From Software has released a new update for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree that makes things slightly easier for players struggling through the DLC. The update mainly makes minor attack and damage negation adjustments to the Shadow Realm Blessings, the DLC’s progression system which requires players to collect Scadutree fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes.
Update 1.12.2 revises the attack and damage negation provided by Scadutree fragments used to upgrade your character in Shadow of the Erdtree, which essentially dictates how much damage you’ll dish out as well as how much damage you’ll receive. Attack and damage negation has now been increased for the first half of the maximum amount of Blessing enhancements, meaning up to level 10, you’ll get slightly more attack and defence power.
In addition to the first ten levels getting increased attack and defence, the final level of the Shadow Realm Blessings will also get higher attack and defence power. From Software lists them as only “slight” increases so we’ll have to see if they make any difference. It’s also worth noting that while your Scadutree stats will be adjusted in this update, there’s nothing that mentions adjusting the difficulty of the bosses – a hot topic among the community which has been vocal about the DLC’s difficult nature.
Here’s the change list:
Attack and damage negation curve scaling of the Shadow Realm Blessings have been revised.
- The attack and damage negation has been increased for the first half of the maximum amount of Blessing enhancements, and the second half will now be more gradual.
- The attack and damage negation granted by the final level of Blessing enhancements has been slightly increased.
Game director Hidetaka Miyazaki previously acknowledged that the DLC might be too hard for some players, though ended up standing by his choice, saying any compromises would “crank the difficulty down more and more but that wasn’t the right approach.” He says if the team made the game easier, it would break the game itself.
To some extent, we can see Miyazaki’s point on that argument. Shadow of the Erdtree is quite difficult but arguably no harder than any other From Software DLC, including The Ringed City from Dark Souls 3 or The Old Hunters from Bloodborne. The game also gives you Scadutree fragments to make sure you’re properly scaled – something that, due to the open-world nature of Elden Ring, wasn’t possible with other Souls games.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is now available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Source: Bandai Namco
