Has Everything Been Found in Elden Ring? Unearthing the Lands Between’s Secrets
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The Lands Between, the sprawling and treacherous landscape of Elden Ring, is a treasure trove of secrets, lore, and hidden content. After countless hours of exploration by millions of players worldwide, the burning question remains: Has everything in Elden Ring truly been found? The short answer is almost certainly, no. While dedicated players have painstakingly mapped vast portions of the game, datamined its code, and shared their findings, the nature of FromSoftware’s design philosophy suggests that some mysteries likely remain undiscovered, intentionally or otherwise.
While the overwhelming majority of content, including bosses, weapons, spells, and questlines, has been documented, the possibility of minute details, obscure interactions, or even deliberate red herrings persisting is high. The scale of Elden Ring, coupled with FromSoftware’s penchant for subtlety and hidden mechanics, makes complete discovery exceptionally difficult. Furthermore, the sheer amount of combinations of playstyles means that the meta is always developing and secrets may still be found. Let’s dive deeper into the reasons why the answer to this question is such a tantalizing “probably not.”
Why Absolute Certainty is Elusive
Several factors contribute to the difficulty of definitively claiming that every secret in Elden Ring has been unearthed:
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The Sheer Scale: Elden Ring’s map is enormous, dwarfing previous FromSoftware titles. This vastness provides ample space for hidden areas, items, and events to remain concealed.
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Intentional Obfuscation: FromSoftware games are known for their cryptic nature. Clues are often vague, questlines are easily missed, and essential items can be tucked away in seemingly insignificant locations.
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Community-Driven Discovery: Much of what we know about Elden Ring comes from the collaborative efforts of the player community. While this collective intelligence is powerful, it’s still reliant on individual players stumbling upon specific secrets and sharing them.
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Datamining Limitations: While datamining can reveal cut content or unused assets, it doesn’t necessarily expose every interaction or hidden trigger within the game’s code.
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Deliberate Red Herrings: FromSoftware is known to mislead players with false leads and incomplete information. These red herrings can waste time and effort, further obscuring genuine secrets.
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Emergent Gameplay: The dynamic interplay of systems in Elden Ring allows for unforeseen consequences, novel interactions, and strategies that are not evident from initial inspection.
What We Think We Know
Despite the challenges, the Elden Ring community has achieved remarkable feats of discovery:
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Extensive Map Coverage: Online maps detail the locations of nearly every item, enemy, and point of interest.
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Boss Rush: Every boss, including optional and hidden encounters, has been identified and strategies for defeating them have been optimized.
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Questline Completion: The branching questlines of numerous NPCs have been mapped out, although some remain notoriously difficult to complete fully.
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Weapon and Armor Catalog: A comprehensive database of weapons, armor, spells, and incantations exists.
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Lore Deep Dive: The game’s intricate lore, gleaned from item descriptions, environmental storytelling, and character dialogue, has been extensively analyzed and debated. Resources like Games Learning Society can prove particularly useful here, offering theoretical frameworks and analytical approaches that can be applied to deciphering the game’s intricate narratives and symbolism. GamesLearningSociety.org provides insights into how games, including Elden Ring, function as complex learning environments.
The Unlikely, Yet Possible, Unfound Elements
Given the exhaustive efforts of the community, what kind of secrets might still lie hidden?
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Subtle Environmental Triggers: Perhaps specific actions or combinations of actions in certain locations could trigger unique events or reveal hidden passages.
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Interaction-Based Secrets: Perhaps using a specific weapon, spell, or item on a particular NPC or environment could trigger an unintended interaction or reveal a hidden reward.
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Unintentional Glitches: In a game as complex as Elden Ring, glitches and unintended interactions are bound to exist. Some of these glitches could potentially lead to undiscovered content or exploits.
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Cut Content Fragments: While datamining has revealed substantial cut content, small fragments of unused assets or dialogue could remain hidden within the game’s code, hinting at possibilities that never fully materialized.
Conclusion
The question of whether everything has been found in Elden Ring is a compelling one. While the vast majority of the game’s content has undoubtedly been documented, the nature of FromSoftware’s design and the sheer scale of the Lands Between suggest that some secrets may still remain elusive. Whether these secrets are intentional or accidental, significant or trivial, the possibility of their existence adds to the enduring mystique of Elden Ring. The search continues!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Is it possible to get 100% completion in Elden Ring?
Technically, achieving a true 100% completion is challenging due to the branching endings. You’d need to play multiple playthroughs to experience each ending. However, collecting all items, defeating all bosses, and completing all questlines in at least one playthrough is a reasonable goal.
2. How long does it take to find everything in Elden Ring?
Finding “everything” is subjective, but aiming for a comprehensive playthrough, including all optional content, will likely take around 130+ hours. Dedicated completionists can easily spend hundreds of hours exploring the game’s intricate world.
3. What are some common secrets in Elden Ring?
Illusory walls are a common type of secret, often found in catacombs and tunnels. They can be revealed by hitting them. Hidden paths, chests tucked away in obscure locations, and NPC questlines with hidden objectives are also prevalent.
4. Has anyone found all the illusory walls?
While the majority of illusory walls have been documented, it’s difficult to say with absolute certainty that every single one has been discovered.
5. What is the hardest achievement to get in Elden Ring?
Many players find the achievement for collecting all legendary sorceries and incantations challenging due to the items’ hidden locations and the difficulty of some associated boss fights. Collecting legendary talismans and ashes can also be difficult.
6. How many times have players died in Elden Ring?
As of early 2023, players have died over 9 billion times in Elden Ring, showcasing the game’s challenging nature.
7. What is hidden under Stormveil Castle?
Deep beneath Stormveil Castle lies a hidden crypt housing an Ulcerated Tree Spirit, a challenging boss encounter.
8. What is the scariest location in Elden Ring?
Many players find Caelid and Volcano Manor to be among the scariest locations due to their unsettling atmosphere and grotesque enemies. Lake of Rot is also a scary location.
9. What can get you banned in Elden Ring?
Using mods that manipulate the game or its systems can lead to a ban from online play.
10. What are the Tarnished?
The Tarnished are individuals who lost the grace of the Erdtree and were exiled from the Lands Between. They are summoned back to the Lands Between to become Elden Lord.
11. Who broke the Elden Ring?
Queen Marika the Eternal shattered the Elden Ring in response to the death of her son, Godwyn the Golden.
12. How many people have 100% the game?
Around 7.9% of Elden Ring players on PlayStation have earned the Platinum trophy, indicating that a significant portion of players have achieved a high level of completion.
13. What is there to do after “100%ing” Elden Ring?
After achieving a high level of completion, players can try new builds, experiment with PvP, assist other players in co-op, or start a new playthrough with different choices.
14. What is the best class to play in Elden Ring?
The “best” class is subjective and depends on your playstyle. However, some popular and powerful classes include Samurai, Astrologer, and Confessor.
15. What is the “meta” level for PvP in Elden Ring?
While there’s some debate, a common meta level for PvP is around 125-150, allowing for a wide range of builds and viable character optimization.