How to Become Better at Elden Ring

And other Fromsoft Titles

There’s no mistaking it, Elden Ring like other Fromsoft games is still hard for new players (even though it’s much more accessible than earlier titles). But the good news is, you can make it easier for yourself.

There’s No Easy Mode

As you probably guessed, similar to earlier titles there’s still no easy mode in Elden Ring, and it’s a good thing.

What you probably don’t know is how the difficulty works in these games, and how you can adjust it in-game.

You see, the difficulty is actually built into the game, that’s what makes these game so satisfying and the combat so accurate and well-rounded. If it wasn’t this way, and we had a difficulty menu, the game would’ve been severely lacking, unbalanced and just not fun.

In order to understand how the difficulty works in these games, we need to remember their philosophy. You begin as nothing, a “lowly tarnished”, and somehow you’re supposed to defeat a god by the end of the game.

This idea of starting as no one has to reflect upon the gameplay and difficulty, where winning any encounter should feel earned and every win should be a well deserved one.

In this article we’re going to dive into the different ways you can make the game just a little bit easier, while retaining the satisfaction of winning against all odds in a well fought battle.

Playing a Magic Build

A magic build is what Fromsoft sometimes call “easy mode”, and for a good reason. Even though it’s not as easy as you might think, and some situations might prove harder for a mage, magic builds are usually the safer bet when starting out in a Fromsoft game.

I personally don’t enjoy magic builds in Fromsoft games as much, since I do prefer the adrenaline boost that comes from facing the pending danger head on, with a mix of well timed rolls and an aggressive playstyle.

Now it might seem to some that I’m referring to magic builds in a negative tone, so let’s make it clear that this is not the case at all.

I think magic builds can also be very fun and diverse (especially in Elden Ring since the variety of different spells with different uses is huge!), and as a result these builds can make the game slightly easier for newer players, or for players having a hard time with melee builds.

With the different variety of spells, you can fight most enemies and bosses from a safe range, and even though most of the bosses have gap closers or ranged attacks, usually their most dangerous combos are of a close ranged nature.

There are of course exceptions, some enemies and bosses can be even harder or more frustrating for magic users, they either have deadly long range attacks which counter the safety of distance, or are very fast and agile running around the arena dodging your spells or sometimes not even allowing you to cast them.

Finding the spells can also “spell” a challenge (sorry not sorry) mainly for new players, it isn’t as straightforward as melee weapons, where the game throws at you a “large hunk of iron” that’s supposed to be a sword and tells you to go and beat up some monsters up with it.

The best spells are usually sitting in the most hidden of places, where it’s either you run into them, or have to consult a guide. The mage who teaches you the spells in the early part of the game for example, is also pretty easy to miss and then you’re already at a disadvantage.

My personal advice here might seem unproductive but I believe that you shouldn’t look at guides much in your first play through since there’s more fun and satisfaction in discovering new things yourself, but take it (like a lot of other things) with a grain of salt.

If you’ve been stuck for a while or really need some assistance finding a specific item or spell, then of course go check a guide, your enjoyment of the game is the most important after all, so don’t let that hinder it. I am sure in any case that if you take your time and just play, you will definitely come across some very nice spells and loot to help you out.

But generally speaking magic builds definitely have an advantage for the most part and can be very effective and even deadly when using the right spells against the right enemies.

You also have different buffs and protections that can strengthen, heal and protect both you and other players or summons in your party. Which leads me to my next point.

Use Summons and Co-op

Another option that’s considered the easier route by Fromsoft fans is using summons. This time around though we have quite the variety.

Not only can you summon another player or two to assist you going through a hard level or a tough boss, you can also summon “Ashes of War” using a summoning bell.

Fromsoft is basically assuring you that it’s ok to use summons, doubles down and gives you a huge variety of different summons you can use, especially when you’re playing offline and don’t have the option of summoning other players.

To be honest, in my first play through I used Ashes of War quite a bit to help steer the bosses’ focus from me, this allowed me to learn their move sets better, but from the second play through on, I chose to not use any summons and do the whole thing using my own knowledge and skills (making the win much harder but much more satisfying too).

Again though, there’s no shame in using summons and asking for help, I mean the point of the game is to enjoy it, and if you don’t enjoy it going solo then I definitely advise getting some assistance. The Fromsoft community is also pretty wholesome in that regard, and finding help to a difficult boss is usually not too hard.

