2806

You mean the ones you get from the glowing skulls ? If so no, there is no reason to keep them. They are merely bankable so you can cash them in as you choose.

Also, all the craft able items you pick are worth 10 runes each to a merchant. Sell anything common that you have no use for.

2807

I played on PS5 performance mode, and have no complaints really.

2808

No. If you are going to the end, find a build you like and go for it. You WILL have about 7 opportunities to respec however, so if you find you really don’t like the way thigns are going, or want to steer the boat in a bit different direction, you can do that. But 60 in a damage stat will be much better then 20 in several.

The classes read pretty much like they say they do. I would ask yourself if you want to be a dodge man, or a shield man, and make your warrior choice based on that. For mage, Astrologer is the straigh up mage, and prisoner is the mix it up mage.

I played a Dex/Faith build and loved it. After playing that I have several other things I wanna try now =) I see a lot of people having fun with all kinds of builds, so I think its more about playing to your strengths!

2809

Hmm. Are the game saves interchangeable? I have a PS5 but I’m playing the PS4 version based on what I’d read. If I switch over to the PS5 version will it see the PS4 save and continue from there (and vice versa?)

2810

I don’t lose gold runes when I die, right?

2811

Correct. So definitely don’t cash them until you need them.

2812

What’s mix it up? Mage and faith or mage and sword?

2813

Absolutely. Thought not so much for playing a different class, rather than trying a new build. Quite a few options available this time around, more than we used to have (gated by weapons and trinkets available of course):

  • pure STR
  • pure DEX
  • pure INT
  • pure FTH
  • quality
  • str/int
  • str/fth
  • dex/int
  • dex/fth
  • int/fth

There are weapons in gear to support all these options. Probably the best build variety we’ve had in Souls games so far.

edit: Completely forgot about arcane, that’s a thing too. So that’s easily another 5-6 options.

2814

Mage and sword. but as someone said above, starter stats are just that, and you can make these guys into whatever you want.

2815

What is the “Mind” stat? I understand all the others.

2816

Mana/Focus points

2817

You can go from PS4 to PS5 and not back. I tried both and am sticking with PS4 in BC mode as I noticed the variable framerate on PS5 native right away. PS4 in BC is pretty much 60 locked and smooth.

2818

Don’t you lose some graphical fidelity in this mode?

2819

Most of you probably already know this, but I felt gobsmacked to discover that I can crush the glowing skulls that are everywhere in this game. And get golden runes from them! Oh man. I wish I’d known that in my first 30 hours of the game. I accidentally crushed one under my horse’s foot today and was really surprised.

2820

They are only worth 100 runes but so important at the start of the game.

I usually change out the gold runes when I can reach another level - the point being that every level makes the game easier, and keeping 2-3 levels banked makes no sense.

2821

The next gen versions see only some very minor upgrades, there’s more tall grass but that also comes with the trade off of more pop-in on the grass. This isn’t like Forza (Horizon) Forbidden West where the differences are pretty big from prior to current gen. PS5 runs the Pro version, on PS5 it loads about 5 seconds slower than native PS5 version which means 10 v 5 second loads but the generally locked 60 is worth it. If the framerate isn’t bothering you on PS5 once you are in the open area then I wouldn’t sweat it, but I’d personally prefer the smoother framerate.

2822

I’ve been doing the same thing, but I wish I’d kept them for upgrade purposes. I’ve always thought it was dumb that weapon upgrades cost “money,” and I still think it’s dumb. It’s usually a trivial amount, which makes it so annoying when you don’t have it.

2823

Gah, lost my first big batch of runes for the first time, at about the 33 hour mark, so not bad. It still hurts, even though I know it won’t matter that much. But nearly 6000 runes lost because I forgot about a fire thrower in Stormveil Castle on my way to fighting someone. D’oh!

2824

I lost 15k a couple days ago to a stupid missed jump or something, I can’t remember. I was annoyed but tears in rain, etc.

2825

Yeah, this is it right here. If someone is already invested in the PS5 version then stick with it but if you did the right thing and started with PS4 version on PS5, then you will see the (detrimental) difference if you switch.

My son is playing on PC. He walked in while I was playing PS4 on PS5 last night and immediately commented on the smooth performance.

Elden Ring is a last gen game that runs best treated as a last gen release on the current gen console.