Elden Ring’s latest patch lets you keep track of NPCs

By Otto Kratky March 17, 2022

Anyone who had to use guides to track down NPCs in Elden Ring can now do the same using its in-game map. An update for the critically acclaimed title, which recently hit 12 million copies sold, has added NPC icons to the map, as well as new quest phases for NPCs, a brand-new NPC, and nerfs to some of the game’s most popular tools.

After downloading the game’s latest patch, anyone who’s curious about where an NPC has run off to can simply search for them on their map. NPCs are indicated by relatively small icons of hooded figures, which display their name once hovered over. If NPCs are at a certain location though, Volcano Manor, for instance, they will all be listed by selecting that site of grace.

It seems as though players have to have met an NPC before they’ll be marked. During our testing of the feature, Elden Ring‘s newest NPC, Jar-Bairn, wasn’t marked on the map.

While that new feature is helpful, Elden Ring may actually get harder for some players to progress through after its latest update. A number of nerfs hit the game’s popular weapons, Ashes of War, and one particularly useful summon, the Mimic Tear Ash. The Sword of Night and Flame, which players have been using to stomp through Elden Ring‘s early game has had its weapon skill damage lowered, as has the Hoarfrost Stomp Ash of War. Nerfs to the Mimic Tear Ash will make it much harder for players to defeat bosses since it used to effectively make an exact copy of the player. Now, the summoned spirit will do less damage and have different behaviors, likely making it easier for bosses to take down.

Elden Ring‘s latest patch is sure to leave some players with a bitter taste in their mouths. It takes some of the tools players would use to stomp through the game away, forcing them to reevaluate their strategies. But these changes also mean that FromSoftware is paying attention to how people are playing Elden Ring, and is updating the game reactively. Nerfs like these are simply the downside to playing a game that has an attentive developer.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…

Gaming

Elden Ring’s first DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is in development

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's key art.

Yes, Elden Ring is finally getting DLC. After over a year of speculation since the critically acclaimed game's launch, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is confirmed to be in development.
FromSoftware broke the news via its social media accounts for the game, simply affirming that Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree "is currently in development." No additional release window or story details were shared, but its Japanese website confirms the expansion will come to all of the same platforms as the base game, and the tweet does include one piece of concept art. In it, we see a darkened Erdtree in the distance as a mysterious girl on a horse rides toward it and some ruins. We don't know what any of this means just yet, but the key art appears to tease a darker tone and new character and reaffirm that Shadow of the Erdtree will take place in a massive open world.
https://twitter.com/ELDENRING/status/1630478058103734274
Elden Ring was released on February 25, 2022, and it was met with critical acclaim and lots of Game of the Year awards (including Digital Trends' own) because of how FromSoftware adapted its classics Souls series formula into a game with a massive open world that rivaled The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As many previous FromSoftware games got DLC, fans were hoping that Elden Ring would get the same treatment.
Before now, we've mostly gotten small patches, with a Colosseum-adding update in December being the most notable. Although Shadow of the Erdtree doesn't have a release date, it's a relief for Elden Ring fans to now have some brand-new content to look forward to.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Shadow of the Erdtree does not have a release window yet.

Gaming

10 best Elden Ring mods

Multiple players look out over a landscape with the Elden Ring co-op mod.

It was thanks to modders that the original PC port of Dark Souls reached a stable and respectable state. Once the technical wrinkles were ironed out, modders turned to expanding and improving the game in numerous ways to keep the game feeling fresh. Years later, those same talented modders have moved on to the latest and largest FromSoftware title, Elden Ring. With plenty of time to learn the game, there are tons of mods out there that can not only fix nagging issues in the game but add entirely new ways to play. Here are some of the best mods out there for Elden Ring.
How to mod Elden Ring
Since Elden Ring is available on PC, that's where modding scene is most popular. However, if this is your first time modding a game, it might sound a little confusing. Thankfully, the process is very simple, and even this tutorial video can show you the basics of modding your game in under three minutes.
Seamless Co-op

Elden Ring uses a more advanced form of the summoning systems from the Dark Souls series, but still has limitations, most notably being partners being forced out of your game after every boss or death. The Seamless Co-op mod aims to make the entire game playable with a partner without any interruptions when players die, bosses are beaten, and no fog walls. It is still being worked on, but already works very well.
Elden Ring Ultimate Cheat Engine Table
Once you've beaten Elden Ring for your second, third, or eighth time, you may just want to see what you can do to break the game. The Elden Ring Ultimate Cheat Engine Table gives you the keys to the castle and lets you basically mod the game yourself to do things like create your own spells, spawn bosses, edit stats, use freecam, and tons more.
Elden Ring Item and Enemy Randomizer

Gaming

Elden Ring, Modern Warfare II discounted in big PlayStation holiday sale

Four players fight in an Elden Ring colosseum.

PlayStation's annual holiday sale is now live offering discounts up to 75% off on a wide variety of games, old and new. The sale includes some of 2022's heavy hitters, from Elden Ring to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.

The sale is live right now and you can access it through the PlayStation Store on consoles or a web browser. There are 3,725 items on sale in total, though that list includes discounts on in-game currency for games like Grand Theft Auto V as well as special editions of games.