How To Change Affinity Elden Ring

How to Change Affinity in Elden Ring: A Comprehensive Guide

Elden Ring's intricate character building allows for diverse playstyles. Understanding and managing Affinity, often referred to as character build or playstyle, is crucial for success. This guide will walk you through the mechanics of changing your Affinity in Elden Ring, emphasizing the importance of planning and the consequences of your choices. This includes adjusting your stats, weapon choices, and spell selections.

What is Affinity in Elden Ring?

In Elden Ring, "Affinity" isn't a direct mechanic like in some other games. Instead, it refers to the overall style of your character and how you approach combat. Are you a strength-based warrior, a nimble dexterity-focused rogue, a powerful faith-wielding paladin, or a devastating intelligence-based sorcerer? Your Affinity is determined by your stat allocation, your chosen weapons, and the spells or incantations you utilize. Therefore, changing your Affinity is a process of re-allocating your stats and changing your equipment.

Understanding Stat Allocation and its Impact on Affinity

Your stats fundamentally dictate your Affinity. The primary stats affecting your Affinity are:

• Vigor: Determines your health pool. Crucial for all builds but particularly important for melee-focused builds.
• Mind: Influences your FP (Focus Points), essential for spellcasters and incantation users.
• Endurance: Governs stamina, crucial for dodging, blocking, and attacking. Important across all builds.
• Strength: Affects physical attack power for strength-scaled weapons. Key for strength builds.
• Dexterity: Impacts attack speed, physical attack power for dexterity-scaled weapons, and reduces casting time. Important for dex builds and many others.
• Faith: Influences miracle damage and effectiveness. Essential for faith-based builds.
• Intelligence: Boosts sorceries and their damage. Crucial for intelligence-based builds.
• Arcane: Increases discovery rate (finding items), affects some spells and incantations, and influences the effectiveness of certain items. Important for builds focused on status effects.

Methods of Changing Your Affinity

There's no single button to "change Affinity." It's a gradual process involving several steps:

1. Respecting Your Stats: You can reallocate your stats using Larval Tears. These items allow you to respec your stats, effectively letting you rebuild your character. Finding Larval Tears requires exploration and defeating specific bosses or enemies. Use them strategically.

2. Equipping Different Weapons and Armor: Once you've respecced your stats, change your weapon and armor to match your desired playstyle. A strength build will use great swords and heavy armor, while a dex build might prefer katanas and lighter armor. Experiment to find the right balance!

3. Altering Your Spells and Incantations: Similarly, your spells and incantations should align with your new stat allocation and desired playstyle. If you respec to focus on faith, you'll want to use faith-based incantations.

4. Adjusting Your Playstyle: Changing your Affinity isn't just about numbers; it's about your approach to combat. A dex build requires faster, more evasive combat, while a strength build favors powerful, slower attacks.

Tips for Successfully Changing Your Affinity

• Plan Ahead: Before respeccing, carefully consider your desired Affinity and the required stat investment. Use online resources to plan a viable build.
• Use Larval Tears Sparingly: These items are rare, so plan your respecs carefully to avoid wasting them.
• Experiment: Don't be afraid to try different builds and playstyles to find what works best for you.
• Consider your playstyle: Do you prefer a slow, powerful approach or a quick, nimble style?

Changing your Affinity in Elden Ring is a dynamic and rewarding process. By understanding your stats, equipment, and playstyle, you can create a character perfectly suited to your preferred method of conquering the Lands Between. Remember to plan wisely, use your resources efficiently, and embrace the journey of experimentation!