With the next DLC for Elden Ring still in the realm of fan speculation, FromSoftware may want to look into what some players are asking and their in-game behavior to expand on the already massive game. In particular, the developer needs to look at the way players have dived into it Elden Ring‘s PVP mechanics, often testing their in-game skills against other players.
An interesting opportunity that FromSoftware can look into to improve PVP in Elden Ring when the next DLC drops, it will continue to pull from a feature introduced in the original dark souls. This would be the PVP arena that first appeared in the dark souls DLC Artorias of the Abyssincluding the battle of Stoicism.
History of Dark Souls PVP Arenas
PVP’s invasion system made famous in the dark souls series has made a few attempts to change this more chaotic to focus better on how players are able to battle each other. In some cases, this meant giving players the chance to participate in certain boss battles, such as: Dark Souls 2‘s Looking Glass Knight. However, for players looking for a more even duel that would offer the chance to really test their skills against players rather than exploitable AI, a few PVP areas started to build up purely through community focus.
These popular PVP locations quickly changed when the first DLC in the series brought the Oolacile Township dark souls, right after the fight against Artorias the Abysswalker. Within this location is the Battle of Stoicism, a massive PVP arena in which players can match up with others who want to fight on an equal footing. However, this arena was almost immediately vacated before the start of the Oolacile Township itself, partly due to the long playing time and limited duel opportunities.
This same concept was explored again in Dark Souls 3 with the Hollow Arena, which was certainly more successful than the Battle of Stoicism, but is still often ignored for other popular dueling locations. Then there’s the fact that neither the Hollow Arena nor the Battle of Stoicism can cause the same itch as the high-stakes invasion system of dark souls. In this case, the next time FromSoftware wants to implement a special PVP location for another title, the best place to start is by going through the limits on game modes.
A special PVP arena for Elden Ring
From the history of the FromSoftware catalog with the dark souls series, special PVP locations are certainly popular among players. However, the locations that often make the biggest impression on fans of PVP in these titles are generally chosen by players rather than designed entirely by the developer. This is often because the locations usually created by FromSoftware are little more than a large plot where players can place dark soulsBest PVP builds on the test without external factors.
In the case of an attempt to introduce an area to devote to PVP in Elden Ring, the first place to start should be to make this arena unlike any other place in the Lands Between. Some examples of how you can make these areas stand out is to include environmental hazards, rather than just empty rings where players only have their own gear to battle with. Giving players access to everything from slingshots to something akin to Radahn’s rain arrows, these arenas would be worth choosing over other popular locations.
Likewise, with the new locations that many of the dark souls DLC often brings to their respective games, these arenas can also contain places that could be important for Elden Ring‘s lore, but wouldn’t offer much in the way of gameplay. Areas like the old versions of Farum Azula or the Badlands where Godfrey took his Long March can be explored through PVP arenas, even if these environments wouldn’t be complete enough to explore otherwise. In addition to new environments and the ability to deal with hazards, Elden Ring should also push this type of PVP even further by introducing different game modes in these arenas.
PVP game modes in Elden Ring
Looking at the PVP in Elden Ringthere are a few obvious choices for game modes such as Duel and Brawl modes already available for Dark Souls 3‘s Hollow Arena. However, as was the case with the original versions of these arenas, this still wouldn’t take the itch from players who enjoy invading others and halting their progress. So, in the case of developing a game mode for: Elden Ring PVP, finding a way to include invasion in these duels is arguably the best method to proceed.
In the case of creating an invasive game mode, a rework of the DLC of Dark Souls 2 could be one of the best places to start. Namely, the multiplayer gloves that were included in Dark Souls 2, with boss fights waiting after a group of players make their way through enemy-filled corridors. While these areas haven’t gotten too old now that most players have switched to Elden Ring and the older one dark souls servers are under maintenance, the concept can be used to create an invader-controlled gauntlet with another player as the boss at the end.
This type of arena can accommodate any type of player, from honorable duels to… Elden Ring‘s more toxic PVP fans, the chance to take on a challenge for someone else as only developers normally do. The result can also put a twist on both the person performing the gauntlet and those waiting at the end, forcing each player to tackle area management and survival skills to reach or stop the boss fight. It’s a way of player control that normally only exists in the modded versions of these titles, but could go a long way in creating a dedicated area for PVP that’s more interesting to interact with than just wide arenas in late game locations.
Elden Ring is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
0 Comments