How do you unlock affinities?

How Do You Unlock Affinities in Elden Ring?

Unlocking Affinities: The Key to Customizing Your Weapons

In Elden Ring, affinities play a crucial role in customizing your weapons to suit your playstyle. To unlock affinities, you need to follow a simple process that requires a bit of exploration and experimentation. In this article, we will guide you through the steps to unlock affinities in Elden Ring.

Obtaining the Whetstone Knife

To apply different affinities to your armaments, you must first unlock Ashes of War by obtaining the Whetstone Knife. The Whetstone Knife can be found just south of the Gatefront Ruins at the bottom of a set of stairs to the side of the main path leading to the ruins.

Unlocking Affinity

Once you have obtained the Whetstone Knife, you can use it to unlock affinities for your weapons. Ashes of War can be applied to your weapons to upgrade them with special status effects and affinities. Whetblades, on the other hand, can expand your selection of affinities.

Types of Affinities

Elden Ring offers various types of affinities, including:

• Keen: Enhances Dexterity scaling at the expense of all other attributes
• Quality: Slightly enhances and evenly balances Strength and Dexterity scaling
• Blood: Enhances Strength scaling at the expense of all other attributes
• Heavy: Enhances Strength scaling at the expense of all other attributes
• Sacred: Enhances Magic scaling
• Cold: Enhances Magic scaling
• Occult: Weakens the weapon’s default scaling but adds Arcane scaling

Tips and Tricks

Here are some tips to help you make the most out of affinities:

• Experiment with different affinities to find the one that suits your playstyle the most.
• Prioritize your strength stat if you’re a melee-focused player, as it will make your attacks more effective.
• Balance your scaling by applying different affinities to your weapons to achieve the desired balance between strength and dexterity.
• Don’t neglect your secondary stats, such as Endurance and Arcane, as they can provide significant benefits.

Conclusion

Unlocking affinities in Elden Ring requires a bit of exploration and experimentation, but the benefits are well worth the effort. By understanding the different types of affinities and how to apply them, you can customize your weapons to suit your playstyle and dominate the competition.