Most players measure an Elden Ring playthrough in dozens or perhaps a few hundred hours. Streamer Bushy has already gone considerably further, having spent roughly 4,000 hours in FromSoftware's massive action RPG. Yet that investment is not the conclusion of the journey. It is the foundation for an enormous new project: completing 726 more runs of Elden Ring, each centered on a different combat option.
The undertaking began on August 3 as a plan to finish the game using every weapon and shield, a target that added up to 447 individual playthroughs. By August 26, Bushy had expanded the scope dramatically. The current challenge now incorporates every weapon, Ash of War, staff, sacred seal, and spell available in the game, pushing the total to 726 runs.
That number is daunting even before considering the scale of the Lands Between, the game's extensive boss roster, and the additional material tied to the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. Bushy's stated purpose is not simply to set an extreme endurance record, however. The goal is to create a broad video library demonstrating how each distinct attack style performs against every boss in Elden Ring.
It is the sort of project that could become a useful reference point for curious players, while also functioning as an extraordinary long-term series for viewers. Want to know how a particular spell looks against a late-game enemy? Wondering whether an unconventional ranged weapon can handle a difficult remembrance boss? Bushy's eventual archive aims to provide an answer through full runs rather than theory alone.
For useful background on this topic, read Palworld Lead Says Steam Early Access Has Lost Its Meaning for Many Players.
A Challenge Built Around Every Possible Fighting Style
Elden Ring offers a famously wide selection of character builds. Players can rely on colossal weapons, nimble curved swords, bows, shields, sorceries, incantations, crossbows, ashes of war, or unusual hybrid setups. Even before adding the expansion's gear and progression systems, accounting for all of those tools in a complete boss-oriented challenge was always going to be a monumental task.
Bushy's original 447-run plan, covering weapons and shields, would already have tested an astonishing range of equipment. The revised 726-run target is more ambitious because it brings magical catalysts and every spell into the mix, while treating Ashes of War as their own category. The latter matters because an Ash of War can substantially change the identity of a weapon or create a strategy that does not resemble a conventional melee build at all.
The result is a challenge organized around variety as much as difficulty. A standard sword clear and a specialized spell clear can demand completely different stat allocations, positioning, resource management, and boss tactics. Some runs may favor aggression and close-range trading. Others may hinge on spacing, casting windows, stamina conservation, status effects, or careful use of ranged damage.
The project also emphasizes a part of Elden Ring that has helped the game retain a huge audience long after its initial release: there is no single "correct" way to fight. Some equipment is highly efficient and popular, while other options are awkward, niche, or largely overlooked. Seeing every category pushed through the game gives those unusual tools their own moment in the spotlight.
Custom Mod Removes Repetitive Setup, Not Boss Fights
A run count in the hundreds presents a practical problem. Each new character normally requires a tremendous amount of repeated exploration and item collection before the intended build is ready. Flask improvements, talismans, merchant-related upgrades, key gear, and expansion progression items all take time to obtain. Repeating that route hundreds of times would turn much of the series into the same scavenger hunt.
To deal with that burden, Bushy commissioned a custom mod designed to condense the repeated progression steps. In a video focused on the Black Flame spell, Bushy explained:
"I've commissioned a mod to make this series even bigger and better."
The mod is built around streamlining access to recurring necessities. Items that would normally be found lying around the world can instead be obtained from a dedicated menu or granted automatically after defeating story bosses that open further portions of the map. That includes major quality-of-life elements such as flask upgrades, collectible talismans, merchant upgrades, and the Shadow of the Erdtree Scadutree fragments.
In other words, the mod reduces the repeated errands that occur before the fights rather than replacing the actual combat challenge. Boss encounters remain the central test. Bushy still needs to develop the build, fight through required opponents, and prove that each weapon, spell, or skill can carry a playthrough.
"In order to skip the tedium of picking up all of the same stuff over and over for 726 runs, this is the solution that we have," Bushy said.
That distinction is important. Modding is often used for radically altered difficulty, randomized item placements, new enemies, or experimental mechanics. Here, the intended purpose is logistical. It recognizes that the compelling part of a 726-run showcase is watching the chosen combat option deal with bosses--not seeing the same upgrade materials collected for the hundredth time.
Even the Streamlined Version Is an Immense Commitment
Automation of item pickups does not make an undertaking this large quick. Each run still takes several hours, especially if it must cover meaningful boss encounters and demonstrate a complete route from beginning to end. If Bushy follows through on all 726 planned completions, the total time spent in Elden Ring could rise toward 7,000 hours.
At the time the challenge was discussed, Bushy had completed approximately 20 runs. That is a meaningful start, but it also illustrates just how long the project could remain active. The series may stretch across years, depending on the pace of streams and videos, the difficulty of particular setups, and any adjustments made as the catalog of builds grows.
Viewers have recognized both the appeal and the absurdity of that timeline. One comment noted that streamlining the project made sense even if it removed some of the extra travel and wandering that had become part of the content. Another joked that there could be another FromSoftware game available by the time all 726 runs are finished.
It is a fair observation. Elden Ring has enough breadth to make this concept viable, but 726 clears are not just a checklist. They are a substantial portion of a creator's career. The challenge is effectively an ongoing study of the game's complete toolset, with each playthrough becoming another entry in a vast combat archive.
Bushy's History Makes the Scale Less Surprising
For those familiar with Bushy's work, the new series fits a pattern. The streamer has already taken on many unusual and punishing Elden Ring challenges, including randomized runs, deathless New Game Plus 7 attempts, and scenarios involving an enormous number of Malenia encounters. Bushy has also demonstrated unorthodox approaches such as taking on the game with a heavy crossbow.
That background helps explain why a task that sounds impossible to most players can feel like a logical escalation. Bushy is not approaching Elden Ring as a one-time adventure. The game has become a platform for experimentation, mastery, and deliberately strange restrictions. The 726-run plan channels that experience into something more structured than a single spectacular stunt.
There is an appealing completionist instinct behind it, too. Games with huge arsenals often encourage players to discover a few favorites and ignore the rest. A project that insists on using every available category pushes back against that habit. It asks whether the least celebrated options can still find a path through the game, and it gives each one a dedicated demonstration rather than a quick detour.
Of course, not every run will be equally entertaining in the same way. Some may feature spectacular builds and swift kills, while others could expose the limitations of a more cumbersome spell, shield, or weapon art. But that range is likely part of the point. A complete record should include the awkward, the powerful, the surprising, and the impractical.
A Monument to Elden Ring's Flexibility
The challenge arrives at a moment when FromSoftware's games remain closely associated with replayability and player-driven experimentation. Elden Ring in particular offers an enormous web of systems that reward repeated visits: weapon scaling, status effects, summon choices, spell schools, armor combinations, talismans, crafting, and an open world that permits different routes through major objectives.
Bushy's custom mod acknowledges the one part of repeated playthroughs that does not necessarily need to be repeated in full: the administrative labor of collecting the same foundational upgrades. By preserving boss combat while accelerating build setup, the series is trying to focus attention on the game's most enduring question: how does this particular tool perform when it is pushed all the way through the Lands Between?
Whether Bushy ultimately reaches run 726 remains an open question simply because of the project's massive scale. But even the first several dozen attempts represent a remarkable commitment. For viewers who enjoy unusual builds, high-level boss play, or the simple satisfaction of seeing every corner of a game's arsenal tested, the series could become one of the most exhaustive Elden Ring showcases imaginable.
And if another FromSoftware adventure does arrive before the finish line, that may only make the effort feel more fitting. Few games have inspired such intense repeat play, and few creators have attempted to document that replayability with this level of determination.
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