iTechGuides is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more
Yes—Elden Ring can be an excellent first Soulslike if you accept repeated failure as part of learning. Its open world lets you leave a difficult fight, find upgrades, change your equipment, or approach the problem from another direction. Spirit Ashes and multiplayer can provide additional help.
It is not an easy game in the conventional sense. There is no options-menu difficulty setting, and its combat still demands timing, positioning, resource management, and patience. The right question is whether you prefer demanding fights with several ways to respond, rather than whether you are already good at action games.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
ELDEN RING: Tarnished Edition - Nintendo Switch 2 | $79.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
Elden Ring (PS5) (European Version) | $34.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
Bandai Namco Entertainment Elden Ring (PS4) | $47.44 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition | Digital | Nintendo Switch 2 Digital Code | $79.99 | Buy on Amazon |
The short answer: challenging, but unusually flexible
Elden Ring is a good first Soulslike for a player who wants freedom to experiment and is willing to learn through repeated attempts. The game gives newcomers several pressure-release valves: you can explore elsewhere, improve your character, find different equipment, use Spirit Ashes in eligible encounters, or invite other players for cooperative help.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Those options change how you manage difficulty; they do not remove the underlying combat lesson. Bosses and dangerous enemies still punish careless attacks, mistimed dodges, poor spacing, and panic healing. If you expect a conventional easy mode or a mostly forgiving campaign, Elden Ring may feel harsh. If you enjoy solving a difficult encounter over several tries, its structure can make the learning process more manageable than a strictly linear game.
#1 Best Overall
- ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition contains the Elden Ring Base Game + Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion + Additional Content (including Torrent Skins, New Armors, and More...)
- MASSIVE OPEN WORLD
- DEEP, CUSTOMIZABLE COMBAT
- NEW STARTING CLASSES
- NEW PLAYER-FRIENDLY ENHANCEMENTS
Why the open world helps beginners
You can leave a problem instead of hitting a wall
Many action games make a difficult boss a mandatory gate. Elden Ring often gives you another choice. When an enemy or area feels overwhelming, you can ride away, follow a different road, explore a cave, locate a Site of Grace, or search for equipment and upgrades. Returning later with more health, better damage, or a different approach is a normal part of progression, not a failure to follow the intended route.
This freedom also lets you learn in smaller pieces. You can practice basic attacks against ordinary enemies, test a shield or ranged option, and become familiar with your movement before committing to a major boss. The world does not guarantee that every nearby challenge is appropriate for your current strength, so treating unexplored paths as alternatives is often smarter than repeatedly attacking the same obstacle.
Guidance of Grace provides direction without a strict route
Guidance of Grace points toward possible destinations, giving a new player a broad sense of where to go next. It is guidance rather than a complete quest checklist. You can follow it, pause to explore, or ignore it temporarily while you build confidence.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Discovered Sites of Grace can be selected for map travel. Fast travel is not available in every dungeon, so use a Site of Grace before entering a dangerous interior whenever possible. This creates a practical rhythm: establish a safe checkpoint, explore, learn the local hazards, and decide whether to continue or return to another region.
Exploration is also character progression
Bandai Namco describes exploration, leveling, equipment, and discoveries as ways to tackle a challenge elsewhere. In practice, this means a failed attempt can give you useful information even when you do not defeat the enemy. You may learn an attack pattern, discover a shortcut, find a new weapon, or identify a more suitable route.
Do not interpret the open world as a requirement to clear every location immediately. It is a toolkit for choosing when and how to engage. A beginner who explores deliberately can turn an apparently impossible encounter into a manageable one without changing a difficulty option.
What makes Elden Ring difficult for a first-time player
There is no conventional easy mode
Elden Ring does not offer a selectable difficulty setting such as Easy, Normal, or Hard. Its assistance systems are built into the game world and rules rather than presented as an options-menu mode. You can choose whether to use those systems, but the game still expects you to understand its combat and progression.
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchPC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11That distinction matters. Spirit Ashes or co-op can reduce pressure in a particular fight, yet they do not teach every timing or positioning lesson for you. A player who wants a low-stress action RPG should know this before starting.
The combat loop rewards observation
Enemies have different ranges, delays, tracking behaviors, and recovery windows. Mashing attacks often produces a second hit when you should be retreating; rolling repeatedly can leave you out of position when the enemy’s real attack arrives. Early deaths are usually feedback about timing, distance, stamina, or greed rather than a sign that your character is permanently ruined.
