duelist near Ordina, Liturgical Town)

Great Spears

Serpent-Hunter

The spear to defeat the Lord of Blasphemy is perhaps the only good Great Spear weapon that scales excellently with Strength. It has good range and has pierce damage, which works well against armored enemies.

To get this weapon, you just have to complete the Volcano Manor questline and reach the Audience Pathway. The spear will be readily available as a drop inside Rykard’s arena.

There are many other strength weapons in Elden Ring that can be considered the best, but that would usually mean that you would have to dip into another stat and get secondary effects. Ashes of War can also make non-colossal weapons scale extremely well with the stat.

Elden Ring is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

How to Use Incantations in Elden Ring

To perform an Incantation, you need to have a Sacred Seal. Think of it like this: the Incantation is the bullet and the Sacred Seal is the gun. Sacred Seals are used exactly like staffs and wands but they are used only for Incantations. Staffs and wands are for Intelligence and Arcane builds and Sacred Seals are for Faith builds.

While the game gives you plenty of options when it comes to wands and staffs for Intelligence builds, Sacred Seals can be hard to come by. To get a Sacred Seal quickly in Elden Ring, visit the Roundtable Hold and buy one from the Twin Maiden Husks. This is the fastest way to get a Sacred Seal and start casting Incantations in Elden Ring.

While it isn’t as important to level up your Sacred Seal as it is to upgrade your main weapons, you’ll want to prioritize increasing your Faith and your Mind stats to cast Incantations. Incantations are no different than other spells in Elden Ring in that they require a specific threshold of Faith and a specific FP to cast. The Faith threshold is directly influenced by your Faith stat and your FP, or mana, is directly increased by increasing your Mind stat.

Once you have a Sacred Seal, you’ll need to decide if it is worth upgrading. Now that you know how to use Incantations, you can look to see which Incantations are the best to maximize your specific build. You can focus on getting the Swarm of Flies Incantation and go from there.

Elden Ring is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.