Summary
- Elden Ring offers various combat tips and strategies, such as learning enemy weaknesses and managing stamina effectively.
- Utilize consumables, buffs, and spells to gain an advantage in combat, including collecting Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes.
- Master techniques like parrying, using I-Frames, and spacing correctly, while avoiding panic rolling and button mashing for successful gameplay.
Over the years, FromSoftware has become infamous for its challenging, unforgiving, and hard-to-master games. Indeed, from Dark Souls to Elden Ring, each adventure offers a new and unique test for players to overcome. However, this difficulty is often overstated, and, with the right know-how, players can become masters of these worlds.
Elden Ring is no different; with an understanding of the game's systems and the weaknesses many enemies have, the journey to becoming Elden Lord can be a much smoother road. Be it using the consumables the game provides or studying the game's hidden mechanics; there are plenty of fighting tips to help improve the combat experience in this massive RPG.
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From the basics, like learning I-Frames and how to manage Stamina correctly, to some strategies that are more specific to the FromSoftware formula, there are a lot of things players can do when considering how to get better at Elden Ring.
Updated July 14, 2024 by Vlad Mazanko: Following the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring has further established itself as one of the most challenging games FromSoftware has ever made. New bosses and regular enemies are some of the most aggressive and deadly foes the studio has ever created, with many fans arguing that the difficulty of some encounters might be a bit too high.
Players need to be even more cautious and patient when dealing with these new threats. Additionally, some new mechanics allow players to increase their damage, which shouldn't be overlooked. This guide to the most useful combat tips for Elden Ring has been updated to include new methods to improve one's skills, as well as insights into the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
1 Collect Scadutree And Revered Spirit Ash Blessings
You Won't Last Long Without These
While not exactly a combat tip, it's crucial to note a new damage scaling mechanic in the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. By collecting Scadutree Fragments in the Land of Shadow, players will deal more damage and receive less. Additionally, there are new Revered Spirit Ashes that enhance a Spirit Summons' strength. These new collectibles only work when exploring the Land of Shadow and won't remain active once you return to the base game's areas.
Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes might not be the best method for balancing stats in the expansion, but they are notably effective. Even over-leveled characters might feel weak in Shadow of the Erdtree until they find several new collectibles to become competitive with the new threats. So don't waste time, and collect these as soon as possible.
2 Don't Rush Yourself To Heal
Patience Is The Key
One of the most useful strategies to get better at Elden Ring is not to heal immediately after taking heavy damage, especially when fighting bosses. Healing too quickly will likely provoke the boss to attack and interrupt a maneuver, resulting in losing more health than was just restored, wasting a flask, and possibly leading to death. Instead, keep a cool head and wait for a good opening to heal.
When hit hard, put some distance between oneself and the boss, patiently waiting for the enemy's combo to finish. Only when players are absolutely sure the boss won't reach them, take a sip from the Crimson Tears flask and return to the fight.
3 Find Your Enemies' Weaknesses
Experimenting Or Careful Study – It's Up To You
Another important tip that some Elden Ring players tend to ignore is identifying specific enemies' and bosses' weaknesses, which can significantly impact the outcome of a fight. While figuring out every new boss's vulnerabilities and immunities on one's own might be tricky, there are plenty of guides online that reveal what each boss is weaker or stronger against. Utilizing this knowledge will help players succeed much faster than sticking to one build or loadout for every encounter.
General advice is to have at least a couple of weapons with various elemental damage on hand, use consumables and weapon enchantments more often, and keep an eye on how much damage opponents receive. Once you figure out their vulnerabilities, it's all about equipping the proper talismans and weapons for the occasion.
4 Use Buffs From Spells And Great Runes
There Are Probably Tons Of Stuff In Your Inventory – Use It
Elden Ring is known for its rich itemization, featuring the most weapons and gear among all other soulslike games. Additionally, the game includes a wide variety of supportive spells, resistance-boosting consumables, and more. Even non-magical combat builds can utilize great buff spells that don't require high Intelligence or Faith to use. Melee builds can benefit from another layer of strength in combat that won't require much effort to pull off.
Not to mention the substantial buffs granted by Great Runes in Elden Ring, dropped by some of the mandatory bosses and usually activated at Divine Towers. By using Rune Arcs to harness their strengths, players can gain a clear advantage even in the toughest fights.
