What Elden Ring Has Taught Me About Hard Things

It's not about being the best from the start; it's about knowing how to prepare, learn, and adapt

I love playing games. Poker, board games, puzzles, video games. I love them all.

If you think games are for children, you are missing out on an endless source of self-improvement. Playing games is not just entertainment; sometimes, they teach you profound lessons that alter the course of your life.

There is a book’s worth of lessons like these that I could discuss with you (and I will eventually), but for now, I want to share the one I learned this week.

Writing the Mathematics of Machine Learning took five years of hard work, pulling 10-12 hours of work every day in the final weeks. Now that it’s released, it’s time for me to take on the next challenge, one that I have wanted to do for quite some time now:

Beat Elden Ring.

I’ll explain. Elden Ring is a combat-focused fantasy action RPG, the latest in the long line of so-called Soulslike games, famous for their difficulty and punishing mechanics. (The term originates from Demon Souls, the progenitor of Soulslikes.)

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Elden Ring is notoriously hard. Even the most basic enemies can easily whoop you if you are not on guard.

In the very first minute of the game, you are thrown into a fight that you are supposed to lose, teaching you an invaluable lesson right from the start: failure is okay.

You win or you learn. You only lose if you give up!

Here’s the thing. Understanding which battle to pick is half the success; the other half is preparation. In Elden Ring, you are relentlessly forced to explore, finding the enemies you can beat, honing your skills, and improving your gear one step at a time.

The game gives you countless tools, and utilizing them is the key to victory.

When you are geared up, you can take another shot at the boss who beat you, and turn it into mincemeat.

It’s not just in Elden Ring. This is how it is wherever you go. Sports. Science. Study. Work.

Running a marathon.

Solving a research problem.

Implementing the results of a research paper.

Passing a calculus exam.

Say, when you are tasked to compute the derivative of a complex function, what do you do? Brute-force it via computing the limit of the difference quotient by hand?

No. You look for tools and you use them.

If you don’t know any, you pick up a textbook and read it. If you are underleveled and undergeared, you go into a side dungeon, farm some runes and materials, and try Margit, The Fell Omen once again with that Heavy Claymore +3.

Another example. I vividly remember the time I was training for one-armed pushups.

Paradoxically, if your goal is to do a one-armed pushup for the first time, attempting it directly is the worst possible idea. Instead of leading a frontal assault, you should strengthen your core muscles, your back, get comfortable with one-and-a-half-armed pushups (where you unevenly distribute the bodyweight between your two arms), slowly working your way towards the ultimate goal.

Be warned, though: there are elitist voices who attempt to diminish any sense of accomplishment—those who refuse to acknowledge those who use tools they consider impure.

In the world of Elden Ring, they are a meme:

Source: Reddit.

Did you use spirits (summonable creatures that help you fight), or an overpowered weapon that you found by snagging it from enemy territory you are not supposed to enter early game? Did you use a shield?

“You did not beat the game.”

This is called scrub mentality, a concept that applies outside of gaming as well.

Early in my machine learning career, I was regularly shamed by seasoned developers for choosing Python as my first programming language. To this day, I still can’t work with C++, and I build everything in Python. But that’s alright, because 1) Python is better for what I do, and 2) I’m confident in my abilities to learn C++ any time I want.

I chose to fight bosses by using better tools, not by learning the fight mechanics inside and out. I avoid mechanics and always fight on my terms. I overcome challenges not by brute force, but by flipping the script in my favor.

When an enemy has lethal melee attacks, I fight from range. When they want to fight from range, I’m up in their faces.

I prefer to play chess with boxers and box with chess players.

I fight dirty.

In Elden Ring, you don’t get points (or runes) for virtuosity, but for reducing the enemy’s health points to zero. In real life, you don’t get points for intentionally tying your hands behind your back either. The results matter.

Of course, limiting your toolkit is a great training technique. Have you ever seen a runner with an elevation training mask? This one:

Elevation training mask. (Source.)

These masks restrict your air intake, allowing you to train harder.

But have you ever seen one at a competitive event?

No. There, you’ll see super-ergonomic dresses, lightweight running shoes, and other high-tech gadgets. When the prize is in sight, athletes take all the advantages they can get.

So, will I beat Elden Ring? For sure. It's not because I'm good, but because I know I'll get good. I know how to play the metagame, the game beyond all games. And that's all I need.