The best Elden Ring Talismans for new players will help you become a lean, mean, rune-farming machine as fast as possible with very little effort. As you can equip a Talisman to improve your stats or give additional abilities to your character from the start of the game, it's a good way to set yourself up with a comfortable build before you can afford the levels needed to wield the best weapons.
You can pick up pretty much all of these Elden Ring Talismans within 15-20 minutes of starting the game without even having to swing a sword. You may need to be fast on your feet, though, especially if you really are just starting out. The enemies nearby some of these powerful Talismans will eat you alive, sometimes literally. But even if you're already well on your way through the Lands Between, these Talismans are great additions to your arsenal once you have some more Talisman Pouches to equip even more of them.
The best Elden Ring Talismans for new players
These are some easy Elden Ring Talismans you can pick up early to help out a variety of different playstyles. Mostly they give you survivability, just to take the edge off those enemies and bosses you might need to struggle against to pick up the weapon of your choice. So, the best Elden Ring Talismans for new players are:
Blessed Dew
The Blessed Dew Talisman heals you over time, which can be very useful when combined with one of the best Ashes of War you can get early, Bloody Slash, and its powerful but health-draining attack. Head to the Tower of Return way down to the south-west of the Weeping Peninsula and you'll find a chest at the top that teleports you all the way to the north of the map. You don't need to worry too much about that, but up the stairs in front of you is a sleepy golem. Sprint around him fast enough and you can grab the Blessed Dew Talisman from the chest before he sends you back to the site of grace. Best done when you're fresh out of runes, he hits very hard.
Green Turtle
The Green Turtle Talisman boosts stamina recharge, which is brilliant for pretty much any build and makes using your skills and attacks a lot more comfortable. Most of Elden Ring combat is a stamina management minigame, so this just makes the periods between you having no stamina and full bar much shorter. You can get the Green Turtle Talisman through a door that requires a Stonesword Key (which you can find plenty of on your travels, or even start the game with one if you want to get this straight away) just to the south-east of Summonwater Village, in an underground room filled with turtles (not dogs, no matter what the messages say).
Flamedrake Talisman
Depending on which way you went at the start of the game, this could be the first Talisman you find. The Flamedrake Talisman is one of the best starting Talismans for Elden Ring thanks to its great fire resistance, and thanks to the unhealthy number of dragons roaming around the Lands Between. You'll certainly find this one helpful if you're stuck taking care of the dragon in South Agheel Lake, or even later in the game when you need to take on Magma Wyrm Makar.
To get the Flamedrake Talisman, simply head up the hill from the Church of Elleh and murder some soldiers if you want to test your blade. In Groveside Cave in the cliffside at the top of the hill, you'll need to take on some wolves and rats but after that is the first real test of the game, the Beastman of Farum Azula. If you're having trouble then use a Furlcalling Finger Remedy outside the fog door to summon some help, he's pretty weak once you have a friend to help distract him. Sorry, we lied about not having to swing your sword to get these Talismans. But not if you're a mage! Which brings us to...
Spelldrake Talisman +1
The Spelldrake Talisman +1 is incredibly useful even in the late game. It offers you significant magic protection and can really help in a lot of boss fights. This one's a bit tougher but still possible to get within minutes of loading in, if you're a speedy sprinter. Protip: don't wear any clothes, your roll is faster and if you get hit by anything in this section you won't survive even if you have armor. In Agheel Lake there are some Dragon-Burnt Ruins near the south shore. Down some stairs there is a chest which will teleport you to the very scary Sellia Crystal Cave. Don't try to fight your way out, simply fall off the ledge to the left out of the door of the shack and sprint for the exit of the cave and down a ladder to a site of grace.
