Elden Ring's pre-Erdtree patch finally gives Torrent a place in the big showdown with the Elden Beast
Who hasn't been yearning to take out the base game's big final boss with a textbook medieval cavalry charge?
Elden Ring's big pre-Shadow of the Erdtree patch dropped this morning, and there's one addition it includes that people - no doubt already giddy with anticipation for the expansion - can't get enough of. You can ride your favourite horse into the Elden Beast.
Just let that last line sink in a minute. Not only has FromSoft made a DLC that's already taken the metascore crown among both games released in 2024 and DLCs released ever, and put out another trailer for you to take in, it's made it possible to bring an animal buddy along for a bit of help once you've slapped up Radagon.
In the notes for patch 1.12, this momentous change is expressed in the following terms: "Added new feature to summon spectral steed during the Elden Beast the boss battle." Quite frankly, that's not spelling out just how cool something is in traditional FromSoft fashion.
Basically, the boss fight that everyone's been saying 'This kinda feels like it was built for you to be able to charge about on a horse in, since you have to spend a bunch of time running around', now lets you charge about on a horse into it. Seriously, once both you and the beast are down to just a titchy little bit of health, you can go full Braveheart, yell that it'll never taker your freedom, and gallop forth into glory.
You'll probably die or just awkwardly bounce off of the beast in the process, but quite frankly you've spent enough time being intelligent and rolling around the big man timing your attacks perfectly. It's time for you to go brainless mode in a fashion that isn't just a club build.
Some players on Reddit are even claiming that a few of the Beast's attacks might well have been rebalanced to better suit you having Torrent if you choose to summon him, which is cool if accurate.
If you're wondering, patch 1.12's other big highlights are the fact that it adds five new hairdos to the game, and makes a bunch of balancing tweaks and adjustments to weapons and skills - with that last part being designed to improve both the PvP and PvE experience.
If you've left your Elden Ring DLC prep to the last minute and are looking for guides to getting anything in the Lands Between done, make sure to check out our huge array of recently updated ones for everything from reaching Mohgwyn Palace to getting Adula’s Moonblade.