Lords of the Fallen developer Hexworks just released another patch with fixes and performance improvements, but in a twist of fate far less surprising than it should be, the update also introduced pervasive graphical problems to Umbral.
Patch 1.1.326, which went live on Nov. 16, came with a whole host of much-requested changes, including harder bosses and better lock-on—but it’s not all sunshine and roses. The developer made a custom engine improvement aiming to bolster performance in Umbral, but in the process, added tons of egregious pop-in that wasn’t there before.
A CI Games community rep posted the Lords of the Fallen 1.1.326 patch notes to Reddit on the same day. At the time of writing, the top comment and most others are complaining about graphical elements popping in and out throughout Umbral, and after checking myself this morning, they’re absolutely right.
Umbral looks a lot worse than before in the new update. Fans are hoping Hexworks will fix this imminently, but if you’re suffering from the issue, it’s probably worth holding off playing until then. It’s a shame, as the patch also made a few substantial improvements that were sorely needed.
Update 1.1.326 reportedly overhauls all bosses in the game, most of which were given new behaviors, more health, and more damage. On top of this, lock-on now works like a normal Souls game and targets the enemy in the middle of the screen, which players have been requesting since launch. It also introduces separate balancing for PvE and PvP, nerfing Lords of the Fallen’s most broken spells in PvP only. This is a great sign that the developer is listening to the community, and hopefully the start of a positive trend.
That said, Lords of the Fallen is a great game, but it seems like something goes wrong with every update. Hexworks is clearly in it for the long haul, but perhaps the developer should be less hasty and test its patches properly before releasing them.