Rank #2
- Collaborating with George R.R. Martin to create the ELDEN RING mythos has been a genuinely delightful experience and a source of wonderful inspiration. The team is working hard to ensure that the world of ELDEN RING will be a fascinating place for players to explore, filled with peril and wonder from its furthest reaches to its lowest depths. This is a FromSoftware title through and through, rich in fantasy and RPG action. We sincerely hope you look forward to it.
- Building the world of ELDEN RING with Miyazaki-san and his team was a treat! The graphics, mythos, and action-RPG gameplay will deliver an unforgettable experience. I can’t wait for people to see what ELDEN RING has in store for them.” Said George R.R. Martin.
A useful beginner habit is to spend one attempt observing. Notice which attacks can be blocked, which are easier to avoid by moving away, and when the enemy is actually vulnerable. Then change one thing on the next attempt. Small, deliberate adjustments are more productive than changing your entire build after every defeat.
Death costs carried runes, but the loss can be recovered
When you die, your carried runes drop at the location of death. You can recover them by returning to that location before dying again. A second death before recovery causes the dropped runes to be lost.
Because runes function as a progression resource, this creates a meaningful risk-and-recovery loop. Before entering an unfamiliar area with a large balance, consider spending the runes on leveling or equipment. If you do die, plan the recovery attempt: the route may be safe, or it may require you to pass the same threat that killed you. Do not treat a lost balance as proof that the game is unwinnable; the next run can be approached with the information you gained.
The scale can make the first playthrough long
Bandai Namco Entertainment America described Elden Ring in 2023 as a “100+ hour experience” for players who choose to fully explore everything. That is a conditional publisher estimate, not an average completion time or a requirement. You can finish less of the optional content, follow a more direct path, or spend far longer experimenting.
The important beginner expectation is that the game contains more regions, optional encounters, and build choices than a short, tightly directed campaign. Set your own pace rather than assuming that every visible landmark must be completed immediately.
Assistance options you can choose to use
Spirit Ashes
Spirit Ashes are summonable allies that can help in difficult areas and boss battles when summoning is allowed. To use them, you need both the Spirit Calling Bell and the relevant ashes. The available spirits have different roles, so the most useful choice depends on the encounter rather than on a single universally best summon.
Look for the on-screen monument indicator. It signals that spirit summoning is available in the current area. If the indicator is absent, the game is not currently allowing that form of help, and repeatedly trying to summon will not change the rule.
How to obtain the Spirit Calling Bell
The publisher’s early-game guidance describes this route:
- Obtain the Spectral Steed Whistle.
- Meet Renna at the Church of Elleh.
- Receive the Spirit Calling Bell and begin using eligible Spirit Ashes.
If you miss that opportunity, the same guidance says the bell can be bought at Roundtable Hold after you have been invited there. The exact availability of an encounter can depend on your progression, so do not assume that missing the first meeting permanently blocks the system.
Rank #3
- A New Fantasy World – Journey through the Lands Between, a new fantasy world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, creator of the influential Dark Souls video game series, and George R. R. Martin, author of The New York Times best-selling fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Unravel the mysteries of the Elden Ring’s power. Encounter adversaries with profound backgrounds, characters with their own unique motivations for helping or hindering your progress, and fearsome creatures
- World Exploration in the Lands Between – Elden Ring features vast fantastical landscapes and shadowy, complex dungeons that are connected seamlessly. Traverse the breathtaking world on foot or on horseback, alone or online with other players, and fully immerse yourself in the grassy plains, suffocating swamps, spiraling mountains, foreboding castles and other sites of grandeur on a scale never seen before in a FromSoftware title
- Genre-Defining Gameplay – Create your character in FromSoftware’s refined action-RPG and define your playstyle by experimenting with a wide variety of weapons, magical abilities, and skills found throughout the world. Charge into battle, pick off enemies one-by-one using stealth, or even call upon allies for aid. Many options are at your disposal as you decide how to approach exploration and combat
Important Spirit Ash restriction
Spirit Ashes cannot be summoned during multiplayer. You generally choose between an offline spirit ally and a multiplayer session for a particular encounter. This is a rules distinction, not a judgment about how you are supposed to play. Summoning is an optional tool for learning, experimenting, or reducing the pressure of a fight.
Cooperative multiplayer
Bandai Namco says that two other players can join you. Co-op can divide an enemy’s attention and give you opportunities to observe attacks or recover, but it is not identical to an offline easy mode. Multiplayer has its own rules and interruptions, and the encounter can behave differently when another player is present.
