Elden Ring is the latest Souls-like from developer FromSoftware, and it is absolutely massive. Even if players meticulously scour the map for dozens of hours on their first run through the game, it is still impossible to try the many weapons, spells, and play styles Elden Ring has to offer. This is due to nearly every item in the game having prerequisite stats. Player's stats can be changed mid-playthrough, but only a handful of times — not nearly enough to encompass everything the game has to offer.
In order to test new builds, some players have opted to redistribute their stats in Elden Ring's New Game Plus mode. New Game Plus is a great confidence boost after completing the game. All the bosses and enemies that tormented players are now pushovers with endgame-level stats. There is a downside to this, though: Testing new builds in New Game Plus only shows how they behave at their strongest — the best way to truly experience a different build is to start a fresh save file.
Elden Ring's Build Variety
Players have many decisions when it comes to deciding on a build in Elden Ring, all starting with choosing a class at the beginning of the game. Elden Ring has 10 classes, all with their own specialty. The Vagabond has plenty of health and is heavily armored, with its sword and shield lending to a Strength build. Astrologers, on the other hand, start with a high Intelligence stat, spells, and a staff — perfect for those looking to experiment with the game's sorceries. Then there is the Samurai, who has a katana and a high Dexterity stat. The list goes on.
Elden Ring players are encouraged to only raise stats in a few key categories. It is possible to evenly distribute stats throughout one's playthrough, but this is not recommended as pieces of equipment not only have high stat requirements, but scale with these Elden Ring stats as well. Weapons also must be upgraded with a finite amount of resources in order to stay relevant throughout the game, so Vagabonds should use and upgrade Strength-scaling weapons throughout a single playthrough. Switching focus to another stat requires investing in a weapon starting at zero and is more of a hassle than it is worth in most cases.
Elden Ring's New Game Plus
Elden Ring players are sure to gather all sorts of loot over the course of their first playthrough, including many weapons, spells, and incantations that are only usable by other classes. These items, on top of the player's stats and level, are all carried over to New Game Plus, if the player opts to start it. The enemies and bosses of New Game Plus all do have higher health points and attack stats, but this is not nearly enough to cause a difficulty spike at the start of the game due to the player's endgame level stats. As a result, many players rush over to the Raya Lucaria Academy to redistribute their stats and test other equipment right away.
Redistributing a powerful character's stats is a fun way to test some of Elden Ring's strongest builds. The thing is, New Game Plus won't offer much of a challenge until the late game, and players will level up even further by then given that enemies drop more Runes to level up in this mode. Besides, blowing through early boss fights with powerful equipment does not give the same experience as doing the same thing at a lower level. Melting Margit's health bar with a single use of the Comet Azur spell is not indicative of a Sorcery playstyle, but barely scraping by with Glinstone Pebble at a low level is.
New Save Files Are Not a True Fresh Start
A single playthrough of Elden Ring can take anywhere up to 100 hours to complete, so it is clear to see why some players would not want to start from scratch just to test a new build. Well, players do not come fully unequipped upon starting any subsequent playthroughs, as one romp through Elden Ring gives a wealth of knowledge to use. Boss strategies become ingrained in muscle memory, general locations of weapons and items are known, and players will know a route to get through the game efficiently.
It is honestly surprising on how much one playthrough of Elden Ring speeds up the next one. In the time taken to initially learn the game, explore, and complete the first main dungeon of Stormveil Castle in playthrough one, players can expect to breeze through the first few dungeons and even some large side areas in run number two. The expedited pace of run number two is great to test new builds. As opposed to only getting a sense of a build at its strongest in New Game Plus, starting over gives players the full experience, complete with a full progression from beginning weapons to the same endgame strength.
Elden Ring's many builds all play completely differently from one another. Players who get up close and personal to bosses with a Strength build feel like they are playing a different game when deciding to keep distance and fire spells with an Intelligence build. There are many ways to experience different builds, and while many players opt for New Game Plus in order to test a different class at its peak, starting a new save file is an option that should not be overlooked.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
