In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few
― Shunryu Suzuki

Introduction

This guide is for people that want to delve deeper into the PvP aspects of Elden Ring. It’s the guide I wish I had when I started getting more serious about PvP.

I started getting into Souls games back in 2009 when Demon’s Souls was first released for the PS3 and played every entry in the franchise since – but I never got into the PvP aspect of these games until Elden Ring. When I purchased Elden Ring I thought that, like with all other titles before it, I would play through the PvE, delve into the lore and then be done with the game. I always thought, that PvP was something people do a bit after finishing the main story and then move on…

…oh how wrong I was.

Thanks to the massive amount of Dark Souls 3 (DS3) PvP content, I was able to get up to speed regarding the core PvP mechanics of Elden Ring quickly. These two games are very similar, and everything you learn in Elden Ring will (to some degree) translate into DS3 (and other games as well).

At this point, I have to give a big shout-out to IAmAmish. His videos, more than any other, helped me get (somewhat) good in a short amount of time. His style also served as the main inspiration in the creation of this site you’re on right now.

This guide is still a work in progress and will get updated as time progresses. If you can’t wait, then go watch IAmAmish’s videos, and I promise that you’ll learn something useful today.

Why this guide exists

I have always been fascinated about the learning process, especially when it comes to rapid skill acquisition. I’m a programmer and entrepreneur by trade – and constantly improving my craftsmanship is a big part of my day-to-day life. Once I decide to do something new, I want to develop an essential understanding of the thing that I’m learning.

Building this understanding brings forth questions that tend to repeat over and over again:

What differentiates the experts from the beginners? What are the 20% of the core fundamentals that make out 80% of the results?

Ever since I was a kid, I could never focus on one sport. I always got bored and had to move on to something new after a year or two. Instead of seeing this as a weakness, I embraced it.

I could never articulate this need to jump from one thing to the next until I learned about Ido Portals movement practice. I’m a generalist at heart and rather play the meta game (which is getting good at the process of getting good) than becoming the best at one thing.

This time though, instead of a physical sport, it’s a video game that I want to dive head first into. This guide will serve as an artifact of this process and I hope it will provide you, the reader, an insight into your personal journey - no matter what that might be. :)

Further!

– Blade of Maya

Overview

With the introduction out of the way, let’s jump right into it. To avoid having one big article, I decided to split it up into the following sub-pages:

  • The basics of Elden Ring PvP [Coming soon…]
  • Your first build [Coming soon…]
  • Invasions [Coming soon…]
  • Duels [Coming soon…]
  • Advanced Techniques [Coming soon…]