FromSoftware’s penchant for difficulty in video games has a long track record dating back to the inception of the Souls saga. Also included within their game design is a plethora of ways to help mitigate the challenging journey ahead. These methods, however, are not always explicitly stated to the player, and Elden Ring not only obscures its mythology but offers an overwhelming array of choices.
As a result, some of Elden Ring‘s key game features can be missed entirely if the player is not made aware of them or fails to stumble upon them during a playthrough.
10 Torrential Downpour
Although this feature is not necessarily hidden, many aspects of Elden Ring‘s spectral steed, Torrent, can be overlooked if not fully utilized. For example, one uncommon use of the fantastical stallion is to summon him when the player is about to be hit. This triggers an invincibility frame that also provides the player with more mobility to escape the encounter and heal.
Torrent can also use jump pads in either direction, whether up or down. Torrent is exceptional when asked to navigate tricky land formations and jump puzzles found throughout the map.
9 Flask Of Wondrous Physick
One of the most essential items in Elden Ring comes very early but acquiring it can be entirely skipped if the player does not come across it. The flask of Wondrous Physick is a customizable consumable found in the Third Church of Merika. This flask is a reusable key item that allows users to mix multiple enhancements and consume them each time they respawn.
Wondrous Physic effects include: boosts to stamina, strength, dexterity, and healing. This flask is a jack of all trades due to its flexibility and myriad uses.
8 Getting Out Of Dodge
Learning how to maneuver around opponents and their abilities is one of the key elements in keeping runes. Enemies in Elden Ring attack in various ways, including grabs, successive light attacks, and hard-hitting blows.
Methods like mashing the triggers/face buttons to get out of grabs faster and heavy backstep attacks will help players stay out of harm’s way. Furthermore, skills like quickstep and Bloodhound’s Step afford players mobility and invincibility frames that they wouldn’t have under any other circumstance.
7 Combo Challenge
The combat system in Elden Ring is as advanced as ever. Multiple hidden attributes within combat will help the Tarnished prevail under harsh circumstances. One such attribute is that hits do more damage in a combo than individually. On top of this, FromSoftware has developed the light combo chain to include between 4-6 hits depending on the weapon.
A vast improvement over the original 2-hit combo seen in the Soul series, the combo chain allows for greater damage when the player has an opening to strike. Another hidden combat-related tip is to two-hand a sword when fighting shielded enemies, as this will keep the player from deflected attacks and provide a chance to break their stance.
6 Stimulate The Senses
Enemies in Elden Ring are reliant upon their senses. There are a few ways to manipulate this to the player’s advantage to create some pretty stealthy openings to attack or breeze past. Line of sight is a crucial factor to consider because enemies will lose track of the player’s position once it is broken for long enough.
This usually creates an opening for a critical strike on an unsuspecting foe. Enemies are also attracted to sound, resulting in some tricky scenarios, including shooting at walls to get them to turn towards it.
5 Ladders And Chutes
In FromSoftware games, even ladders have hidden features that the player may not be utilizing! However infrequent, there are times in Elden Ring where the player will fight near a ladder or use ladders as a short break from combat. In this situation, a player can choose to continue fighting on the ladder with the possibility of knocking the enemy off.
The player can able to use both light attacks (R1) and heavy attacks (R2) while climbing or descending stairs. It’s important to take any moment to heal and replenish focus while not in the enemy’s line of sight.
4 Temperature Of The Room
Weather affects damage in Elden Ring in a variety of ways. An example of this is that fire doles out less damage when it is raining and lightning inflicts more damage under the same circumstance. Furthermore, lightning abilities are reverberated throughout the water closest to where the attack strikes in a wet environment.
The damage lost or gained is relatively low, however, it helps when dealing with groups of enemies to be aware of the environment and take note of the type advantages at the player’s disposal.
3 Paved With Gold
Gold in Elden Ring is always a great thing to see. Whenever gold is seen in the Lands Between, there is an opportunity for extra runes. Starting with the more subtle of the two events, some enemies in Elden Ring spawn with golden eyes.
This means that this enemy would be worth 3x-4x more runes upon death. It is important to take the time to slay enemies with glowing golden eyes as they are valuable – especially the big ones.
2 In The Heat Of Combat
Combat in the Lands Between is unforgiving, and fights with the bosses of Elden Ring can prove to be a significant challenge. This is when more intermediate strategies come into play, including backstep blocking. Shield users can continuously hold block while dodging to maintain their defenses.
Those with the Barricade Shield ability or a great shield can block enemy attacks by parrying to create openings. Players can also crouch while sprinting to recover stamina without ever breaking stride. This allows for greater mobility which is very useful against enemies with large weapons covering great distances.
1 Digging For Treasure
Mines are one of the most significant resources in the Lands Between. They are marked as little orange circles with dark centers on the map.
This is where players can farm for upgrade materials to improve their weapons. This process is just as necessary as putting runes into leveling up vigor. Upgrading weapons is just as important as upgrading stats. This is where a great deal of the total damage is coming from. Mines don’t require excessive fighting to navigate, as they are filled with miners minding their own business.