Distortion2, an Elden Ring speedrunner and former world record holder, has announced a new project on his YouTube channel: defeating all the remembrance bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree (including Bayle) with limited Scadutree levels and DLC weapons, all while only being at level 1. 

“This isn't your standard speedrun, though,” Distortion2 says. “As I wanted to do something a bit more unique so we'd see something other than base game weapons. So I came up with what I am calling Rune Level 1 DLC%.”

I've never been one for speedrunning through games. I'm more of a completionist, but a $10,000 reward is enough to turn my head and think about taking up the brutal challenge. If you're also thinking about entering the competition, then make sure you get your save file from Distortion2, which you can find in the speedrun bounty Discord before you start because otherwise, your run won't be valid. 

The starting point will be where the DLC begins next to Miquella's cocoon in Mohg's palace, but the route you take is entirely up to you. There are various ways you can come up with an order, whether that be based on increasing difficulty or location, but I'm sure players will come up with tons of different paths over the course of this challenge. Players have until August 11 to figure out what the best/fastest route is. 

Apart from run order, I think it'll be pretty interesting to see what builds emerge as the strongest during this challenge, as base-game weapons won't be allowed. “Just rune Level 1 wasn't really hard enough in my mind, as we all know how strong some weapons from the base game can be,” Distortion2 says. 

That means no Blasphemous Blade or Bloodhound Fang, and it is a pretty serious hit to bleed builds. Elden Ring speedrunners also have a habit of using Serpent-Hunter, which will also not be available this time around. 

Another hurdle for speedrunners taking on this competition is the fact that you won't be able to gather Scadutree levels. “Every standard speedrun in Elden Ring you see will normally have the runner collect as many Scadutree fragments along the route as possible, so they can do as much damage as possible for every boss that they fight,” Distortion2 says. “Now, I'm not a huge fan of every run, starting with this collecting process, so in this bounty, you will only be able to upgrade your Scadutree level by one for each boss you defeat.” 

It's not all doom and gloom, though. There's base game physics, talismans, and other valuable tools to help you take on the challenge. Plus, we've already seen some ridiculously impressive Shadow of the Erdtree challenges recently, like when one streamer managed to kill the final boss in one hit, so I'm not sure anything's too tricky for this playerbase to take on.