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Elden Ring fans can finally get all three official strategy guides for retail price or less. Amazon has a fresh restock of the popular Books of Knowledge series from Future Press. Volume 1 is available for $45 (was $50), Volume 2 is $50, and the recently released third volume covering Shadow of the Erdtree is $40.49. If you’re interested in these Elden Ring guides, especially the first two, we’d recommend ordering them as soon as possible. Once they sell out, you might be stuck waiting for months, perhaps many of them, for a new printing.
Volume 3 wasn’t hard to find before today, but Volumes 1 and 2 had been sold out for most of 2024. Volume 2, in particular, was often listed on eBay for well over $100; there are still copies of it on eBay for north of $200. Thankfully, Elden Ring fans no longer need to entertain the idea of paying double or triple the MSRP for any of these books.
Elden Ring Books of Knowledge Strategy Guides
All three books will arrive before Christmas, so you can give the Elden Ring fan in your life the gift of knowledge this holiday.
$45 (was $50)
Volume 1 of the Books of Knowledge series is a comprehensive 512-page reference book covering every location across the sprawling open world featured in the base game. To be clear, this was published prior to Shadow of the Erdtree’s release, so the 100-plus fully mapped areas only focus on the original adventure.
If you’ve never played a From Software game before or are introducing the game to a new player, this is the book to crack open. It covers every aspect of Elden Ring’s gameplay mechanics and progression systems and has chapters focused on the overworld and dungeons, all of which are mapped to help you find secrets, take the best routes, and ensure you don’t miss anything. It also has a reference section focused purely on the game’s story and the lore of The Lands Between.
All of the game’s NPCs and side quests they give you are covered in detail alongside full dialogue exchanges. Just like with the overworld and dungeons, side quests are mapped with ideal paths.
Obviously there are sections in Volume 1 that experienced players will wind up skipping past, but like other strategy guides being produced today, there’s a ton of art and commentary that will be of interest even if you’ve already completed Elden Ring and its DLC. Plus, it’s a gorgeous collectible that looks great on display. It comes with a double-sided world map poster as well as a ribbon bookmark.
It’s been sold out for most of 2024, so snag a copy from Amazon while you can.
$50
Shards of the Shattering, Volume 2 of Elden Ring’s Books of Knowledge series, was sold out for even longer than Volume 1. It sold out well before the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion–it’s been challenging to find a copy all year. Technically, it was easy to find a copy, but you had to pay well over $100 to get it from a reseller.
Volume 2 begins with a deep dive into Elden Ring’s combat system. From there, the 528-page book details all of the base game’s enemies, from bosses to regular foes, and offers tips for how to defeat them. This section works in synergy with the Armament catalog, which is an encyclopedia containing all of Elden Ring’s many weapons and armor as well as character abilities and spells. It’s a very handy reference book for both the base game and Shadow of the Erdtree, and you can use the attached ribbon bookmark to keep your spot for your next visit.
There’s also an exclusive interview with Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki. And just like Volume 1, it doubles as an encyclopedic art book that looks awesome on display.
The extra content that comes with Volume 2 is arguably even cooler than world map poster from Volume 1. Along with this weighty tome, you’ll get four exclusive art prints to display.
$40.49 (was $45)
Volume 3 released on November 8 and covers all things Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring’s superb 2024 expansion.
Like the first two books in the series, this 352-page tome is a gameplay guide and an in-depth art book that fans of all stripes will want to check out. It includes detailed breakdowns of the expansion’s new characters and quest lines, as well as full walkthroughs of the new bosses, enemies, dungeons, and explorable regions.
Similar to Volume 2, this book includes a catalog of the new weapons, armor, and items introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree as well as a bestiary with everything you need to know about the new creatures you encounter. The Realm of Shadow is mapped out in detail, just like the world map section in Volume 1.
Along with the written guides, the book is packed with artwork, including all-new concept art and full-page illustrations of landscapes, characters, weapons, and more.
As a bonus, Shadow of the Erdtree’s guidebook comes with a poster-sized map of the Shadow Realm with each area labeled.
Elden Ring’s trio of official strategy guides aren’t the only official books fans can read after setting down the controller. We’ve rounded up more Elden Ring and From Software books below.
Elden Ring Official Art Books
Both of the official Elden Ring art books published by Udon Entertainment are in stock at Amazon, too.
$54 (was $60)
Published by Udon Entertainment, Elden Ring: Official Art Book Volume 1 offers an in-depth look at the The Lands Between’s sprawling open world, dungeons, main characters and NPCs, and armor. It contains concept and development art as well as key art from the opening cinematic of the base game.
This 432-page hardcover book was translated to English last year and is often sold out at Amazon.
$36.36 (was $60)
At 384 pages, Volume 2 of Udon’s Elden Ring art book series is about 50 pages shorter than the first, but it’s on sale for a much larger discount at the moment. Volume 2’s artwork focuses on the bosses and other enemies you encounter throughout your journey across The Lands Between. The other big section of this book showcases the wide array of weapons you can use to topple Elden Ring’s formidable foes. Beyond weapons, there’s artwork for many other items as well as a catalog of items to use for reference.
Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree Manga
Elden Ring also has an official manga called The Road to the Erdtree. If you are looking to read a grim and serious manga set in The Lands Between, this is not that. The Road to Erdtree is a comedy, and the writing is genuinely quite good. It’s definitely worth checking out if you love Elden Ring. You don’t need to have completed the game to enjoy the manga, though like most adaptations, prior knowledge would probably enhance the experience.
More From Software Books
Future Press has been busy this year with books focused on From Software games. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the publisher has reissued new editions of two of its most popular gaming books: the aforementioned Bloodborne Complete Guide and Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium. Published on April 15, the Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium is a 480-page hardcover offering the most comprehensive deep dive on Dark Souls and its two sequels that’s in print today. Like Future’s Elden Ring guides, these Bloodborne and Dark Souls books were written and designed in collaboration with From Software. Update: As of December 16, the Dark Souls Compendium is sold out, and it’s unclear if more copies will be printed. The Bloodborne Complete Guide is still in stock, but it’s possible that once Amazon runs out of copies, it won’t return.
There are many unofficial strategy guides and lore books created by fans listed on Amazon. But the only official From Software strategy guides still in print are the ones published by Future Press: Bloodborne Complete Guide, Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium, the Elden Ring strategy guides, and Armored Core 6’s Pilot’s Manual. The same goes for Udon Entertainment’s Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls art books.
The trio of Dark Souls Design Works books were translated and published in English by Udon Entertainment. The first two books are still available directly from Amazon, but unfortunately the third book has been sold out for a long time and is pricey from resellers. If you mainly care about the artwork, not the accompanying text, the original Japanese editions published by Kadokawa are available at Amazon, including Dark Souls III: Design Works for substantially less than the English edition:
Next up for Future Press is an enormous official guide for arguably the best JRPG of 2023: Metaphor: ReFantazio. Releasing February 28 and available to preorder now for $55, Metaphor: ReFantazio’s hardcover guidebook is nearly 700 pages sounds like an exhaustive deep dive into Atlus’ latest hit RPG.
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Kurt Indovina
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