Like most RPGs, Elden Ring has a character creator when you start a new game to allow you to customize your character in the game. Once you have settled on the class and finished character creation, Elden Ring allows you to select a keepsake to take with you as a kind of starting gift.
In total, there are nine keepsakes available to choose from, each presenting minor effects on your starting game. You can also choose to go without, which is probably only worth considering if you are doing a challenge playthrough. Elden Ring keepsakes provide helpful starting gifts, but you need to make sure you pick the right one.
In this article, we will rank the nine keepsakes in Elden Ring from worst to best to help you make the right choice when starting a character in the game.
9. Boiled Prawn
Boiled prawn meat.
On paper, the boiled prawn is a very useful consumable item (it reduces the damage from physical attacks negation for a minute), but as a keepsake, it is definitely not the best one to pick.
For one thing, once it is eaten, it’s gone, making it a pretty useless keepsake until you find Blackguard Big Boggart in the Liurnia of the Lakes region (you can actually get to him very quickly without fighting a single boss, so for this reason alone, it is not worth it). The other reason is that even Shabriri’s Woe can be more useful in the right circumstances.
When you find Boiled prawns in the world, they will cost you 600 runes.
8. Bewitching Branch
Tree branch blessed with an incantation of unalloyed gold.
Coming in at eight is the Bewitching Branch. The Bewitching Branch is another consumable item, and you start with five sacred branches. But, once again, it is just not that helpful in the early game.
The branch uses its beguiling power to charm enemies into becoming allies (they will fight alongside you), but at the start, there are few places where this will actually help you out. It would be better to pick another keepsake that will help you out for a longer period of time, which is why it is not a recommended pick.
There are three locations to find the bewitching branches in the game:
five are sold by the Nomadic Merchant located in Liurnia of the Lakes near Bellum Church. They cost 1,600 Runes each.
Three can be found on a corpse north of the Church of Pilgrimage
You can also craft them with the Fevor’s Cookbook [3]
7. Shabriri’s Woe
Disturbing likeness of a man whose eyes have been gouged out.
Shabriri’s Woe does not do a very good job of selling itself on the section screen. Its description reads, “Constantly attracts enemies’ aggression.” which, on paper, does sound like a bad thing, but if used correctly, it can be a lot more useful than the previous two items. As a talisman, it isn’t a one-and-done item; you simply need to equip it in your talisman slot in the inventory screen for it to work.
It’s a useful item if you plan on heavily relying on spirit ashes in the game, as it will allow you to draw aggro and let the ashes deal the brunt of the damage. This is great if you plan on making a tanky build, as you can let your ashes deal the damage. It is also useful in multiplayer, as the talisman will draw aggro rather than your coop partner(s).
However, this is only really useful at the beginning in these two specific circumstances; otherwise, the other keepsakes later in this list are a lot better. If you want to try it out later, it can be found on a body in the Frenzied Flame Village.
6. Cracked Pot
This empty pot somehow mends itself when broken.
The Cracked Pot Keepsake gives you three strange cracked pots. These are used in crafting to create thrown items, including the fire pot and the fan favorite sleep pot. As a starting item, they can be pretty useful, as pots are AOE attacks, meaning you can take out the clumps of enemies that gather in Limgrave and Stormhill. Plus, as thrown items, you can keep your distance too.
This makes the cracked pot a little more useful than the previous three items, but still not great, which is why it is number 6.
5. Crimson Amber Medallion
A medallion with crimson amber inlaid.
The Crimson Amber Medallion is the other talisman on this list. It is the only keepake to permanently increase your character’s maximum HP by 6%, adding to your survivability at the start of the game. This boost is useful, but you can actually buy it very early from the Nomadic Merchant on the eastern side of the Weeping Peninsula for 1,500 runes. It is better to pick up a different keepsake that will take longer to track down.
4. Lands Between Rune
Grace said to have once dwelled in the eyes of the inhabitants of the Lands Between; the lingering residue of gold.
Runes are an essential item in the Elden Ring. You use them to level up, upgrade equipment, upgrade spirit ashes, buy things, and most importantly, level up. Which is why the Lands Between Runes are not the most useless item on the list.
The lands between runes allows you to gain runes very early, and unlike normal runes until you use them, you cannot lose the runes within upon death, making it almost like a piggy bank for your runes. Also, in the early levels, it does not cost that much to level up, so the extra runes can help you increase your stats.
However, lands between runes are actually pretty common in the lands between. So while the boost is helpful, it is not the best keepsake in Elden Ring.
3. Stonesword Key
A sword-shaped stone key.
You start with 2 stone keys shaped like swords. The stonesword key is not a terrible starting item to select. After all, there is literally the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave to open with it at the very beginning (before you take the lift up to the lands between). In fact, stonesword keys can be difficult to track down toward the endgame, so it can be said to be a safe keepsake to pick at the start of the game.
A Stonesword Key opens up the clouded imp statue seals, which guard rewards, items, and treasures, as well as unlocking new areas to explore. One of the best spirit ashes in the game is located behind one of these Imp statue seals, so be sure to take that into consideration.
2. Fanged Imp Ashes
Ashes remains in which spirits yet dwell.
The Fanged Imp Ashes are a solid keepsake to pick up in Elden Ring, as the Imps are pretty strong spirit ashes to use. In fact, in much of the early game, this can actually be a little bit better than the free lone wolf ashes (which you will get with the spirit calling bell item).
The Fanged Imp Ashes cost a low amount of FP to use (50) and will deal significant damage as their attacks deal the bleed status effect. This can really shred bosses in the early areas. The Fanged Imp Ashes are also great, as there are two of them to fight alongside you.
If you choose to select a different keepsake, the Fanged Imp Ashes are available from the Isolated Merchant south of the Main Academy Gate site of grace for 2000 Runes.
1. Best Starting Keepsake Elden Ring: Golden Seed
A golden seed, found at the base of an illusory tree
Easily one of the best keepsakes to pick up when starting Elden Ring, the Golden Seed will allow you to reinforce Sacred Flasks. These are valuable items, as the early flask comes in handy to give you either an extra HP pot or FP pot depending on what kind of playstyle you are aiming for.
To use the Golden Seed, all you need to do is rest at the first site of grace you find in the world and then select the flask option (when you have enough to upgrade, there will be a little golden circle to mark it). After increasing the number of flasks you can use, you can then decide how many will be HP or FP.
You can also find more golden seeds throughout the world at the bases of the small golden trees dotted across the world to reinforce Sacred Flasks if you decide not to pick this brilliant keepsake.
Things To Remember
You pick one Keepsake.
They are all different.
You can find all keepsakes while playing the game.
Selecting one will help you especially if you’re a beginner or have not played a Dark Souls game.
The “None” option will make you start with nothing other than your classes base equipment.
Final Thoughts
As a FromSoftware game, Elden Ring is not easy. But selecting the best keepsake item during character creation can allow you to have a stronger footing in at least the first hour of the game. In our opinion, the Golden Seed is the best keepsake, as having extra flasks early can be life and death in the early game and later stages of Elden Ring.
Dane started off gaming at the tender age of 3 with the first Atari console. His favorite video game genres are turn-based RPGs (can I get a shout out for Tactics Ogre?) and fighting games. Read more...
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