The fallen leaves tell a story, one of a foul Tarnished who did not put those foolish ambitions to rest and grew bored of regular Elden Ring playthroughs. So they tossed their controllers, whipped out their Dance Pads, and charged at Malenia the Severed, the Blade of Miquella herself, naked because the game was not hard enough by their standards. This foolish endeavor is one instance of the existence of challenge runs, tests of a player's skill and patience placed upon them by themselves.
These challenge runs in Elden Ring are always fan ideas, with some being a metric for good players to prove their builds and gaming setups worthy enough to kill a god. Regardless, they always venture to extremes or play on ridiculous ideas that, whether purposely or not, make the game even harder. Elden Ring lacks a difficulty slider, so these self-imposed hurdles ought to equalize things for players, granting Soulseborne experts or newbies looking to hone their skills the difficulty they could not find.
Updated May 23, 2023, by Christopher Anaya: As if by prophecy, the foretellings of the fallen leaves, the foul Tarnished have discredited the difficulty of Elden Ring by developing and undergoing even more challenge runs. The drive of players everywhere to make this game harder is beyond the comprehension of most, especially the godly enemies in the game, offended by the mere notion that they are not enough. Yet, beyond reason, these fan challenges continue and will do so until the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC — yet there is no doubt they will persist until the game crumbles to irrelevancy, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Until that distant day comes, the Tarnished will continue to entertain themselves with trials beyond ridiculous, whether because of the sheer difficulty they pose or the inane antics they play on. Thus, there is no reason to keep some of the most demanding fan challenges secret. It would be in the interests of all for Elden Ring to press on, pushing the limits of video games and proving time again that such titles require much more than luck. Here are the most demanding fan challenges in Elden Ring; prepare yourself Tarnished, for these trials will make any FromSoftward title seem like a cakewalk.
15 All-Range
The All-Range Run is where mouse and keyboard setups will excel because aiming with a controller is too restrictive. This fan challenge is straightforward enough, as players must refrain from using any weapon that requires swinging or smacking. The All-Range Run allows only armaments that can be shot from afar, whether a devastating cannon or the humble bow and arrow. Such a playstyle goes against how Elden Ring plays, denying players the flexibility of using melee and ranged weapons alongside consumables or magic spells.
While ranged weapons can be powerful enough, so long as players are accurate, they are not without downsides. The real challenge here is the need for ammunition and no close-combat capabilities. Ammo is finite, so players need to dedicate some grind to keep stocked or be without any way of defending themselves. Without any effective melee, they cannot afford to be close, which is often not an option, demanding them to maintain distance. In any case, the All-Range Run is one of the more manageable Elden Ring fan challenges.
14 Dual Dagger Assassin
The Dual Dagger Assassin run might look cool or even thematic, running a pure stabby assassin build, but it makes the game that much harder. This fan challenge has players use only daggers, the weapons with the worst range in Elden Ring, and nothing else. The Dual Dagger Assassin run demands that players get up close and stay there, a challenging playstyle downright nightmarish during boss fights. Distance is often the most vital tool against enemies, a tool that this fan challenge outright denies.
Fortunately, daggers hold up well, offering fast attack speed and significant critical damage, leaning into the strike quickly and powerfully approach. Yet, even with high mobility and mastery over parries, the Dual Dagger Assassin is extraordinarily vulnerable. Many enemies in Elden Ring punish players simply for being close, while others excel at keeping their distance; regardless, the Dual Dagger Assassin must face an unfavorable situation where they cannot afford anything below flawlessness, making for a challenging playthrough of Elden Ring.
13 Summoner
The Summoner run has players call upon the powerful Summons through various means, but nothing else. They can have no weapons nor take an active role in any given fight, acting as passive participants in a battle that is technically their own. At best, players can merely run around the boss, trying to catch their attention, which is not an optimal approach when considering how good Summons are at being distractions, lending the Summoner run to a nearly impossible playthrough.
Despite being nerfed, some Summons in Elden Ring are still capable and powerful enough to contest enemies, more so when upgraded. Thus, players can consider the Summoner run one of the more forgiving fan challenges available, at least later on. However, early and mid-game prove grueling, as summoning requires FP and, more rarely, HP. These are invaluable resources during these stages, and players will find themselves burning through them quickly, making the Summoner run a roll of the dice that does not favor them.
12 Cosplayer
The Cosplayer run involves dressing up and acting as a particular NPC or enemy and sticking to their character as much as possible, making it two parts fun and challenging. Players must make up builds that copy certain enemies or NPCs in the most lore and gameplay-accurate guesswork possible, which does not seem too difficult. However, when considering just how absurd or poorly these builds translate, it becomes clear how demanding the Cosplayer run can be.
