Introduction to Elden Ring Endings
Welcome to the ultimate free Elden Ring endings guide. FromSoftware’s masterpiece is a massive, sprawling dark fantasy RPG that offers players immense freedom not just in combat, but in shaping the fate of the Lands Between. Unlike many traditional video games, Elden Ring does not just throw a single credits roll at you. Instead, it features six distinct endings, each reflecting the philosophical, political, and cosmic trajectory you choose for the realm after defeating the final boss.
Achieving these different conclusions requires navigating deeply hidden questlines, making profound moral choices, and collecting obscure items scattered across a terrifyingly vast open world. Whether you want to plunge the world into eternal darkness, restore the golden order, or burn it all down with the Flame of Frenzy, this Elden Ring endings guide will walk you through every single path. Best of all, you don't need to pay for any strategy guides or unlockable content—everything you need to master the game's conclusions is right here, completely free.
Before diving into the specifics, it is important to understand how the Elden Ring save scumming technique works. If you want to view multiple endings in a single playthrough without spending hundreds of hours starting a brand-new character, you can back up your save files right before interacting with the final interaction prompt. This clever method allows trophy hunters and completionists to experience every narrative payoff efficiently. Now, let us break down each of the main endings available in the game.
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The Age of Fracture: The Standard Ending
When most players finish their first playthrough without engaging in massive side quests, they naturally stumble into the Age of Fracture. This is considered the baseline or default ending of the game. You have defeated the Elden Beast, repaired the shattered Elden Ring using the standard Mending Rune, and claimed your rightful place as the Elden Lord.
To achieve this ending, you simply need to defeat the final bosses of the main storyline without acquiring any alternative Mending Runes from NPCs. Once the dust settles at the Erdtree sanctuary, you will interact with the glowing statue and select the standard option to mend the Elden Ring.
While this ending brings a sense of closure, the lore implies that it is essentially a temporary fix. You are simply returning the world to the status quo under the Greater Will, leaving the underlying systemic issues of the Lands Between largely unresolved. However, for a first-time blind playthrough, experiencing the standard Age of Fracture is a rite of passage for every Tarnished warrior.
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The Age of the Duskborn: Fia’s Questline Ending
If you prefer a world where death is no longer viewed as a blasphemous aberration, the Age of the Duskborn is the path for you. This hauntingly poetic ending is tied directly to Fia, the Deathbed Companion, whom you first meet at the Roundtable Hold. By embracing her and listening to her plight, you uncover a hidden society of those who live in death.
To unlock this ending, you must progress through Fia's complex questline. This involves giving her the Dexterous Weathered Dagger, tracking her down in the subterranean depths of Deeproot Depths, defeating formidable bosses like the Lichdragon Fortissax, and ultimately acquiring the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince.
- Give the Weathered Dagger to D, Beholder of Death, to trigger Fia's departure from the Roundtable Hold.
- Explore the Nokron and Deeproot Depths regions to find Fia resting near the Erdtree avatar roots.
- Defeat Lichdragon Fortissax inside Fia's dreamscape to birth the special Mending Rune.
- Present this rune at the final choice to usher in an era where Death is integrated naturally back into the cycle of life.
When you trigger this ending, the Erdtree takes on a somber, greyish hue. It is an incredible atmospheric choice that adds profound emotional depth to the game's lore regarding the Golden Order's persecution of the undead.
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The Blessing of Despair: The Dung Eater’s Ending
For players who want to embrace utter chaos, cruelty, and revenge against a broken world, the Blessing of Despair is perhaps the darkest ending available. This path is unlocked by completing the vile questline associated with the Dung Eater, an NPC imprisoned in the subterranean sewers beneath the Leyndell Royal Capital.
The Dung Eater despises the Golden Order and wishes to curse every single soul in the Lands Between so that they are forever reborn in a state of torment, unable to return to the Erdtree upon death. To achieve this, you must hunt down Seedbed Cursed items across various late-game areas like Volcano Manor and Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree, and feed them to his physical body in the sewers.
Once he gives you the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse, you can use it after defeating the final boss. The resulting cinematic and world state are deeply unsettling, bathing the sky in a sickly, blood-red miasma. This is undeniably the most evil path in our free Elden Ring endings guide, reserved only for the most dedicated roleplayers of villainy.
