Elden Ring: Top 10 Items For New Game Plus

The New Game Plus System of Elden Ring is quite traditional, allowing the player to take items they have earned during their first playthrough and conquer the game again for either a new challenge or simply catharsis. However, once the player begins a new journey, they cannot return to their old one. So, it is important to stock up on what is needed before hastily jumping into a new run.

The most important items to prioritize are found at the end of the game. This is because it will take much longer to acquire them again in a new playthrough. So, ensure that the Tarnished has found as many late-game items as possible before starting your New Game Plus run-through in Elden Ring.

10 Erdtree’s Favor +2

Well-Rounded Stat Boost

The Erdtree’s Favor +2 gives a +4% bonus to HP, a +10% bonus to Stamina, and a +8% bonus to Equip Load. It is a perfect choice for character builds that need to keep their weight down while not sacrificing HP or Stamina. While not as big of a boost as the Great-Jar’s Arsenal at +19% Equip Load, it typically gets the job done for most builds that need it.

This talisman is found extremely late and can only be acquired in Leyndell, Capital of Ash once the Rune of Death is unbound after defeating Maliketh, The Black Blade. To find this talisman, start from the Forbidden Lands Site of Grace and take the elevator up. Take the path to the west towards Leyndell to another elevator that will take the Tarnished to a courtyard filled with three Ulcerated Tree Spirits. The Talisman is sitting on a log in the middle of the courtyard.

9 Rotten Winged Sword Insignia

Buff To Successive Attack Builds

The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia is a late-game talisman that is rewarded near the end of Millicent’s long questline. It greatly raises Attack Power with successive hits through increments of +6%, +8%, and +13%, which can help a lot with skills such as the Wild Strikes Skill and the Destined Death Skill. This talisman is exceptionally helpful against larger enemies with huge hitboxes in order to make full use of its effects.

In order to get this talisman, the Tarnished must complete Millicent’s questline and choose to help her defeat the quartet of her sisters. Once they have been defeated, the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia will be rewarded. The only way to get the other talisman option, Millicent’s Prosthesis, is to finish her questline again in a New Game Plus run, which is part of why it is so important to get this in a New Game.

8 Shard Of Alexander

Massive Buff To All Skills

The Shard of Alexander is simple and extremely effective. It provides a +15% bonus to the Attack Power of all Skills, which are typically the main source of damage for many builds. Skills with high damage, such as the Taker’s Flames Skill make great use of this talisman.

This talisman combos quite effectively with the


Godfrey Icon

, which boosts the power of Charged Skills by another 15%.

This talisman can be acquired by following Iron Fist Alexander’s questline to its completion. He can be found at Farum Azula near the Dragon Temple Lift Site of Grace, where he challenges the Tarnished to a final duel. Upon his defeat, he will bequeath the Tarnished with a shard of his being, which is the talisman.

7 Crimson Seed Talisman +1

Keep That HP Bar Happy

The Crimson Seed Talisman +1 increases the HP restoration from Flasks of Crimson Tears by 30%, which can quickly add up over the course of several Flasks. The Land of Shadow actually has separate New Game Plus Scaling from the base game, which can quickly become incredibly challenging. This talisman can be found in the Finger Ruins of Rhia, after sounding the hanging bell for Count Ymir’s questline.

When starting a New Game Plus cycle, all enemies increase the amount of damage they deal and can take, in order to account for how strong the Tarnished has become. As such, healing for 30% more HP per Flask is going to pull a lot of weight once DLC enemies begin to dish out absurd amounts of damage. Not to mention, the Crimson Seed Talisman +1 is one of the best talismans in the game for invasions.

6 Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman

Tank As Many Hits As Possible

The Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman provides the Tarnished with an extra 20% Physical Damage Negation, which can become extremely important against bosses. Nearly every boss in the game has some kind of attack that deals Physical Damage, so having a passive 20% added negation is a wonderful quality of life change. This can stack with damage negation buffs such as Golden Vow and Black Flame’s Protection, which can allow for some ridiculous tankiness.

The Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman also works to help counteract certain debuffs from useful talismans, such as the


Fire Scorpion Charm

.

This talisman is found at the base of the Haligtree in Ephael, Brace of the Haligtree, just before descending the elevator to the Haligtree Roots Site of Grace. From the Drainage Channel Site of Grace, head over the branches until the Tarnished can jump to the roof of the chapel. Jump down the hole in the roof onto the rafters to see a chest guarded by Kindred of Rot that contains the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman.

5 Sword of Night and Flame

The Perfect Dual-Stat Weapon

The Sword of Night and Flame is still the best weapon in the game for split Intelligence/Faith builds, as its Intelligence and Faith scaling are higher than the newly introduced Rellana’s Twin Blades, which is more of a Quality weapon.

