If you've enjoyed this mod and feel like supporting my work, you can now tip me on Ko-fi. Donations are 100% voluntary and at no point will this or any of my mods or their features be paywalled.
I also want to make it very clear that this mod was not originally my creation, since I think that can be an important factor in terms of choosing to support me. While I have spent hundreds of hours updating and expanding this mod (including the whole concept of Progression Mode), the initial mod and framework was created by RepO98 and I have no intention of taking credit for that. Only donate if you feel my additions deserve it.
Before reporting an issue, make sure you have fully read the Installation and Caution sections in the description tab here, as they cover many of the possible causes of problems that may arise when running the mod. For a quick summary:
Make sure you're using Mod Engine 2 correctly by following the instructions exactly. A part that people often get wrong is that you have to copy the CONTENTS of the "mod" folder into Mod Engine's "mod" folder, and not the folder itself. You should also make sure Mod Engine's mod folder is completely empty beforehand. Also, Steam must be running in the background with a copy of the game owned there for the game to launch via Mod Engine. For any other Mod Engine issues, I recommend checking out its readme file for an alternative install method, although this would point towards some issue with your Windows file permissions or possibly antivirus software blocking Mod Engine.
If you still have issues, I recommend reading my Mod Engine 2 usage guide thoroughly, which goes step by step into how to use mods with ME2.
Run the mod on its own and without any other mods to rule out conflicts. This is not a mod you can just merge automatically due to all the changes to event scripts, map data and talk menus.
Make sure you start a new character from scratchwith the mod installed, and don't use it in the vanilla game. Many necessary event scripts in the mod only run at the very start of the game, and event flags already set with a vanilla character will interfere with how the mod works.
Beyond that, if you get an error about corrupted save data or similar when launching the mod, try the following steps:
Make sure the game is fully up to date on Steam. In some cases, verifying your game files may be required to fully update the game.
Launch the game normally via Steam.
Reach the title screen until you see the options "New Game", "Load game", etc.
Quit the game and try to run the mod again.
For anything else not covered above or in the description, feel free to make a post here or file a bug report and I'll do my best to help you out. In that case, please include the following information:
Version of the mod you're using (Sandbox / Progression + version number).
If you're using any optional modifiers, and which.
If the issue is something like a crash/freeze, check first if the issue also happens in the unmodded game, whenever possible.
- Where are the Scadutree Fragments/Revered Spirit Ash?
By default in Sandbox Mode, DLC enemy stats have been rebalanced around the player having Scadutree level 0, and even if you upgrade it, it will have no effect anyway. If you want to restore the vanilla mechanics (including enemy stats and player buffs), you need to use the optional modifier "Restore Scadutree Blessing mechanics" included with the mod. Note that Progression Mode keeps the regular game's mechanics from the start so this modifier does not exist there.
- Why is (insert boss here) not spawning when I select it?
While there is always the possibility of a bug in the mod, boss initialization issues are most likely caused by playing the mod with a character that was already used in the vanilla game. The mod cannot possibly account for every single event flag that may have been enabled, which is again why you must start a new character to play the mod. Not only that, but the mod also makes many changes to event flags which can potentially softlock a vanilla character if you accidentally load it with the mod installed, which is why backing up your saves before using the mod or using Alt Saves is extremely recommended.
- What happened to the auto-scaling options from older versions of the mod?
These options were quite buggy, had unintended side effects even when not using them, and were very tough to balance properly, so I decided to remove them. I recommend you instead use the tools the mod already gives you to balance difficulty both up and down, such as being able to level up and upgrade weapons freely as well as increasing the NG+ cycle. NG+ has been rebalanced so that earlier enemies offer more of a challenge, so it works much better for endgame level characters than the vanilla game.
- Can I use this mod with (insert mod here)?
It depends on how much the other mod changes. Boss Arena makes extensive changes to the \map, \event, \msg and \script folders, as well as regulation.bin, all of which are vital for it to work properly. It also changes \menu but that only modifies the title screen, so it's not critical and can be safely overwritten. While regulation.bin changes from other mods may be able to be merged into this one (as long as their modified rows don't conflict), any mod that touches the specified folders would require manual work and potentially knowledge of how mods work internally in order to combine the changes from both mods.
