ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition Walkthrough: Main Story Order

The Lands Between is vast, and figuring out where to go next in the ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition walkthrough can feel overwhelming even for seasoned Souls veterans. This complete main-story order cuts through the confusion by mapping every required region, shardbearer boss, and recommended level so you can progress without wasting runes on dead ends. Because the game never marks your objective on the map, knowing the intended sequence is the difference between a smooth 60-hour run and a frustrating 100-hour stumble through Caelid at level 30.

This ELDEN RING game guide follows the critical path from the Stranded Graveyard to the final Elden Beast fight, with exact level ranges for each zone, Great Rune requirements, and fast travel checkpoints. You will also learn how to level up efficiently, how to get runes fast when you hit a wall, and how to unlock fast travel across the map. Let's map out the entire journey region by region.

The Complete ELDEN RING Walkthrough Region Order

The main story in ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition follows a strict linear path through seven major regions, each guarded by a shardbearer boss who drops a Great Rune. According to the official Bandai Namco page, the recommended level ranges scale from 1-30 in Limgrave all the way to 120-150 for the final bosses. Following this order ensures you always fight bosses within the intended power curve.

The exact region sequence matters because Elden Ring’s open world is deceptively linear: you’ll start in Limgrave, then head to Liurnia of the Lakes, followed by Caelid (via the Ruin-Strewn Precipice or the Altus Plateau elevator), then Altus Plateau and Leyndell, Royal Capital, before tackling Mountaintops of the Giants, Consecrated Snowfield, and finally Farum Azula. Skipping ahead to Caelid early will get you shredded by Radahn’s rot-infused arrows, so stick to the order—each region’s enemy scaling and upgrade materials (Smithing Stones) are tuned to your expected level, roughly 30–40 for Liurnia, 60–80 for Leyndell, and 90+ for the Mountaintops.

• Stranded Graveyard (Level 1-10) — tutorial area, ends with the Grafted Scion (optional fight)

• Limgrave (Level 1-30) — first open region, home to Margit and Stormveil Castle

• Liurnia of the Lakes (Level 30-50) — academy region, home to Rennala and Raya Lucaria

• Caelid (Level 50-70) — scarlet rot wasteland, home to Starscourge Radahn

• Altus Plateau (Level 60-80) — capital region, home to Morgott and Leyndell

• Mountaintops of the Giants (Level 80-100) — snowy peaks, home to Fire Giant

• Crumbling Farum Azula (Level 100-120) — floating ruins, home to Maliketh

• Leyndell, Ashen Capital / final bosses (Level 120-150) — endgame gauntlet

Each region gates the next through either a required Great Rune or a story trigger. You cannot reach Leyndell without defeating two shardbearers, and you cannot reach Farum Azula without the Flame of Ruin from the Fire Giant. This built-in progression gate is why the ELDEN RING walkthrough order matters so much.

Recommended Level Table by Region

The table below summarizes the level ranges from the official Tarnished Edition documentation, which community testing has confirmed as the intended difficulty curve. These benchmarks assume you are progressing through the critical path while grabbing essential Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears along the way; if you are heavily over-leveled from rune farming sessions against the Boulder in Caelid or the Albinaurics at Mohgwyn Palace, you can safely skip ahead 10–15 levels, whereas under-leveled players should prioritize revisiting caves and catacombs for Smithing Stones to upgrade their primary weapon before tackling the next legacy dungeon boss.

This table is your roadmap. If you are struggling with a boss, check your level against the recommended range for that region. Being underleveled by 10+ points makes fights dramatically harder, and the solution is usually to grind runes rather than to change your build.

How to Fast Travel and Unlock Every Site of Grace

Fast travel is the backbone of any efficient ELDEN RING walkthrough, and the system unlocks almost immediately. You gain the ability to warp between Sites of Grace after Melina first appears to you, which happens the first time you rest at a Site of Grace outside the Stranded Graveyard. From that point forward, you can open your map and select any discovered Site of Grace to travel there instantly.

The key mechanic to understand is that Site of Grace discovery is permanent, but you can only fast travel to sites you have already rested at. This means you should make a habit of touching every glowing golden light you find, even if you plan to leave the area immediately. The map will show undiscovered sites as small golden pillars, while discovered sites appear as solid markers you can warp to.

