Elden Ring has just received its 1.04 update, and it's a bigun - over one gigabyte. As well as quest updates, weapons buffs, spell nerfs, and other tweaks and fixes, the game now also features a tutorial for the tutorial. It appears many players completely missed it, and the developers would rather you learn the basics before setting off into The Lands Between.
Now, when you walk toward the hole that leads to the Cave of Knowledge, a prompt pops up onscreen that reads, "Jump down the hole ahead, and you will find the Cave of Knowledge. There, you can learn more about game controls and basic actions, as well as other tips that may be helpful during your adventures in the Lands Between."
This is useful, as despite the ghost telling new players to go into the dark pit, many thought this was FromSoftware's attempt at trolling them into an early death, so a lot of people never went down there.
One incredibly useful tip you'll learn down there is that jump attacks break the invisible poise bars all enemies have. Heavy and two-handed attacks also help to break this, and good news Strength builds, they just got a buff.
The attack speed of colossal swords and weapons has been increased, and their recovery time lowered. meaning they'll hit a lot faster overall. Two-handing weapons of these varieties will also result in higher attack damage. The guard rate and guard boost has also been improved, meaning you can survive for longer without a shield.
Many spells and incantations have had their cast speed increased but their recovery time lowered. Some will now also allow you to sustain more attacks while you're casting without breaking the spell.
Many weapon skills have also had changes, but the perfect Ground Slam remains unchanged. Good. You can beat the game using Ground Slam alone, so it's clearly perfect.
There are also standard bug fixes, including one that allowed unauthorised items to be passed on to players. No more bannable panties.
Read the full patch notes here.