Elden Ring’s hard-to-find official strategy guides are back in stock at Amazon. Books of Knowledge Volume 1: The Lands Between and Volume 2: Shards of the Shattering had been sold out nearly all of this year and throughout 2024. This is the first restock we’ve seen since last December, and both books sold out quickly then.
Volume 1 is currently listed for full price ($50), but Volume 2 dropped to $42.49 while I was writing this story. Both prices are bargains compared to many reseller listings over the past 1.5 years. Volume 3: Shadow of the Erdtree rounds out the collection and is available for $37.66 (was $45) at Amazon.
Guidebooks published by Future Press tend to remain out of stock for many months after selling out, and there’s no guarantee they will return at all. For instance, the Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium has been sold out for over a year, and the Sekiro guide disappeared years ago. But at least Future Press also reprinted the Armored Core VI Pilot’s Manual, which had also been unavailable for more than six months. Last year’s Bloodborne Complete Guide is also in stock at Amazon.
Elden Ring’s Official Hardcover Strategy Guides:
$50 | Restocked June 2025
Key Features:
- 512 Pages
- Hardcover
- Premium Binding & Paper
- Full-color Artwork
- Double-sided World Poster
- Ribbon Bookmark
- 100+ Detailed Maps
- NPC Guide
- Lore Section
- Dungeon Guide
- In-depth Gameplay Manual
Originally published in November 2022, Books of Knowledge Volume 1 is called The Lands Between, as this comprehensive 512-page reference book provides a look at every location across the sprawling open world of Elden Ring. To be clear, the 100-plus areas covered in the book’s maps and diagrams were created prior to Shadow of the Erdtree’s release.
Volume 1 sold out early last year ahead of the expansion’s release and remained out of stock until December 2024. Then it promptly sold out again and has been largely unavailable in 2025.
If you’ve never played a From Software game before or are introducing the game to a new player, this is the book to crack open. It covers every aspect of Elden Ring’s gameplay mechanics and progression systems and has chapters focused on the overworld and dungeons, all of which are mapped to help you find secrets, take the best routes, and ensure you don’t miss anything. It also has a reference section focused purely on the game’s story and the lore of The Lands Between.
All of the game’s NPCs and side quests they give you are covered in detail alongside full dialogue exchanges. Just like with the overworld and dungeons, side quests are mapped with ideal paths.
Obviously there are sections in Volume 1 that experienced players will wind up skipping past, but like other strategy guides being produced today, there’s a ton of art and commentary that will be of interest even if you’ve already completed Elden Ring and its DLC. Plus, it’s a gorgeous collectible that looks great on display. It comes with a double-sided world map poster as well as a ribbon bookmark.
$42.49 (was $50) | Restocked June 2025
Key Features:
- 528 Pages
- Hardcover
- Premium Binding & Paper
- Full-color Artwork
- 4 Art Prints
- Ribbon Bookmark
- In-depth Combat Guide
- Complete Bestiary
- Weapons, Armor, Spells Catalog
- Exclusive Interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki
Shards of the Shattering, Volume 2 of Elden Ring’s Books of Knowledge series, was sold out for even longer than Volume 1. It sold out well before the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion–it’s been challenging to find a copy in 2024-25 without paying well over $100. Just like Volume 1, it was restocked late last year, sold out again, and was unavailable for much of 2025–until now.
Volume 2 begins with a deep dive into Elden Ring’s combat system. From there, the 528-page book details all of the base game’s enemies, from bosses to regular foes, and offers tips for how to defeat them. This section works in synergy with the Armament catalog, which is an encyclopedia containing all of Elden Ring’s many weapons and armor as well as character abilities and spells. It’s a very handy reference book for both the base game and Shadow of the Erdtree, and you can use the attached ribbon bookmark to keep your spot for your next visit.
There’s also an exclusive interview with Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki. And just like Volume 1, it doubles as an encyclopedic art book that looks awesome on display.
The extra content that comes with Volume 2 is arguably even cooler than world map poster from Volume 1. Along with this weighty tome, you’ll get four exclusive art prints to display.
