The updates to Elden Ring since release have ranged from well-received by fans as developer FromSoftware addresses critiques to controversial whenever a popular weapon or spell gets nerfed into the ground. However, Elden Ring's patch 1.09 has continued a different trend from previous updates of weapon rebalancing that has helped to open the game up to more playstyles, as opposed to just nerfing exploits and powerful gear.
Many of these changes are seemingly minor at first, with fractions of seconds taken off of a weapon's recovery time, or shaving a few frames off of the swing of a colossal sword. The impact of these minor buffs comes less from making one weapon so overpowered that it becomes the standard choice for an Elden Ring playthrough, but that it means that some weapons won't be disregarded by players looking to try something new.
Huge Weapons Can Actually Hit Bosses in Elden Ring
In the release version of Elden Ring from 2022, as players started looking for what builds and weapons were the best for making their way through the game, larger weapon options were often left behind by the average player. While it was true that some of these weapons could deal massive damage with each hit, the opportunities to swing them without trading blows with most enemies and bosses were limited. It is this limiting opportunity that FromSoftware has spent the better part of the year fixing with these so-called colossal weapons, slowly making their attacks faster and recovery times shorter.
When it comes down to the utility of a weapon type, these opportunities to get in some attacks can be more important than the raw damage available on any hit or the buildup of status effects and poise breaks. Considering the way that Elden Ring's best bosses can chain combos together from now until the DLC releases, finding the chance to attack without taking a hit is necessary for making it through to the end of the game. So, weapon types like Colossal Swords and Great Hammers having faster attacks and slim recovery times means that they can squeeze into the minor frames between boss combos.
More Elden Ring Weapons are Consistently Becoming Usable
Apart from the giant weapons that FromSoftware has slowly been giving additional utility throughout the last year and ray tracing in Elden Ring's latest update, patch 1.09 has also helped make weapons that haven't been viable in previous games useful. This includes weapons like the whip, which has mostly been seen as a challenging weapon in older FromSoftware titles like the Dark Souls series. However, while the whip has become a strong contender in PvP, the stagger resistance of most general enemies and the inability to repost or backstab makes it difficult to use against AI opponents.
One of the biggest problems with whips has been the recovery time after making most attacks with this weapon type. This often means that committing to an attack with a whip will leave the player open for a quick counter before being able to chain a combo or roll out of the way. It makes this weapon type one that has a surprisingly low number of opportunities to attack, especially considering that Elden Ring's whips don't have the same damage output as other options with as few chances to strike.
There are a few other weapons, like claws and fists, that have flown under the radar for the average player, even if some have managed to become popular for Elden Ring challenge runs for higher-skilled players. So, seeing these weapons start to become more accessible to players that don't ordinarily get through the game with under-leveled weapons or without getting hit means a lot for the variety of experiences that are now available. Especially with the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC on the way, making sure that every weapon is viable will help give any new areas to explore even more impact and weight.
Elden Ring is currently available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
