Elden Ring dev teases several new features coming with the DLC, including 4 I've wanted since launch and 5 new hairstyles

What you need to know

• Elden Ring, FromSoftware's Game of the Year-winning 2022 fantasy ARPG, is getting a new patch next week just before its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC goes live on June 21.

• The update is scheduled to come on June 20, and will be available after maintenance from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. UTC is completed to implement it.

• Along with bug fixes and balance adjustments, the patch will include several new and improved features.

• Some of these include an Inventory overhaul with a new "Recent Items" tab and icons for newly acquired items, an update for Summoning Pools that makes them carry over into New Game+ cycles and allows you to toggle individual ones from your menu, and five new hairstyles.

As I write this, the long-awaited Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree is exactly one week away from launching on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation. When it does, the expansion's update will add a variety of new and improved features to FromSoftware's award-winning fantasy ARPG — and ahead of its release, the developers have revealed precisely what a number of these will be in a thread on X (Twitter).

First up are some lovely additions to the Elden Ring Inventory menu, including a new tab called "Recent Items" that displays items you've picked up recently during your adventures along with helpful little exclamation point icons for newly acquired loot. I can see the latter being annoying if they persist until you hover over or select them, but overall, both of these features will make it much easier to keep track of your pickups.

Summoning Pools — AKA, the little statues often found near Sites of Grace or before boss encounters you can send your co-op summoning signs to with the Small Golden Effigy — are getting some quality-of-life enhancements, too. You won't have to travel to and reactivate each Summoning Pool in the game every time you start a fresh New Game+ cycle anymore, and you'll also get the ability to toggle specific Summoning Pools in a new Map Functions Menu.

While none of these features and improvements are huge, I've wanted all four of them to come to Elden Ring since it launched in early 2022, so it's great that that's actually happening now. As someone who enjoys frequently being summoned for co-op exploration and boss battles, I'm particularly excited about the Summoning Pool changes; it was a huge chore to have to reactivate every Summoning Pool in New Game+, and now I'll be able to disable ones found before areas and bosses I don't feel like engaging with.

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Oh, and don't worry about being left out, Elden Bling fanatics — there's something coming for you, too. Specifically, the update is adding five new hairstyles to the character creator, with one appearing to be a bangs-over-one-eye do. Along with all the new armor sets Shadow of the Erdtree likely has in store for players, these will give you some new ways to customize the look of your Tarnished champion.

Note that while all of this is being bundled into the update for the DLC, you won't actually need to buy it to get access to the features. Everyone, regardless of whether they own the DLC or not, will be able to make use of them once the patch is out.

Speaking of that, FromSoftware says the update (also considered a day one patch for the DLC) is scheduled to roll out on all Elden Ring platforms on June 20 — a single day before the expansion goes live on June 21. Maintenance to apply it will last from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. UTC that day, so don't plan to get any last-minute Shadow of the Erdtree prep done during those hours.

In addition to the aforementioned features, it's also been said that the patch will bring bug fixes and balance adjustments. Additionally, the developers note some other features will be included in the update too; it's not clear what any of these are yet, but we'll know once the patch notes are published.

Elden Ring is one of the best Xbox games and best PC games of all time, and I strongly recommend picking it up and beginning a playthrough now if you haven't done one already. That way, you'll have some time to experience what 2022's Game of the Year has to offer before the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC launches on June 21. Notably, the expansion is available to preorder on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and Windows PC now, and there's even a Collector's Edition with several awesome collectibles included.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | $34.89 at CDKeys (Xbox)

Elden Ring's upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will take players to the dark and mysterious realm of the Land of Shadow, tasking them to follow in Miquella's footsteps and discover what he's doing there. Get ready for a new map, new bosses, new dungeons, and more.

Also see: Shadow of the Erdtree (PC, $37.09) | Deluxe Edition (PC, $90.89)

Collector's Edition: Bandai Namco Store (€249.99)View Deal