ELDEN RING
Big changes, big teases. By Tyler Colp
Their boring, numerical names might not seem like much, but Elden Ring’s postrelease patches have changed a lot about the game. The latest update, 1.07, completely transforms how PvP will work going forward, buffs several weapons, and teases the DLC that everyone has been waiting for.
The 1.07 update does what MMOs have done for years: it makes stats scale differently in PvP than they do in PvE. For the first time in a FromSoftware game, weapons, skills, spells, and incantations will do different amounts of damage to other players than they do to AI-controlled enemies. This is a huge change for every Elden Ring PvP player that was sad when the frigid Hoarfrost Stomp attack was nerfed for its busted effects against bosses. Now, everything is separate, which benefits everyone.
PvP in Elden Ring is a popular style of play. Not long after the game launched earlier this year, players found tons of different weapons and spells to catch their opponents off-guard. Some were legitimately unfair, but others, like the ability to deflect spells with a magical shield, were a clever use of the game’s mostly PvE-focused gear. Patch 1.07 drops buffs for a lot of popular PvP weapons, including the Eclipse Shotel, the Grave Scythe and the annoyingly popular Winged Scythe. It also increases every weapon’s poise damage, which determines how easy it is to stagger your enemy.
Popular spells like Glintstone Pebble now have increased damage. The ever nasty Poison Mist builds poison status faster than before. And Magic Glintblade, the spell that lets you summon a huge magical sword, received a massive buff against players who try to shield themselves against its attacks. If you entered the PvP battlefield as a sorcerer, you should have a whole set of solutions to whatever problems melee users throw at you.
TEASE AND THANK YOU
Elden Ring’s patch 1.07 doesn’t mention what changed deep in the game’s code. Not only is there a reference to ray tracing for anyone who wants fancy lighting and reflections in an already gorgeous game, but it also has a reference to two new locations without names.
According to Elden Ring dataminer and modder Zullie the
Witch, the game’s files point to two locations with IDs that suggest one of them is a sprawling Legacy Dungeon, like Stormveil Castle, and the other is… well, unknown for now. Elden Ring’s zones are given IDs that correspond to the type of area they are. Legacy Dungeons are marked as “m10” to “m19”, small, side dungeons are “m30”, and the open world areas are “m60”. The new, unnamed area is “m20”, which isn’t an ID that the game uses anywhere else.
It could mean nothing, but it also could mean everything. The Dark Souls series and Bloodborne have famous DLC that expand on the base games and offer characters and areas that are tremendous. Dark
Souls’ Artorias of the Abyss DLC wraps the game up so well that when the game came to PC, it was included in the package by default. Dark Souls 2’ s three pieces of DLC play with the format of a typical level by asking you to avoid traps, solve puzzles, and take part in a glorious arena battle with allies.
WAIT AND DLC
The inevitable Elden Ring DLC could mix up what you would expect after playing the game for 200 hours. Several months ago, there was a supposed leak of the DLC title: Barbarians of the Badlands. Whether we travel back in time to where one of the game’s most important characters came from or we go there in its current state, there are a lot of questions that could be answered about the nature of the Erdtree and how the land itself was warped from its influence. There’s even a theory that the Badlands were what the hellish Caelid was called before it became a Petri dish.
If this code is a clue, Elden Ring DLC might be out soon. I can’t wait to dig in, get crushed by some horrible monster, and see what weird and powerful weapons I can find. And even if it doesn’t answer all of my lore questions, the DLC will likely give some extra insight into Elden Ring’s strange and fascinating world.
PVP IN ELDEN RING IS A POPULAR STYLE OF PLAY