FromSoftware’s emergency Elden Ring DLC patch closes a multiplayer duplication issue tied to Tarnished Pack items, with no new content or balance changes included.
Image: vice.com
FromSoftware closes the Tarnished Pack loophole
FromSoftware has released Elden Ring patch 1.17.1 to fix a multiplayer issue that let players obtain DLC-specific items when they were not supposed to be eligible for them. The studio announced the update on the official Elden Ring X account, stating that the patch addresses an issue where, “under specific conditions, DLC-specific items could be obtained when not normally eligible.” FromSoftware also made the scope unusually clear: “No additional content is included.”
That short note is the firmest version of the story. This is an Elden Ring DLC patch aimed at a multiplayer item problem, not a balance pass, content drop, performance update, or quiet expansion of the Tarnished Pack. Eurogamer reported that patch 1.17.1 arrived Tuesday, September 8, on all platforms, and described it as an emergency update whose sole purpose was to plug the DLC item exploit.
The tension is obvious. The Tarnished Pack was meant to broaden the rollout of extras tied to Elden Ring’s Switch 2 Tarnished Edition. Instead, shortly after launch, the conversation shifted to a Tarnished Pack DLC glitch that allowed non-owners to get hold of some of those items for free through multiplayer.
How the Elden Ring duplication glitch reportedly worked
The official patch note does not describe the exploit step by step, which is normal for a fix involving online item eligibility. FromSoftware only confirms that multiplayer conditions allowed DLC-specific items to be obtained by players who were not normally eligible. That leaves the mechanical details to reporting and player accounts.
Eurogamer reported that the Elden Ring duplication glitch worked when a player who owned the DLC joined the world of someone who did not own it, then dropped Tarnished Pack items for the other player to pick up. According to Eurogamer’s account, the key failure was that the item was not removed from the original owner’s inventory, turning a trade into a duplicate.
VICE framed the issue slightly differently, citing player reports that when a Tarnished Edition player joined someone without the new release, exclusive DLC items could automatically appear and spawn in the other player’s world under certain conditions. Those accounts differ on the exact behavior, drop-based in Eurogamer’s version and spawn-based in VICE’s report, but both point to the same confirmed problem: multiplayer sessions were allowing DLC-specific gear to cross an eligibility boundary that FromSoftware did not intend.
For players, that distinction matters less than the fix. Patch 1.17.1 is designed to stop DLC-specific items from being obtained by players who do not meet the normal requirements. It does not, based on the official note, add a new system or change the broader rules of Elden Ring progression.
The rollout problem began with the Tarnished Pack itself
The Tarnished Pack launched on August 27 alongside Elden Ring’s expanded Tarnished Edition for Nintendo Switch 2, according to Rock Paper Shotgun. Eurogamer reported that FromSoftware also released the pack for other platforms so players outside the Switch 2 release could access those extras.
Eurogamer lists the $5 / £4 Tarnished Pack as including two new starting classes, Idus Knight and Heavy Knight, along with new armor sets, weapons, and new Torrent skins. Rock Paper Shotgun similarly described the add-on as containing new starting classes, player equipment, and cosmetic armor for Torrent, the player’s horned mount.
That content mix is part of why the glitch drew such quick attention. Elden Ring’s combat identity is built around commitment: every swing, dodge, flask sip, summon sign, and invasion carries consequence. Item trading has long existed inside that culture of risk and cooperation, but paid DLC gear introduces a sharper eligibility line. When that line breaks in multiplayer, even through a narrow exploit, the result is a small economy problem inside a game where equipment carries mechanical, aesthetic, and community value.
The optics are also unusually delicate for FromSoftware. Rock Paper Shotgun noted the obvious horse armor comparison because the pack includes Torrent cosmetics, a phrase that still echoes back to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’s infamous paid horse armor. The comparison is editorial framing rather than a FromSoftware statement, but it captures why this add-on was going to be scrutinized even before players found a way to duplicate items.
Patch 1.17.1 does not appear to remove item trading
One early concern around Elden Ring patch 1.17.1 was whether FromSoftware had shut down item trading broadly to protect the paid add-on. The available reporting does not support that reading.
Eurogamer reported that the patch fixed the duplication issue but did not prevent item trading altogether. According to that report, items, including DLC-exclusive weapons and armor, can still be traded between players, but doing so should now correctly remove the item from the original player’s inventory. VICE reached a similar practical conclusion, writing that the update appears to target the specific glitch rather than trading as a whole.
That is an important distinction. A total trading lockout would have been a much larger design change, especially for a game whose multiplayer rhythm is built around summons, invasions, gestures, dropped items, and player-made rituals around helping or tormenting strangers. Based on FromSoftware’s official statement and current reporting, patch 1.17.1 is narrower: it closes a path for ineligible DLC acquisition in multiplayer.
Players should also be careful with claims circulating beyond the official note. The official Elden Ring account says no additional content is included. Reports that describe performance tuning, wider UI fixes, or other gameplay adjustments are not supported by FromSoftware’s patch statement in the provided source material. If those changes exist, they have not been confirmed by the studio in the cited patch announcement.
What to avoid before updating
If your copy of Elden Ring has not been updated to patch 1.17.1, the safest approach is simple: do not arrange, test, or accept Tarnished Pack item drops in multiplayer unless you are sure your game is updated and the exchange is legitimate. The exploit FromSoftware fixed involved DLC-specific items reaching players who were not normally eligible, so deliberately recreating those conditions is exactly the zone to avoid.
That advice applies both to Tarnished Pack owners and non-owners. If you own the pack, do not use an unpatched multiplayer session to drop its gear for a friend as a test. If you do not own the pack, do not pick up DLC-specific equipment that appears in your world under suspicious circumstances or through a trade designed to bypass eligibility. The patch’s purpose is to restore the intended boundary, and relying on duplicated gear before updating may leave you with an item state FromSoftware never intended to support.
Players also should not download patch 1.17.1 expecting new classes, weapons, cosmetics, balance changes, boss tweaks, or Shadow of the Erdtree adjustments. FromSoftware’s official wording says no additional content is included. The new starting classes, armor, weapons, and Torrent cosmetics are part of the Tarnished Pack itself, not a free addition in this hotfix.
A small patch with larger pressure behind it
The Tarnished Pack glitch is a narrow technical problem, but it arrived at a sensitive moment for Elden Ring. FromSoftware’s usual DLC reputation rests on large, authored expansions such as Shadow of the Erdtree, while the Tarnished Pack is a smaller paid bundle of classes, gear, and cosmetics tied to the Switch 2 Tarnished Edition rollout. That shift changes how players read every item description, every armor set, and every multiplayer oddity around the add-on.
FromSoftware moved quickly, and the speed of patch 1.17.1 suggests the studio and Bandai Namco did not want the DLC launch defined by uncontrolled item duplication. In a game where build identity can hinge on a single blade or piece of armor, even cosmetic-leaning extras become part of the social theater. A player riding into co-op with new Torrent armor is making a statement, and the publisher clearly wants that statement tied to ownership rather than an exploit.
The unanswered question is whether this remains a one-off cleanup or becomes part of a broader future for smaller Elden Ring add-ons. Nothing in the official patch note announces more paid packs, and players should treat speculation about future monetization as speculation. What is confirmed is narrower and more immediate: the Tarnished Pack DLC glitch existed in multiplayer, FromSoftware says Elden Ring patch 1.17.1 fixes it, and the update is not a stealth content patch.