Seriuos Question - what is the logic behind the game mechanics?

[droid_orat]

UPDATE: thanks everyone for the comments. It appears after about a dozen or more deaths, Malenia chose to appear unlocking Torrent. The next time at the campfire Rena brought the bell. Now we are getting somewhere, suddenly more weapons appeared at the merchants. TBH Before that those 4 hours in total of circle jerking were rather depressing.

———

So, after having ER bought on the release and installed on on my pc, I have finally decided to give it a try. And... I am rather confused as I am not sure how to play this game. Let me clarify - if I would need step by step instructions I would search a guide, but I want to discover things myself, but at the moment I fail to understand what's my main goal and how to progress. I can deal with the smaller enemies, but anything new and bigger kicks my arse. I understand I need to level up to proceed but the way to do it not clear. I fail to grasp the logic what I have to do next. At the moment- I go to the west I die, I go to the east - I die and etc.

So....

[patrol]

There was a tutorial in the cave, and at some grace you'll get a girlboss also npcs basically tell you "head there if x" and on the map there are lines pointing you roughly in the direction you need to progress through the game

[エロ音声作品学者]

the important things to know:

1. dodge-rolls give you a brief window of total invincibility to all damage. use this to not only avoid being hit, but to move closer to the enemy to strike. if they swing, dodge-roll towards them and attack. once you perfect this you will find the game a lot easier. avoid engaging more than one enemy at a time until you nail this. expect to die a lot - it's a hard game, but you will improve if you know that dodging = invincibility, and invincibility = the chance to move in for a strike.

2. the sites of grace sometimes put an arrow on your map pointing to an important objective - and some sites of grace will summon an npc who gives you abilities or guidance. look and listen.

3. you will pick up things called "smithing stones" which you can use to power up your weapons at the church near the starting area, or at the hub lodge you'll soon unlock. use these - the power increases are very large, and the stones are plentiful (and eventually infinite)

for now just enjoy exploring and honing your combat skills (not your stats, your actual real skill at dodging and striking in the right ways at the right times), and unlocking more and more sites of grace. when you find npcs, listen to what they say. when a site of grace puts arrows on your map, follow them. when you find a big door with a wall of swirling fog blocking it, kill the boss inside to progress or get cool items.

this should be enough to move forwards.

[Talilover]

Try going south instead, lmao (genuinely decent advice for a new player)

As far as "mechanics" go I guess the short version is you have two options when getting stuck on a boss, either learn the moveset so you can beat it at your current state or roam around the open world to level up/ get better gear to steamroll the boss (secret third option of just summoning somebody else ig)

[droid_orat]

Originally posted by Talilover:

Try going south instead, lmao (genuinely decent advice for a new player)

As far as "mechanics" go I guess the short version is you have two options when getting stuck on a boss, either learn the moveset so you can beat it at your current state or roam around the open world to level up/ get better gear to steamroll the boss (secret third option of just summoning somebody else ig)

Where do you get better equipment? Is it just from the traders or it be looted from enemies/somewhere?

[Rando the Crit Clown]

Originally posted by droid_orat:

Originally posted by Talilover:

Try going south instead, lmao (genuinely decent advice for a new player)

As far as "mechanics" go I guess the short version is you have two options when getting stuck on a boss, either learn the moveset so you can beat it at your current state or roam around the open world to level up/ get better gear to steamroll the boss (secret third option of just summoning somebody else ig)

Where do you get better equipment? Is it just from the traders or it be looted from enemies/somewhere?

You just happen upon it. Traders, enemies, chests, corpses, etc.

[エロ音声作品学者]

Originally posted by droid_orat:

Originally posted by Talilover:

Try going south instead, lmao (genuinely decent advice for a new player)

As far as "mechanics" go I guess the short version is you have two options when getting stuck on a boss, either learn the moveset so you can beat it at your current state or roam around the open world to level up/ get better gear to steamroll the boss (secret third option of just summoning somebody else ig)

Where do you get better equipment? Is it just from the traders or it be looted from enemies/somewhere?

