The infamous final boss of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has been nerfed in the latest patch.
FromSoftware is known for many things, but mercy isn't one of them. Sometimes it really does feel like the developers have it out for you, when you're playing a Soulsborne game.
So after the release of the Elden Ring DLC, it was interesting to see FromSoftware responding to backlash from fans, by making the game slightly easier.
Now, the latest patch includes a nerf to Radahn, the game's hardest boss.
Why Radahn… Again?
This isn't the first time that Radhan has been nerfed. The fight against Radahn in the base game was apparently too challenging for many players, and hence he was originally nerfed just a few weeks after release.
This time, I think it is reasonable to adjust him. This fight took everything I had, with maxed out Scadutree fragments and all other bosses defeated. I think it took me 15 hours to defeat this boss.
This fight is hard, very hard. Though this is not the reason, I think he should be adjusted.
There is one particular move in his kit that annoyed me more than anything else. The cross-slash. This move is so fast, that you can only evade it while standing in a very specific angle to Radahn, or time your rolls perfectly.
You can use a talisman that gives you invincibility frames on your backstep, so you can execute the dodge easier, but that takes away one important talisman slot.
However, I think everything else in this fight was reasonable. So was a nerf the right move?
Are People Missing The Point?
I get that people found this fight to be too hard, but I also feel like half of these people didn't explore the world enough.
FromSoftware puts challenges in front of their players, to incentivize them to look for better gear, flask upgrades and new spells. Hitting a wall, and exploring afterward to find something to break that wall with, is the intended game loop of Elden Ring.
Satisfying an angry mob by nerfing the final boss feels a bit off. I think that it would have been enough to make the cross-slash slower, rather than nerfing the whole boss.
I hope this is the last nerf…