New to the Lands Between: A Beginner Guide to Elden Ring

Elden Ring, developed by FromSoftware, is famous for two things: a genuinely open world and a reputation for difficulty. Both are true, but neither should scare off a newcomer — the game is more approachable than its reputation suggests once you understand a few of its unwritten rules.

Picking a starting class doesn’t lock you in

Elden Ring lets you choose a starting class — Vagabond, Astrologer, Samurai, and several others — each with different starting stats and gear. New players often stress over this choice more than they need to. Because you can level any stat and learn any weapon or spell regardless of your starting class, your first choice mainly determines how the early hours feel, not what your character is permanently capable of becoming. Picking a class with strong starting gear in a straightforward playstyle — melee combat with a shield, for example — is usually the smoothest on-ramp.

The open world is your difficulty slider

Unlike FromSoftware’s earlier, more linear games, Elden Ring’s map is genuinely open, and that’s the single biggest advantage a new player has. If a boss or area is giving you trouble, the game doesn’t expect you to force your way through — it expects you to leave, explore somewhere else, gain levels and better equipment, and come back later. Treating difficulty spikes as a sign to explore elsewhere, rather than a wall to bash against, changes the entire experience.

Runes, levels, and death

Runes function as both currency and experience points — you spend them at the game’s many Sites of Grace to level up, or use them to buy items from merchants. Dying causes you to drop your runes at the location of your death, and you get one chance to walk back and reclaim them before they’re lost for good. This risk is part of the game’s core tension, but it’s rarely as punishing as it sounds: runes are plentiful once you’re exploring efficiently, and losing a stack usually just costs you some time, not permanent progress.

A few habits that make early hours easier

Upgrading your primary weapon at a Site of Grace using smithing stones tends to matter more for damage output than character level alone, so don’t neglect it in favor of just grinding levels. Summoning spirit ashes — AI-controlled allies you unlock over time — can meaningfully ease tough fights, and there’s no penalty for using them. And it’s worth talking to every NPC you meet more than once; many of the game’s most memorable questlines are easy to miss because they only progress through repeat conversations or specific in-world triggers.

Elden Ring rewards curiosity more than raw mechanical skill in its early hours. Explore before you grind, upgrade your gear before you chase harder fights, and treat a locked door or a brutal boss as a sign to come back later rather than a wall you have to break through today.