The most reliable way to fast travel during your ELDEN RING walkthrough is to open the map and select any discovered Site of Grace—but remember, you cannot teleport while in combat, during a boss fight, or inside dungeons like catacombs unless you have activated the specific Grace within that area. A key trick is to prioritize unlocking the Sites of Grace at the Church of Elleh and Gatefront Ruins early, as these serve as central hubs for navigating Limgrave and accessing the Roundtable Hold quickly. Additionally, if you are stuck in a dangerous zone like Caelid, using the map to teleport to a previously visited Grace is far safer than attempting to run back, saving you from losing hard-earned Runes. For maximum efficiency, always light new Graces as soon as you see them, even if you plan to backtrack, as this creates a fast-travel network that makes your elden ring game guide experience far less tedious.

• Rest at every Site of Grace you encounter, even in dangerous areas, because resting also refills your flasks and resets enemy respawns

• Use the roundtable hold as a hub — you can fast travel there from anywhere and then warp back to your previous location

• Mark unexplored dungeons on your map with custom waypoint icons so you remember to return later

• Avoid fast traveling during boss fights — the game locks your map in most boss arenas, so you must defeat the boss or die to escape

Fast travel also resets the world state, which is useful for farming. If you are following a specific route to collect runes, you can warp between two Sites of Grace to respawn enemies indefinitely. This is the foundation of most efficient rune farming methods, and it pairs well with the strategies covered in our rune boosting items guide for maximizing each farming session.

Fast Travel Restrictions You Should Know

While fast travel is generous, the game does impose restrictions in specific situations. You cannot fast travel while in combat, while inside most dungeons (unless you are at the entrance), or while in certain story-critical areas. The Evergaols scattered across Limgrave and Liurnia also lock your map until you defeat the imprisoned boss, so prepare before entering those glowing circles.

Additionally, some regions require you to physically reach the Site of Grace before you can warp there. The Crumbling Farum Azula is a good example — you must traverse the entire zone on foot the first time, and only after resting at the first site can you fast travel between its checkpoints. This is by design, forcing you to experience the level design rather than skipping through it.

How to Level Up and Spend Runes Wisely

Leveling up in ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition requires runes and a visit to a Site of Grace. Melina appears at the first site you rest at and offers to turn runes into strength, and from that point forward you can level up at any Site of Grace by selecting "Level Up" from the menu. The cost increases with each level, following a curve that starts at 673 runes for level 2 and climbs steeply into the hundreds of thousands by level 150.

The most common mistake new players make is spreading points evenly across all eight attributes. Because weapon scaling rewards focused builds, you should commit to one or two primary damage stats early. A quality build (strength and dexterity) works for most weapons, while pure caster builds should dump points into intelligence or faith alongside mind for FP.

Understanding the eight core attributes—Vigor, Mind, Endurance, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane—is the single most important decision-maker in your Elden Ring walkthrough, as each stat directly gates which weapons, Ashes of War, and Sorceries you can wield. For example, a pure melee build should prioritize Vigor to 40 early for survivability against Margit’s heavy combos, while a spellblade needs to balance Mind and Intelligence to sustain FP for Glintstone Pebble spam. Since respecs via Larval Tears are limited, you must commit to a scaling path—Strength builds lean on Heavy Affinity, while Dexterity builds favor Keen—to maximize your damage output per Rune spent.

The soft caps matter more than the numbers themselves. Vigor soft caps at 40 and again at 60, meaning each point after 60 gives minimal HP returns. Strength and dexterity soft cap at 55 and 80, while intelligence and faith soft cap around 60-80 depending on the catalyst. Knowing these caps prevents you from wasting runes on attributes that no longer provide meaningful returns.

How to Get Runes Fast When You Hit a Wall

Every player eventually hits a boss that seems impossible, and the fastest solution is almost always to gain levels rather than to change strategy. The most reliable early-game method is the Gatefront Ruins loop in Limgrave, where you can clear the soldier camp for roughly 1,000 runes per minute. Later, the Mohgwyn Palace bird farm becomes available after reaching the palace approach, and it yields around 11,000 runes per kill with the Golden Scarab talisman equipped.