Many players have probably done something similar to this run but have not gone to the full extent, adopting their cosplay inspiration's exact fighting style and attacks. While doing so does not sound bad, many NPCs and enemies in Elden Ring do not fight optimally, but they can get away with it, considering their higher power and status. The Tarnished, however, cannot. Attempting to cosplay a boss like Starscourge Radahn demands a progressively very aggressive playstyle, which, although perfect for Radahn, is not the best approach players should use for many enemies. The Cosplayer run can be hard or impossible, depending on the cosplay.
11 Over-encumbered
The Over-encumbered run involves beating the game while over 100% equip load. While carrying too much does not seem bad, any Souldsborne veteran knows the danger of having too much stuff in your inventory. Over 100% equip load prevents players from dodging, backstepping, or jumping, introducing a new kind of sluggish hell for players to dredge through in their journey across the Lands Between.
Movement is vital in Elden Ring because being mobile allows you to avoid oncoming attacks, escape pursuing enemies, or get into an advantageous position. With limited mobility, players become easy targets that can only hope their armor is good enough to sustain deadly blows. Before anyone claims that the Over-encumbered run is impossible, they should know that some madman already beat the game with an over-encumbered character. This fan challenge is among the most demanding, as it has players rethink how they play Elden Ring entirely.
10 Solo
The Solo run is something many a stubborn Soulsborne purist has done, forbidding Elden Ring's summoning mechanics, and preventing the use of Spirit Ashes, NPC summons, and player summons. This, for many in the community, is the true solo run, as players cannot depend on anyone or anything beyond themselves. The wits and capabilities of a player are on display with the Solo run, nothing else.
Although this seems simple enough, the Solo run is a considerable challenge because players are practically handicapping themselves by not using Summons; a hindrance made worse when considering that Elden Ring's bosses seemingly are designed with summoning in mind. So, although not an insurmountable challenge, it is a way up the fan challenge hierarchy.
9 Dark Souls
The Dark Souls run is more straightforward than it sounds. It has players return to the roots of Elden Ring and other recent Soulsborne titles, using self-imposed rules that ignore new mechanics and features that Elden Ring brings to the franchise in favor of the original gameplay of the Dark Souls franchise. The Dark Souls run demands players to play through Elden Ring like any past Dark Souls game. Players must adhere to the mechanics and features of Elden Ring's predecessors no matter what, meaning no summoning, no Ashes of War, no Torrent, no jumping, no Flask of Wondrous Physick, no guard counters, and no map.
The most glaring differences between Elden Ring and Dark Souls that the Dark Souls run aims to restore will undoubtedly cause players difficulty. While a strenuous and taxing game in its right, Elden Ring implements many changes that make it, and I hate to use this word, easier or more manageable for newcomers to Soulsborne games. That ought to make things interesting. Disobey any of the Dark Souls run rules once, and it is off to a new character. Honor the predecessors of Elden Ring, and do not cheat.
8 Deathless
For the uninitiated, roguelike games are a sub-genre of gaming where players will have to restart at the beginning of the game if they die. While Elden Ring and other Soulsborne games already have a roguelike mechanic — or rogue-lite — in the form of dropping Runes, it is not as hardcore or as punishing as starting over from scratch. The Deathless run, as the name suggests, has players go through Elden Ring as usual with no bars or myriad rules, save for one: if you die, you must delete your save and start a new game.
Things Elden Ring Does Better Than Any Other FromSoftware Game
From the very beginning, players must exhibit the utmost caution to stay alive; otherwise, they will have to go through the effort of deleting their save, creating a new one, and going through the introduction all over again. Now, any familiar with Soulsborne games understands that death is a constant, for players need to die to learn; some enemies pitted against them are impossibly hard existing to kill players to make a point on how death is commonplace, like Elden Ring's very first boss. To say the Deathless run is tough is a gross understatement.
7 All-Consumables
The All-Consumables run is irrefutably one of the most intensive challenges in resourcefulness. This consumables-only run will test players to the best of their patience and ability, as they must dedicate much practice and resources to using consumables effectively. There is considerable preparation time needed here, as players must grind and craft for their consumables from the start rather than make do with their starting equipment.
The All-Consumables run spoils players for variety, offering them a multitude of consumables, like throwing knives, pots, perfumes, etc., that make up the bulk of their arsenal. And, except for weapons and summons, everything else is allowed, so they benefit from armor and other helpful items. The crafting costs, FP usage, and the janky cost-to-benefit ratio of these items ensure that the challenge in this kind of run never runs out.
