Lords of the Fallen patch v.1.1.224 continues Hexworks’ mission to revamp the new soulslike, further cementing that by the time the team is done, we’ll be looking at a completely different game. Between some sizable changes to the New Game Plus mode that sets it apart from the genre-defining Dark Souls and welcome improvements to enemy leashing, LOTF is getting better all the time.
I love Lords of the Fallen. The new ideas from Hexworks are excellent, but some flawed designs and a case of copying FromSoftware hold it back – we all like games like Dark Souls, but Lords of the Fallen might perhaps benefit from some more ideas of its own. Hexworks has been listening to feedback though, and multiple points from my very own Lords of the Fallen review are being addressed.
First up, improvements are coming to Lords of the Fallen New Game Plus across the board. As of right now when starting a NG+ run you can choose to have all of the world remain at the same level as the last playthrough and still keep your gear, but reset all the NPCs and story, allowing “trophy hunters and completionists to seek out any outstanding tasks without having to contend with increased difficulty.”
On Thursday, October 26 another patch will completely overhaul NG+, and now instead of the world having no Vestiges (Lords of the Fallen’s bonfires), each run will see the number of Vestiges drop slightly. Hexworks says this means “our initial vision remains intact but is more of a gradual adaptation, awaiting those who seek increasing levels of challenge.”
The biggest improvement – on the way by the end of this year, and likely to set Lords of the Fallen truly apart from Dark Souls – is a NG+ modifier system. You’ll get to choose enemy randomizers, a permadeath mode, and customize how many Vestiges are in the game. Hexworks says the feature isn’t “fully defined” yet, but that it will be released “before the end of the year.”
NG+ improvements aren’t the only reason you’ll need the best Lords of the Fallen weapons, however. Hexworks is improving how hard the enemies chase you down after they aggro you. The game’s leashing system has been further improved so fewer enemies chase you for as long, which Hexworks admits was “relentless.”
There are also going to be fewer enemies in the most difficult areas, and crowd behaviors will be changed to stop enemies from swarming you. This is an upcoming set of changes that directly addresses a complaint I have with the game, as there are too many moments where difficulty is substituted with more enemies for no real reason.
Often when sprinting to a Lords of the Fallen farm vigor spot I’d lose lots of health or just straight up die because there are too many enemies and their AI is unfair, but that’s changing.
You can check out the full Lords of the Fallen patch notes here, which also delve into crossplay and performance improvements.
If you’re exploring LOTF’s Mournstead and need some guidance, we can tell you where to find all of the Lords of the Fallen rune tablets for blacksmith upgrades, alongside how to get each of the Lords of the Fallen endings for 100% completion.
