Michael Beckwith 
The newest Elden Ring patch has made efforts to tone down the difficulty of Consort Radahn, the final boss of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
Elden Ring already had a reputation for being extremely tough, though this was par for the course when it came to FromSoftware games. However, even longtime fans of the studio’s work were taken aback by how challenging the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and its boss fights wound up being.
FromSoftware has spent the last several months patching the DLC, not just to iron out some issues but to also re-balance some weapons and enemies. This now includes adjusting the difficulty the DLC’s final boss. Since this is deals with endgame content, be warned the rest of the article will contain spoilers.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC final boss changes, including multiple nerfs
Consort Radahn’s attacks deal less stamina damage and the range of some of his moves have been reduced.
While the patch notes for version 1.14 of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree don’t go too deeply into the specifics, it’s easy to pick out how the changes will nerf Consort Radahn in practice. Here’s the full lineup of changes to the fight listed in the patch notes:
- Changed the action pattern when the battle starts
- Adjusted some attack moves
- Decreased the damage of some attacks
- Decreased stamina damage of some attacks
- Decreased the attack range of some non-weapon-based attacks
- Improved the visibility of some attack effects
For starters, the patch notes state Radahn’s action pattern at the start of the fight has been changed; something that will likely be welcome news among most Elden Ring players. Radahn no longer instantly leaps at players when they pass through the fog wall. Instead, he takes a few seconds before exploding toward the Tarnished.
Some of Radahn’s actual attacks have also been tweaked. Not only do they deal less damage, both to players’ health and stamina, but some effects are more visible. No doubt to make it easier to dodge them in time. The biggest change players will recognize is that Radahn’s sword swings are much slower during the first phase, making it much easier to get through the first half of the fight.
Some of Radahn’s non-weapon based attacks have had their range nerfed, too. During the second phase of the fight, the second wave of holy damage after his moves has a smaller AOE. This is particularly helpful when playing with summons, as it allows caster builds to have a greater degree of safety.
All in all, this should make for a much fairer fight, though don’t expect it to be a total cakewalk. Players who are still struggling have multiple strategies for cheesing Radahn for anyone who finds themself still struggling to defeat him, including a one-hit kill.
Naturally, Elden Ring players who beat Consort Radahn before the patch are bragging about the achievement on social media. However, it seems plenty of others are thrilled with the changes.
This wasn’t all the patch changed, either. Elsewhere in the patch notes, Bandai Namco and FromSoftware listed changes for PvP gameplay and the main game. The full patch notes can be found on Bandai Namco’s website.