- Is the mod compatible with Seamless Co-op?
While I have no actual experience playing the mod in Seamless Co-Op, other people have reported that it works, although there may be bugs due to how Seamless handles event flags. Right below this post you can find another pinned post explaining how to use both mods together. Just be aware that I cannot fix any bugs that may arise from using Seamless.
- What do the levels next to the boss names mean?
These levels are based on the internal stat multiplier that the game uses to scale enemies based on the area they're in (generally). They're just meant as a general indication of the expected progression. A decent approximation for the base game bosses is to multiply that value by 7 to get a rough recommended player level for that boss in NG. Likewise dividing the value by 2 gives you a decent idea of what smithing stone tier you should be using at that point.
- Where is the Miquella's Followers fight from the DLC?
The setup for this fight is very complex and works in a completely different way from other boss fights, as it's not really a boss fight but rather a pseudo-invasion event. There are no plans for adding this fight to Boss Arena.
- Progression Mode: Item X is missing!
In Progression Mode, by default you won't get every item just by beating every boss once. You will get 2 sets of unique drops the first time you defeat them in NG, but bosses have between 3 and 7 sets of unique drops. To get every item you have to go into NG+, and the higher the NG+ cycle, the greater the chances of obtaining new items, as the way the RNG works means it can land on items you already own, and NG+ cycles increase the amount of dice rolls. See this spreadsheet for a full list of items dropped from bosses in Progression Mode. (Obviously this spreadsheet does not apply if you're using the fully randomized drops modifier). There is also an option to disable randomization entirely so that you get all items from a boss on the first defeat.
Disclaimer: I cannot fix any bugs that may occur as a result of using Seamless Co-Op! 1) Install Boss Arena into Mod Engine 2 as described in the instructions for this mod, and verify it works properly.
2) Download the latest version of Seamless Co-Op from here, and extract the .zip file.
3) Copy the "SeamlessCoop" folder and paste it into Mod Engine 2's root folder, where launchmod_eldenring.bat and modengine2_launcher.exe are:
4) Inside the SeamlessCoop folder, open ersc_settings.ini with a text editor like Notepad and set your password in the cooppassword field, towards the bottom of the file. Save the changes.
5) Go to the root Mod Engine 2 folder, and open config_eldenring.toml with a text editor:
6) Locate the "external_dlls = [ ]" line that does not start with a # and, in between the brackets, add the following (including quotes): "SeamlessCoop\\ersc.dll"
So the whole line should look like: external_dlls = ["SeamlessCoop\\ersc.dll"]
7) Save the changes in the text file.
8) Run launchmod_eldenring.bat. It should launch the game with both mods included.
9) Rest at the Roundtable Hold Site of Grace to receive the Seamless Co-Op items.
Any chance you could tell me how to increase the drop rewards from each boss? I really just want to double the rewards is all. Im willing to use darkscript or Smithbox, I can kinda see what it might be in darkscript but I really am not sure. If you could tell me what line to change I can do it easy peasy. (This would be for fully randomized drops in progression mode btw)
So the item drop randomization is just a brute force method - higher NG+ cycle = more rolls (randomly picking a flag out of ~1000 each time). Based on that, doubling the amount of rolls for a given game cycle will generally double the amount/likelihood of drops, but in any case they will always get more rare with time because the system does not account for item flags that were already rolled before. If you already got that item, then tough luck, you get nothing for that roll. So the fewer unobtained items remain, the lower the chances of getting something.
Anyway, the idea would basically be to open the mod in DarkScript3 and increase the amount of rolls in the event script. For fully randomized drops, the relevant events are 90001050-90001054 in common_func.emevd, and 99991050-99991054 in common.emevd (the events in both scripts are carbon copies of each other aside from the event IDs, this is an ugly workaround for enemy randomizer compatibility and the common.emevd events really only apply to 2 DLC bosses). Each event handles a different set of NG+ cycles. For example, here's event 90001050 for fully randomized drops in base NG:
The highlighted portion is the code you would have to copy and paste immediately ahead (but before the SetEventFlagID(1049302620, ON) line!) in order to add another roll to that game cycle. You can copy it as many times as you want, or at least until you reach the conditions limit of EMEVD which would probably be unreasonable anyway.
