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Elden Ring becomes 'a spectator sport' as the action RPG's latest patch transforms Spirit Ash summons into boss-slaying machines more worthy of becoming an Elden Lord than us
Elden Ring's latest patch has significantly buffed Spirit Ash summons, making them more powerful than ever before, with some players even completing solo playthroughs using only Spirit Ashes.
Elden Ring's new patch buffed almost every single Spirit Ash summon in the game, and it looks like some of them might have been slightly overtuned as they're now wreaking havoc on bosses.
As well as every spirit summon (except for Mimic Tear) receiving attack power and damage negation buffs when leveled up to +8 and higher, alongside when your Shadow of the Erdtree Revered Spirit Ash Blessing is at +5 or higher, 81 out of the 84 Spirit Ashes have been given extra, individual buffs. For many of them, this simply ensures that they "will no longer stagger as easily," but others also got HP and attack boosts.
Clearly, these alterations have made a massive difference to certain summons, as one Reddit user shows off their Horned Warrior Spirit Ashes completely decimating the duo Crucible Knight and Misbegotten Warrior boss in Redmane Castle all by itself. It's not clear how upgraded the Horned Warrior is, but throughout the entire fight, it doesn't even drop below half-health (admittedly, the Golden Vow incantation that the player uses helps here). Not only that, but thanks to its new patch buffs (the aforementioned stagger resistance, as well as an HP boost and increased damage negation to everything but Pierce), it doesn't get staggered once, despite being hit by an onslaught of attacks.
Admittedly, this duo of enemies don't make for the absolute hardest boss fight in the game, but even so, the fact that one summon could defeat them without so much as breaking a sweat is absolutely wild. "Elden Ring is now a spectator sport," another Reddit user concludes.
Even before these changes, some players had managed to pull off solo Spirit Ash playthroughs of Elden Ring, blasting through the action RPG like a bizarre, violent version of Pokemon. Now, though, it seems that those types of runs are even more viable than ever, especially with Spirit Ashes other than Mimic Tear. And hey, remember that there's absolutely no shame in using summons – director Hidetaka Miyazaki personally admits to using "every scrap of aid that the game offers," and he's one of the people who made it.