Elden Ring received an update today labeled 1.13 with a ton of balance changes and bug fixes to Shadow of the Erdtree armaments, spells, and skills, as well as buffs to most Spirit Ashes.
Five weeks after launch, Shadow of the Erdtree finally has a real balance and bug fix patch. I’m glad it’s finally happening, and practically all of the changes are great, but this is way too late.
Some of the issues addressed in this patch were immediately obvious, which supports my developing suspicion that Shadow of the Erdtree didn’t spend enough time cooking before being released, likely to satisfy the marketing department.
Shadow of the Erdtree 1.13 Changes Overview
Elden Ring Update 1.13 makes sorely needed changes and fixes to many of the new items introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree. The (red) lion’s share of balance changes and fixes apply to the whole game, but there are a handful of PvP-specific changes.
In addition, it seems that practically all Spirit Ashes have been buffed in an effort to make them more competitive with the Mimic Tear and each other.
General Balance Changes
They buffed almost all of the underperforming items added with Shadow of the Erdtree, except for some (Cross)bows, which were nerfed in some cases.
I’m a spellcaster, not an archer, so I can’t speak from experience, but given the sheer volume of buffs to bows since the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, I assume this is a small recalibration.
The most notable buffs are to the Shield of Night, Euporia’s luster usability, and practically all of the new spells. In general, if something felt strangely weak before, chances are it feels good now.
It’s really great that spells like Rain of Fire aren’t literally worthless and actively detrimental anymore. Rain of Fire in particular dealt so little damage that should have been called “Slight Drizzle of Fire, But You Don’t Need a Jacket”, especially after we get drenched by Fire Knight Sage Salza’s “Torrential Downpour of Fire”.
However, it’s frustrating there were such significant problems with so many of these to begin with. What’s the point of introducing new stuff if it’s worse than what you’re already using? Why bother fixing these issues after a substantion proportion of customers have already beaten it?
Bug Fixes
Bug fixes are in the same boat as balance changes. It’s pretty distracting that so many existed in the new content for so long, though it’s good that they’re at least getting fixed. It’s been so long I was starting to lose hope.
You’ll want to look at the whole list to see if the issue you care about was fixed, but I have to point out this gem of a bug fix:
“Fixed a bug that caused certain Skills to perform differently than expected under certain circ*mstances.”
Realistically, the biggest one is probably that the default selection for the warning message about resurrecting Torrent with a Crimson Flask is now set to “OK”, so that’s one less button press when your horse kicks the bucket.
Rebalancing Spirit Ashes
It would seem that FromSoftware has attempted to rebalance Spirit Ashes across the board by buffing almost all of them (and quest NPCs in SotE) individually, including making them not stagger as easily, and improving Revered Spirit Ash Blessing scaling at tiers 5 and 8-10 across the board.
The devs haven’t said anything outright, but it definitely seems like they’re trying to make make the rest of the Spirit Ashes more competitive with the Mimic Tear, which has been the most popular Spirit Ash by far.
It makes sense. What’s the point of having so many other NPCs if most people just want to copy themselves?
I suspect that if the Spirit Ash system returns in future games, they will almost certainly either remove the Mimic Tear concept as an option entirely or make it effectively only available in NG+, like so many of the current quest rewards and Sacred Relic Sword.
PvP-Specific Changes
Most of the changes affect Poise, a system that continues to be a thorn in FromSoftware’s side as it distorts player agency in a way that invalidates boss mechanics and reduces counterplay.
The promblematic ramifications of Poise likely have to do with why it was mostly irrelevant in Dark Souls 3 and more limited when Elden Ring was released. It feels like they don’t have a clear vision for how to fix it.
In my opinion, Poise makes the most sense when associated with the heaviest armors, Collossal Weapons (and Collossal Swords), two-handing weightier weapons (like axes and hammers), and slow, but heavy projectiles.
