Introduction to Elden Ring Endings
FromSoftware’s masterpiece, Elden Ring, is a monumental achievement in action role-playing gaming. Set in the sprawling, interconnected world of the Lands Between, the game challenges players to ascend the throne and become the Elden Lord, or alter the fundamental fabric of reality entirely. Because the game is so massive and obscure in its quest design, understanding the elden ring endings guide updated is essential for completionists and lore enthusiasts alike.
Unlike traditional RPGs, Elden Ring does not spoon-feed its narrative. The path to each ending requires navigating cryptic character questlines, defeating colossal demigods, and making monumental moral choices. With various patches and updates, the community has thoroughly mapped out all the paths to the Elden Ring conclusions, ensuring that players can experience every single variation of the game's finale without missing crucial steps.
In this comprehensive, updated guide, we will break down all six main endings of Elden Ring, the prerequisites required to unlock them, and how to position your character to make the ultimate choice at the very end of your journey.
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Understanding the Choice at the End
Before diving into the specific paths, it is important to understand how the end-game works. Upon defeating the final boss of the game, players are presented with a site of grace. Interacting with this grace allows you to trigger an ending based on the Mending Mending Mending Runes or items you have collected throughout your playthrough.
Crucially, Elden Ring save scumming is a popular technique used by players who want to see multiple endings in a single playthrough. By backing up your save file to the cloud or a USB drive right before interacting with the final interaction point, you can reload your game and experience different outcomes. However, some endings lock you out of others if certain key items are acquired or specific cursed items are used.
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1. The Standard Path: Age of Fracture
What is the Age of Fracture?
The Age of Fracture is considered the default or standard ending of Elden Ring. If you simply follow the main path of the game, defeat the major bosses, and do not engage with any of the game's hidden side quests involving alternate mending runes, this is the ending you will receive.
To achieve the Age of Fracture, you must defeat the final boss, interact with the broken Marika, and choose to repair the Elden Ring normally. This results in the status quo being maintained, albeit with your character sitting upon the throne as the new Elden Lord. The Lands Between remains fractured and scarred by the Shattering, but cycle continues anew.
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2. The Golden Order Endings (Mending Runes)
Several endings are achieved by acquiring specific Mending Runes throughout the game. These items alter the fundamental laws of the Golden Order when you repair the Elden Ring.
Age of the Duskborn
The Age of the Duskborn ending is tied to the tragic and eerie questline of Fia, the Deathbed Companion. By following her quest, you will confront Lichdragon Fortissax and acquire the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince.
- Travel to the Deeproot Depths and find Fia.
- Give her the Cursemark of Death (obtained from the Divine Tower of Liurnia).
- Defeat Lichdragon Fortissax in her dream.
- Obtain the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince.
- Upon defeating the final boss, use this rune to initiate an ending where Death is integrated back into the Golden Order, ending the prejudice against those who live in death.
Age of Order
If you prefer a more bureaucratic yet stable divine intervention, the Age of Order is for you. This ending is guided by Brother Corhyn and Goldmask.
- Meet Goldmask and Corhyn on the Altus Plateau and relay information to them.
- Find them near the capital and solve the riddle of Radagon's identity using the Law of Regression incantation.
- Locate them in the Mountaintops of the Giants.
- Finally, find Goldmask's body in Leyndell, Capital of Ash, and loot the Mending Rune of Perfect Order.
- Use this rune at the end to create an era free from the fickleness and madness of the outer gods, establishing a rigid, perfect golden order.
Blessing of Despair
Often referred to as the "bad ending" or the Dung Eater ending, the Blessing of Despair is as grim as it sounds. The Dung Eater wants to curse every soul in the Lands Between so that they are forever barred from the Erdtree's reincarnation cycle.
- Find the Dung Eater in the Roundtable Hold and give him a Seedbed Curse.
- Release his physical body from the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds.
- Invade him when prompted and acquire the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse.
- Use this rune to plunge the entire world into an age of unending torment and defilement.
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3. The Radical Alternatives
Beyond the mending runes, there are two massive, divergent endings that completely bypass the standard Elden Ring repair system.
Lord of Frenzied Flame
The Lord of Frenzied Flame is perhaps the most dramatic and visually distinct ending in Elden Ring. Guided by the Three Fingers deep beneath the capital, your character becomes an agent of chaos whose goal is to melt all life back into the One Great.
- Descend into the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath Leyndell.
- Navigate the treacherous platforming puzzle and reach the Three Fingers door.
- Strip off all your armor and open the door to receive the Frenzied Flame. This locks you into this ending unless you complete the grueling Millicent questline and use Miquella's Needle in Dragonlord Placidusax's arena.
- Defeat the final boss and summon Melina's wrath (or trigger the cinematic where she vows to hunt you down if she abandoned you earlier). The Erdtree burns in a hellish orange flame, and you become the Lord of Chaos.
Age of the Stars
The Age of the Stars is widely considered the "good" or true canonical ending by a large portion of the community, largely due to its association with Witch Ranni. This ending removes the Greater Will and the Golden Order entirely from the Lands Between, ushering in an age of the cold, dark night and freedom.
- Meet Ranni at Ranni's Rise in Liurnia of the Lakes.
- Join her service and travel to Nokron, Eternal City, to retrieve the Fingerslayer Blade.
- Journey through Ainsel River and the Lake of Rot to defeat Astel, Naturalborn of the Void.
- Traverse the Moonlight Altar and place the Dark Moon Ring upon Ranni's doll.
- Upon defeating the final boss, summon Ranni using the blue summon sign on the floor rather than interacting with Marika. This triggers one of the most cinematic and emotionally resonant endings in gaming history.
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Tips for Managing Multiple Playthroughs
Because getting all achievements or trophies requires seeing multiple endings, planning your playthrough strategically will save you dozens of hours. Here are some essential tips:
- Prioritize NPC Quests Early: Many NPC questlines intersect or fail if you progress too far in the main story (such as defeating Maliketh in Crumbling Farum Azula). Keep a close eye on characters like Ranni, Fia, and Goldmask.
- Save Scumming: As mentioned earlier, backing up your save file right before the final boss allows you to experience the Age of Fracture, Age of Order, Age of the Duskborn, and Blessing of Despair all in one go (provided you have the respective items).
- The Frenzied Flame Lockout: Be very careful with the Three Fingers. Embracing the Frenzied Flame locks you out of all other endings unless you go through the immense trouble of curing it with Miquella's Needle.
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Conclusion
Elden Ring offers a breathtaking variety of conclusions that profoundly change how you view the lore and characters of the Lands Between. Whether you choose to establish a rigid order, plunge the world into despair, embrace fiery chaos, or walk hand-in-hand with Ranni into the starry night, your choice matters. Keep this updated guide handy as you journey through the fog, and may you find your worth in the waking world—or whichever reality you choose to forge.
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