Elden Ring player tricks an incoming invader with a disguise

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-03-14 14:31 JST)

One Elden Ring player made waves online by using a disguise to trick an invading player. The player dressed up as an NPC and mimicked its movements to pass completely unnoticed by the invader in a brilliant showing of ingenuity.

Elden Ring is the latest action RPG from FromSoftware. It takes place in The Lands Between which is teeming with animals, soldiers, and an assortment of other enemy NPCs. Enemy NPCs perform a number of different actions like resting at camps and patrolling set routes.

The game also has multiplayer components such as co-op play. However, this also opens you up to invaders entering your game. There is also an item called the Taunter’s Tongue which can be used to open your game to invaders. Invaders don’t get attacked by NPCs, but rather ally with them to attack you.

With that in mind, one player was able to pull a switcheroo by pretending to be one of these NPCs and expertly tricking someone that invaded their game. The series of events was posted to the subreddit /r/Eldenring. Reddit user xdc_lis first killed a Godrick Soldier in the starting area. They then put on the Godrick Soldier armor they gathered beforehand, raised a torch, and began walking the same route as the NPC. It certainly gave the sense that there was no player in the area. After making their preparations, xdc_lis used a Taunter’s Tongue to lure in an invader and put their plan into action.

Before long, an invader entered their world. In Elden Ring, the host player’s position is marked on the invader’s compass. The invader was able to follow their trusty compass to find their way to the phony Godrick Soldier. But xdc_lis was undaunted and continued to slowly walk back and forth carrying their torch. The invader never ended up engaging with the fake NPC.

The invader did search for xdc_lis for a bit before ultimately returning to their own world. They were totally fooled by the prank which took preparation, nerve, and perhaps most importantly, great acting to pull off.

But it can’t be denied that the invader was a bit careless. If the invader would have used the target lock, the host player’s name would have shown up above their character blowing their disguise. The ways players and NPCs hold torches is also fairly different, but to be fair, that’s probably not something most players would remember. The invading player actually ended up commenting on the Reddit thread with “The torch was absolutely the selling point. Never would I ever think somebody would be walking around with a torch.”

Elden Ring also provides a way for players to mimic nearby objects called the Mimic’s Veil. We can see posts on Reddit of players using the item to trick invaders in their games. There are videos of invaders being taken out by players disguised as trees and statues waiting for the perfect opening to strike. It looks like using camouflage to trick enemies has already spread around the playerbase.

But to actually go as far as to mimic an NPC is a creative way to take this sort of trap a step further. In addition, in Elden Ring and past FromSoftware titles, it’s common to acquire armor from enemies, making this kind of “NPC cosplay” possible. It’s also a key element in bringing this phony Godrick Soldier to life.

As more time passes since Elden Ring’s release, players find more and more ways to enjoy the game. We’ll likely see even more surprising ways to play in the future.