Those who have been following the news about Elden Ring in recent days cannot have missed the many reports about the latest speedrun records. The incredible times are mainly made possible thanks to the zip-line glitch. Now, the latest record has been set at under 7 minutes.
What happened with the speedrunners?
- Since the release of Elden Ring on February 25, the race among speedrunners has been ongoing. There have been shorter and shorter times, and as the speedrunners analyzed the game better, the tactics became more sophisticated and complex.
- Where others need over 120 hours, speedrunners initially managed runs around 2 hours, which many found impressive.
- Then even the 30-minute mark was broken. With the discovery of the zip-line glitch, the times dropped rapidly.
- On Saturday, April 9, we reported on the then-best time in Elden Ring, which was 12 minutes and 13 seconds set by Distortion2.
- This record has already been hotly debated in our comments since it was made possible by using the zip-line glitch.
Now this record has also been beaten, by the same speedrunner. With 6 minutes and 59 seconds, the current world record is indeed below the 7-minute mark, which many believed would not be broken.
Note: There are various categories for speedruns. These records pertain to so-called “Any% runs” that have no rules. Any means are allowed that the game provides, including bugs and glitches. Cheats, however, are not allowed under any circumstances.
Here you can see the video of the current world record (as of April 12, 6:50 PM):
Speedrunner is done with the category, “until something new comes up”
This is what Distortion2 says about his record: In the description of the video, the speedrunner says that he is “done with this category” and is waiting for new things to find. At the same time, he is “shocked” that he achieved this time.
For the speedrun, the player started as the Vagabond. To shorten animations and such, the game is often reloaded. The only area that is not accessible with the glitch is Farum Azula.
Therefore, the player takes a regular shortcut through a secret path. Using the zip-line glitch, he then reaches the boss directly there. After defeating that boss, one can reach the final boss from that room again using the glitch.
So without the zip-line glitch, nothing works. But what is it actually?
“Zip” glitch enables insane times
What kind of glitch is this? Of course, we will not provide an exact guide on how to exploit this glitch. We will only describe the important things so that you get an idea of the method.
Among speedrunners, this is a common method, and similar glitches have also appeared in previous games by the same developers: Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro.
In the “official” Speedsouls wiki, there is even a dedicated entry called “Zipping.”
Here is the definition:
A zip is a glitch in Elden Ring that allows players to overcome distances by very high speed/acceleration, thus teleporting the player quickly to new locations. It is achieved by aligning certain animations with very precise inputs at specific points in the animations. Reaching another location happens almost instantaneously after zipping, within the next few frames.
via wiki.speedsouls.com
These zips can vary greatly in execution. The inputs must not only be perfectly timed for each zip but also be adjusted to each zip.
The distance covered also varies depending on the zip. You can get stuck on visible and invisible objects during zips.
It takes many tests and experiments to find a route to follow in a speedrun and then execute it perfectly. It also requires calculations of frames and when to activate which animations.
Performance issues can also apparently disrupt this, and Elden Ring currently suffers from numerous frame drops, regardless of the hardware.
This method allows for extremely short times in speedruns. If everything works, it is also very easy and bypasses a large part of the content. However, several factors can easily ruin a run.
To achieve the “zip,” one must hit multiple “perfect frames” in a row. In this run, the speedrunner has reportedly managed 13 perfect frames, which requires incredibly good timing.
In the comments, players are impressed by how the speedrunner is smashing world records one after another.
He has repeatedly crushed his own records; since Saturday, the last record has been nearly halved. However, as the speedrunner expresses, it may take a long time before this figure is broken again.
The last few days have shown, however, that things can happen quickly. But what do you think about this? Is it problematic for you that there is a glitch in the game? Or is this a perfectly normal thing for you in speedruns?
If you can’t really get into this and are more interested in the world, we have something for story lovers – Elden Ring Lore: The complex story explained briefly
