All Elden Ring endings and best ending explained

Spoilers ahead.

Guide by Jason Coles Contributor

Additional contributions by Katharine Castle

Updated on June 14, 2024

For such a vast game, it's no surprise that there are multiple Elden Ring endings you can unlock as you head into the game's final stages.

In addition to the three ending trophies/achievements you can get, there are another four variations of the standard ending that can play out as well. If you want to see them all, you'll need no fewer than six playthroughs to do it.

The good news, though, is that they all follow the same critical path, and each alternate ending is dictated by which sidequests you've done and which NPCs you've befriended over the course of the game. So, whether you're up for the challenge of seeing every ending, or simply want to see what's involved with each step, read on below to find out what you need to do to unlock every Elden Ring ending in the game. And needless to say, spoilers below!

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Cover image for YouTube video — Elden Ring Side Quests For Dummies: Side Quests You Need to doWatch on YouTube

How many Elden Ring endings are there?

There are six different Elden Ring endings. However, these fit within three main endings, with four of those endings all belonging to the umbrella of the 'Elden Lord ending', which grants a trophy or achievement no matter which variant of it you unlock.

That's a lot of endings for any game, let alone one as large as Elden Ring. Thankfully, while a complete playthrough of the game can take you comfortably upwards of 100 hours, you can get through the game relatively quickly if you're playing on New Game Plus. So if you want to seek out every last ending, that's how we'd recommend playing it, so you're not starting from scratch every single time.

What's the best Elden Ring ending?

While getting any ending in Elden Ring can be considered a huge achievement, we think that the Age of the Stars ending is the best Elden Ring ending.

In this ending, the Tarnished does not mend the Elden Ring, and instead summons Ranni the Witch to take Marika's place as Goddess. You, the Tarnished, become the new Elden Lord as Ranni's consort, and together you establish a new Order, removing the influence of The Greater Will from the world in the process. The pair of you then leave The Lands Between, essentially freeing it to continue in peace without you. There are no curses, no threat of chaos, and no other rulers to potentially mess things up further down the line.

It's a tricky ending to unlock, though, so if you want the second best possible ending, we'd suggest going for the Age of Order ending as the next best thing.

How to get the Age of Fracture ending

The Age of Fracture ending is the standard Elden Ring ending, in which you, the Tarnished, become the new Elden Lord. You will get the default version of this ending if you simply follow the critical path, beat all the main bosses in order, and reach the end of the game. To get this ending, all you need to do is follow the story prompts and then beat the final boss. In short:

Beat two Elden Lords
Defeat Morgott, the Omen King
Defeat the Fire Giant and burn the Erdtree
Defeat Maliketh, the Black Blade
Defeat the final bosses, including the Elden Beast, in the capital

How to get the Age of Duskborn ending

Age of Duskborn is the Elden Lord ending tied to the completion of Fia's quest.

Fia is the Deathbed Companion, and to complete her quest you'll have to follow a few specific steps including some additional boss fights. Your reward is the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince, and all you have to do is choose to use it after defeating the Elden Beast.

Our Fia quest page has the steps in more detail, but in summary, you must:

Get hugged by Fia and talk to D in Roundtable Hold
Talk to Fia regularly and she should offer you a dagger after you've defeated two Elden Lords
Give the dagger to D in the Hold
Rest and visit the room past Hewg the blacksmith in Roundtable Hold and talk to Fia
Grab the Cursemark of Death from Ranni's questline
Find Fia underground in the Deeproot Depths after defeating the Fia's Champions boss
Talk to Fia until you can give her the Cursemark of Death
Talk and rest until you can interact with her to enter a dream
Defeat the boss inside then go back to Fia's body to grab the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince
Choose to use the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince after defeating the Elden Beast

How to get the Age of Order ending

The Age of Order is the variant of the Elden Lord ending that hinges on you following through with Brother Corhyn and Goldmask's questline. It's a fairly complex quest that requires you to find and talk to two NPCs and also have 37 intelligence at one point as well.

Once you've finished it, you'll get the Mending Rune of Perfect Order, and you can use it after defeating the Elden Beast.

