In this article, I'm going to share with you some of the things you need to know before going on an adventure, such as how to get around in battle and how to choose your fighting techniques.

ELDEN RING is scheduled to be released on February 25, 2022, is finally a week away from its release. We'd like to share some useful information that you should keep in mind. This article will share information focusing on combat.

Important points to keep in mind for combat

Players are expected to fight against a multitude of enemies. You will be able to use melee armaments and shields, ranged weapons, sorceries, incantations, and items to fight. Weapons can be equipped on the left and right hands, and it is important to choose the right weapon according to the situation, considering the motion and range.

Melee weapons such as straight swords, greatswords, spears, and hammers have a variety of attack styles, such as normal attacks, strong attacks, jump attacks, dash attacks, two-handed attacks, and two-sword attacks. You can easily switch between one-Handed and two-Handed weapons by pressing the corresponding button, allowing you to change your tactics by instant judgment.

The nature of an attack varies depending on the type of weapon, so it is important to experience as many weapons as possible and choose one that best suits your play style. It is also important to understand the properties of each weapon, such as a dagger with a fast attack speed but a short-range, and an axe has a longer range but a more powerful blow. A split-second decision and a little bit of carelessness can make a different outcome, so it is good to repeat training yourself to be intuitive in combat.

Using dodge roll or backstep to avoid enemy attacks, and guard counters, jump attacks, and parries to break the enemy's stance are the basics of combat. In the early stages of the game, you can focus on getting used to the activation timing of these actions, as they are very important. However, as the weight of equipment including four types of armor such as helms, chests armor, gauntlets, and greaves is set, you need to be careful that your movement will become slow as the weight of equipment approaches the upper limit.

You can use the shield equipped in your left hand to guard against a frontal attack. However, you will take damage if you are attacked by enemies who come around, so you should lock on to the enemy first and always maintain a frontal position. You should also know the activation timing of using the parry skill, as it will make it easier to break the enemy's stance.

Ranged weapons such as bows and crossbows not only allow you to deal damage to enemies from a distance but also allow you to use arrows and bolts with ancillary effects, giving you a variety of tactics. In addition, when you are wielding a bow with two hands, long press the button for precision aiming. It's up to you to decide how to use the bow, whether to wear down the enemy's HP from a distance or to trigger an abnormal condition to gain an advantage in close combat. Combining sorceries and incantations, which have a variety of effects such as an attack, and recovery, will further deepen your tactics, but casting sorceries and incantations consumes FP, so they cannot be used in rapid succession.

It is necessary to utilize items that have various effects, but there is no time to open the menu and select items during combat. The items you use frequently should be set up in advance so that you can use them immediately.

Choice of Skills and Ashes of War to deepen the combat

Skills are special abilities that weapons have. Using skills consume FP. There is a wide variety of skills, from powerful attacks to unique temporary effects.

Most weapons have their skill from the beginning, but it is possible to replace them by using the ash of war. Each weapon can only have one skill, depending on the weapon type. Some special weapons with specific skills cannot grant new skills or affinities. The use of ash of war not only can replace the skill but can also grant affinity to the weapon. By adding an affinity, you can alter a weapon's attack affinity, boost attribute scaling, and more, but it is also possible to replace only the skill without changing the affinity.

What should you do if you are confused about which skill to use? For example, an axe, which has a powerful slamming attack but speeds slow, can be used with a spinning slash, swinging your weapon with wild abandon followed up with a strong attack. It would be better to choose a weapon from the viewpoint of reinforces its properties or complements its weaknesses.

There is a wide variety of skills to choose from, so try them out and find the combination you like best. This "exploration" is another element that deepens the role-playing of this game.

Multiplayer makes the adventure more delightful and deeper

There are three types of multiplayer in Elden Ring.

In cooperative multiplayer, the host and two guests summoned by the host, aim to defeat the area boss. In intrusion multiplayer, the goal is to defeat the host before the Boss combat. In case of an invasion, the host can seek help from other players. Competitive multiplayer is a "duel" between players, where the objective of the host and the duelist adversary is to defeat each other. You need certain items to participate in each type of multiplayer.

There are still asynchronous online elements to enjoy, such as "messages" where you can see tips (even if they are lies!) and comments left by players, "phantoms" where you can see the traces of other player's actions, and "bloodstains" where you can see the way other players died.

In addition, if you set a group password, you'll be more likely to see messages and summon signs from others using the same password. If you set a multiplayer password, it'll be possible to play cooperative and invasion multiplayer with players who have set the same multiplayer password. However, multiplayer passwords do not apply to invasion multiplayer.

There are also a variety of gestures that you can use to communicate with players around the world even if you don't know their language. You can feel free to enjoy the multiplayer, but you can also enjoy the asynchronous multiplayer, so please enjoy the adventure in the style that suits you best.