The trick here is that basically any weapon in the game can be good if you can upgrade it. Some of the most powerful weapons in the game will just be called something like "Flail" or "Longsword" but when you upgrade them they become absolute monsters. You can make a powerful character who dominates the game with just about any weapon in the entire game, if you learn the moveset, learn to dodge, upgrade it, etc.

This game doesn't have weapons that are just explicitly upgrades vs. other weapons - you pick one with moves you like, and you upgrade it with smithing stones to make it better.

As for good armor and talismans, you find them on enemies, bosses, in chests around the world, occasionally sold at a merchant - you will have to explore thoroughly, kill everything you can, check every nook and cranny to get them.

[Foxrun]

Death is part of the game so do not get discouraged. Learn from your mistakes and seek help when you need. There are a lot of guides and tips on the internet, and a lot of systems in game that can help you overcome challenges; such as spirit summons.

[Cacomistle]

The combat mechanics are pretty simple. Roll has invulnerability frames. So, you want to roll just before the enemy's attack hits you, and you won't take damage. Against most bigger bosses, you wait for them to attack you, roll it, then do some sort of counter attack of your own that comes out fast enough to avoid their next attack. There are more mechanics than that, but that's simple enough for the majority of the cases, so do not take that as comprehensive and, for instance, try to roll an attack from an enemy that is swinging in the opposite direction.

At the start, the easy thing to do is go to the area to the south. The enemies are generally easier there, and as you level up and pick up upgrades.

I think going and fighting the first boss in the castle area is good too. He'll kick your ass, but fighting him repeatedly I think is the quickest way to get a hang of the combat. Or at least for me it was (I ended up going pretty much straight there), I felt like I had no idea what I was doing until I fought him like 20 times and got the hang of all his moves. After that it was pretty easy for me to figure out the attacks bosses for the vast majority of the rest of the game, since aside from a few special attacks most of them are very similar in how to dodge them to something the first boss did.

[Rando the Crit Clown]

Originally posted by エロ音声作品学者:

This game doesn't have weapons that are just explicitly upgrades vs. other weapons

Yes it does. Many weapons in the same class will just be better or worse versions of other weapons. Sometimes this isn't true like with the claymore and knight's greatsword, but there's not really any difference between the longsword and lordsworn's straight sword other than one having slightly better damage. Same moveset, same range, same framedata, same guarding stats, same crit multiplier, same weight, same stamina costs, same stat requirements. The only difference is the damage.

[Clockwork]

Also, it's fine to accept the game might not be for you if at some point you feel like you're not having fun. Elden Ring is very peculiar.

[zero]

sounds like you just need a general idea of where to go: which you should be exploring limgrave, that will get you prepared for your first greatrune (which when you sit a bonfire it will guide you to important places, those yellow lines on the map? generally the important locations to do eventually)

go south first, do that, then try the castle, after that, enjoy the lakes, do school, after that you should have plenty open to you to keep exploring safely.

[NeoVICT]

Every grace you visit, including the first one outside, has a beam pointing you in the general direction of where you should go next, you can see those directional beams on the map as well, follow those.
If the mobs getting too strong, keep leveling and exploring in areas, you can manage and try again later. And speak to every NPC, they might have quests for you or give you hints for your next target.
That is all I am going to say cause I don't wanna spoil anything for you.

[droid_orat]

Great tips! One question though. When you say "very grace you visit" - does this mean refil your blessings as this is what I used to do when I see the campfire. Or should I rest - get into the special menu to proceed with the story?

DAMN - I just realize I can LEVEL UP at the grace site. So sitting at the campfires is rather essential rather than just refilling your blessings.

Originally posted by NeoVICT:

Every grace you visit, including the first one outside, has a beam pointing you in the general direction of where you should go next, you can see those directional beams on the map as well, follow those.
If the mobs getting too strong, keep leveling and exploring in areas, you can manage and try again later. And speak to every NPC, they might have quests for you or give you hints for your next target.
That is all I am going to say cause I don't wanna spoil anything for you.