Elden Ring Duelist Etiquettegids

How to understand the multiple aspect of dueling in Elden ring to dodge unpleasant interactions.

Dueling State in Elden Ring

Souls games PVP has been around for a while now and dueling is one of the funniest parts of the game. You will surely come face to face one day with someone with a different philosophy concerning dueling (as in no buffs, no healing, or even no fp flasks sometimes) and when that happens it often leads to point downs because it is so satisfying to kill someone who has wronged you. As someone who has played all of the soul’s games and spent multiple hours into PVP, I can say that etiquette is not something that is regular in dueling right now and it often leads to salt and misunderstandings.

Trouwens, the current dueling hotspot is the academy’s main gate in Liurna. (feel free to share other ones in the comments)

Dueling vs Invasions

Natuurlijk, dueling is not the same format as invasions. If you invaded in the first step, chances are that you got ganked by 2 of 3 people and that is completely fine.

Invasions are forced PVP and they should be treated like you have a serial killer in your backyard, because it is just that, an intrusion. You can throw a gesture if you see that everyone is there to have a great time and play casually, but this should not be expected, especially from hosts.

Nu, dueling is very different in the way that it is not forced and it’s most of the time a 1v1 situation where you clash your build against another one. In that way, it is expected that you want to face a good opponent that makes you learn the different ways of the meta and that you want to face someone who has come up with a strategy to kick some ass.

Dueling Etiquette

Many are in it to win, but the glory is at its mightiest when you face a strong enemy and you surpass him. Dueling is supposed to be fair on both parts, the summoned part, and the summoner part. The summoner has the advantage over the other. He can buff before the other one arrives to gain an advantage and he can prepare an ambush on his prey, but it’s not what dueling is about. To give a fair chance to everyone in the fight, these should be the basic things to do:

• No healing flasks in a duel. This one is simple, the summoned doesn’t have access to the same number of flasks so if it comes to a battle of attrition, he has the disadvantage.
• Let the other person buff himself before the start of the duel. If you want to face a good opponent with his full battle power, let him play his build! He put limited resources into that buff just as you in another aspect.
• To show that you want to start the fight, teabag the ground and wait for the other person to do the same (some people don’t know that one, but it’s a minor thing really).
• Give some space at the start of the fight. If you are a mage and a giant poise dude is up in your face, good luck with a fair start.

That is all from me. I’m not here to dictate how play but to maybe make you understand why you’re getting some point downs sometimes. Keep the game alive by having fun!

But still… Don’t forget your dung pies.