Elden Ring developers FromSoftware have heard the community’s cries that Shadow of the Erdtree is too difficult and are throwing a bone at the players, with Calibration Update 1.12.2 seeing buffs aimed at sweetening the Scadutree upgrade system.
With Erdtree’s difficulty having dominated any discussion around the DLC, it’s no surprise that FromSoftware has decided that it was time for a “calibration update”, sending patch 1.12.2 live on June 24. With this comes a buff to Scadutree Fragments increasing the attack and damage negation it provides. According to the 1.12.2 patch, attack and damage negation have been increased for the first half of the maximum amount of Blessing enhancements, with the second half being more gradual. Along with this, the negation granted by the final level of Blessing enhancements has been slightly increased.
Scadutree Fragments are the new DLC-specific upgrade materials that can increase a player’s attack and defense. There are 20 tiers to the Scadutree Blessings, with the player needing to collect 50 Scadutree Fragments in total to obtain the final blessing. They can be found in various locations across the land of shadow.
Now, with the new buff, the power granted for the first 10 levels has been increased while it tapers off for the remaining 10. Due to this, players should notice a significant rise in power and help them clear the early game bosses a bit easier. Additionally, the last obtainable Scadutree Blessing has also been buffed slightly, helping out those struggling with the later bosses.
According to the Elden Ring wiki, the first blessing level pre-patch rewarded the player with roughly a five percent buff on both attack and defense. This was followed by a linear progression until the last blessing which would ultimately double the attack and half the damage received by the player.
Post-patch, the maximum blessing level increases the damage dealt by over double and protects the player with a 50 percent negation of incoming damage. These are only slight buffs to the initial stats the fragments provided pre-patch; they don’t exactly make the bosses trivial but they do provide an extra edge, especially in the early game.
Elden Ring‘s punishing difficulty is no secret, and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC proudly upholds that tradition. In an interview with The Guardian last week, game director Hidetaka Miyazaki reiterated his design philosophy: Creating a challenging experience that fosters a profound sense of accomplishment upon overcoming it.
Let’s hope this update hopefully makes the Realm of the Shadows a little less daunting for the Tarnished venturing into its depths but still keeps the feeling of achievement that Miyazaki envisioned intact.
