Arise, Tarnished. There is new Elden Ring content to enjoy. That’s right, FromSoftware’s open-world hit has received its first update in four months in the form of version 1.10. While it doesn’t bring an entirely new quest — we will just have to keep waiting for Shadow of the Erdtree for that — it does address the biggest pain point in the game. With a myriad of changes to PvP you may find yourself finally able to stand against your enemies now that they can’t rely on the same cheap tricks.
Launching July 26, version 1.10 of Elden Ring is almost exclusively focused on tweaking longstanding issues with PvP balance. The full list of changes is as follows:
PvP changes
- Increased poise damage of all weapons and some spells and incantations.
- Increased poise when attacking with some skills, spells, incantations and some types of weapon attacks that generates poise.
- Added damage reduction when performing attacks with some skills, spells and incantations and some types of weapon attacks that generates poise.
- Critical hit angles have been extended.
- Decreased the invulnerability window of the Quick Step and Hound's Step skills.
- Decreased the damage reduction granted by some skills, incantations and items.
General changes
- Increased critical hit damage.
- Decreased recovery time after a missed critical hit.
- Increased poise damage of attacks that occur after missing a critical hit.
Bug fixes and other changes
- Adjusted the player damage animation so that the attack direction is not unintentionally shifted when getting hit while attacking with some types of weapons that generates poise.
- Fixed a bug that prevented some spells and incantations from causing damage while under the effect of some skills and items.
- Fixed a bug that caused the effects of the Sacred Order skill to continue after switching weapons.
- Corrected some text in certain languages.
There are two major takeaways from the patch for those who are still playing Elden Ring PvP or who are looking to test the waters thanks to these changes.
The first is the decreased invulnerability window of the Quick Step and Hound’s Step skills. Both of these skills are essentially replacements for the dodge, allowing the player to evade attacks from enemies and reposition themselves. Quick Step is a traditional dodge, while Hound’s Step makes you temporarily invisible while you reposition.
The benefit of using these skills in PvP is that it allows for great positioning as well as having a substantial invulnerability window when used that negates any damage inflicted on the player during the skill. Which is a good thing if you use these skills, and a not-so-good thing if you are fighting someone using these skills. But the version 1.10 patch nerfs these skills by shortening the invulnerability window, hopefully evening the odds.
The second big change to look out for is the buffs given to critical hits in version 1.10. Critical hits inflict more damage on the enemy, but can only be done through certain attacks like parries, counters, and backstabs. While most of these take a lot of skill, the payoff is a massive amount of damage being dealt. Version 1.0 boosts the critical hit damage while also shortening the recovery time after missing a critical hit.
This means players will want to focus on strategies with more critical hit potential. Parries and counters are the toughest, but if you can maneuver yourself into a position to inflict any backstab attacks on your enemy you will be able to deal a significant amount of damage.
With version 1.10, Elden Ring PvP is more balanced than ever. That makes it the perfect time to jump back in only to realize you will never be as good as people who are really good at Souls games.
