14 DAY TRIAL // The first major update for Dark Souls II is about to hit Steam, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on February 5, 2015. As previously confirmed by From Software and Bandai Namco, The Scholar of the first Sin will bring lots of changes to the latest installment in the Dark Souls series.
Also called patch 1.10, the major update will be available for free to all Dark Souls II owners and will contain new story elements, as well as gameplay enhancements.
Previous rumors claimed that the update will not add any visual improvements to Dark Souls II and judging from the patch's change log it does look like these rumors might have been confirmed.
Here are some of the changes included in The Scholar of the First Sin patch, which has been confirmed to land on February 5 on all gaming platforms:
- Added new character, The Scholar of the First Sin; - Additional item description text; - Choosing to enter the Covenant of Champions will now allow enemies to continue to respawn after being defeated; - Choosing to enter the Covenant of Champions will now cause enemies to inflict more damage to the player; - Players will gain access to a new item: The Agape Ring. When players equip the new Agape Ring, souls collected from kills during online play will be absorbed by the ring rather than the player. This allows players to control their online matchmaking experience by limiting their total souls collected. - Increased effect of Rusted Coin.
There won't be any visual changes included in patch 1.10
But these are not the only improvements Dark Souls II players will get with the next major update. Some multiplayer-related enhancements will be added as well, such as the ones listed below:
- Host vanquishes invading dark phantom or arbiter spirit: Human Effigy; - Host vanquishes a dark phantom summoned through red sign: Human Effigy; - Host vanquishes invading grey spirit (Bell Keeper): (1 of the following) Titanite Chunk, Titanite Slab, Twinkling Titanite, Petrified Dragon Bone;
- Vanquish host you invade at the covenant “Rat King” area: Added Smooth & Silky Stone in addition to Pharros’ Lockstone.
From Software and Bandai Namco are expected to release Dark Souls 2 – The Scholar of the First Sin Edition sometime this year as well, which will contain all DLCs in the season pass, as well as lots of visual enhancements, which are not available in the patch to be released on February 5.
If rumors are true, the new and improved version of Dark Souls II should be priced like a new game. Anyway, check out below the full list of changes included in patch 1.10.
Also, keep in mind that this is a preparation patch for The Scholar of the First Sin, which is supposed to come in April.
