Maidenless run is bugged

[Silverborn]

I've found this game to lack a real challenge after having played near all Souls-games. The beginning still feels like I have to pay attention, but after a while things kinda become a joke, more so if you have optimized routes to get better gear/items fast.

So... this game introduces the maiden at the 3rd Grace you find. She gives you the option to accept or refuse her offer -> a normal run in which you can level up and visit the Roundtable, OR being forced to stay at the level of your starting character and create "builds" using the gear you find, unable to increase your stats without gear. It forces you to use all items you have and you actually start using the crafting system a lot.

Yet, this 'maidenless run' is incredibly bugged and impossible to finish as of yet. I'm not there yet, but right now you need a maiden to progress the last quarter of the game. Normally you need enough runes to enter, but you HAVE to talk to your maiden to enter certain walls that are blocked otherwise. So now there are players who pushed this entire game right up till the capital (60+ hours in) and... they are forced to get the maiden to enter, allowing them to level up, and giving them a horse again.

Weirdly, if you do have enough runes and reach those walls, it will tell you "you don't have enough runes". But these players DID kill the main bosses.

The game gives you the option to do a maidenless run, but doesn't allow you to finish the game that way. This seems like a major and massively game-breaking bug.

[Kyutaru]

Originally posted by Limo:

Could always enter capital through nokron

Yeah, this one. You don't need any Great Runes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL_S5F30ceo

[Sam]

Originally posted by Kyutaru:

Originally posted by Limo:

Could always enter capital through nokron

Yeah, this one. You don't need any Great Runes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL_S5F30ceo

this is new to me, thanks for the info lol

[Silverborn]

Originally posted by Kyutaru:

Originally posted by Silverborn:

The requirement normally is "just" having enough Great Runes. This requirement is the same if you went maidenless, but the seals don't open even when you have enough.

What about that teleport that drops you in the capital? I completed the eternal city and volcano lairs a few days ago and just finished the mountaintop and somewhere in all of that I was teleported to the capital around the fortified manor.

Good point, but players have tried everything to enter. They block off the other routes as well and the teleport (I assume you mean the one above the elevator) you can't use either because it leads nowhere and you will never survive the fall damage if you jump down (max fall distance = instant kill, even with items).

So I was 20 hours in, absolutely loving it to bits -> and I've started to read a couple of forums. Most players who've tried, all got really mad the game forces them to stop after putting so many hours in. They tried to glitch their way into the capital, which does work, but breaks the game later.

[Silverborn]

Originally posted by Kyutaru:

Originally posted by Limo:

Could always enter capital through nokron

Yeah, this one. You don't need any Great Runes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL_S5F30ceo

The route is true, but not if you go maidenless. Another seal appears in which you cannot progress.

[Kyutaru]

Originally posted by Silverborn:

They block off the other routes as well and the teleport (I assume you mean the one above the elevator) you can't use either because it leads nowhere and you will never survive the fall damage if you jump down (max fall distance = instant kill, even with items).

That is not the teleport I'm talking about. This one teleports you inside the capital at ground level.

[Utopian]

I think you can do the Chaos Fire ending without Melina, so a maidenless run is definitely an option, unless I'm misremembering something.

[Arngrim]

Exactly where do you need to talk to the maiden to progress further?

[MrSoul]

Originally posted by Limo:

Could always enter capital through nokron

You don’t have the right, or do you?

[mpcgannon]

I'm only at Fire Giant but there is literally a gate you have to pay to pass?

[815|Shouldabeen]

Since I play on PS5 I can't upload a screenshot to show what OP is talking about, but I'm currently going through the same thing. There's a sealed gate after the Dragon Knight boss (kinda looks like Tree Sentinel) and it can't be opened unless you accept Melina's help. It says that you require more runes, even though you have the required runes to enter.

It's simply a cutscene trigger that can't happen unless you accept Melina's help. This becomes frustrating because that means you have the "option" to refuse Melina's help, however you're required to take Melina's help to progress... at least glitchless.

I did see someone say try entering the capital through Nokron, so I'm going to look into that. I never tried doing it that way before and maybe it can work.

[815|Shouldabeen]

So I had a thought moments after accepting Melina's help. If you still haven't done so, maybe give this a shot. It seems that the finger reader next to the fingers in roundtable hold is the trigger that removes the seal on the door. There are several characters like her out in the world as well. One is at the Forest-Spanning greatbridge grace site in Altus (almost right next to the grace). I wonder if one of these characters can possibly trigger the seal unlocking.