Elden Ring Keepsakes: Best Starting Gifts

Elden Ring is a challenging game which means you need to take all the help the game presents to you. The starting Keepsakes in Elden Ring can help you on your journey, but which one should you choose?

Planning out your character creation in Elden Ring is really important as it can make a huge difference in your journey through The Lands Between. As in Dark Souls before it, there’s more to some starting gifts than meets the eye, therefore you should choose your Keepsake wisely and understand what each one does.

Below, we’ll provide a detailed description of the best Keepsakes in Elden Ring, explaining what each one does, how useful they are, and if any have some hidden use for later in the game. This way, you’ll know which one is best for your playthrough and will be able to plan your build accordingly.

The best Keepsakes in Elden Ring

Here are the best Keepsakes to choose at the start of Elden Ring:

Crimson Amber Medallion

The Crimson Amber Medallion is many players’ go-to keepsake as it boosts your maximum HP, making your health bar just a little bit longer. This is a good keepsake for players focusing on a strength build prioritizing HP.

While it’ll be replaced by more effective talismans later in the game, this is a nice way to give yourself some extra health in the opening hours of Elden Ring. Let’s be honest, you’re going to need it.

Golden Seed

You can increase the number of charges that your Sacred Flask can hold by using the Golden Seed. This essentially means you get an extra health refill if you choose this starting gift – which can be incredibly helpful. You’ll gather more Golden Seeds throughout your journey, but having one at the start of the game is a great boon to have.

It can also be used to boost your blue spells flask, making it a great starting gift for casters who need this precious resource to blast their enemies with Glintstone sorcery and other spells. Always remember though, you’ll find plenty of these on your journey, so as useful as they are at the start, Golden Seeds are not in short supply later.

Fanged Imp Ashes

Elden Ring allows you to summon AI help through Spirit Ashes which may assist you in taking down enemies. This makes boss fights easier as your allies will distract bosses and do some damage to them, allowing you to get your own hit in.

The Fanged Imp Ashes work really well as a starting option. Despite their low health, the Fanged Imps can provide Hemorrhage (Bleed) damage that will help you in defeating the earlier bosses, especially if you support them and use a Bleed weapon of your own.

You’ll find far more powerful Spirit Ashes later, but some that can make bosses bleed in the early hours of Elden Ring are very useful.

Lands Between Rune

Compared to the other items on the list which are obtainable in the game even if you don’t choose them as a Keepsake, the Lands Between Rune cannot be found in the open world and can only be acquired as a Keepsake.

That being said, there are lots of other items that do the same thing. It’s essentially a consumable that gives you 3,000 runes. It’ll get you closer to a level up in the opening of the game, but really, runes are simple to farm and plentiful.

Stonesword Key

This Keepsake allows you to have two Stonesword Keys that may be used to unlock treasure-hiding imp seals, among other things.

These keys can only be used once but you can find a bunch of these in the open world. Additionally, getting two of these early on will give you access to regions that wouldn’t have been accessible otherwise, making them helpful.

But these items are common later in the game, and many of the areas they unlock require you to be at a higher level before you have a chance to tackle them effectively.

Bewitching Branch

This Keepsake presents you with five Bewitching Branches that, when used, emit a pink fog with a very limited range. Enemies in this mist become enchanted and stop attacking you and fight alongside you for a brief time.

Getting five Bewitching Branches for free is fairly important because they are harder to get than the other Keepsakes on this list. However, you will ultimately be able to create them once you progress further in the story. But, no matter which route you take, getting there will take some time.

Cracked Pot

This Keepsake allows you to have two Cracked Points as the game begins. These pots might prove to be very useful as you can keep filling them with items to craft throwable items.

However, not many players use throwables in Elden Ring which might be owing to the game’s janky aim system. Moreover, finding these Cracked Pots in the open world is quite easy making this Keepsake especially helpful.

Boiled Prawn

The Boiled Prawn item negates 15% physical damage for 60 seconds so it’s a helpful item to use before a boss fight in Elden Ring, but once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Choosing it as a Keepsake gives you five of them, but you’ll soon burn them. You can also buy them from Blackguard Big Boggart once you befriend him after leaving Limgrave. He can be found at the Boilprawn Shack at Liurnia of the Lakes.

Shabriri’s Woe

Shabriri’s Woe is a talisman that attracts enemies’ hostility and directs it towards you. It is most often used during co-op gameplay where it can be used to distract bosses and draw them away from the host player.

You can also use Shabriri’s Woe coupled with the Mimic Tear to let the Mimic Tear take all the damage in your place. To do this, you’ll need to equip the talisman, summon the Mimic Tear, and then unequip Shabriri’s Woe.

As your Mimic will still be wearing it, they will draw the enemy’s aggro while you attack their blindside. Remember, bosses will still notice you again once you attack them, but they’ll be compelled to keep going after the Mimic Tear – so don’t think this strategy makes you invisible!

You’ll need to acquire the Mimic Tear in order to do this, which isn’t available until later in the game, but as the Mimic Tear is one of the best Spirit Summons in the game, this is a strategy worth waiting for. Just know that the item won’t have much use until then, that is unless you’re playing co-op.

So, that’s all there is to know about the best Keepsakes in Elden Ring. Be sure to check our Elden Ring page and brush up on all the latest guides below:

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