While this weapon is acquired quite early in the game within the Carian Manor, it doesn’t begin to become a truly strong option until enough Stats have been invested. In order to reach its maximum damage output, it requires 50 Intelligence and 50 Faith, which can be tough to achieve in a single playthrough while also leveling Stats such as Vigor, Mind, and Endurance.

The Sword of Night and Flame is an interesting weapon, as the Night-and-Flame Stance Skill has two different attacks that scale independently. Its light attack emits a comet torrent that scales with Intelligence, while its heavy attack unleashes a wave of fire that scales with Faith. As such, in order to get the most out of this weapon, prioritize leveling Intelligence or Faith first depending on which part of the skill you use more.

4 Staff Of The Great Beyond

Cast Both Incantations And Sorceries

The Staff of the Great Beyond is a long overdue addition to the sandbox of Elden Ring, allowing the Tarnished to cast both Incantations and Sorceries on a single Catalyst. Prior to the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, players had to switch to another Catalyst in order to cast a different class of magic. The Staff of the Great Beyond mitigates this problem by having no downtime between casting Incantations and Sorceries. Acquire this staff by trading the Remembrance of the Mother of Fingers with Finger Reader Enia.

The Dragon Communion Seal is still the best for Dragon incantations, as the Staff of the Great Beyond does not scale with Arcane.

Before this staff existed, I would have recommended the Golden Order Seal or the Prince of Death’s Staff for players with Intelligence/Faith builds, as they have the highest scaling of all Intelligence/Faith Catalysts in the game. However, while the Staff of the Great Beyond might not have as high scaling, it is certainly worth the trade in order to cast every type of spell in Elden Ring. This allows for combos that were otherwise not possible, which can be exciting to experiment and play with.

3 Sacred Relic Sword

For Rune Farming Purposes

The Sacred Relic Sword is the final reward from the base game of Elden Ring after defeating Radagon of the Golden Order and the Elden Beast. It is infamous for farming Runes, as its Wave of Gold Skill can decimate large groups of enemies at a time, netting thousands of Runes per minute in the right spots. One of the best spots for farming Runes is at the Palace Approach Ledge-Road Site of Grace, where dozens of Albinaurics are sleeping in a group.

Having an infinite source of Runes is especially helpful for New Game Plus, especially if the player has decided to Respec before jumping into their new journey. Now that the base game is over, there are likely very few bosses to earn Runes from anymore and purchasing Smithing Stones can get quite expensive. Utilize the Sacred Relic Sword to top off Runes in order to stock up on as many upgrade materials as possible.

2 Grave/Ghost Glovewort Bell Bearings

Upgrade Cool Spirit Ashes

With so many Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring to play around with, it can become difficult to keep all of them upgraded with enough materials. There are also several Spirit Ashes that can only be obtained through certain endings of questlines, like the Dung Eater Puppet Ashes or Ancient Dragon Florissax, which means not every item can be acquired in a single New Game run. As such, it is important that the corresponding Bell Bearings for each tier of Grave Glovewort and Ghost Glovewort are found before diving into New Game Plus.

These Bell Bearings are scattered throughout the Lands Between, some notable locations being the Eternal Cities of Nokron and Nokstella. After acquiring the Ghost Glovewort and Grave Glovewort Bell Bearings, they can be turned in at the Twin Maiden Husks for an infinite supply of Gloveworts 1-9. Unfortunately, there are a finite number of Great Gloveworts per journey, so upgrading every Spirit Ash to the maximum is quite a long endeavor.

1 Somber/Smithing Stone Bell Bearings

Keep Your Weapons Fully Upgraded

By far the most important items to grab before beginning New Game Plus are the Somberstone Bell Bearings and Smithing Stone Bell Bearings. These will allow the Tarnished to upgrade any new weapons they find or want to switch to, without having to gather smithing stones throughout the map like in a New Game. By utilizing the Sacred Relic Sword for infinite Runes, these Bell Bearings provide an infinite source of armament upgrade materials.

Some of these Bell Bearings are given to the Tarnished along the main path, such as the Smithing-Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing [4], which is dropped from the Godskin Duo in Farum Azula. However, others like the Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing [2] are found in more hidden locations like Altus Tunnel. Because of this, it is important to gather all of them before beginning a new journey, as the Tarnished will have to discover these locations again if they missed any. With infinite smithing stones at their disposal, players should feel confident tackling New Game Plus in Elden Ring.

Video Credits: Indyrael/Fextralife/Arekkz Gaming/Darth Soul via YouTube