Journeying across the Lands Between as a Tarnished in Elden Ring is treacherous from the very start. You‘ll face rabid wildlife, armed soldiers, and monstrous demigods barring your path to the Erdtree. That‘s why choosing the right keepsake before you set out can give you an edge during the opening hours.
But with nine options to pick from, each with their own niche effects, it can be tricky to discern what will benefit you most on your heroic quest. As an experienced Tarnished with countless hours across the Fractured Realms, I‘m here to shed light on the pros and cons of every keepsake available.
An Introduction to Keepsakes
For those new to the idea, keepsakes in Elden Ring provide minor boons or effects to aid a character early on. You can only equip one keepsake at the start, so pick wisely!
Their power ranges from consumables like runes or attack boosting items, to equippable talismans for passive effects. Many keepsakes simply offer a small headstart that tapers off later. But some provide utility that remains useful even towards end-game activities.
When weighing your options, consider how each keepsake aligns with your chosen playstyle and build. For example, a faith caster will appreciate bonus flask uses more than crafters would extra pots. I‘ll cover the synergy between keepsakes and popular builds in this guide.
Here are all the available keepsakes and what they do:
None – Equip no keepsake and start with basics for your class.
Crimson Amber Medallion – Gain max HP boost.
Golden Seed – Start with additional sacred flask use.
Lands Between Rune – A one-use consumable for runes.
Fanged Imp Ashes – Summon imp spirits to aid in battle.
Cracked Pot – Allows crafting throwable items.
Stonesword Key – Unseal one imp statue for loot.
Boiled Prawn – Temporarily reduce physical damage taken.
Bewitching Branch – Control ordinary enemies for a short time.
Shabriri‘s Woe – Draw aggression of nearby foes.
Now let‘s analyze each of these keepsakes in-depth, so you understand their capabilities and shortcomings.
Don‘t Go Empty Handed – Skip the "None" Keepsake
Choosing "None" seems appealing if you think keepsakes provide only marginal benefits. But consider starting off slightly stronger versus facing unmodified game difficulty from level one.
The only case I recommend picking "None" is for veterans on repeated New Game Plus (NG+) playthroughs. Where part of the challenge is overcoming early content without any keepsake advantages.
Otherwise, you should definitely equip a keepsake as a new or struggling player. Use this guide to discover which one complements your playstyle best!
Crimson Amber Medallion – Ideal for Vigor & Survival Builds
This crimson hued talisman passively boosts your maximum health by a small percentage. At +0 rank, it grants +5% HP, scaling up to +8% at +3 rank. This bonus lasts your entire playthrough!
While 5% more HP might not sound impactful, it provides a subtle but meaningful edge. Between heavier hits from enemies and relentless combo attacks from bosses, every bit of vigor helps.
Particularly when tackling hardcore challenges like attempting a level 1 run. That extra cushion means possibly surviving an unexpected blow.
As such, Crimson Amber Medallion has excellent synergy with Vigor focused builds. Prioritizing health and physical damage absorption helps immensely early on. More so if you go all in by wielding a greatshield and heavy armor too.
You‘ll obtain enough upgrades to reach +3 rank through natural progression. So consider this keepsake an easy pathway towards debatably the most vital stat until end-game – Vigor.
Golden Seed – Mage Build Blessing for Extra Mana
Sorcerers and incantation users rejoice, for the Golden Seed keepsake solves early game mana dependence. Instead of the usual two flask charges, you begin with three uses of your sacred flask.
This means 50% more Azure or Cerulean flask charges for restoring FP/mana. Which keeps your spells slinging longer during the opening hours when access to gear and upgrades is limited.
Having ample FP allows liberal use of ranged attacks and summons. So starting as an Astrologer or Prophet feels significantly smoother. Even modest spells like Glintstone Pebble can turn tides against small packs of foes.
