Introduction to Elden Ring Endings
Elden Ring is a masterpiece of modern gaming, offering players a vast, unforgiving open world filled with mystery, deep lore, and challenging bosses. One of the most compelling aspects of FromSoftware’s epic is the sheer variety of conclusions available to the player. Finding a working elden ring endings guide working is essential for completionists and lore enthusiasts alike, as the path to your desired finale requires precision, specific questline progression, and monumental decisions.
Unlike traditional linear role-playing games, Elden Ring does not simply funnel you into a single conclusion based on a final dialogue choice. Instead, the fate of the Lands Between is determined by the items you acquire and the specific non-player character (NPC) questlines you complete throughout your journey. With six distinct main achievements tied to different conclusions, knowing the exact steps to unlock your preferred path saves you from heartbreaking locked-out content and multiple unnecessary playthroughs.
In this comprehensive working elden ring endings guide working, we will break down every single major conclusion, detail the precise requirements for each, and explain how save-scumming can help you experience multiple finales in a single playthrough.
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Understanding the Mechanics of Elden Ring Finales
Before diving into the specific paths, it is important to understand how the game's final moments operate. Once you defeat the final bosses in the Erdtree, you will be presented with a glowing statue or a specific prompt depending on your inventory. Interacting with this prompt triggers the conclusion.
If you have fulfilled the requirements for multiple special endings, you generally get to choose which one to initiate, with a few notable exceptions that override others unless a specific item is used to cleanse yourself. This flexibility is why a reliable working elden ring endings guide working is so crucial for players who want absolute control over their game state.
It is also worth noting that defeating the final boss of the game does not automatically force you into a conclusion. You can choose to teleport away from the site of grace, explore the open world, complete missed quests, and return whenever you are ready.
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The Standard Path: The Age of Fracture
The most straightforward conclusion in the game is The Age of Fracture. If you do not follow any specific side quests involving celestial mending runes or chaotic outer gods, this is the default path the game pushes you toward.
To achieve this, you simply need to defeat the final bosses, approach the fractured Marika, and select the basic prompt to repair the Elden Ring. This results in a somewhat neutral state for the Lands Between, where the Golden Order is restored, albeit in a broken and weary world. While it lacks the dramatic transformations of other paths, it serves as the baseline experience for most first-time players who manage to beat the game organically without a working elden ring endings guide working.
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The Golden Paths: Mending Rune Endings
There are two major variations of the standard order that require you to find specific Mending Runes. These alter the fundamental nature of the Golden Order rather than completely destroying or replacing it.
The Age of the Duskborn
This path is tied to the deeply tragic and macabre questline of Fia, the Deathbed Companion. By following her instructions, recovering the Curse-Mark of Death, and placing it within her embrace, you will eventually acquire the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince.
When you reach the end of the game, using this rune introduces Death into the Golden Order, legitimizing those who live in death rather than violently purging them. To achieve this, you must progress through Deeproot Depths, defeat the Fia's Champions boss fight, and conquer Lichdragon Fortissax.
The Blessing of Despair
Often considered the darkest path in the game, this conclusion is unlocked by following the abhorrent questline of the Dung Eater. You must collect Seedbed Bofils and feed them to his physical body in the Roundtable Hold to eventually receive the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse.
Applying this rune curses every future generation in the Lands Between, ensuring that everyone is born into defilement and suffering. It is a grim choice pursued mostly by players aiming for 100 percent achievement completion or those roleplaying as a chaotic villain.
The Age of Order
For players seeking a more enlightened and rational world, Goldmask and Corhyn’s questline leads to The Age of Order. By solving a riddle involving the Law of Regression incantation near the Erdtree Sanctuary, you discover the truth about Radagon and Marika.
Continuing this questline across the Altus Plateau and the Mountaintops of the Giants eventually yields the Mending Rune of Perfect Order. Using this removes the fickleness and petty cruelty of the Outer Gods from the Golden Order, establishing a stagnant yet perfectly balanced divine rule.
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The Secret and Transformative Paths
If you want to completely revolutionize the world of Elden Ring, you must look beyond the standard mending runes. These paths feature entirely different cinematic sequences and radically alter the fate of your character and the realm.
