Lords of the Fallen beginner’s guide

Lords of the Fallen, for newer Soulslike players, is a challenging experience that may be confusing and inaccessible. With unforgiving bosses and tough enemies, you will be wanting to be prepared before jumping head-first into the gauntlet. If you bear all of these things in mind, then the learning curve and more advanced features of the game will come naturally to you as you learn, notice things, and enjoy the game. Here is your beginner’s guide for Lords of the Fallen.

Everything you need to know starting out in Lords of the Fallen

Lords of the Fallen is very multi-faceted, and there is a lot to be mindful of. Just take a deep breath, and let’s begin.

Mastering the complex combat system

First and foremost, Lords of the Fallen is an action game. There is going to be a lot of combat, and you’re not going to get very far if you don’t pay attention to it. It may be tempting to just roll around everywhere and spam the enemies with your light attacks, but that’ll earn you a strike to the head. Again and again. The game’s enemies are designed to fend off players like you.

You need to learn all of the combat moves you have at hand, they’re there for a reason! It will take practice to know how each of your weapons, as they come and go, operate. What you can get away with, what you can’t. If you’re struggling, pick an easy enemy and practice one combat move, over and over again. Whether it’s the multi-hit attack, the parry, the soulflay, or the kick, every move is there to help you.

Screenshot: PC Invasion

Soon, each combat encounter won’t be “Oh no!” followed by rolling and light slaps. Each of your moves will be calculated, and you’ll form a fighting style you’ll like. This will influence your decisions over your gear, and ultimately, your entire build.

In short, know all of the combat moves, and practice them relentlessly. Even the ones you don’t like. This is the heart and soul of the game. You don’t have to be the best — just keep striving to git gud.

Did you miss or forget something?

As you go through the tutorial, each pop-up will appear until you dismiss them. They are chock-full of knowledge and teachings. Don’t worry if you missed one, or have forgotten one, as each and every tutorial pop-up will be stored in your inventory!

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Open the ‘pause’ menu, go into your inventory, and keep scrolling through the tabs until you’ve hit the tutorial section. Typically, Soulslike games do not do this, and some, like Elden Ring, have their tutorials hidden away. This feature is fantastic for newer players to get acquainted with the many mechanics of the game.

Weapon and armor statistics

So, you’ve been exploring and have gathered some loot. Awesome! Upon entering the inventory, however, you’re met with a bombardment of numbers and letters and icons and stats. Because it is a super beefy topic, I’ll only take you through the few things you need to know to actually make decent decisions when it comes to choosing your gear.

Scaling damage

Attack power, block protection, and requirements are all self-explanatory. The ‘STR’, ‘AGI’, ‘RAD’, and ‘INF’, may be a little more confusing, however. Those are four of your stats that you can upgrade when leveling up your character. Every weapon deals a base amount of damage on one or more types of damage, as enemies may be resistant to one or more types of damage. Their base damage is complemented by one or more of the four stats listed. The letter grade tells you how well it scales with that stat, so the higher your respective stat, the more extra damage that weapon will deal.

For example, a weapon with a D- STR grade will provide less extra damage than a B+ STR grade weapon, even though your Strength stat is the same when you wield both weapons.

Damage types

In the image below, I am comparing two weapons.

Screenshot: PC Invasion

I have the Rusty Cutter equipped (the weapon on top) and I am comparing the stats with the Hallowed Condemnation (the weapon below). The Hallowed Condemnation provides a higher Physical damage and is in green. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s the better weapon, however. The Rusty Cutter may only dish out 42 Physical damage, but it also deals 42 Fire damage, for a damage total of 84.

Against enemies that are resistant to Physical attacks, the Rusty Cutter does more damage than the Hallowed Condemnation. This is because they can shrug off the Physical damage, but are still fully susceptible to the fire damage of the Rusty Cutter.

I have explained two more complex features of the combat statistics of weapons, so you may want to reread the above points. It is super important that you know these things before you choose one weapon over the other.

Leave no stone unturned

In most Soulslike games, progress is linear. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t many nooks and crannies and some path deviations to explore. If you have a hunch that one path leads toward your destined location, explore all other paths first. In those paths, you may find visages and other loot and equipment to help in your journey.

You can ignore these extra locations, but you could be missing out on prime-time spoils.

The grind. Oh Lord, the grind.

Another given with Soulslike games is the grind. Yes, it’s unavoidable, unless you’re super skilled in the game. Grinding, for the uninitiated, refers to the act of killing enemies over and over again to get vigor, to level up your stats and become stronger. There will be moments where you simply aren’t strong enough, so you have to level up.

Screenshot: PC Invasion

The game has a really neat feature that makes grinding fun, exciting, and very rewarding, but I won’t spoil it here. I’ll just say this: The Umbral Realm is very rewarding for those who can brave it.

If you won’t be able to embrace the grind, then this game isn’t for you. But give it a good go, you might enjoy it!

My golden rule

This game is challenging. You will encounter bosses and enemies that kill you time and time and time and time again. This may sound cliché, but taking breaks really works. I know, I know, ripping yourself away from banging your head against the wall is surprisingly difficult, especially if you “were so close” or it “should be easy.” I’ve found that I always performed better and was more responsive to the boss’ moves after I’ve had a lengthy break. I imagine that the muscle memory sets in place after a good rest, and you’ll get further than you did before.

Rest is extremely important when playing Soulslike games. You’re here for a challenging and fun time, not to hate every minute of it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our beginner’s guide for Lords of the Fallen. For more detailed help with Lords of the Fallen, PC Invasion has got you covered.