Elden Ring Best Keepsake [Top 10 Explained]

Starting with an Elden Ring Best Keepsake can give you a head start or an edge over a few starting enemies while you roam around the free world. Keepsakes are a gift or bonus for your character.

At the start of the game, once you select your Elden Ring Class, you have the option to choose one Keepsake out of the nine options. Each Keepsake can grant its users early access to health, power, currency, companions, attribute buffs, and more. My guide will enlist all nine keepsakes alongside their abilities for your better understanding.

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Key Takeaways

• You can choose one Keepsake out of nine.
• Each Keepsake has its unique ability.
• Even if you choose a different Keepsake at the start, you can find all nine of them while playing the game.
• Keepsakes can give you currencies, restore your HP, increase your health slightly, summon spirited animals (your furry friends that aid you in battle), and more.
• The guide will talk about the best Keepsake you need to choose immediately.
• It will help you early on in the game, especially if you’re a beginner.
• Please ignore the “None” option while selecting a keepsake, as it would be a fool’s choice.

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Related: Once you’re familiar with all the keepsakes, you can pair them with the best starting classes in Elden Ring. However, if you need help deciding what Keepsake you should pair with, for instance, the Astrologer class, you can check out our Best Astrologer Keepsake guide!

Elden Ring Best Keepsake

Elden Ring allows the players to complete quests and journey through the magical world to learn new skills, master weapons, and unlock items, Talismans, and Spells. 

It even allows you access to the weapons used by the most challenging bosses. You have a variety of combinations to try out in your journey to be the best in the game.

Consequently, giving you access to ten classes in the game, you can choose to scout the world with any of the ten classes. These classes include;

• Confessor
• Samurai
• Vagabond
• Wretch
• Prophet
• Hero
• Astrologer
• Warrior
• Prisoner
• Bandit

All the classes mentioned above have different attributes and starting gear for you to use in Elden Ring. Here comes the best part, you can personalize any of these characters however you fit. Moreover, each synergizes perfectly with one of the nine keepsakes in the game!

Before randomly selecting a Keepsake in a hurry, ensure you’ve read all about its abilities. As mentioned before, they can be helpful at the start of the game, and we’ll learn why.

I prefer the Golden Seed; however, players can opt for the Crimson Amber Medallion. Both serve their purpose to the character. One gives you an extra flask to cast spells, whereas the other buffs your overall health.

You’ll find it hard to survive during the game’s early hours. You’ll want to choose the Crimson Amber Medallion for that ultimate purpose. That is a favorable and optimal option; however, as a sorcerer in Elden Ring, you’ll find FP flasks more important than that tiny health bar.

Why is that? Going into the details of all the Elden Ring Classes will derail us from the main topic at hand; sorcerers such as Mage use FP to cast spells. They are more focused on long-range fights and tend to keep their distance from the enemy. Because their main goal is to deal damage through long-range spells, the Golden Seed is the best option.

Related: Best Strength Weapons Elden Ring

None

While having to choose from a variety (basically nine) of Keepsakes, players will come across the “None” option, and as the name suggests, you get to equip zero Keepsakes. The worst option you could choose is “None.” Do you really believe you don’t need an extra hand while clearing the game’s early hours?

If you’re playing Elden Ring a second time after clearing it in the first trial, you can opt for the option “None.” However, as a new player to the game, you should leave this option as it is. You will most definitely need a Keepsake as your tiny little god’s finger to help you roam around the open world of Elden Ring and fend off scary monsters.

In short, choose this option only if you’re a new player and have a basic know-how of Elden Ring! Professional players are more than welcome to opt for this option. They can have fun playing with tough challenges. 

Crimson Amber Medallion

As we move onto our prominent and valuable keepsakes in Elden Ring, I believe Crimson Amber Medallion to be the perfect Keepsake for players that have chosen Warrior, Vagabond, and any other class that focuses on strength and dexterity attributes. Unlike our high faith level classes. The ones I’ve mentioned above are best for quality builds that revolve around high-hitting weapons paired with maximum overall health.

