Elden Ring Speedrun: How to Beat the Game in Under 30 Minutes

Introduction: The Quest for Under 30

You've braved the Lands Between, faced down horrors, and perhaps even achieved personal bests in your regular playthroughs. But what if I told you the entire Elden Ring journey, from Tarnished's first breath to the Elden Throne, could be conquered in less time than a movie? We're talking about the sub-30-minute Any% run, a feat that has captivated the speedrunning community. This isn't about enjoying the intricate lore or mastering every powerful weapon; this is pure, unadulterated efficiency. If you're looking to shave seconds, break through your own limits, and understand the cutting edge of Elden Ring gaming strategies, you've come to the right place.

The Icerind Hatchet: An Unexpected Powerhouse

When Elden Ring first dropped, the speedrunning meta was in flux. Many expected powerful weapons or specific builds to dominate. However, one of the earliest revelations for ultra-fast runs was surprisingly mundane: the Icerind Hatchet. Don't let its humble appearance fool you. With the right setup, this weapon can melt bosses faster than any other early-game option. Its inherent frostbite buildup, combined with specific weapon arts or spell synergies, allows runners to trivialize many early encounters, saving precious minutes.

The Icerind Hatchet's damage scaling and frostbite application were a game-changer for early-game boss fights, dramatically reducing the time spent in combat.

Mastering the Wrong Warp

One of the most crucial glitches enabling these sub-30 runs is the "Wrong Warp." This exploit allows runners to teleport to a completely unintended location by manipulating how the game loads save data after a specific action, often involving quitting out at a precise moment during a cutscene or boss entry. The primary goal of a Wrong Warp is to reach an endgame area much earlier than intended, bypassing vast sections of the game. Executing this requires precise timing and knowledge of specific zones and triggers, making it a high-skill, high-reward technique.

Scoundrel's Warp: A Finer Art

Building on the foundational Wrong Warp, runners developed more refined versions. The "Scoundrel's Warp," for example, is a variation that targets specific teleports within the game to achieve more consistent or advantageous destination points. This often involves utilizing specific enemy encounters or environmental interactions to trigger the warp. It’s a testament to the community's deep dive into the game's mechanics, pushing the boundaries of what was initially thought possible.

Exploiting Boss AI: First Encounters

To achieve such rapid clear times, speedrunners can't afford to fight every boss conventionally. Many early bosses, like Margit, the Fell Omen, are often bypassed or their AI is manipulated to cause them to despurn or become stuck. Strategies involve luring bosses into specific parts of their arenas where they might get stuck on geometry or where their attack patterns can be exploited to avoid damage entirely. This requires intimate knowledge of each boss's move set and the environment they inhabit.

Skipping the Gatekeepers: Gideon and Godfrey

The ability to skip significant chunks of the game is what truly fuels the sub-30 speedruns. For instance, the infamous Gideon Skip and Godfrey Skip are critical for this category. These strategies often leverage the Wrong Warp or other sequence-breaking glitches to bypass entire boss fights and map progression. Imagine bypassing the entire journey to Leyndell, Royal Capital, and then skipping its major boss encounters – that’s the level of optimization we're talking about. These skips are not simple; they demand perfect execution and understanding of game load triggers.

Elden Beast AI Manipulation

The final boss, the Elden Beast, is another encounter that has been heavily optimized. Runners have found ways to manipulate its AI, often by positioning themselves in specific areas of the arena or using certain attacks that cause the beast to move in predictable ways, allowing for quicker damage application or even preventing certain phases of the fight. This involves understanding the enemy AI's parameters and exploiting edge cases.

The Patch That "Killed" the Speedrun (and What Came Next)

It's not uncommon for game patches to shake up the speedrunning landscape. Elden Ring's development cycle saw several patches that aimed to fix some of the glitches and exploits used by the community. For a time, a particular patch was believed to have "killed" the sub-30 minute speedrun, as a key exploit was removed. However, the resilience of the speedrunning community shone through. Runners adapted, discovered new glitches, or refined existing strategies to overcome these challenges, proving that the quest for faster times is an ongoing battle against the game's code.

The Zip Glitch: A New Frontier

The introduction of new glitches keeps the Elden Ring speedrun community alive and thriving. The "Zip Glitch" is a prime example. This technique allows players to rapidly move across the map by performing a specific sequence of actions that essentially "zips" the player character through the game world at incredible speeds. Mastering the Zip Glitch requires immense practice and precision, but its potential for shaving off critical seconds makes it a cornerstone of modern Elden Ring speedruns. It’s a complex mechanic that often involves frame-perfect inputs and a deep understanding of the game's physics engine.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can anyone achieve a sub-30 minute Elden Ring speedrun?

While possible for anyone to attempt, achieving a sub-30 minute run requires a significant investment in practice, learning specific glitches, and executing them flawlessly. It's not a casual endeavor.

What is the most important glitch for Elden Ring speedruns?

The "Wrong Warp" is arguably the most crucial glitch, enabling runners to skip large portions of the game by teleporting to endgame areas early on. The "Zip Glitch" is also incredibly impactful for traversal.

Does Elden Ring have many glitches that speedrunners use?

Yes, Elden Ring has proven to be rich with glitches and exploits that speedrunners have discovered and utilized. These range from AI manipulation to sequence-breaking teleports.

How do speedrunners deal with game patches that fix glitches?

The community actively adapts. When a glitch is patched, runners either find new ones, develop alternative strategies, or focus on different categories. The pursuit of speed never truly stops.

Is it possible to speedrun Elden Ring without glitches?

Yes, there are "glitchless" categories for Elden Ring speedruns. These runs focus on pure gameplay skill and optimization without exploiting unintended game mechanics, but they naturally take longer than glitched runs.

Conclusion: The Never-Ending Race

Breaking the 30-minute barrier in Elden Ring is a monumental achievement, a testament to player ingenuity and dedication. It showcases how the speedrunning community can dissect and optimize even the most expansive open-world games. From the humble Icerind Hatchet to complex exploits like the Wrong Warp and the groundbreaking Zip Glitch, every second counts. These strategies are a fascinating glimpse into the dedication required to master a game and push its limits.

What are your thoughts on these Elden Ring speedrun strategies? Have you tried any of them yourself? Share your personal bests or your favorite speedrun discoveries in the comments below! We're always looking for new insights and want to build the ultimate resource for gaming speedruns. Join our Discord server to discuss all things speedrunning and share your own tips!