From here, leave the cave and summon Torrent to take you past the horrible red Swamp of Aeonia to a grace at the foot of a staircase to Sellia, Town of Sorcery. This place is full of invisible wizards who hit really hard, your main aim is to dodge them and get to higher ground at the east side of town, then get on the rooftops. Using Torrent, jump your way across rooftops to the tower at the south-west of town, until you can climb the ladder. When you've lit the brazier at the top, a seal will be broken on a door in the north-west of town. Dodge your way back over there and open the chest for your reward.
Don't forget to pick up the Rotten Stray spirit ashes while you're in Sellia, it's one of the best Spirit Ashes for starting out in Elden Ring. You can try and light the other braziers for an Imbued Sword Key and a spell called Night Comet but you won't be able to use them for a number of hours yet. Also try and check out the Redmane painting and you can be set to go solve the painting puzzle locations in Elden Ring.
The best Elden Ring Talismans for early melee builds
If you've decided you want to be a big, strong Tarnished who don't take no dung from nobody, then a melee fighting build is probably the way for you. From the all-rounder options above, you'll most likely want Green Turtle for stamina recharge, but then you can look into getting the best Elden Ring Talismans for early melee builds:
Axe Talisman
The Axe Talisman is one of the best early melee build Talismans in Elden Ring because it significantly increases your charge attack damage, by around 10%. To get it, head to the east of Lake Agheel into the Mistwood and find the ruins there. There's a big bear sleeping on top of the cellar entrance you need to enter, but thankfully he's too big to fit down the stairs, so just run away once he wakes up and then run back when he chases you. Ideal for Strength builds who will have enough poise to tank through attacks that hit them while charging up a strong riposte.
Winged Sword Insignia
This is the ideal Talisman for dual-wield or Twinblade builds, as it raises attack power with successive attacks after the third hit lands. From community testing, it appears each hit after the third increases attack by 3%, 8%, 10% and then 14%. Spin2win, friends! To get it, you'll need to be a bit sneakier than the usual starting Tarnished. The Winged Sword Insignia is inside Stillwater Cave, on the other side of Stormveil Castle in Liurnia. Most players will get there by defeating the boss of the castle, but you can find a hidden cliffside path from the bridge by the Finger Reader to the east of the castle. Now getting the talisman is another thing entirely as it drops from the boss inside Stillwater Cave. However, with a good cooperator on your side, anything is possible.
Radagon's Soreseal
This is an incredible early Elden Ring Talisman to grab, but quite difficult if you really are just firing up the game for the first time. It gives you +5 to Vigor, Endurance, Strength and Dexterity, which is the equivalent of 20 levels worth of point allocation, but increases the damage you take by reducing your damage negation about 15%. This is partially offset by the increase in raw defense numbers those stats give you though, so overall it's worth the trade, especially once you get some decent armor.
As a result of its value (it is, in fact, one of the few legendary Talismans in the game), this one is more of a heist than the others. To get Radagon's Soreseal early, in Limgrave head east, down past the Mistwood and follow the path to reach the Third Church of Marika. Head towards the stream behind the church to find a Sending Gate hidden in the reeds. This will take you to the far east of the map, in Greyoll's Dragonbarrow in Caelid. You won't be able to see the map when you first get there, but head inside the big building for a safe Grace to respawn at, then by heading south past the big scary guardian on the steps and following the road down the hill bearing slightly to the right, you'll reach another Grace by a bridge.
Don't cross the bridge (on account of the big dragon) instead head to the left and drop to another road heading towards a wizard's tower and another site of grace at Lenne's Rise. Head behind the wizard's tower to find a Spiritspring that you can jump up with Torrent, then hug the cliffs on your left to head down towards the Minor Erdtree. Continue around to the back of the tree to find another Spiritspring to jump up and you'll find yourself outside Fort Faroth.
