Elden Ring co-op summons and Invasions, explained

Elden Ring is mostly known for its single-player offering, and you won't be wrong to play the game as a traditional single-player RPG. However, like previous FromSoftware "Souls-borne" titles, Elden Ring features a rather robust multiplayer mode, which, admittedly can be a bit confusing, especially for newcomers to play.

The multiplayer mode in Elden Ring is primarily focused on co-op, where players can summon other online players to help them clear dungeons, or even aid them in boss fights. However, there's also a dedicated PvP mode where players can duel against others and even hold tournaments.

Here's everything you need to know about Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree's online multiplayer, including the co-op summons as well as Invasions modes.

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Everything you need to know about Elden Ring co-op and Invasions

The co-op mode and Furlcalling Finger Remedy

Elden Ring's online features are broadly divided into two camps: co-op and Invasions modes. The former essentially allows you to summon people into your world to aid you against certain boss fights, side dungeons, and even legacy dungeons. Alternatively, you can be summoned to other players' worlds via your summoning sign.

The Multiplayer menu in Elden Ring (Image via FromSoftware)

The co-op mode requires using the Furlcalling Finger Remedy and the Tarnished's Furled Finger. Note that you can only summon players to your world after you arrive at Limgrave and pick up the Tarnished Furled Finger near the very first Site of Grace—Stranded Graveyard.

The idea here is to summon anyone from the pool of online players who have left their summoning sign at a nearby Summoning Pool. However, you can also exclusively summon your friends, albeit via the multiplayer password system.

Within the Multiplayer menu, you will find a password section, accessible by tapping the Y-button or Triangle on a controller. Here, you need to set a common password between you and your friends so that, whoever you or your friends try to summon anyone, it automatically defaults to users using the same password.

While you can limit who you want to summon in your world, it doesn't prevent you or your friends from getting invaded by other players, who might not use the same password as you.

To initiate any online interaction, use a Furlcalling Finger Remedy. Furlcalling Finger Remedy can be obtained by successfully defeating an invader (NPC or player), or it can be easily crafted using the following material:

• Erdleaf Flower x2 (Easily obtainable by exploring Limgrave)

You can always use the Finger Remedy from your Inventory, but if you want quicker access, there's a dedicated Multiplayer section in the options menu. The co-op sessions are quite limited in Elden Ring, and as soon as the objective that you beckon another player for is complete, they will return to their world.

The Tarnished's Furled Finger is used to place summon signs near Summoning Pools (Image via FromSoftware)

Do note that while being summoned to a player's world or summoning others to yours, you cannot interact with the Sites of Grace or summon your Spectral Steed, Torrent. Additionally, summoning another player for help always comes with the risk of getting invaded by a Bloody Finger.

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Invasions mode and Colosseum

The Invasions system, i.e., PvP, works essentially the same way as it did back in the Dark Souls Trilogy and even Bloodborne, albeit with a small catch. Instead of allowing you to invade anyone who's playing Elden Ring online, you can only invade those using the game's summoning system to beckon others into their world.

The Bloody Finger is used to initiate an invasion in Elden Ring (Image via FromSoftware)

To initiate an Invasion, you need to have access to two things: Furlcalling Finger Remedy and the Bloody Finger. You can obtain Bloody Finger early after completing Varre's questline. To attempt to invade a world, use the Furlcalling Finger Remedy followed by the Bloody Finger.

Once you invade a player's world, use the compass to locate the host. If you fail to kill the host, you can attempt to once again invade the same world via the Phantom Bloody Finger. While the Invasions are the basic PvP interaction you will have in Elden Ring, there's another way to duel against other players: the Colosseum.

There are a total of three Colosseums across the Lands Between, in Limgrave, Caelid, and Leyndell. Once you unlock each Colosseum by visiting them, you can access the Colosseum PvP right from the Roundtable Hold. The Colosseum offers a dedicated PvP arena to players who don't want to go through the lengthy process of invasion.

While Invasion is often quite fun, it can take quite a long time to invade a player's world. Additionally, invaders are at a disadvantage right from the get-go, since hosts usually have one or more players as their co-op party, which can be a bit too much for non-experienced invaders to handle.

The Colosseum in Elden Ring can be accessed via Marika's statue in the Roundtable Hold (Image via FromSoftware)

So, the Colosseum offers a better option, giving new players a chance to pit their builds against others to test out its effectiveness in PvP, without having to fumble around with invasions. The Colosseum also offers the option to hold tournaments as well as 2v2 and 3v3 duels, which can be quite fun in co-op.