You’ve Conquered the Lands Between, But What About Everything Else?
You’ve defeated the final boss, witnessed an ending, and maybe even started a New Game Plus cycle. Yet, a lingering question remains, one that many Tarnished ask after their initial victory: just how long does it take to truly 100% Elden Ring? This isn’t about simply reaching the credits; it’s about experiencing every secret, collecting every legendary item, and conquering every optional challenge the vast world has to offer.
The answer is more complex than a single number. Completion time varies wildly based on your playstyle, prior knowledge, and willingness to explore without guidance. Are you a meticulous explorer who checks every corner? Or do you prefer a more guided approach using online resources? Your journey to 100% will be uniquely yours, but we can map out the realistic timeframes you can expect.
Defining “100%” in a World Without a Checklist
First, let’s clarify what “100% Elden Ring” typically means to the community. Since the game lacks an internal completion percentage tracker, players define it as accomplishing all major milestones. This comprehensive goal usually includes:
Acquiring all trophies or achievements (including all endings).
Defeating every boss, including all remembrance bosses and field bosses.
Collecting all legendary armaments, talismans, sorceries, and incantations.
Visiting all named locations and dungeons on the map.
Completing all major NPC questlines to their various conclusions.
It’s a monumental task that requires multiple playthroughs or careful save-scumming due to mutually exclusive choices and endings.
The Spectrum of Completion Times
Based on aggregated data from player reports and completion-tracking websites, the time to 100% Elden Ring falls into distinct brackets. Your experience will land somewhere on this spectrum.
For the completely blind, exploration-focused player, the journey can stretch from 150 to over 200 hours. This path involves discovering secrets organically, tackling challenges through trial and error, and likely missing many items on a first playthrough, necessitating even more thorough subsequent runs.
Players who use guides selectively for obscure quests and collectibles can expect to spend between 100 and 140 hours. This is the most common range for dedicated players who want to experience most of the game themselves but consult resources to find easily missable legendary items or cryptic NPC steps.
A highly efficient playthrough guided by step-by-step checklists and optimized routes can be completed in roughly 80 to 100 hours. This approach minimizes backtracking and uses planned progression to unlock multiple endings in the fewest New Game Plus cycles possible, often leveraging save file manipulation.
Speedrunners and experts using glitches or extreme sequence breaks have achieved 100% in under 50 hours, but this is not representative of a standard playthrough and relies on profound game knowledge and technical execution.
The Major Time Sinks on the Road to Completion
Understanding where the hours go is key to planning your journey. Several aspects of Elden Ring are particularly demanding for completionists.
Multiple Endings and New Game Plus
Elden Ring has six possible endings, with three tied to specific achievements. Since you cannot get all endings in one playthrough, you must either play through the game multiple times or use a backup save trick before the final choice. A full New Game Plus run, where you focus only on essential path and ending-specific tasks, can take 15-30 hours depending on your skill and level.
Missable Quests and Legendary Items
NPC questlines are famously opaque and fragile. Progressing too far in the main story, entering certain areas, or defeating specific bosses can irrevocably lock you out of quests and their unique rewards. Tracking down every legendary weapon, talisman, and spell often requires revisiting obscure corners of the map or defeating optional bosses many players skip, like the elusive Lichdragon Fortissax or the bosses deep within the Consecrated Snowfield catacombs.
Optional Dungeons and Bosses
Beyond the critical path lies a staggering amount of optional content. Hero’s Graves, evergaols, hidden catacombs, and caves dot the landscape. While some can be cleared quickly, others, like the infamous Consecrated Snowfield catacombs or the deep roots of the Haligtree, are lengthy, challenging, and essential for fighting bosses like Malenia, Blade of Miquella—a fight that alone can consume hours of attempt time.
A Phased Roadmap for Efficient Completion
If your goal is to 100% the game without wasting time, a structured approach is invaluable. Here is a practical phased roadmap.
