Beginner tips on leveling

[Niras]

After recently beating Lies of P I decided to finally get into souls games thus I decided to give Elden ring another chance (I quit year ago after +10 failed attempts on Margit after beating Leonine).

The thing about soulslike/soulsborne games which was always (and still is) daunting for me was leveling process.

I'm aware of soft caps and that I am supposed to max my main stat first till first soft cap but I looked briefly through steam guides and I found certain guide about soft caps which recommends to level both main and secondary weapon stats first.
guide in question: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2765060616

So I did that and found myself feeling uncomfortable squishy with only 10 Vigor (I started as Wretch for balanced stats with intent to go Str/dex 2h build), not to mention accidentally putting 5 points into Mind instead of Endurance. At this point I will most likely make another character.

My question is: should I level up main damage stat (str/dex/int/faith etc.) till reaching soft cap then go straight for secondary one or should I go with Endurance or Vigor ?
Also is STR/DEX heavy 2h build a good start for new player or should I start with some kind of dex build instead ?

any other tips are welcome

Update: thx for the tips guys. I didn't expect such huge response. I did a test run with new character leveling VIG first and I had much more enjoyable experience.

[Sparhawk 59]

vigor first or you will be 1 shotted then look at your weapons to level up and their stats for use like dex str and ind helps you wear more without fat rolling. Low cap 40 mid 60 high 80

[fauxpas]

I do...

Vigor first.

Weapon / Favorite spells min. (I don't rush weapons so the mins aren't too bad.)

Vigor if needed.

Boss Eater Spell mins.

Vigor again.

Scaling Stats.

Yet more VIGOR!


... Granted, I fully admit that I suck. so take the advice for what it's worth. 😜

[Silent Warrior]

Always start to level up Vigor. Go for atleast 20 in Limgrave. Then 40 for the next areas, and up to 50-60 in endgame.
Level up your main dmg stats only if you need them to wield your weapons of choice. This becomes important only later, when you have upgraded your weapons a lot.
In early game the low upgraded weapons scale very bad with your dmg stats.

If you choice str. or dex. depends on your favorite playstyle. They are both good and viable.
I prefer a str./ faith hybrid as an easy start, 2 hand some greatsword, later a colossal sword or hammer, whatever you like.
Starting as a Samurai with Uchi is also good choice. Don't look for "best build" and "meta build" , the most important is to find your own playstyle and have fun with the game.

[nfinite.recursion]

Leveling up your main damage stat early on is foolish.

Why? Because you don't get any appreciable benefit from doing so until you've upgraded your weapon of choice. As you upgrade your weapons, so too does their stat scaling improve.

When I'm a level 1 Wretch I focus on getting my VIG to 20 and fulfilling the minimum requirements to wield the weapon(s) I will use. I'll also level MND and / or END as necessary. If my VIG, MND, and END preferences are satisfied, I'll level up my combat skills even if they don't benefit much due to low scaling on a barely-upgraded weapon.

EDIT: I forgot to point out that the VIG stat not only raises your HP, but it also raises your base defensive stats. So not only can you take more damage before you die, but individual hits do less damage.

Also, among the combat stats, STR behaves similarly to VIG in that it will boost your base defensive stats, physical defense in particular, more often and by greater amounts. Just something to keep in mind.

[MetHimPikeHoses]

Get up to 20 vigor. Then distribute points as best suits your choice weapon/spell needs. Eventually you want to get to around 40 vigor or more for endgame bosses. The "guder" you get, the less vigor you need.

[Sephylon]

'Level vig' is an adage for a reason. The extra 2 damage you get for maxing out str/dex with a +0~3 wep won't matter if you die in 1 hit.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oDHBbqta4DU&pp=ygUUT25seSB3YWlmdSBsZXZlbCB2aWc%3D

[Honk1]

Just to hammer in what everyone else already said: Go for Vigor first.