Honestly that whole code chunk should just be its own separate event that can be called repeatedly for each roll, but well, you know what they say about not fixing what isn't broken. ^^; I was much newer to EMEVD when I wrote this part and it shows.
Hopefully that's clear enough to help you make your changes.
Note that I've changed the RNG logic in the latest update, so if you're still playing the mod, you may not want to update if you want to keep your changes and don't care about the additions.
Otherwise, if you want to apply that change to the new version, the relevant events are now 90001051 (if you own the DLC or manually enable DLC drops) and 90001053 (if not). All you'd have to do is add more rolls to the start of each event, since the first block is guaranteed to run in every NG cycle. Just make copies of the highlighted part and keep them before the "//end event if ng" comment.
This mod is amazing! There's only 1 nitpick I have about it though: The rewards screen after you defeat the boss kinda fades quickly and it's a tad difficult to catch/see what items you got. I wish the rewards screen lingers a little longer before you get teleported back to the Roundtable.
Often you get more items than can fit in one screen anyway, so the recommendation is to check your inventory at the Roundtable with the "new items" tab enabled in options.
You're asking if I can make another version of the mod just to remove content...? I'd say it makes more sense to ignore the bosses you don't care about.
Rather, mark next to their names in “()” that it is a copy-paste boss or add a separate tab with story bosses. Doing the same boss for the umpteenth time is tedious, especially with boss rush. And not removing content.
The Remembrance Bosses and Great Enemies categories are already pretty much all unique bosses, no? Most if not all repeated bosses should be in the Minor Bosses category.
There's an included Boss Rush for remembrance bosses as well, and you can even make your own sequences with a bit of work (see tutorial linked in the mod description).
If you're talking about Progression mode then that's just kinda how the mod works, and even there you don't have to fight everything.
This mod has been a lot of fun so far and I can only think of one thing I really want added. It's a great way to practice on bosses before a challenge run or have fun on different builds before investing hours getting the specific gear for it in the actual game.
That being said, I've tried numerous ways to get to the Leda NPC fight right before PC Radahn and so far none have worked. To my knowledge there's no warp to the cleansing chamber via Gideon unless I'm massively overlooking it. Trying to backtrack from the PC Radahn warp almost worked; the white fog wall preventing you from skipping the encounter on a normal playthrough appeared, locking me from entering the room, and Leda gave her monologue with her red summon sign appearing after she had left. There wasn't a way to actually get IN the room, though, since the fog wall had appeared as I went down the stairs that usually leads up to the Radahn arena. Grabbing the site of grace after Romina before being warped back to the roundtable did not work out either, as the sealing tree still needed to be burnt in order for the vanilla warp to Enir-Ilim to trigger and Kalé (also to my knowledge) does not sell Messmer's kindling. Killing the Dancing Lion in Belurat does not make a grace appear in the stage room, so traveling to Enir-Ilim through the side door on the right has not worked since I get warped back to roundtable before I can get to a site of grace.
I'd really love to replay that NPC fight with different builds/strategies! Dryleaf Dane has his own warp in Moorth ruins, probably because he has an actual boss health bar during it whereas Leda and her allies do not. If I'm overlooking something obvious I would be happy to be corrected.
The Leda fight is not in the mod because I was never able to figure out a way to make it repeatable. It works under completely different mechanics than other boss fights since it's actually a pseudo-invasion event.
Hey, thank you for creating this mod, the amount of polish and quality of life features in it is just insane to me.
I have two questions regarding the boss scaling in the DLC boss tiers:
1. Did you intend for the player to have the lvl1 scadutree blessing that is instantly awarded when you "unlock"/kill Mohg and given to the player as long as you click the option in the menu? I clicked it "on accident" because I didn't know that it would immediately level the blessing level up, am I right to assume that this essentialy gave me 5% damage/defense that you didn't intend the player to have, or did you balance around it (since it appeared after killing Mohg)/are these stats somehow "disabled" in the background?
