Elden Ring has six endings in the base game. One of them needs no side quest, and the others each depend on a character quest you must finish before the last boss. This page tells you what each ending needs and where players get stuck. It names story items, so it contains spoilers.
Key takeaways
- Six endings exist in the base game. The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion has its own separate ending.
- You choose at the end, at Marika's statue, and a nearby Site of Grace lets you leave and come back.
- Age of Fracture is the only ending with no quest, but it is not the only way to finish.
- Taking the Frenzied Flame blocks the other endings until you remove it with Miquella's Needle.
- New Game Plus lets you try another ending with your levels.
The six endings at a glance
| Ending | What you need |
|---|---|
| Age of Fracture | Reach the end without any Mending Rune and pick the plain mending option at the statue |
| Age of Order | Finish Goldmask's questline and use the Mending Rune of Perfect Order |
| Age of the Duskborn | Finish Fia's questline and use the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince |
| Blessing of Despair | Finish the Dung Eater's questline and use the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse |
| Age of the Stars | Finish Ranni's questline and touch her blue summon sign near the statue |
| Lord of Frenzied Flame | Take the Frenzied Flame from the Three Fingers and finish without using Miquella's Needle |
How the final choice works
After the last boss you return alone to a room with Marika's statue and a Site of Grace. You select an ending by interacting with the statue. If Ranni's questline is complete, her sign also appears. Because a grace is right there, you can teleport away and come back. That means you can finish the boss, spend a little time finishing quests and then decide. That freedom is the single most useful fact on this page.
The rune endings in plain words
Age of Order, Age of the Duskborn and Blessing of Despair
These three each use a Mending Rune that you obtain by completing one character's questline. The rune is then used at the statue. You can only use one, so the choice is yours. If you skip a questline, you lose that ending in the current playthrough.
Age of the Stars
Ranni's questline is the longest and the easiest to miss. Her sign will not appear unless you finished her quest, so do not rely on seeing it by chance.
Lord of Frenzied Flame
You inherit the Frenzied Flame from the Three Fingers. Once you hold it, the other endings are blocked. The only way to remove it is Miquella's Needle, and after that you cannot get the Flame back in the same playthrough, which closes this ending. Melina is also involved: the wiki says a bonus scene plays only if she was not sacrificed as a maiden.
These screenshots may contain violence.
Images are provided by Steam and belong to their publishers.
Which ending should you pick first?
There is no correct answer, but here is a practical way to think about it. Age of Fracture is the easiest and ends the game quickly, so it suits someone who only wants to see the credits. The three rune endings and Ranni's ending each give a new future for the world and need a questline, so they reward players who like talking to characters and exploring. The Lord of Frenzied Flame ending is the most dramatic and the hardest to undo, so many players save it for a later New Game Plus run. If you are unsure, finish one questline you enjoy, take that ending, then use New Game Plus for the next.
A route plan that avoids regrets
- Pick the ending you want first and write down its character.
- Play the open world and stay away from the final area until you are ready.
- Talk to the quest character after each major boss or region change; many questlines advance when you rest at a grace or move to a new area.
- Make a manual save backup before the last step, if your platform supports it.
- Do not take the Frenzied Flame unless you are sure.
- After the credits, pick New Game Plus at the Roundtable Hold grace to try the next ending.
Common mistakes
- Pushing the main story too fast. Characters can leave or become unavailable.
- Taking the Frenzied Flame by accident, then wondering why the other options vanish.
- Ignoring New Game Plus. It lets you see more endings without redoing everything by hand.
- Reading a full questline guide before you start. You can use a short checklist instead.
The Shadow of the Erdtree ending
The expansion has its own ending, tied to the Land of Shadow story and not to the six above. It needs the base game, and you must beat Starscourge Radahn and Mohg to enter. We do not cover its steps here to keep this page spoiler-light; the DLC access guide explains how to get there.
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If you are new, start with the beginner guide and check early boss strategy. The Elden Ring hub has live streams of players working through these quests.







