Elden Ring PvP Damage Scaling Update References New Maps and Ray Tracing

A new update for Elden Ring has finally separated damage scaling for PvE and PvP. But, in a more interesting tease, the data within the patch appears to hint towards new locations and ray tracing technology.

As revealed in the v1.07 patch notes for Elden Ring, damage scaling for PvE and PvP has been separated, which will allow for different weapons and skills to be balanced for each mode individually. “In the future, this feature may be used to balance weapons, Art, Spell, and Incantation in invading/PvP mode,” publisher Bandai Namco said in a blog post. “Balance adjustments made within this feature will not impact single-player and cooperative play.”

The first PvP-only changes have already been made, including increased stamina attack power for all attacks against guarded foes (except for long-ranged weapons), and a game-wide reduction in the power of Ashes of War. Several incantations have also been nerfed for PvP, including Dragonfire, Rotten Breath, and Agheel’s Flame.

It’s in the update’s data, though, where the most interesting details lie. Data miner Lance McDonald noted on Twitter that “menu strings related to ray tracing features” have been added, suggesting that the lighting and reflections tech may be headed to Elden Ring in a future update.

The IDs are m20 and m45. Notably, IDs can imply what kind of area a map is. m30 maps are side dungeons, m60 is the overworld, and the “main” areas are currently m10 through m19, which means m20 could be a Legacy Dungeon. m45 is interesting because there are no maps in that range. https://t.co/uaN2nXC4eD pic.twitter.com/Wdv2ybW9BA

— Zullie (@ZullieTheWitch) October 13, 2022

Both McDonald and FromSoft content creator ZullieTheWitch have also noted that the data includes references to two new maps that currently do not exist in Elden Ring’s data. Zulli says that their IDs are m20 and m45, and also highlights that the main areas of the game are found on maps m10 to m19, which does point to the newly found m20 potentially being the next “main” area of Elden Ring. “m20 could be Legacy Dungeon,” she said. Is DLC on the horizon?

For more Elden Ring, see how one player defeated Malenia using a level one character and a dance mat, as well as the news of an upcoming Elden Ring board game.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.