2. Regarding the boss rebalance, I have read the response where you explained how you modified the bosses to not require the scadutree blessing mechanic and gave Bayle as an example, and from the fights I did you were 100% right on the mark with the damage requirements/their health, honestly the fights in terms of boss health seem better than any of the fights in the default game. What makes me wonder is the boss damage. The blessing mechanic aside from giving damage also gives damage negation, so from what I noticed it seems that comparing to my regular character that had ~70% damage negation by Radahn in the mod I have something around ~45% damage negation and I can clearly feel the difference while trying DLC bosses, they in general hit WAY harder with similar gear. Did you do any sort of rebalancing in regards to the boss damage? How do you feel about their current damage numbers, to me it seems a bit too high where now you get two-hit killed by much more boss combos instead of being able to survive with a sliver of health, at least from what I have tested on Radahn and Rennala.
1) Yes, unlocking DLC tier 1 gives you 1 or 2 Scadutree Fragments so you can get a bit of a headstart. I actually added this in an update because even the easier bosses in that tier were still kinda rough at level 0, I'd say the game pretty much expects you to have at least lv1 by the time you fight any boss. The confirmation prompt for using these and flask upgrades was also removed for fluidity.
2) I rebalanced both health and damage, and in my experience (testing mainly against Consort) I was receiving pretty much the same damage at Scadu lv0 after the rebalance as I did at lv20 without it. But still, it's not gonna be mathematically perfect or anything.
But that said... to be clear, the rebalance only applies to Sandbox mode, where the Scadutree mechanics were disabled by default. Progression mode has the exact same stats as vanilla since it still keeps those mechanics and you're expected to use the blessings. So if you're talking about Progression, any differences you're seeing are not caused by the mod.
Oh wow, that would explain it I guess, I just now realized that scadutree fragments are on the drop table. Thanks for the reply! Funny how the game feels more balanced when there is no damage increase from the scadutree fragments, I still somehow managed to kill Metyr while having +1 blessing and dealt decent damage with Swordspear + Piercing fang.
1067 comments
I also want to make it very clear that this mod was not originally my creation, since I think that can be an important factor in terms of choosing to support me. While I have spent hundreds of hours updating and expanding this mod (including the whole concept of Progression Mode), the initial mod and framework was created by RepO98 and I have no intention of taking credit for that. Only donate if you feel my additions deserve it.
Beyond that, if you get an error about corrupted save data or similar when launching the mod, try the following steps:
For anything else not covered above or in the description, feel free to make a post here or file a bug report and I'll do my best to help you out. In that case, please include the following information:
- Where are the Scadutree Fragments/Revered Spirit Ash?
By default in Sandbox Mode, DLC enemy stats have been rebalanced around the player having Scadutree level 0, and even if you upgrade it, it will have no effect anyway. If you want to restore the vanilla mechanics (including enemy stats and player buffs), you need to use the optional modifier "Restore Scadutree Blessing mechanics" included with the mod. Note that Progression Mode keeps the regular game's mechanics from the start so this modifier does not exist there.
- Why is (insert boss here) not spawning when I select it?
While there is always the possibility of a bug in the mod, boss initialization issues are most likely caused by playing the mod with a character that was already used in the vanilla game. The mod cannot possibly account for every single event flag that may have been enabled, which is again why you must start a new character to play the mod. Not only that, but the mod also makes many changes to event flags which can potentially softlock a vanilla character if you accidentally load it with the mod installed, which is why backing up your saves before using the mod or using Alt Saves is extremely recommended.
- What happened to the auto-scaling options from older versions of the mod?
These options were quite buggy, had unintended side effects even when not using them, and were very tough to balance properly, so I decided to remove them. I recommend you instead use the tools the mod already gives you to balance difficulty both up and down, such as being able to level up and upgrade weapons freely as well as increasing the NG+ cycle. NG+ has been rebalanced so that earlier enemies offer more of a challenge, so it works much better for endgame level characters than the vanilla game.
