From the Sacred Flask to tweaks to abilities, patch 1.05 adds a lot of QoL changes to Elden Ring.
Even after players finish their playthrough of Elden Ring, FromSoftWare continues to blow their fans away and keep their interest for hours after seeing the Tarnished’s fate, months after the game’s release.
To ensure the community stays happy, the developers regularly update the latest Souls game to keep up with Elden Ring Weapon balance and bugs. The most recent update, patch 1.05, addressed many minor issues and even some things that haven’t been exactly a problem for players.
Nonetheless, FromSoftWare thinks these improvements will enhance the gameplay and make navigating the notoriously challenging game easier. Given the reputation of FromSoftware, it’s safe to say that they’re keen on creating an even better experience within Elden Ring.
Weapons, Bosses, and Skills Are Affected
Much like in the previous updates, patch 1.05 features a slew of bug fixes to abilities and Elden Ring Armor/weapons that have become unbalanced or are exploited by many players. For this patch, most changes affect attack power or recovery time in circumstances that wouldn’t usually apply to an average player.
FromSoftware mainly adjusted the weapons to balance their balance. As for the skills, some players have found that you can use certain spells, abilities, or weapons to bypass enemy guards or invaders – you can even use them to eradicate a boss outside of the boss arena.
The first ability that had to be dialed back quickly was the Frost Stomp skill since it was proving too easy to spam onto enemies. Patch 1.05 also fixed a bug with the Ice Spear where it became unblockable.
For the bosses, FromSoftware applied the most notable change to the God-Devouring Serpent and Malenia. Initially, players found it impossible to complete the battle with the God-Devouring Serpent due to a glitch in the fight, while some noticed a bug with Malenia where her HP would be reduced substantially.
The developers also noticed how players could defeat some bosses using specifically-placed ranged attacks without ever stepping into the boss arena. Thankfully, FromSoftware corrected all of these issues in the update.
There’s Now A ‘Return to Desktop’ Option
This might be the best news for many players: the PC version of Elden Ring now has a ‘Return to Desktop’ option in the system menu! Gone are the days when you had to quit the game, wait for the logos to fade, then exit through the title screen.
This is one of those annoying nitpicks for the PC version of all the Souls games that dates back to the Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition, so it’s nice to see it addressed finally.
FromSoftware has always been console-focused, but for this patch, they’re showing a lot of love for the PC players. Here are some of the other modifications you can expect for the PC version of Elden Ring:
- The mouse click input will no longer be reflected when switching windows to active.
- Added keyboard and mouse operations that can be input in “PRESS ANY BUTTON” on the title screen.
- Fixed a bug that slowed performance when changing “Screen Mode” and “Resolution” in a special procedure.
More Inventory for New Game Plus
The official patch notes stated some elements the developers deemed as “significant changes.” The first involves the Twin Maiden Husks merchant in the Roundtable Hold. The merchant’s inventory will now be carried over to New Game Plus.
As you know, the Twin Maiden Husks sells upgraded materials and items as long as the player has the Bell Bearing item that correlates with the material. Since the boss enemies that hold these items are insanely challenging to defeat, these Bell Bearing are hard to obtain.
That said, though, acquiring the Bell Bearings is worth the risk, and now that they’re transitioning through NG+, players will only have to find the key item once to purchase the upgraded materials from the merchant.
The Importance of the Sacred Flask
An item listed on the developer’s notes states that it’s added “emphasis to the choice of the Sacred Flask as well as other options that you can enhance in the grace menu.” Though this change wasn’t made clear, players have noticed that the option to upgrade the Sacred Flask is now highlighted with a dot.
If the player has the item required for upgrading the flask, they’ll see this dot. It’s a subtle addition, but the devs likely included it to make players more aware of the essential items in their inventory.
Why QoL Improvements Are Needed
Part of the fun in playing Elden Ring is figuring stuff out – whether it be discovering newElden Ring runes, abilities, or locations as you progress. Souls games are known for being stingy with the mechanics or story information.
There’s a point in which players will become frustrated with this lack of explanation, and by adding more QoL updates like this, FromSoftware can further explain a concept for players to appreciate the game further.
