Is it like there is some silent debate about existence of this update? Well, based on everything that anybody knows, Bandai Namco and FromSoftware dropped the patch 1.02.3 for Nightreign for Elden Ring. It’s live now and active, mostly carrying bug fixes with some balance changes for that atrocious Deep of Night mode that everyone’s been grinding, I suppose. Or attempting to grind could be a more precise phrase, depending on who you ask.
The official statement is quite minimalistic: here are the change notes, thanks everyone for your support, and that was it. But when you scroll through the replies of the tweet that announces the patch, that’s really where the story is, with responses of the kind “thank you for the fix” and “hey, what about THIS thing that has been broken since launch??” Classic gamers’ energy, really.
Let’s do it. The word has it that the patch has done some considerable good already. It has fixed crash issues, smoothed over connectivity issues here and there, and might have tweaked some numbers on weapons or abilities really deep in Deep of Night. This is all par for the course for a live service game like this. However, folks would rather point out that some of the longstanding issues are, well… holding on.
The biggest issue, by far, in circulation goes to complaints against the targeting system. A variety of complexities were laid out by a gamer named BlushyVT, who stated that attempting to lock on to some particular enemies proves to be an utter nightmare, especially those big guys like Wormface. You know, just press that target button, and the camera just goes bonkers, locking on everything and any tiny critter around the boss instead of the boss itself. According to them, it has been an ongoing problem since the start of the game. Well, that is a long time indeed, mostly fighting with the camera than with the monsters.
Then there is this whole balance talk about Revenant Hero. A lot of players maintain that his summons are basically worthless, especially at the top levels of Deep of Night. User remedy_princess did not hold back, marking playing Revenant is “like when you forget to level vigor in ER,” that she “gets one shot by every enemy in the game.” Ouch. People like Valorie_Palorie and Drazon333 had a thread back and forth about how the summons due to deserve a massive health buff because they basically die in one hit at Depth 3 and above, rendering her entire niche pointless anyway. It appears the patch did not alter this, and the players are seeing right through that.
In contrast to this balance are the complaints about boss Libra, the Everdark Sovereign, who remains too aggressive. Appointed aryanembered said that if two teammates die, all you can do is “dodge and run,” as the boss’s summons grow stronger, and they just steamroll over you. So they want Revenant’s summons to be stronger, while at the same time wanting Libra’s summons to be weaker. I’m telling you; that’s a thin tightrope of game-balancing!
Then there are the other complaints that are not about difficulty mostly about reward or really lack of reward. TheMonkeyHut1 declared that they love this game but needs “more incentive to keep jumping in.” They said the little changes were nice but would need even more customization or rewards for justifying the grind. Following in step with DarkHeartsKing recommended even something as simple as a recolor skin for the characters to give you something to work toward. It’s a fair argument–after you’ve beaten the hardest content, what is there to do? If the answer to that is “the same thing again, but for no new loot,” then a large number of players probably will check out.
But, hey, it is totally impossible not to have the old “where’s the sequel?” in a patch notes thread. User OctaBlazaEh just dropped that “Who cares, where’s Elden ring 2.” Brutal, but I guess it shows just how much people adore the base game.
And then, there are a couple of very specific bugs. Sekiro669 reported that the relic “Wylder’s earring” doesn’t grant an extra grappling hook charge as it should. SidTheTarnished pretty much outright inquired whether connecting issues arose for anybody else post-update. So it looks like the patch has been a paradox of sorts, having ushered in some new issues while solving some others-a veritable law of videogame patches.
It’s pretty funny, watching the community pick and choose its topics. Official patch notes being one; player experience being another. FromSoftware is famously known for their design that’s hard but fair. Once targeting feels unfair or when certain characters feel unworthy to be played in the endgame is precisely when the outburst begins to crop out. That players are still very engaged and passionate for Elden Ring, putting in somewhat detailed feedback and suggestions just goes to show how much that concept means to the player base. They simply want to see it hit the mark.
So yeah, patch 1.02.3 is out. It’s probably fixing some important stuff. But for a lot of the Tarnished out there, it feels like a small step when there’s still a long road ahead. They’re listening, though-You gotta give them that. The conversation is happening right there in the replies. Now we wait to see what they do with all that feedback. Maybe the next patch will really make Deep of Night sing. Or at least let you target the right enemy.
