How to unlock item crafting in Elden Ring

Elden Ring introduces plenty of common open-world mechanics to the FromSoftware franchise of games. From being able to ride a horse to freely exploring any one of six different areas, fans will truly have an open world at their disposal. To help traverse and battle through the world, Elden Ring has also implemented item crafting. This mechanic is straightforward at first but becomes more complicated as you acquire items.

However, the ability to craft items isn’t readily available to players when they enter the open world. In fact, it won’t become available until players meet one requirement in Elden Ring. To figure out how to unlock item crafting and complete that one requirement, keep reading below.

Unlocking item crafting in Elden Ring

You can unlock item crafting within your first five minutes in the open world of Elden Ring. After the initial prologue is over and you step out into the real world, you must visit the Lost Grace site in front of you. Once that’s done, follow its gold streak north until you reach a small bit of ruins. This won’t be too far, so only expect to travel for a minute or so.

These ruins will have a burning fire, a mount and a person dressed in red and white named Kale. He’s a merchant who can sell you items or buy things you no longer need. One of the products Kale sells is called a Crafting Kit, which costs 300 Runes.

If you choose to purchase the kit, you will gain the ability to craft items from the main menu. Just press “Esc” or “Options,” depending on your input device and select the second option on the left side of the screen. This will bring you to the Item Crafting Menu, where the game will explain how crafting works.

Essentially, you can make a few basic items to start, and make more later by acquiring cookbooks in the world. You can only make some items if you have a Cracked Pot or another container to put them into. This includes items such as the Fire Pot.

The more materials you acquire out in the world, the more options you will have when it comes to item crafting. So, make sure to pick up everything you see when you’re out journeying in the world.