When I finished my review for Soulslike Lies Of P, the devs released a patch not long after that nerfed bosses and made things for ol’ Pinnochio easier overall. Sod’s Law struck that day… and it’s returned with a smirk. Shadow Of The Erdtree has just been patched, making its Shadow Realm Blessings stronger from the off, and in turn, things a little easier for everybody. Such is the life of a reviewer, eh.
In what FromSoftware are calling “Calibration Update – Version 1.12.2“, they’ve buffed the power of the Shadow Realm Blessings you’ll find scattered exclusively throughout Erdtree’s areas. Both Scadutree Fragments and Revered Ash Blessings have had their attack and damage negation increased for the “first half of the maximum amount of Blessing enhancements”. Once you’ve obtained the first half, later blessings will see more of a gradual increase to your stats.
In addition, the attack and damage negation granted by the “final level” of those blessings has been slightly increased. There aren’t any concrete stats to analyse here, but the general gist is simple to understand: Blessings are strongerer.
To get the update you’ll need to login to the multiplayer servers once you’ve booted up the game. You’ll know if you’re on the right build if you see “1.12.2” at the bottom right of the title menu. FromSoft says later “balance adjustments as well as bug fixes” are planned for a future patch.
And if you’ve been experiencing performance issues, the patch notes say to check in System > Graphics Settings > Raytracing Quality settings and see if it’s been toggled to turn on automatically. If it has, it might be worth switching it off and seeing if things improve.
Erdtree launched to a mixed reception on Steam, despite a positive critical reception. That came down to performance issues, but mainly, the DLC’s difficulty when it comes to bosses being particularly overbearing. A mod was even released that balanced Erdtree’s enemies to be more in line with the base game.
Honestly, I’m fine with FromSoft lowering the difficulty and agree with Nic’s sentiment in the “mixed reception” piece that the pushback is valid, but I don’t think the game deserves to be bombed because it’s particularly challenging. Erdtree’s bosses are definitely more nightmarish in their damage output and design, but Erdtree gives you tools to make life easier, moreso than any other entry in the Souls catalogue. Like the Blessings, like the summonable pals or online co-op, like the copious number of builds and elixir combinations.
If you’re struggling, I’d advise going off and seeking out those Blessings (with the help of this guide that rounds them all up) as well as rejigging your set up. You can do it! I mean, you beat Elden Ring to get here, right?