Elden Ring Tarnished Edition has officially arrived with a surprise update, delivering brand-new classes, customizable horse armor, and massive combat balance shifts to players worldwide.
Key Highlights
- New starting classes added.
- Torrent horse armor unlocked.
- Massive weapon buffs applied.
- Critical bug fixes deployed.
Elden Ring Version 1.17 Patch (Update 1.24 on consoles) launched on August 27, 2026, bringing official support for the brand-new Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 and the standalone Tarnished Pack DLC on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
Here is a complete breakdown of everything included in this landmark update.
Fresh Starting Classes Arrive in the Lands Between
Stepping back into the game feels entirely different thanks to two brand-new starting archetypes. Players diving into the Elden Ring Tarnished Edition can now begin their journey as either the formidable Idus Knight or the heavily armored Heavy Knight.
These classes offer fresh stat distributions and unique starting gear tailored for distinct playstyles. Fortunately, you do not have to start a brand-new save file just to experience these additions. If you are continuing an existing playthrough, FromSoftware has scattered their class-specific armor and weapons directly into the game world.
You can hunt down these new item sets in the wild or simply purchase them from various nomadic merchants on your travels.
Ride in Style With Custom Horse Armor for Torrent
For years, players have asked for a way to customize their trusty spectral steed. The developers have finally answered that call. With the launch of the Elden Ring Tarnished Edition, you can now alter Torrent’s appearance directly from any Site of Grace.
To change your horse's look, you must first discover the new armor sets hidden across the continent. There are currently three distinct styles to collect:
Tree Sentinel Attire: Hidden deep within the treacherous walls of Stormveil Castle.
Silver of Caria Attire: Tucked away in the misty, magic-filled regions of Liurnia of the Lakes.
Funereal Night Attire: Waiting to be uncovered by brave explorers wandering the Altus Plateau.
Face Dangerous New NPC Invasions
The world of Elden Ring has always been a dangerous place, but it just became a little more hostile. This new update introduces two entirely fresh NPC invasion events designed to test your combat skills.
These adversarial red phantoms will aggressively ambush players who venture into specific zones. You will need to keep your guard up while exploring the rotting wilderness of Caelid, as well as the golden streets of Leyndell, Royal Capital. Overcoming these deadly invaders rewards you with unique loot, making the extra danger well worth the risk.
Massive Buffs for Throwing Weapons and Unique Blades
Combat builds are getting a massive shake-up across the board. If you enjoy keeping your distance, throwing weapons have received substantial upgrades in the Elden Ring Tarnished Edition. Weapons like the Smithscript Axe, Smithscript Spear, and the formidable Spear of the Impaler now consume significantly less stamina while dealing much higher throwing damage. The Smithscript Greathammer also received a heavy boost to its throwing power.
Melee fighters have plenty of reasons to celebrate as well. Both the Smithscript Dagger and Rellana’s Twin Blades have had their critical hit power increased. Additionally, the Carian Sorcery Sword has been fixed so that its Intelligence scaling correctly boosts the attack power of all its damage types.
Finally, the Golem Fist received a welcome buff, lengthening the overall range of its unique, fist-launching heavy attack.
A New Era of Power for Perfume Bottles and Shields
If you prefer unorthodox combat styles, you will be happy to hear that FromSoftware has breathed new life into alchemical builds. Perfume Bottles have received universal attack power increases. This major buff applies to all variants in the game, including the Firespark, Lightning, Chilling, Frenzyflame, and Deadly Poison bottles.
Defensive players are also getting a massive upgrade. The patch introduces sweeping, universal buffs to Greatshields and smaller shields alike. Across dozens of variants—including the popular Erdtree, Haligtree, Dragon, and Crucible shields—the developers have increased guard boost values while significantly lowering the equipment weight.
This allows you to block massive boss attacks without ruining your character's roll speed.
Rebalancing Powerful Magic and Parry Mechanics
Magic users and parry masters will notice a distinct shift in how the game flows. For those who rely on tight timing, parry mechanics have been vastly improved. The recovery frames after activating a parry have been reduced when you are using Daggers, Curved Swords, or Small Shields. Furthermore, the Storm Wall skill no longer consumes FP upon activation and boasts a much wider, more forgiving parry window.
Sorcerers can also unleash devastating new spell combinations. Classic spells like Founding Rain of Stars and Carian Retaliation have received direct damage increases.
If you favor cosmic gravity magic, both Meteorite and Meteorite of Astel now feature much faster casting times, allowing you to rain destruction down on bosses before they can close the distance.
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Essential Bug Fixes and Performance Enhancements
Beyond the exciting content additions, this update cleans up a few lingering issues that have plagued the community. For instance, a bug that caused critical hits with Great Katanas to deal lower-than-expected damage against massive boss targets has been completely resolved. A strange glitch that allowed jumping attacks with Great Katanas to be mistakenly parried by opponents has also been patched out.
PC players receive a highly requested quality-of-life fix in this update as well. FromSoftware has finally resolved a prominent camera bug that completely locked mouse-controlled camera movement while talking to NPCs. Navigating conversations with the game's colorful cast of characters is now smoother than ever.
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