Elden Ring has a new meta for the Colosseum, and no one likes it

Elden Ring colosseum locations
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Elden Ring's PvP meta is forming for Colosseum fights, less than 24 hours after the feature launched.

Earlier today on the Elden Ring subreddit, the post below gained plenty of traction, in which the poster complains about someone using a "meta" weapon. However, as the comments are quick to point out, the user in question is also using what's considered to be a "meta" weapon.

This is basically the Elden Ring PvP builds meta forming before our eyes. The meta goes something like this: use a weapon that causes a chuck of burst damage to another player, drains FP, and also stuns your opponent, should they get caught by the attack in any way whatsoever.

Considering these powerful attributes of a weapon, it's not hard to see why a meta is forming around them. If a weapon can stun-lock an enemy player, leaving them open to a follow-up attack, and also drain their FP, taking away their ability to cast spells, why wouldn't anyone take that advantage?

What Elden Ring players are bemoaning about this meta is its lack of fun, basically. Players naturally want to go up against opponents using a variation of different tactics and weapons, thus making PvP gameplay effectively more fun through sheer variety. This very focused meta threatens to take that away.

No one can say this meta has come as a surprise, however. Before the new Elden Ring Colosseum update even launched yesterday, players were already fearing a meta surrounding the dreaded Rivers of Blood katana, which can do many of the things players are now decrying in the subreddit post above. We'll have to wait and see how the meta shakes out in the coming weeks.

Elden Ring Colosseum PvP is a fun but dishonorable free-for-all that rips up the rule book.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

Read more
Elden Ring Nightreign
Elden Ring Nightreign director says it wasn't always a PvE battle royale game: "That's something that we tried and we thought it worked well, so it stuck"
Elden Ring
Elden Ring Nightreign went roguelike as the focus was "condensing" the RPG experience down, not because FromSoftware was "chasing a trend"
Screenshots of battle in Elden Ring Nightreign along with a logo for GamesRadar+'s Big in 2025 features
Elden Ring Nightreign could be the Fortnite of Soulslikes, but probably not for the reason you think
Elden Ring Nightreign screenshot showing a little magic and skeletal summoning
After 15 years, Elden Ring Nightreign introduces a FromSoftware first: you can stab a dude with an arrow like you're Legolas
Elden Ring Nightreign screenshot which shows the new Limveld environment from a high vantage point
As Elden Ring Nightreign's network test servers struggle, I'm stewing in the shame of my catastrophic first run
Elden Ring Nightreign
Elden Ring Nightreign feels like a modded version of FromSoftware's best game ever – and after 3 hours, I only wanted to play more
Latest in Action Rpg
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds' first major update rights its greatest wrong by adding a proper Palico cooking animation, and it's letting you change Alma's glasses
Monster Hunter Wilds screenshot showing lagiacrus holding a monster down
Monster Hunter fans lose their minds as Monster Hunter Wilds confirms Lagiacrus will return this summer, finally answering 7 years of prayers
Monster Hunter Wilds hunter eating a meal at the cat cafe
Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1 is out April 4 and looks stacked: Zoh Shia returns, the Grand Hub adds a social space, plus Arch-Tempered Rey Dau, arena speedrun contests, and Mizutsune
Bloodborne
It's Bloodborne's 10th anniversary, and FromSoftware is celebrating with an Elden Ring patch that "does not contain any game related changes"
Bloodborne
10 years on, Bloodborne remains an unmatchable feat of atmosphere thanks to the mind-boggling oppressive scale of Yharnam
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight: Silksong gets unprecedented second update in 2 weeks, with a Steam page tweak pointing to a 2025 release
Latest in News
Lunar Remastered Collection
"Will today’s players still enjoy a game from 30 years ago?": JRPG icon Kei Shigema says he was thrilled to see Lunar getting a remaster even after all this time
Nick Offerman as Bill and Murray Bartlett as Frank in The Last of Us episode 3
The Last of Us season 2 showrunners tease a "gorgeous" episode akin to season 1’s Emmy-nominated Bill and Frank story: "Just you wait"
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
CD Projekt boss says "cutting-edge single-player games" – you know, like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 – will "continue to enjoy great popularity" despite industry shifts
Cyberpunk 2077
Despite releasing exactly zero new games, CD Projekt bagged $120 million in profit for 2024 – the Witcher and Cyberpunk studio's third-best result ever
Muse
Daredevil: Born Again midseason trailer teases Matt Murdock’s violent fight with Muse, including a gory scene straight from the comics
Batman looking over the city during Batman: Arkham City, one of the best PS3 games.
The PS2 Batman Begins game was considered such a "disaster" that Christopher Nolan turned down a Dark Knight-inspired game