I’m only in that opening region and yes, you can keep fighting for awhile and level up. It’s one of the big advantages to an open world. You don’t have to fight any certain boss with a linear path through him and no other shot. Instead, you can leave and go become stronger and return.
I have yet to hit a story boss, but that is what I’ll do if I have to.
I never really ground mobs because I felt like I needed to in order to beat a specific boss. I’d grind mobs either because (a) I didn’t want to get invested in a goal and was just casually killin’ dudes to pass some time or (b) I got a weapon/spell and was a little shy on the requirements for it and was impatient to use it.
There’s even a term for grinding called “rune farming” and some guides on the best places to do it most efficiently.
I haven’t done it yet because I haven’t felt the need so far, I’m leveling up okay as I explore and fight what I can.
I’ve been doing it a bit because I really want to be leveled up properly to face this first story boss when I get there. I headed south and found a boss that whammed me really bad.
I should probably get a journal. I kind of hate it writes nothing down for you. Quests? Better remember! That boss you ran away from? Uh, I guess I’ll put that on my “didn’t do” list.
A little bit confused here. If you’ve played more than 2hrs you had to have been sent to the hub by now. There are no boss fights or gates required to get there. If you have the horse and are able to level up you can warp to the hub. Are you sure you haven’t just missed it? Go to the map and see if there is something in the very south west corner.
Please tell me the name of the hub. I might have missed something? Or I don’t know what you mean by hub…
Edit: I am reading about a Roundtable Hold. Looks like I have to visit a grace point outside Lindgrave and Weeping Peninsula, which I have not done. Those are the two mapped areas I’ve found.
Think I should head way East or something to get to one?
When you rest at the bonfire look at your options and you should see one that says something like “Talk to Melina” or something. It’s extremely easy to miss. Once you choose that at a couple of bonfires she’ll just TP you to Roundtable.
The “talk to XXX” options at the fires is super easy to miss because it’s normally at the very bottom and isn’t always there.
Thank you. I have not been speaking to her.
It happened, but I think what I read was also correct. I spoke to her at my normal site of graces out in Limgrave and Weeping Peninsula and she shared, but nothing eventful happened.
I then, by total coincidence, found a portal that warped me east to a place called the Bestial Sanctum. It was guarded by a very calm large black demon that did nothing to me(but killed me in one shot when provoked).
Inside that Sanctum was a grace point, one outside Limgrave and Weeping Peninsula, and when I claimed it, she immediately took over and warped me to the “hub” of the game.
I picked up Elden Ring just before Christmas, and am now 95 hours in and a little bit obsessed. I will give the advice that I got that got me this far - don’t be afraid to google things. There are side quests and secrets and systems that the game doesn’t explain at all, and it’s perfectly ok to go look them up. You’ve still got to actually go do them.
There are certainly people who prefer to figure things out themselves and would consider this bad advice, but in my situation as a new player to the whole Souls-like experience, I wouldn’t have stuck with the game if I hadn’t looked certain stuff up when I came across it.
What kind of character are you using? I am a Vagabond and am still struggling not to get slammed back in even basic fights. I just am terrible at timing the rolls and shield blocks.
I started with a Confessor, because they get given a shield with 100% physical block. You don’t need to time those, especially in the early game, you just keep your shield up and your enemy targeted and it’ll damage your Stamina, not your health. Later I’ve gone more into a strength thing with a glaive I found. The internet suggested I put a particular Ash of War on it (which are like slotted abilities for weapons) and I’m getting along with it famously.
You can always change your build later on if you need to, but you can’t get back the smithing stones you use to improve your weapons or the plants you use to improve your ashes summons. You will be able to buy them later, but that costs runes.
Hey, so I’m up for adivice. What Ash of War?
Flaming Strike. It’s found in a scarab in Redmane Castle, which is a fair way into the game. Early game, I found a Falchion and used that, and upgraded it more than I probably should have. The good thing about Ashes is that you can slot them around and play with them, so if I come across a boss iwth flame resistance I can take it out and try another. Hasn’t actually happened yet, but it’s an option.
I was just “invaded” by some guy with the word Bloody in his name. This…this…isn’t another player jumping into my game because I am online? I don’t want to lose a fight(I ran away) to someone and lose important items I’ve collected just because I’m terrible at the game. I don’t do online fighting games.
Almost certainly not. You can only be invaded against your will if you’ve currently got another player in your world helping you. You can summon people in to duel with you, but that’s an action you deliberately take.
Also, you can not lose items you’ve picked up, even if you die. Dying doesn’t reload your game, the dying mechanic is built into the lore of the game. When you die, your character respawns at the nearest spawn point, lacking only the runes you had when you died. And you can go and get those back. DS games have a reputation for punishing death but, actually, it doesn’t set you back much at all.
If you’ve looted an area, you don’t need to go back to it to defeat those enemies! You’ll also find that you can fairly successfully run past many enemies (especially on Torrent, but even without). Try it with the Tree Sentinel when you’ve spent most of your runes - get his attention, then run away (on Torrent). You’ll find he soon gives up.
Anyway, that red guy is an NPC invader, and he’ll turn up whenever you go there. Give him a go, the worst you’ll lose it your runes. And if you haven’t got many, you can die over and over again if you have to. You only have to win once!
What a strange concept, though I don’t know anything about the lore. I’m trying to picture how he warped into my world.
It is buried in the lore, as most things are. The way I understand it, it’s a little like the ending of Bioshock Infinite, all the players are playing in their own realities that can intersect (the little ghosts of other players you sometimes see, and the messages you can leave, are not gameplay elements really - they are supposed to be there in the world), and so it makes sense that non players can also do it sometimes? It’s not something that happens often, I’ve only met 2 of them.
Speaking of the ghosts I see, some are red(blood spots) and some are white and seem to be there without me activating them(white ghosts).
What’s the difference? I presume all of these are images of other players throughout time.