Elden Ring Patch Lowers Difficulty Following Backlash

Gaming

June 27, 2024

Grant Taylor-Hill

Recently, Shadow of the Erdtree was released as the first major expansion for Elden Ring. It was incredibly well received, bringing in stellar reviews across the board and causing Elden Ring’s player count to rise dramatically. However, in the hours that followed the launch of this record-breaking DLC, it was discovered that it was potentially a little too difficult. It’s no big secret that FromSoftware’s games are designed to be tough, but Shadow of the Erdtree is another level entirely.

Many veteran players have called it quits over Shadow of the Erdtree, and some streamers have racked up more than one thousand deaths against the hardest bosses in the game. To that end, FromSoftware reluctantly issued a patch to Elden Ring, making Shadow of the Erdtree a little more manageable. These ‘balancing changes’ are designed to make things easier in general, but a future patch could see some bosses effectively ‘nerfed’.

When Hard Becomes Too Hard

shadow of the erdtree elden ring patch

Elden Ring was enough of a challenge, presenting players with extremely tough boss battles that required white-hot timing, fantastic recall skills, and lots of patience. Shadow of the Erdtree took that concept one step further, introducing bosses that boasted several ‘phases’, each of which becomes increasingly tough and presents new attacks and fresh buffs for the bosses. It might have broken the record for the highest-rated RPG DLC of all time, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t there niggling issues bugging players.

With the latest update, FromSoftware has tweaked how Shadow Realm Blessings work, making it easier for players to find success early on in Shadow of the Erdtree. It effectively means that while players have their defensive and offensive skills buffed, boss characters remain unchanged – but players can slip up a little more and still win those earlier battles.

It reached a point where many players were finding ways to ‘cheese’ the bosses. Instead of defeating them legitimately, they were leaning on exploits, OP weapons, or certain sly tactics to beat the game’s toughest bosses. In a world where a new game is being released every few days, it’s a fair way to play – most modern gamers don’t have the time in their book to die to a single boss one thousand times.

Ultimately, it remains one of the biggest blockers to the adoption rate of Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree. As someone recently said, ‘a game for everyone is a game for no one.’

For more gaming news, stay tuned to Esports.net