For a deeper breakdown of the best farming spots at every stage of the game, check our rune farm guide which covers the top locations from Limgrave through the late-game. The key principle is to find a loop you can complete in under 30 seconds and repeat it while listening to a podcast or watching a show. This passive approach to grinding keeps your ELDEN RING walkthrough moving even when you are stuck on a boss.

The Shardbearer Boss Order and Great Rune Strategy

The shardbearer bosses are the backbone of the ELDEN RING walkthrough, and each one drops a Great Rune that you must activate at a Divine Tower before equipping it. The order matters because each Great Rune provides a passive bonus that makes subsequent regions easier. Godrick's Great Rune boosts all attributes by five, which is a massive early-game power spike, while Radahn's Great Rune boosts HP, FP, and stamina by 15% each.

Here is the optimal shardbearer order and the bonus each Great Rune provides: Tackling Godrick first in Stormveil Castle is the smartest opener, as his Great Rune boosts all attributes by +5, effectively granting you 15 free levels before you even reach Liurnia. From there, head to Raya Lucaria to claim Rennala’s rune, which lets you reallocate your stats via larval tears—essential for respecing your build mid-playthrough. Save Malenia for last, since her rune only restores HP on hit and demands high vigor to survive her Waterfowl Dance.

• Godrick the Grafted (Stormveil Castle) — Great Rune raises all attributes by 5, activate at Limgrave Tower

• Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon (Raya Lucaria) — Great Rune boosts FP and stamina, activate at Liurnia Tower

• Starscourge Radahn (Caelid) — Great Rune boosts HP, FP, and stamina by 15%, activate at Caelid Tower

• Morgott, the Omen King (Leyndell) — Great Rune boosts HP by 25%, activate at Altus Tower

The Great Rune activation requires you to visit a Divine Tower and touch the golden light at the top. Each tower is guarded by tough enemies, so bring your best gear. Once activated, you must equip the Great Rune at a Site of Grace and then use a Rune Arc consumable to gain the bonus. The buff persists until you die, so save Rune Arcs for boss fights rather than wasting them on trash mobs.

For a complete breakdown of the activation process and which Great Runes are worth equipping, refer to our Great Rune activation guide. The short version is that Godrick's rune is the best early-game choice, while Radahn's rune becomes the default pick once you reach Caelid.

Boss Order Table for the Critical Path

The table below shows the exact boss order for the critical path, with the recommended Rune Level and the primary reward for each victory—so you can plan your route through the Lands Between without wasting Runes on premature stat investments. For example, you face Margit, the Fell Omen at around Level 25; arriving under-leveled means his delayed dagger swipes can one-shot a low-Vigor build, forcing you to grind Runes via the nearby Gatefront Ruins or the ballista trick at Fort Faroth. Conversely, over-leveling past 40 before Godrick the Grafted trivializes his Phase 2 axe combos, but you will miss the challenge and the 16,000-Rune payout that funds early weapon upgrades. Use this order alongside the fast-travel Sites of Grace to backtrack for optional bosses like Starscourge Radahn, ensuring your Scadutree Blessing equivalent—your Vigor and weapon level—keeps pace with each mandatory encounter.

This order is confirmed by both the official Tarnished Edition documentation and extensive community testing. Players who skip ahead to Caelid or the Mountaintops early will find enemies with inflated health pools that make the game feel artificially difficult. For example, a level 40 character arriving in Caelid will face Radahn's soldiers with roughly 1,500 HP and damage output that can one-shot through early-game vigor investments, whereas following the critical path through Liurnia first lets you secure the Radagon's Soreseal talisman and a +12 Somber weapon, giving you the scaling needed to actually trade blows. The level curve is tuned so that each region assumes a specific rune-level and upgrade bracket, and ignoring that progression not only extends fight durations by 200–300% but also starves you of the runes needed to reach the soft caps for Vigor and your primary damage stat, creating a snowball effect that makes the mid-game grind far worse than simply following the intended boss order.

Key Areas and Optional Content Worth Exploring

While the critical path is straightforward, the ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition walkthrough becomes much easier if you explore optional areas that reward powerful gear and upgrade materials. The Weeping Peninsula south of Limgrave contains the Golden Vow incantation and the Sacred Blade ash of war, both of which carry you through the early game. Similarly, the Ainsel River and Siofra River underground zones contain smithing stones that let you upgrade your weapon to +6 before you even reach Liurnia.

