The best Elden Ring items to grab early on
Elden Ring locks some important features behind hidden items. For example: You can't craft items in your menu until you purchase the Crafting Tools from an NPC early in the game. Many of these items are hard to miss if you like to explore, but it's possible to completely miss them. If you don't have access to them by the time you're deep into the game, certain encounters and bosses could be very difficult to manage.
Many of these tools will be your first introduction to a whole feature of the game, like Ashes of War, so make sure to read what they do when you pick them up. They aren't mandatory to finish the game, but they will be endlessly helpful as you get deeper into the Lands Between.
Crafting Tools
Elden Ring is littered with useful items like throwing darts and fire bombs that you can craft yourself with one particular item. Grab the Crafting Tools (300 runes) from the merchant in the Church of Elleh and you'll be able to craft everything straight from your start menu. It's just north of the tutorial building.
The Whetstone Knife allows you to put abilities, or Ashes of War, on your weapons and shields through a menu option on Sites of Grace. To find it, you need to go to the Gatefront Ruins, located near the Gatefront Site of Grace in Limgrave. The stairs down to the item are in the ruins patrolled by soldiers, so be careful.
The Spirit Calling Bell lets you call in AI allies to tackle large enemy encampments and to split a bosses attention while you get hits in. You don't have to summon Spirit Ashes, but they're a nice tool to have if any fight gets tough. Early in the game, after meeting Melina at a Site of Grace and earning Torrent, you can head back to the Church of Elleh at night to find Renna, the witch. If she's not there and you have the hub area unlocked, Roundtable Hold, head there, talk to Twin Maiden Husks, and purchase it for 100 runes.
Fashion Souls is back in Elden Ring. With the Tailoring Tools, you can change the look of some of the armor in the game by removing capes or hoods on them via any Site of Grace. Pick up the Tailoring Tools after fighting the Demi-Human Chief boss in the Coastal Cave in western Limgrave.
Elden Ring starts you off with two types of healing potions, but you can grab a third, customizable one: the Flask of Wondrous Physick. In order to find this item you need to venture out to the Third Church of Marika, which is located in eastern Limgrave. If you have the Gatefront Site of Grace, take the road far east to find the church. You can buy an item from the merchant at the Church of Elleh that gives you the same, somewhat useless directions. Once you have it, you'll be able to pick up items to change what it does when you drink it.
Duelist Finger
If you want to duel someone by having them summon you into their Elden Ring world for PvP, you need the Duelist Finger (unlimited uses). Head to the Warmaster's Shack in north Limgrave (it's east of the Stormhill Site of Grace) and travel north toward the big building. For early game players (late game players might not have an invader here for other reasons), there will be a fairly tough NPC invader between you and the dead body this item is found on. You can sprint past the invader to pick up the item or grab it after the kill.
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