Restricting it primarily to those sorts of things as something that differentiates them from blades and makes them unique, like Daggers are with critical hits. I think they are tending in that direction, especially after the adjustments in 1.12.4, but their vision remains to be seen.
Other PvP changes focus on reducing the reliability of problematic Skills and spells.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree 1.13 Full Patch Notes
Here are the full patch notes for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree 1.13, from publisher Bandai Namco. Editor’s Note: Reformatted and slightly reworded headings for clarity.
PvP-exclusive Balance Adjustments
Equipment
- Increased poise damage of normal attacks for the following weapon types:
Light Great Swords / Backhand Blades / Hand-to-Hand Arts / Beast Claws - Increased poise damage of dual wield attacks for the following weapon types:
Straight Swords / Thrusting Swords / Curved Swords / Katanas / Spears / Whips / Fists / Claws - Increased poise damage of the Claws of Night throwing attacks.
- Decreased the backstep invulnerability window when the Fine Crucible Feather Talisman or the Talisman of All Crucibles are equipped.
Skills and Ashes of War
Savage Lion’s Claw
- The second hit of the follow-up attack is now easier to land.
- Decreaseddamage animation of the first attack against other players.
Raging Beast
- Decreased invulnerability window against other players’ attacks.
Blind Spot
- Decreased invulnerability window against other players’ attacks.
Palm Blast
- Decreased poise amount generated when charging this skill.
Spell and Incantations
Miriam’s Vanishing
- Decreased invulnerability window against other players’ attacks.
Knight’s Lightning Spear
- Increased attack power of the initial lightning spear.
- Decreased attack power of the spears launched after the first one.
- Decreased poise damage of all spears generated by this spell.
General balance adjustments
- Increased damage animation of the Light Greatsword charge attacks against enemies (other than players).
- Increased the stats & status of the following NPCs that can be summoned in some areas:
- Needle Knight Leda / Pureblood Knight Ansbach / Thiollier
- Increased the attack power and damage negation of summoned spirits, excluding the Mimic Tear, when the Revered Spirit Ash Blessing is at [5] or more.
- Increased the attack power and damage negation of summoned spirits, excluding the Mimic Tear, when upgraded to “+8” or higher.
Armaments
Increased attack power scaling when upgrading the following armaments.
Repeating Crossbow / Spread Crossbow / Rabbath’s Cannon
Shield of Night
- Increased damage negation when blocking physical attacks.
Euporia
- Increased Holy damage when the weapon has its luster restored.
- Decreased the number of attacks required to restore the weapon’s luster.
- Increased the duration of the luster restoration effect.
Golden Lion Shield
- Increase guard strength.
Golem Fist
- Added a damage hitbox to the hand portion of the ranged fist attack.
Smithscript Greathammer
- Increased poise damage of the swing portion of throwing attacks (the projectile is unchanged).
Spread Crossbow
- Decreased the generated status buildup when used with Bolts that have status effects.
Ailment Talisman
- After the onset of a status ailment, the status build up (or duration) of said ailment will now also be reduced immediately by a certain amount.
Clarifying Horn Charm / Clarifying Horn Charm +1 / Clarifying Horn Charm +2
- Increased Focus resistance.
Skills and Ashes of War
Savage Lion’s Claw
- Increased attack power and poise damage of the first attack.
Swift Slash
- Reduced movement distance when using this skill
- Extended recovery time.
Overhead Stance
- Increased attack power against enemies (other than players).
Aspects of the Crucible: Wings
- Increased attack power.
- Increased directional control, as well as the amount of poise generated when using this skill.
Lightspeed Slash
- The additional light attacks are now affected by the attack power and ability scaling of the weapon.
Rancor Slash
- Increased attack power of the vengeful spirits.
- Increased stamina damage against guarding enemies.
Revenger’s Blade
- Increased directional control for follow-up attacks after a strong attack.
Horn Calling
- Increased attack power against enemies (other than players).
Horn Calling: Storm
- Increased attack power against enemies (other than players).
