Elden Ring How to Level Up
Knowing how to level up in Elden Ring is going to be absolutely crucial if you’re ever going to come even close to beating the game, atl least in your first playthrough. However, this is a Souls game, which means that even getting to the point of being allowed to level up is going to be a chore. This guide is hopefully going to help you on this journey. So, without further ado, here we go.
How to Level Up in Elden Ring
To level up in Elden Ring, you first have to unlock the privilege. Yep, you’re not allowed to increase your stats from the beginning of the game. So, from the Stranded Graveyard, head up the elevator and out into Limgrave. Walk straight down to the first site of grace, aka bonfire, called The First Steps. Follow the light trail (and its arrow on the map) to the Church of Elleh. Activate that site of grace and follow the light north and slightly to the west, through the woods, to Gatefront Ruins. Further than that is Stormgate, which is, well, a giant gate. Just to the right of the gate entrance is another site of grace. Activate it and watch the cutscene. Accept Melina’s offer (more details in our Accept or Refuse Melina guide).
Next, to level up in Elden Ring, you can just sit at any site of grace you want. When you do, the option to level up will be right there, as show in the second screenshot below. You can level up any of your eight stats, if you have the runes to spend. Runes are this game’s equivalent of souls or blood echoes. Here’s a list of stats in Elden Ring and what they do.
- Vigor – Affects amount of health (HP), fire resistance, poison resistance
- Mind – Affects amount of mana (FP) and focus resistance
- Endurance – Affects Stamina, poise, encumbrance, blocking capabilities
- Strength – Affects ability to use heavy weapons and effectiveness of strength-scaling weapons
- Dexterity – Affects ability to use advanced weapons, effectiveness of dexterity-scaling weapons, fall damage, spell casting time, stability in the saddle
- Intelligence – Affects Sorcery casting ability and power
- Faith – Affects Incantation casting ability and power
- Arcane – Affects death resistance, certain Sorceries and Incantations, and allows discovering more items on corpses.
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.
