Next, we’ll talk about the general approach to gameplay in ELDEN RING. While the game is open world, and you certainly can go anywhere, you’ll quickly discover enemies in some zones are much deadlier than others. ELDEN RING has a built-in system that can help guide to key locations known as the Guidance of Grace. Key Sites of Grace will be marked by a faint golden trail of light pointing in a general direction. This is an indication that something important is in that direction waiting for you. These are usually legacy dungeons, main bosses, or important areas that you should visit.

In addition to being visible while resting at these Sites of Grace, the Guidance of Grace is also shown on the map after you’ve found the map fragment for a particular area. In the example below we can see 4 Guidance of Grace markings on our map, which guide us from the First Step Grace to Stormveil Castle.

Speaking of maps, finding map markers will make your journey much easier by adding icons directly onto the map for everything you find. When you’re first exploring a zone, you can see undiscovered map markers after you’ve progressed far enough to remove the fog from the map. In the example below I’ve added a beacon to the map marker’s location, which will create an icon on my compass, as well as a blue light visually showing the location of the beacon in the game. 

While the Guidance of Grace will guide you to important things, there’s plenty of other activities to do out in the world. To detail a few of the most common activities, take a look at the screenshot below of the map from an early zone with some common icons already labeled.  

The first and most important is the Church. Churches always have a Site of Grace and are the primary source of Sacred Tears, which will increase the effectiveness of your flasks. Minor Erdtree’s have Crystal Tears that you can mix into your Wondrous Physick, allowing you to create a custom flask with various effects. Scattered across the map are also Golden Seeds, found at the base of small golden trees, which increase the number of flasks you can use before you need to refill. If you are struggling in the early game, it is a good idea to explore all over to increase the number of uses and the effectiveness of your flask to make future challenges easier.

The next three are Caves, Tunnels, and Catacombs. All 3 of these are different types of mini-dungeons and as such they always have a boss with a reward at the end.

Caves are the shortest of the three and are loaded with gatherable crafting materials. Tunnels include multiple paths and are a great source of smithing stones to upgrade your weapons. Catacombs are the trickiest of the bunch and are usually loaded with traps and plenty of Glovewart to upgrade your Ashen Spirits.

Evergaol’s are stand-alone boss battles that grant a reward. Ruins typically contain a few scattered pieces of loot and always have a main treasure which is found down a set of steps. Shacks typically contain merchants where you can buy and sell loot.

There’s plenty of other things to discover in Elden Ring but the general rule of thumb is if it gets its own icon on the map, it’s worth going through it until you have a nice piece of loot.

For comparison, we have the same map screenshot below but unfilled with icons. You can see how certain items have a distinct shape, such as the small circle of the Evergaol or the red-ish hole where the Tunnels are. Looking for these objects that stand out from the background of the map is a great way to find new activities to do once you’ve uncovered the map for an area.

There are also Field or World Bosses to discover in the environment, and these won’t have an icon on the map. Whether it’s a dragon, an elite enemy, or an NPC invader, these battles will reward you should you prove victorious.

There’s also enemies in the world and specific bosses that only come out during the night such as Bell Bearing Hunters, Night’s Calvary, and Deathbirds, so don’t be afraid to pull out a torch and go exploring into the darkness!

In terms of general progression, one good idea when you’re not sure where to go is to fight a common enemy in multiple zones. If you have two areas to choose from and you get 300 Runes for killing from an enemy in Zone A, and 500 Runes from killing an enemy in Zone B, chances are Zone A is going to be easier and you should do that first. For those especially struggling with where to go early on, a general progression approach would be Limgrave > Liurnia of the Lakes > Caelid.

Talking briefly about missable content, there’s very little that can be missed by exploring the game in any order you choose. The most common missed content would be NPC dialogue, as some NPC questlines will auto-advance as you progress through the game. On the note of NPCs, we’d recommend not attacking an NPC unless in self-defense, but if you do accidentally hit an NPC and cause them to attack, you can have your sins absolved by seeking out the Church of Absolution in the Lakes of Liurnia. You will need a rare item to take advantage of this service, but it will make the NPC friendly once again so that you could continue their questline.

While the overarching goal of Elden Ring is the journey to become the Elden Lord, there are countless places out in the world to explore and you can easily expect a 100+ hour experience if you choose to fully explore everything The Lands Between has to offer. Just remember, that not all challenges need to be faced the first time you go through an area. If a certain boss is too difficult to fight, it is okay to run away and come back at a later time, or to explore through an area without engaging in any fights.

About our Guest Content Creator

FightinCowboy is a content creator with a focus on detailed walkthroughs for Souls games to help gamers of all levels. He started on YouTube almost 10 years ago and has created Let's Plays and Walkthrough content that have been watched by millions of people around the world.