$37.67 (was $45)
Key Features:
- 416 Pages
- Hardcover
- Premium Binding & Paper
- Full-color Artwork
- Concept Art Gallery
- Annotated Shadow Realm Poster
- Complete Progression Guide
- Advanced Build Guide
- Expanded Bestiary
- Shadow Realm Item Catalog
- Quest Guide
- Gear Catalog
Volume 3 released last November and covers all things Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring’s superb 2024 expansion. Unlike the first two volumes, this one hasn’t been hard to find in stock, but this is one of the better deals we’ve seen this year.
Like the first two books in the series, this 416-page tome is a gameplay guide and an in-depth art book that fans of all stripes will want to check out. It includes detailed breakdowns of the expansion’s new characters and quest lines, as well as full walkthroughs of the new bosses, enemies, dungeons, and explorable regions.
Similar to Volume 2, this book includes a catalog of the new weapons, armor, and items introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree as well as a bestiary with everything you need to know about the new creatures you encounter. The Realm of Shadow is mapped out in detail, just like the world map section in Volume 1.
Along with the written guides, the book is packed with artwork, including all-new concept art and full-page illustrations of landscapes, characters, weapons, and more.
As a bonus, Shadow of the Erdtree’s guidebook comes with a poster-sized map of the Shadow Realm with each area labeled.
Elden Ring’s trio of official strategy guides aren’t the only official books fans can read after setting down the controller. We’ve rounded up more Elden Ring and From Software books below.
$66 (MSRP is $60)
Published by Udon Entertainment, Elden Ring: Official Art Book Volume 1 offers an in-depth look at the The Lands Between’s sprawling open world, dungeons, main characters and NPCs, and armor. It contains concept and development art as well as key art from the opening cinematic of the base game.
This 432-page hardcover book was translated to English in 2023 and is often sold out at Amazon–as it is right now. You can buy it from a third-part seller for slightly above MSRP at the moment.
$42.73 (was $60)
At 384 pages, Volume 2 of Udon’s Elden Ring art book series is about 50 pages shorter than the first, but it’s available for a significantly lower price at the moment.
Volume 2’s artwork focuses on the bosses and other enemies you encounter throughout your journey across The Lands Between. The other big section of this book showcases the wide array of weapons you can use to topple Elden Ring’s formidable foes. Beyond weapons, there’s artwork for many other items as well as a catalog of items to use for reference.
Elden Ring also has an official manga called The Road to the Erdtree. If you are looking to read a grim and serious manga set in The Lands Between, this is not that. The Road to Erdtree is a comedy, and the writing is genuinely quite good. It’s definitely worth checking out if you love Elden Ring. You don’t need to have completed the game to enjoy the manga, though like most adaptations, prior knowledge would probably enhance the experience.
From Software Games – Official Strategy Guides
Future Press was busy last year with books focused on From Software games. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the publisher has reissued new editions of two of its most popular gaming books: the aforementioned Bloodborne Complete Guide and Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium. Published in April 2024, the Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium is a 480-page deep dive into all three Dark Souls games. Like Future’s Elden Ring guides, these Bloodborne and Dark Souls books were written and designed in collaboration with From Software. Unfortunately, only the Bloodborne book is available to purchase for a reasonable price.
As mentioned, Future Press also recently reprinted the sold-out Armored Core VI Pilot’s Manual, which you can grab for $45 at Amazon. Here’s a full list of modern From Software game strategy guides published by Future Press:
There are many unofficial strategy guides and lore books created by fans listed on Amazon. But the only official From Software strategy guides still in print are the ones published by Future Press: Bloodborne Complete Guide, Dark Souls Trilogy Compendium, the Elden Ring strategy guides, and Armored Core 6’s Pilot’s Manual–which had been sold out since last holiday season.
Official From Software art books have been published by Udon Entertainment for Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice also has an official art book, but it was published by Yen Press.
From Software Games – Official Art Books
The trio of Dark Souls Design Works books were translated and published in English by Udon Entertainment. The first book is still available directly from Amazon, but unfortunately the second and third books are pricey from resellers. If you mainly care about the artwork, not the accompanying text, the original Japanese editions published by Kadokawa are available at Amazon, including Dark Souls III: Design Works for substantially less than the English edition. So far, Armored Core 6’s art book has only been published in Japanese by Kadokawa.
Future Press recently published a massive, nearly 700-page strategy guide for Metaphor: ReFantazio. Fans of Atlus JRPGs can pick up this collector’s item for $45 (was $55) at Amazon.
