So, you’ve done it. Elden Ring has fallen to your gaming prowess, and you know The Lands Between like the back of your hand. Well, there’s only one question left: “What’s next?”. You may have taken the seat as Elden Lord (or not, IYKYK), but there is still much to do before you sheathe your sword.
From finding all possible weapons to ending the dominance of every boss in the game, here are seven things you can do to keep yourself busy and your skills sharp.
1. New Game+
This may seem like a no-brainer, but what’s better than going through the game once? Going through it a second time will further optimize your all-game build. It’s not going to be as easy as you expect. Enemies have their health and damage scaled as well, so don’t think you’ll breeze by them with one-hit KOs.
2. Weapon Upgrades
FromSoftware games have so many weapons that they can distract you from your quest at hand. However, once you’ve beaten the game, you have both the time and energy to bring all of those weapons close to maxing out.
While there are limited resources for final upgrades in the game, you can still try out weapons you found interesting but never had the chance to properly try out.
3. Collect Great Runes
Maybe some Shardbearers *cough* Malenia *cough* were proving to be too much to take on? Well, now that you’ve slain the Elden Beast, you can circle back and clean up any remaining bosses left in the game. Collecting these Great Runes can also help you improve your build, as they boost certain attributes and offer buffs that would help your damage output.
By equipping a Great Rune and popping a Rune Arc, you can vastly increase your health, buffs, or damage. This might seem like overkill for the base game, but you’ll need it when Shadow of the Erdtree drops.
4. Dungeon Crawling
There are 53 optional dungeons in Elden Ring, and you wouldn’t be the first one to not have completed them all. After all, not all are super useful when it comes to loot.
Each one is pretty special when it comes to how they are planned and their bosses. Not all of them have great loot to offer, but the bosses at the end are always a fun experience and further add to the lore of the story.
5. New Builds
FromSoftware games, aside from Sekiro, are all about freedom and flexibility when it comes to building your character. On your journey through The Lands Between, you may have picked up the Larval Tear item.
You can use this by visiting Queen Rennala and choosing the ‘Rebirth’ option to rebuild your character. By redistributing your stats, you can play as a completely new character.
So, if you were a battle mage the entire game, you can now switch into a pure dexterity build, or even try out a faith and strength combination for access to different incantations that require high faith instead of intelligence.
6. Go Online
Another staple of FromSoftware games, aside from Sekiro, is the online community. You would have gotten a small taste of PvP if you completed White Mask Varre’s questline before it was patched.
Whether you choose to join other players and help them in their quests or invade their world to best them in battle, co-op and PvP are great ways to sink more time into Elden Ring and keep your skills sharp for the release of Shadow of the Erdtree.
7. Elden Ring Platinum
All of the above tasks will count toward unlocking achievements and trophies. There’s even more on the list, and some can be quite challenging. Most of these trophies are tied to taking down various bosses in the world. Once you have unlocked all on the list, you will receive the coveted ‘Elden Ring’ achievement, solidifying your position as Elden Lord of the Lands Between.
Will you be taking on any of these tasks to stay busy while you wait for Shadow of the Erdtree? Don’t forget to drop a comment and let us know!
