The 25 early mistakes (and how to fix each one)
Mistake #1: Fighting the first “huge” enemy you see (and refusing to leave).
Elden Ring loves placing intimidating enemies right where new players can see them. The lesson isn’t “prove yourself now.” The lesson is “you’re allowed to leave.”
Fix: If an enemy deletes you in 1–2 hits, treat it like a signpost: come back later. Mark the spot on your map, explore side paths, collect a few levels and upgrades, then return. Progress in Elden Ring is often circular: explore → get stronger → return → win.
Mistake #2: Rushing straight toward the obvious main objective.
The most direct path often leads to a difficulty wall. Many players sprint toward the biggest structure or the most obvious story route and hit a brick wall before they’ve built a foundation.
Fix: Spend time “widening your base” first: clear nearby mini-dungeons, grab map fragments, collect upgrade materials, and find extra flask upgrades. This turns the “main path” from a suffering simulator into a fair fight.
Mistake #3: Treating runes like money you must protect at all costs.
New players get emotionally attached to a big rune pile, then play scared, then die twice and tilt.
Fix: Think of runes like a “temporary backpack.” Their job is to be converted into power—levels, key purchases, and upgrades. If you have enough for a level (or a key item), spend them before doing risky exploring. You’ll lose far fewer runes just by cashing out more often.
Mistake #4: Not leveling survivability early (especially HP).
Early damage feels important, but you can’t deal damage when you’re dead. Elden Ring’s early difficulty spikes often come from being too fragile, not from lacking skill.
Fix: Prioritize HP early until you stop getting one- or two-shot. You don’t need to overthink it—survivability gives you more attempts per fight, more learning time, and more room for mistakes while you’re still adapting.
Mistake #5: Spreading your stats evenly “because balance sounds smart.”
Many RPGs reward balanced stats. Elden Ring often rewards focused stats, especially early, because your strongest gains come from a smaller number of priorities.
Fix: Choose a direction. Early on, a simple approach works: enough stats to equip what you actually use + enough survivability to live + enough stamina/weight capacity to move comfortably. Save heavy specialization for later once you understand what you enjoy.
Mistake #6: Ignoring equipment load and moving like a brick.
If your roll feels slow, short, and punished, it’s often because you’re carrying too much. New players assume heavier gear always means safer, then wonder why dodging stops working.
Fix: Keep your equipment load in a comfortable range so your dodges feel responsive. If dodging suddenly feels “worse” after equipping new gear, check your load immediately. A lighter setup can be safer than a heavier one if it lets you avoid hits consistently.
Mistake #7: Panic-rolling instead of rolling with intention.
Rolling repeatedly in fear looks like “I’m defending,” but it often burns stamina and puts you exactly where the next hit lands.
Fix: Roll with a plan: roll once at the right time, then reposition. Watch the enemy’s rhythm. Many attacks are delayed on purpose to catch panic rolls. If you roll late—when the hit is actually arriving—you’ll feel the game become more fair.
Mistake #8: Forgetting stamina rules (and getting punished for “doing too much”).
Attacking, rolling, sprinting, blocking—almost everything costs stamina. Beginners often spend all stamina on offense, then can’t dodge the retaliation.
Fix: Keep a small stamina “reserve.” A simple rule: never spend your last chunk of stamina unless the enemy is clearly locked in a long recovery. If you can still dodge once after attacking, you’ll survive far more encounters.
Mistake #9: Locking on all the time even when it hurts your movement.
Lock-on is powerful, but it can also limit camera control and movement angles in some fights—especially against large targets or fast groups.
Fix: Use lock-on as a tool, not a rule. Lock on for precision, then unlock when you need freer movement, better spacing, or camera control. If you’re fighting the camera more than the enemy, unlock.
Mistake #10: Ignoring stealth and pulling entire camps at once.
Rushing into groups turns manageable fights into chaos. Elden Ring gives you tools to reduce risk, but beginners often treat stealth like “optional roleplay.”
Fix: Use crouching, line-of-sight, and lures to split groups. Even a single isolated enemy is easier to learn than three attacking at different timings. Early progress becomes much smoother when you stop fighting full crowds head-on.
