Elden Ring's most comprehensive and faithful fan-made overhaul launches its biggest update yet, with full multiplayer

Nightreign might be the hot topic now, but there are still plenty of reasons to return to Elden Ring proper, especially when the best Elden Ring mods are involved. One of the finest among them is Elden Ring Reforged, which sits behind only Seamless Co-Op, the item randomizer, and The Convergence when it comes to the most-downloaded gameplay overhauls. A more faithful twist that makes tens of thousands of changes to one of the best RPGs on PC in pursuit of "deep engagement with the world," it's just been given its biggest upgrade yet, complete with fully functional online play.

That's right: Elden Ring Reforged 2.0 comes complete with all the online functionality you want, from leaving messages to summoning, invasions, and duels. There's also a brand-new dungeon filled with unique enemies, The Serpentine Depths. "Beneath Mount Gelmir, old blasphemies stir," the team teases. Over in Shadow of the Erdtree's Land of Shadow, putrescence gathers at the Stone Coffin Fissure, which has been "reclaimed by the restless dead." There are plenty of new weapons and spells to discover, including three that fall under the Prince of Death's school. Then you can also expect more bosses and minions, a range of fresh fixes, and even improved support for Linux players.

But what is Elden Ring Reforged all about? If you've never tried it before, the core of its design ethos is "giving the player a great variety of reasons to engage with the game world, imagine and realize a compelling character fantasy through balanced and powerful build choices, and refining Elden Ring's combat system with rich, impactful moment-to-moment decisions and a variety of tools at the players disposal."

In practice, that translates to a major world overhaul including new and updated locations across the entire Elden Ring map. In order to ensure your exploration feels rewarding, the team has manually placed thousands of collectibles and treasures to make sure that "every cleared dungeon, discovered secret, and slain enemy has a genuine payoff." Whether you're clearing out an enemy camp or delving into a deep dungeon, it'll always feel worthwhile.

Your potential to craft the best Elden Ring builds has also been dramatically expanded. Alongside all the additional gear there are fortunes, which act as a way to more firmly define your play style with unique mechanics, boons, and flaws. Character stats have been reworked and weapon affinities expanded, while Ashes of War gain passive boosts. Then you can take things further with the new Runeforging and Curios systems, or utilize the rare Starlight Tokens to unlock capstone items early from the Altar of Anticipation.

Combat has naturally been given a similar pass. There are new mobility options to slide and duck, and you're able to guard or deflect with any weapon if your timing is good. In fact, well-timed inputs will in many cases reward you with 'perfect actions' that improve their speed and resource cost. FP has been rebalanced and is now earned through weapon attacks, left-handed armaments are able to use special moves without stripping away your ability to guard, and status effects such as Madness and Deathblight are viable against "most foes, even bosses."

Beyond this, there's the Reforged codex that lets you 'collect' all of your defeated foes, which has been expanded and refined for the 2.0 update. Bosses can be re-challenged after their defeat at any time. The automatic camera has been improved, especially when dealing with larger foes. The enhanced UI provides clearer information in an appealing way. You can even adjust the level of difficulty to match your tastes, with the team accommodating for "both laid-back and die-hard players."

As for the new multiplayer, it uses a custom server with its own matchmaking, ensuring you can quickly team up with other Reforged players. There's "advanced seamless co-op support," too, delivering one of the best co-op games in a way that suits you. If you want a mod that builds on all the best parts of Elden Ring while attempting to remain largely faithful to the original intent, Reforged is the way to go, and it's now better than ever.

Elden Ring Reforged 2.0 is out now and available as a free download from Nexus Mods. You can find it here, along with instructions on how to install it and get started. With almost a million downloads since its original release in 2022, you'll be in plenty of good company.