The Guides ◆ Elden Ring ◆ New Game+
New Game+ — The Cycle Continues
What survives the transition into NG+, what resets, how difficulty scales through NG+7, and how to prepare your build before you start the next cycle.
Patch 1.16 · Covers base game + Shadow of the Erdtree · June 2026
How to Enter New Game+
After defeating the Elden Beast (final boss) and choosing an ending, you are returned to the Roundtable Hold. You can continue exploring the current playthrough indefinitely — NG+ is not forced. When you're ready, rest at the Erdtree Marika site and choose to begin the next journey.
What Carries Over Into NG+
| Category | Carries over? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Character level and stats | Yes | Your full level and all stat points carry over unchanged |
| Weapons and upgrades | Yes | All weapons with their current upgrade level carry over |
| Armor | Yes | All acquired armor carries over |
| Sorceries and Incantations | Yes | All learned spells carry over |
| Talismans | Yes | All acquired talismans carry over |
| Spirit Ashes | Yes | All ashes including upgrade levels carry over |
| Consumables (Golden Runes, etc.) | Yes | Stockpiled consumables carry over |
| Flask charges and potency | Yes — but reset state | The number you had before carries over, but it's as if you need to re-collect Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears to upgrade further (you already have the upgrades — they're baked in) |
| Runes (currency) | Yes | Your current rune count carries over |
What Resets in NG+
| Category | Resets? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| All bosses | Yes | Every boss respawns in their original location. New Remembrances — useful for getting the alternate Remembrance rewards you missed on the first run. |
| Sites of Grace | Mostly yes | Most Sites of Grace unlock as you reach them again. A few tied to story progress re-unlock when you reach those story beats. |
| NPC questlines | Yes | All NPC quests restart from the beginning — excellent opportunity to complete questlines missed the first time |
| Keys, Stonesword Keys | Yes | Used keys are not in inventory; doors locked by keys are re-locked |
| Remembrances | Yes — you get them again | Boss Remembrances reset and can be collected again after killing bosses. You can pick the alternate reward from Enia that you skipped in NG. |
| Crystal Tears (Flask customization) | Yes | Minor bosses that drop Crystal Tears reset. Any Tears in your Wondrous Physick carry over. |
| Smithing Stones (world pickup) | Yes | World-placed Smithing Stones respawn. Stone vendor upgrades (Bell Bearings turned in) persist. |
| Scadutree Blessing (DLC) | Yes — resets | All Shadow Realm Blessing progress resets. You must re-collect all Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes in the DLC zone each cycle. |
Difficulty Scaling Through NG+7
Elden Ring scales enemies and rune rewards progressively through NG+7, after which the game stops scaling — NG+8 is identical to NG+7 in difficulty.
| Cycle | Approx. enemy damage increase | Rune reward multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| NG | Baseline | 1.0× |
| NG+1 | +15–25% enemy damage and HP | ~1.1× |
| NG+2 | +30–40% | ~1.3× |
| NG+3 | +50–60% | ~1.7× |
| NG+4 | +70–80% | ~2.0× |
| NG+5 | +90–100% | ~2.5× |
| NG+6 | +110% | ~3.0× |
| NG+7+ | Maximum (cap) | ~3.5× |
Note: These are approximate figures from community testing; FromSoftware doesn't publish official scaling numbers. The relative pattern is accurate: each cycle adds meaningful but not extreme difficulty until NG+7 cap.
Before You Enter NG+ — Checklist
These items either do not carry over or are easier to get before the transition:
| Item / Quest | Why do it now |
|---|---|
| Complete Ranni's quest | Dark Moon Greatsword, Ranni's Dark Moon sorcery, Black Knife Tiche Spirit Ash. All reset in NG+ requiring you to redo the full quest. |
| Collect all Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones | Finite high-tier upgrade materials — world versions respawn in NG+ but merchant stocks from Bell Bearings persist. Stock up if you have multiple weapons to max. |
| Buy Larval Tears from Pidia or vendors | Larval Tears allow you to respec (Rebirth at Rennala). They're finite per playthrough. Buy all available before NG+ if you anticipate multiple respecs. |
| Collect Stonesword Key locations you skipped | Stonesword Keys are consumed on use and not replaced in NG+ unless you find new ones in the respawned world. If you missed an Imp-locked door, open it now. |
| Complete Volcano Manor quest | Magma sorceries and unique weapons from assassination contracts only available this run if you joined the covenant. They all reset cleanly in NG+, so just making a note is fine. |
| Get Shard of Alexander | One of the best offensive talismans. Requires finishing Alexander's full questline (Radahn Festival → multiple encounters → Mountaintops of Giants). |
NG+ as a Sorcerer — What Changes
In NG+ your sorcerer starts at full power — 60–80 INT, Carian Regal Scepter +10, all spells already learned. The first half of the game (Limgrave through Liurnia) is effectively trivial. Rock Sling and Comet Azur will delete early bosses in seconds.
The meaningful resistance starts around Leyndell and becomes challenging again in the DLC (Scadutree Fragments still need collecting from scratch). NG+ is an excellent time to complete questlines you missed the first time — Millicent's full arc, Alexander's questline to get Shard of Alexander, or the Fia / Corhyn / Goldmask questlines for the other endings.
If you want to switch builds in NG+, collect Larval Tears and respec at Rennala as soon as you reach her. She resets in NG+ so you can fight her again (trivially at your power level) and use her Rebirth immediately.