Summary
At this point,Elden Ringhas become a well-established game. Having sold over twenty million copies in the year and a half since its release, many players have completed their first runs through the Lands Between and shared their experiences with others. The community’s accumulated online knowledge is about as complete as it can get, and PvP got some appreciated support in the form of the Colosseum update.Elden Ringhas some DLC coming, but it’s only going to add more to a game that is, by all accounts, complete.
With that said, excitement for that DLC is still high. Titled Shadow of the Erdtree, this major expansion is set to add hours to an already content-rich open world RPG. Fans don’t know much about it yet, only having an enigmatic poster with figures resemblingMiquella, Torrent, and a seemingly withered Erdtreeto theorycraft with. On the bright side, as much if not more content can be expected fromElden Ring’s expansion as the DLC of past Souls titles. In particular, this DLC is expected to bring a healthy assortment of new weapons toElden Ring, as it ought to if the game’s meta builds are to finally be shaken up.
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Stagnation Is Evident in Elden Ring’s Most-Used Weapons
DiscussingElden Ring’s meta is complex, involving both PvE and PvP aspects as well as player preference. AmongElden Ring’s 308 weapons, very little is totally unviable, and all the armor pieces, accessories, spells, Ashes of War, Spirit Ashes, and buffs available means that build variety will never be an issue. No twoElden Ringweapon tier listsare identical, and split lists for each stat are often used to accommodate the different priorities they encourage. With the initial waves of memetic weapons like the Moonveil and Rivers of Blood katanas having been toned down in patches, there’s still room for them in many builds.
Of course, there’s still a pool of weapons considered to beElden Ring’s best, and a significant number of them include names players have been seeing since the game’s first month. None of the aforementioned katanas have left the realm of viability, andRivers of Blood still stands with the Reduviaas staples of Bleed builds. The Blasphemous Blade can carry just about anyone throughElden Ring’s toughest fights, and even the simple Greatsword has only improved in effectiveness as all slow, strength-oriented weapons received buffs. That’s not even getting into the Intelligence-focused weapons. As much asElden Ring’s meta has changed, much of it has stayed the same.
How Shadow of the Erdtree Can Freshen Up Elden Ring’s Builds
It’s fortunate that the DLC is coming to shake things up, since there’s only so many nerfs a popular weapon can get before it risks becoming too weak. FromSoftware DLC is known for frequently introducing the strongest weapons in the game, though it will be interesting to see how that manifests inElden Ringconsidering how strong its options already are. The amount ofdamage an optimizedElden Ringbuild generatesis unlike anything most FromSoftware titles have seen, so the developer will have to go wild with difficulty and equipment strength to match it this time.
At the very least, top tier weapons being shaken up will be good forElden Ring’s health in the short term. The best of the best for each stat, like theGreatsword, Uchigatana, Blasphemous Blade, Moonveil, and Rivers of Blood, are far too wide-spread. Even with plenty of other weapons proving strong, they are still seen everywhere. Introducing variety to the average player’s build is the best thing Shadow of the Erdtree could do, and hopefully that’s exactly what FromSoftware has in mind for it.
Elden Ringis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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