Guides

Introduction

The Guides hub is the best starting point for ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2. ELDEN RING is famously difficult, but almost every obstacle can be overcome with the right knowledge: where to go first, how the leveling system works, which weapon to upgrade, and how to read a boss's attack patterns. The Guides hub organizes this knowledge into a clear new-player path — from character creation and the first Site of Grace, through combat fundamentals like blocking, dodging and parrying, to advanced systems like Ashes of War, Spirit Ashes and build respecs. Whether you are a complete newcomer to soulslike games or a returning Tarnished who wants to brush up on the Switch 2 edition's differences, every guide here is written to be practical and spoiler-aware, focusing on what to do rather than just what exists.

Quick Start Reference

Key Systems

Core Mechanics

The core loop of ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition is simple to describe and endlessly deep to master: explore a seamless open world, gather runes from defeated enemies, spend runes at Sites of Grace to level up, and use your growing strength to defeat the shardbearer bosses that guard the Great Runes. The game rarely holds your hand — there is no quest marker for most objectives, and you are expected to read item descriptions, listen to NPC dialogue and follow environmental clues. Combat is built around stamina management: every attack, dodge-roll, block and spell cast costs stamina, and running out mid-fight is usually fatal. The Switch 2 edition plays identically to the original with 60 FPS performance, and the Tarnished Pack adds two new starting classes that slot into this loop from the very first minute.

Advantages

The Guides hub makes ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition approachable despite its reputation for difficulty. Every guide here distills hundreds of hours of community knowledge into clear, actionable steps — the best starting class for your playstyle, the fastest rune farming route, the order in which to tackle each region, and the exact strategy that turns a wall boss like Margit into a manageable fight. Because the guides are written specifically for the Switch 2 edition, they also cover the differences that matter to this version: the Tarnished Pack classes, the included Shadow of the Erdtree expansion and how the game plays in handheld mode. For a new player, this turns an intimidating open world into a curated path forward.

Challenges

Because ELDEN RING is a massive game with hundreds of weapons, spells and builds, no single guide can cover everything in depth, and the Guides hub reflects that trade-off. Some guides focus on the broad new-player path and intentionally skim late-game systems, so players deep into the endgame may need to cross-reference the dedicated Bosses, Weapons or Shadow of the Erdtree sections. The game also receives balance patches, and the Tarnished Pack gear is new enough that some early community numbers may change after release. Finally, ELDEN RING rewards exploration and discovery, so following a guide too rigidly can spoil some of the game's best surprises — we try to note spoilers where we can.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Tips