I clicked on the guide and it shows damage gains for damage stats for a +25 weapon. As Sephylon already wrote, the returns for lower level weapons are way, way lower. You might get something like 1 or 2 damage per point and a 20%-30% increase in damage for 30 points in a damage stat. Going from 10 to 40 Vigor, on the other hand, takes you from 414 HP to 1450 HP, so you more than triple your HP. This means that with low weapon levels, you don't have a choice between a tanky build or a or a glass cannon build, you only have a choice between a tanky build and a glass noodle build. My advice is to only invest in other stats to reach minimum requirements of stuff you want to use until you reach 40 Vigor.

By the way, I found the Lies of P bosses harder than bosses in Elden Ring, so I think that with a bit of practice, you'll be fine this time around. :)

[Narm]

Originally posted by methimpikehoses:

Get up to 20 vigor. Then distribute points as best suits your choice weapon/spell needs. Eventually you want to get to around 40 vigor or more for endgame bosses. The "guder" you get, the less vigor you need.

Typically, it's get 20 vig in limgrave, 40 for liurnia or leyndell, depending on how much you feel you need for those areas, then 40-60 for the rest of the game. Also depends on what feels most comfortable. Lot of people swear by 60 vig. But I agree, if you're good about learning attack patterns and only attacking when you have openings (i.e., got gud), vig isn't as important. 40 vig and the right defensive talismans/buffs can be enough tankiness anyways.

Generally, priority is vig for the area, weapon stat requirement minimums (most weapon damage for the majority of the game will come from weapon upgrade level, not scaling), end/mind as needed for medium roll and to keep up with how much fp you use, then dump everything else into your damage stat.

Casters are a little different and can manage more as a glass cannon, but the general stat priority is similar except for a bit more priority on dumping into the casting stat.

Hybrid builds are complicated to do but it's often easiest to just focus on one damage stat for half the game, then bring in the other.

[GG EZ]

I would say at the start focus on vigor and only level your damage stat up to the point where you meet your weapon requirements. Then adjust as needed after that.

[Internet(s)]

That's great advice about vigor, but I also recommend adding some points into endurance and your main damage stat as well. For melee builds I suppose strength is easier to learn first. I went for a one handed weapon and shield and did mostly strength with some dexterity.

Adding a range weapon is really helpful for melee characters. Caster characters have that range also.

Vigor just needs to be a main stat to survive everything in this game and getting 1 hit with no recovery sucks, so having 60+ vitality early is a good idea.

Don't get frustrated in any one area, if it seems too hard there is likely another area that is more on your level.

[Huhruhkayn]

Im a souls noob and can beat Marget after leveling up 5 times. This is provided I use the Summons next to the boss door.

Starting the game with a golden seed and getting upto 5 health potions helps. I put all my points in Vigor to start with. The last time I beat him was with a single uchigatana and mostly spamming Hold and dodging away. The time before that I was powerstancing Scimitars, one with Golden Vow and the other with Storm Blade ashes.

Edit* Not saying Marget is easy. I definitely couldnt solo him but there are ways to deal with him really early on.

[ItachiDeltaForce]

as a full melee focus character could i use a few sorceries to help out in combat without having to use as magic staff?

[Sephylon]

Originally posted by Goon Kidd:

as a full melee focus character could i use a few sorceries to help out in combat without having to use as magic staff?

You need staves to cast sorceries and seals to cast incants. You can however use magic aow like glintstone pebble or carian phalanx on any wep that you can put an aow on. Both are available early on via Rogier. Just remember that pebble has a followup dash.

Edit
Just remembered phalanx has a followup dash too, keep forgetting that about it XD

[Sabaithal]

- Level Vigor first
- Level Vigor first
- LEVEL VIGOR FIRST

Don't have the attitude some of my dumbass friends had of "oh its fine, I'll just not get hit by anything." That's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, you're going to get hit. You are going to run into ridiculous enemies that never seem to stop moving or attack very erratically and are hard to read. It is going to happen, so level vigor.

[BenzoSt]

Vigor to 40 is top priority.