As with most, if not all, open world video games, Elden Ring has its fair share of bugs and glitches. While some of these can be irritating or detrimental, other Elden Ring glitches can end up causing hilarious interactions or situations that make for memorable gameplay.
However, on rare occasions, glitches can be helpful or even imperative in a particular situation. For example, without "zips" or teleports executed by walking an incredibly specific distance, the Elden Ring sub-9 minute speed run and subsequent runs could never work, as without them the game would take much longer to finish.
While an argument can certainly be made against the existence of "zips," as of right now they are a part of the game that doesn't harm gameplay and is beneficial to speed runs. On an entirely different subject, AFK rune farmers have become a huge problem in the game, so much so that hunters and invaders are teaming up to kill Elden Ring AFK rune farmers. The reason this is important to the topic of glitches is that one player has discovered a glitch that allows them to reach the location of these AFK players.
This is how an AFK farmer reacts when you actually get inside! (Lenne's Rise invasion) from Eldenring
Reddit user CaptainIkag created a clip that captured 2 amazing things: one, the execution of an unbelievable glitch that allowed them to run through the air; two, the discovery and dismantling of a disgruntled rune farmer who was left running for their life from CaptainIkrag's wrath. Based on the host's reaction, they made a mad dash to pick up their controller and sprint/dodge away as quickly as possible, opting to flee rather than fight. However, much like another disastrous AFK rune farmer fight in Elden Ring, the farmer still ended up dead.
While using Mohgwyn's spear can kill Elden Ring's AFK rune farmers, the spear can't reach every hiding spot, including the one shown in the video. However, CaptainIkag showcased a glitch that allowed them to literally run through the air. According to them, this was done using an ash of war that puts the character in a specific stance. Following up a light attack in this stance with an L2 input and swapping to a different weapon while holding the hammer of Marika in the right hand is what causes the glitch to occur. While clearly extremely complicated, the glitch allowed CaptainIkag to traverse an incredible amount of space and was the only reason they reached the AFK farmer.
While this glitch surely won't be the end of AFK farmers, CaptainIkag's glitch is a major step in the right direction. While it is good practice for developers to reduce the amount of glitches in their games to zero, in this case the glitch was a major positive.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.