On January 3rd 1892 a little boy was born in a village in South Africa. His name was John, or John Ronald Reuel, most commonly known as JRR Tolkien. This boy would change the history of not only writing but also movies and video games as well. His creation, the Lord of the Rings story and the adjacent novels, would forever revolutionise the way we tell and enjoy stories.
Tolkien started working on his writing when he was 5 years old, after teaching himself the alphabet at age 4. We don’t know if this is fact or fiction but if it is the former, it’s quite impressive. He wrote for his entire life, developing an eye for botanical sciences and nature. He grew up alone after his mother died at just 34. The story of the chosen ring began after the war.
What Is Elden Ring
By now, there is no single person on earth who’s not familiar with the tale of the chosen one. Maybe a few tribes in the Amazon jungle but even they would probably enjoy the writings of the father of fantasy. Following the great success of the books, movies and other types of content were made out of it, including countless video games. Yet none of them is like Elden Ring.
In a nutshell, Elden Ring is by far the most popular and appreciated video game about the adventures of Middle-earth ever made. You take on the figure of your hero and have an entire map at your disposal. Experience it as you wish, look for trouble, or simply enjoy the lavish scenery that’s unmatched by anything else you’ve ever seen. This game is a true masterpiece.
Nine Elden Ring Secrets
If you’ve yet to try Elden Ring, it should be on your priority to-do list. This game is so popular, we’ve placed it on the front page of our store as the main game to play right now. And it’s been there for months now. People simply love Elden Ring thanks to the graphics, the mechanics, the quests, the world, the NPCs and the customization aspect. Here are ten secrets of this title.
Avoid the swamp - It should go without saying but apparently, it doesn't. Whenever you find yourself facing a poison swamp, stay away from that thing. Staying in them does a great deal of damage to your character. Even if you're prone to going in them, or even rolling through them, try and get the ring out as fast as you can. You can't go through them if that's what you're wondering, really fast. Rolling through the swamps will coat the character in the poison, head to toe, making you take in affliction for a good while after leaving the area. If you can't go around the swamp, use one of the many methods described online. One of them is the quickstep method, or finding stepping stones for the job.
Mash for release - Souls games have had this function within them for generations, and apparently, Elden Ring producers adopted it as well. If you get into a grab attack by one of your enemies, the quickest way to get out of the situation is by mashing a few buttons for a release. More precisely, try the L1/R1 or RL/RB combos at first, depending on the type of controller you're using. Any action button will supposedly work but the easiest to press are the ones above. The release won't happen in the blink of an eye. Yet if you're in a multiple instance damage grab attack, for example, it will loosen its power and grip on you and get you out sooner. Use this secret when one of the iron maidens pulls you in.
Fire-spewing pillars - There are many quirky NPCs in this game, and some of them are not even that but the environment literally throwing balls of fire at you. In certain catacombs or dungeons... well, in most catacombs, and dungeons, there are some pillars that raise from the ground and, equipped with some imps, will spit fire down on the corridors where you're supposed to walk. The way they do it is even more annoying, as there are no intervals of time when these attacks happen. They just do it randomly. Hitting these pillars with a hammer or a sword will take them down and into the floor. Yet few warriors know that there doesn't have to be a weapon involved for you to kick down these pillars. You can even shoot a spell towards them or a nice arrow. All actions result in the same thing, taking down the evil pillars with their imps and effectively putting them back into the ground.
Combo attacks work - Whenever you hit R1/RB, the weapon in your hand hits differently thanks to this combo. These combos increase in power if you're somehow able to keep them coming. The better you do in this department, shooting the combo, the more powerful they become. There is no significant, huge difference from one strike to the other, yet when stacked together, these attacks are adding up. With each new bit of damage, and depending on the weapon this can be either low or a bit more significant, you increase your chances of defeating your enemy. See which one is the most powerful out of your arsenal by equipping the weapons you have one by one, finding an NPC you dislike, and then going ballistic on them.
Water-radiating attacks - An attack that goes in the water has the capacity of turning into either a plus or a minus for the speller. Depending on who's casting it, you can either send out or receive damage. When a lightning spell, or any other attack, hits a water surface, like when you're in the Liurnia of the Lakes area, a small bonus effect will be included in it. More precisely, electricity damage will radiate outwards from the contact point, in a circle. The circle is not that far open but those few meters are surely going to make a difference if your enemies are within it. The lightning bolt will cause damage to all opponents in the circle, and even if your bolt missed the target, the wave will get it. While the shock will not hurt you as the caster, as far as we know from the gameplay people have done so far, you can be the victim of one cast by another foe.
