The Elden Ring Nightreign speedrunning community is ablaze with activity following last week's Patch 1.6 update. The new Boss Rush mode has become the centerpiece of competitive speedrunning, with top runners already pushing past the 22-minute mark in their quest to break the mythical 20-minute barrier.
Since Patch 1.6 went live on July 17, the Boss Rush leaderboards have been rewritten multiple times. Currently, speedrunner GinoMachino holds the world record at 21:34, a blistering run through all 28 boss encounters in sequence. What makes this achievement particularly impressive is that it improves upon the previous best—set just hours earlier by runner distortion2—by a full 47 seconds. The competitive back-and-forth between these two titans has drawn massive viewership on Twitch, with both runners' simultaneous attempts peaking at over 180,000 concurrent viewers.
What's driving the rapid time drops? The optimized route centers around the Greataxe build that emerged from the Patch 1.5 meta. With Patch 1.6's minor adjustments to boss AI behavior, runners have discovered new skip opportunities against bosses like Maliketh and Malenia. The key time-saver in the current world record involves a precise sequence-breaking technique against the Godskin Duo that saves approximately 90 seconds over the conventional approach.
The 20-minute barrier represents more than just a number—it's considered the holy grail of Boss Rush speedrunning. Based on current optimization trajectories, analysts predict the barrier will fall within the next two weeks. Critical breakthroughs that could make this possible include: perfect RNG manipulation on Malenia's Waterfowl Dance pattern, sub-30-second kills on Radahn using the optimized damage setup, and zero-death execution through the Elden Beast encounter.
Beyond the speedrunning scene, Patch 1.6's Boss Rush mode has also breathed new life into the casual Elden Ring community. Over 1.2 million players have attempted the mode since launch, with the average completion time hovering around 45 minutes. FromSoftware has confirmed that leaderboards will be reset at the end of each month, with exclusive in-game titles awarded to top 100 finishers.
The Duskbloods expansion—FromSoftware's upcoming PvPvE title for Switch 2—has also begun accepting closed beta registrations, with many Elden Ring speedrunners already signing up to test their skills in an entirely new competitive environment. The closed beta is expected this summer, though an exact date has not yet been announced.
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