Mistake #11: Skipping map fragments and wandering without information.
Exploration is fun, but wandering blind makes it easy to miss key points and waste time in areas that are too hard too soon.
Fix: Prioritize unlocking map fragments early. Once the map is visible, you can plan routes, mark points of interest, and track places you want to revisit. This is one of the highest “comfort per minute” upgrades you can make.
Mistake #12: Not using your map markers and forgetting where things are.
Elden Ring is huge. You will forget where that locked door, tough enemy, or “come back later” area was.
Fix: Mark everything. Mark merchants, blocked doors, strong enemies, upgrade spots, and anything you want to return to. Your future self will thank you, and you’ll waste far less time re-searching.
Mistake #13: Missing early flask upgrades and wondering why healing feels weak.
Many beginners assume healing strength is fixed. It isn’t—you can increase both how many heals you have and how strong they are.
Fix: Make flask upgrades a priority whenever you see them. Early on, a couple of upgrades can feel like you switched to “easy mode,” because you can survive longer and make more learning attempts in every boss fight.
Mistake #14: Mismanaging your flask distribution (too much of one type).
If you rely heavily on skills or magic, running out of FP feels awful. If you’re mostly melee-focused, too many FP flasks can feel wasted.
Fix: Adjust your flask split to match how you actually play right now. If you’re constantly out of FP, shift more flasks toward FP. If you rarely use FP, shift back toward HP. Revisit this often—it should change as your playstyle evolves.
Mistake #15: Not upgrading your primary damage option early (and blaming your build).
A very common early frustration is “my damage is terrible,” when the real issue is that your upgrade level is lagging behind.
Fix: Early power often comes more from upgrading than from pumping damage stats. Make upgrades part of your routine: explore, collect upgrade materials, and improve your main damage option regularly. You’ll feel the difference immediately.
Mistake #16: Over-investing in damage stats too early and getting tiny returns.
Beginners often pour levels into damage stats expecting big gains, but early on the returns can feel smaller than expected compared to survivability and upgrades.
Fix: Early leveling should feel like it changes your day-to-day survival. If damage levels don’t feel impactful yet, prioritize survivability and comfort stats, and let upgrades carry your damage while you learn.
Mistake #17: Assuming every new item must be used right now.
New players frequently swap constantly: new gear, new skills, new tools—then nothing feels “good” because nothing is practiced long enough.
Fix: Commit to a simple setup for a while. Give yourself time to learn timing, spacing, and stamina management. Once you can consistently handle normal enemies, then experiment more. Skill grows faster when your variables are stable.
Mistake #18: Hoarding consumables forever “for the perfect moment.”
If you never use helpful items, you’re effectively playing with fewer tools than the game expects.
Fix: Use consumables to solve specific problems:
- If you’re stuck on a tough encounter, spend items to tilt odds in your favor.
- If you’re exploring a dangerous new zone, use items to reduce risk.
- You’ll still end the game with extras—most players do—so don’t let “saving” become self-sabotage.
Mistake #19: Not crafting because it looks complicated.
Crafting can seem like a “later” system, but early crafted tools can make exploration and camp fights far easier.
Fix: Treat crafting as a convenience, not homework. Gather materials naturally while exploring and craft only what you actually use. Even a small crafting habit can give you answers to annoying early problems (like pulling single enemies safely or managing status threats).
Mistake #20: Attacking friendly NPCs (or picking dialogue choices randomly).
It sounds obvious, but it happens constantly: a new player tests damage on an NPC, or panics, or misclicks—and may lose a questline or a merchant.
Fix: Assume any non-hostile character is important. If you’re unsure, don’t swing. Exhaust dialogue (talk until lines repeat). If you want to roleplay a chaotic run later, do it on a second playthrough—not your first.
Mistake #21: Skipping merchants and ignoring “boring” purchases.
Merchants can look unimportant compared to shiny loot, but early purchases often solve friction: information, utility items, and core exploration tools.
Fix: Check merchants consistently, especially early. If a purchase sounds like it improves your ability to explore, survive, or gather resources, it’s often worth it. Convenience in Elden Ring is power.
