NOTE: I am not the original creator of this mod. Both the original mod and its creator RepO98 disappeared from Nexus in early 2024  (and the creator seems to have removed their online presence entirely), so I took it upon myself to update the mod for the current patch and add the DLC content as it was my favorite Elden Ring mod. Since then, I have managed to expand it with the addition of Progression Mode and many QoL features, so I hope you enjoy it.
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Description

A boss fight arena mod for Elden Ring. This mod was originally made for practicing boss fights and trying out different builds, without having to spend hours on getting to the boss and upgrading your character, as well as for players who mainly enjoy the boss fights for replayability. Killing a boss doesn't disable them, so that you can keep fighting them.

The mod now includes two main modes: Sandbox and Progression. Read more about these below.

Note that this mod is meant as a standalone experience due to all the changes it makes. You should use a dedicated character slot for each mode, not use those characters in the vanilla game, and conversely, not use vanilla characters with the mod. More details below.
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Features: Sandbox Mode

• Includes every boss (defined as any enemy with a named HP bar at the bottom) in the base game and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
  

• Fight any boss as many times as you want (killing them doesn't matter)
  

• After creating a character, you get teleported to Roundtable Hold and automatically given a variety of key items. The NPCs there have everything you need to get your build going quickly:
  

- Kalé sells basically every item in the game for free, including fully upgraded weapons as an option.
- Rennala allows you to reallocate your stats and change your appearance at no cost.
- Hewg and Roderika will upgrade your weapons and Spirit Ashes respectively without the need for materials or runes. All weapon affinities are also available immediately.
- Interacting with Morgott's corpse will let you trigger NG+ cycles at will. Note that there is no way to go back to a lower cycle without tools like Cheat Engine or starting a new character.
- Jar-Bairn allows you to toggle infinite HP/FP/stamina cheats on and off.
- You can also level up for free.

• You can fight bosses by talking to Gideon, who is standing at the entrance to the chamber where the Two Fingers used to be. Selecting a boss teleports you close to the boss.
  

• You can choose whether dying to a boss should respawn you at the fog gate, or back at the Roundtable.
  

• There are multiple boss selection modes available:
  

- Single boss selection.
- Random selection from a set of pre-defined pools, including an "endless mode" option which warps you from one random boss to another after defeating them.
- Boss Rush, which puts you up against a series of bosses in a sequence. You can also create your own sequences by following this tutorial.

• NG+ cycles have been rebalanced to make early to mid-game bosses more challenging.
  

• DLC bosses have been rebalanced to remove the need for Scadutree Fragments/Revered Spirit Ash, which do not exist by default in the mod. The vanilla mechanics and stats can be restored with an optional modifier, which also adds the items to Kale's shop and lets you use them directly at the Roundtable Site of Grace.
  

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Features: Progression Mode

• Uses the same basic framework as Sandbox, but you start with almost nothing and must obtain items and upgrades from defeating bosses.
  

• Every boss has a set of unique item drops with limited randomization, with the option for full randomization across all bosses, as well as disabling the randomization entirely (so bosses drop all their items the first time they're defeated).
  

• For more information on this mode, check out this article.
  

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Installation

0. BACKUP YOUR SAVE FILES BEFORE USING THIS MOD. While only characters that you load when using this mod will be affected, it's easy to accidentally load into the wrong character, and due to the extensive changes this mod makes to event scripts and flags, you could easily end up with a softlocked/bricked character. You can read this article to learn how to do this: https://www.techradar.com/how-to/where-to-find-your-elden-ring-save-file-location-on-pc

1. You need Mod Engine 2 to use this mod. It has been extensively tested with version 2.1 of Mod Engine, so that's the one I recommend at the moment. Remember to extract the downloaded .zip file first (right click > Extract All). Note that Mod Engine auto-detects your Elden Ring install location (as long as it's a legitimate Steam copy), so you don't need to put it in the game installation folder, and in fact it may cause problems if you do.