And once you retrieve your Spirit Ashes, additional mana facilitates keeping your spectral allies on the field. Lone wolves may favor the extra HP from Crimson Amber Medallion instead. But for faith/intelligence caster builds, Golden Seed is undoubtedly the top keepsake pick.
Lands Between Rune – Underwhelming Usage for Runes
This arcane keystone containing a swarm of runes seems an obvious breadwinner. Use it once to gain a hefty lump sum for a new character! Except… the payoff really isn‘t substantial enough to justify selecting this keepsake.
Popping one Lands Between Rune nets you 3000 runes. Which buys a few crafting materials or some basic gear. Then the item is gone forever, leaving no recurring value.
For comparison, clearing both tutorial dungeons awards over 5000 runes. And that‘s just the beginning as you explore the open world. 3000 extra runes stops mattering fast when levels cost tens then hundreds of thousands each.
I‘d only recommend this keepsake for two niche cases:
1) Trophy hunters seeking to unlock every item for 100% completion.
2) Speedrunners trying to buy gear faster for specific routes.
Otherwise, it‘s an underwhelming, transient boon not worth a keepsake slot. You‘ll stumble upon dozens of rune consumables organically while playing anyway.
Fanged Imp Ashes – Summon a Distraction for Free Hits
This special ash invokes a pair of impish creatures to melee targets on the battlefield. Each imp behaves as an individual unit with their own health bar. They dart towards the nearest enemy when summoned, dishing out minor slash damage via claws and horns.
Having two extra bodies to grab hostiles‘ attention is extremely useful early on. Imps act as huge aggro sponges, letting you flank and backstab foes during the chaos. Their swiftness also makes retreating and re-positioning safer.
Moreover, imps combo nicely with ranged builds. Peppering distracted enemies with magic or arrows while imps engage them up close is quite effective. Fanged Imp Ashes remains handy even later for swarming small mobs.
However, this keepsake comes with a catch… You must first acquire the Spirit Calling Bell to summon imps in the open world. This key item is granted after communing with the first major site of grace. So keepsake usefulness is delayed until after the tutorial area.
Still, the utility of expendable spirits endures over the long run. Making this a top keepsake pick for those favoring stealth, archery, and spellcraft.
Cracked Pot – Modest Aid for Crafting Builds
This chipped container may seem useless at first glance. But it enables crafting various throwable items like fire bombs throughout your journey. Without it, you cannot produce certain offensive tools for ranged tactics.
Cracked Pots let you conjure up five each of fire bombs or perfume bottles per craft. These scale off dexterity and arcane respectively. Both provide supplemental sources of damage alongside your melee or magic abilities.
Its advantage depends greatly upon build relevance. Pure sorcerers blasting foes from afar care little for tossing pots. But dexterity focused quicksteppers may leverage added ranged harassment between slashes and rapid repositions.
And arcane specialists stand to benefit most thanks to scaling poison, rot, sleep, and madness inflicting craftables. Though finding requisite crafting materials takes time.
You‘ll obtain more cracked pots later on regardless of keepsake choice. But starting with ability to produce throwables right away can facilitate more creative playstyles.
Stonesword Key – Invest in Potential Windfalls
This etched angular key grants access to one of the Imp Seals scattered across the Lands Between. These golden effigies block tunnels or alcoves hiding precious loot. Riches range from rare gear & spells to ancient smithing stones for upgrading armaments.
The catch is that stonesword keys don‘t respawn quickly. You may find two or three naturally in an entire playthrough. So the keepsake provides early means to unlock rewards that may otherwise stay sealed indefinitely!
I recommend saving your keepsake keys until you can access online guides or maps. This reveals exactly which seals hide the most valuable spoils tailored to your build. Rather than using keys hastily on lackluster chests of consumables.
Some key highlights to spend keepsake keys on:
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Magic Scorpion Charm – Boosts magic damage by 12% (insanely good for casters)
-
Winged Scythe – One of the best holy/dex weapons available
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Sacred Relic Sword – Strong faith/str weapon with ranged holy shockwave
As you can see, the treasures sealed behind Imp Statues range from best-in-category gear to top tier build enhancing charms. Investing one or both keepsake keys into the right seals nets you awards that keep paying dividends for dozens of hours.
