Elden Ring developer FromSoftware has released the first hefty game update, Version 1.12.3, following the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, which reduces the strength of overpowered weapons.
Detailed on publisher Bandai Namco's website, the patch includes several changes and bug fixes including the reduction of power of several weapons deemed too strong.
These include the Smithscript Dagger, Smithscript Cirque, Smithscript Axe, Smithscript Greathammer, Smithscript Spear, Smithscript Shield, and Golem Fist — but nothing used in the "OP" build discovered hours before the patch was released.
The Smithscript Dagger and Smithscript Cirque have both had their throwing attacks' range increased too, slightly compensating for the overall damage reduction. The full patch notes are available below.
FromSoftware still made no mention of the bug affecting Steam Deck users that makes the game unplayable if left idle for more than five minutes, potentially leading to corrupted data.
Shadow of the Erdtree, which arrived June 21, 2024, features bosses with which FromSoftware "really pushed the envelope" on what the player can withstand, director Hidetaka Miyazaki said ahead of its release. In fact, getting into the expansion even poses a challenge as players must defeat an optional boss.
Those eager to explore every inch of the expansion can check out IGN's extensive guide, which covers Shadow of the Erdtree's new weapons, its various quest lines, and how to defeat those pesky new bosses.
In our 10/10 review, IGN said: "Like the base game did before it, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree raises the bar for single player expansions," we said. "It takes everything that made the base game such a landmark RPG, condenses it into a relatively compact 20-25 hour campaign, and provides fantastic new challenges for heavily invested fans to chew on."
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Update 1.12.3 Patch Notes
PvP-exclusive balance adjustments
- Decreased the damage and damage animation of the shearing vacuum effect of the “Swift Slash” Skill.
General balance adjustments
- Increased the Intelligence scaling of the Carian Sorcery Sword and slightly decreased the base damage.
- Extended the throwing attacks range for the following weapons:
- Smithscript Dagger / Smithscript Cirque
- Changed the placement of the bosses in the re-fight against the Golden Hippopotamus and Commander Gaius bosses to be in the same position as in the first fight.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug that caused the Rolling Sparks Skill to deal more damage than expected.
- Fixed a bug that caused the Rolling Sparks and Wall of Sparks Skills to deal no damage while some special effects were applied to the player.
- Fixed a bug where some special effects of a right-handed weapon would also be applied to the following Weapon Skills when cast with the left hand:
- Feeble Lord's Frenzied Flame
- Discus Hurl
- Fixed a bug where successfully guarding while attacking using the Thrusting Shield weapon type would consume less stamina than intended.
- Fixed a bug that prevented players from cancelling the attack recovery of two-handed strong attacks by rolling for certain weapons of the Backhand Blades weapon type.
- Fixed a bug that caused the Lightning Perfume Bottle and Frenzyflame Perfume Bottle weapons to deal double damage under certain circumstances.
- Fixed a bug where the Arcane scaling of the Bloodfiend's Arm weapon was higher than intended when setting an affinity. The status buildup of the heavy attack was also reduced.
- Fixed a bug where the Faith scaling of the Gazing Finger weapon was not being applied correctly.
- Fixed a bug where the damage animation of some attacks of the Fire Knight's Greatsword against players was different than expected.
- Fixed a bug where the attack affinity of some attacks of the Fire Knight's Greatsword were different than expected.
- Fixed a bug that caused some affinities for the following weapons to be higher than intended:
- Smithscript Dagger
- Smithscript Cirque
- Smithscript Axe
- Smithscript Greathammer
- Smithscript Spear
- Golem Fist
- Smithscript Shield
- Fixed a bug that caused enemies to heal when the Maximum HP reduction gradual HP reduction effect applied by Black Knife Tiche wore off.
- Fixed a bug that caused summoned NPCs to behave differently than expected under certain circumstances.
- Fixed a bug that where the unblockable bite attack of the Golden Hippopotamus boss would connect with players more easily than intended.
- Fixed a bug that caused text to display differently than expected.
- Several other performance improvements and bug fixes.
Possible unstable performance fixes
- For the PS5 version of the game, unstable framerate may be improved by using the "Rebuild Database" option from the device’s safe mode.
- In some PC versions, Ray Tracing may be unintentionally enabled and cause unstable performance. Please check the Ray Tracing setting in the "System" > "Graphics Settings" > "Raytracing Quality" from the title screen or in-game menu.
- In the PC Version, the message "Inappropriate activity detected" may appear without cheating.
To fix this issue, please verify the integrity of the game's files before restarting the game.
- In the PC version, unstable framerate may be caused by third party applications that control mouse behavior. Deactivating these third party applications may improve performance.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
