Elden Ring How to Backstab
Knowing and practicing how to backstab in Elden Ring is going to make all of the difference in your experience. Properly executing backstabs will allow you to significant damage to enemies and make your life much easier. Of course, the trick is to do it properly, which is easier said than done. There are several details about the mechanic that are vital to know, as we’re about to show you. Let’s dive in.
How to Backstab in Elden Ring
To backstab in Elden Ring, the first order of business is to get directly behind an enemy that is humanoid and roughly your size. Ideally, you want to do this by sneaking up behind them and catching them unawares. It’s absolutely possible to pull this off when already engaged in toe-to-toe combat through skillful maneuvering, of course. However, the stealth option poses a far lesser risk of having a blade embedded into your own skull. This is also why the backstab is a great tool to pick off isolated enemies. You can perform the attack on an enemy in a group, but odds are good that one of them will raise the alarm.
Once you’ve positioned yourself behind the enemy, press R1 to attack (can’t do it with the left hand). If you’ve done everything properly, you’ll see an animation of the attack play out, dealing a devastating blow to the opponent’s health bar. Plus, more often than not, they’ll be staggered for a moment, giving you a second to breathe and decide what’s next. And that’s how you backstab in Elden Ring. If you’re familiar with Souls games, none of this should come as much of a surprise. Well, aside from one thing.
Veterans of the series will have no trouble with backstabbing in PvE. However, when it gets to PvP, you’ll notice a huge change. Namely, when you attempt to backstab another player, they can actually escape before your weapon connects. No longer are they helplessly locked into the animation. Of course, the same is true for you. However, if the weapon does connect, well, sucks to be on the receiving end.
Very early in your exploration of Elden Ring world you will find out that you need to prepare your character for different tasks. You'll need to learn how to use Ashes of War, how to two-hand weapons, or use magic spells during the course of your adventures. Many secrets are also waiting for you, such as, a hostile NPC Sellen that doesn't let you see her shop, an invisible man in a bush, or a huge turtle with a bell that lets you duplicate some very important items.
