An issue plaguing the Elden Ring PvP community is AFK rune farming. For those who may be unfamiliar with the practice, Elden Ring AFK rune farmers basically hide their character in an extremely hard-to-reach spot so that invaders can't get to them. When someone comes across an Elden Ring AFK rune farmer, they often die trying to reach them or give up and simply return to their own world, netting the rune farmer a bundle of free runes in the process.
Elden Ring players have strategies to fight back against AFK rune farmers, using specialized weapons and traversal tricks to take them out. One Elden Ring player, fed up with having ran into the same AFK rune farmer five times in a row in Liurnia of the Lakes, decided to fight fire with fire. Reddit user Teasnarker recently detailed how they trolled the Elden Ring AFK rune farmer they came across in a viral post that has amassed over 25,000 upvotes at the time of this writing.
According to Teasnarker, they decided to use the Mimic's Veil to turn into a bush, effectively hiding from the hunters sent to kill them. The hunters would then leave the host's world, but Teasnarker stayed put, as they were determined that the Elden Ring AFK rune farmer wasn't going to profit off them any longer. Teasnarker has reportedly been hiding in the bush for hours, basically AFK farming the AFK rune farmer.
As explained by Teasnarker, every time that the hunters leave, they are rewarded with runes and a Furlcalling Finger Remedy. Not only that, but Teasnarker's presence makes it so fewer invaders are being summoned in, hurting the overall haul that the AFK rune farmer would be getting.
Teasnarker has encouraged other members of the Elden Ring community to follow their example whenever they encounter an AFK rune farmer, and it will be interesting to see if it becomes a trend. If enough members of the community do it, it may just be enough to convince Elden Ring AFK rune farmers that it's just not worth the effort. In the meantime, it seems like Teasnarker may be on the way to becoming the next Elden Ring community "celebrity," with users offering to create fan art based on them and their bush in a manner not unlike the Elden Ring Let Me Solo Her player.
Of course, it's worth pointing out that AFK rune farming in Elden Ring is completely unnecessary as it is. There are many legitimate ways to get runes fast in Elden Ring, none of which require ruining the PvP experience for others.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Reddit