The game world of Elden Ring is rich in detail, diverse in environment, and positively teeming with enemies of different origins and affiliations. At the same time, there are many unsolved mysteries in the simulated expanse of the Lands Between along with world-defining characters the player can only glimpse through rumor, statuary, and item descriptions. These unseen titans of Elden Ring ‘s lore and backstory would make for excellent DLC bosses – particularly if they could plausibly have a presence in the new region unlocked by the
At the time of writing, the Seamless Co-op mod has over 170,000 unique downloads after first releasing in late May. The last 30 days on Elden Ring ‘s Steam Charts page shows a peak player count of 107,000. These numbers aren’t necessarily directly comparable, and Steam doesn’t constitute the entirety of the player base, but it’s interesting to see just how much of the active PC community has opted into improved co-op mechanics. Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s most approachable game in decades, which only serves to highlight the convoluted multiplayer mechanics. They are clearly not a major detriment to many’s enjoyment of the game, but there is a large chunk of players actively utilizing an alternative sys
Black Flame Tornado is dropped by the Godskin Duo boss in the Dragon Temple area of Crumbling Farum Azula. This Ash of War can be applied to twinblades, spears, great spears, halberds, and reapers, as long as they allow skill replacement. A charged attack will have the player character spin their weapon around themselves to create a fire tornado. Each hit deals fire damage and applies the black flame debuff to enemies. Unlike the red square debuff in Elden Ring that players remove themselves, the black flame debuff will only last 2 seconds. When the charge is over, the player will slam their weapon on the ground. For an uncharged attack, the player will do a short windup, then slam their armament to the ground creating a small AOE around the pla
FromSoftware’s unique brand of multiplayer is a creation oddly personal to Miyazaki. According to an old Eurogamer interview, the idea for Demon’s Souls ‘ co-op was born out of Miyazaki getting his car stuck in the snow. Strangers spontaneously pushed his car to get it moving again before suddenly disappearing, the same way Elden Ring ‘s colorful phantoms fade after winning a boss fight. Without an opportunity to thank them, Miyazaki referred to the encounter as ” a connection of mutual assistance between transient people .” It’s an interesting anecdote, but it also provides some insight on Miyazaki’s – and by extension, FromSoftware’s – design philosophy. Elden Ring ‘s multiplayer mechanics may be obtuse, but they’re an important part of the game’s vis
Elden Ring has proven to be incredibly popular, and while the active player base has dwindled recently alongside many completing the game (or giving up), FromSoftware’s titles typically retain a smaller, dedicated multiplayer community. Many flock to PvP, and will engage in duels outside the gate to the Academy of Raya Lucaria, but other longterm players also climb through many new game plus tiers both solo and in co-op. LukeYui’s Seamless Co-op mod will likely contribute to the continuing health of the game, Guardian remembrance Walkthrough making it less frustrating for players to team up and see all of Elden Ring ‘s best and worst endin
Though Miquella never speaks or interacts with players in Elden Ring ‘s main game, it’s possible to construct a hypothetical Miquella boss fight scenario simply through examining his in-game lore. According to certain item descriptions, Miquella was a master of Golden Order Fundamentalism, and would likely wield incantations such as Triple Rings Of Light or Radagon’s Rings Of Light in a boss fight. Miquella, like his sister Malenia, was an Empyrean – a being capable of becoming a vessel for an Outer God’s power – but also created Unalloyed Gold Needles capable or cutting people off from the influence of said Gods (like the one used in Elden Ring to help Millicent fight the Scarlet Rot). If players did wind up fighting a Miquella possessed by an Outer God like the Formless Mother, they might be able to end the fight by stabbing Miquella with one of his own Unalloyed Gold Needles, freeing him from the influenced of the possessing deity. According to the description for the Bewitching Branch item, Miquella was also supernaturally charismatic and inspired fanatical loyalty in this subjects; this lore detail could be the basis for a boss fight where Miquella summons waves of faithful servants to defend hims
Thoroughly exploring The Lands Between is already a massive time commitment, and doing it thrice so that everyone in the party can have all the loot becomes tedious. There’s an argument to be made that limiting the scope of co-op sessions is a stylistic choice, meant to represent serendipitous help offered by another Tarnished, but FromSoftware already offers the opportunity to use multiplayer passwords so that Summon Signs are only viewable by certain players. Elden Ring ‘s co-op could be easily improved by simply embracing a more traditional version of cooperative gameplay, where progression is shared and sessions aren’t cut short by the completion of an object