Elden Ring’s quick hotbar is a massive help that people are missing

Playing is what you should do. Elden RingAvoid using the hotbar (also known as the pouch), you’d be forgiven. It is mentioned briefly in the game, however it’s not clear from even the tooltip. I had to go through the menus several times to find out how to assign it.

What is Elden Ring’s hotbar (aka the quick pouch)?

To be clear, it’s not the four icons that live on the lower left corner of the screen, showing your equipped items, spells, and gear. It’s BehindThat. If you hold Triangle/Y during normal gameplay, you’ll see those four icons change to four new icons. That’s the hotbar we’re talking about. (In-game it’s technically called the pouch, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing that.)

One of these icons, by default, is an insignificant item. It teleports to the site of grace and removes all carried runes. There are better options. Specifically, we’re going to assign Your two flasks and your physick.Make your life easier.

How do you assign your items the Elden Ring hotbar/quick bag?

To bring up the main menu, hit pause. On the left you’ll see familiar menu options, like your inventory and equipment. But if you hit right on the d-pad, it’ll pop you over to an easy-to-miss series of boxes that represent your hotbar/quick pouch. This is where you will assign your D-pad directions and the potions to your horse. Other items could be added, but I find these to the most valuable.

Here’s how I have mine set up:

Image by FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

This arrangement allows me to quickly heal myself by simply holding Y + up. For more FP/mana, it’s Y + down. My horse is Y+ Left, while my Physick (Y + Right) is. This is a far more efficient way to win a fight than having multiple pieces to search for the item you are looking for.

Oh, and poof. Elden RingIt’s much simpler for you.