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Once you’ve wrapped up your initial run through Elden Ring, you’ll be all set for a New Game Plus (NG+) run. This allows you to start the game over from the very beginning while retaining all of your gained levels and collected items. This means you’ll have an opportunity to make your way through the Lands Between with all of the knowledge you’ve obtained while also facing an increase in enemy difficulty that keeps you on your toes. Here’s how NG+ works in Elden Ring.
Elden Ring: The Shadow of the Erdtree, the game’s first and only expansion, is out now, and we have dozens of guides to aid you in what many are calling the game’s most challenging section. Use our Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree guides hub to find things like the full world map, the best weapons in Shadow of the Erdtree, how to defeat all of the bosses, and so much more.
What is New Game Plus?
All the Dark Souls games have featured an NG+ mode, allowing you to replay the game from the beginning with most of your gear, items, and level from the first run. As expected, this mode does make enemies harder in Elden Ring, but rewards you with significantly more runes for defeating them.
Playing on NG+ can also be a great way to unlock certain items, since many of them are often tied to missable quests that overlap. We won’t spoil them here, but just know that unlocking everything in the game will require multiple playthroughs.
In addition, the previous Souls games have featured more than one NG+ mode. After you finish NG+, you can begin a new run on NG++ mode, and so on. Each subsequent run provides you with more difficult enemies than the previous, but yields more Runes. In past Souls games, the enemy difficulty usually caps out at around NG+7 or NG+9, but you’re still able to begin new runs past that. While we have yet to test that in Elden Ring, it’s likely the process works the same.
How to start NG+
After you’ve defeated the final boss and gotten past the credits, you’ll have the option to continue playing on your current game. However, if you want to start a New Game Plus run, head to Roundtable Hold, rest at the Site of Grace, and you’ll see a new option to “Begin Journey 2.” Selecting this will take you into NG+.
What are the NG+ changes?
While most of the content remains the same across NG+, there are a few changes you’ll need to be aware of when starting the new run. According to Fextralife, Runes earned from defeating enemies are increased by 550%. Either way, you gain significantly more Runes from defeating enemies since they’re more difficult to defeat. Enemies have more health and deal more damage in NG+ as well, however, so stay alert.
What carries over to NG+?
Much of your progress carries over to NG+ including the following:
ArmorWeaponsIncantations and SorceriesTalismansMost consumable itemsGesturesBoss Rememberance itemsCookbooksFlask levelsMap progress (though you’ll need to re-unlock Sites of Grace)
What doesn’t carry over to NG+?
There are numerous items that do not carry over to subsequent runs including:
Great Runes rewarded from bossesKeysAny areas that have been opened with keysBell BearingsSide quest and NPC quest progressAny progress towards main quests
Keep all of this in mind before diving into a new run. Good luck, Tarnished!
Elden Ring Guides
What Happens In Elden Ring? The Game's Story, Part 1: Limgrave Elden Ring Rune Farming: The Best Early Areas To Level Up Fast What To Do First In Elden Ring: Best Route, Weapons, And Important Map Locations + Show More Elden Ring Guides Links (7) Elden Ring: Best Weapons You Can Find Early In Limgrave Elden Ring Margit The Fell Omen Guide – Recommended Level And How To Beat The First Boss Elden Ring: How To Upgrade Weapons – Smithing Stones Explained Elden Ring Tips For Beginners: Learning The Ways Of The Lands Between How To Level Up In Elden Ring, Stats Explained Elden Ring: Best Keepsakes To Pick During Character Creation Elden Ring Map: Where To Find Your First Map Fragment
