The backstory, setting, and hidden lore-filled quests of Elden Ring , crafted by fantasy author George R.R. Martin and refined by developers at FromSoftware, is a curious blend of themes from polytheistic Norse mythology and monotheistic Christianity. The Erdtree, a massive growth of golden bark and falling leaves that can be seen in every open-world area of Elden Ring , is almost certainly modeled after Yggdrasil, the Worldtree that supports the cosmos in Norse myth. Statues of the eternal goddess named Queen Marika show her hanging from an arc of light - like Christ on the cross, but also like Odin, chief god of the Aesir, who hangs himself from the branches of Yggdrasil in order to learn the knowledge of Runes. Elden Ring 's extended family of fighting Demigods - red-haired hammer-wielders like Radagon, serpentine abominations like Rykard - also correspond to famous Norse gods like Thor and monsters like Jörmungandr, magnificent, mercurial beings whose virtues and flaws are those of humanity writ la

The Rosebud variant of this Splicer located in the first game has haunting voice lines to match her drug-riddled decrepit appearance. From her voice lines, it appears that she is searching for her daughter that has been turned into a Little Sis

Developers of FromSoftware's Elden Ring are faced with a quandary when designing weapons and spells for RPGs like the studio's latest and previous works, such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne . They can't (or rather, shouldn't) make a single weapon good at everything in the game, or else players would simply use that weapon to the exclusion of others. Thus, FromSoftware developers need to carefully design weapons so they have a fun balance of strengths and weaknes

During the initial creation of Raya Lucaria, the developers had originally used the same assets for Dark Souls III bonfires rather than the iconic grace points that we see in the game today. This hints that Raya Lucaria was the first area to be developed, as these bonfires are now only invisible assets that are hard to rest

The Helphen's Steeple Greatsword, dropped by a Tibia Mariner enemy in Elden Ring 's Mountaintops of the Giants area , is a dark, barbed long-sword designed to be wielded by spell-sword character builds in Elden Ring rune farming Ring . The Ruinous Ghostflame skill of this weapon envelopes the blade in a shroud of ghostly flame that deals extra damage and inflicts the Frostbite status effect. The 1.07 patch increased the damage, duration, and poise attrition granted by this skill while also shortening its recovery time, making the sinister-looking Helphen's Steeple a much more viable weapon for Elden Ring players who want to cosplay cursed sword-wielding fictional characters like Elric of Melniboné, wielder of Stormbringer, or Arthas Menethil from Warcraft, wielder of Frostmou

During their playthrough of Elden Ring , players will come across many NPC and enemies who demonstrate a fanatical devotion to Miquella, an Empyrean with the potential to become a god like Marika. Malenia's Cleanrot Knights, who wield spears and scythes imbued with Miquella's Golden Order Magic, fight fiercely for the Empyrean's cause despite knowing proximity to Malenia will cause their flesh to rot away. After Miquella's kidnapping by Mohg, the foot soldiers who guard the Elden Ring 's parasitic, slowly-rotting Haligtree settlement turn their bodies into magical bombs in the hopes that the " ...the flash of our deaths [will] guide Miquella's retur

Miquella, twin brother of the infamously hard to beat boss Malenia, shares many motifs with Baldur, the fair-haired Norse god of light who was loved by all (and played a major role in God of War 2018 ). Within the game, players only encounter Miquella slumbering inside a mysterious cocoon atop Elden Ring 's hard-to-reach Mohgwyn Palace , his single exposed arm withered and scarred. Multiple item descriptions and a painting in the opening cinematic depict Miquella in his prime as a golden-haired, un-aging child with limitless reserves of vitality, standing in contrast to his tall, red-haired, perpetually rotting sister. Miquella is strongly associated with Golden Order Fundamentalism, a scholarly discipline of faith magic that can conjure halos of light, return the undead to their proper rest, and manipulate physical laws of Causality and Regression in order to cure harmful ailments. He is also famed for being the crafter of Unalloyed Gold, a substance that can ward off the influence of the Outer Gods like the Scarlet Rot or Dark Moon. Using his own blood as fertilizer, he even created the Elden Ring 's missed opportunity, the Haligtree , a towering rival to the Erdtree designed to be a bountiful home for outcast peoples shunned by Marika's Golden Order. All these altruistic feats, contrasted with the warmongering of his Demigod kindred, make Miquella come across as a literal messiah, a saint almost beyond repro

There is an item in Elden Ring called the Bewitching Branch, crafted from a Sacramental Bud watered with Miquella's blood and a Lily made of Unalloyed Gold. Stabbing a non-boss game enemy with this branch causes them to temporarily switch sides and fight other enemies. Elden Ring 's Bewitching Branch consumable item has the following descript