The Caelid region is technically optional for the main story, but you must defeat Starscourge Radahn to progress the Ranni questline, which unlocks one of the game's best endings and several powerful weapons. The Dragonbarrow area of Caelid also contains the Radagon's Soreseal talisman, which boosts your attributes by five at the cost of taking 15% more damage. This trade-off is worth it for most builds.

While Limgrave and Liurnia hold the main story path, the truly game-changing rewards for any elden ring walkthrough lie in the optional regions you can access early. For instance, clearing the Caelid-adjacent Gael Tunnel nets you the Moonveil Katana, a weapon that trivializes early-game bosses with its Transient Moonlight skill. Alternatively, a quick detour to Weeping Peninsula in southern Limgrave provides the Sacred Tears needed to upgrade your Flask of Wondrous Physick, and the Golden Vow Ash of War found there offers a 15% damage buff, making these detours more impactful than grinding through the main questline for raw stats.

• Weeping Peninsula — Golden Vow incantation, Sacred Blade ash of war, several smithing stones

• Siofra River — Ancestral Spirit boss, powerful bow, and the Meteorite Staff (best early sorcery catalyst)

• Ainsel River — Dragonkin Soldier boss, upgrade materials, and access to the Lake of Rot

• Caelid Divine Tower — Radahn's Great Rune activation, Gargoyle's Blackblade weapon

• Mountaintops catacombs — Golden Order Greatsword, which scales with strength and faith

Each of these optional areas provides concrete power increases that make the mandatory bosses significantly easier. The Meteorite Staff alone carries sorcery builds through the entire mid-game because it requires zero upgrades and has an S-tier intelligence scaling. You can grab it within the first hour of the game if you know where to look.

The Shadow of the Erdtree Connection

If you are playing the Tarnished Edition, you also have access to the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion content. This DLC becomes available after defeating Mohg, Lord of Blood, and Radahn, and it introduces a new region called the Land of Shadow with its own boss gauntlet. The recommended level for the DLC is 120+, so you should complete the base game's critical path before venturing into the expansion content.

For a dedicated walkthrough of the DLC content, including the new bosses and the Miquella storyline, check our Shadow of the Erdtree guide. The expansion adds roughly 20-30 hours of content and introduces new weapon types, talismans, and a new leveling system based on Scadutree Fragments.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the correct order for the ELDEN RING walkthrough?

The main story order is Limgrave, Stormveil Castle, Liurnia of the Lakes, Caelid, Altus Plateau, Leyndell, Mountaintops of the Giants, Crumbling Farum Azula, and finally the Ashen Capital. Each region requires you to defeat a shardbearer boss before progressing, and the recommended levels scale from 1-30 in Limgrave to 120-150 for the final bosses.

How do I fast travel in ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition?

Fast travel unlocks after Melina appears at your first Site of Grace outside the Stranded Graveyard. Open your map and select any discovered Site of Grace to warp there instantly. You cannot fast travel during combat, inside most dungeons, or in certain story areas, so always rest at new sites to permanently unlock them as travel points.

How do I level up effectively in ELDEN RING?

Rest at any Site of Grace and select "Level Up" to spend runes. Prioritize Vigor to 40, then 60, for survivability, and invest in one or two damage stats matching your weapon's scaling. Avoid spreading points evenly. Use the Golden Scarab talisman to accelerate rune acquisition while farming.

How do I get runes fast when I am stuck on a boss?

The most reliable early method is the Gatefront Ruins loop in Limgrave for about 1,000 runes per minute. Later, the Mohgwyn Palace bird farm yields around 11,000 runes per kill with the Golden Scarab talisman. Equip the talisman and find a 30-second loop you can repeat consistently to grind levels quickly.

Do I need to defeat every shardbearer boss?

No—you only need two Great Runes to enter Leyndell, so you can skip Radahn or Rennala if you prefer. However, defeating all four main shardbearers (Godrick, Rennala, Radahn, Morgott) is strongly advised, since each Great Rune grants a passive bonus that eases the Mountaintops and Farum Azula at levels 80–120.