The Crimson Amber Medallion synergizes perfectly with survivability AKA Health. You want to avoid dying after taking two-three hits from your opponents, whether in a PvP or PvE fight. However, while talking about keepsakes at the start of the game, PvP fights hold little importance now!

You only need to focus on clearing the game’s early hours at ease. That’s what these keepsakes are all about. They can help you in different aspects aforementioned in the guide.

Anyways, the Medallion will give the players extra health early on in the game. What better way to start the game than with an extra ounce of health?

Another benefit regarding the survivability in Elden Ring is defeating formidable enemies and gathering items. I mean that you’ll come across challenging/tough-to-beat enemies even in the beginning. The Medallion will slightly help you in those battles! 

Some of them spawn at various locations. These locations can sometimes be your best bet for farming items!

And gathering as many items as possible at the start ensures a quick boost to your attributes! For instance, you’ll want to pump points to Vigor and Intelligence for more FP and HP. That way, you’ll be able to cast more spells and have enough health to defeat enemies.

In short, you’ll be able to go down the path of being the strongest Mage or a Warrior relying on brute strength or sorcery! Besides that, Elden Ring allows us to customize and personalize our character to minor details.

You can combine spells, talismans, weapons, and armor to create the best build in Elden Ring. Builds incorporate some of the best items in the game that allow you to use different playstyles and spells with other effects.

 For instance, if you go for an Arcane build, your primary focus will be on a class with the highest attributes in Arcane, Vigor, Endurance, and Dexterity.

Related: If you need clarification on the synergy or pairing each Keepsake has with your character’s stats, check out our Best Stats Guide for Elden Ring.

Golden Seed

Ah, the Golden Seed! If you’re focused on building a sorcerer build, you should choose Golden Keepsake as your starter item. The Seed provides an additional FP flask to the user and allows them to cast more spells for a slightly higher duration of time.

Early games can pose a significant threat to sorcerers if they have limited flasks. An additional FP flask allows them to blast the enemies away with sorceries. On the contrary, starting the game without the Golden Seed will leave you with less FP to cast sorceries, so it’s best if you opt for it for the maximum number of spells you can cast.

Additionally, you don’t have to worry much if you accidentally choose a keepsake you didn’t find worthy. You’ll always find a bunch of Golden Seeds, Crimson Amber Medallion, and the latter at various points in Elden Ring.

Let’s create a typical scenario where the Golden Seed is much more effective in battle. Suppose you’re fighting an enemy as a Mage or Astrologer. Your best options are limited to long-range attacks and spells.

Sorcerers lack the strength and weapons to deal great damage to their enemies. They are best at casting spells. Such powerful spells include Comet Azur, Carian Phalynx, and Adula’s Moonblade. So it’s best to choose the Golden Seed as your Keepsake when you opt for a sorcerer build!

Lands Between Rune

It is not one of the other Keepsakes that give you a passive buff. Instead, you can consume it and sell it for 3,000 Runes. Not much is helpful in battle. However, you can upgrade rather quickly.

Therefore, it is not a Keepsake you HAVE to choose during character creation. Nonetheless, if you’re into collecting achievements and items, feel free to choose Lands Between Rune.

PS Use it after you accept Melina’s accord!

Similar Reads: Best Elden Ring Builds

Fanged Imp Ashes

It is a Keepsake you must have if you’re using a mage class. You will want an extra pair of hands to fight your battles for you. The Fanged Imp Ashes, in particular, can summon Imps/Animals to aid you in battle. 

However, a drawback to this Keepsake ensures you unlock the Spirit Calling Bell item to summon the spirits!

Cracked Pot

You can make/craft various, or more specifically, weapons and bombs early on in the game. These are two pots you can get at the start of the game. Worry not, as you’ll be able to gather more of them as you venture into the open world of Elden Ring.

