‘Elden Ring Nightreign’ Is Already Being Patched To Be Easier

The launch of Elden Ring Nightreign has resulted in all manner of takes about FromSoftware’s adventure into a multiplayer-only co-op game. In many ways, it’s a lot more punishing than the original Elden Ring and its Souls games, given mechanics like losing levels and tanking entire, lengthy runs on death.

Many may say that’s part of the fun, and while that may be true, even FromSoft thinks Nightreign may be pushing the limit a little too much. The developer has announced Patch 1.02, set to be released next week, which will make two changes to make things a little easier, especially for solo players.

• The amount of runes gained during runs will be increased.
• The effect “Automatic Revival Upon Defeat,” which allows revival once per night boss battle, will be added to solo expeditions.

The runes thing is self-explanatory, as runs will now be more rewarding. The auto-revive for solo players on Night Lords is to combat the intense difficulties of those fights where a single wrong move can be death. So now it’s…two wrong moves. Though Night Lords are hardly the only bosses that pose an extreme challenge for solo players.

It’s not a blanket difficulty nerf, which I think most players of the game probably would not want. There are certainly mainly complaints about how hard the game is, but even if it’s tougher than other FromSoft titles, I think there’s a crowd that wants that.

However, there are other significant additions players are hoping to see other than what’s being offered here. FromSoft has actually apologized for the lack of duos in the game, meaning it’s impossible to play with just one other friend, and that should be in development for a later update.

The other issues, a lack of in-game comms past pinging and the inability to crossplay with friends, seem harder to overcome and if they were addressed, would take a long time to implement. The lack of comms especially, text or voice, seems bizarre in a wholly co-op game, and results in silent runs with random teammates you have no way to coherently strategize with, and you just have to hope everyone is on the same page.

Despite being multiplayer, Elden Ring Nightreign is not a live game. It will not be pumping out content or seasons or things like that. But it will release fixes, updates and features over time. It’s good they’re starting off quickly here in just week one.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.