Elden Ring’s ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ expansion has sparked numerous complaints from players about its difficulty, even by FromSoft’s standards.
Many reported that regardless of their characters’ previous strength, the expansion felt like starting over from scratch, often being defeated in just two or three hits by enemies, according to Forbes.
In response, FromSoft has issued a new patch designed to ease the game’s difficulty through its Scadutree Blessings.
According to Forbes, the patch notes outline the following adjustments: The enhancement for attack and damage negation has been increased for the initial half of the maximum Blessing levels, with a more gradual increase in the second half. Additionally, the attack and damage negation for the final level of Blessing enhancements has been slightly boosted.
Forbes highlights that the first adjustment is particularly significant as fully maxing Blessings is challenging, requiring players to find every fragment on the map. This change implies that a substantial portion of the expansion will now be more accessible to players, even if they haven’t maximised their Blessings.
The decision to implement these changes likely stems from player feedback and data analysis. Elden Ring’s ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’ currently holds “Mixed” reviews on Steam, often citing the high difficulty as a major issue. Forbes suggests that FromSoft may have data indicating that a notable number of players are quitting early or getting stuck at certain bosses, leading to decreased engagement with the expansion.
The new difficulty curve heavily relies on collecting Scadutree Fragments to increase power in the Shadow Realm, but many players may not have realised the importance of exploring to find these fragments. With the new patch, even players with fewer fragments than previously needed will experience a boost in strength, making the game more manageable.