Weed Cutter
- Increased the speed of attacks.
Romina’s Purification
- Increased poise value when using this skill.
Red Bear Hunt
- Increased attack power.
- Increased poise value when using this skill.
Rancor Shot
- Decreased status buildup generation when used with Arrows that have status effects.
Repeating Fire
- Adjusted attack power to compensate for the increase in weapon damage
Feeble Lord’s Frenzied Flame
- Reduced Frenzy status effect buildup against enemies.
Revenge of the Night
- Increased poise damage and attack power when this skill is used immediately after guarding against an enemy attack.
Sorceries
Glintblade Trio
- Increased attack power.
Blades of Stone
- Adjusted attack power of the first, second, and third charge attacks.
- Increased attack power of the non-charged attack.
- Increased attack power of the first hit of the charged attack, and reduced attack power of the second and third hits.
- Increased attack range and attack speed.
Glintstone Nail
- Increased attack power and improved enemy tracking.
Glintstone Nails
- Increased attack power and improved enemy tracking.
Impenetrable Thorns
- All generated Impenetrable Thorns will now track enemies.
- Decreased attack power and poise damage.
- Decreased the Hemorrhage status buildup and stamina damage against guarding enemies.
Rings of Spectral Light
- Increased attack power and Frostbite status buildup.
Vortex of Putrescence
- Increased attack power and Frostbite status buildup.
Incantations
Minor Erdtree
- Increased HP recovery amount.
Land of Shadow
- Improved enemy tracking.
Spira
- Increased attack speed.
Watchful Spirit
- Improved enemy tracking.
Divine Beast Tornado
- Increased attack power.
- Enemies hit by the tornado will now be launched upwards.
- The tornado will be less likely to disappear due to collision with the terrain.
Rain of Fire
- Increased attack power.
- Reduced the interval between each hit.
Roar of Rugalea
- Increased poise damage and attack power.
Furious Blade of Ansbach
- Increased attack power.
Rotten Butterflies
- Increased Scarlet Rot status buildup.
- Reduced the interval between damage ticks.
- Increased attack range.
Spirit Ashes
Wandering Noble
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Noble Sorcerer
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Nomad Ashes
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Putrid Corpse
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Skeletal Militiaman
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Skeletal Bandit
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Albinauric
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Winged Misbegotten
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Demi-Human
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Clayman
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Oracle Envoys
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Man-Fly
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Lone Wolf Ashes
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Rotten Stray Ashes
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Giant Rat Ashes
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Warhawk
- Increased HP, physical attack power, and Fire attack power.
- Increased Stance status.
Land Squirt
- Increased HP.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Spirit jellyfish
- Increased HP, physical attack power, and poison status ailment buildup on enemies.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Spider Scorpion
- Increased physical attack power, poison status ailment buildup on enemies, and damage negation except for strike and fire attributes.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Fingercreeper
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Fanged Imp
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Bigmouth Imp
- Increased HP and Fire attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Gravebird
- Increased HP and magic attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Soldjar of Fortune
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Archers
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Greatshield Soldiers
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Page
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Vulgar Militia
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Marionette Soldier
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Avionette Soldier
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Kaiden Mercenary
- Increased HP and physical attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Mad Pumpkin Head
- Increased physical attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Fire Monks
- Increased HP and Fire attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Ancestral Follower
- Increased physical attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Horned Warrior
- Increased HP and damage negation except for pierce attacks.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Azula Beastman
- Increased HP and lightning attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Man-Serpent
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Crystalian
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
- Increased physical attack power.
Kindred of Rot
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Bloodfiend Hexer
- Increased hemorrhage status ailment buildup on enemies.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Glintstone sorcerer
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Twinsage Sorcerer
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Inquisitor
- Increased HP.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Godrick Soldier
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Raya Lucaria Soldier
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Leyndell Soldier
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Radahn Soldier
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Haligtree Soldier
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Mausoleum Soldier
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Messmer Soldier
- Increased HP and physical attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Stormhawk Deenh
- Increased HP and physical attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
- Increased duration of effect to increase the attack power given to allies.