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The Order Proper: Goldmask’s Ending
If you want a world governed by absolute logic, unwavering truth, and the complete elimination of fickle and corrupt gods, you should pursue the Age of Order. This cerebral ending is the result of collaborating with the enigmatic scholar Corhyn and the silent prophet Goldmask.
Throughout your journey, you will encounter Goldmask standing before massive statues in Leyndell. By using the Law of Regression incantation at a specific puzzle statue within the capital, you reveal the shocking truth that Queen Marika and Radagon are the exact same entity. Passing this revelation along to Goldmask allows him to formulate a new, perfect understanding of the cosmos.
- Locate Goldmask and Brother Corhyn in Limgrave, Altus Plateau, and eventually Leyndell, Royal Capital.
- Use the Law of Regression incantation (requires 37 Intelligence) in front of the giant Radagon statue to trigger dialogue.
- Find Goldmask in the mountains near the Stargazer's Ruins and acquire the Mending Rune of Perfect Order from his lifeless body after burning the Erdtree.
- Repair the Elden Ring with this rune to remove the petty emotions and flaws of the outer gods from the equation.
This ending represents a sterile, highly intellectual utopia where divine rule is replaced by unbending universal laws. It is a favorite among lore enthusiasts who want to fix the system from the inside out without destroying it completely.
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Lord of Frenzied Flame: The Chaotic Burn
Perhaps the most visually stunning and terrifying conclusion in the game is the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending. Instead of repairing the Elden Ring, you choose to burn the entire world down to ashes, uniting everything back into one undifferentiated mass of chaos. This path is overseen by the Three Fingers, an ancient entity hidden deep beneath the Leyndell sewers.
To lock yourself into this path, you must strip off all your armor and open the sealed door in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds after defeating Mohg, the Omen. The Three Fingers will brand your Tarnished, setting you ablaze with yellow, demonic energy.
- Descend deep into the subterranean maze beneath Leyndell.
- Meet the Three Fingers and receive the frenzied branding.
- This action temporarily locks you out of all other endings unless you use Miquella's Needle inside Dragonlord Placidusax’s arena in Crumbling Farum Azula to cleanse the flame.
- Defeat the final bosses and claim the throne as the Lord of Frenzied Flame, triggering a cinematic where Melina vows to hunt you down to the ends of the earth.
This ending dramatically alters the final cutscene, replacing the glowing golden light with a roaring inferno that consumes the entire screen. It is a dramatic, apocalyptic finale that leaves no survivors.
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Age of the Stars: Ranni’s Secret Path
Widely considered the true "good" ending by a vast portion of the community, the Age of the Stars is tied to Witch Ranni, one of the most prominent characters in the game. This massive, sprawling questline takes you from the haunted woods of Liurnia of the Lakes all the way to the cosmic depths of the Moonlit Altar.
By assisting Ranni in slaying her two-fingered shadow, exploring the underground eternal cities of Nokron and Nokstella, and retrieving the Dark Moon Ring, you earn her eternal devotion. Choosing her ending at the end of the game does not involve a Mending Rune; instead, you summon her blue spectral form using a temporary blue summon sign on the floor after defeating the final boss.
- Start Ranni's quest at Ranni's Rise in Caria Manor, Liurnia.
- Travel to Siofra River and Nokron to find the Fingerslayer Blade.
- Navigate the Lake of Rot and defeat Astel, Naturalborn of the Void.
- Place the Dark Moon Ring on the finger of Ranni's doll body inside the Grand Library of Raya Lucaria.
- Summon Ranni at the end of the game to initiate an age of the cold, dark moon, removing the oppressive presence of the Golden Order entirely from the Lands Between.
The Age of the Stars brings a breathtaking cinematic where you and Ranni depart on a thousand-year voyage across the cosmos, freeing humanity from the tyranny of outer gods and leaving the world to chart its own course.
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Conclusion and Summary
Mastering the various conclusions of FromSoftware's masterpiece requires patience, exploration, and meticulous attention to NPC questlines. Whether you choose the holy clarity of the Age of Order, the fiery destruction of the Frenzied Flame, or the cosmic freedom of the Age of the Stars, every path offers a unique window into the rich lore of the realm.
We hope this free Elden Ring endings guide has provided you with the clear, actionable roadmap you need to conquer the game on your own terms. Remember to utilize save backups if you want to witness multiple cinematic payoffs without replaying the entire game from scratch. Now go forth, Tarnished, and claim your destiny in the Lands Between!
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