Introduction to Elden Ring Endings
Welcome to the ultimate Elden Ring endings guide, your comprehensive roadmap to understanding, unlocking, and experiencing every single conclusion in FromSoftware’s monumental masterpiece. Spanning across the desolate and breathtaking lands between, your journey as a Tarnished will ultimately culminate in a monumental choice. Unlike previous titles from the developer, Elden Ring offers a staggering variety of paths you can take, ranging from the standard restoration of the Golden Order to plunging the entire world into eternal despair or the cold vacuum of space.
Navigating these narrative branches can be exceptionally tricky. Many quests are deeply intertwined, easily missed, or mutually exclusive, requiring careful planning across multiple playthroughs or clever save-scumming. Whether you are aiming to achieve the coveted Platinum trophy, uncover deep piece-by-piece lore, or simply see how your actions reshape the fate of the Erdtree, this guide will walk you through every requirement step-by-step.
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Understanding the Elden Ring Endings System
Before diving into the specific paths, it is important to understand how the Elden Ring endings actually trigger. Once you defeat the final boss of the game, you will be presented with a fractured Marika and a glowing statue or summoning sign on the ground. Depending on the Mending Runes in your inventory or specific questlines you have completed, you will have multiple interactions available.
Generally, the endings can be divided into three distinct categories:
- The Standard Endings (achieved through baseline choices or basic items)
- The Mending Rune Endings (variations of the standard ending that alter the world's status quo)
- The Unique Secret Endings (fully cinematic conclusions tied to massive, game-spanning side quests)
Let us break down each and every ending so you can choose your desired destiny.
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1. The Standard Path: Age of Fracture
The Age of Fracture is essentially the default ending of the game. If you do not follow any specific character questlines that reward you with a special item at the end, this is the conclusion you will naturally receive.
To achieve the Age of Fracture, simply defeat the final boss, interact with Queen Marika, and choose the option to Repair the Elden Ring. In this cinematic, your character sits upon the Elden Throne, and the Erdtree continues to burn with a pale light. While peace is technically restored, nothing fundamental about the oppressive Golden Order changes, leaving the Lands Between in a state of fragile stasis.
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2. The Mending Rune Variations
There are three different endings that build upon the foundation of the Age of Fracture by utilizing special Mending Runes. These runes are earned by completing complex NPC questlines throughout the world. When you interact with Marika at the end of the game, you will have the option to use your specific rune, altering the text and the final cinematic to reflect your philosophical choice.
Age of the Duskborn
The Age of the Duskborn is tied to the hauntingly melancholic questline of Fia, the Deathbed Companion. By embracing Fia and following her trials deep into the Deeproot Depths, you will eventually help her birth the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince.
To unlock this ending:
- Meet Fia at the Roundtable Hold and allow her to hold you regularly.
- Receive the weathered dagger and give it to D, Hunter of the Dead.
- Find D's tragic fate and collect his armor set.
- Locate Fia in the Deeproot Depths, give her the armor, and defeat Lichdragon Fortissax in her dream.
- Use the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince upon interacting with Marika.
This ending introduces "Those Who Live in Death" into the natural order of the world, effectively destigmatizing undeath and creating a new equilibrium of life and death.
Blessing of Despair
If you prefer chaos, cruelty, and absolute vengeance against the oppressive powers of the Erdtree, the Blessing of Despair is for you. This ending is unlocked by completing the vile questline of Dung Eater, one of the most detestable characters in gaming history.
To unlock this ending:
- Find the Dung Eater in the Roundtable Hold (appearing as a phantom projection initially) and get the key to his cell in the Leyndell, Royal Capital sewers.
- Release him from his physical cell and defeat him when he invades you in the outer moat.
- Feed him Seedbed Curses found in various late-game legacy dungeons.
- Once he succumbs, collect the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse.
- Use this rune at the end of the game to trigger the curse ending.
The resulting cinematic shows the Lands Between draped in a horrifying, miasmic darkness, where every single living being is cursed for eternity, generation after generation.
Age of Order
For those who believe the Golden Order is fundamentally good but simply corrupted by the flawed leadership of Queen Marika and the Greater Will, the Age of Order offers a purifying solution. This path is guided by Goldmask and Brother Corhyn.
To unlock this ending:
- Find Brother Corhyn at the Roundtable Hold and progress his dialogue until he leaves to find Goldmask.
- Locate Goldmask on the broken bridge in Altus Plateau and report back to Corhyn.
- Meet them in the Capital and solve the riddle at the Erdtree Capital statue using the incantation Law of Regression (requires 37 Intelligence).
- Find them one final time in the Ashen Capital and acquire the Mending Rune of the Perfect Order.
- Use this rune after defeating the final boss.
This ending establishes a strict, objective, and incorruptible divine order, removing the petty flaws of gods and men alike.
