To say that Elden Ring’s open world is big is an understatement. The map is so huge it can’t even fit on the entire screen. It’s easy to get lost between the Catacombs, field bosses, and anything else in the Lands Between. FromSoftware basically said, “here’s the game – now you figure out the way.”
That’s a good thing, of course, but some players are having trouble figuring out some things about the map. More specifically, many new players have been wondering what the gold and yellow lines are on the map near the Sites of Grace.
What Do the Gold Lines Mean Near a Site of Grace?
The gold lines on the map in Elden Ring point toward your next objective. They’re called the Guidance of Grace in the lore, and they guide the Tarnished on their journey. If you ever find yourself stuck, just follow those lines and you’ll be back on track in no time.
It’s not just limited to the map, either. When you rest at a Site of Grace, some of them will emanate a sort of golden trail of dust through the sky. Not all of them do that, only those that indicate a certain landmark in the game that leads into a possible quest or dungeon ahead will have them. The game doesn’t hold your hand too much in outright giving you some sort of quest log or something in the UI to show you your next destination.
The tradeoff here is that there’s a sense of exploration you should fulfill for tidbits of lore, new wares to collect, and bosses to conquer. These gold lines serve as a bare minimum of leading you in the direction you should go. The choice is yours. You’re not locked out from progressing any further if you don’t follow the lines either.
Admittedly, it can get confusing if you’re traveling east towards Caelid and start seeing the Sites of Grace show the lines too. The correct way to through the main story of the game is to make your way north from Limgrave, through Stormveil, then the Raya Lucaria Academy, and so forth.
Even when you complete an entire area, those lines will still appear. The only way to really keep track is to use the map’s marker options to indicate if you have cleared an entire area of its boss and one-time pickups.
Elden Ring is out now for the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series S/X, and PC.