Elden Ring does not actually explain the game to players specifically, but only makes an introduction of a simple set of explanation and the vague direction they’re supposed to head in without any details being provided. This gives players a lot of freedom to play the game in their own way and at their own pace and explore the mysteries hidden in it without being restricted.

Many players said that they enjoyed this mode and often immersed themselves in it. However, due to the lack of detailed explanations, many players did not know the more nuanced mechanics.

Although players can experience the game at their own pace, getting known as obscure mechanics could offer you more fresh game experience, and gain an advantage over other players. Now let’s take a closer look at these 5 obscure mechanics.

5. Buff Stacking

The game does not explain the specific use of buffs. Based on their gaming experience, many players believe that different buffs can be combined which is not entirely correct. Because only some buffs can be combined with others to enhance performance.

There are five varieties of buffs in the game: aura, body, weapon, regeneration, and unique, separately. Under the normal circumstance, Tarnished can only own one buff from each category (exclude unique buffs, which can stack with one another without limitation). Once players establish the combination of buffs they require, the difficulty of the game will plummet.

4. Counter Attacking

There are many types of attacks in Elden Ring, such as simple attacks, vigorous attacks, powerful weapon skills, and guard counters. However, counter-attack is not being described in detail. In fact, if the player attacks the enemy with counter-attack, the damage output will be greater than usual. Combing with Spear Talisman, which will enhance the degree of damage, the damage output of counter-attack will increase by 45%.

There are two conditions for an attack to be viewed as a counter-attack. In the first place, the player must employ a weapon that deals with piercing damage. Secondly, Tarnished have to attack an enemy while they are in the middle of an attack animation.

3. Feinting

Feinting is one of the obscure mechanics that being barely known. Maybe many players don’t know the existence of this mechanism, or even if they know about it, they have never actually used.

Feinting provides another type of attack to the player’s arsenal, enlarging the possibilities and chance of attack, and also creating the false impression of opponents in PvP. Considering the fact that multitude of people do not figure out the function of it, feints offer much help in the aspect of catching other players off-guard.

2. Hyper Armor

The amount of hits Tarnished can bear before flinching is an important thing for players to pay attention to. The result is calculated by combining the poise of all armor pieces that they are currently wearing. Talismans also have a certain impact on the result. But there is another number that needs to be counted.

That number is Hyper Armor itself. Each attack that a player performs will offer them a certain amount of Hyper Armor, serving as an additional poise on top of what their armor is that they already own. Under normal circumstances, the size and weight of the weapon also have a bearing on Hyper Armor.

For example, larger weapons have Hyper Armor on most attacks, but some smaller weapons only have Hyper Armor on some attacks. You can get some weapons equipped with more Hyper Armor by devoting some Elden Ring Runes. By the way, charged attacks and some weapon skills will have more Hyper Armor.

1. I-Frames

I-Frames are a mechanism that helps players dodge. If there are some I-Frames, the player will become invincible during the dodge process. Since Fast rolls have more I-Frames than Medium rolls, dodging attacks will become more simple and easy. In a similar way, heavy rolls own fewer I-Frames than both Medium and Fast rolls, making it much more difficult to dodge attacks in the situation of being encumbered.

However, what many people do not master is that there are other methods to embrace I-Frames in Elden Ring. Mounting and dismounting Torrent while standing gives the player I-Frames while lasting for a short period. In addition, the following weapon skills also promise players I-Frames:

• Ash of War: Quickstep
• Ash of War: Bloodhound’s Step
• Ash of War: Vow of the Indomitable
• Ash of War: Raptor of the Mists
• Bloodhound’s Finesse Skill
• Dynast’s Finesse Skill

If you are a loyal fan of Elden Ring, you can log in to IGGM discord. There will be some lucky draws in Giveaway channel, and you can also get more real-time information about the game.

The above is about sharing some little-known but useful mechanisms in Elden Ring. I hope it can give some inspiration for you.