Does New Game Plus make the game harder?

One of the few downsides to Elden Ring is that, at some point, the game has to end. It's somewhat sad to say goodbye to your first playthrough - the sense of adventure and exploration in Elden Ring is just unmatched the first time - but becoming Elden Lord doesn't necessarily mean the game is over.

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After beating the final boss of Elden Ring players are offered a choice: start Journey 2, also called New Game Plus, or continue in the current iteration of the world. Remaining in the world lets players choose to start their second playthrough at the Roundtable Hold instead, but there are a lot of good reasons to continue into this enhanced version of the base game.

Enemy Health And Damage Is Significantly Boosted

The main difference between a regular playthrough and New Game Plus is in enemy strength. All enemies and bosses in Elden Ring get a buff to their overall Health pool and the amount of damage they can dish out. In New Game +7 even the Godrick Soldier in the tutorial area can take out the player.

In regular New Game Plus enemies are noticeably beefier than before, and each level of New Game Plus after increases Health and damage by a little bit more. Early-game zones will likely feel too easy for you, but that's kind of the point - by the time you've reached Level 150 at the end of the game, you can restart and choose a completely different path to the Erdtree. You only need two Great Runes to get to Leyndell, they don't necessarily have to be Godrick's and Rennala's.

Some Things Carry Over, Like Armaments, Gestures, and Stats...

Though it's technically a restart mechanic, starting Journey 2 in Elden Ring doesn't mean letting go of things you've collected. In fact, the majority of items collected during the first playthrough will stay with you to the second. It's part of the appeal of New Game Plus - it's a chance to experience the game from the start with more options. For example, you can fight Godrick with the Sacred Relic Sword or kill Patches in a single shot with the Jar Cannon.

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In addition to all Armaments and Armor collected, New Game Plus lets players keep their collected Ashes of War, Spirit Ashes, Gestures, Upgrade Materials, Memory Stones and spells, Stonesword Keys, Talismans, the Flask of Wondrous Physick, Crystal Tears, and Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears carry over. Interestingly, the full unlocked map carries over to New Game Plus, too.

Of course, players also get to keep their Level and stat allocations when moving onto New Game Plus, though you won't be able to respec until Rennala is defeated again.

...But Some Things Don't, Like Great Runes, Prayerbooks, and Medallions

Not everything carries over to New Game Plus, mostly items that count as Key Items or are important for story progression. This means that medallion halves need to be re-collected, the Dung Eater's Seedbed Curses need to be found again, and all Great Runes need to be earned again too. If it's an important item that can be earned in a quest or is tied to unlocking new areas, chances are you can't bring it with you.

This also includes all Keys found in a playthrough, but there's more than just items that don't carry over. Bosses respawn, of course, but additionally all opened doors are closed, all Sites of Lost Grace must be found again, and all quests are reset to their beginning step. Be sure to complete all the NPC quests that are important to you in a single playthrough.

Runes Are Multiplied Differently According To Location

The amount of Runes you earn for defeating enemies is increased across the board in New Game Plus, but there are some things to keep in mind. Depending on the zone, and how far into the game players need to be to access it, Runes earned are multiplied differently.

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Because players are so overleveled for Limgrave by the end of a normal playthrough, enemies and bosses in the zone reward about five times the number of Runes. However, in places like the Altus Plateau and Liurnia of the Lakes this increase is reduced to three times. Late-game zones like the Consecrated Snowfield and the Capital of Ash only see a 2x increase in Runes, but this still adds up to a lot when one considers how many Runes these enemies drop normally.

There Are No New Weapons, Enemies, Items, or Bosses In NG+

Unfortunately there are really no other major differences between New Game Plus and a regular playthrough of Elden Ring. Dark Souls required players to go to at least New Game +2 to get all achievements for the game, Dark Souls 2 changed enemy and item placements and added stronger items for players to discover, and Dark Souls 3 made all upgraded versions of rings only accessible in subsequent playthroughs.

All FromSoftware games have had some kind of New Game Plus mechanic, but it would be remiss to say that Elden Ring's feels a bit lacking compared to other offerings in the past. It's still a worthy experience for all players to take on when looking for more challenge after beating the Elden Beast - but try going for a different ending or using a completely different build to make it more worthwhile.

Do New Game Plus games get harder?

Do enemies get stronger in New Game Plus?

What difficulty is New Game Plus?

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