Can You Restart Elden Ring with the Same Character? A Deep Dive
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Yes, you absolutely can restart Elden Ring with the same character by entering New Game Plus (NG+). After defeating the final boss, you’re given the option to begin a new journey with your existing character, retaining their level, stats, equipment, and spells. However, keep in mind that this new journey will be more challenging, as enemies become significantly stronger. This feature allows you to experience the game again with a powered-up character, explore different choices, and pursue missed content.
Understanding New Game Plus in Elden Ring
NG+ isn’t simply a fresh start; it’s a continuation of your Tarnished’s journey with added layers of complexity and reward. It offers a compelling reason to revisit the Lands Between, experiment with different builds, and ultimately, achieve a deeper understanding of the game’s intricate world and lore. Let’s delve deeper into the specifics of what carries over and what gets left behind.
What Carries Over to New Game Plus?
The following are carried over to New Game Plus:
- Character Level and Stats: All the levels you’ve gained and stats you’ve invested in will be retained. This allows you to jump right back into the action with a powerful character.
- Equipment: All weapons, armor, talismans, and crafting materials will be in your inventory. This is crucial for facing the tougher enemies in NG+.
- Spells and Incantations: You’ll retain all the spells and incantations you’ve acquired throughout your first playthrough.
- Ashes of War: All Ashes of War you’ve collected will remain in your inventory.
- Flask Upgrades: Your Flask of Crimson Tears and Flask of Cerulean Tears upgrades (number of flasks and potency) remain.
- Map: The entire map of the Lands Between will be revealed.
- Great Runes (Unequipped): You get to keep all the Great Runes you have, unless you’ve activated them.
What Resets in New Game Plus?
Here is what gets reset in New Game Plus:
- Sites of Grace: All discovered Sites of Grace are reset, requiring you to rediscover them throughout the world. This ensures that you still need to explore the world and travel across the map, despite having the full map unlocked already.
- Key Items: Key items essential for progression, such as Great Runes and keys that open specific areas, are reset.
- Story Progression: All story progress is reset, including completed quests and defeated bosses.
- Opened Doors and Lifts: Shortcuts that you unlocked such as doors that you opened or lifts that you activated will reset, and you will have to reactivate them.
- Stonesword Key Doors: Doors opened by Stonesword Keys are closed again.
Difficulty Increase and Rewards
The most notable change in NG+ is the increased difficulty. Enemies hit harder and have more health, demanding a more strategic and refined approach to combat. However, this increased challenge is accompanied by greater rewards. Enemies drop more Runes, allowing you to level up even faster and further enhance your character. Each subsequent NG+ cycle (NG++, NG+++, etc.) increases the difficulty and Rune drop rate, up to a certain point.
Why Restart with the Same Character?
There are several compelling reasons to embark on a New Game Plus journey in Elden Ring:
- Experiment with Different Builds: NG+ provides an opportunity to respec your character (after defeating Rennala) and experiment with different builds without having to create a new character from scratch. You can try out different weapon combinations, spells, and incantations to find your preferred playstyle.
- Complete Missed Content: It’s easy to miss quests, items, and even entire areas on your first playthrough. NG+ allows you to revisit the Lands Between with a more comprehensive understanding of the game and pursue any content you may have overlooked.
- Experience Different Endings: Elden Ring features multiple endings, each requiring specific actions and choices. NG+ allows you to experience these different endings without having to completely restart.
- Test Your Skills: The increased difficulty of NG+ provides a challenging test of your skills and knowledge of the game. It’s a chance to prove your mastery of Elden Ring’s combat and exploration mechanics.
- Collect More Items: The game has some very powerful items. You can collect all of them on one character in NG+, so you can change your loadout depending on the situation.
Respeccing and Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
A critical component of optimizing your character in NG+ is the ability to respec your stats. This is achieved by defeating Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, at Raya Lucaria Academy. After defeating her, you can interact with her in the Grand Library to reallocate your attribute points using a Larval Tear. There are only a limited number of Larval Tears that you can find in a single playthrough, but since you carry over all your items into NG+, you can find more Larval Tears in your new journey and continue respeccing until you feel you are satisfied with your stats.
Elden Ring FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about Elden Ring to further assist you.
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How many times can you reset your character’s stats in Elden Ring?
You can reset your character’s stats as many times as you have Larval Tears, which is a finite resource. There are typically around 18 Larval Tears per playthrough, and all of them are carried over into NG+.
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What is the maximum level achievable in Elden Ring?
The maximum level in Elden Ring is 713. This requires maxing out all eight attributes to 99, costing an astounding amount of Runes.
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What happens if I refuse Melina’s accord?
Refusing Melina’s accord will prevent you from leveling up and obtaining Torrent, your spectral steed. You essentially cannot progress in the game without accepting her offer.
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Should I restart Elden Ring if I don’t like my build?
If you are early in the game, restarting might be an option. If you are far into the game, it’s generally better to respec your character after defeating Rennala.
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Are Elden Ring endings locked?
No, Elden Ring endings are not inherently locked. You can unlock all the endings in a single playthrough, but only one ending can be chosen when defeating the final boss. NG+ allows you to experience other endings.
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What level is considered the meta level for PvP in Elden Ring?
The “meta level” for PvP duels in Elden Ring is generally considered to be around 125-150.
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Can you get all stats to 99 in Elden Ring?
Yes, it is possible to get all stats to 99 in Elden Ring, resulting in a level of 713. It takes a long time to farm runes to achieve this goal.
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At what level does Elden Ring become “easy”?
The level at which Elden Ring becomes significantly easier varies depending on your skill and build. However, most players find that around level 150-300, the challenge decreases substantially.
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Which Remembrance is considered the best?
There is no single “best” Remembrance. However, the Blasphemous Blade is widely regarded as one of the most powerful and versatile Remembrance weapons.
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What is a “soft cap” in Elden Ring?
A soft cap is a point where the stat bonuses gained from leveling diminish significantly. Going beyond a soft cap may not be worth the rune investment.
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How many Runes does it take to reach level 713 in Elden Ring?
Reaching level 713 in Elden Ring requires approximately 1,692,566,842 Runes in total.
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What is the purpose of New Game Plus in Elden Ring?
New Game Plus allows players to replay the game with their existing character, retaining their level, equipment, and spells. It provides a greater challenge with increased enemy difficulty and rune rewards, and allows for the discovery of missed content.
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How many characters can you create in Elden Ring?
You can create up to 10 characters in Elden Ring. This allows you to experiment with different builds, starting classes, and playstyles without overwriting your progress.
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Can you duplicate Remembrances in Elden Ring?
Yes, you can duplicate Remembrances by using Walking Mausoleums. However, each Mausoleum can only be used once per playthrough, and there are fewer Mausoleums than Remembrances.
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What is the level range for playing with friends in Elden Ring?
Elden Ring uses a level range to match players for coop play. The precise formula depends on the game version, but as a rule of thumb, ensure your levels are within +/- 10% of each other. You can visit communities like the Games Learning Society, at GamesLearningSociety.org, to seek further assistance with finding groups and learning optimal ranges.
Conclusion
Restarting Elden Ring with the same character through New Game Plus offers a compelling and rewarding experience for seasoned Tarnished. It provides the opportunity to refine your build, explore missed content, experience different endings, and truly test your skills against the game’s formidable challenges. So, embrace the journey, and may the Greater Will guide you on your renewed quest to become Elden Lord!