'Elden Ring': Four Essential Items You Need to Collect First

The Lands Between is full of essential resources. Thankfully, Elden Ring has introduced a crafting system to take advantage of all these abundant resources. However, one must first obtain a crafting kit before one can begin crafting with said items. Be sure to keep this in mind - you'll be limited in what you can craft until you find new cookbooks, which are scattered throughout the world.

From the first "Grace Point" in the open world, “First Steps”, go north past the Tree Sentinel to find the “Church of Elleh” and a similarly named grace point. At the church, you'll find the traveling salesman Kale. He'll sell you the crafting kit for 300 runes, which is practically a steal for all the value it provides. Kale also sells three cookbooks to expand your crafting capabilities. 

Kale also sells a torch which is a must-buy since you'll need it to explore the dark caves and dungeons throughout the lands. 

One of the newest features in Elden Ring is the ability to summon help in the form of "Spirit Ashes." While the usage of such crucial aid is restricted to certain areas, their assistance can be game-changing. Like the armaments, there are a variety of spirit ashes that serve different purposes and benefit different builds. 

To use these Spirit Ashes, you'll need an item called the “Calling Bell.” Lucky for you, this item can be obtained easily and for free. Return to the Church of Elleh Grace Point. Rest at the Grace Point until nighttime and you'll run into a new NPC known as Renna the Witch along the eastern wall. If she's not there, you'll have to explore the Lands Between some more and return later at nighttime. I recommend getting the "Map Fragment" and the "Whetstone Knife," then returning.    

As a bonus, obtaining the bell through this method will also provide you with your first Spirit Ashes, "Lone Wolf Ashes." These wolves will serve you well until you find some ashes more suitable to your build and strategy. 

Alternatively, the Calling Bell and Lone Wolf Ashes can be purchased from the sister vendors in the Roundtable area for 500 runes each. 

As you follow the path north, you will arrive at the Gatefront Ruins. This area has a large number of enemies that'll give you plenty of trouble.

Lucky for you, Elden Ring offers three different methods for tackling these ruins. Firstly, you can engage the enemies at your leisure and clear the camp. Secondly, you can use stealth to methodically clear out all the minor enemies before challenging the stronger ones. And lastly, you can rely on stealth to avoid the enemies altogether to acquire the Map Fragment and the Whetstone Knife. Approaching the area at nighttime will significantly aid you better in either stealth approach.

The Map Fragment will be near the obelisk and can be identified by the strong purple and white light glowing from the loot. This part of the map will provide details for the starting Limgrave region. 

The Whetstone Knife is tucked away in an underground passage slightly south and across from the obelisk. The Whetstone Knife will enable you to change the "Ashes of Wars" that are attached to your weapon. Collecting the knife provides your first Ash of War: the "Storm Stomp."

Luckily, after obtaining the Map Fragment and the Whetstone Knife, obtaining your mount (Torrent) can go down nearby. After obtaining the aforementioned items, you will see two Grace Points near the Gatefront Ruins. One will be northwest towards the large castle gate. The other will be southeast towards the lake and a bridge. Resting at either Grace Point will trigger the cutscene in which you're visited by Melina, who will offer you the "Spectral Steed Whistle" that's needed to summon Torrent. 

Note: If the Melina scene doesn't trigger, you may have to visit other Grace Points and then return to one of the aforementioned ones. During my run, one of them happened to be my fourth Grace Point, which is where the scene triggered upon resting.