First Playthrough: Thorough Exploration and Foundation
Use this playthrough to explore as much as possible organically. Focus on these goals:
Defeat all major shardbearers and access all core geographic regions: Limgrave, Liurnia, Caelid, Altus Plateau, Mountaintops of the Giants, and the capital city.
Complete as many NPC quests as you can find naturally. Keep a notepad or use an online tracker to log your progress with characters like Ranni, Fia, and Millicent.
Collect all map fragments and unlock all sites of grace. This creates a fast-travel network for future runs.
Defeat every boss you encounter. Do not skip optional dungeons.
Aim for one of the standard endings (Elden Lord). This playthrough will be your longest, likely 80-120 hours if done thoroughly.
Second Playthrough or Save Scum: The Alternative Endings
Before defeating the final boss, back up your save file to an external drive or cloud storage. After achieving one ending, reload your backup save to the point just before the final choice.
Complete the specific requirements for the other achievement-linked endings. For the “Lord of Frenzied Flame” ending, you must complete Hyetta’s quest and embrace the Three Fingers beneath the capital. For the “Age of the Stars” ending, you must complete Ranni’s full questline, one of the game’s longest and most complex.
Using this method, you can obtain all three ending-related achievements in a single playthrough cycle, saving dozens of hours.
Cleanup and Collection
With the ending achievements secured, use your final playthrough (or continue on a high-level character) to mop up any remaining collectibles and bosses. This phase involves:
Consulting a definitive checklist for all legendary armaments, talismans, sorceries, and incantations. Cross-reference with your inventory.
Fast-traveling to specific locations to pick up missed items. Many are in out-of-the-way places or require solving environmental puzzles.
Challenging any remaining world bosses or evergaol prisoners you may have bypassed.
This phase can take 20-40 hours depending on how much you missed initially.
Tools and Tips to Accelerate Your Journey
You don’t have to navigate this alone. Leveraging community resources can dramatically reduce frustration and time spent wandering.
The interactive map on platforms like the Fextralife wiki is indispensable. You can filter it to show only locations of legendary items, bosses, or dungeons, allowing you to plan efficient collection routes.
Detailed quest guides are essential for convoluted chains like Ranni’s or Corhyn’s. Follow them step-by-step to avoid accidental lock-out.
Consider respeccing your character for specific challenges. A powerful sorcery or bleed build can trivialize bosses that may have stalled you on a different build, saving hours of attempts.
Do not neglect your character’s power level. Farming runes to reach a comfortable level (150-200) for the endgame cleanup will make surviving optional areas like Crumbling Farum Azula and the Haligtree much smoother.
Realistic Expectations and Personal Enjoyment
The drive to 100% such a massive game can sometimes clash with the joy of playing it. It’s important to set realistic expectations to avoid burnout.
Accept that you will likely not find everything on your own. Using a guide for the most obscure elements is not cheating; it’s a practical choice for a completionist.
Break the task into manageable chunks. Focus on one region, one questline, or one category of collectibles at a time.
If a particular optional boss like Malenia or the Valiant Gargoyles is causing excessive frustration, it’s okay to overlevel, summon help, or use a powerful spirit ash. The goal is completion, not necessarily a purist challenge run on every encounter.
Remember that the median time for 100% completion, according to data from HowLongToBeat, sits around 133 hours. This is a great benchmark for a player using some guides.
Your Path to Becoming the Ultimate Tarnished
The journey to 100% Elden Ring is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a deep, rewarding dive into one of the most detailed game worlds ever created. Whether you spend 80 hours or 200, the sense of mastery and the stories you’ll uncover are worth the investment.
Start with a thorough, exploratory first playthrough to build your foundation and knowledge. Use save management to efficiently secure the multiple endings. Finally, methodically check off your remaining collectibles and challenges with the aid of community resources. Pace yourself, embrace the challenge, and you will eventually stand in the Roundtable Hold, inventory complete, having left no stone in the Lands Between unturned.
