Soulsborne games have long inspired speedrunners to find new, inventive ways to beat them as fast as possible. Elden ring is no exception, and speedrunners are finding faster and faster routes to victory. Streamer Distortion2 is one of those runners, posting on YouTube what appears to be a sub-19 minute run of the massive, difficult game.
This is an Any% run, meaning glitches and other tricks are fair. The 18:57 speedrun was done with the game’s old 1.02 patch, which “allows the use of force quit and the ‘zip’ glitch,” Distortion2 wrote in the Comments section of the YouTube video. (This includes, for example, the “Volcano Warp” which allows the player to travel to Volcano Manor, a later game location.)
Distortion2 uses a combination of exploits and sheer skill throughout its run. They leap to their deaths from the edge of cliffs before glitching to other locations. Once there, use expert platforms to run over ledges and shortcuts, and shoot past mobs to loot specific items and upgrades. Prior to this new record, it took the runner 15 hours of attempts and “countless failed runs,” Distortion2 wrote in the comment, to finally achieve it.
Since the game’s release, runners have found new ways to beat the game in record time. Just two weeks ago, Distortion2 released a sub-30 minute speedrun. The game has only been out for a little over a month – many other types of speedruns are sure to follow.