Boiled Prawns – Narrow Usefulness Despite Damage Negation
These crustacean consumables temporarily boost physical damage negation by 15% upon consumption. The effect lasts for one minute, granting heightened defense against standard attacks.
However, boiled prawns only reduce Strike/Slash/Pierce damage from ordinary foes. Most bosses and late game enemies utilize Standard damage. So the prawns lose usefulness as the main threats you face ignore their effect.
Still, they help offset early game mobs that hack, bash and gouge you constantly. Surviving hits more easily lets you clear critter infested catacombs and mines packed with weak slash-heavy fodder.
If your chosen build and playstyle involves heavy trading of blows against Standard damage though, Crimson Amber Medallion buffs vigor far more universally. So while handy in narrow applications, I consider Boiled Prawns the least generally valuable keepsake.
Bewitching Branch – Crowd Control for Breathing Room
This eerie wooden branch enables one of the most unusual effects in the game. For the cost of 14 FP, you can "charm" an ordinary enemy fighter to become non-hostile temporarily. They will even battle former allies, letting you divide and conquer!
However, there are substantial limitations:
- Only basic enemies can be charmed, not bosses or wildlife
- Charmed duration is only 15 seconds
- Many enemies are outright immune to the effect
- You only begin with 5 Bewitching Branches
Still, turning a hostile attacker into a temporary ally cuts huge pressure during difficult encounters with multiple foes. If surrounded or overwhelmed, landing a charm may buy precious seconds to heal, buff up, or reposition for the next threat.
As with most keepsakes though, the usefulness of branches peaks early when levels are tight and combat more precarious. Late game with stronger gear, massive HP pools and damage mitigation, you shouldn‘t need such an obscure effect.
I recommend Bewitching Branches for spellblade builds or players who prefer lighter armor sets. Squishier travelers focusing on magic or dexterity welcome an extra layer of breathing room in chaotic battles.
Shabriri‘s Woe – Niche and Gimmicky Aggro Talisman
At first glance, this charm seems laughably useless. All it does is continuously attract enemies towards you! Why seek extra danger when survival already hangs by a thread?
But clever Tarnished realized aggro manipulation has creative applications. Equipping Shabriri‘s Woe focuses ALL hostile attention your way…
Letting summons and spirits attack unchecked!
With enemies locked onto your position, spectral wolves, imps and even NPC companions wail away freely. This keepsake essentially multiplies allies‘ effective damage output thanks to diverted aggro.
The problem is this talisman remains extremely niche and situational:
- Requires good positioning to "tank" hits
- Needs summons active to benefit
- Worsens encounters if spirit allies die
- Mandates heavy investment in vigor and damage mitigation gear
Shabriri‘s Woe works for very specialized "aggro tank" builds leading packs of spirits against bosses and dungeons. But can quickly backfire and get a novice adventurer killed!
I only recommend this to confident veterans ready to gamble with unconventional tactics. For most first-timers, the increased early difficulty poses too steep a risk.
Concluding Thoughts – Maximize Your Build‘s Potential
Hopefully evaluating every keepsake in Elden Ring helps you determine which suits your playstyle best. My #1 universal recommendation is Crimson Amber Medallion for raising vigor. But casters benefit enormously from the Golden Seed‘s extra flask.
While keepsakes offer only minor headstarts, their advantages compound by letting you specialize faster. With the right one, your build reaches its power spikes much earlier.
And should you ever desire to change keepsakes, all of them appear naturally while exploring. So don‘t fret if your selection still leaves you curious about alternatives later on. That‘s part of the joy in an open world full of hidden wonders.
Stay brave, Tarnished. May your light guide you towards triumph no matter the challenges faced. The legacy of the Elden Ring awaits!
