The basics of combat you should know to survive in the Lands Between, including attacks, dudge, and guard counter!

ELDEN RING will be released on February 25, 2022.

In ELDEN RING, you will encounter many enemies in the Lands Between, a place full of surprises and excitement. This article will explain the basics of combat that are essential to survive in this harsh world.

Normal attacks with weapons

　The basic attacks are made with weapons. In addition to normal attacks with the right hand and left hand weapons, the right hand weapon can be used for strong attacks. The strong attack can be turned into a tame attack by holding down the button. Both of these attacks are a little slower than normal attacks, but they are very powerful.

　When the same type of weapon, such as a curved sword and a curved sword, is equipped in the right and left hands, a two-handed attack is possible. Some weapons are more powerful when switched to two-handed, and the muscle strength required to perform the attack is reduced, but the weapon or shield equipped in the other hand cannot be used.

　One of the most important factors in attacking is stance. If an enemy is out of position, they are defenseless and you have a chance to damage them. Breaking the enemy's stance is one of the basics of combat, so you'll want to get used to the controls for tame attacks, jump attacks, and guard counters as soon as possible.

　You can also change your stance by riding on a spirit horse. You can use a tame attack or a jump attack to drop a mounted enemy, but be careful, because if you are dropped, you will have a big gap.

Dodging

You can avoid enemy attacks with a dodge roll, rolling in any direction, or backstep, move backward instantly. Both of these actions consume stamina, but backstep consumes less. Since performance decreases as the equipment weight approach the limit, check the equip load if you feel your movements become slow.

Guard and Guard Counters

You can use the shield equipped with your left hand or any two-handed weapon to guard against enemy attacks. Guarding with a shield is especially effective. However, guarding attacks consume stamina, you will lose your stance if your stamina gets depleted.

If you lose your stance, which will cause you large damage, you can choose to avoid the enemy or use a guard counterattack to approach your way of combat.

You can perform a guard counterattack immediately after blocking an enemy attack. It can easily break the enemy’s stance, breaking their stance and leaving them open to a Critical Hit. Since the success of the guard counterattack may determine the outcome, you should practice the time the activating of this ability.

Critical Hit

You can perform a Critical Hit behind the enemies or enemies lost their stance that deals large damage. Especially it's effective when enemies are roaming around in a group, you can crouch and sneak behind an enemy and pick off them one-by-one by performing a Critical Hit.

Crouching

Moving in a crouch makes it harder for enemies to discover you. Especially effective hide behind tall grass to be less detected by the enemy and shorten the distance with the enemy without notice you, check if there is grass around.

Even in ruins and dungeons with intricate structures, you can move in a crouch to avoid being seen by the enemy or move unnoticed to avoid a fight, making the battlefield rather versatile.