Elden Ring, like many games, receives regular patches to improve gameplay and address any bugs or glitches that may be occurring. Oftentimes, the patch notes for games will include a vague line that other improvements have been made and bugs have been fixed, but the details for those changes aren't listed. The most recent patches, 1.03 and 1.04, included some unmentioned changes to the game that players might have missed, including some hidden nerfs to enemies.
Elden Ring takes place in the Lands Between, where the Tarnished Champion returns to after their exile. Designed with help from Game of Thrones author, George R.R. Martin, FromSoftware created a sprawling world that follows the Tarnished Champion's quest to either continue the Golden Order, or to begin a new age for the Lands Between. Elden Ring combines the rich storytelling of George R.R. Martin with the difficulty of Soulsborne games to make a unique open-world experience for players.
Given the size of Elden Ring, it's no surprise that the developers need to patch the game to fix glitches players come across as they play. The majority of changes implemented in a patch are listed in the patch notes. However, there are generally fixes added in patches that aren't detailed in the notes for various reasons, such as the change being too small to bother mentioning, or for adding nerfs without players realizing it at first. The YouTube channel illusory wall posted a video detailing some of the hidden changes in Elden Ring patches 1.03 and 1.04.
Elden Ring Removed Branches To Prevent A Location Skip
The expanse of Elden Ring's world means there are plenty of places to stumble upon, or NPCs players might accidentally kill. In this case, players found some branches that allowed them to get over the wall to Selia, getting behind the town, which were then removed in patch 1.03. Interestingly, there are still skips that work for getting into Selia in manners similar to the branches. It might have been more efficient for the developers to add an invisible wall to block all versions of the skip, but they chose not to do so.
Tombstone Used To Skip Mohg's Fog Gate In Elden Ring Was Moved
If a player gets into Mohg's boss room without going through the fog gate, then his AI isn't triggered and he won't attack the player. The tombstone that players used to get over the wall and into the room was moved in patch 1.03 so that this skip can no longer be done. Elden Ring players will have to find new ways to cheese Mohg, Lord of Blood.
Dark Souls Chest Textures Were Removed From Most Chests
Initially believed to be an Easter egg, the texture for the Dark Souls chests was removed from most of the Elden Ring chests that had it. This means the textures were most likely placeholders that were missed before the game's release.
Although, there are a few chests that still have the Dark Souls texture even after patch 1.03. Either these ones were missed, or these chests were indeed intended to be Easter eggs. Either way, it was removed from most chests.
Elden Ring Made It Easier To Find Boc
The developers made two changes in patch 1.03 of Elden Ring to help players find Boc, who can be easy to miss. First, they placed an Arteria Leaf to bring players closer to Boc's range. Second, developers increased Boc's range at which he calls out to the player. The range for Boc to call out to the player has also increased for players approaching him from the opposite direction.
More Spirit Springs In Elden Ring Negate Fall Damage As They Should
Players have plenty to explore with Elden Ring's open-world map, and exploration sometimes leads to players dying from fall damage. Spirit Springs that are scattered through the map allow players to survive falls that would normally kill them within a certain range of the Spirit Spring. However, some of the Spirit Springs had a range that was much shorter than others. Patch 1.03 fixed the Spirit Springs in Caelid so they now have a larger range of effect and behave properly.
The Pit In The Impaler's Catacombs Properly Kills Elden Ring Players
Because the range of the kill box didn't cover the full floor of one pit in the Impaler's Catacombs, Elden Ring players could survive the fall. However, players who survived the fall would die when they tried to leave the pit because they would run into the kill box. Developers solved this issue in patch 1.03 by giving the kill box the proper range to cover the full floor of the pit. Now, players don't need to worry about losing their runes in the pit.
The 9999 HP Illusory Wall Is Now Unbreakable In Elden Ring
Volcano Manor is full of dark secrets, but this illusory wall is more fun than it is dark. This wall took many more hits to break than other breakable objects in the game. The reason seems to be that the developers didn't intend for it to be breakable.
With Elden Ring's patch 1.04, the 9999 HP illusory wall is now a normal, unbreakable wall. While this would be simple enough to add into the patch notes, perhaps the developers don't want players searching for more walls that shouldn't be - but are - breakable.
The Old Altus Trolls In Elden Ring Have The Right Parameters
The trolls found outside of the Old Altus Tunnel in Elden Ring no longer have low HP or wear their cloaks. The Old Altus Trolls had incorrect parameters, which caused them to have the wrong stats. Developers fixed this in patch 1.03, so the Old Altus Trolls are different, but they now behave as originally intended.
Elden Ring Nerfed The Fallingstar Beast
While players might not be happy about Elden Ring's quiet boss nerfs, this nerf to the Fallingstar Beast is a little different. This encounter wasn't mean to be as difficult as it was at launch, as the Fallingstar Beast in the Selia Crystal Tunnel wasn't meant to behave like the full-grown version. Because of this, the Fallingstar Beast was nerfed in patch 1.03 to the version of the enemy that developers intended it to be, which no longer includes a second phase for the fight.
Elden Ring Nerfed Group Boss Fights
Group bosses are now easier in Elden Ring due to changes in the behaviors of the group bosses. With patch 1.04, the boss who isn't the primary attacker in a group boss fight will be less aggressive and do more standing back. The other change is that fewer bosses can be considered the primary attacker, so the player will have more breathing room in these fights because they aren't being constantly attacked. Not all of the group bosses received these changes, so the nerf wasn't done across the board. Why the developers didn't include changes to some boss AIs in the patch notes for 1.04 remains unknown.
Elden Ring is massive and full of secrets, like a hidden trick to make Torrent faster. It's expected that such a large game would not be glitch or bug free at launch, and will likely never be free from them. Patches are necessary to keep Elden Ring running smoothly and as the developers intended it to run. Yet, some of these hidden changes made the game easier. Developers could very well make the game more difficult with hidden changes in a future Elden Ring patch.
Source: illusory wall/YouTube
