Elden Ring Fans Just Got a Major Reason to Come Back to the Game

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition, which bundles the base game and its excellent Shadow of the Erdtree DLC alongside some new additions, is finally coming to Nintendo Switch 2 this week. As part of its release, Elden Ring is getting a major new patch across all systems, with the new weapons and armor added with the Switch 2 edition of the game for sale as the “Tarnished Pack” DLC.

Tarnished Edition includes two new starting classes, new weapons that can be found or purchased from merchants, and three new attire options for the spectral steed Torrent. Other additions include new invasion events in Caelid and Leyndell, including one where a devout, mostly naked man attacks you with a flail. The DLC will be available on all systems on Aug. 28, the same day the Switch 2 releases.

However, even those who don’t pay for this new content will find a long list of balance changes and other updates. For starters, from now on, certain powerful enemies in the Realm of Shadow will drop higher-tier items and treasures. Numerous weapons received buffs, including Rellana’s Twin Blades and Spear of the Impaler, while several shields received better guard boost (what percent of incoming damage is blocked) and reduced weight​​​. Perfume Bottle enjoyers will be pleased to find attack power increases that may make this tool less niche. Several underused sorceries and incantations also received improvements. The only nerf in PvE was to Rakshasa’s Great Katana, which now has a greater delay to right-hand attacks after attacking with a left-hand weapon.

One of the biggest potential changes is that parries have been enhanced across the board, with “improved parry performance.” Presumably, this means a larger parry window or faster activation. There were also a handful of PvP nerfs where Rakshasa’s Great Katana got hit again, as well as a few incantations.

The critical response to Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on the Switch 2 has been quite positive, with critics impressed by how well the game runs on the handheld. This version was originally planned for 2025 but was delayed so the team could optimize the game’s performance after a rough showing at last year’s Gamescom.

The full patch notes for Elden Ring version 1.17 can be found below.

MAIN UPDATE ADDITIONS

Tarnished Pack Additional Content

The following elements will be added upon purchase of the “Tarnished Pack” DLC.

Note: This content is included by default in ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition for Nintendo Switch 2.

• Added Idus Knight and Heavy Knight as new starting classes, selectable during character creation.
  • Note: The equipment of each new starting class can also be obtained by purchasing it from merchants in the Lands Between or by finding it in the world.
• Added weapons that can be purchased from merchants or found in the Lands Between.
• Added three types of Spectral Steed Attire that change the appearance of Torrent:
  • Tree Sentinel Spectral Steed Attire: Found in Stormveil Castle.
  • Silver of Caria Spectral Steed Attire: Found in Liurnia of the Lakes.
  • Funereal Night Spectral Steed Attire: Found in Altus Plateau.
  • Note: After obtaining any Spectral Steed Attire, the option to change the spectral steed’s appearance will be added to the Site of Grace menu.
• Added an NPC invasion event in Caelid.
• Added an NPC invasion event in Leyndell, Royal Capital.
  • Note: This event will not occur after the area has changed to Leyndell, Ashen Capital.

The “Tarnished Pack” release times are as follows:

• PlayStation / Xbox: Friday, August 28 at 0:00 a.m local time.
• Steam: Friday, August 28 at 7:00 JST | 00:00 CEST | 15:00 PDT.

Balance Adjustments

• Changed certain items found in the field or obtained by defeating certain powerful enemies in the Realm of Shadow to higher-tier items or other treasures.
  • Note: Items already that were already found will not be changed.

Weapons

• Smithscript Dagger / Rellana’s Twin Blades
  • Increased critical hit power.
• Smithscript Axe / Smithscript Spear / Spear of the Impaler
  • Reduced the stamina consumption of weapon-throwing attacks.
  • Increased the power of weapon-throwing attacks.
• Carian Sorcery Sword
  • Changed Intelligence scaling so that it now increases the attack power of all damage types.
• Smithscript Greathammer
  • Increased the power of weapon-throwing attacks.
• Golem Fist
  • Increased the range of the fist-launching heavy attack.
• Firespark Perfume Bottle / Lightning Perfume Bottle / Chilling Perfume Bottle / Frenzyflame Perfume Bottle / Deadly Poison Perfume Bottle

• Lordsworn’s Shield / Briar Greatshield / Spiked Palisade Shield / Icon Shield / Golden Beast Crest Shield / Manor Towershield / Crossed-Tree Towershield / Inverted Hawk Towershield / Dragon Towershield / Distinguished Greatshield / Gilded Greatshield / Black Steel Greatshield / Ant’s Skull Plate / Erdtree Greatshield
  • Increased guard boost.
  • Reduced weight.
• Wooden Greatshield / Cuckoo Greatshield / Redmane Greatshield / Golden Greatshield / Crucible Hornshield / Dragonclaw Shield / Eclipse Crest Greatshield / Jellyfish Shield / One-Eyed Shield

• Haligtree Crest Greatshield

• Rakshasa’s Great Katana
  • Increased the time before an attack can be performed with a right-hand weapon immediately after attacking with this weapon equipped in the left hand.

Skills

• Parry
  • Improved parry performance.
  • Reduced the time before various actions can be performed after activation when used with Daggers, Curved Swords, or Small Shields.
• Storm Wall
  • Changed the skill so that it no longer consumes FP when used.
  • Improved parry performance.
• Thops’s Barrier
  • Improved parry performance.

Sorceries

• Founding Rain of Stars

• Carian Retaliation

• Meteorite

• Meteorite of Astel

• Gravitational Missile
  • Changed the spell so that the gravity projectile does not explode immediately upon striking terrain such as the ground or a wall.

Incantations

• Feather of the Divine Bird

• O, Flame!

• Rain of Fire

PvP-Exclusive Balance Adjustments

Weapons

• Rakshasa’s Great Katana
  • Increased damage taken from attacks by other players while attacking.

Incantations

• Rugalea’s Roar
  • Reduced power against other players.
• Rotten Breath / Ekzykes’s Decay
  • Reduced the amount of time other player characters are unable to move from hit reactions when struck by these incantations.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where critical hits dealt with Great Katana weapon types had lower-than-expected power against large enemies.
• Fixed a bug where jumping attacks with Great Katana weapon types could be parried.

PC-Only Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that prevented camera control with the mouse during NPC dialogue when using keyboard and mouse controls
• Fixed a bug in the “Keyboard/Mouse Settings” section of the system menu in which selecting the reset option did not restore various settings to their defaults