Elden Ring Mod Adds Survival Mechanics To Increase Difficulty

A promo screenshot for Elden Ring.
Credit: Image via Mobygames.

A promo screenshot for Elden Ring.
Credit: Image via Mobygames.

No matter how mind-bendingly difficult FromSoftware games like Dark Souls or Sekiro can get, some players will always be left looking for more challenges to add to their experience.

If you’re one of those in the market for a test less amusing and in-your-face than fighting Binley Mega Chippy, a new mod might be just what you’re looking for.

Aiming to add some extra wrinkles to your Elden Ring playthrough, the “Survival Mode” mod intends to make sure you’re fighting to do just that.

Can You Survive This Elden Ring Mod?

The mod is the work of modder Grimrukh, who has a long track record of enacting interesting gameplay changes to FromSoft games, having previously added both a roguelike-esque progression system and Superhot-style time mechanics to Dark Souls Remastered.

This time, the focus is on Elden Ring and survival, with four new and optional mechanics added to the game, all of which will give you extra things to think about.

The first of these affects straight-up survival, forcing you to “craft items to fight hunger, thirst, and temperature effects” while also nerfing your noble steed Torrent in order to ensure that you’re not relying on him too much.

The second is aimed at changing how weapons work, banning them from being bought or found, leaving crafting them from materials or other ‘base’ weapons as your only option.

The third mechanic involves diseases, which you can randomly catch as you explore different areas and can be cured by finding recipes which can then be used for crafting something to rectify the situation.

Finally, mechanic number four focuses on making nighttime much darker, ensuring that you’ll probably want to do most of your exploring during daytime hours when you’ll actually be able to see what you’re doing properly.

In order to install the mod properly, you’ll want to grab either Mod Engine 2 or UXM for Elden Ring, the latter of which can seemingly only be acquired via Discord.

So, dust off your crafting supplies, do some research on how to live like Bear Grylls, and brace yourself to dive into a rather different flavour of Elden Ring.

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