Cracked Pot will help you craft firebombs, and you can throw them at a group or swarm of enemies to even out the fight! Again, not much emphasis can be put on this Keepsake.

Also Read This: Elden Ring Dex Weapons

Stonesword Key

A worthy Keepsake to have at the start of the game. It is hard to obtain in the later stages of the game, so it’s safe to say you should consider taking it at the beginning. I mean, it is not that difficult, but you’ll know they’re worth saving!

The benefits of Stonesword Key are limited to rewards, items, treasures, and unlocking new areas. Most of all, you can unlock those pesky Imp Statue Seals with a pair of Stonesword Keys. 

Boiled Prawn

The Boiled Prawn may not be one of the best keepsakes in Elden Ring, but it does serve its purpose by buffing your damage resistance by a considerable amount.

If you’re scared of fighting tough opponents, be sure to eat one of the five Boiled Prawns to draw up a line of resistance to their physical attacks! The duration of its effects lasts for sixty seconds, and the percentage change in the damage negation is seen to be at a +15% difference!

I’ll speak English for beginner players. Boiled Prawn is a consumable item you can use in battle to block physical attacks; Strike, Pierce, and Slash Damage. If your enemy is focused more on these types of attacks, be sure to consume a Boiled Prawn!

Bewitching Branch

It is another optional Keepsake to choose at the start of the game, which may sound a little less useful, but it has the ability to turn the enemies on your side! I believe it is the only Keepsake that requires FP to charm your enemies temporarily.

Others, not so much. Moreover, if enemies swarm you, you can always charm them with your special Keepsake and let them fight each other while you heal yourself from the damage they did to you!

Additionally, you may want to avoid using this Keepsake on any boss because it will not work!

Shabriri’s Woe

First things first, the description of this Talisman (Keepsake) is misleading for most players. Some of you might think of it as a useless Keepsake because all it does is attract; what? Oh yes, the enemy’s aggression.

Use it in a boss fight, and you’ll know its worth. However, seeing that it costs around six hundred to seven hundred FP to cast, I recommend you leave it for now and focus on getting the Golden Seed, Crimson Amber Medallion, or something like the Fanged Imp Ashes at the beginning.

Elden Ring Bonus Build

Alongside keepsakes, players can create different builds that favor one or two attributes/stats over the others and nail down the most demanding boss or enemies in Elden Ring. I will be showing you Elden Ring professionals; a one-of-a-kind mage build you can use to defeat the toughest enemies in the game!

The build lets you cheese any bosses at mid-game or endgame and overpower them with one or two spells. As I said earlier, you need to choose the class that compliments the type of build you are willing to use.

Alongside that, the stats you need to focus on leveling are Vigor, Mind, and Intelligence. Look for the class with the highest stats and start creating your build. You will be able to grind those points quite quickly. The Astrologer is your go-to class when going for the mage build. Here are the starting items and stats you get for Astrologer!

Starting Attributes for The Astrologer

• Vigor – 9
• Mind – 15
• Endurance – 9
• Strength – 8
• Dexterity – 12
• Intelligence – 16
• Faith – 7
• Arcane – 9

Notably, the Astrologer class already favors Intelligence and Mind, so you will gain a head start when grinding points in these stats.

Astrologer Starting Equipment

As for Astrologer’s starting equipment, you will get the following;

• Glintstone Arc
• Glintstone Pebble
• Short Sword
• Astrologer’s Staff
• Small Wooden Shield
• Memory of Grace
• Keepsake

Recommended Keepsake

As we have moved toward a more detailed section of our guide, the Keepsake you want to select from one of the ten keepsakes is most preferably the Golden Seed. This Keepsake will allow you to get an extra hand of flasks early on in the game, or you could select the Crimson Amber Medallion, which is an excellent choice.

 It gives your character an additional boost in their HP, which is a huge relief to get early on in the game. In addition to an extra flask provided by the Golden Seed, these flasks are your crucial elements in the game. 

