This article contains spoilers forElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.
Minor multiplayer or QOL additions notwithstanding, it seemsElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreehas reached the end of its content additions. Coming a couple of years after the launch ofElden Ring, theShadow of the Erdtreeexpansion is the largest piece of DLC that FromSoftware has ever made, and has added tens of hours more to an already gigantic game. While some decisions made inShadow of the Erdtreehave stirred up some controversy, the DLC as a whole has been welcomed into FromSoftware’s library as a fitting companion piece toElden Ringitself.
Set in the mysterious Land of Shadow,Shadow of the Erdtreesees players assisting a group of Miquella’s followers in tracking the elusive Empyrean. Plenty of new foes and discoveries are found along the way, as well as scattered Scadutree Fragments, which are tied toSotE’s unique progression system. These, combined with the generally high difficulty ofShadow of the Erdtree, have sparked arguments in the fandom about whether FromSoftware went too far this time with its hostile Soulslike design. Many complaints were directed at the abnormally hard final boss in particular, but a recent update shows that FromSoftware may have taken the right lessons away from the experience.
Explaining The Final Boss Changes In Shadow of the Erdtree’s Latest Patch
The version 1.14 update was released on June 27, 2025, and was mostly concerned with balance adjustments and bug fixes. However, the section at the top of the patch notes not only used a unique subheading but was specifically advertised on social media due to its subject. To the surprise of many, adjustments were made to thefinal boss ofShadow of the Erdtree, and they include:
Increasing Radahn’s Fairness Was More Important Than Reducing His Difficulty
While these changes may sound extreme, the fight against Promised Consort Radahn is still a brutal test of skill and strategy. Arguably the biggest change is the reduction of light beams in Radahn’s second phase, creating more safe spots while also improving the readability and performance of the fight. Even ifSotERadahn is stillElden Ring’s toughest boss, he feels more surmountable now, and that’s a major improvement. Pre-patch Consort Radahn was a ludicrous jump in difficulty over everything before him, but was also so flashy and oppressive that players had trouble improving in the fight. Hopefully, that won’t be an issue with FromSoftware superbosses going forward.
How This Elden Ring Update Could Affect FromSoftware’s Future
In an interview afterShadow of the Erdtree’s launch, FromSoftware head Hidetaka Miyazaki stated thatElden Ringrepresented the limitof the studio pushing its projects’ scale. Consort Radahn could in turn be said to represent the furthest reaches of acceptable Souls hostility, and also why going too far with it can be a bad thing. Now that FromSoftware has acknowledged this with update 1.14, it’s unlikely that it will ever tune its difficulty this high again.
As the next FromSoftware title hasn’t been announced yet, it’s too soon to say exactly how this Radahn nerf will affect its output going forward. Combined with Miyazaki’s statement, there may be a reduction in Soulslikes on the developer’s release schedule going forward. While hardcore-oriented design has always been in FromSoftware’s DNA,Armored Core 6and thestudio’s underappreciated franchises from beforeDemon’s Soulsdemonstrate plenty more ways to express that than continually escalating encounter difficulty. At the very least,Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreeplayers shouldn’t need to worry about another boss matching Consort Radahn’s speed, range, damage, visibility, and so on, anytime soon.
