Elden Ring Dataminers Find Possible Evidence Of Faction Ranks
An Elden Ring datamine suggests that multiplayer covenants, a popular FromSoftware feature, were intended for inclusion in the game. FromSoftware's open-world fantasy epic includes multiplayer features like summons and invasions, but it lacks the covenant system present in past soulslike titles. Joining a covenant in Dark Soulslets players serve a special multiplayer role, either as a friendly summon or hostile invader, and this mechanic was likely planned for Elden Ring too.
Despite expanding the soulslike formula into an expansive open-world setting, Elden Ring sticks closely to the multiplayer system featured in the Dark Souls trilogy and Bloodborne. Using special items, typically in the form of fingers or rings in Elden Ring, lets players enter the worlds of other gamers to help or hinder their progress. Summon signs let Tarnished team up to defeat an area's boss, granting ample rewards to both users. Meanwhile, hostile players can invade other gamers' worlds to kill them for rewards. A datamined Elden Ring multiplayer coliseum may have been intended for large-scale multiplayer battles, and some believe that the feature may return in the form of DLC.
Related: Elden Ring Dataminer Discovers More Details On Mysterious Coliseums
Twitter user and dataminer StrayKurtis recently revealed several unused Elden Ring text pop-ups that hint at an unused covenant ranking system. In past FromSoftware games players could progress higher in multiplayer covenants, like Dark Souls' cooperative Warriors of Sunlight, by filling the faction's specific role. StrayKurtis' unused text suggests that FromSoftware once planned to include covenants in Elden Ring, with players able to rank up as Recusants, Duelists and more. StrayKurtis
Read more on screenrant.com
