After a short delay due to a tsunami hitting Japan, FromSoftware has released Elden Ring Nightreign patch 1.02, which finally adds duos mode to the game.
Up to this point, Elden Ring Nightreign dropped players into the shifting lands of Limveld, exploring and fighting for survival either solo or in groups of three. There was no way to play two-player co-op.
In IGN's interview with Elden Ring Nightreign director Junya Ishizaki, the Nightreign lead developer discussed the choice to lean on solos and trios as the core experience options for launch. When asked why there was no option for a pair of players to drop in together without a random matchmade third player, Ishizaki said it was overlooked.
"The simple answer is that this is simply something that was overlooked during development as just a two-player option, so we're very sorry about that," said Ishizaki. "As we said before, we set out to make this a multiplayer co-op game for three players, balanced for three players, so that was the main focus and it's at the core of Nightreign.
"Of course, I myself as a player understand that and often want times where I'm just playing myself, so this is something that we considered from the start," Ishizaki continued.
"And so we did put a lot of effort into creating this experience that was playable for solo players in as much as the rules and new systems allowed. So in putting all our efforts into that aspect, we kind of overlooked and neglected the duos aspect, but this is something that we are looking at and considering for post-launch support as well."
Update 1.02, out now across PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S, adds two-player expeditions, a feature sorely lacking from the multiplayer-focused Elden Ring spin-off since launch.
After downloading the update, you’ll be able to start an expedition with two players. In the patch notes, below, FromSoftware said to reflect this change, the “Expedition Type” setting name has been changed to “Number of Players.” The game balance will be adjusted to the current number of players, the legendary developer added.
Meanwhile, new filtering options have been added to the Relic Effect filter screen to allow a more precise selection of Relic effects. The patch also increases the number of Relic presets that can be registered to 100, and adds a feature to sell and favorite acquired Relics in the rewards and purchasing menus.
Other notable changes include several UI adjustments and improvements, an adjustment for the probability of shifting earth occurring in Limveld, and the removal of the feature that causes the session to be disconnected when a certain amount of time passes without any action when the number of expedition participants is set to “1.”
And amid the ongoing debate about the game's difficulty while playing single-player, Elden Ring Nightreign's director has revealed he soloed every boss without Relics, and wanted players to know it's "very possible" to see everything.
We’ve got plenty of Nightreign tips and tricks to help you take down all the eight Nightlord Bosses, and if you’re wondering how to unlock the two locked Nightfarer Classes, check out How to Unlock the Revenant and How to Unlock the Duchess, plus How to Change Characters.
Elden Ring Nightreign Update 1.02 patch notes:
New features & improvements
- Added Two Player Expeditions.
You may now start an expedition with two Players. To reflect this change, the “Expedition Type” setting name has been changed to “Number of Players.”
The game balance will be adjusted to the current number of players.
- New filtering options have been added to the Relic Effect filter screen to allow a more precise selection of Relic effects. * To access the Relic Effect filter screen, press the left stick or the “4” key in the Relic Rites menu.
If multiple effects are selected for one condition, relics that match any the selected effects will be displayed.
If multiple effects are selected through multiple conditions, only relics that satisfy all conditions will be displayed.
- Increased the number of relic presets that can be registered to 100.
- Added a feature to sell and favorite acquired Relics in the rewards and purchasing menus.
- The presets of the currently selected character will now be displayed first when opening the All Presets list in the Character Selection menu during Expeditions.
- Passive and Special Effects have been added to the information that can be viewed in the Results Menu.
- Added tabs to the Small Jar Bazaar and Collector Signboard menus.
- Added the ability to skip a part of the cutscene after defeating the Night Aspect. *You can select “Skip” in the “Quit Game” option of the System Menu.
- Added “Detailed Description” to the Shop Menu of Limveld merchants. * You can open the detailed description of the weapon by pressing the right stick or the “3” key in the Shop Menu to.
- Added several other UI adjustments and improvements
- Adjust the probability of shifting earth occurring in Limveld.
- Removed the feature that causes the session to be disconnected when a certain amount of time passes without any action when the number of expedition participants is set to “1.”
Bug Fixes
- Increased the visibility of the mark left by Ironeye’s Character Skill.
- Fixed a bug where performing a Standard Attack while standing behind an enemy while holding the Lira as Revenant would prioritize a backstab animation instead of summoning Family Member.
- Fixed a bug where the effect indicating which enemies are being targeted by Revenant’s summoned spirits would not be displayed.
