Loading Screen

The Loading Screens in Elden Ring offer an assortment of tips and hints that remind or compliment the tutorial.

List of Hints & Tips

Loading Screens offer a myriad of hints, tips, and reminders to help players in their journey. Some of the information is not included in the game's tutorials.
 

List of Hints & Tips
Crouching Crouch to make it harder for enemies to discover you. Especially effective in tall grass. Attacking an enemy that hasn't noticed you will cause more damage than usual. ll Default Button ll
Guarding Use an armament in your left hand or both hands to guard against incoming attacks. Shields are particularly effective for guarding. Guarding consumes stamina. If your stamina runs out, your stance will be broken. ll Default Button ll Guard
Guard Counters You can perform a counterattack immediately after blocking an enemy attack. Guard counters make it easy to break an enemy's stance. immediately after blocking an attack: Guard Counter
Two-Handing Armaments Wielding an armament in two hands will increase your effective strength for that armament by 50%. This eases attribute requirements, and armaments that scale with strength will do more damage. In addition, attacks with that armament are more difficult to repel with shields. ll Default Button ll Wield with two hands
Charge and Jump Attacks Charge attacks and jump attacks are powerful. Using them makes it easy to break an enemy's stance. They are also likely to knock mounted enemies off of their mounts. Hold ll Default Button ll Charge attack while jumping: Jump attack
Skill Armaments have special abilities called skills. Skills are highly varied, and range from powerful attacks to temporary effects. Using skills consumes FP. ll Default Button ll
Parrying Shields allow you to use the "Parry" skill to deflect enemies' close-range attacks. A successful parry will break the attacker's stance, giving you a chance to perform a critical hit. in time with an enemy attack: Parry
Setting a Target Lock-on to an enemy to keep it targeted, making it easier to focus on it as you fight. ll Default Button ll while locked-on to a target: Change target
Precision Aiming When wielding a bow with two hands, you can hold ?keyicon@24? for precision aiming. This lets you aim more precisely with <?keyControlCamera?>. You can do major damage to foes of human or similar build by aiming for their heads. while wielding a bow with two hands: Precision aiming
Equipping Armaments You can equip up to three armaments each to your left and right hands. Some armaments, such as shields, have different actions depending on which hand equips them.
Using Items You can equip up to ten items at a time. Equipped items can be used without accessing the item menu. You can also assign items to your pouch to use them directly from the main menu. ll Default Button ll ll Default Button ll
Using Torches Raise your torch to see further into dark spaces. with torch equipped in left hand: Raise torch
Critical Hits If you get behind an enemy, you'll have a chance to perform a critical hit. You can also perform a critical hit after breaking an enemy's stance. Stance-break critical hits cause more damage than critical hits from behind. when near a backturned enemy: Critical hit when near a stance-broken enemy: Critical hit
Gestures Use "Gestures" from the main menu to perform a variety of basic poses.
The Map Use your map to check your current position, as well as the terrain and surrounding structures. You can update your map with new information by finding map fragments at steles along the road. ll Default Button ll
Spiritspring Jumping Jump while on horseback near a spiritspring to ride its current high into the air. You won't take damage from jumping into a spiritspring while on horseback, even from a great height. at a spiritspring while on horseback: Spiritspring jump
Item Shortcut When you have multiple items equipped, you can hold ?keyicon@18? to quickly select the item in your first item slot. Hold ?keyicon@18?: Select first equipped item
Dying and Dropping Runes Upon dying, you will drop any runes in your possession at the site of your death. You can reclaim those runes by reaching that same spot again. However, if you die again before reclaiming those dropped runes, they will be lost forever.
Summoning Spirits When the monument icon is shown on the left side of the screen, you can summon spirits from ashes. There are several different types of spirits that can be summoned. Summoning spirits typically consumes FP.
Resting at Sites of Grace Resting at a site of grace will restore your HP, FP, and cleanse any status ailments. It will also refill your sacred flasks. However, most of the enemies you've defeated will be revived.
Finding Sites of Grace Sites of grace that you haven't discovered yet illuminate their surroundings. If you see light while exploring, seek it out—you might find a site of grace.
Guidance of Grace Grace exists to guide the Tarnished and lead them along the proper path. Even now, some sites of grace retain that power. Their golden rays will guide you along your way.
Sacred Flasks The Flask of Crimson Tears replenishes your HP. The Flask of Cerulean Tears replenishes your FP. At sites of grace, you can allocate portions of doses to each flask. You can also use certain items to upgrade your flasks at sites of grace.
Fast Travel to Sites of Grace Through your map, you can instantly travel to any sites of grace that you've discovered. However, there are some dungeons and other areas where this cannot be done.
Mounted Attacks While on horseback, you can attack with armaments equipped in your right hand or in both hands. If you take a certain amount of damage while on horseback, you will fall from your horse. This will leave you greatly vulnerable.
No-Riding Areas You cannot enter large buildings, caves, catacombs, or similar spaces while on horseback. You also cannot summon your horse while inside such spaces.
Item Crafting If you have a Crafting Kit, you can make various items from materials that you find. Select "Item Crafting" from the main menu to make items. ll Default Button ll
Container Items You will need cracked pots or other containers to craft certain items. Container items will run out with use, but the containers themselves will remain.
Armament Customization Ashes of War are memories of the affinities and skills imbued in armaments wielded long ago. With a Whetstone Knife, you can use Ashes of War to customize your armaments at sites of grace.
Equip Load When you carry more than 70% of your maximum equipment load, your dodge rolling will become slower and clumsier. If you exceed your maximum equipment load entirely, you will be unable to roll at all.
While in Combat While in combat, you are unable to craft items or open your map.
Strengthening Spirits Spirits that you've summoned from ashes can be made more powerful by a spirit tuner. You'll need glovewort to upgrade spirits.