5 Don't Be Afraid To Retreat
Not Every Challenge On The Path Is A Good One
Unlike FromSoftware's previous titles and the majority of other soulslikes, Elden Ring is a truly open-world game that rarely locks players into just one path or boss. Often, if fans are facing a challenging opponent, they can retreat and go elsewhere to find and upgrade better gear, level up their character's stats, and gain more experience. Take advantage of this whenever the odds are stacked, especially when encountering a strong new enemy in the game's open areas, where fans can summon Torrent and easily flee.
Another useful tip to complement this strategy is to always spend runes before fighting any new boss. This way, players aren't bound to retry a boss repeatedly out of fear of abandoning their dropped runes in their combat arena. Spend large amounts of runes and use runes from the inventory to reach the amount needed for leveling up.
6 Learn When To Parry
Elden Ring Is No Sekiro Or Bloodborne, But Parrying Can Still Be Worth It
FromSoftware is known for their previous parry-focused games such as Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but fans can also parry the majority of enemies and bosses in Elden Ring. Doing so correctly provides an opening for delivering a critical hit to a staggered enemy, proving to be one of the easiest ways of defeating some of the most dangerous foes.
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Mastering parries isn't trivial in Elden Ring and demands practice. Additionally, not every boss or enemy attack can be parried, so players who want to get good in combat need to spend some time learning when to parry and when to evade. Still, it is a rewarding and satisfying tactic against enemies in the game, and it's recommended not to neglect it entirely.
7 Learn Weapon Attack Animations And Hitboxes
Almost Every Weapon's Moveset Is Unique And Has Some Aces Up Its Sleeve
Arguably the best way to get better at Elden Ring combat is to learn a particular weapon's movesets and animation patterns. Knowing how to use a weapon effectively is key to adapting to different combat situations. For example, facing down one enemy is perfect for a spear that only attacks forwards, but it will have a really hard time taking down a group of enemies, even if they're weak.
Whenever players equip a new weapon, swing it around a few times, and see what its animation patterns are like. The hitboxes in Elden Ring are precise, so knowing where a weapon can hit with its various attacks (light, heavy, dashing, crouching, etc.) Can give players the upper edge.
8 Learn Boss And Enemy Movesets
Legendary Bosses Just Can't Be Defeated Unless You Know Them Well
The most frustrating thing in Elden Ring is how difficult some of its bosses can be. Even its most difficult enemies offer players openings to attack, though – even 
Malenia. When facing down a boss or an enemy who is taking players to town over and over again, try to learn how it moves and its attack patterns.
For example, Godrick will almost always do his jumping attack if fans stand close to him when he swings his axe around. He rolls toward the player, jumps up, and does a very easy-to-dodge downward slam. For a few seconds afterward, players can get a few easy hits in. Every enemy and every boss in Elden Ring has exploitable moves and behaviors. If something is frustrating, spend some time to learn how to counter it properly – or just go level up for a while and come back to it.
9 Stamina Management Is Very Important
Your Every Action Has Its Price
A player's stamina governs how many moves, blocks, dodges, and everything else along the same lines they can pull off. Having high stamina helps curb a lot of management in this area, but players who are just getting into Elden Ring early on will find this to be a pretty substantial challenge indeed.
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This is why it's important to keep an eye on their stamina at all times. Getting greedy with hits means that players will have a slight delay while dodging, and running out of stamina while blocking will lead to the player being very vulnerable as well.
10 Separate Mobs For Easier Fights
Don't Let Yourself Be Overwhelmed Or Surrounded
Any soulsborne veteran will attest to the fact that trying to fight multiple enemies at once is pretty much akin to a death sentence, with enemies surrounding the player and mobbing them incessantly until they're down and out for the count. So, in the event that players need to fight more than one enemy at once, it's important to know exactly how to manage such an issue.
Players should ideally try and aggro solitary enemies to separate them from a group and take them out with ease. This limits the number of foes that try to attack the player at once and makes these encounters far more manageable. While higher-level players will blast through these encounters without so much as a second thought, players who are starting will alleviate a ton of their frustration if they just manage to separate these massive groups and take them on one by one.