Age of the Stars
Widely regarded by the community as the true "good" or most satisfying conclusion, the Age of the Stars is tied to Witch Ranni's massive and intricate questline. This path removes the Golden Order and the Greater Will entirely from the Lands Between, ushering in an age of the cold, dark moon and free will for humanity.
To achieve this, you must explore Nokron Eternal City, retrieve the Fingerslayer Blade, traverse the Lake of Rot, defeat Astel Naturalborn of the Void, and place the Dark Moon Greatsword upon Ranni’s finger deep within the Cathedral of Manus Celes. At the very end of the game, instead of touching Marika, you summon Ranni using a blue summon sign on the floor.
Lord of Frenzied Flame
If you prefer pure, unadulterated chaos and destruction, the Lord of Frenzied Flame is your destiny. This path requires you to descend deep beneath Leyndell into the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, defeat Mohg the Omen, and strip naked to open the sealed door guarded by the Three Fingers.
Once embraced by the Frenzied Flame, your body is permanently scarred, and Melina abandons you in disgust. If you choose this path, you become the vessel for total annihilation, burning the Erdtree and the entire world to ash. Note that this path locks you out of all other conclusions unless you complete Millicent’s extraordinarily long questline, defeat Malenia, and use the Miquella's Needle item inside Dragonlord Placidusax’s arena to cure yourself.
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How to Backup Saves for Multiple Endings
Because getting every achievement requires multiple conclusions, many players use a technique called save-scumming. A proper working elden ring endings guide working should explain how to safely manage your files so you do not have to replay the entire 100-hour game six times.
On PC, your save files are located in the AppData Roaming EldenRing folder. Before interacting with the final prompt after defeating the final boss, exit the game, copy your save folder to a secure backup location on your desktop, and launch the game again. You can then trigger one conclusion, get the achievement, close the game, and replace your active save folder with your backup to instantly return to the exact moment before the choice.
Console players can achieve a similar result by using cloud storage backups through PlayStation Plus or Xbox Cloud Gaming, though you must be careful to disable automatic cloud synchronization before performing the trick.
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Tips for a Smooth Playthrough
Executing these complex questlines requires careful planning. NPCs in Elden Ring are notorious for moving, dying, or disappearing if you progress too far in the main story without checking on them.
Always exhaust NPC dialogue until they repeat themselves. Avoid progressing past major turning points, such as burning the Erdtree at the Forge of the Giants, until you have finished secondary questlines like Ranni's, Fia's, and Goldmask's. Keeping a checklist alongside your working elden ring endings guide working ensures you never accidentally lock yourself out of a vital reward or achievement.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I get all endings in a single playthrough of Elden Ring?
A: Yes, you can achieve all main endings in a single playthrough by using the save-scumming method on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox. By backing up your save file right before making the final choice, you can reload your game after each cinematic to experience a different path.
Q: What happens if I inherit the Frenzied Flame by mistake?
A: If you accidentally open the door for the Three Fingers and inherit the Frenzied Flame, you will be locked into that specific ending. However, you can reverse this by completing Millicent’s questline, defeating Malenia to get Miquella's Needle, and using it in Dragonlord Placidusax's boss arena.
Q: Do I need to start a New Game Plus to experience different endings?
A: No, you do not need to start New Game Plus if you backed up your save file. However, if you choose not to backup your saves, you will indeed need to play through the game multiple times to unlock every unique achievement.
Q: Which Elden Ring ending is considered the best?
A: While subjective, the "Age of the Stars" (Ranni's ending) is widely considered by the community to be the best and most rewarding path due to its extensive questline, deep lore implications, and cinematic beauty.
Q: How many total endings are there in Elden Ring?
A: There are six distinct main endings recognized by achievements/trophies: The Age of Fracture, The Age of the Duskborn, The Blessing of Despair, The Age of Order, Age of the Stars, and Lord of Frenzied Flame.
Q: Can I still complete side quests after beating the final boss?
A: Yes. Defeating the final boss does not force you into an ending immediately. You can choose to leave the boss arena and continue exploring, finish NPC questlines, and tie up loose ends before triggering your desired finale.
Q: Why did Melina abandon me during my playthrough?
A: Melina will permanently abandon you and refuse to speak to you if you visit the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds and inherit the Frenzied Flame from the Three Fingers. This adds a dramatic narrative consequence to choosing that specific path.