Mistake #22: Treating every death as failure instead of information.
Elden Ring trains you through consequences. Beginners often interpret death as “I’m bad,” then rush, tilt, and play worse.
Fix: Turn each death into a quick note:
- What hit you?
- What was the timing (fast, delayed, multi-hit)?
- Did you run out of stamina?
- Were you too greedy?
- Then change one thing next attempt. This mindset shift alone makes the game feel less punishing.
Mistake #23: Being greedy at the end of fights (and losing anyway).
Many deaths happen when the enemy is almost dead. You see the finish line, you swing too many times, and you get punished by a last-second move.
Fix: When the enemy is low, play safer—not riskier. Pretend the final 10% is the most dangerous part of the fight. One clean hit is better than three risky hits that reset the entire attempt.
Mistake #24: Ignoring summon/co-op tools out of pride (or using them without learning).
Some players refuse help and burn out. Others rely on help so heavily they never learn basics like timing and spacing. Both extremes can make the game less fun.
Fix: Use help tools strategically. If a boss is blocking your enjoyment, use assistance to break the wall and keep the adventure moving. But still practice fundamentals on normal enemies so you’re improving, not just surviving.
Mistake #25: Not building a simple “early routine” (and feeling lost).
Elden Ring feels overwhelming when you log in and think, “What am I even doing?” That’s when people quit.
Fix: Use a routine that always moves you forward:
- Unlock nearby map fragments
- Explore 1–2 side areas
- Spend runes before risky pushes
- Improve your flasks/upgrades when possible
- Return to the challenge that blocked you
- This loop creates steady progress without needing a spoiler-heavy route.
Quick early-game priorities (a simple plan that works)
Priority #1: Survive long enough to learn.
If you’re dying too fast to understand what happened, your next “upgrade” is survivability and comfort. More survival time equals more learning per attempt.
Priority #2: Make exploration pay you back.
Exploration isn’t aimless when you do it with purpose: map fragments, flask upgrades, upgrade materials, and key utilities. If you explore and don’t feel stronger afterward, you’re missing the “cash-out” step (spending runes, upgrading, or adjusting your setup).
Priority #3: Keep your setup consistent while you learn.
Switching everything every 10 minutes slows mastery. Keep a stable setup long enough to develop timing and stamina habits.
Priority #4: Always have a “safe win” activity available.
When a boss tilts you, do something that still progresses you: clear a nearby mini-dungeon, farm a few levels, or explore a new route. You’ll come back calmer and stronger.
Priority #5: Don’t confuse “hard” with “now.”
In Elden Ring, “hard” often means “later.” Leaving is not quitting—it’s playing correctly.
BoostRoom: the fastest way to remove early-game frustration
Sometimes you don’t want to spend your limited gaming time banging your head against a wall. You want the exploration, the vibes, the story, and the satisfaction—without the hours of trial-and-error that can stall a new character.
What BoostRoom can help with (beginner-friendly):
Co-op support for tough bosses: Get past the “progress blocker” without losing momentum.
Early progression help: Smoother leveling pacing so your character feels strong enough to explore confidently.
Build direction guidance: Simple, clear stat planning so you stop wasting levels and start feeling consistent power.
Resource efficiency: Help you prioritize what matters early so you don’t grind aimlessly.
Why beginners use BoostRoom:
Because the biggest risk early isn’t difficulty—it’s burnout. A small push at the right moment can keep the game fun, and fun is what gets you to the good parts.
FAQ
Is it normal to feel underpowered at the start?
Yes. Elden Ring’s opening hours are designed to make you earn your footing. Once you’ve improved survivability, flasks, and upgrades, your power curve changes fast.
What’s the #1 mistake that makes the game feel unfair?
Most beginners either rush the main path too early or neglect survivability, which causes constant one- or two-shot deaths that prevent learning.
Should I explore even if it feels like I’m not “progressing the story”?
Absolutely. Exploration is progression in Elden Ring because it’s how you gain the tools and power that make story progression realistic.
How do I stop losing huge piles of runes?
Spend runes more often, especially before risky areas. Treat runes like something you convert into power regularly, not something you must carry for long stretches.
