Elden Ring requires players to pay close attention to dialogue, item flavor text, and their surroundings, lest they miss important lore details, rewarding side quests, or hidden mechanics, such as how to make dungeon exploration simpler. Sometimes, the game doesn't even explain these secrets at all. Players are expected to find out about mechanics like illusory walls, attacking off ladders, and grapple escapes through good old-fashioned trial and error. It's not always easy, but it encourages players to explore and think outside the box.
Exploration is no simple task either, as Elden Ring dungeons make their difficulty instantly clear. Besides the soul-crushing enemies that lurk around each and every dark corner, dungeons are full of hidden traps and secret paths to surprise and befuddle the player. They're often multi-leveled and labyrinthine, with crisscrossing corridors and one-way exits; and to make matters worse, none of them are mapped out. Players will have to rely on quick reflexes and navigational mnemonics to survive these dismal domains, but as it turns out, two unexpected items might prove more helpful in Elden Ring's dungeons than they seem.
Margit's Shackle and Mohg's Shackle Are The Keys To Exploring Elden Ring's Dungeons
After defeating two of Elden Ring's many bosses, the player will obtain Margit's Shackle and Mohg's Shackle, which are useful in more ways than one. Apart from their help in combat, they can also be used in any of Elden Ring's dungeons to reveal hidden areas and hazards. Using the shackles the player can perform a wide-ranging attack that doesn't do any damage but causes objects in range to a hit, which is enough to take down obstacles like illusory walls and flame-spitting columns. Players no longer need to roll into every suspect wall or rush down narrow corridors between bursts of flame - Margit’s and Mohg’s Shackles can do the trick from a distance.
Neither Is A Catch-All Solution For Elden Ring's Dungeons, But Margit's Shackle Is Better Than Mohg's
Of course, in Elden Ring's most secret dungeons, there are still some traps that aren't deactivated when hit, like the pressure plates that send volleys of arrows flying the player's way. Margit's Shackle and Mohg's Shackle will be useless against these, so the player will have to keep an eye out for them (or craftily lure an Imp into stepping on one before rolling out of the way).
When it comes to wiping away illusory walls or shutting down flame columns, both shackles are useful, but Margit's Shackle does have an advantage. Because Margit's Shackle has a wider range than Mohg's Shackle, it can be used to deactivate traps from farther away. Since the attack can through walls, some players have found that Margit's Shackle lets them raise fire columns from earlier rooms in the Auriza Hero's Grave, destroying the dungeon's deadly chariots before exploring the entire area. It's also far easier to get Margit's Shackle by buying it from Elden Ring’s unique version of Patches early in the game, whereas Mohg's Shackle is hidden in a difficult dungeon beneath the late-game area of Leyendell.
Margit's Shackle and Mohg's Shackle can help make exploration easier. They won't get rid of every obstacle that stands in the way, but they're undeniably useful tools in the player's inventory. Even with such a large arsenal at their disposal, Elden Ring players must pay attention and tread carefully to survive the game's most challenging dungeons.
Source: BANDAI NAMCO Europe/YouTube
