The Guides section gathers the systems Elden Ring never fully explains: how Great Runes and Remembrances work, what happens to your runes when you die, how to respec, and the combat mechanics like parrying, guard counters and weapon scaling that make a real difference once you understand them.
All guides
- Beginner’s Guide – which class to pick, getting Torrent, leveling, flasks, spirit ashes and what to avoid in your first hours.
- Game Progress Route – a recommended order of regions and main bosses from Limgrave to the Elden Throne, with levels and points of no return.
- Great Runes – which shardbearer drops each rune, which Divine Tower restores it, and what it does with a Rune Arc.
- Remembrances – every remembrance, the boss that drops it, and whether to consume it or trade it with Enia.
- Runes – the game’s currency and experience, how to recover them after death and how to protect them.
- Sites of Grace – what resting does, every option in the grace menu, and how fast travel ties in.
- Rebirth – how to unlock respeccing with Rennala and what a Larval Tear is for.
- Parrying – how parries work and a frame table for every common parry tool.
- Guard Counter – the counterattack after a block that breaks enemy stance.
- Weapon Scaling – what the letter grades mean, requirements, and how upgrades raise scaling.
- Powerstancing – dual-wielding two weapons of the same type, and how paired weapons differ.
- Stakes of Marika – the respawn checkpoints that save you long runbacks.
- Summoning Pools – the Effigies of the Martyr that power co-op and dueling.
- Golden Seed Locations – every Golden Seed by region, for more Sacred Flask charges.
- Sacred Tear Locations – the twelve churches that hold a tear to boost flask healing.
- Memory Stone Locations – all eight stones for extra spell slots.
- Talisman Pouch Locations – the three pouches that raise you to four talisman slots.
- Larval Tear Locations – all 18 tears for Rebirth, including the disguised enemies that carry them.
- Stonesword Key Locations – where to buy and find keys, and which imp statues to open.
- How to Upgrade Weapons – regular vs somber Smithing Stones, which stone gives which level, and every Miner’s Bell Bearing.
- How to Upgrade Spirit Ashes – Grave vs Ghost Glovewort, spirit tuning with Roderika, and the Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearings.
- Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ash – the two Shadow of the Erdtree blessings, what they do and where to find them.
- Missable Content – points of no return, missable NPC questline steps and rewards locked by your choices.
- Crafting: the Crafting Kit, the first cookbooks to buy and where to farm key materials.
- Dragon Communion: trading Dragon Hearts for dragon incantations at the three altars.
- Multiplayer and Summoning: co-op and invasion items, NPC cooperators and how spirit ashes compare.
- Torrent: getting your spectral steed from Melina, the double jump and spiritsprings.
- Gestures: every gesture, how to unlock it and which ones are missable.
- Memory Slots: how spell slots work and how to reach the maximum of 12.
- Status Effects: what each ailment does, which stat resists it, how to cure it and how to inflict it.
- Damage Types: the four physical and four elemental damage types, with the talismans and buffs for each.
- Affinities: all 13 weapon affinities, their scaling families, skill compatibility and which Ashes of War carry them.
- Required Bosses: the bosses you must beat to finish the game, in order, and the big ones that are optional.
More reference sections
Two other parts of the site work hand in hand with these guides. The Endings section walks through every way the story can finish and what each one requires, and the Stats section explains every attribute, from Vigor to Arcane, along with derived values like Equip Load and Poise. If you are planning a build, read Weapon Scaling alongside the stat pages.