- Can I use this mod with (insert mod here)?
It depends on how much the other mod changes. Boss Arena makes extensive changes to the \map, \event, \msg and \script folders, as well as regulation.bin, all of which are vital for it to work properly. It also changes \menu but that only modifies the title screen, so it's not critical and can be safely overwritten. While regulation.bin changes from other mods may be able to be merged into this one (as long as their modified rows don't conflict), any mod that touches the specified folders would require manual work and potentially knowledge of how mods work internally in order to combine the changes from both mods.
- Is the mod compatible with Seamless Co-op?
While I have no actual experience playing the mod in Seamless Co-Op, other people have reported that it works, although there may be bugs due to how Seamless handles event flags. Right below this post you can find another pinned post explaining how to use both mods together. Just be aware that I cannot fix any bugs that may arise from using Seamless.
- What do the levels next to the boss names mean?
These levels are based on the internal stat multiplier that the game uses to scale enemies based on the area they're in (generally). They're just meant as a general indication of the expected progression. A decent approximation for the base game bosses is to multiply that value by 7 to get a rough recommended player level for that boss in NG. Likewise dividing the value by 2 gives you a decent idea of what smithing stone tier you should be using at that point.
- Where is the Miquella's Followers fight from the DLC?
The setup for this fight is very complex and works in a completely different way from other boss fights, as it's not really a boss fight but rather a pseudo-invasion event. There are no plans for adding this fight to Boss Arena.
- Progression Mode: Item X is missing!
In Progression Mode, by default you won't get every item just by beating every boss once. You will get 2 sets of unique drops the first time you defeat them in NG, but bosses have between 3 and 7 sets of unique drops. To get every item you have to go into NG+, and the higher the NG+ cycle, the greater the chances of obtaining new items, as the way the RNG works means it can land on items you already own, and NG+ cycles increase the amount of dice rolls. See this spreadsheet for a full list of items dropped from bosses in Progression Mode. (Obviously this spreadsheet does not apply if you're using the fully randomized drops modifier). There is also an option to disable randomization entirely so that you get all items from a boss on the first defeat.
Disclaimer: I cannot fix any bugs that may occur as a result of using Seamless Co-Op!
1) Install Boss Arena into Mod Engine 2 as described in the instructions for this mod, and verify it works properly.
2) Download the latest version of Seamless Co-Op from here, and extract the .zip file.
3) Copy the "SeamlessCoop" folder and paste it into Mod Engine 2's root folder, where launchmod_eldenring.bat and modengine2_launcher.exe are:
4) Inside the SeamlessCoop folder, open ersc_settings.ini with a text editor like Notepad and set your password in the cooppassword field, towards the bottom of the file. Save the changes.
5) Go to the root Mod Engine 2 folder, and open config_eldenring.toml with a text editor:
6) Locate the "external_dlls = [ ]" line that does not start with a # and, in between the brackets, add the following (including quotes):
"SeamlessCoop\\ersc.dll"
So the whole line should look like:
external_dlls = ["SeamlessCoop\\ersc.dll"]
7) Save the changes in the text file.
8) Run launchmod_eldenring.bat. It should launch the game with both mods included.
9) Rest at the Roundtable Hold Site of Grace to receive the Seamless Co-Op items.
Anyway, the idea would basically be to open the mod in DarkScript3 and increase the amount of rolls in the event script. For fully randomized drops, the relevant events are 90001050-90001054 in common_func.emevd, and 99991050-99991054 in common.emevd (the events in both scripts are carbon copies of each other aside from the event IDs, this is an ugly workaround for enemy randomizer compatibility and the common.emevd events really only apply to 2 DLC bosses). Each event handles a different set of NG+ cycles. For example, here's event 90001050 for fully randomized drops in base NG:
The highlighted portion is the code you would have to copy and paste immediately ahead (but before the SetEventFlagID(1049302620, ON) line!) in order to add another roll to that game cycle. You can copy it as many times as you want, or at least until you reach the conditions limit of EMEVD which would probably be unreasonable anyway.
