Elden Ring, much like its predecessors, rewards the players with currency and XP upon killing enemies, selling items, or using consumables that contain Runes within them for hundreds, even thousands of them. You will use Runes to level up the stats of your starting class, allowing you to increase your health, stamina, and magic pools, as well as equip heavier armor and weapons.

Related: Elden Ring Review - A Modern Masterpiece That Surpasses All Expectations

While Elden Ring does have a respeccing option, it's important that you level the stats that matter to your build first. Casters will want to level Faith or Intelligence, while greatsword-wielding warriors will want to bump their Strength stats. Let's go over how these stats work and what sort of ailments you can expect to find in the Lands Between.

Updated on March 19, 2022: We've updated this guide to include a helpful video that breaks down eveything you need to know about the various stats in Elden Ring.

Core Stats

Before we talk about what your attributes do, we must first discuss your character's core stats. You have three resources as a Tarnished: HP, FP, and Stamina.

• HP is your effective health pool. If this drops to zero, you die and drop all of your current Runes—Elden Ring's currency—at your corpse's location.
• FP is effectively your mana bar, allowing you to use Ashes of War, cast spells, and summon spirits.
• Stamina allows you to roll, attack, and block damage with your shield. Stamina replenishes over time, while FP and HP do not.

There are three secondary stats that are quite important: Equip Load, Discovery, and Memory Slots.

• Equip Load is how much you can currently equip on your character while remaining nimble. Reaching an Equip Load at 70 percent or lower allows you to quickly roll. Over 70 percent will cause you to "fat roll," making it harder to avoid attacks. Should you reach over 100 percent, you won't be able to roll at all.
• Discovery is a magic find stat, determining how likely enemies will drop items when they die. You can increase this through certain items and by raising your Arcane attribute.
• Memory Slots determine how many spell slots your character has. Unlike past Soulsborne titles, your spell slot limit is no longer tied to an attribute. You'll find Memory Stones throughout your journey that will increase this stat.

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Character Attributes

Character Attributes in Elden Ring refers to the eight primary stats you will level up with Runes at various Sites of Grace found throughout The Lands Between. Each Attribute will grade a wide range of offensive and defensive skills, even passive ones that can give you the edge in battle. Attributes are the foundation of your character and allow you to fine-tune your character.

Below is a list of every Attribute in Elden Ring and their corresponding benefits.

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Related: Elden Ring: Which Starting Class Should You Choose?

How To Increase Your Attributes

Attributes can be increased at any Site of Grace by spending Runes, a currency obtained by slaying enemies and breaking Golden Runes. Each time you level an attribute this way, increasing your character's level again will become slightly more expensive. Additionally, some talismans in Elden Ring will increase your character's stats while equipped.

Should you invest in stats you later find irrelevant for your build, you can respec your character's attributes at a certain NPC. You'll unlock the ability to respec after defeating the second major boss in Elden Ring. Each respec costs one Larval Tear, a rare resource found throughout the world and on certain tough enemies.

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Status Effects And Ailments

You will see many Status Effects and Ailments in Elden Ring as you and your opponent are capable of inflicting them on one another via special weapons and items. However, as touched on above, you can build resistance to these effects by upgrading specific skills, allowing you to endure areas or attacks for a longer duration before succumbing to them.

Below is every Status Effect and Ailment present in Elden Ring, all of which apply to Offensive and Defensive stats directly affected by Attributes and your current equipment.

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Next: Elden Ring: Complete Guide And Walkthrough