Elden Ring update makes things simultaneously easier and harder

metro.co.uk:

A new patch for Elden Ring is now live and has made some welcome adjustments, but some changes may make things more difficult.

While FromSoftware will likely never add an actual easy mode to Elden Ring, the latest patch has made the experience a bit more bearable for struggling players.

Aside from fixing an extensive list of bugs, the patch has made some adjustments to certain gameplay mechanics. Weapons like colossal swords now have increased attack speed and deal more damage, while a number of sorcery spells have been buffed to improve their effects (e.g. deal more damage, increase cast speed, reduce cooldown, etc.).

The patch notes don’t mention it, but FromSoftware has even made the tutorial impossible to miss. Originally, you could easily walk past the tutorial area without even realising it, since it’s down a hole.

Now, a more obvious prompt will appear directing you to the Cave of Knowledge. You don’t have to go there if you don’t want to, but this at least makes Elden Ring ever so slightly more approachable for newcomers.

Not every change is in players’ favour, however. The Swarm of Flies spell, for example, deals less blood loss build up on enemies. The way the bleed status works in Elden Ring is that you need to build up a bar that, once filled, will start to do damage, making it a useful tactic for especially tough enemies.

Blood loss has been a popular strategy for fighting Malenia, a contender for the hardest boss fight in the game. This nerf means that building up the blood loss bar for her won’t be as easy.

The patch has also, unfortunately, added a new bug which shortens the duration of the Cerulean Hidden Tear, an item that temporarily removes focus point consumption (focus points are needed to cast spells).

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