Use co-op when you want social help or when a specific obstacle is blocking progress. If you prefer to learn alone, Spirit Ashes and exploration provide different forms of assistance. Neither approach is “correct”; the choice depends on the experience you want.
A practical first-session plan
1. Learn movement before chasing rewards
Spend your first encounters learning basic movement, attacks, dodging, blocking, and healing. Fight ordinary enemies in a space where you can retreat. Your initial objective is not to prove that you can defeat everything; it is to understand how much stamina actions consume and how long your attacks leave you exposed.
2. Activate Sites of Grace and read the world’s signals
Activate each Site of Grace you discover. Pay attention to Guidance of Grace for broad direction, and use the map to remember places you want to revisit. Before entering a dungeon, make sure you know where your latest safe checkpoint is and whether map travel will be unavailable inside.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →3. Explore when a fight feels unreasonable
If an enemy defeats you quickly or your attacks barely matter, leave and investigate another route. Search for equipment, opportunities to level, and encounters that let you practice safely. Returning later is one of the game’s intended solutions to a difficult encounter.
4. Protect your rune balance
Spend runes before a risky expedition when you can. After a death, decide whether recovering the dropped runes is worth the danger. If the route is too hazardous, accept the loss, return with a safer plan, and avoid carrying an unnecessarily large balance into the next unknown area.
5. Add assistance deliberately
When the monument indicator appears, consider a Spirit Ash summon. If you want another person’s help, use multiplayer instead, remembering that Spirit Ashes are unavailable during multiplayer. Try one option at a time so you can tell what actually improves your understanding of the encounter.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who is most likely to enjoy it as a first Soulslike?
| Player preference | Likely experience | Recommended approach |
|---|---|---|
| Enjoys difficult action games and repeated practice | Strong fit | Learn enemy patterns and change one habit at a time. |
| Wants freedom to wander and build a character | Strong fit | Use exploration and equipment choices to find alternate solutions. |
| Prefers a clearly linear route | Mixed fit | Follow Guidance of Grace and postpone optional areas until you are comfortable. |
| Needs a selectable easy mode | Poor fit | There is no conventional difficulty setting; understand this before buying. |
| Likes cooperative play | Potentially strong fit | Invite up to two other players for eligible multiplayer encounters. |
| Dislikes losing progress resources on death | Mixed fit | Spend runes regularly and plan recovery attempts carefully. |
Common beginner mistakes and how to correct them
Trying to defeat every threat in the order you find it
The world’s geography does not guarantee that the nearest enemy is the right next enemy. Mark difficult locations and return after exploring elsewhere.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesRank #4
- ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition
Assuming a summon means you are playing incorrectly
Spirit Ashes are part of the game’s intended toolset. Use them if they make the encounter more enjoyable or help you study an enemy. Skip them if you want a more demanding solo lesson.
Spending every attempt attacking
Reserve some attempts for observation. Watch the enemy’s windups, identify a safe healing window, and note whether your current range is helping or hurting.
Carrying a large rune balance into an unknown area
Level up or buy useful equipment before taking a major risk. If you die, prioritize a calm recovery route rather than rushing repeatedly and losing the same runes.
Treating Guidance of Grace as a complete walkthrough
It indicates possible destinations, not every objective or secret. Combine it with exploration and your own map notes.
Recommended Free Tools
How to compare Elden Ring with another first Soulslike
There is no reliable universal difficulty ranking established by the publisher’s guidance. Instead, compare the experience along four practical axes:
- World structure: Do you want open-world freedom, or would a more directed route reduce decision fatigue?
- Assistance: Will you use optional summons or co-op, and does the other game offer comparable tools?
- Learning style: Are you comfortable retrying a boss to learn its patterns?
- Progression: Do you enjoy exploration and character-building as ways to overcome obstacles?
Elden Ring is particularly suited to a newcomer who values flexibility. A player who wants a fixed sequence, a conventional easy mode, or minimal experimentation should weigh those preferences carefully before choosing it.
Final verdict
Elden Ring is a good first Soulslike for patient newcomers who want options when a fight goes badly. Its open world, Guidance of Grace, Spirit Ashes, and cooperative multiplayer give you ways to change the situation instead of repeatedly forcing the same attempt. The trade-off is a combat system with no conventional difficulty selector, real consequences for careless deaths, and a long, expansive journey.
Start with the expectation that progress comes from learning, not from avoiding failure. Explore when blocked, spend runes thoughtfully, use the assistance systems when you want them, and return to difficult encounters with a new plan.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