Level Up and Upgrade Your Weapon

If a friend complains to me about a difficult boss, I first advise them is to go level up and upgrade their weapons, spells and summons, advice I don’t follow myself! I’m just like your smoker friend when they expand to you about the dangers of smoking, while not quitting themselves. I’ll explain this comparison in a bit.

The game world is big enough so there’s never “nothing to do other than git gud” (unlike earlier titles) and you can always go somewhere else if you’re stuck or if you feel that an area or boss are too hard. Heck that’s what most Fromsoft veterans do too!

My suggestion is, if you’re stuck go to an earlier area and explore the hell out of it, you will definitely find more dungeons or secret areas that you’ve missed and they would definitely prove helpful.

For me, even on my second playthrough I still notice how big the game world is, much bigger than my first impression of it. There are so many areas, quests and dungeons that I just missed, even though I thought I was being pretty thorough.

Be Flexible and Adapt

In Elden Ring the option to respec and change your build is an important one, one that can be used effectively to your advantage. It’s not a coincidence Miyazaki put so many Larval Tears throughout the world (17 in total), he’s encouraging us to play with and test out different builds!

Heck I was stuck on Malenia, who’s now known as the hardest boss in the game for so long, and after dying countless times I became desperate. Even though I had like 2 Larval Tears, I went and changed my build completely, upgraded the weapon of which the build was focused around and to my surprise, I beat her in a bit more than a couple of tries!

Respeccing though is just a part of it, the game is filled with little signs and hints for beating an upcoming challenge, and if you notice them you will be rewarded.

You might get a bleed weapon just before a boss that has a weakness to the bleed status effect, or get an item that has a hint in the description of how to beat the boss. You just have to look.

A glaring example of that is Rykard, which is a boss following the gimmick of earlier titles, Dark Souls’ Yhorm the Giant and Demon’s Souls Storm King. In all of these boss fights there’s a weapon hiding in the arena (or right in front of you in Rykard’s) which is strong against those bosses.

Usually though, it takes a few hits with your current weapon to notice that you’re oddly dealing very low amounts of damage, and that maybe something here is not right.

Keep On Struggling — Take the Time to Learn the Levels, Enemies and Their Attack Patterns

So just like your smoker friend, who just can’t stop smoking cigarettes, I can’t stop hitting my head against the wall fighting harder bosses. Pretty sure it’s become an addiction by now!

The harder the boss is, the bigger the struggle, the more satisfying it is to beat it, doesn’t matter whether they’re harder by design, or just because you’re just under leveled and aren’t ready to face them yet, it just feels so damn good!

Now this approach will probably not work for everyone, it depends on how patient you are and how good your delayed gratification skills are.

For me, as a former classical musician, who’s hit skill walls left and right during my studies, I always had to take my time to overcome technical and mental hardships in different ways, trying out different things and coming up with creative solutions.

This same mindset was my preferred method of approaching the game’s hardships. Sometimes, all you need is to take a break, or a step back, and look at the challenge from a different angle.

You will also notice that some enemies have different weaknesses, so the more ways you try to approach an enemy, the more you learn about their weaknesses and how to exploit them. For example, there’s an item you can buy that shackles one of the earlier bosses of the game, making a very hard fight much more manageable.

I would also use my music skills, and past experiences to learn the enemies’ attack patterns. Every enemy or boss has a number of different attacks, the more attacks the harder the enemy is, every attack hits on different timings too, where delayed timings make for harder to avoid attacks, and every attack has a different cue, either visual or auditory, where the more subtle ones are harder to notice or react to.

So what I would do is try to find the actual musical rhythm of different combos, and remember the auditory cues which are usually screams or grunts accompanied by crazy combos or deadly attacks that come right after.

Once I knew the musical score of a level, the symphony of different attacks and combos of a boss, it was just a matter of time until they were conquered.

As a more experienced player, and as a musician who has a good sense of timing, I would confidently say it took me much less time to master fighting the different enemies and bosses, than if I was neither of those.

But you always got to start somewhere, and using these tips could very well help you on your struggle of mastering Elden Ring and becoming the Elden Lord.

You will still die, a lot, but I hope this article grants you a smoother experience in Elden Ring and other Fromsoft titles as well, allowing you to come out on top over and over again, so you could experience the beauty of these games and see them for what they truly are, not just hard games, but artistic achievements of the highest level.

I will be streaming tomorrow (Tuesday) and Thursday at 15:00 CST on Twitch, join the struggle!

Here’s the article on my website. And check out my Youtube Channel.

Stay tuned if want to know more about the connection between Fromsoft games and music, from an Orchestra Conductor’s perspective!