The world of Elden Ring is a treacherous place, filled with enemies and bosses ready to strike. If you're going to make it more than a few steps here, you'll need a way to get stronger and improve your stats.
Here's how to level up in Elden Ring.
What is a Site of Grace?
Whether or not you've played a Souls game, it is hard not to recognize the iconic checkpoints that litter the land. Dark Souls has bonfires, Bloodborne has lamps, Sekiro has the Sculptor's Idols, and Elden Ring has the humble Site of Grace.
Sites of Grace, are your resting points. They allow you to take a well-earned breather and perform a few housekeeping tasks, such as changing the day/night cycle by passing time, upgrading and allocating your flasks, and, of course, levelling up.
However, you're going to have to hold your horse, as your can't level up right from the off. You'll need to go just a little bit into the story first before you can start getting stronger.
How do you level up in Elden Ring?
So you've found your first Site of Grace. Congratulations! You're halfway there. To use these sites of grace for levelling up, however, you'll need the help of a very important NPC. As was the case with Bloodborne's Doll and the Emerald Herald and Firekeeper from Dark Souls 2 and 3 respectively, you'll need the help of a maiden before you can start upgrading your stats.
As you make your way toward Stormveil Castle, you'll happen across the Gatefront Ruins and, just outside of it, a Site of Grace. This is all out in the open and very easy to get to, so don't worry too much about getting lost.
Once you reach this particular Site of Grace, a cutscene will play out and you will meet Melina. She is the key for you to start levelling up. Once you have spoken to her, you can level up at any Site of Grace. That is if you haven't lost all your Runes along the way.