Leveling Up When you level up, you can spend runes to increase your attributes. As your attributes increase, your level rises—and so does the amount of runes required for your next attribute increase.
Status: Poison When the poison gauge is full, you will become poisoned and take continuous damage. The higher your immunity, the longer it takes for the poison gauge to fill.
Status: Scarlet Rot When the scarlet rot gauge is full, you will become sick and take continuous damage. The scarlet rot is a very dangerous status ailment, but the higher your immunity, the longer it takes for the gauge to fill.
Status: Blood Loss When the blood loss gauge is full, you will hemorrhage blood. This causes a large amount of damage relative to your maximum HP. The higher your robustness, the longer it takes for the blood loss gauge to fill.
Status: Frost/Frostbite When the frost gauge is full, you will take damage and become frostbitten for a while. While suffering from frostbite, you will take increased damage from other sources. The higher your robustness, the longer it takes for the frost gauge to fill.
Status: Sleep When the sleep gauge is full, you will become drowsy. Weaker characters will fall asleep entirely. The higher your focus, the longer it takes for the sleep gauge to fill.
Status: Madness When the madness gauge is full, you will go mad and lose a great deal of both HP and FP. Only humans can be afflicted with madness. The higher your focus, the longer it takes for the madness gauge to fill.
Status: Death When your death gauge is full, you will be struck with instant death. This is a very dangerous status ailment, but the higher your resistance to death, the longer it takes for the death gauge to fill.
Poise Heavy armor provides high poise, making you less likely to recoil from enemy attacks. Wielding a heavy weapon with two hands may also provide similar effects.
Cooperator's Objective (Furled Finger) During cooperative multiplayer, a Furled Finger's objective is to help the Host of Fingers defeat the boss of the area. A Furled Finger will return to their own world when they die or the boss is defeated, whichever happens first.
Adversary's Objective (Duelist) During competitive multiplayer, a duelist's objective is to defeat the Host of Fingers. A duelist will return to their own world when they die or the Host of Fingers is defeated, whichever happens first.
Multiplayer Maximums In typical multiplayer, there can be up to two cooperators and one invader or adversary present at once. The host player can use a Taunter's Tongue to increase the maximum number of invaders or adversaries.
Seeing Summon Signs With a Furlcalling Finger Remedy, you can see summon signs left by players in other worlds. If you summon another player through their sign, multiplayer will begin, with you as the Host of Fingers.
Leaving Co-op Signs With a Tarnished's Furled Finger, you can leave a gold summon sign. This sign will appear in other players' worlds and allow them to summon you as a Furled Finger for cooperative multiplayer.
Leaving Hostile Signs With a Duelist's Furled Finger, you can leave a red summon sign. This sign will appear in other players' worlds and allow them to summon you as a duelist adversary for competitive multiplayer.
Invasion With a Festering Bloody Finger, you can enter another player's world as an invading Bloody Finger. There are other items that allow you to invade other worlds as well.
Requesting Support If you use a White Cipher Ring, you will automatically request for a hunter from another world to come to your rescue when your world is invaded. (Summoning is not always possible.)
Supporting If you use a Blue Cipher Ring, you will make yourself open to summons for rescue from other worlds. You will be summoned to their world as a hunter.
Summoning Pools In each area, you may find effigies of martyrs. These effigies are summoning pools. Summon signs made with small effigies are gathered at these summoning pools. You'll find it easy to summon other players at these locations.
Group Passwords If you set a group password, you'll be more likely to see messages, summon signs, bloodstains, and phantoms from other players using the same password.
Multiplayer Passwords If you set a multiplayer password, you'll only be matched with other players using the same password for most multiplayer features. However, multiplayer passwords do not apply to invasion multiplayer.
Messages You can use the Messages menu to leave messages for other players. Your message will appear in other players' worlds at the spot where you stood when you wrote it.
Multiplayer Movement Limits During multiplayer, you can only explore a limited area. Areas beyond those limits are blocked off with a wall of light. They will be accessible again after multiplayer ends.
Phantoms You may occasionally see faint, white phantoms. These are traces of players in other worlds and the actions they recently performed.
Bloodstains Bloodstains are left behind in spots where players in other worlds have died. You can examine them to see how those players died.
Support Objective (Hunter) During supportive multiplayer, a hunter's objective is to defeat an invader. A hunter will return to their own world when they die or the invader is defeated, whichever happens first.
Summon Signs There are two types of summon signs left by players in other worlds. Gold signs will summon Furled Finger cooperators. Red signs will summon duelist adversaries.
Advanced Messages You can change the message format to leave more complex messages. You can also attach gestures to your messages. ll Default Button ll Change message format
Invader Objective During invasion multiplayer, the invader's objective is to defeat the Host of Fingers. An invader will return to their own world when they die or the Host of Fingers is defeated, whichever happens first.
Limits of Guarding Attacks with certain affinities, such as fire or lightning, may make guarding less effective than it is against normal physical attacks. Guarding does not work against many grappling attacks.
Stance-Breaking Some attacks may break an enemy's stance, giving you a chance to perform a critical hit. Charge attacks and jump attacks make it particularly easy to break an enemy's stance.
Knocking Down Mounted Enemies Repeatedly attack a mounted enemy to knock them off of their mount and break their stance. This will give you a chance to perform a critical hit. Charge attacks and jump attacks are particularly likely to knock enemies off of their mounts.
Hardened Foes The slashing attacks of sharp weapons are largely ineffective against hardened armor and scales. Strike attacks are likely to hit the mark.
Teardrop Scarabs There are both Crimson and Cerulean Teardrop Scarabs. Defeat them to replenish the flasks that match their type. However, you cannot replenish more flasks than your maximum amount allows.