They will allow you to cast sorceries using FP and slightly heal your character in challenging situations. Let’s focus on the attributes you want your class to have for the mage build.

Attributes

• Vigor – (30-45)
• Mind – (20-35)
• Endurance – (15-25)
• Strength – (10-20)
• Dexterity – (25-40)
• Intelligence – (40-60)
• Faith – 8
• Arcane – 9

You can notice that we have pumped more points into Vigor, Intelligence, and Mind. On the other hand, attributes such as Faith, Arcane, Strength, and Dexterity are kept as low as possible. 

The reason for such low points is that you won’t need Faith or Arcane-based weapons and any special effects such as the Bleed and Poison Buildup for the Mage. You will solely focus on casting a high number of sorceries.

 Your ideal mage stats should concentrate on keeping Arcane and Faith low. Vigor can be as high as 60; Intelligence can sky-rocket to 80, and the Mind can scale to 45.

Why are these stats so essential, you say? Let’s briefly go over them!

Intelligence

It is your primary goal to level points into Intelligence. The stat helps you constantly cast various sorceries in the game without breaking a sweat. Moreover, your sorceries, weapons, and spells deal more damage due to the effects of Intelligence stats. 

Vigor

Your second focus should be to pump points into Vigor because this stat will allow your character to have more HP. The more HP you have, the more you will be able to withstand tough battles and survive.

Mind

As for your most important stat, Mind allows your character to have more FP, which is crucial to cast sorceries in Elden Ring. Being a mage, you need to have FP to cast sorceries. Otherwise, your build becomes useless. 

Now that we understand the importance of these three stats for the Mage Build, let’s discuss the spells necessary for this build to become overpowered.

Spells

As the name suggests, it will be your primary spell that deals much damage by summoning a comet hauled toward the enemies. Yes, it is a ranged spell you can use to inflict damage on the enemy.

The Comet can also be charged to increase its total damage output and range, getting chunkier in size. You will need 25 FP to cast the spell and 36 Intelligence to use it. When initiated in a battle, you can keep your distance from the enemy and fire this massive chunk of meteorite ball towards the enemies to deal significant damage.

Once you charge the spell by holding down the respective trigger button, it will increase the range allowing your character to hit enemies further away from you. When enemies try to get close to you, you will have to fight them in melee range.

That is why you need a few weapons and spells to help you in melee fights. Spells such as the Carian Phalanx will be highly beneficial to you.

Comet Azur

The spell is insanely broken in Elden Ring, I mean, sure, it was nerfed, but still, guys, it does tremendous damage. You will need a whopping 60 Intelligence to use the Comet Azur and 40 FP to cast.

Moreover, the working of this spell is magnificent, right from the start to the end. I’ll repeat this; Comet Azur does insane damage from a long distance.

You can basically use it to cheese big bosses without breaking a sweat. Suppose you categorize and align your points carefully. In that case, you won’t need to use any other spell or weapon to defeat bosses. You could just maintain a distance, activate boosters, and just trigger the spell to deplete all the HP of a boss.

Furthermore, you can also charge this spell as long as you have enough FP! Obviously, charging the spell will cost more FP, but believe me, it will be worth it. That beautiful beam of absolute devastation will pulverize enemies in under ten seconds!

Carian Phalanx

The Phalanx is not a crucial spell but is still considered a defensive spell that you must have under your slots of sorceries. It requires a massive Intelligence of 32 to cast, and once you trigger the spell, it forms an arch of defensive swords that attack any enemies trying to get close to you.

Moreover, the spell costs 26 FP to cast and takes away 16 Stamina. The Carian Phalanx is a better option than its base Glintblade Phalanx version in terms of damage. In addition to the extra damage, it also summons two additional blades to help you deal more damage.

Above all, the spell is useful when triggered before engaging in any fight and helps you counterattack when enemies close their distance. You can even mount on your horse, and the spell will still be functional.

