The deadliest enemy of Elden Ring players was a hole in the tutorial

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Gif: From the software / Bandai Namco / Kotaku

Among the dozens of monsters and traps designed to kill Elden Ring players, an inconspicuous hole in the tutorial area proved to be the deadliest aspect of the game’s preview build.

Over the weekend, everyone lucky enough to receive an invitation to the Elden Ring closed network test got their first taste of From Software’s upcoming Dark Souls successor. It was pretty good, although reaching the end has awakened in me a creepy and primal hunger for more that won’t be sated until the game’s launch next year.

The Elden Ring Network Test opened in a cave with only two options for your pre-built character: go ahead in the open world or go down to a separate area to learn more about the game. I chose to check out the tutorial to make sure I was familiar with the updated controls, and eventually found myself spitting on a ledge just above the starting point. That was when I saw the bloodstains.

Screenshot: From software / Bandai Namco / Kotaku

As in Dark Souls, the bloodstains in Elden Ring show where players have died. Interaction with a bloodstain activates a ghostly figure from your partner’s last few seconds of life, sometimes providing clues to future dangers. The post-tutorial ledge was covered in bloodstains, meaning something around here was killing players en masse. I approached the area ready to make a hasty retreat, thinking there was a nasty From Software-style surprise waiting for me.

No, it turns out that people were accidentally falling into the tutorial hole, which from this height was more than enough to kill them.

Gif: From the software / Bandai Namco / Kotaku

And unlike the Bloodborne hunters who purposely leave bloodstains all over the hub area, I sincerely believe the Elden Ring players didn’t see the hole. It’s not immediately obvious where you end up after the tutorial, and the cave’s low lighting makes it hard to notice the wide open chasm below you even if you’re staring at the ground. Hell, the bloodstains are probably half the reason I didn’t do the death dive myself.

I have battled many scary creatures during my short time with Elden Ring, from bats and crabs to dragons and giants. But no one seemed to accumulate the immense number of corpses of this simple hole. Not even the area before the final boss of the preview, a great idiot named Margit the Fell Omen, had as many bloodstains as that ledge. It’s just further proof that gravity will be one of Elden Ring’s most dangerous enemies.

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