Elden Ring multiplayer: how to play multiplayer in Elden Ring

Want to know how to play multiplayer in Elden Ring? While you can progress through the Lands Between alone, Elden Ring allows you to invite friends or hop into their worlds by using a range of mystical items.

Below, we’ll break down everything you need to know about Elden Ring multiplayer, including how to team up with friends and how to fight other players.

How to play multiplayer in Elden Ring

There are three ways to experience multiplayer in Elden Ring:

• Messages
• Coop
• Duels and Invasions

You write messages using the Tarnished’s Wizened Finger, which is the very first item you will find in Elden Ring. You cannot leave the starting room without taking this finger, so it’s safe to say that everyone will have it in their inventory. These messages could be used to guide or trick players, or just offer information that you think is important.

To play coop or duel other players, you must interact with summoning signs. To see summoning signs around the world, you must use the Furlcalling Finger Remedy, which is a craftable item that you make with 2 Erdleaf Flowers, a very common ingredient found throughout the Lands Between. You can also activate Summoning Pools, typically found near boss encounters, to find summoning signs that players have left.

How to join another player in Elden Ring

To play coop in Elden Ring, you need to use either the Small Golden Effigy or the Tarnished’s Furled Finger. The Tarnished’s Furled Finger is an item that you can use to create a gold coop summoning sign, which other players can then find and interact with to summon you into their world for help.

The Tarnished's Furled Finger is found on a corpse near the Stranded Graveyard Site of Grace, in the room with the Imp Seal. This will also give you the Finger Severer, which we mention later on in this guide.

The Small Golden Effigy sends these signs to a range of nearby Summoning Pools, which are often found right beside or near to boss rooms. Players who activate these Summoning Pools will then see your summoning sign and be able to call on you for help before attempting to defeat a boss.

You can get the Small Golden Effigy by examining a Martyr Effigy on the path leading down from the First Step Site of Grace, when you first enter Limgrave.

While playing in coop, other players can invade your world as a bloody finger to fight you and your allies, so make sure you have the best weapons in Elden Ring equipped.

How to duel another player in Elden Ring

If you’d rather fight other players, you can hop into Elden Ring’s competitive multiplayer. To do this, you need to use either the Small Red Effigy or the Duelist’s Furled Finger. These act in a very similar way to the items above.

The Duelist’s Furled Finger will create a red competitive summoning sign in a specific spot, while the Small Red Effigy will send these signs to nearby Summoning Pools. If a player interacts with your competitive summoning sign, you will jump into their world as a Duelist, tasked with killing the other player. You can find both of these items at the closed entrance to the Stormhill Colosseum, located northeast of the Stormhill Shack in Limgrave.

When you are ready to say goodbye to another player, you can use the Finger Severer to end an online session. If you are the host, this will allow you to select a summoned player and send them back to their own world. If you have been summoned, you can use this to head home and leave the other player to continue their journey alone.

How to invade another player in Elden Ring

If you want to surprise another player, you could also use a Festering Bloody Finger. These are rare one-time use items that you can find around the Lands Between that allow you to invade other players without being summoned. When you reach Liurnia of the Lakes, you can go to the Rose Church to get a Bloody Finger or Recusant Finger, which are essentially permanent versions of the same item with slightly different lore.

Usually, players can only invade a world in which the host is playing coop, meaning they'll usually have backup. However, those of you who want the thrill of invasions while playing solo need to use the Taunter's Tongue. This allows other players to invade your world at any time, even when playing solo, while also decreasing the time between invasions.

You get the Taunter's Tongue by killing Mad Tongue Alberich in the Roundtable Hold, who appears when you jump off the balcony into the lower hall. It allows other players to invade your world at any time, even when playing solo, while also decreasing the time between invasions.

For some extra help during invasions, head to the Roundtable Hold and buy the White Cipher Ring and Blue Cipher Ring from the Twin Maiden Husks, pictured above. If you wear the White Cipher Ring, it will instantly request help from a fellow player who is wearing the Blue Cipher Ring when an enemy invades your game.

That’s everything you need to know about Elden Ring multiplayer. For more, make sure to check out our locations guide for Golden Seeds, Memory Stones, and Sacred Tears in Elden Ring. You should also take a look at our guide to the best class in Elden Ring, so that you can get the best start possible on your journey.