As the challenge’s title suggests, this style of play is notably more difficult than a no-hit run since, as Seki told Kotaku, he would have to start over if he took any amount of damage from any source. In order to achieve his goal, Seki started with the Prisoner class and chose the Cracked Pot for his keepsake. However, he quickly ditched all of his chosen class’ starting armor (after all, what’s the point in wearing armor if you don’t plan on getting hit). Seki then relied on a Dexterity/Intelligence character build with an emphasis on Intelligence and a few points invested into the Mind stat for the extra FP it provides. While Seki spent most of his journey on horseback and avoiding fights whenever possible, he did rely on the Moonveil Katana (specifically its Transient Moonlight skill) and the Rock Sling spell when combat was inevitable. Seki also utilized throwing knives whenever he needed to deal some damage fast.
According to Kotaku, Seki spent countless attempts planning and practicing his no-damage run; he might have only streamed his accomplishment for three hours, but he trained for over 130 hours to get there. Apparently, the biggest hurdle he faced was the final boss (the Elden Beast) as one of its attacks, Elden Stars, can only be avoided by staggering the creature. Seki spent “dozens of hours” trying to get the timing right, and more often than not the spell would hit him, forcing Seki to start over.
So what’s next for Seki? Believe it or not, he thinks an “All Remembrances No-Hit” attempt is in order.
Elden Ring: The Pacifist Run Explained
Streamers such as Seki demonstrate that it’s possible (if incredibly challenging) to beat Elden Ring without taking any damage, but what if someone told you they beat the game without dealing any damage? Well, that’s exactly what Iron Pineapple did.
Unlike a No-Damage run, Iron Pineapple’s Pacifist run had one simple rule: Beat the game without ever attacking. To be fair, you could maybe argue that challenge is easier than a no-damage run since Iron Pineapple didn’t have to start over from scratch if he was ever hit. However, Iron Pineapple still ran into countless roadblocks that he only overcame through adaptation (and a little assistance from the occasional glitch).
Since Iron Pineapple couldn’t rely on any weapons (until he got the Mimic Tear), he instead focused on Spirit Ashes and Incantations. He started with the Prophet class due to its high Faith, and he also chose the Fanged Imp Ashes as his keepsake. Iron Pineapple put most of his early points in Vigor and Mind, and he “killed” enemies by letting allies (both Spirit Ashes and summoned NPCs) do all the heavy lifting while he hung back and healed them. However, when that wasn’t an option, he either ran past opponents or cheesed them. His cheese tactics in this instance included tricking monsters into jumping off cliffs (or pushing them off via the incantation Rejection), leading enemies into deadly geysers, and, on occasion, jumping over a fog door to bug out a bosses’ AI. Every victory where Iron Pineapple didn’t have to fight counted as a win in his book (even if it was the result of a glitch or gravity).