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3. The Secret Unique Endings
Beyond the Mending Runes, Elden Ring features two completely unique, major cinematic endings that completely bypass the standard throne-sitting animation and offer profound narrative conclusions.
Age of the Stars
Widely considered by the community to be the "true" or most satisfying ending, the Age of the Stars is tied to the sprawling, epic questline of Witch Ranni. This ending removes the influence of the Greater Will and the Golden Order entirely from the Lands Between, ushering in a cold, dark night led by the stars and the moon.
To unlock this ending:
- Meet Ranni at Ranni's Rise in Caria Manor (Liurnia of the Lakes).
- Join her service and travel to Nokron, Eternal City to retrieve the Fingerslayer Blade.
- Give the blade to Ranni, allowing her to leave her tower.
- Traverse through the Ainsel River Main, pick up her miniature doll, and defeat the Baleful Shadow.
- Obtain the Discarded Palace Key, open the chest in the Grand Library of Raya Lucaria, and take the Dark Moon Ring.
- Navigate through the Lake of Rot, defeat Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, and reach the Cathedral of Manus Celes.
- Place the ring on Ranni's finger to receive the Dark Moon Greatsword and lock in her ending.
- Summon Ranni using the blue summoning sign on the ground after the final boss battle.
The cinematic for the Age of the Stars is breathtaking, showcasing a thousand-year voyage across the cosmos with Ranni as your eternal consort.
Lord of Frenzied Flame
If you wish to watch the entire world burn and put an end to all suffering by destroying individuality and returning everything to the primordial One Great, you must seek out the Three Fingers. This ending is heavily tied to Hyetta and Shabriri, and visiting the subterranean shunning grounds beneath Leyndell.
To unlock this ending:
- Navigate the treacherous platforming puzzle in the deep sewers beneath Leyndell to reach the Frenzied Flame Proscription site of grace.
- Strip off all your armor and weapons and open the heavy stone door, allowing the Three Fingers to brand your character.
- Crucial Note: Accepting this brand locks you into the Frenzied Flame ending unless you complete a grueling side quest involving Millicent's prosthesis and Miquella's Needle in Dragonlord Placidusax's arena to cure yourself.
- If you keep the brand, defeat the final boss and interact with Marika to trigger a fiery, apocalyptic cinematic where your body is consumed by yellow flames.
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Tips for Maximizing Your Playthrough
Because achieving every single ending in a single playthrough requires exploiting cloud saves or USB backups (depending on your platform), many players choose to experience them across multiple New Game Plus cycles. Here are a few expert tips to keep in mind:
- Do Not Rush the Final Boss: Once you defeat the final boss, you do not automatically trigger an ending unless you interact with the statue/sign. You can freely explore the world, complete side quests, and finish leveling up before making your final choice.
- Track NPC Locations: Characters like Goldmask, Corhyn, and Dung Eater move around dynamically as you progress the main story. Always check back with them after defeating major shardbearers.
- Prepare for Invasions and Bosses: Completing Ranni's quest or unlocking the Frenzied Flame requires defeating challenging secret bosses like Astel or navigating brutal platforming sections. Come prepared with optimal builds and plenty of healing flasks.
By following this Elden Ring endings guide, you are now fully equipped to conquer the Lands Between and claim whichever throne—or lack thereof—your heart desires. May your sword stay sharp and your spirit remain unbroken, Tarnished.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I get all endings in a single playthrough of Elden Ring?
A: Technically yes, but only if you use a backup save exploit. On PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, you can back up your save file to the cloud or a USB drive right before the final boss choice, load your save file after getting an ending, and repeat the process. Otherwise, you will need multiple playthroughs (New Game Plus) to see all of them naturally.
Q: Which Elden Ring ending is considered the best?
A: There is no official "good" or "bad" ending, but the Age of the Stars (Ranni's ending) is widely considered by the community to be the best and most fulfilling due to its massive scope, unique cinematic, and the fact that it completely frees the world from the tyranny of the Greater Will.
Q: How do I lock myself out of the Frenzied Flame ending?
A: If you accidentally inherit the Frenzied Flame from the Three Fingers, you can cure yourself by completing Millicent’s questline, defeating Malenia, obtaining Miquella’s Needle, and using it inside the hidden arena of Dragonlord Placidusax in Crumbling Farum Azula.
Q: Do the endings change the gameplay or just the cutscene?
A: The endings do not change the core gameplay or open up a post-game exploratory state in the open world. Once the credits roll, you will be given the option to start your Journey 2 (New Game Plus). The choice you make purely dictates the final cinematic and the ultimate lore implications for the Lands Between.
Q: Are the Mending Rune endings radically different from the Age of Fracture?
A: Structurally, the Mending Rune endings (Age of Order, Age of the Duskborn, and Blessing of Despair) share the same final throne-sitting sequence as the default Age of Fracture, but they feature unique voiceover narration by Melina (or Gideon, depending on circumstances), altered color palettes for the Erdtree, and distinct text epilogues.