6 Pots
Beating Elden Ring with only consumables is one thing, but finishing it only with pots is an accomplishment like no other. The Pots run is a fan challenge demanding players to forgo all equipment — armor, weapons, consumables — and give themselves wholly to pots. The Pots run is a test of skill that started with a hilarious idea, not considering how impossible overcoming the various dangerous enemies of Elden Ring using only pots would be.
Much like any other consumable fan challenge, the Pots run demands a greater focus on grinding to afford or craft an absurd amount of pots, as they are expendable resources. Should a player ever go into battle without enough pots, they will be left to their potless devices and likely need to die, collect pots, and try again. As ridiculous as it is, the Pots run is among the harder fan challenges players can adopt in their playthroughs, as they need to learn conservation and make smart plays.
5 Torch Warrior
Bad weapon challenges are common practice in Soulsborne games, running rampant in every title since the first Dark Souls. However, Elden Ring takes it a step further in the Torch Warrior run, having players use torches, which are among some of the worst armaments they can use. In fact, they are not even supposed to be weapons. They are just fantasy flashlights that lighten dark areas and reveal hidden enemies. Only one torch has a unique function that can put some enemies to sleep, and even then, it is a bottom-of-the-barrel weapon.
The only saving grace of the torch is that it offers vision and inflicts fire damage, but beyond that, it is a flimsy and ineffective weapon that requires players to be significantly closer than is safe to use. Not to mention that many of Elden Ring's enemies tend to be resistant to fire, and with lackluster Ashes of War, managing most fights with a torch is a brutal affair. Truly only those with an infallible feel for the game's combat and enemies can endure the Torch Warrior run.
4 Weird Controller
Anything from dance pads, Guitar Hero guitars, Taiko Drums, or even potatoes hooked to a controller interface will do for the Weird Controller run; so long as it is not your typical two-toggle multi-buttoned controller, it works. Someone already succeeded in using a dance pad and even stomped Malenia with it. The real challenge is finding a suitable substitute for a controller and mastering it.
Anything, not a gamepad, regular console controller, or mouse and keyboard, will do, so long as it can sufficiently replace your usual controller. Players must search for instructions online on odd controllers and how to hook them up with their systems. The number of adjustments and practice players must do just to connect and be able to use an unconventional controller is a lot, not even considering the potential for input lag and the effectiveness of the substitute controller. Regardless of what device one uses, this fan challenge is one of the most extreme in the history of gaming.
3 Maidenless
White-faced Varre keeps calling players maidenless as if it were an insult, so it is time to prove to him that one does not need maidens to become an Elden Lord, even if it means ignoring Melina and her extended car — sorry, Torrent warranty offers. While the players are at it, since they already do not get to level up, they might as well start as a Wretch, the weakest starting Class in Elden Ring by far. If players progress through the game without a Maiden and the worst start, they are worthy beyond belief of the title Elden Lord.
Now, denying Melina and going through Elden Ring without her has significant downsides. Players cannot level up, do not receive the trusty steed Torrent, or have any means of progressing from their wretched state. The Maidenless run allows players to die and get hit, as long as they stay as they were at the beginning of the game, without a Maiden or means of progressing. This fan challenge is immensely difficult and should only be taken by those ready to experience much more death than an average playthrough.
2 No-Hit-No-Armor
The No-Hit-No-Armor run is a nerve-wracking challenge that steps up the difficulty significantly. With nothing but the skin on their backs, players progress through the game as usual and can do everything else so long as they do not get hit. Not. Even. Once. Getting attacked — by anything — means deleting the character and then starting over again. The nature of this run, specifically the not getting hit part, is only balanced by the fact that everything but armor is free game.
The No-Hit-No-Armor run is just as, if not more, problematic than it sounds, as Elden Ring has a funny way of making sure no player gets through the game without a scratch. Players often happen upon droves of enemies, foes with lighting-fast attacks, or adversaries that hide in plain sight, waiting to get the jump on players. Not getting hit once calls not only for an impressive amount of skill but an impossible amount of luck, making this fan challenge an uphill trial even for the most seasoned Soulsborne veterans.
1 Soulsborne No-Hit
The Soulsborne No-Hit run begins not in Elden Ring but with its predecessors: Demon Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice. This fan challenge tests the skill, patience, and mental fortitude of players, having them start from the beginning of all Soulsborne games and end with Elden Ring, all without taking a single hit. Such an endeavor spans well over several months and requires a conviction and focus beyond that of most.
The Soulsborne No-Hit run is a ludicrous fan challenge only the most practiced and masochistic veterans of Soulsborne games can accomplish. Getting through Elden Ring alone without taking a hit is a tall order, let alone the entirety of FromSoftware's expansive list of titles made specifically to kill players repeatedly. To say this fan challenge is not for the faint of heart is an understatement, but those who endeavor to take the challenge and complete it will have the respect and admiration of many.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X.