How do you stab through an enemy Elden Ring?

Q: How do you stab through enemies in Elden Ring?

As with the majority of Soulsborne games, the basic way to backstab in Elden Ring is to press the light attack button while standing behind an enemy — this is the right shoulder button on controllers and the left mouse click on PC.

A backstab is a combat mechanic that a player can perform on certain humanoid enemies. Read on to learn more about backstabs and how to perform them!

Table of Contents Show

Backstabbing in Elden Ring
How to Backstab in Elden Ring
How do you perform a stab Elden Ring?
How do you stab through enemies in Elden Ring?
How do you do a stun attack on Elden Ring?

A staple from other Souls games, backstabs are a type of critical attack that the player can perform on humanoid enemies that are around their height.

These can be performed with almost any weapon, though they are exceptions.

This will allow your character to backstab them in a bloody mess, but depending on your level and prowess, that may not be enough to kill them outright, so always be ready.

Not all enemies are susceptible to a backstab as well, but the humanoid enemies are always going to be vulnerable.

Also, be sure to check the surroundings for potential threats as well, otherwise you might get attacked from one enemy while backstabbing another.

Armed with the knowledge of how to backstab in Elden Ring, you are more likely to survive your adventure in The Lands Between. Remember to check out our guide wiki for even more tips and tricks as well, including how to fast travel, healing and increasing your max health, and learning to dodge properly.

If there are any questions that you might have that are not answered, please leave them in the comments below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

Knowing and practicing how to backstab in Elden Ring is going to make all of the difference in your experience. Properly executing backstabs will allow you to significant damage to enemies and make your life much easier. Of course, the trick is to do it properly, which is easier said than done. There are several details about the mechanic that are vital to know, as we’re about to show you. Let’s dive in.

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Elden Ring How to Backstab

How to Backstab in Elden Ring

To backstab in Elden Ring, the first order of business is to get directly behind an enemy that is humanoid and roughly your size. Ideally, you want to do this by sneaking up behind them and catching them unawares. It’s absolutely possible to pull this off when already engaged in toe-to-toe combat through skillful maneuvering, of course. However, the stealth option poses a far lesser risk of having a blade embedded into your own skull. This is also why the backstab is a great tool to pick off isolated enemies. You can perform the attack on an enemy in a group, but odds are good that one of them will raise the alarm.

Once you’ve positioned yourself behind the enemy, press R1 to attack (can’t do it with the left hand). If you’ve done everything properly, you’ll see an animation of the attack play out, dealing a devastating blow to the opponent’s health bar. Plus, more often than not, they’ll be staggered for a moment, giving you a second to breathe and decide what’s next. And that’s how you backstab in Elden Ring. If you’re familiar with Souls games, none of this should come as much of a surprise. Well, aside from one thing.

Veterans of the series will have no trouble with backstabbing in PvE. However, when it gets to PvP, you’ll notice a huge change. Namely, when you attempt to backstab another player, they can actually escape before your weapon connects. No longer are they helplessly locked into the animation. Of course, the same is true for you. However, if the weapon does connect, well, sucks to be on the receiving end.

Very early in your exploration of Elden Ring world you will find out that you need to prepare your character for different tasks. You'll need to learn how to use Ashes of War, how to two-hand weapons, or use magic spells during the course of your adventures. Many secrets are also waiting for you, such as, a hostile NPC Sellen that doesn't let you see her shop, an invisible man in a bush, or a huge turtle with a bell that lets you duplicate some very important items.

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Written by: Stefan Djakovic aka JoeTheBard

A language teacher and video game enthusiast turned rogue, Joe is on a quest to become the ultimate gaming journalist. This is somewhat hampered by his belief that the golden age of gaming ended with the PlayStation One, but he doesn't let that stop him. His favorite games include Soul Reaver and Undertale. Other interests are D'n'D, dad rock, complaining about movies, and being the self-appointed office funny man, which nobody else agrees with.

How do you perform a stab Elden Ring?

Once behind your target, press the Light Attack button for the hand holding your weapon – usually, this will be the right shoulder button (or R1). Your aim doesn't have to be that precise, but it's important not to hold down the button when attempting a Backstab or you will do a Light Attack instead.

How do you stab through enemies in Elden Ring?

As with the majority of "Soulsborne" games, the basic way to backstab in "Elden Ring" is to press the light attack button while standing behind an enemy — this is the right shoulder button on controllers and the left mouse click on PC.

How do you do a stun attack on Elden Ring?

Lastly, to stun enemies, you need to pull off a perfect parry. This is quite hard, but there are others as well. If you perform a jumping or a charging attack, the enemy has a good chance of getting stunned too, so you can try that as well.