Adula’s Moonblade

It is a powerful spell that summons a Greatsword made of ice and has good animation when you use sorcery. Adula’s Moonblade has two variants of attack that vary in range and cost 26 FP to conjure.

You need 32 Intelligence to use it and deal damage to the enemies. One of the attacks is a slash that lets out a horizontal ice projectile that cuts through enemies when triggered. The other one is used for close-range fights. You can cast the Moonblade rather quickly, and it inflicts frostbite.

You can switch between its projectile damage and close-range damage by switching between hands when casting the spell. If the Greatsword comes in contact with the enemy, the projectile and the blade will damage the enemies considerably. I believe it to be the best sorcery in the game for mages.

Terra Magica

The sorcery increases all your magic spells but works if you stand in its enchanted circle. It costs 20 FP to cast and requires 20 Intelligence to use. The spell is an excellent addition to boosting the damage dealt by all the sorceries in your arsenal.

All you need to do before engaging in any fight is to trigger Terra Magica and stay within the circle to deal devastating damage to the enemies. The only downside of this particular spell is that you need to remain within the circle. Doing that leaves you open to any close-range fights.

Not staying within the circle will render the effects of Terra Magica useless. However, it comes in handy during various battles and bosses that need to be dealt with at a long distance.

You can cover some distance between you and the enemy, cast the spell, and combine Comet Azur to unleash a beam of destructive powers. On the other hand, you can switch Terra Magica with any other spell you find worthy. Still, the boosted strength for magic is a decent advantage with this spell.

Related: Best Confessor Build in Elden Ring

Weapons

As a mage, you have to be careful when enemies engage you in close-range fights. Not having a weapon to defend yourself in times like these can cost you considerably. We will go over the best combat weapons you can use in your Mage build to counter enemies that try to attack you at close-range.

Moonveil

The Moonveil Katana is the perfect option for Intellect users trying to master the mage build. The Katana will allow you to use both your magic abilities alongside the blade. It can be obtained early on in the game and scales heavily with Intelligence and Dexterity. Intelligence being your primary stat, it will help you immensely.

The Katana has a requirement of 18 Dexterity, 23 Intelligence, and 12 Strength. Might I add that you already have enough Intelligence and Dexterity to use the weapon?

Therefore, you will have no trouble using it early on in the game. Furthermore, the weapon has a remarkable skill called the Transient Moonlight. The skill allows you to unsheathe and shoot the sword at your side to perform a wave of light that leaps out of the blade and does incredible damage to the enemy.

Additionally, the type of attack depends on how you perform the attack, whether it’s a normal or a strong attack. You will be able to deliver significant blows to the enemy.

To obtain the Moonveil Katana, you need to head over to the Gael Tunnel. Once you reach the dungeon, you will have to defeat the Magma Wyrm boss for him to drop the Moonveil Katana and a Dragon Heart for you.

It costs 15 FP for a slash attack and 20 FP for a piercing attack. On another note, you can cause Blood loss Buildup with this Katana, which might not be relevant in this case.

Final Thoughts

If not for a Mage build, you can also use an Arcane build. It is considered one of the most overpowered builds in the game. The build allows you to use weapons that scale with Arcane to fully avail the limitations of blood loss build-up. It is a unique skill that causes lingering bleed damage to the enemies.

Your entire playstyle changes into an aggressive player, where you engage in melee and close-range fights, annihilating the enemies, whether in PvE or PvP. Weapons such as Godskin Peeler, Rivers of Blood, and Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear are recommended for the Arcane build.

The Keepsakes and the bonus build I’ve mentioned in my guide significantly pair well with each other, and if you’re one of those players that literally have no idea how to use weapons, spells, classes, and keepsakes that complement others, this guide has helped you! Because you’ll have had enough knowledge to associate any of the nine Elden Ring Best Keepsakes with each class!