Steam data shows players are achieving the Age of Stars ending in Elden Ring more than the default Elden Lord ending. The data shows a whopping 25.9% of players have achieved The Age of Stars achievement, while the Elden Lord achievement has a completion rate of 19.6%.

The Age of Stars is considered a secret ending, as the requirements are numerous and easy to miss. The quest line revolves around Ranni the Witch, daughter of one of the game's many bosses and potential successor to the Elden Ring. Following her quest line will take players to many areas early, and many locations associated with the quest line are entirely missable otherwise.

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All the while, the player searches for ancient secrets with the help of quest NPC Blaidd the Half-Wolf, who alongside Ranni have found themselves among the most popular in the Elden Ring community. The ending itself sees the player become consort (spouse) to Ranni as she takes the Elden Ring to shape the world to follow a new hierarchy, one led by the stars. It is an undoubtedly unique ending and contains the only true romance in the game.

A screenshot from Elden Ring's Age of Stars ending with Ranni.

It should be noted that these numbers from Steam are staggeringly high, especially for a SoulsBorne title, as many games have relatively low completion rates on the platform. What makes this disparity striking is the contrast of difficulty in achieving these endings. The Elden Lord ending requires no additional input from the player other than beating the final boss, though there are four variations of this ending. Meanwhile, The Age of Stars requires extended quests with no in-game tracker, additional optional bosses, and a slightly convoluted order of events to even meet the prerequisites for the ending, in addition to beating the game.

The popularity of the ending is unsurprising, though, as many say it feels the most complete, and Ranni is immensely popular with the community. Having been featured in most of the marketing material, she presents players with a striking image out of a fairytale: a one-eyed witch who follows the teachings of the cold night sky. Many players also consider this to be the good ending, as it is the only ending in which the discriminatory status quo is replaced with a hopeful, if uncertain, future. Ranni delivers the people of The Lands Between the freedom they so desperately need, breaking the shackles of the Golden Order. For some, this is even considered a canon ending, for whatever that is worth in a FromSoftware title. Ultimately, the popularity of the ending makes sense, but it's surprising how many players have gone out of their way to achieve it.

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