Elden Ring: Path Of The Cardinal Sin Unveils Melina’s Stunning Return

There’s a lot to be excited about if you’re an Elden Ring fan right now, especially with the upcoming live-action movie shaping up to be one of the biggest video game adaptations we’ve ever seen. Directed by Alex Garland, the film is reportedly getting a staggering $200 million budget, making it A24’s most expensive production by a considerable margin. With that kind of money behind it, we’re hoping the Lands Between will look just as spectacular on the big screen as it does in FromSoft’s iconic RPG.

That said, we’re in for a bit of a wait, but luckily the Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition finally launched on Nintendo Switch 2 back in August, introducing an entirely new audience to the Lands Between alongside some additional content for longtime players. Now, FromSoftware is giving fans another reason to get excited, with one of the original game’s most beloved characters, Melina, making a stunning return thanks to Path of the Cardinal Sin.

Melina’s return comes courtesy of Elden Ring: Path of the Cardinal Sin, the second in a series of four community quests announced by Bandai Namco earlier this year. The event ran from October 1 through October 28, 2026, challenging players across all platforms to work together toward several massive milestones, including the following:

• Commit 50,000 Cardinal Sins
• Summon 3,000,000 White Phantoms
• Obtain 1,000,000 Festering Bloody Fingers
• Obtain 3,000,000 Golden Seeds

With the quest succesfully completed, Bandai Namco celebrated by unveiling a gorgeous new piece of officially commissioned Elden Ring artwork featuring Melina, the Fire Giant, the Tree Sentinel, and an incredible take on the Tarnished, created by acclaimed British illustrator Dan Mumford.

If the name sounds familiar, Mumford has an impressive portfolio that includes official artwork for Star Wars, Mass Effect, Halo Infinite, and Magic: The Gathering, alongside projects for major bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden and even TV shows like Bojack Horseman. You can take a look at the beautiful piece here:

The community quest also featured a special Twitch chat badge depicting a Festering Bloody Finger, designed by artist CarsonDrewit, giving fans another collectible reward associated with the event. Path of the Cardinal Sin is only one part of Bandai Namco’s larger community initiative, which began with September’s Path of the Tarnished. That first quest also rewarded players with commemorative artwork by Shimhaq after a series of challenges.

Meanwhile, the third quest, Path of the Elden Lord, is currently underway from November 2 through November 28. This time, players are tasked with summoning Warrior Jar Alexander 50,000 times, obtaining 3 million Rune Arcs, collecting 500,000 Legendary Armaments, and upgrading 100,000 Spirit Ashes to +8. The reward will be new artwork by Louis Gibiard, also known as Vladinsk and a renowned ballpoint-pen artist, alongside another Twitch badge from CarsonDrewit.

Finally, Path of Shadows runs December 1–28, with challenges involving Scadutree Fragments, the Abyssal Woods, and St. Trina’s Nectar, with commemorative artwork coming from Crisppyboat after competion.

Ultimately, these community quests are a clever way to bring Elden Ring players back together in the Lands Between, encouraging everyone to contribute toward shared goals while celebrating the game’s unforgettable characters and world.

Elden Ring

Systems

Released

February 25, 2022

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Developer(s)

From Software

Publisher(s)

Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software

Engine

Proprietary