New player, should i use a guide or no?

[Jubbs]

I've played the Dark Souls trilogy and Sekiro, all of which without a guide since they're all (somewhat) linear and straightforward. However Elden Ring seems absolutely enormous and overwhelming. Should I use a guide? Or is the game manageable without one?

[Fineous🔥]

Let your gut and wits be your guide for your first Elden Ring rodeo. Avoid Youtube, forums and Fextra like the plague.

Thats the real Elden Ring experience.

Hmm 15 hours and Rennala killed.....not that new player but whatever.

[>{°,.¿.,°}<]

No.
I wouldn't use any guides.
The only word of advice I give you tho is level your vigor, that's all.
Enjoy the game! :)

[Yard-Dog®]

Hell no. You'll ruin it.

[Alby]

Originally posted by >{°,.¿.,°}<:

No.
I wouldn't use any guides.
The only word of advice I give you tho is level your vigor, that's all.
Enjoy the game! :)

ER is one of those 1 in 1,000 games that are actually good. Don’t spoil it with guides, you only get to experience it for the first time just once.

[nfinite.recursion]

No. Avoid the guides.

Going from blind straight into a guide also causes you to assume the info in the guide is good. There's a ton of bad guides out there and you have no point of reference as to which are good and which are bad.

[The Ultimate Despair]

My personal advice, is to not do it. You WILL miss out on items and events. You WILL be lost and confused. But it is absolutely part of the experience. You will also have a lot more re play value this way as the game has 3 different endings and a lot of questlines to go through. A lot to discover.

[Sc0rpiTr0n]

I would recommend you to play without guides.

Use guides only if you're hopelessly stuck
or you're replaying the game and want to see what you missed.

You can always ask for specific tips and help here if needed.

[The Ultimate Despair]

Originally posted by nfinite.recursion:

No. Avoid the guides.

Going from blind straight into a guide also causes you to assume the info in the guide is good. There's a ton of bad guides out there and you have no point of reference as to which are good and which are bad.

Yeah like all those ' X weapon is bad and you should use Y weapon instead' when no weapon is actually 'bad'. Everything is viable for PVE, it just depends on how you use it and if you are having fun with it.

[vamirez]

My suggestion would be to just play and dive in and not worry about it. If needed ask for general tips here, and you can still look up what you missed later for a second run, or at the end of a major area or some such.

Oh, and as you have played Souls before - do not approach this like DS 4. Approach it as a new game that plays differently. Understand and try out all the different game mechanisms, then decide how you want to play to suit your preferences in style and difficulty.

[LuckyCheshire]

I would do one full game without a guide, then try a guide if you're still interested in NG+, or in a new run.

[fmalfeas]

Game is plenty manageable without.

Here's the one tip I'll offer to avoid frustration. Lightning damage is the most reliable damage other than 'standard physical' in the game. Nothing is immune (there's a type of critter immune to fire completely), and the only boss with massive resistance to it is completely optional.

There's lots of optimized methods for playing, and cheese tricks that can be done, but knowing that lightning is basically /always/ a viable fallback option (and if the enemy is in the rain or standing in water, it's way more than just viable) can do a lot to prevent frustration.

[Xengre]

My recommendation?

One of the more fascinating aspects of this game can be said to be discovery, often accidental. Using a guide may also feel overwhelming because of the amount of content, or like interactive maps the sheer number of markers on the map for a new player.

Not using a guide may also not restrict your creativity and make your growth as a player more apparent in the game.

The only notable things you really need to know going in:

- Level Vigor primarily no matter your class, even a mage. Offensive scaling is exceedingly poor, especially due to how weapon upgrade scaling works until very late game. Health is far superior scaling at all points and not dying is more important than doing 5 more damage. not following this is one of the most common influences of unnecessary difficulty for new players. Vigor maxes at 60 points before it hits a cap and is not worth investing in. The comparable number of points in an offensive stat might see a rise of maybe 20-40% dmg per attack but in health its a 500% increase roughly. Plus, not being 1-shot and being able to make multiple mistakes while attempting to heal or just in general is too valuable. Later on you will have more than ample points to improve offensive stats when it starts to slowly become slightly relevant. Buffs are often more valuable for offensive increases tho and even a mere 15 faith is highly valuable for buffs.

- The gold arrows on map tell you where to go to make major progress in the world. Other than that don't frustrate yourself if stuck in a spot. Consider exploring elsewhere and returning when stronger / more equipped if you hit a roadblock that is causing you dread.

[mpcgannon]

Jiminy Cricket voice:

Let your curiosity be your guide.

[Darth Invader]

no

[Kate The Wolf]

If you made dark souls before, you don't need a guide.
It's the exact same thing with some tweaks there and there, a jump button, and "interzone open area" between dungeon instead of corridors.