Melina is the first person you will encounter in Elden Ring (apart from the Grafted Scion boss). Even though you “meet” her at the start of the game, your actual interaction with her takes some time, and when you finally properly meet, she offers you an accord.
This guide will help you decide whether to accept or refuse Melina’s accord in Elden Ring once you know where to meet her. We’ll also cover what happens if you actually refuse and whether you can beat the game without meeting her at all.
Elden Ring Melina Locations
You will meet Melina shortly after starting your adventure in Elden Ring. She’s a self-anointed Finger Maiden you can find on your third visit to a Site of Grace. She will appear in a blue, ghostly dress with a tattoo over an eye.
As soon as you meet her, she’ll say greetings and offer you an accord right after. You’ll have the liberty of accepting or rejecting the accord.
Melina also commonly appears when you rest at the Gatefront Ruins Site of Grace for the first time.
At a random point in-game when you rest at a site of grace, Melina will appear and offer to take you to Roundtable Hold. The sites of grace that commonly trigger this interaction are listed below
- Lake-Facing Cliffs in Liurnia of the Lakes
- Sellia Under-Stair
- Smoldering Church in Caelid (triggered after dying a few times to Anastasia, Tarnished Eater)
If you know these locations you can access than early. Sellia Under-Stair can be found through teleportation from the transporter trap chest at Dragon-Burnt Ruins in the basement cellar. It will bring you to Sellia Crystal Tunnel from which you can easily exit to find the Sellia Under-Stair Site of Grace.
Accept or Refuse Melina’s Accord in Elden Ring?
Melina wants to serve as your maiden and will only ask to be escorted to the foot of the Erdtree in return. She will never explain the reasons for the accord, at least not at that point.
You should accept her accord as you will be rewarded with two useful things. The first one is the ability to level up.
Leveling up at the start of the game is crucial and this accord is one of the earliest and best ways to do so. Leveling up will enable you to gain more strength and stealth. This means great endurance during the fights. You will only make a tough game tougher if you reject Melina.
The second thing you will get is a Spectral Steed Whistle. This will be a good addition to assets. Blowing the whistle will summon a giant horse, Torrent. Torrent will be a reliable source of traveling across a huge open world.
Elden Ring What Happens If You Refuse Melina?
Thankfully, the rejection of Melina is not permanent. You’ll see her again when you see the next Grace location. There, she’ll again offer you the accord. If you find that Melina is not showing up following your rejection, keep visiting and resting at different Sites of Grace sites until she does.
You should think this way that there’s no option to reject the accord. So, accept the accord the first time and get Melina’s rewards and services. In New Game + accepting or declining, Melina works the same as on a fresh character; she will keep showing up until you accept.
Can You Beat Elden Ring Without Melina?
Unfortunately, this is not possible as Melina is an important character who will give you some of the most vital items needed for game progression. If you refuse Melina’s offer, then you won’t get them, and the game will be stuck unless you accept. If you refuse Melina’s accord, you can’t get into Leyndell, and you don’t get Rold Medallion after defeating Morgott. The fog gate doesn’t disappear, so you are trapped.
You can use glitches to circumvent one or two of the obstacles but eventually you will get stuck. Additionally, 3rd party software that allows coordinates teleportation may help but it may break the game.
