Elden Ring's PvP has been busted open by players who have discovered an Elden Ring build that's nearly unstoppable. Using a specific weapon and spell, these players are able to repeatedly stack a debuff on enemies that instantly kills them, and what's worse: if done correctly, it can lock you in animations so that you never die unless you force quit the game.

Those utilizing the 'Deathblight' build are taking advantage of two powerful items: the Eclipse Shotel weapon and the Fire's Deadly Sin incantation. The Eclipse Shotel's Ash of War move called Death Flare that inflicts the death effect on enemies. The death ailment presents like a normal poison meter that builds up over repeat exposure, but once it fills up, it instantly kills you with a gruesome animation where your character is impaled by thorns. Non-PvP players will have probably encountered this with certain PvE enemies like the basilisks.

Tyler has covered games, games culture, and hardware for over a decade before joining PC Gamer as Associate Editor. He's done in-depth reporting on communities and games as well as criticism for sites like Polygon, Wired, and Waypoint. He's interested in the weird and the fascinating when it comes to games, spending time probing for stories and talking to the people involved. Tyler loves sinking into games like Final Fantasy 14, Overwatch, and Dark Souls to see what makes them tick and pluck out the parts worth talking about. His goal is to talk about games the way they are: broken, beautiful, and bizarre.