Banished Knight Oleg
- Increased physical attack power and damage negation against physical attacks.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Banished Knight Engval
- Increased physical attack power and damage negation against physical attacks.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Bloodhound Knight Floh
- Increased HP, physical attack power, and damage negation against physical attacks.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Black Knight Captain Huw
- Increased physical attack power and damage negation against physical attacks.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Black Knight Commander Andreas
- Increased damage negation andguard boost against Holy and Physical attacks.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Fire Knight Hilde
- Increased Fire attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Fire Knight Queelign
- Increased Vigor and Faith.
Swordhand of Night Jolán
- Increased Vigor and Dexterity.
Jolán and Anna
- Increased Vigor and Dexterity.
Battlemage Hugues
- Increased physical attack power and magic attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Latenna the Albinauric
- Increased HP, physical attack power, and magic attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Perfumer Tricia
- Increased HP.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Depraved Perfumer Carmaan
- Increased fire attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Omenkiller Rollo
- Increased HP, physical attack power, and Fire attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Blackflame Monk Amon
- Increased HP and Fire attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Curseblade Meera
- Increased HP and physical attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Demi-Human Swordsman Yosh
- Increased HP, physical attack power, and magic attack power.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff
- Increased Lightning attack power and damage negation against Physical, Lightning, and Holy Attack affinities.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Redmane Knight Ogha
- Increased physical attack power and damage negation against Physical and Fire attack affinities.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Lhutel the Headless
- Increased physical attack power and damage negation against physical attacks.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Cleanrot Knight Finlay
- Increased physical attack power and damage negation against Physical, Magic, and Holy Attack affinities.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Black Knife Tiche
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Divine Bird Warrior Ornis
- Increased HP and damage negation against Physical attacks except Pierce attacks.
- Will no longer stagger as easily.
Ancient Dragon Florissax
- Increased Arcane.
- Increased damage negation against all affinities.
- Increased Skills and Incantations usage rate.
- Increased the speed and poise values during some attacks.
Finger Maiden Therolina Puppet
- Increased Vigor and Faith.
Jarwight Puppet
- Increased Vigor.
Dolores the Sleeping Arrow Puppet
- Increased Vigor.
Nepheli Loux Puppet
- Increased Vigor and Strength.
Dung Eater Puppet
- Increased Vigor.
Nightmaiden & Swordstress
- Increased HP and physical attack power.
Bug Fixes
- Changed the default selection of the OK / CANCEL prompt that shows up when using the “Spectral Steed Whistle” while the spectral steed is dead. The default selection position is now OK.
- Adjusted the placement of NPC summon signs in certain boss fight areas.
- Changed the NPC summon signs in certain boss fights to allow the user to summon NPCs simply by pressing the action button once.
- Fixed a bug where the damage of some normal attacks of the Dark Moon Greatsword were lower than intended.
- Fixed the physical attack attribute menu display of the “Warpick” weapon.
- Fixed a bug where some attacks of the “Swift Spear” weapon were different than expected in terms of power, damage motion, and hitbox generation timing.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the “Twinblade Talisman” from affecting the Perfume Bottles weapon type when equipped and used in the left hand.
- Fixed a bug where the physical attack attributes of some attacks of the Thrusting Shields weapon type were different than expected.
- Fixed a bug that allowed the use of Arrows / Great Arrows / Bolts / Great Bolts that should not be usable for the following weapon types:
Light Bows / Long Bows / Greatbows / Crossbows / Ballistas - Fixed a bug where the effect of increasing the power of the Incantation “Light of Miquella” of the “Circlet of Light” helmet was not applied correctly.
- Fixed a bug that caused FP consumption when using the “Unending Dance” Skill while not meeting the ability requirements of the weapon “Dancing Blade of Ranah”.
- Fixed a bug where the physical attack attribute of some attacks of the “Deadly Dance” Skill was different than expected.