Honestly that whole code chunk should just be its own separate event that can be called repeatedly for each roll, but well, you know what they say about not fixing what isn't broken. ^^; I was much newer to EMEVD when I wrote this part and it shows.
Hopefully that's clear enough to help you make your changes.
Otherwise, if you want to apply that change to the new version, the relevant events are now 90001051 (if you own the DLC or manually enable DLC drops) and 90001053 (if not). All you'd have to do is add more rolls to the start of each event, since the first block is guaranteed to run in every NG cycle. Just make copies of the highlighted part and keep them before the "//end event if ng" comment.
Could you do a version without repeating bosses ;)?
There's an included Boss Rush for remembrance bosses as well, and you can even make your own sequences with a bit of work (see tutorial linked in the mod description).
If you're talking about Progression mode then that's just kinda how the mod works, and even there you don't have to fight everything.
That being said, I've tried numerous ways to get to the Leda NPC fight right before PC Radahn and so far none have worked. To my knowledge there's no warp to the cleansing chamber via Gideon unless I'm massively overlooking it. Trying to backtrack from the PC Radahn warp almost worked; the white fog wall preventing you from skipping the encounter on a normal playthrough appeared, locking me from entering the room, and Leda gave her monologue with her red summon sign appearing after she had left. There wasn't a way to actually get IN the room, though, since the fog wall had appeared as I went down the stairs that usually leads up to the Radahn arena. Grabbing the site of grace after Romina before being warped back to the roundtable did not work out either, as the sealing tree still needed to be burnt in order for the vanilla warp to Enir-Ilim to trigger and Kalé (also to my knowledge) does not sell Messmer's kindling. Killing the Dancing Lion in Belurat does not make a grace appear in the stage room, so traveling to Enir-Ilim through the side door on the right has not worked since I get warped back to roundtable before I can get to a site of grace.
I'd really love to replay that NPC fight with different builds/strategies! Dryleaf Dane has his own warp in Moorth ruins, probably because he has an actual boss health bar during it whereas Leda and her allies do not. If I'm overlooking something obvious I would be happy to be corrected.
I have two questions regarding the boss scaling in the DLC boss tiers:
1. Did you intend for the player to have the lvl1 scadutree blessing that is instantly awarded when you "unlock"/kill Mohg and given to the player as long as you click the option in the menu? I clicked it "on accident" because I didn't know that it would immediately level the blessing level up, am I right to assume that this essentialy gave me 5% damage/defense that you didn't intend the player to have, or did you balance around it (since it appeared after killing Mohg)/are these stats somehow "disabled" in the background?
2. Regarding the boss rebalance, I have read the response where you explained how you modified the bosses to not require the scadutree blessing mechanic and gave Bayle as an example, and from the fights I did you were 100% right on the mark with the damage requirements/their health, honestly the fights in terms of boss health seem better than any of the fights in the default game.
What makes me wonder is the boss damage. The blessing mechanic aside from giving damage also gives damage negation, so from what I noticed it seems that comparing to my regular character that had ~70% damage negation by Radahn in the mod I have something around ~45% damage negation and I can clearly feel the difference while trying DLC bosses, they in general hit WAY harder with similar gear. Did you do any sort of rebalancing in regards to the boss damage? How do you feel about their current damage numbers, to me it seems a bit too high where now you get two-hit killed by much more boss combos instead of being able to survive with a sliver of health, at least from what I have tested on Radahn and Rennala.
2) I rebalanced both health and damage, and in my experience (testing mainly against Consort) I was receiving pretty much the same damage at Scadu lv0 after the rebalance as I did at lv20 without it. But still, it's not gonna be mathematically perfect or anything.
But that said... to be clear, the rebalance only applies to Sandbox mode, where the Scadutree mechanics were disabled by default. Progression mode has the exact same stats as vanilla since it still keeps those mechanics and you're expected to use the blessings. So if you're talking about Progression, any differences you're seeing are not caused by the mod.
Funny how the game feels more balanced when there is no damage increase from the scadutree fragments, I still somehow managed to kill Metyr while having +1 blessing and dealt decent damage with Swordspear + Piercing fang.