Differences to Dark Souls games

If you are used to the spiritual predecessor games of Elden Ring which are the Dark Souls trilogy, there are a number of very noteworthy differences between them and Elden Ring that you should be aware of (the below is in comparison to Dark Souls 2)

• Multiplayer mode can be disabled right from the start, preventing you from being invaded and killed by high level players. It is still available as an option for both helpful and hostile multiplayer; up to 2 helpful and 1 hostile players can be active in your game simultaneously.
• The red NPC player-like invaders do still exist; you'll know you're about to get invaded by one of these when the sky goes red, the music gets ominous and if you are on Torrent (explained below) it is automatically despawned and blocked from being resummoned. Pure spellcasters may have trouble with them; they are quite evasive and will dodge-roll away from most spell shots while at long range, but they have proven rather tactically vulnerable to long-range melee weapons like a Pike.
• Weapons and armor no longer get degraded or need repair.
• Your character can now jump vertically, allowing for much better vertical climbing. Not only this, you get a mount Torrent which not only can double-jump but also can do a super-jump from specific magical points, allowing for a great deal of vertical exploration
• Spells are no longer set as distinct clusters of ammunition/shots. More akin to traditional mages in other games, you have a generic mana pool (called FP) that can be spent on any spell you have memorized.
• Corresponding with the change to spell fuel, you now have two separate healing flasks: one for HP and one for FP. You have a universal charge pool that is initially 3 charges and you can allocate them between the two flask types at will at a rest point.
• Regions can no longer be exhausted of enemies. While in Dark Souls 2 if you killed, rested and rekilled the same enemy roughly 12 times they would stop spawning, allowing you to systematically break down the defenses of an area (but also meaning your income was finite so losing a dropped stockpile was especially painful), in Elden Ring only bosses are prevented from spawning. In compensation, not only are areas less "dense" with enemies, your healing potions can have a charge regenerated by killing a close group of enemies giving you much better fighting endurance between rest points.
• Since enemies do not get exhausted, taking a double-death and losing a stockpile of Runes (formerly Souls) is no longer a catastrophic permanent loss of income, but more of a safer-yet-annoying delay in progress.
• A Torch is now unlimited use instead of a limited-time duration, and consequently there are no braziers lying around for you to light up to illuminate an area.

Gallery

Loading Screens

Loading Screens (PS5)