15 Essential Tips for Elden Rings That New Players Want to Know

Whether you’re a fresh-faced Tarnished or a seasoned warrior revisiting the Lands Between, these tips will boost your knowledge and smooth your journey, ensuring you never feel pressured to buy Elden Ring Runes to progress. From hidden mechanics to game-changing secrets, let’s dive in.

1. Understand Buff & Debuff Icons

You likely know the icons under your stamina bar show active effects—but their border tells you more:

· Square border: Permanent effect (e.g., Talisman like HP Up).

· Diamond border: Temporary effect (e.g., Exalted Flesh’s 30-second attack boost).

· No border: Situational effect (e.g., near a Stake of Marika, indicating respawn availability).

· Monitoring these helps you decide when to play aggressively or defensively.

2. Break Statues & Wooden Barricades

· Glowing statues: Lure a large enemy to attack it, shattering the statue to reveal the item inside.

· Wooden structures: If you see loot inside but no entrance, walk up close, save-quit, then reload. The structure will often be destroyed, granting access.

· This trick works more reliably on wooden barricades than statues, but try both!

3. Spot Item Drops from Enemies

After defeating an enemy, watch for white particle effects rising from the body—this signals a dropped item. Don’t leave loot behind!

4. Golden Leaves = Bonus Runes

When Erdtree leaves flutter down in golden light, you’ll see a Golden Pickled Fowl Foot icon on your HUD. This grants a 20% rune increase from all defeated enemies while active. Use this time to farm!

5. Maximize Rune Gains with Gear & Items

· Gold Scarab Talisman: Found in Caelid’s Abandoned Cave (guarded by the Cleanrot Knight Duo). Grants +20% runes.

· Golden Pickled Fowl Foot: Consumable that temporarily boosts rune gains by 30%.

· Stack them for a 56% total increase. Swap to the Gold Scarab just before a boss dies to get the bonus without fighting with it equipped.

6. Increase Item Discovery

· Silver Scarab Talisman: Raises item discovery by +75. Found in the Hidden Path to the Haligtree behind an illusory wall.

· Silver Pickled Fowl Foot: Consumable that boosts item drop rates for 3 minutes.

· Equip and combine for far more frequent item drops.

7. Early Rune Bonanza: Dragon Greyoll

In northeastern Caelid, find the massive dormant dragon Greyoll. Attack from the rear-left side to avoid aggroing nearby lesser dragons. Defeating Greyoll nets a huge rune payout—and if nearby dragons die too, you gain even more. Boost with Gold Scarab and Golden Pickled Fowl Foot for a massive early-game resource injection.

8. Unlock Infinite Smithing Stones

Find Miners’ Bell Bearings to unlock unlimited smithing stone purchases at the Twin Maiden Husks:

· Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [1]: In Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel (Liurnia). Unlocks stones [1] and [2].

· Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing [1]: Also available early.

· Hand them in at Roundtable Hold to save countless hours hunting upgrade materials.

9. Essential Early Incantations (Faith 15)

With just 15 Faith and a Finger Seal (sold by Twin Maiden Husks), you gain access to powerful utility spells:

· Bestial Vitality (gradual HP regen)

· Flame Cleanse Me (cures poison/Scarlet Rot)

· Urgent Heal / Heal (instant and AoE healing)

· Flame Grant Me Strength (boosts physical/fire damage)

· A small investment for huge survivability.

10. Hunt Scarab Beetles

Listen for wind-chime sounds—these are scarab beetles rolling loot balls. Chase them down for rewards like:

· Flask refills

· Ashes of War

· Smithing Stones

· If they escape, they vanish, so be quick.

11. Respect Your Build Later

Don’t stress over initial stats. After defeating Rennala at Raya Lucaria Academy, you can respec using a Larval Tear. Find Larval Tears throughout the world to reallocate stats multiple times.

12. Master Stealth

· Crouch (press left stick) to enter stealth mode.

· Crouch-run by holding sprint while crouched.

· Enemy detection range is reduced at night.

· Use manual aim arrows to distract enemies or lure them away.

· For a backstab, get directly behind and press light attack.

· Perfect for avoiding tough fights or landing critical strikes.

13. Duplicate Boss Remembrances

When you defeat a major boss, you get a Remembrance tradable for powerful gear at Roundtable Hold. To get both rewards, duplicate it at a Walking Mausoleum:

· Stop the Mausoleum by breaking the white skull deposits on its legs.

· Enter and select the Remembrance to duplicate.

· One duplication per Mausoleum; some (with bells) copy any Remembrance, others only Demigod Remembrances.

· You can duplicate even after consuming the Remembrance for runes.

14. Absolve NPC Aggression

Accidentally attacked an NPC? Visit the Church of Vows in Liurnia with a Celestial Dew. Offer it at the statue to reset hostility. One Dew can be bought from Pidia at Caria Manor for 5,000 runes (accessed by dropping down the manor’s rear cliffs).

15. Listen & Explore

Elden Ring rewards curiosity:

· Ambient sounds often hint at secrets (scarabs, hidden enemies).

· Illusory walls are plentiful—try attacking or rolling into suspicious surfaces.

· Check map icons for caves, tunnels, and ruins; they’re rarely empty.

Final Note

These tips should help you tackle challenges with more confidence and efficiency, allowing you to find powerful gear through gameplay rather than seeking cheap Elden Ring Items from external sources. For those looking for a trustworthy platform, I recommend MMOEXP for safe and reliable service. Elden Ring is vast, but with a little knowledge, you can bend its rules in your favor. Now, go forth, Tarnished—claim your throne.