Elden Ring guide: Where to go after Stormveil Castle

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[Happy Elden Ring day! I’m going to keep this intro as spoiler-lite as possible, although the further down you scroll, the more specific I’ll be. Everything described here can be reached in the first hour of gameplay — if you know where to go.]

From your very first step into the open world, there’s a ton of freedom to explore Elden Ring in every conceivable direction, and I would strongly encourage you to carve your own personal path forward. With that said, at a certain point in your journey, you might be, well, unsure of where to go next. I hesitate to say “lost,” as there’s always something gnawing away at the back of your mind in this sprawling game. But take it from me: you don’t necessarily want to spend several hours barking up the wrong (Erd)tree.

You know how in Dark Souls, some silly players (*glances nervously*) thought they were supposed to fight the hard-hitting skeletons outside of Firelink Shrine right away? They (*starts to sweat*) kept trying to take them on even though they were utterly outranked. What were they thinking?! Well, I maaay have done something similar in Elden Ring.

After I encountered the first main story boss and decided to save the fight for later, I started exploring a creepy region I wasn’t equipped to handle yet; I kept looking and looking, only to realize I missed something obvious. Suddenly, the foggy-by-default world map began to balloon. It was one of several mind-blowing moments in the game.

For folks who have kept up with Elden Ring coverage and trailers or even tried the Network Test build, you’ll know that one of the main points of interest early on is Stormveil Castle. That’s meant to be the first main Souls-style densely-packed Legacy Dungeon, complete with a fearsome