In Elden Ring Nightreign, you can choose to spend your hard-earned Murk on Scenic Flatstones, which will roll a random Relic when bought from the Small Jar Bazaar. If you’re lucky, this “Relic gacha” can land you a Grand Relic, but Japanese Nightreign players have recently started speculating about a supposed hidden trick that can raise your odds of a valuable pull. The rumor was further fueled when Twitch streamers like Sasatikk reported the method working for them, so I decided to sacrifice my Murk for science and try to verify the myth for myself.
What is the “Banzai” theory?
The focal point of the rumor is the small blackboard held by the merchant NPC Small Jar Bazaar. When you interact with Small Jar Bazaar, you can see not only the shop inventory but also a little chalk drawing on the blackboard – which changes each time you speak to it. According to the theory, when this drawing depicts the Jar with its arms up, i.e., doing a “banzai,” your odds of pulling a high-tier Relic from Scenic Flatstones increases.
So, the first step is to get the banzai drawing to appear. In order to get the drawing to change in the first place, it’s actually not enough to just talk to the merchant repeatedly – you have to first purchase at least one item from the shop. After you complete the transaction, exiting the conversation will prompt the drawing to change randomly.
Finally, in an attempt to verify the veracity of this “secret hack,” I first bought 10 Scenic Flatstones without the “banzai” chalk drawing displayed, and this yielded one Grand Relic. On the other hand, when I pulled another 10 Scenic Flastones with the “banzai” image on the blackboard, I got two Grand Relics. This would suggest a slight increase in odds, although the sample I’m working with is quite small. I managed to buy another 5 Scenic Flatsones with the banzai chalk drawing displayed after that, but got zero Grand Relics. At that point, I was out of Murk and unable to continue my research.
It remains unclear whether the drawing actually influences probability, or if it merely represents the Small Jar Bazaar’s joy at having made a sale. If you have Murk to spare, it might be worth experimenting with.
Elden Ring: Nightreign is out now on PC (Steam), PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.
