Elden Ring: How Co-Op & Spirit Summoning Work | Screen Rant
Elden Ring has managed to maintain the signature challenge of FromSoftware's Dark Souls games while also revamping how players can get assistance from both other players in co-op and from summonable AI spirit companions when playing alone. These changes go a long way toward making the game more accessible for those who don't feel up to the task of taking on every challenge alone, despite Elden Ring's less forgiving nature.
Dark Souls was known for difficulty, and while that reputation has perhaps been given a bit too much credit (and sometimes eclipsed other elements of the conversation), there's no denying its importance. FromSoftware's Souls games, including the seminal Demon's Souls that started the revolution, came at a time when many games held players' hands a bit too tightly, taking away a key element of interactivity for many. This, however, led to frustrations by some players are the difficulty of the games, as not everyone always felt up to the task.
But FromSoftware has remained steadfast in their desire to make challenging games that can't simply be overcome by wrapping everything in a soft foam sleeve. Instead, Elden Ring has endeavored to bring more players into the fold by making design decisions that are ultimately less punishing, continuing to encourage players to use its asynchronous multiplayer elements like leaving messages and seeing player deaths in the world, and providing more avenues for cooperation - up to and including cooperation with friendly AI.
The ability to summon friendly players isn't new to Elden Ring, already being a Dark Souls staple. This has long been a part of FromSoftware's oeuvre, at least as it lives in the mind of the modern player, from all the way back in 2009. Demon's Souls started many of the multiplayer options that are still at work in Elden Ring, including multiplayer invasion, cooperative play, and the messaging system. Elden Ring doesn't entirely rewrite the book on any of this, but instead makes it even easier for players to find one another and engage in a bit of jolly cooperation.
Elden Ring's weird terminology may make this a little less straightforward than it might otherwise be, since players will use items like the Tarnished's Furled Finger or Taunter's Tongue to facilitate online play in various ways, taking on equally baffling-sounding roles like the Recusant or the Host of Fingers. But Elden Ring's online multiplayer is ultimately less baffling than it might at first seem.
Anyone who wishes to get some help from fellow players can do so in two ways. Firstly, they can use a Furlcalling Finger Remedy to reveal the Summon Signs of eligible players nearby. They can also activate a Summoning Pool, called out by their proximity to Martyr Effigies, to achieve basically this same thing in a local area. This allows for the height of cooperative convenience, where players can find a collection of summons without having to wander all over the world to find them. In either case, using a Summon Sign left on the ground will allow other players to be summoned into the game to lend assistance. Summoning a friendly player (or two) will also allow the host to be invaded by antagonistic players, making the system a little bit different - but generally more host-friendly - than Dark Souls and its ilk.
Players can also join in another Elden Ring host's cooperative sessions in multiple ways, either by leaving a Summon Sign through the Tarnished's Furled Finger item or the Small Golden Effigy. This will allow them to be summoned by another player who needs assistance. Additionally, players who activate the Blue Cipher Ring item will be called in as a Hunter to assist any player who has activated the White Cipher Ring, allowing for proactive players to seek whatever kind of multiplayer session they wish. In any of these cases, players will be able to tackle Elden Ring's difficult areas or bosses together, and will be able to defeat invading players together or banish them by escaping to the area's boss arena.
Players can use Elden Ring's Multiplayer menu to set up a matchmaking password, which will allow them greater control over how their online experience works. If this is done, a player's Summon Sign will only be sent to others using the exact same password, making it possible for friends to play through various parts of the game together without worrying about accidentally being matched with other players. This doesn't prevent invasions from happening, nor does it interfere with the use of the Blue Cipher Ring by Hunters, but it's a convenient way to make playing with friends easier.
That said, Elden Ring does not support full crossplay between different gaming ecosystems. Players on PS4 and PS5 can play together, or Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, but they can't play with PC players, nor between different console brands. Anyone planning to undertake the game with their friends should be sure to buy the game on the same platform as those they plan to play with.
For players who cannot play online or don't want to, the option to engage in cooperative gameplay still exists in some measure. While not quite as robust as a player or NPC that might join a player, Spirit Ashes allow a character to summon either a single friendly companion or a group of several, depending on which Spirit Ash is used. These can be found all over Elden Ring's open world, but there's more to it than just summoning them at will.
Spirit Ashes can only be utilized once players have found the Spirit Calling Bell, an item that can be obtained in two ways. It can be purchased outright from the Twin Maiden Husks once players have found their way to the Roundtable Hold, or it can be acquired for free from Renna the Witch. Using this bell, Spirit Ashes can be summoned anywhere a Rebirth Monument exists in the world. These have a range, so players will have to be within a certain (fairly generous) proximity to one in order to make use of Spirit Summons. Most bosses in Elden Ring, hidden or not, will have a nearby Rebirth Monument, and many other places around the world will as well. Only one of these summonings can be performed at any given Rebirth Monument before players must rest at a Site of Grace to reset them.
Elden Ring is not a forgiving game, much in the same way that From Software's previous titles have made demands of players. But it has provided plenty of opportunity for players to mitigate difficulty, either by allowing them to access other parts of the world freely, summoning friendly players to their aid (something Sekiro famously did not allow), or now by keeping Spirit Ashes on hand to assist with difficult fights, leaving viable options even for those who choose to stay offline. Elden Ring's world may not offer much solace, but at least these new systems will give players a leg up over the many horrors waiting in the Lands Between.
Elden Ring comes to PC on February 24, and PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 25.