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Elden Ring Guide: How to Play and Requirements

Elden Ring requires just 12GB of RAM and a GTX 1060 or RX 580 graphics card to run, and launched with a bigger Steam player count than Dark Souls 3 ever reached.

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Elden Ring Guide: How to Play and Requirements

In brief

AI summary

  1. Elden Ring is a fantasy action-RPG made by From Software's Hidetaka Miyazaki in partnership with Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, and it launched on Thursday.

  2. Elden Ring players have criticized the game for being extremely difficult and for how closely its NPCs, bosses, and weapons resemble Dark Souls 3, with some calling it "Dark Souls 4."

  3. Elden Ring guides recommend managing your stamina bar, learning spells via Sites of Grace, and watching for status ailments like Poison, Scarlet Rot, and Frostbite.

Contents7 sections

How do you play Elden Ring? That question topped the search charts the moment the game actually came out! Of course, not every day brings a game as huge and anticipated as Elden Ring. So how do you actually play Elden Ring? What is Elden Ring? What are the Elden Ring system requirements? What do Elden Ring map, class, and boss mean? Everything you need to know about the brilliant new game Elden Ring is right here!

Elden Ring system requirements

What Is Elden Ring?

Elden Ring is a magnificent fantasy-action-RPG developed in partnership between Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin and From Software (Hidetaka Miyazaki), bringing together the minds behind the Dark Souls 3 team and the writer behind Game of Thrones. Already surpassing Dark Souls 3, developer Hidetaka Miyazaki's biggest previous work, in Steam player counts by a wide margin, the game clearly has enormous potential, and it launched for users on Thursday!

What Are the Elden Ring Reviews Like?

The art direction is genuinely top-tier (just like in Dark Souls 3), but the game is criticized by users for how similar almost everything — NPCs, bosses, weapons — is to Dark Souls 3. Some users have even started calling it "Dark Souls 4" on social media. Whether that's a bad thing or a good thing is unclear, but if you didn't enjoy Dark Souls, we honestly can't recommend this game to you.

Another criticism from users is that a game with such high-level ambitions doesn't try to appeal to everyone. The lack of checkpoints, being killed by bosses over and over and having to restart, and the absence of arrow/directional-key support are all From Software traits we're used to by now, but plenty of non-gamers and celebrities (we first saw this backlash from NBA superstar Paul George) have been talking about dying repeatedly and how hard the game is. And the replies underneath tend to agree with them!

how to play Elden Ring

How Do You Play Elden Ring?

If you're new to Elden Ring, what you need is the training area! To enter the training area and learn more about the game, head to the glowing tree directly in front of you at the start. As you approach the tree, you'll see a small white light and a ledge on the right. You need to step out onto that ledge on the right to access the tutorial that teaches you how all the basic moves work, what Sites of Grace look like, and how to perform Guard Counters.

Here are the 3 main things you need to pay attention to in Elden Ring, broken down into subheadings:

WATCH YOUR STAMINA BAR

Managing how much stamina you have left is crucial for surviving any boss fight in Souls-style games, and especially in Elden Ring. In combat, it's easy to keep attacking without a care in the world, but you should back off whenever you can to let your stamina recover. Doing this also gives you the option to roll away from danger if the enemy suddenly attacks mid-combo.
It's also worth noting that holding down the guard button slows your stamina regeneration, so if you're sure you're safe, release the button to fill your stamina bar quickly. Holding it down all the time has to have some downside, after all :D

GET TO KNOW SPELLS AND SORCERIES

To use spells and sorceries, you need to find the scroll related to that spell, then slot it into an available memory slot at any Site of Grace, and finally meet the stat requirements to cast it. Every time you cast a spell, you spend Focus Points (FP), which you can restore using a Cerulean flask.
One change from previous Souls games, though, is that instead of earning extra spell slots that level up, you now get them from Memory Stones. You can find these stones after winning major boss fights or clearing out an old dungeon.

PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO STATUS AILMENTS!

When you're targeted by an enemy attack or a trap, you may notice a small bar appear at the bottom of the screen. This gauge can vary depending on the attack, but it generally builds up slowly after each enemy hit and then slowly drains afterward. If it fills up completely, you get hit with a Status Ailment. Here are all the Elden Ring status ailments we know of so far:
Poison - you take continuous damage until you cure it
Scarlet Rot – you take continuous damage until you cure it
Haemorrhage – you take a large amount of damage based on your max HP, and the gauge resets
Frostbite - you take damage and get a frozen status that increases the damage you take from any source
Sleep - you become drowsy or fall asleep if you're very weak
Madness – you go mad and lose a large amount of HP and FP (Focus Points)
Death - you are instantly destroyed

Elden Ring status ailments list

What Are the Elden Ring System Requirements?

  • OS: Windows 10.
  • Processor: INTEL CORE I5-8400 or AMD RYZEN 3 3300X.
  • Memory: 12 GB RAM.
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 3 GB or AMD RADEON RX 580 4 GB.
  • DirectX: Version 12.
  • Storage: 60 GB available space.
  • Sound Card: Windows Compatible Audio Device.

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