Nightly gold leaves - Spectacular scenery is just part of the gameplay when you're in Elden Ring. This is a magical realm that screams creativity, mystery, and the uncommon. One unique aspect of the game is the weather, more precisely the special weather effects one can come by. For example at night, there is a small yet existing chance that you will stumble upon a rare meteorological phenomenon known as gold leaves rain. Simply put, golden leaves come down from the skies in a drifting bliss. The golden rain is not just for looks, luckily. It is a blessing coming from Erdtree, the primordial tree, and will cause a small increase to the player's Runes. While the rain is happening from above you, that is. See how easy it is to get creative just by writing about this spectacular game? Imagine playing it!
When size matters - If you pay enough attention you will notice that friendly fire can be inflicted on enemies, although not all the time. The size makes the difference between which enemies can and cannot do that. The larger the enemy, say, bigger than 8 feet, is considered a killer and can deal damage to other enemies around their attacks. Even the ones that are at least their size. Think giant crabs from the swamp, lumbering trolls, and dragons of colossal sizes, all of them are able to kill their allies as fast as they do you. Just roaming around Torrent will eventually make them bait the prey of going against each other.
Brief mounting invulnerability - Combat trolls are not that bad. They can give you a small push of invincibility when you are near them. The same goes with mounting Torrent, but just with the Steed Whistle. This happens in a blink of an eye but it exists. The invincibility lasts through the animation, as long as the hero gets onto Torrent, and in those moments you can take no damage whatsoever. If you know how to use this to your complete advantage, you can avoid fatal blows from one-time strikes for example, even when you fight the big bosses.
Weather affects damage - Just so we're clear as to how incredible this game is, and how intricate, this is one of the only games out there that allows weather to change the way the mechanics of it work. For example, spell damage you can inflict on an enemy will change with the weather outside. Rain is the one with the most impact. If your Torrent is getting drenched by torrents, yes we did that pun, fire damage will be significantly cut. At the same time, lightning damage will spiral out of control. The chance of this happening is at 10%, as far as we know, which is one in ten strikes so not that little. In a long-term fight, this can make or break the chances of you coming victorious. Especially when you are a caster with tons of spells to choose from.
Three Elden Ring Tips&Tricks
Now that you know the top seven secrets from Elden Ring nobody wants you to know, let’s dive a bit deeper into the matter. Here are our top three tips and tricks for when you finally go ahead and download this game. Although you’ve probably done that by now. These tips are helpful for both the uninitiated gamer as well as for they who are close to finding their chosen one.
Bell and ashes - Spirit ashes and a summoner's belt are like the bread and butter for any Elden Ring hero. The two items are coming with considerable advantages in both normal and boss fights. With the item in your possession, you can learn about summoning spirits that will be there for you during hard battles. If you are stuck with one NPC or boss, those spirit friends will make the whole difference in the world. Get the ashes and the belt and you'll immediately feel an increase in performance across the board for your character.
Rune farming levelling - Like with most RPGs, Elden Ring is also equipped with many innovative ways of levelling up besides questing. Gamers can farm Runes in order to gain levels quicker if that's what they're into. If you're down because you can't seem to fight off the bosses of the game, we ask for your patience and for you to stop banging your head against the wall. Move out of the boss area and into farmland, and start working on the strength of your character. Rune farming will help you develop the levelling up of your character faster and easier than just mindless exploring.
Secrets within paintings - Infinite. That's the "number" of secrets this game has. So we can't give you a tip for every one of those as we close shop at 5 sharp. But we do believe that solving the secrets of the paintings is one of the most unique puzzle games within a game we've ever seen. This activity is perfect for those who are done fighting for a while and want something more relaxing. Although it won't be completely relaxing, doing that. The open world of Elden Ring is filled with paintings that guard dark secrets within their canvases. Each painting comes with a scavenger hunt and at the end of the riddle? Armour, equipment, special sets of quirky rewards, and so on. We'll not spoil it more for you but you can, with a simple search on the web.