There are plenty of Elden Ring challenge videos where people defeat bosses without getting hit, but this new escapade is all about beating every big bad, including the DLC fights, with a one-hit KO.
Streamer, YouTuber, and overall Elden Ring expert Bushy thoroughly explains how he competed this challenge in a five-hour long video that's been cut down after over 50 hours of streaming – 54, to be precise. As you'd expect, it includes an absurd amount of set-up and also a fair bit of luck.
One caveat you need to be aware of is the one-hit rule actually means one attack per enemy health bar. This seems fair since there are a lot of bosses with two which would actually be impossible to beat in a single shot without some sort of glitch. As for the attacks Bushy can use, "anything that requires one single button input," which includes chargeable spells, but not continuous ones like Comet Azure.
Right off the bat, the core strategy involves scouring the Lands Between for weapons and gear that can help boost Bushy's damage output. The main catch is, he's nowhere near strong enough to beat even the weakest bosses with one hit yet, so everything he gets has to be something he can acquire without the need to defeat a boss.
Margit is the first major boss that Bushy defeats, and he needs to be killed for the Talisman Pouch he drops. At the start of Elden Ring you only have one, which severely limits your build options in a challenge like this.
For starters, Bushy grabs the Charged Attack Tear for his Flask of Wondrous Physick and the Charged Attack Talisman, as these are already the strongest melee attacks, so buffing them an extra 25% is a no-brainer. He also grabs the Golden Order Seal so he can cast buffs: "This one is easy to pick up."
Next up, Bushy gets a bunch of Runes by killing Greyroll with a bleed weapon. Greyroll isn't technically a boss, so this is allowed. He then levels up to 15 Faith, 11 Dexterity, and 30 Strength so he can effectively wield the Giant Crusher in Altus Plateau. You can see how much running around is needed just to start preparing for Margit, but there's still a lot to do.
Spells like Flame, Grant me Strength are needed, and the Determination and Golden Vow Ashes of War, but even after that and leveling up his weapon to level 12, "I am only ready to take out some random side dungeon boss for a different weapon." There's a reason this video is five hours long.
Due to a counterattack mechanic that I'm only just now learning exists, the actual best early-game weapon is the Rusted Anchor. If you attack an enemy while they're in an attack animation, weapons with piercing damage will do an extra 30% damage, which is huge. This is also where the luck comes in. When it comes time to face Margit, Bushy needs to hit him while he's mid-attack, risking being killed himself.
It's seriously impressive watching Bushy strategize and oh-so-satisfying when all the hard work pays off and a boss like Mohg goes down with a single attack. Unfortunately, I can't summarize a five-hour video in a single article without keeping us both here all day, but you should definitely check out his full video if you're curious to see how it all goes down.
If you want more Elden Ring-like action, check out our list of the best FromSoftware games you can play right now. Do you think any of them would work with this challenge?
