Elden Ring: How Co-Op Works | Summoning & More

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Important Elden Ring Co-Op Information
Elden Ring Co-Op With Friends
Summoning Allies and Joining Games
Increasing Your Odds with Summoning Pools

It’s no secret that Elden Ring is a tough game. The enemies are cunning and its world is full of traps and tricks making turning every corner a lesson on the things that have set out to kill you. Bluntly: it seems like a surprise that anyone could beat the game entirely on their own. While there are plenty of ways to pull ahead of the most difficult bosses in the game by either leveling up or searching for new gear, some players aren’t looking to spend hours in search of new solutions for taking out tough enemies when they’ve already spent a good chunk of the game making a build that, up until a certain point, has been working for them.

Luckily, you don’t have to play Elden Ring on your own. There are some bosses, especially in the back half of the game, that are brutally difficult and wipe the floor with even the most seasoned of Soulsborne veterans. That’s where co-op comes in handy.

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Important Elden Ring Co-Op Information

Before diving head-first into Elden Ring with a friend, there are a few things to note about how its co-op works. There are a few limitations that make the game’s multiplayer mode far from seamless that are good to keep in mind when playing.

You cannot ride Torrent: If you’ve summoned a collaborator while outside any of Elden Ring‘s legacy dungeons (ie. in the open world,) you won’t be able to summon your spectral steed. To a certain extent, this decision makes sense as it keeps players from being able to get too far away from one another. That said, it would be nice to simply be able to ride Torrent together or give all collaborators playing a single game a horse of their own.
You cannot load into a new area: One thing that really breaks up the co-op experience is the fact that if you want to travel to a new area with a collaborator, you’ll need to disconnect from the game, travel to where you want to go, then summon them once more. This means that once you’ve beaten a dungeon with a friend, you’ll need to reboot the multiplayer session in order to keep playing.
You can’t just summon anywhere: The most frustrating thing about Elden Ring‘s co-op is that players aren’t able to summon others anywhere they please. For example, areas where the boss has already been beaten become unavailable and you can’t bring new players in to explore a boss-less dungeon.
Summoning requires a consumable item: I’ll detail this more below but in order to summon other players for co-op, you’ll need to have an abundance of Furlcalling Finger Remedy on hand. Luckily, it’s easy to craft, but it’s important to keep in mind if you’re looking to do a lot of summoning.
Gold for friends, red for foes: When summoning players into your game, summon signs will be one of two colors: red or gold. Gold signs indicate that the person you’re summoning in is friendly and offering help while red means that it’s a player interested in PvP. If you don’t want to specifically summon someone to fight, avoid the red signs.
Invasions: Playing online with friends is great as it means you have the opportunity to team up to take down the Land Between’s biggest threats, however, it also opens you up to hostile invaders. Other players are able to enter your world and attempt to kill you or your summons, effectively ending the session. Luckily, there are more of you than there are of them if you’ve got a friend or two with you, but they can still pose a threat.

Elden Ring Co-Op With Friends

If you’re not looking to play Elden Ring with anyone specific (like if you’re just looking for another random player to help you take down a troublesome boss) go ahead and skip this section. Players who want to link up in-game, however, will need to learn about multiplayer passwords. Multiplayer passwords are a way to limit which players you’re interacting with online making it easy to find specific players to summon. Essentially, those who are using the same multiplayer passwords are able to exclusively see one another’s summon signs making it easy to quickly link up with friends.

To set a multiplayer password, go to the multiplayer menu and hit the Y button for Xbox or Triangle button for PlayStation. Enter the same password as one another and you’ll be set to go. If you want to play with a larger group, use the group password settings below the multiplayer password. Group passwords function the same way, but are often used for bigger groups of people similar to clans inside games like Call of Duty.

Summoning Allies and Joining Games

To summon an ally, whether that’s a friend using the multiplayer password or a stranger, you’ll need to go into the multiplayer menu and use the Furlcalling Finger Remedy. If you’ve been playing the game for a while, you should have a few of these on hand, but if not, they’re able to be crafted after purchasing the first Crafting Kit available from Merchant Kale inside the Church of Elleh. Furlcalling Finger Remedies can be crafted using Erdleaf Flowers which are found all over the open world growing on bushes.

Once the Furlcalling Finger Remedy has been used, you should start to see Summoning Signs appear on the ground. Interact with them and you’ll be able to see who’s dropped a sign. If you’re looking for someone specific, use the multiplayer password and they should be the only sign available.

If you’re looking to make a Summoning Sign of your own so that you can join someone else’s game, use the Tarnished’s Furled Finger from the multiplayer menu. Unlike the Furlcalling Finger Remedy, this can be used infinitely.

Increasing Your Odds with Summoning Pools

If you’re playing alone and looking to be summoned by someone random, your best bet is to use the Summoning Pools that are littered across the Lands Between. Summoning Pools are the statues of a person with their arms outstretched that can be interacted with to activate. Once activated, use the Small Golden Effigy (found outside the Stranded Graveyard during the opening of the game) and your Summoning Sign will be sent to multple Summoning Pools.

Summoning Pools are places where players are most commonly looking for help, so by using the Pool to broadcast your sign, you’re more likely to be summoned by someone looking for help. The only downside to this is that you can’t pick where you’ll be summoned, so you might end up in an area where you’re not wanting to play.

If you’re looking for help with an area, Summoning Pools are your best bet. Simply use the Furlcalling Finger Remedy and take a look at the Summoning Signs that are scattered around the Pool.

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