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Elden Ring: The Main Changes in the New Update (Patch 1.13)

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Elden Ring's Patch 1.13 brought several gameplay updates which promise to change the Metagame. In today's article, we list the main changes and how they can impact the experience of new and old players.

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übersetzt von Meline Hoch

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rezensiert von Romeu

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Shadow of the Erdtree, Success and Controversy

The release of the DLC placed Elden Ring back in the spotlights of the gaming world. The game was released in 2022 and was considered a milestone in the industry, repeating this feat last month with the launch of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which adds a new map, new enemies, scenarios, items and provides answers to several questions which had been left open in the base game.

However, the new release also brought back several controversies involving not only the current FromSoftware title but also all Souls games: the old discussion about the game's difficulty. On one front, there are casual players arguing that Soulslikes should have an “easy mode”, a pause button, among other things, and on the other, hardcore players arguing that the only correct way to play this genre is by facing crazy, almost impossible challenges.

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But despite the controversies surrounding the game, Elden Ring is a huge success and with its growing popularity, it’s obvious that the developers would continue investing to improve the quality of the game and attract more players. And it appears that this is what FromSoftware sought to do with the latest update.

The Main Changes in Elden Ring’s Patch 1.13

PVP-Exclusive Adjustments

  • Light Great Swords, Backhand Blades, Hand-to-Hand Arts and Beast Claws have had their poise damage increased. The same for dual-wielding attacks from the following weapons: Straight Swords, Thrusting Swords, Curved Swords, Katanas, Spears, Whips, Fists and Claws. Breaking an enemies' posture is an important mechanic of the game and some players found it very difficult to accomplish this with light weapons, but now this problem should be resolved.

  • Decreased backstep invulnerability when the Fine Crucible Feather and All Crucibles talismans are equipped. Another important change, as some skills had an invulnerability window which prevented the user from being hit at certain times, making it difficult to break the combos of these skills.

  • Several Skills, Spells and Incantations have been rebalanced for PVP.

    General Adjustments and Rebalancing

    Here, the big highlight is the buff on NPC summons in some areas and summoned spirits, except for Mimic Tear. With this new update, several summons will now become stronger and can become as good as the Mimic itself, which was the most used summon in the game.

    Armaments, Skills, Spells and Incantations

    Several weapons and skills have been buffed, greatly improving some equipment, which now should be better explored in new builds. One example is Euporia, a very interesting twinblade for Faith Builds, with an eye-catching ability, which was previously considered weak.

    Euporia
    Euporia

    Spirit Summons

    A huge list of Spirit Summons has been buffed, with several of them receiving a buff against stagger, something that should further contribute to the exploration of other summons besides Mimic. Before the patch, summons in the DLC were easily eliminated by bosses, since their posture was broken easily. Now these summons will have greater resistance and will be more useful in DLC combats. It’s also worth noting that not only were the DLC's Spirit Summons buffed, but those from the base game also were, which should help the experience of new players, as well as reducing the use of Mimic Tear.

    Summons are another controversial topic in the Elden Ring fanbase, especially when we discuss the Mimic, which is undoubtedly the strongest in the game. Mimic Tear basically allows you to conjure a perfect copy of yourself, who will fight alongside you against a boss. This makes the game easier, especially if you use a long-distance build as a mage, for example, as the Mimic will draw all the Boss's attention to itself, allowing you to bombard it with your spells with greater safety.

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    Mimic Tear
    Mimic Tear

    At the beginning of the game, Spirit Summons like Spirit Jellyfish are very useful for beginner players, especially in fights against Margit, the Fell Omen and Godrick the Grafted, the main bosses in the first area of ​​the game and might be troublesome to defeat.

    As we progress, once we get the Mimic Tear, the other summons are practically abandoned by most players. With the new patch, we can expect the Metagame to feature a wider variety of summons being used.

    Bugs and Gameplay on Platforms

    Last but not least, we have a huge list of fixed bugs, something that is always positive for the game. Among them, we can highlight the adjustment of summon signals in some boss fights, which makes it easier to summon an NPC to help you during the fight.

    As for gameplay, the Patch Notes mention several fixes for consoles and PC and here we can discuss a little the issue of the game's performance on PC, which even after the update will continue to present several problems. It’s not new that FromSoftware games have problems in their PC versions and it was expected that this would be resolved by now, but users should continue to face the usual problems in Elden Ring, regardless of hardware configurations.

    Wrapping Up

    This new patch brought many important updates, rebalancing several items and game mechanics, which opens up space for the creation of new builds and more exploration of combat in the game. On the other hand, gameplay on PC continues to be pushed to the side and performance problems will continue to be faced by players on this platform. The most considerable change in this update is undoubtedly the Summon Ashes, which opens up space to explore this essential mechanic within the game.

    You can check the Patch Notes published by Bandai Namco herelink outside website.

    I conclude another article here. Leave your questions, criticisms and/or suggestions in the comments. Thanks for reading and see you next time.