The internet is abuzz with news that FromSoftware, developer of the deeply punishing Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, has released a new patch that buffs Blessing enhancements in the Shadow Realm. This affects the highly popular Scadutree Fragments, suddenly making the DLC's early game much easier.
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The patch, curiously titled Calibration Update 1.12.2, specifies that "the Attack and damage negation curve scaling of the Shadow Realm Blessings have been revised." To go into further detail, the attack and damage negation has been noticeably boosted specifically "for the first half of the maximum amount of Blessing enhancements", with the attack and damage negation for the second half of the enhancements now increasing at a more gradual rate.
These changes are significant because they affect Scadutree Fragments which fragments can (and should) be collected in order to give you a permanent boost to your Blessing level at a Site of Grace, making facing enemies and bosses much more manageable. But the increase specifically to the first half of the maximum amount of Scadutree Fragments you can use (20) is notable because it benefits early game players in particular.
The community's outcry about how punishing Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is has been so severe that it has even led to the game earning "Mixed" user reviews status on Steam. Popular YouTubers like videogamedunkey are also essentially mocking the game for being so difficult, leaving you wondering how something so sadistic could ever be any fun.
Shadow of the Erdtree's difficulty has created a sort of paradigm shift within both the player community and FromSoftware itself, with the former almost unanimously agreeing on how difficult it is, and the latter conceding to players' complaints seemingly out of nowhere. The subsequent buff to Scadutree Fragments acknowledges both the discourse surrounding the game's difficulty and recognizes how reliant players have to be on a pretty rare item just to push through the game's early bosses. Basically: FromSoftware is finally lessening the burden here – something it doesn't normally do.
FromSoftware is usually known for being opaque and slightly sadistic, not taking pity on players
As if the latest patch wasn't enough evidence that something is out of character over at FromSoftware, a recent post on the game's Steam page straight up advises players to go out and find Scadutree Fragments in order to ease their suffering. They even go so far as to say where to get them — strange for a studio known for being opaque and hands-off when it comes to post-launch support, and for developing some of the hardest games on the market. If they keep this sort of thing up...I might soon be out of a job!
Keep in mind that this is the same developer that put a player death counter in an area called Majula in its game Dark Souls 2, released back in 2014. The counter recently surpassed 300 million deaths, causing a Reddit user to point out, "That's more than the population of Indonesia (the 4th most populated country)." So going from rubbing players' deaths in their faces to actively trying to help them in the form of handy advice and targeted but useful buffs is certainly a shift, to say the least.
I, for one, welcome this shift. It's getting to be a bit exhausting always hearing about how punishing Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is and little else about the game's rich world, the potential for hundreds of unique builds, its mind-boggling monsters, or its shiny new arsenal of weapons. Now that the barrier of entry has been lowered slightly without sacrificing the game's integrity, more new players can get in and get through the early game, allowing us to learn more about the end game and what best tactics to use to get there.
Looking for the Savage Lion's Claw in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree? Then we've got you covered with Where to get Savage Lion’s Claw (Map Location) in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree on Pro Game Guides.
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