Difficulty is arguably the hallmark of many AAA games, but Japanese developer FromSoftware goes above and beyond, making nearly all of its titles exceedingly tough. Although Elden Ring would not be the same without its infamous trial and error aspects, extreme difficulty is not everyone’s cup of tea. Because no settings exist that allow players to adjust the difficulty within the game, the modding community offers a solution with a fan-made Easy Mode mod.
Even though the game’s unforgiving nature practically calls for mods, the game’s director maintains that Elden Ring‘s difficulty is essential, and FromSoftware doesn’t officially endorse any third-party modding. Nonetheless, the developer’s games have had a healthy modding community for years, and the first Elden Ring PC mods began surfacing not long after the game’s release. Many include simple quality of life changes that make The Lands Between more approachable for new players, while others promote visual enhancements or adjustments that tweak the players’ in-game assets.
The Easy Mode mod caters to players struggling to adjust to Elden Ring‘s unforgiving combat and reward system. It decreases the damage inflicted on the player by 50%, boosts the player’s attack output by 25%, and allows players to collect 10 times the amount of Runes they get per kill. As Elden Ring comes equipped with an anti-cheat code, the mod is not standalone. To get the mod running, players need to first disable the incorporated EasyAntiCheat, which can be done by downloading an Anti-cheat Toggler mod.
The benefits of the Easy Mode mod speak for themselves. The mod grants players the opportunity to get a feel for the lay of the land as soon as they emerge in The Lands Between. However, the mod will not remove any of the game’s challenges nor straighten the learning curve, even with the perceived benefit of additional Runes. While players are free to use Easy Mode at their own discretion, and only when playing offline, the mod does more than just address Elden Ring‘s intended difficulty–it makes up for the game’s shortcomings in the physical realm.
When someone is looking to invest their time and funds into a game, it’s only natural that they expect some form of pleasant entertainment in return. When their investment (continuously) showers them with insurmountable obstacles and punishing content that does nothing to promote equal give and take, this can deter players. Instead of instilling a sense of competence and accomplishment, disjointed difficulty can elicit anger and frustration. This can prevent players from pursuing further progress within the game, provided they give it a chance in the first place. Unfortunately, this is an issue that FromSoftware chooses to brush off for one reason or another.
Reading game guides before starting and adjusting the difficulty by installing the Easy Mode mod can help players tackle many in-game hurdles before they escalate beyond their digital confines. West Limgrave, in particular, is an example of how deceptive Elden Ring can be and how little it takes to view its design in an unfavorable light.
Aside from the scripted battle with the Grafted Scion, the presence of the Tree Sentinel, and the existence of a Transporter Trap in the Dragon-Burnt Ruins remind players that they are woefully underequipped from the get-go. On the other hand, such instances are why the Nexus Mods’ Elden Ring community thrives. The extreme difficulty encourages fans to look for ways to make the game experience more player-centric and less stressful.
The availability of mods that lighten Elden Ring‘s notorious toughness is limited to PC users at the moment. Whether console owners will get to experience a lucky break sometime in the future remains to be seen. However, installing any difficulty-altering mods would likely require a prior modification of the console itself, unless FromSoftware releases unique modding tools that are supported on the respective platforms.
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