Talk to Brother Coryhyn at Roundtable Hold
Advance the story until Brother Corhyn tells you he's going to find Goldmask; he will move to the road north of the 'Altus Highway Junction' Site of Grace
Go to the north of Altus Plateau and you'll find Goldmask standing on a broken section of a bridge to the south of the 'East Windmill Pasture' Site of Grace
Speak to Goldmask then go back to Corhyn and tell him; Corhyn will now move to Goldmask
Talk to them both to make sure you've exhausted the dialogue, then once you've got two Great Runes, they'll move into Leyndell
You can find them near a colosseum and they'll be talking about a riddle, solving this riddle requires 37 intelligence, and the incantation Law of Regression, which you unlock after giving the Golden Order Principia to someone who can teach incantations
Near the 'Erdtree Sanctuary' Site of Grace you'll be able to go down an elevator and some stairs to find a statue with a message reading 'Regression' in front of it, cast the spell here
Goldmask and Corhyn will now move to a bridge to the south of the Stargazers' Ruins
Once you've defeated the bosses up to and including Maliketh, the Black Blade, you'll be able to find the Mending Rune of Perfect Order on Goldmask's body, which is past some evil plants near the 'Erdtree Sanctuary' Site of Grace
Use the Mending Rune of Perfect Order after defeating the Elden Beast

How to get the Blessing of Despair ending

This is undoubtedly the worst Elden Ring ending, which should be no surprise to those who've already talked to dear old Dung Eater. To get this ending, you'll have to indulge Dung Eater, but also take care of some side quests beforehand.

Once all is said and done, you'll need to use the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse after beating the Elden Beast.

Meet Rya in Lirunia of the Lakes
Go to Boilprawn Shack in Liurnia of the Lakes and buy a prawn and Rya's Necklace off of Blackguard Big Boggart, this will make him move to a moat near the Capital Rampart
Meet and talk to Dung Eater in Roundtable Hold
Go and get the Seedbed Curse from the version of Roundtable Hold in the Capital
Show Dung Eater the Seedbed Curse, and you'll get a key
Go to the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds and find his cell to free the real Dung Eater and tell him to leave
Go back to Roundtable Hold and you'll see a message where Dung Eater used to be telling you to go to the moat
Go to the Outer Moat and you'll have to fight Dung Eater and will be able to grab a Seedbed Curse from the body of Blackguard Big Boggart
Find three more Seedbed Curses and give these five to Dung Eater back in Roundtable Hold to get the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse
Defeat the Elden Beast and choose to use the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse

How to get the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending

The Lord of Frenzied Flame ending, which seems to be the bad ending, has you ignoring the natural order of the world in favour of bowing to chaos.

To do this, you'll have to find the Three Fingers location and embrace them. This will leave you branded and with bright yellow eyes, and it'll also leave you locked into the ending unless you can best Malenia and use an item you get from them to reverse things.

Our Three Fingers page has the steps in more detail, but in summary, you must:

Find the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds under the capital city, either before or after defeating the Fire Giant, though it's easier to find after that fight
Make your way through the dungeon to the Cathedral of the Forsaken
Defeat Mohg, the Omen
Approach the pedestal behind Mohg after beating them to find another path
Do some platforming to get to the bottom of this shaft and find the 'Frenzied Flame Proscription' Site of Grace
Take off all of your armour and approach the creepy door
Become embraced by the Three Fingers and you'll be branded
Defeat the final bosses, including the Elden Beast, in the capital

How to get the Age of the Stars ending

Finally, we have what seems to be the best ending in Elden Ring. It certainly feels like it anyway, given how long Ranni's quest takes and how many bosses you'll need to defeat to complete all of the steps.

You'll need to meet Ranni, one way or another, then visit Nokron, then visit another eternal city, and then overcome the Lake of Rot and a truly monstrous boss. The ending will have you following Ranni's guidance and has you giving power to the moon, and freeing the souls in the Erdtree.

Our Ranni quest page has the steps in more detail, but in summary, you must:

Meet Ranni at Ranni's Rise, either by helping Sorcerer Rogier, or defeating Radahn
Make your way into Nokron and find the Fingerslayer Blade
Use the portal atop Ranni's Rise to enter Nokstella
Pick up the Ranni doll and talk to it at the Site of Grace there until you're told to hunt a Baleful Shadow
Talk to Ranni again to get the Discarded Palace Key, which opens the chest in the Raya Lucaria Grand Library, go and get the Dark Moon Ring within it
Make your way to the Lake of Rot, killing the invader along the way
Find your way to the bottom of the Grand Cloister and use the coffin within to go to Astel, Naturalborn of the Void
Defeat the boss and head out the back of the cave and up a lift
Head to the Cathedral of Manus Celes and use the hole in the ground to drop down
Interact with Ranni here and you'll be able to become Ranni's consort
Beat the Elden Beast and choose the Age of the Stars option