Elden Ring Streamer and content creator Distortion 2 has broken yet another Elden Ring speedrunning record.
Distortion 2, the player behind several previous Elden Ring speedrunning records â including the very first under-20 run â has made history yet again by completing the game in just under nine minutes. In this case, beating Elden Ring hinged on making it all the way to the ending boss and taking him down. So, while Distortion didn't face every single boss encounter, he still managed to make it all the way to the end of the game and beyond.
This was an "any% unrestricted" run, meaning that it could be completed by any means necessary to get there. Distortion 2 chose to play on version 1.03 as it was the most stable and choose the Vagabond class to facilitate the key element of this run: the zip glitch.
The Zip Glitch â commonly referred to as "Zipping" â allows players to cover large areas instantaneously by guarding and then moving a certain amount of frames in a given direction. Heavier characters make for further zips, meaning the Vagabond's starting halberd was a major boon to the beginning of the run. Additionally, since zips are hardware-dependent, the "any % unrestricted" piece of this puzzle is also paramount as only these runs can enable zips.
Distortion 2 also takes advantage of exiting and loading the game in order to skip previously-mandatory animations. Only the time in-game counts toward the final amount so this method is crucial to shaving off what could've been minutes wasted.
This is the first under-nine minute run in the history of Elden Ring.
