Elden Ring offers players much more freedom in how they approach obstacles than ever before, including a variety of new items that are absolutely essential to survival. Elden Ring is much like Sekiro in that you are encouraged - and often required - to use as many of these new tools and items as possible to overcome challenges.
Some items sold by merchants throughout Limgrave are absolutely essential to survival, especially if you want to use all the options at your disposal in Elden Ring. Some, like the Crafting Kit, open up entire new gameplay mechanics of Elden Ring, while others, like the Torch, are just handy to have on hand. Save up some Runes and get these items early to have a head start in Limgrave.
Crafting Kit
The Crafting Kit is an item that opens up the Crafting system of Elden Ring. Around the Lands Between there is a huge variety of ingredients and materials that players can collect. These can be turned into basic items, but these collected materials cannot be used if the Crafting Kit hasn't been collected.
Head to The Church of Elleh, right at the outset of the game, and look for Kale. He stands out from the environment thanks to his red coat and hat, so it's hard to miss him. Funnily enough, he actually recommends players buy a Crafting Kit from him, though he admits that he won't just give it away for free. Times are tough in The Lands Between, who would have known?
Crafting Recipes (Cookbooks)
When you first get the Crafting Kit your crafting options are pretty limited. However, certain merchants sell Cookbooks that expand your options significantly. These cookbooks aren't just for cooking, though – despite the name they add all types of craftable items to a player's selection.
Merchant Kale sells a handful of Cookbooks alongside the Crafting Kit. The Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook 1 and 2 each cost 500 Runes, while the Missionary's Cookbook costs 1000. These recipe books add items like the Holy Water Pot, Bone Arrows, and Invigorating Cured Meat, all items that can be extremely useful depending on your build.
Torch
When Dark Souls 2 was being teased it was said that caves and shadowy areas of the game would be so dark that having a Torch was essential. Though the timed Torch mechanic was added, the extreme darkness was a bit of a disappointment. Elden Ring seems to have taken this concept and run with it.
In countless areas throughout Elden Ring the darkness is absolutely impenetrable without a Torch. Turning up Gamma or your monitor's brightness can technically help, but that ruins the way the game looks everywhere else. Instead, buy a Torch from Kale for 200 Runes and put it in your off-hand. It's a cheap investment that makes traversing dungeons and caverns feasible, though it does take up the spot of a Shield or off-weapon.
No Skill Ash Of War
Ashes of War are incredibly important for maximizing a build and customizing the way your character plays. Most Ashes of War give an armament new scaling options and a new special ability, but one does the opposite. The No Skill Ash Of War disables the normal skill on an armament, default to your other weapon's Ash of War instead.
For example, most shields in Elden Ring have the Parry Ash of War by default. By putting the No Skill Ash of War on a shield instead, using the left trigger (or L2) will use your primary weapon's Ash of War skill instead, making sword-and-shield gameplay much more interesting. Find the No Skill Ash of War being sold by Knight Bernahl for 600 Runes at the Warmaster's Shack. From the Stormhill Shack Site of Lost Grace head eastward along the road, taking care to avoid enemies. You should find the Warmaster's Shack in a thicket surrounded by red flowers.
Cracked Pots
The Crafting system of Elden Ring is mostly limited to consumables and items that could otherwise be purchased at merchants. This includes Arrows, snacks for Torrent, Glowstones, and other similar items. To make ranged explosive weapons, like the Firebombs and Witching Urns of the Dark Souls series, you will need a Cracked Pot.
The Cracked Pot is a vessel that is used to craft thrown pot-based weapons. When you throw the item crafted with it, the Cracked Pot itself returns to the inventory, ready to be crafted into something else. It is a starting gift, but you can also buy them for 300 Runes from a variety of merchants. Kale sells three of them at the Church of Elleh.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.