2. Once you have Mod Engine 2 set up, extract the Boss Arena .zip file, open the resulting folder, and then copy the CONTENTS of the Boss Arena "mod" folder (NOT the folder itself) to inside Mod Engine 2's own "mod" folder. If you end up with a "mod" folder inside another "mod" folder, you've done it wrong.

3. Make sure Steam is running in the background, and then click the "launchmod_eldenring.bat" file to launch the game with the mod. If nothing happens, you may have a non-standard installation of Elden Ring, file permission issues with the game install folder, antivirus software blocking Mod Engine, or other unknown issues. I recommend following this troubleshooting document to try and solve the problem: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DTnsVJrbhzsFYTouix2iAH_-RQ491rKxJO-d-oGEXPE/edit?tab=t.0

4. Verify that the title screen has changed to the Boss Arena one, and then start a new character.
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Uninstallation

1. Simply remove the mod's contents from Mod Engine 2's "mod" folder, or just run the game directly via Steam.
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Caution (please read this thoroughly before reporting any issues)

• BACKUP YOUR SAVE FILES BEFORE USING THIS MOD (this is important enough to repeat).
  

• Please create a new character after installing the mod for the first time. Using characters created outside the mod can make some bosses unplayable, make the game and the mod work in weird ways, and it might screw up the progression system of the old save.
  

• Switching between Sandbox and Progression versions on the same character may result in bugs and is not supported. You should use a different character slot for each version of Boss Arena.
  

• This mod has been tested with version 1.16 of Elden Ring, the latest patch as of writing this. Older versions of the game will not work properly and I cannot provide support for them.
  

• Aside from Mod Engine 2, you do not need any other mods/tools to make this mod work.
  

• About Mod Engine 2:
  

- When using Mod Engine 2, this mod doesn't change the actual game files.
- Mod Engine 2 automatically disables EasyAntiCheat when the game is run through launchmod_eldenring.bat
- You cannot connect to FromSoftware servers or online features.
- Thus launching and using the mod through ME2 should not get you banned.

• Using the modded character save when playing online may get you banned!
  

• Compatibility with other mods is not guaranteed.
  

- Please take into account that this mod changes multiple aspects of the game and many resources the game uses:
- Maps, event scripts, conversation scripts, character placements, game parameters, title screen, text parameters...
- Because of this, you cannot use this mod straight out of the box together with many other mods.
- Getting this mod to work with other mods probably requires manual work and understanding of how mods internally work. That said, merging other mods into this one should probably be fine as long as they don't involve changes to events, map or talk data, so for example things like most param edits or cosmetic/moveset/AI changes. But again, I can't provide any guarantees or support for using this mod in conjunction with others.

• I advise against exploring the game world outside the Roundtable Hold and fighting bosses. This mod was designed to be a very focused, standalone experience, only to be played through fighting the bosses and using the tools in Roundtable Hold. Playing the game outside the intended areas might cause bugs in the game and in how the mod works.
  

• There are probably some bugs that I have missed. From my own testing and playing the mod, I haven't had any major issues, but don't hesitate to report any bugs you find to the Bugs section here. The more information you include, the better.
  

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Credits

• RepO98 - original creator up to version 1.4 of Sandbox Mode.
  

• PositronCannon (myself) - current maintainer since version 1.5 of Sandbox Mode; creator of Progression Mode.
• KaruMiraiii - French translation.
  

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Special Thanks

• All the creators of modding tools for FromSoft games. Particularly Smithbox/DSMapStudio, UXM, Mod Engine, DarkScript3, ESDStudio/ESDLang, WitchyBND, and the Elden Ring Debug Tool.
  

• All the contributors to the Souls modding wiki for the invaluable information they have compiled. Shoutout in particular to thefifthmatt for his excellent tutorial on EMEVD scripts in Elden Ring (invaluable to help me reverse engineer this mod in order to update it) on top of his many contribution to the tools above (and for the countless hours of fun I've had with his randomizer mods).
  

• Grimrukh and LobosJr for their "Learning to Mod FROMSOFT Games" series on YouTube, which served as an excellent introduction to modding for a complete beginner like me.