Things To Do Before NG Plus Elden Ring To Prepare Your Character

5 October 2026 | 53

Starting New Game Plus in Elden Ring is an exciting opportunity to re-explore the Lands Between with a powerful build, but rushing into a new journey without adequate preparation can leave you missing out on rare materials and vital upgrades. Before taking the leap, ensuring your Tarnished is fully equipped and stocked with unrepeatable resources will save you significant time and effort in your next playthrough. Taking a structured approach to endgame preparation ensures that your second adventure is both rewarding and smooth.

Collect All Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones

Upgrade materials are essential for keeping your favorite weapons fully effective against tougher enemies in subsequent journeys. You should gather all available Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones and Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones across the world map before resetting your story progress. Because these high-tier materials are strictly limited per playthrough, maximizing your collection guarantees you can upgrade new weapons instantly.

Specialized bell bearings should also be delivered to the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold so you can purchase unlimited standard and somber upgrade materials. Stocking up on lower-tier stones ensures you can experiment with completely different weapon classes without needing to hunt down basic resources again.

Unlock Key Bell Bearings and Stock Consumables

Merchant inventory items and vital crafting ingredients become invaluable when scaling up difficulty in new game cycles. Collecting essential bell bearings for grave gloveworts, ghost gloveworts, and basic crafting materials will significantly streamline your preparation. Having a deep supply of arrows, boluses, and consumable buff items prevents unnecessary farming runs later.

You can also harvest rare crafting ingredients like Arteria Leaves and Trina's Lilies while high-level zones remain accessible. Securing these materials now allows you to craft high-tier pots and remedies whenever challenging encounters arise.

Defeat Optional Bosses and Complete Questlines

The end of a playthrough is the ideal moment to clean up missed bosses, optional dungeons, and valuable NPC storylines. Defeating remembrance bosses like Malenia, Mohg, and Rykard unlocks unique spells and legendary weapons that enrich your options for future builds. You should also exchange all boss remembrances at Finger Reader Enia before triggering the next cycle.

Visiting Walking Mausoleums across the map allows you to duplicate key remembrances for extra gear or runes. Ensuring all major questlines are resolved prevents you from missing out on unique talismans, armor sets, and specialized incantations.

Farm Runes and Respec Your Build

Leveling up your primary attributes and fine-tuning your character's stat distribution makes entering new content much more comfortable. Visiting high-yield rune farming spots like Mohgwyn Palace gives you the currency needed to level stats or buy out merchant stocks. Higher stats grant greater versatility, allowing you to wield heavy weapons or cast advanced sorceries right away.

If you want to try a new combat style, visit Rennala at the Academy of Raya Lucaria to redistribute your attributes before starting anew. Resetting your stats while all gear is currently in your inventory ensures your character is perfectly tuned for your next journey.