This Elden Ring Mod Is Taking Co-Op Up A Notch

Released earlier this year, FromSoftware's "Elden Ring" borrowed several cues from its own "Dark Souls" games and took the "Soulslike" genre to new heights. It broke sales records in only a day, and with the game's director promising more "Elden Ring"-branded content on the way, the buzz has yet to die down.

On the contrary, it has inspired a game-changing mod to expand the base game's multiplayer functionality in a big way. Normally in "Elden Ring," players can only meet in groups of four, with the mode ending for a player when they die or leave certain boundaries. But the following mod addresses these restrictions directly.

Creator LukeYui has previously developed several mods for "Souls" games, like item randomisers and anti-cheat mods for "Dark Souls II" and "III," which have seen modest traction on his Nexus Mods host page. Before taking "Elden Ring" to a full multiplayer campaign capacity, LukeYui created a mod adding "Souls"-style online functionality to FromSoftware's "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice." The latest effort from LukeYui promises a no-boundaries spin to "Elden Ring" co-op, allowing players to potentially beat the entire game together, steamrolling over enemies in The Lands Between.

The mod allows up to three friends to join a host player in exploring "The Lands Between," without everyone disconnecting upon death, leaving a certain spot, or vanquishing a boss. Parties share progress on the host's game file.

Videos released of the "Seamless Co-Op" mod demonstrate just how brutally effective it becomes to have a teammate in the overworld. In a video of players exploring the Weeping Peninsula, fights essentially ended before they began. The players took out the guards at the Gatefront Ruins with ease, then defeated the giant Archer Golem guarding Castle Morne in seconds.

Among other gameplay details, players can rest at Signs of Grace together — at the cost of resetting overworld enemies for everyone; not just the host player. Player-versus-player duels are also accounted for in the mod, but parties cannot participate in invasions. In an amusing twist from unmodded "Elden Ring," players can even share a group hug (sort of) with Fia when accepting Baldachin's Blessing.

LukeYui may have created the ultimate "Elden Ring" mod by enabling a full-scale, shared-progress co-op mode; an impressive feat for an already critically-acclaimed game. Players interested in downloading the mod can judge for themselves when the beta version releases on Nexus Mods on Friday, May 27 (per LukeYui on YouTube).