Ah, Elden Ring. What a monumental beast of a game it was back in 2022, and even now in 2026, its shadow still looms large over the action-RPG landscape. FromSoftware cooked up a masterpiece by throwing nearly everything from their past works into a massive open-world pot, and boy, did it simmer. We got the punishing, weighty combat of Dark Souls, the aggressive pace of Bloodborne, and even a little sprinkle of Sekiro's ninja flair. But if there's one ingredient that never quite dissolved into the broth, it's gotta be the stealth mechanics. It's like they borrowed a cup of sugar from Sekiro but forgot to add it to the main batter.

The Sekiro Legacy: A Glimpse of What Could Have Been

Let's be real, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was the game that finally gave FromSoftware players the gift of... crouching. Sounds simple, right? But man, did it change the game. That one button press opened up a whole new world of skulking in the shadows, planning assassinations, and feeling like a proper shinobi. Sekiro wasn't just about clashing swords; it was about choosing your moment, striking from the darkness, and vanishing before the enemy knew what hit them.

Elden Ring saw this and thought, "Hey, that's neat!" So, it took the whole package:

  • The Crouch Button ✔️

  • Tall Grass for Hiding ✔️

  • Sneaky Stealth Attacks ✔️

  • Even a dedicated Bandit starting class ✔️

On paper, it's all there. You can absolutely try to be a sneaky Tarnished. The tools are in your inventory. But the game's soul? Its heart? That's still beating to the rhythm of a massive greatsword or a barrage of glintstone pebbles.

Stealth in The Lands Between: An Underbaked Idea

Here's the tea: stealth in Elden Ring feels like an afterthought. A cool feature they added because they could, not because the game was designed for it. Think about it. How many times have you tried to use stealth, only for it to feel... off?

For starters, the game world itself isn't built for it. Sure, the open fields of Limgrave have some long grass, but most dungeons, catacombs, and legacy dungeons are tight corridors and open arenas. These places scream for a frontal assault, not a silent takedown. The enemy AI is also a bit of a mess when it comes to stealth. They're either eagle-eyed guards who spot you from a mile away through three walls, or they're completely oblivious drones you can pick off one by one with zero challenge. There's no satisfying middle ground.

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Trying to be sneaky in the Lands Between. It works... sometimes.

Compare this to games that live for stealth builds. Take Skyrim—you can become a ghost, a whisper in the dark, solving almost every problem with a well-placed arrow. Or immersive sims like the classic Prey (2017), where the environment itself becomes your stealth tool. Elden Ring? It politely nods at the stealth option before handing you a colossal weapon and pointing you at the boss door. Most of the time, you're just gonna have to face the music, and the music is a boss theme with a choir.

The Shadow of the Erdtree: A Missed Opportunity?

When the massive Shadow of the Erdtree expansion dropped, many fans held out hope. Maybe this would be the update that fleshed out stealth, giving us new tools, talismans, or areas designed for covert ops. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The stealth mechanics remained exactly as they were in the base game—functional on a basic level but never the optimal or most enjoyable path. The DLC doubled down on FromSoftware's traditional strengths: epic boss battles and intricate level design. Stealth was left in the starter gear section of the inventory.

Looking to the Future: Can Stealth Ever Fit?

So, is stealth in a Souls-style game a doomed concept? Not necessarily. Elden Ring could be seen as a tentative first step. It proved that the basic actions—crouch, hide, sneak attack—can exist within the engine. The next step is the hard part: making those actions feel meaningful and rewarding within the brutal, build-centric world Souls fans love.

Imagine a future FromSoftware game where:

  • Stealth is a valid build archetype, with its own unique weapons, armor sets that muffle sound, and talismans that extend enemy detection time.

  • Levels have multiple vertical and hidden pathways explicitly for stealthy players, offering a different, legitimate route to an objective.

  • Bosses have phases or mechanics that can be bypassed or weakened with a perfectly executed stealth opener.

That's the dream. But there's also a valid counter-argument: maybe FromSoftware's classic, head-on combat formula is sacred. Maybe trying to force a deep stealth system into it would dilute what makes these games special. Perhaps stealth deserves its own dedicated title again, a true Sekiro successor, rather than being a side-dish in the main course.

In the end, Elden Ring's stealth is a fascinating little paradox. It's there, you can use it, and it occasionally feels cool. But it never feels like you're playing the game "the right way." It's like using a spoon to eat a steak—possible, but you're fighting against the design. For now, sneaking through the Lands Between remains a fun, self-imposed challenge for veterans, rather than a core pillar of the experience. Maybe one day, FromSoftware will fully commit, and we'll get the perfect blend of shadow and sword. Until then, we'll keep trying to backstab that first Tree Sentinel, knowing full well it's probably gonna end with us getting stomped.