- Fixed a bug where the physical attack attribute of the “Scattershot Throw” Skill of the “Claws of Night” weapon was different than expected.
- Fixed a bug where the following Skills did not change correctly when performed with or without FP.
- Dynastic Sickleplay / Raging Beast / Repeating Crossbow Fire
- Fixed a bug where a different Rage Art was sometimes performed when following up with a strong attack after using the “Raging Beast” and “Dynasty Sickleplay” Skills.
- Fixed a bug that caused certain Skills to perform differently than expected under certain circ*mstances.
- Fixed a bug that prevented some Spells / Incantations that can be used in the air from being used in the air under some conditions.
- Fixed a bug that caused the “Golden Arcs” Incantation to generate attacks slower when cast with the left hand.
- Fixed a bug where the “Rain of Fire” Incantation sometimes did not hit enemies.
- Fixed a bug where the “Furious Blade of Ansbach” Incantation did not apply Hemorrhage status build-up.
- Fixed a bug where under some circ*mstances, the move distance when casting some Spells / Incantations was different than expected.
- Fixed a bug that sometimes interrupted the cast of the “Roar of Rugalea” Incantation.
- Fixed a bug where the “Cherishing Fingers” magic attack sometimes did not hit.
- Fixed a bug in the behavior of the Mimic Tear spirit when casting Spells, Incantations, and Skills.
- Fixed a bug where NPCs could be summoned when the maximum number of cooperative multiplayer members had been reached.
- Fixed a bug that caused some items to display different icons than expected.
- Fixed a bug where exiting the game or going through a loading screen immediately after defeating “Count Ymir, Mother of Fingers” could make the dropped items unobtainable.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the player from performing Critical hits on some enemies.
- Fixed a bug in which some attacks on certain enemies were interpreted differently than expected.
- Fixed a bug that prevented rune gains when defeating some enemies.
- Fixed a bug that prevented some enemies from working properly under certain circ*mstances.
- Fixed a bug where the Multiplayer area borders were different than intended in some areas.
- Fixed a bug where the player would spawn in a different place than intended when invading another player’s world
- Fixed a bug in the map menu that caused some NPC icons in the Realm of Shadow to not display properly.
- Fixed a bug in the design of the map of Realm of Shadow and the “Map Fragment” icon.
- Fixed a bug where some cutscenes were not displayed correctly under certain circ*mstances.
- Fixed a bug where some sound effects did not play correctly.
- Fixed a bug where some effects were not displayed correctly.
- Several performance improvements and other bug fixes.
Steam-only adjustments
- Fixed a bug where “Anti-aliasing Quality” was unintentionally set to “High” each time the game was restarted.
Correction of end credits
In update1.12, an error was included in the credits of the game.
This issue will be corrected in the next update.
Possible unstable performance fixes
- For the PS5 version of the game, unstable framerate may be improved by using the “Rebuild Database” option from the device’s safe mode.
- In some PC versions, Ray Tracing may be unintentionally enabled and cause unstable performance. Please check the Ray Tracing setting in the “System” > “Graphics ” > “Ray Tracing Quality” from the title screen or in-game menu.
- In the PC version, the message “Inappropriate activity detected” may appear without cheating.
- To fix this issue, please verify the integrity of the game’s files before restarting the game.
- In the PC version, unstable framerate may be caused by third-party applications that control mouse behavior. Deactivating these third-party applications may improve performance. The version number of this update shown at the lower right corner of the Title Screen will be as follows:App Ver. 1.13
Regulation Ver. 1.13.1 - In PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S versions, Regulation files can be downloaded by logging in to the server.
- If the Regulation Ver. listed in the lower right corner of the title screen is not1.13.1, please select LOGIN and apply the latest regulation before enjoying the game.
Online play requires the player to apply this update.
Looking for something to wear? Check out our complete Shadow of the Erdtree Armor Sets and Associated Weapons Catalog!