The heist will be at a full sprint, on account of the inside being full of nasty bats, rats and magic ghosts. Run left inside past the bats and sirens straight across to a ladder at the far end. Go up it and open the chest to get half of the Dectus Medallion, for later. Then drop off the right side of the tower and go to the second hole further along the roof. Drop in and round the corner hugging the right wall and rolling through stuff to avoid a rat on the left. Grab the item on the corpse if you can (it's a big golden rune) and then turn back and make a running jump to the next upper floor room where there are more rats. Try and run past them to find another drop down with a ladder, you might be able to see the shine of the item through the floorboards to help guide you to the right place. Then, most likely die and respawn outside, but it doesn't matter; got Soreseal.
The best Elden Ring Talismans for early magic builds
Want to keep your distance but keep piling on the damage? Magic users in Elden Ring benefit the most from Talismans as they can most drastically change the way your character engages in combat. As spells also use stamina, Green Turtle is still a good starter set, but then for the best Elden Ring Talismans for early magic builds you'll need:
Radagon Icon
Old Radagon sure had all the best gear, huh? Radagon Icon shortens the casting time of spells, giving you the equivalent of 30 extra dex points but just for casting animations. That's incredibly useful all the way up to Dex level 40, at which point with the additional 30 virtual points you hit the attack speed cap. Magic builds don't really start coming together until after you've been to the second major dungeon, Raya Lucaria, which you technically could do incredibly fast (Stormveil Castle cliff path, sprint past dragon to grab Glintstone Key, sprint past legions of scholars and mages etc.) but we'll let you figure out how to do that. Radagon's Icon is in a treasure chest on the upper floor of the Debate Parlor where you fight the Red Wolf of Radagon, a pet we assume. Once you defeat the mini-boss, head outside and take a right to go round the corner and drop onto a hidden ledge. Climb a ladder at the other end and then head through a broken window. Find a treasure chest in here and enjoy speed spellslinging for the rest of the game.
Two Fingers Heirloom
If you're wondering if you should get into incantations instead of sorcery, one way to get enough Faith without actually dedicating precious levels to the stat is to use a stat-boosting Talisman. The Two Fingers Heirloom will give you +5 Faith for a free trial of any lower level incantations you find. Getting it is simple, just head to the Purified Ruins on the east side of the flooded valley in Liurnia. There is a cellar entrance hidden by wooden blanks and barrels that you can roll into to destroy.
Marika's Scarseal
Similarly to Radagon's Soreseal, this is a multi-stat-boosting item at the expense of increased damage taken. Marika's Scarseal adds +3 to Mind, Intelligence, Faith and Arcane, while decreasing damage negation by 10%, so not quite as powerful as the Soreseal variant (Marika does also have one of those but it is definitely not an early game friendly grab). Still, that's 12 levels worth of stats which are extremely valuable to mages. To get it, you're going to have to encounter the psyche-shattering underworld of Elden Ring. If you thought the map was already massive, even before seeing how far it stretches on the overground, there's another world down here.
Head to the Minor Erdtree in the Mistwood and you'll find a squat little round building with a lift in it. The lift goes down for a very, very long time, and drops you off in the Siofra River Well Basin. Run up the path, past all the very slow moving claymen, to another lift that goes up. Then just keep running through areas until you find steps leading up to a temple looking building with eight pillars flanking the steps. Here you'll find a map, which will help you locate a very specific Sending Gate marked on our map above. You'll need to run through the woods past some blue yeti men who are EXTREMELY accurate with their very big arrows. Your best bet is to wait for a gap in their shots then let Torrent take one or two for you by jumping before they hit.
You need to run up a fallen pillar which has a blue yeti archer on it to reach the Sending Gate and get sent in the direction of that red line to an upper level. From where you land, walk forwards and scout out a very big dude lying in a very big lake. You can skirt around him to a waterfall on the otherside and loot Marika's Scarseal from a corpse under the waterfall. Then use Torrent to peace out of the entire area. That is too scary for a newbie Tarnished.
With that you should be all set with the best Elden Ring Talismans for early game and beyond! Honestly some of these will do you for pretty much the entire game if you just want to set and forget. Found any better talismans in the first few hours of Elden Ring? Let us know!
