There is a simple version of this and a complete version, and both are below in that order.

Short answer

The direct answer is above the fold; the reasoning underneath is there for when the direct answer does not fit your situation.

The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

What to do instead

It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of Elden Ring.

Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have.

Why it works this way

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.

  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Prefer the in-game option over an external tool when both exist.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Expect one number in every guide to be out of date; the method is what matters.

When the usual advice fails

Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice.

Worth knowing alongside this

If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.

The practical answer

Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. Elden Ring is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

Where people go wrong

  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.
  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • Downloading a helper tool for something the game already does in its own menu.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.

Elden Ring FAQ

Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?

No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

Is this still accurate after the latest Elden Ring update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

What is the short answer?

It is the paragraph near the top. Everything after it exists for the cases where that paragraph does not quite fit.

If you only take one thing from this: the answer near the top is the part that matters, the rest is context.