Elden Ring is probably the most mainstream FromSoftware game to date and it’s online is hopping, so we prepped an Elden Ring PvP guide. With its many weapons, spells, and weapon skills, it can be easy to become overwhelmed trying to find something that fits.
In this guide we’ll run down a list of our favorite tools to get that edge in PvP. Whether they’re good, easy, or just fun to pull off we think these are worth a go the next time you invade another player.
Here’s our Elden Ring PvP guide:
Elden Ring PvP guide
Spiked Palisade Shield
I know what you’re thinking. Shields are boring, or maybe guarding is for noobs that can’t dodge. Well the deceptively high amount of damage from the Spiked Palisade Shield might change your mind.
First off, the shield causes Bleed buildup naturally. This causes an amount of damage based on your opponent’s max HP when it procs. This can be further raised by using a whetstone to increase the Bleed buildup at the cost of damage and some scaling.
With the Ash of War Shield Crash, this shield becomes a monster. Shield Crash is like Shield Bash but with weaker hits. But the biggest difference is that Shield Crash can hit multiple times, your character charges forth with the shield and follows through, hitting about three times if your opponent doesn’t dodge.
This can be combined with the Sword of St. Trina or other Sleep inducing effects to guarantee the massive payoff of Shield Crash and the Spiked Palisade Shield’s Bleed.
O, Flame!
O, Flame! is a Fire Monk Incantation that will probably see more use after Patch 1.04. In the latest patch, almost every spell and weapon skill in the game saw a reduction in activation time and recovery.
O, Flame! is basically the slower but stronger cousin of Catch Flame, a quick spell that spreads a gush of fire directly in front of you. But with the biggest drawback of O, Flame! over Catch Flame now mitigated, players can throw out the hurt before many opponents even realize what spell just hit them.
Builds that maximize fire damage can one-shot weaker opponents lacking resistance or Vigor, and its fast activation means just one unlucky frame is the difference between life and death against fire incantations.
Lightning Ram
Lightning Ram qualifies as more funny than practical. But you’d be surprised at how effective confusion is in killing your opponents. Lightning Ram is an Ash of War which can be added to all melee weapons.
Players start to roll on the ground while enshrouded by lightning, like the rolling rams that populate the fields of The Lands Between. This ability can be maintained provided you have the Focus and impatient enemies will drop their guard or eventually get hit by your aggressive somersault.
Host’s Trick-Mirror
The only talisman in the list. The Host’s Trick-Mirror gives a player the yellow sheen of a co-operator. This might not seem useful at first. Afterall, most co-operators are either friends of the host, or stick to them like glue.
But the psychological advantage of not being a red beacon of murder cannot be overstated. Clever players can run up while the host and real co-operator are in combat and sow confusion long enough to land a killing blow.
On the defensive, hosts can use this to obfuscate who’s the host and who’s the co-operator. An invader’s goal is to kill the host, and this talisman could afford the host a few extra seconds to land hits or run while he’s focused on the actual co-operator.
Eclipse Shotel
The Eclipse Shotel is one of the “Legendary Armaments” and unlike some of the other weapons with that title, this one actually deserves it. The Eclipse Shotel has the unique weapon skill Death Flare. This ability has unique animations but most importantly, it applies the Death status effect to your weapon. Sure Bleed does damage, Madness has a long stun, and Frostbite gives your opponent a big debuff; but with Death you’re just dead. Game over.
There’s only a few other ways to apply Death build-up as a player in Elden Ring and all of them are spells. But with the Eclipse Shotel you can keep the pressure on your opponent and off of you.
In case you missed it, you can find our thorough and spoiler-free review and video review for Elden Ring here – we also thought it’s excellent and highly recommended!
Elden Ring is available now across Windows PC (via Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
These are only some of the fun and powerful tools at your disposal in Elden Ring. If you’re PvPing, what kind of tools are you using from our Elden Ring PvP guide to get those kills? Let us know in the comments!