- Fixed a bug where the Ultimate Art gauge would fill up when the first spirit summoned by Revenant died.
- Fixed a bug where the “Rock Blaster” Sorcery would not consume any FPs.
- Fixed a bug where bow attacks would not be affected by the effect of "Partial HP Restoration upon Post-Damage Attacks".
- Fixed a bug where inputting a brief movement command while guarding could cause a large, instantaneous movement.
- Fixed a bug where magma pools would not spawn when the “Roiling Magama” Sorcery would hit an enemy.
- Fixed a bug where Recluse’s affinity residues would not be generated when players got it by some enemy affinity attacks.
- Fixed a bug where Recluse’s affinity residues would remain even after an ally character that had affinity residues died and was revived.
- Fixed a bug where smaller Nightfarers, such as Revenant, had difficulty hitting enemies with Fist and Dagger weapon types.
- The Roar & Breath attack power increasing effects will now be applied to some attacks of Executor's Ultimate Art transformation.
- Fixed a bug where Executor's Ultimate Art would not remove the Parasite condition when used.
- Fixed a bug where unintended effects would occur with some attacks of the Dark Moon Greatsword.
- Fixed a bug where passive effects triggered on guard counters would activate when acquiring a weapon with that effect under certain circumstances.
- Fixed a bug where the “Dmg Negation Up While Casting Spells” Passive Effect would activate when acquiring a weapon with that effect under certain circumstances.
- Fixed a bug where near-death players could not be saved after being downed by a grab attack, and resurrected players would no longer be targeted by enemies.
- Fixed a bug where players could be stuck into the terrain after being hit by Adel, Baron of Night's grab attack.
- Fixed a bug where Caligo, Miasma of Night would sometimes move outside the battle area.
- Fixed a bug where the positions of the ice blocks spawned by Caligo, Miasma of Night would not be synchronized between players.
- Fixed a bug where some attacks of the Draconic Tree Sentinel would reach farther than intended.
- Fixed a bug where players could unintentionally move during the "Take hold of Spectral Hawk" animation at the Spectral Hawk Tree.
- Fixed a bug where you could purchase a Small Pouch from a merchant if you already had a fifth item slot from a Relic.
- Fixed a bug where a network error would occur when defeating the Equilibrious Beast after players had been cursed in Limveld and the battle with the Equilibrious Beast started.
- Fixed a bug where players could obtain a weapon without a level decrease when selecting "I desire a powerful weapon" with the Scale-Bearing Merchant while the player character's level was 3.
- Fixed a bug where players could make another deal with the Scale-Bearing Merchant if the conversation was interrupted after selecting a deal.
- Fixed a bug where the Nameless King would not return to the battle area if he moved too far away from it.
- Fixed a bug where enemies that appear on the second night under specific conditions would sometimes appear before nightfall under certain conditions.
- Fixed a bug where allied players who were revived from near death with a Wending Grace would be counted as defeated during a battle against Night bosses or Nightlords.
- Fixed a bug where you would not respawn on the field after dying in the night rain in certain areas of Limveld.
- Fixed a bug where multiple players could duplicate dropped items.
- Fixed a bug in the Rotted Woods Shifting Earth where the location of the Rotted Woods blessing would sometimes disappear from the map after obtaining its location from the map in the small fort.
- Fixed a bug where you could not reset the Shifting Earth status in the corresponding bed after changing your playable character and triggering a Shifting Earth with at the Collector Signboard.
- Fixed a bug in the Expeditions menu where using "Copy Last Expedition Settings" to embark on a Single Player expedition allowed players to embark on targets not displayed in the Target menu.
- Fixed a bug where the effects of relics that add Attribute Attack Power or Status Ailments to the weapon when launching an expedition were not being reflected in the attack power displayed in the Status menu.
- Fixed a bug in the Results Menu where the position and orientation of allied characters far away from the player were not being recorded correctly.
- Fixed a bug where the tool “Twiggy Cracked Tear” was not listed in the Visual Codex.
- Fixed a bug that caused certain Skills to cause instability on some platforms.
- Fixed a bug where the game would crash when moving to the Spirit Tree under certain conditions.
- Fixed a bug where the game would crash when returning to the current world in some of the Revenant's Remembrance.
- Fixed other occurrences of game crashes.
- Fixed some graphics and effects.
- Fixed some sound effects that were not playing properly.
- Fixed some text.
- Other performance improvements and bug fixes.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
