MostElden Ringplayers will only heal using their Flask of Crimson Tears, or maybe the occasional healing incantation. ButFromSoftwareprovided a variety of other ways to keep your HP from hitting zero, many of which are far stranger than just drinking a potion.
Quite a few of these can stack with each other, and when combined, they can make you pretty much unkillable. If you want to try something new in your next Elden Ring playthrough, here are some more interesting methods of sustaining your health during your journey through the Lands Between.
10Devourer Of Worlds
Devourer of Worlds Skillis the unique Weapon Skill of theDevourer’s Scepter. When used, it hits a wide area around you, dealing Fire damage and granting you HP based on the number of enemies it hits. That sounds good in theory, but the ability is quite slow and doesn’t do enough damage to make up for that.
The Weapon Skill isn’t all bad, though; if you are surrounded by enemies, there aren’t many abilities that hit in such a large area around you. Additionally, theMimic Tear AshesSpirit Summon, with its massive HP pool and infinite FP, takes great advantage of this Weapon Skill, especially since it’s basically impossible for the AI to miss with it. The Devourer’s Scepter is dropped byKnight Bernahl, who you’ll first meet at the Warmaster’s Shack, in Stormhill.
9Ash Of War: Lifesteal Fist
Longtime players of FromSoftware’s games will recognizeAsh of War: Lifesteal Fistas being reminiscent of the Dark Hand from theDark Soulsseries, or the Sacred Flame Pyromancy fromDark Souls 3. Effectively, the Weapon Skill allows you to punch your opponent so hard you stun them and drain their lifeforce in the form of healing for 30 percent of your HP.
The description of Lifesteal Fist says it only works on “foes of human build,” but it is less limited than that description makes it seem. It can be used on enemies as large as Crucible Knights and Misbegotten Warriors, and as inhuman as Silver Tears in their blob form. Still, it won’t affect most bosses, and even when it does, it’s still tricky to land with any consistency. If you want this limited, butinteresting Ash of War, the Teardrop Scarab that drops it is a short trek northwest of the Astray From Caelid Highway North Site of Grace, in Caelid.
8Ash Of War: Blood Tax
TheAsh of War: Blood Taxcauses you to wind up and attack with a series of rapid thrusts. Each of the hits that land will heal you for a small amount of HP, which will add up if you land the full combo. Interestingly, despite its name, Blood Tax doesn’t cause Bleed buildup on its own. However, each hit will cause a buildup of any status effect you have equipped, making it a viable option for status builds.
Blood Tax is the default Weapon Skill onVarré’s Bouquet, but that is arguably the worst weapon in Elden Ring. If you want to put it on a weapon that’s actually usable, you’ll have to get the Ash of War. It drops from the Teardrop Scarab you can find in a cave in the eastern section of Moghwyn Palace’s lake of blood.
7Godskin Swaddling Cloth
TheGodskin Swaddling Clothis aTalismanthat heals you after you attack multiple times in a row. Its effect works the same way as Millicent’s Prosthesis and the Rotten Winged Sword Talisman, making it a natural fit for builds running those Talismans.
However, many fast-attacking builds rely on dodging attacks for defense, rather than sustaining through damage with healing and poise, which means you are going to need a more aggressive, devil-may-care playstyle to really take advantage of this Talisman. You also can’t get it until late in the game; the Godskin Swaddling Cloth is dropped by the Spirit-Caller Snail boss at the end of the Spiritcaller Cave in the Mountaintops of the Giants.
6On-Kill Healing
Many items in Elden Ring will heal you after you’ve killed an enemy, the most obvious examples being theBlasphemous Blade, theTaker’s CameoTalisman, andRykard’s Great Rune, although there are several other options. Individually, these items are useful, but the real strength comes from combining them together.
When you do so, you’ll gain a massive amount of healing every time you kill an enemy. That isn’t going to be useful against the vast majority of bosses, but when exploring the overworld, you may get by with far fewer charges of your HP flask. Additionally, there are a few bosses and mini-bosses that have multiple entities, which gives this strategy some additional viability.
5Assassin’s Crimson Dagger
TheAssassin’s Crimson Daggeris a Talisman that activates when you land critical attacks like backstabs or ripostes. If you do so successfully, you’ll be healed for a significant amount. You obviously need to be using a build designed to break poise or use one of the game’s many parries for this to work, but you get an impressive reward for the effort.
Additionally, the Assassin’s Crimson Dagger’s effect will sometimes trigger more than once when using Colossal Weapons and Daggers, since some of their crucial animations hit the enemy twice. This Talisman can be acquired extremely early in the game, dropped by a Black Knife Assassin in the Deathtouched Catacombs in Stormhill, and is excellent when paired with theAssassin’s Cerulean Dagger, which has a similar effect but for FP.
4Crimsonwhorl Bubbletear
There are a few different Crystal Tears you can put into your Flask of Wondrous Physick that will heal you, but most of them do so in a fairly uninteresting way, either with a single burst or causing you to steadily recover HP. However, theCrimsonwhorl Bubbletearis a special case. When drunk, it temporarily negates non-physical damage, causing it to heal you instead.
This ability comes in handy against spell-spammers in PvP, or against a variety of boss attacks. For example, it will completely negate theElden Starsthe Elden Beast summons. You won’t be able to use its effect for most of the game, though, as this Crystal Tear is surrounded by Fingercreepers on a cliff ledge above the Giants’ Gravepost Site of Grace in the Mountaintops of the Giants.
3Frenzyflame Stone
Some players may be familiar with the Warming Stone, which you may throw on the ground and will heal you for 25 HP per second for 30 seconds. This item is underutilized, but it’s also a bit dull. TheFrenzyflame Stone, however, is basically a fancier version of its less chaotic cousin.
In most ways, it is strictly better, but only if you meet a certain condition: becoming the Lord of Frenzied Flame. If you have accepted the blessing of the Three Fingers, the Frenzyflame Stone heals you for 35 health per second and will cause slight Madness buildup to anyone who hasn’t felt the burning flame of chaos. These stones aren’t difficult to get, as you may craft an infinite number of them if you have theFrenzied’s Cookbook [2]at the cost of aYellow Emberand aSanctuary Stone.
2Ash Of War: Prayerful Strike
When you hit an enemy withPrayerful Strike Skill, you get one of the most effective alternative heals in the game. The Weapon Skill deals good damage and heals you for 30 percent of your maximum HP with a successful hit.
It also heals nearby allies, which can be useful in a wide variety of scenarios, but especially so with the Mimic Tear. If both you and your Spirit Summon use Prayerful Strike, you may keep each other alive. It’s essentially a better version of Devourer of Worlds variant (assuming your Mimic Tear hits its target). You can pick up this Ash of War around the middle of the game by killing an invisible Teardrop Scarab roaming the moat in Leyndell, Royal Capital.
1Great Stars/Butchering Knife + Prelate’s Charge
TheGreat StarsandButchering Knifeare different weapons in many ways, but they share something in common: when you hit an enemy with them, they heal you for two percent of your HP. The main difference between the two is that the Butchering Knife is a Dexterity weapon, and the Great Stars leans towards Strength, so which you choose depends on your preferred playstyle.
Both are strong on their own and with a variety of fast-attacking Weapon Skills, but you should try combining them withPrelate’s Charge Skill. This Weapon Skill has you slam your weapon into the ground with a burst of flame, then charge forward, hitting the enemy multiple times. While only the first and last hits count for most types of status buildup, when using one of these weapons, each hit will heal you. This strategy is both fun and effective, although you won’t be able to implement it until late in the game since Prelate’s Charge won’t be found until the Mountaintops of the Giants.
