A player has beaten FromSoftware’s most recent masterpieceElden Ringwithout spending any runes to level up their character, remaining at level one throughout the entire game.Elden Ringreleased over a year ago to massive acclaim, and it seems players are still finding new ways to challenge themselves in the Lands Between.Over the course of theElden Ringjourney players rack up plenty of runes, a currency that’s earned by defeating enemies and can also be found in the environments. Players can use these runes to buy items from the manymerchants setting up shop around the Lands Between, but most importantly runes are used to level up character attributes such as Vigor, Endurance, and Dexterity among others. Leveling stats also raises the character’s overall level. to not be chewed up and spit back out by the assortment ofElden Ring’s arduous enemies, it’s important for players to stay on top of stats and leveling while progressing through the game’s many increasingly challenging areas.RELATED:Strange Elden Ring Bug Turns Game Into A Rave PartyA player posted a short video on Twitter proclaiming that they’ve beatenElden Ringat level one, having never leveled up their stats at any point throughout the massive game. The video shows their Wretch character,purposefully the worst starting class inElden Ring, sitting upon the Elden Throne without any armor after having slain the final boss. This is just one of several endings players can achieve at the end of the game. While it’s unknown, it’s possible the player may have forgone any side quests relating to any of the other endings, minimizing the likely gruesome time spent in the Lands Between as a level one Wretch.
It’s also a possibility that the player speedran through the game only taking down the necessary bosses to progress, thus skipping some to the most challenging areas of the Lands Between such as Mt. Gelmir, Caelid, or Miquella’s Haligtree. Players only need to defeat two runebearers togain entry into Leyndelland progress toward the Erdtree, so skipping bosses like Radahn or Rykard is entirely possible and, in the case of a speedrun or a level one Wretch run such as this, much preferred.
SinceElden Ringdoesn’t offer any difficulty settings, dedicated players have continued to discoverdifferent ways to challenge themselves in the vast world of the Lands Between. In the case of a no-leveling run, at least the player doesn’t need to deal with the headache of losing runes since they aren’t leveling up anyway; a small benefit to an otherwise harrowing test of skill and patience.
Elden Ringis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
