The world of Elden Ring is vast and filled with plenty of mysteries and secrets. For beginners to the game and especially for people who are new to Soulsborne games, it can prove simply overwhelming, to put it briefly. If you have been wandering around the Lands Between and haven’t met Melina yet, then you definitely should.
Melina is your spectral companion and guide in Elden Ring, and she is kind of indispensable (you’ll know why soon). So you should make it a point to meet her early in the game. But first, there are important things you should know about the Sites of Grace.
At the beginning of your Elden Ring journey, when you open the gates to Limgrave, it would be wise to talk to Varré, who you will see standing on the left side after you take your first steps into Limgrave. But before you go and meet Varré, the first thing to do is to touch and hence, discover the first Site of Grace that lies just in front of Varré’s location.
How Sites of Grace Help You
The sparkling golden streams of lights emanating from any Site of Grace show you the direction you should take eventually. You could, of course, choose to wander around and do something else, but for story progression, you would have to follow their lead.
Sites of Grace also help you to rest awhile and take stock of things you have in your inventory. Resting at a Site of Grace will recharge your HP and FP to full, but it also will cause the low-tier enemies to respawn (the bosses won’t so cheer up if you did a lot of hard work in killing one).
Why Meeting Melina Is Important
Without Melina, you won’t be able to level up in Elden Ring. The option of leveling up when you rest at a Site of Grace appears only after you have met her.
Melina will help unlock your ability to spend accumulated runes to increase your level. Leveling up and strengthening your core attributes is of utmost importance in Elden Ring otherwise, you won’t be able to do jack against the big game bosses. Basically, she grants you the ability to level up in the game.
Melina is also the one who will gift you a Torrent, the spectral steed that will make exploring the world of Elden Ring a lot faster for you.
Where to Find Melina
Now that you know the importance of getting an audience with Melina early in Elden Ring, let’s help you out with her location. After you touch the first Site of Grace in Limgrave and talk to Varré, the stream of golden light will point you to the Church of Elleh. But the route of the church is patrolled by the Tree Sentinal, a foe you should avoid this early in the game as he vastly overpowers you. So, hit the ‘X’ to go into crouch mode and sneak past him to reach the Church of Elleh. Upon entering the gateless building, you will find a second Site of Grace there, and Merchant Kalé who’s dressed up like Santa Claus.
We doubt you will have lots of runes to spend on buying items from Merchant Kalé as you haven’t got a lot of combat experience. And perhaps you haven’t got the Smithing Stone either, so you won’t be improving your armaments. Both these tasks are also very important, and if you want to gain some runes to spend on items, it would be better to kill some soldiers first to earn them and then go to the merchant.
For now, let’s focus on finding the location of Melina, your would-be spectral guide in Elden Ring. Here are the steps:
- In order to find Melina, you need to go to and discover at least three Sites of Grace. If you have followed this guide till now, you know that we have discovered two sites already. Now, from the Church of Elleh, you can either go and touch the Gatefront Site of Grace or the Agheel Lake North one. Both these sites can be found easily. You just need to explore the area on the right to the entrance of the church.
- The Agheel Lake North site is located in front of Gatefront Ruins, an area patrolled by guards armed with lances, shields, and swords. There are also going to be pet wolves with them. So tread with caution around this area. There is no need to engage them for now; just employ a bit of stealth and reach the site and touch it. The Gatefront Site of Grace lies behind the Gatefront Ruins. You can go there as well. But make sure no one notices.
- Once you reach either of the two sites, Melina will appear and start talking with you. You will notice that after she initiates the dialogue, the option to level up appears when you choose to rest at the Site of Grace. You will also see a “Talk to Melina” option in the same menu. Talk more with her to get some backstory on the Lands Between.
- If you don’t want to talk to her just yet, you can also refuse her offer. Elden Ring does not make it mandatory for you to talk to her within the first few hours into the game. You can always try to do your own thing first, like earn more runes or get a taste of fighting different types of enemies. But if you are new to Soulsborne games, we strongly suggest that you find Melina early on.
Our Suggestion
Before meeting Melina, you could explore the Limgrave area a bit and familiarise yourself with the different types of enemies out there. That is if you want to score a good number of runes first. Around 800+ are required to level up for the first time.
The flora and fauna in the place can yield some important items, so be sure to collect them too. Practice your martial skills and get good at taking down soldiers and other enemies which will earn you runes. The gist is that if you go to Melina rich with some runes, you can level up then and there.
Even if you explore Gatefront Ruins and areas around it, you will find plenty of challenges to get good at combat. Otherwise, you can meet her first and then start leveling up. It is up to you, whichever way you prefer it.
If you’re playing Elden Ring for the first time, you should also check out our tips to kill the Soldier of Godrick!
