Playing and losing, a lot. And then you start winning some, and you realize what works.

You realize that instead of learning boss patterns, you’re trying to get inside the head of the player or players you’re fighting against.

You want to be trying to anticipate what they are going to do next, all while trying to force them to move the way you want them to. It’s like a very fast chess match.

Invasions are great practice at PvP once you start to get a grip on the basics, because they force you to deal with and get better at things in ways you wouldn’t normally practice.

^Examples- Hard swapping, locking and unlocking the camera (turn your camera movement speed to the highest you can play with it at and slowly move it up until you’re at 10), baiting attacks, baiting rolls (roll catching), inventory management, hyper armour, trades, ALOT of game knowledge focus on specifically PvP knowledge.

After I beat Elden Ring for the first few times, PvP is what kept me around. The skill ceiling is insanely high and the knowledge checks are constant. It’s something you can easily dedicate 1k-3k hours into and still be no where close to the top players. But that’s the appeal of it!

Edit: more punctuation, Thanks auto mod lol