A new patch for Elden Ring was released Thursday, ostensibly to prepare the game for the arrival of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC on June 21. But players of the base game are also getting a lovely treat, in the form of a major quality-of-life update to the base game’s final boss battle.
According to Bandai Namco’s patch notes for version 1.12 of Elden Ring, developer FromSoftware has added a “new feature to summon spectral steed during the Elden Beast boss battle.” Elden Ring players who have faced the Elden Beast will know what a relief it is to have Torrent available in this situation, as the final boss battle involves a torturous amount of running from one side of the battle arena to the other, back and forth, and back and forth again, while chasing the always-moving monster.
While the Elden Beast battle was a majestic and challenging final confrontation, the incessant running around players had to do to get in a few swipes of a sword or get within spellcasting range was something of a nightmare. Especially since the Elden Beast is a two-parter; one needs to defeat another boss, Radagon, before facing the beast, and failure in the second part meant repeating the first.
Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon
But the ability to summon Torrent in the Elden Beast boss fight isn’t the only major quality-of-life update for Elden Ring in patch 1.12. FromSoft has added a new “Recent Items” tab to players’ inventory screen, letting them easily find the latest thing (weapon, cookbook, talisman, etc.) they’ve picked up. Newly obtained items are marked with a “!” symbol, which will be hugely important for players acquiring a ton of new stuff with Shadow of the Erdtree. (Note that the Recent Items tab is an opt-in feature in the game’s settings menu, and having used it for the past week, I highly recommend turning it on!)
Elden Ring patch 1.12 does a whole lot more. There are new hairstyles, new PvP-exclusive balance adjustments, and a long list of weapon and skill tweaks, all of which are worth reviewing before diving into Shadow of the Erdtree for the first time.
