Something's Not Quite Right With Elon Musk's 'Elden Ring' Build

When you're among the richest and most influential people in the world, you'll likely be under a high level of scrutiny. Especially if you seem to court fame and attention like Elon Musk.

This can provide both opportunities and pitfalls, depending on how you conduct yourself in public.

Elon, who has never shied away from controversy, seems to be stumbling into pitfalls more often as the years pass.

This is certainly what happened when he bragged about his Elden Ring prowess and attempted to share his game build as a brag. Unfortunately for Elon, the build wasn't "all that" and quickly drew criticism from gamers the world over. Here's what we know about his poorly received Elden Ring build.

Elden Ring is a sweeping action role-playing game in a fantasy setting. It's been praised through the years for its highly customizable, playable options and enough variation to make its approximately 60 hours of straight game time filled with excitement and satisfying intrigue. The game, with cutting-edge visuals and noteworthy graphics, has both solo and online player options for both co-op and Player vs Player (PvP).

Elon hopped on X (formerly Twitter) to brag about his character's build, but there was something not quite right about it.

In 2022, Elon wrote on X, "Elden Ring, experienced in its entirety, is the most beautiful art I have ever seen." User @DadMurdos asked, "How'd you roll? I was Strength/Faith. War Priest STRONG," to which Elon responded, "Power mage, but decent with a sword/katana. Will post pic of my build tomorrow."

The next day, he posted a picture of his build as promised, and it was a little less than ideal.

For one, his character, who should have been light on his feet, carried two shields, which is both redundant and unnecessarily heavy. He also equipped the Moonveil weapon, which is often sneered at as a newbie "button-masher's" weapon for its ease of use and high damage yield.

All in all, the build was underwhelming, despite Elon representing himself as an expert and "top tier" player across multiple games.

The unusual and ineffective build drew quick criticism.

A flabbergasted group of gamers descended on the X thread with thoughts about Elon's build. One wrote, "bad enough to be a moonveil scrub but fatrolling with two shields explains why your sh---y cars keep getting recalled."

Another scoffed, "Fat-rolling, TWO shields, Moonveil (of course), three different summons, 31 vigor, Elon are you OK? Can you hire someone competent to help you make a build because these screenshots are making my head hurt."

"Fat-rolling" is when the weight of your equipment load hits a certain weight level, depending on the character's specialization and stats. Elon's character, weighed down by his double shields and poorly thought-out equipment, received ample criticism for "fat-rolling."

Another user mused, "How do people believe the man who made this can be one of the smartest minds of the world?" One user simply marveled at how "DOGS--T" the build was.

But not everyone was hating on Elon.

Some gave him credit for clearly having fun with the game, defending his right to choose whatever build he enjoyed. Some praised his dedication to the game, while others argued with critics over his build and stats.

Yet this isn't the only time Elon has waded head-first into a nest of gamer critics who hold nothing back.

In 2025, Elon decided to play Path of Exile 2 on a stream and was inundated with hate and criticism.

Why he keeps subjecting himself to the scorn and hatred of gamers everywhere is anyone's guess. But it's likely that the gaming and computer nerd in all of us never really goes away, and it can be hard to realize that the world you once frequented no longer has room for you.

It remains to be seen whether Elon will forever be a gaming pariah or will someday be able to recapture the "fun."