Oh,Elden Ring. The game with an enormous map, a ridiculous amount of creatures and weapons, and an incredibly rich expansion that got nominated for GOTY. While its scale and myriad of options are some of the key aspects that make it so ambitious (and successful!), we should also highlight another aspect: the secrets.

FromSoftware likes to give you hints and chunks of information about the story, with you filling the spaces in between. The same can be said of gameplay elements, references, and other sweet details. Here are some of the best secrets you might still not know in 2025.

A creature jumping toward the player in the roof of a castle in Elden Ring.

10The Overkill Mechanic

Every time you kill an enemy, you receive a fixed amount of runes. If you kill it while the effect of consumables likeGold-Pickled Fowl Footis still running, you’ll get an increased amount of runes. You already know this; it’s how this has worked for ages in every Souls game made by FromSoftware.

However, there’s probably something that you might have used without knowing: the Overkill mechanic. you may get a bonus of runes if the first hit to an enemy deals more than 150 percent of its max health. This will give you 20 percent more runes than normal. Time to grab all the heavy weapons you have, raise those strength stats, and start overkilling enemies.

Player looking up at the Haligtree and a myriad of branches in Elden Ring.

9The Invisible Path In The Hidden Path To Haligtree

Most of Elden Ring’s players will know about The Hidden Path to Haligtree by now. This is a dungeon that connects the Mountaintops of the Giants, the last big region in the game, with the Consecrated Snowfield, an optional area that leads to Miquella’s Haligtree: the region where you face Malenia,one of the best and most difficult bosses.

However, what you might not know is that there’s an invisible path inside the Hidden Path’s dungeon. When you get to the stairs section with the candles section, there’s a small section on the left side of the balcony that is broken. If you fall down from here, you will actually land on a secret path.

The player facing a red phantom that invaded them in Elden Ring.

8You Can Perfect Block

Originally revealed by Discord user CMG, there’s a mechanic (or exploit?) in Elden Ring that has beengreatly explained by YouTuber Steelovsky. Normally, when you get hit by some attacks, such as blows from heavy weapons, you get staggered for a few seconds, preventing you from performing counterattacks or even dodging. If the enemy attacks in a quick combo, you are probably dead. This is what the poise system works for in the game.

You can actually ignore this by using Perfect Block. If you are sprinting, stop and press block at the same time, you won’t get staggered. This also works if you’re hit and you press block right after the attack. This way, you get ‘infinite poise’, which can be useful both while playing against regular enemies and in PvP.

A wide shot of the Raya Lucaria Academy in Elden Ring.

Please note that you’ll still get damage, so be careful about when you want to use this technique.

7Church Of The Cuckoo’s Secret Room

You have probably encountered many invisible walls (and floors!) in your hundred of hours exploring The Lands Between, but how can you be sure that you found all of them?

There’s one at the entrance of Raya Lucaria Academy that isn’t discussed a lot. When you enter the Church of the Cuckoo, you’re able to find a secret room by hitting a wall on the right, very close to the entrance of the place. In this unlocked area, you’ll find coffins and a very useful item: aRune Arc.

Lord/Lady of Nightmares Succumbs To Madness In Liurnia

6Fool The Frenzy-Flaming Tower

In the northeast region of Liurnia of the Lakes, you can find a small village with a Frenzy-Flaming Tower. This can be a dangerous zone because that tower (a clear reference to The Lord of the Rings) will increase your Madness level if you’re exposed to it. Let the bar completely increase, and you’ll lose a good chunk of your health.

However, there’s a rather unorthodox way of avoiding this. Reddit userTypical-Painter-7052 discoveredthat if you use Mimic’s Veil (an item found in Stormveil Castle), you may turn your body into a type of enemy that will ignore the tower’s effect. Sadly, you’ll move very slowly, making traversal a pain. But hey, at least that’s one problem down.

A Runebear about to attack the player with its right claw in Elden Ring.

5A Runebear That Drops A Larval Tear

The first time you find a Runebear in Elden Ring is a memorable moment, especially if you’re under level. These beasts are a menace just like in real life, and you can easily get knocked down multiple times thanks to their ferocity, speed, significant damage, and big pool of HP.

The problem is when you start finding more and more of them… which are basically the same, with the exact movesets and poor rewards. This changes when you find a Runbear in the Inner Consecrated Snowfield, which not only has a few new terrifying moves, like a jumping attack with massive range, but it also drops aLarval Tear. Finally, some good reward for the hard work.

The Tarnished stands in Deeproot Depths in Elden Ring.

4Deeproot Depths' Secret Passage

Usually, you’ll reach Deeproot Depths by defeating Radahn, then going throughNokron, Eternal City. However, there’s another, bizarre way of getting to this area.

Start in Leyndell, Royal Capitol, find the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, and then theFrenzied Flame Proscription. Reach the bottom of his area, and you may enter a secret room by rolling a wall. If that’s not enough, inside this room, you can roll again behind a chest and reveal a second invisible wall, which will lead you to this secret passage. Just FromSoftware things.

The character riding their horse toward a Godskin Apostle in Elden Ring.

3Godskin Apostle Has A Random Skill To Wake Up Allies

Thanks to LilAggy’s runusing a randomizer of items, enemies, and fog, the community discovered something aboutGodskin Apostle, a boss that you can find in a few spots, most infamously accompanied by his partner in the duo fight. If you put an ally to sleep, he can wake him up thanks to one skill in his arsenal.

You normally wouldn’t see this in the duo fight because, apparently, there’s a bug with the enemy’s detection in the area preventing it from happening. But you’re able to actually trigger this, without any randomizer, by fighting the Godskin Apostle in the Windmill Village.

The player mounting their horse and watching a group of flowers in front of them in Elden Ring.

2You Can Send Big Flowers To Sleep

Another discovery from Typical-Painter-7052, you’re able to neutralize the big flower-type of enemy in other ways than death. If you use aSleep Pot, a consumable item unlocked by getting theFevor’s Cookbook [1], you can send them to sleep. You can either run past them or attack with a critical blow.

You would think that the Sleep Pot would only work with other, more regular types of enemies, but it seems that, for some reason, it also affects vegetation. And the flowers make a cute animation while they sleep!

The player and Melina sitting next to each other near a Site of Grace in Elden Ring.

1You Can Kill Melina

Melina occupies the role of a female character that accompanies you in your journey throughout the game, just like different similar characters you may find in other FromSoft titles. She lets you level up, gives you your loyal Torrent, and also has a role later in the story. What is not to like about her?

Well, if for some reason you don’t like her, you can’t actually kill Melina pretty early in the game. Use theBloodflame Bladespell in one of the first Sites of Grace where there’s a prompt to talk to her. Activate the spell, put yourself in fire, and talk to Melina. She will die because she spawns very close to you, receiving all that burn damage. Interestingly, she summons a golden tree before dying, which heals everyone nearby.

Don’t worry, you won’t soft-block your run: Melina will spawn again.