Surprise, Tarnished, there's a new Elden Ring PvP exploit that lets you insta-kill everyone in the area
Including yourself
It looks like the Elden Ring PvP meta is about to be turned on its head as players have identified an exploit that lets you insta-kill everyone in the immediate area - including yourself.
You can see it all play out in this rather upsetting Twitter post from a user who explains how the exploit works. Basically, you have to equip the infamously exploitable Eclipse Shotel in both hands, make sure its Death Flare skill is active, and then use the Deadly Poison Perfume Bottle. That'll trigger Death Blight with an area-of-effect that instantly kills everyone who comes into contact with the noxious fumes.
As you can see in the below video, all three players, including the initiator, were immediately felled by the noxious cloud, which doesn't seem entirely intentional. Naturally, as it seems there's no way for the player themselves to survive their own attack, it's not really an ideal strategy, but I've no doubt it'll be used both as a last resort in losing battles and as a means to sow chaos in PvP by players who simply want to watch the world burn.
FROMSOFT SPAGHETTI: Poison Perfume Bottles can apply Deathblight (instant death) if Death Flare is active when 2-handing the Eclipse Shotel pic.twitter.com/G9a02I9UWrJuly 29, 2024
It's unclear how long this exploit has been going around. A cursory Google search yielded videos of exploits and overpowered builds using one or more components from this latest exploit, but no exact matches from what I could find. Either way, it certainly seems unlikely that FromSoftware intended for players to use this particular combination of items and abilities in this way, so I've reached out to them for comment and I'll update this article if I hear back.
Prefer friendlier interactions? Here's how to play Elden Ring multiplayer co-op with friends.
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After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.