Elden Ring Patch 1.17.1 Closes Multiplayer Loophole That Granted Tarnished Pack Items

Elden Ring Patch 1.17.1 is now live, and its central purpose is clear: stopping a multiplayer loophole that allowed players to receive items from the paid Tarnished Pack DLC without being normally eligible to own them. The update follows Patch 1.17, which added the new paid content alongside Elden Ring's Switch 2 edition. While the issue was active, joining another player's multiplayer session could result in DLC gear becoming available as pickups under certain conditions, even for players who had not purchased the $5 pack.

FromSoftware confirmed the fix in a post from the official Elden Ring account. The studio described the update as a correction for a multiplayer problem in which DLC-specific items could be obtained by players who would not usually qualify for them. It also stressed that Patch 1.17.1 does not add any extra content.

The change has become a flashpoint in the community, not simply because an unintended item source has been removed, but because it has arrived during a broader argument over what the Tarnished Pack represents. For many players, it is a small optional collection of classes, weapons, and cosmetic equipment. For others, its $5 price and the speed of this fix have made it an uncomfortable sign of a more aggressive approach to monetization than they expect from FromSoftware.

What Patch 1.17.1 changes in Elden Ring multiplayer

The item issue was tied specifically to multiplayer sessions. Players who owned Tarnished Pack content could, under particular circumstances, cause copies of DLC-specific equipment to appear as pickups when entering the world of a player who did not own the pack. That gave non-owners a way to acquire some of the paid additions without buying the DLC themselves.

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Patch 1.17.1 removes that unintended route. Players can no longer rely on multiplayer sessions to generate a repeated stream of those DLC pickups for people who have not purchased the add-on. In practical terms, the patch shuts down what had briefly become a convenient gear-sharing exploit.

There is an important distinction, however. The update does not appear to eliminate ordinary player-to-player trading. Tarnished Pack items can still be traded between players, including trades involving someone who does not own the DLC. What is gone is the apparent duplication-like behavior that created extra item drops simply through the multiplayer interaction.

That means players who want to give equipment to friends retain a degree of flexibility, while the system no longer produces a renewable supply of paid gear through the bug. It is a narrower change than a total trading restriction, though the outcome still ensures that obtaining the pack's full set of offerings through normal means requires purchasing it.

The Tarnished Pack content at the center of the debate

Patch 1.17 introduced the Tarnished Pack as paid content included with Elden Ring's newer Switch 2 edition. Sold separately for $5 elsewhere, the pack includes the Idus Knight and Heavy Knight starting classes, additional weapons, and horse armor. The collection is focused on character options and style rather than a major new region, campaign, or expansion-sized adventure.

That scope is precisely why reaction has been split. A modestly priced cosmetic-and-equipment bundle is hardly unprecedented within the wider game industry. Yet Elden Ring and FromSoftware occupy a particular place in the expectations of their audience. The developer's major releases have built a reputation around self-contained premium games and substantial expansions, and the very idea of a smaller paid item pack has been enough to invite scrutiny.

Some players see the Tarnished Pack as a harmless optional extra. New starting classes can be useful for fresh builds, weapons offer more ways to experiment, and horse armor gives players another cosmetic choice for traversing the Lands Between. From that perspective, the DLC is not essential to the core game and its price reflects a small package rather than a mandatory expansion.

Others argue that equipment and character-building choices feel different in an action RPG where discovering tools, testing loadouts, and making a unique Tarnished are central parts of the experience. Even if the new gear is optional, critics feel that paid classes and weapons create an unwelcome divide in a game known for its huge assortment of build possibilities.

Why the rapid fix has frustrated some players

The backlash to Patch 1.17.1 is not solely about the loss of free items. Several community responses have focused on priorities. Players questioning the update have argued that the studio moved quickly to protect paid content while requests for balance adjustments and quality-of-life improvements remain prominent topics among the fanbase.

That frustration has produced a familiar live-service-style conversation around a game that has not traditionally been viewed through that lens. When a bug affects access to paid content, a swift correction can look like a straightforward business decision. It can also look, to dissatisfied players, like evidence that financial concerns receive faster attention than gameplay complaints.

Neither interpretation changes the immediate technical reality: the multiplayer behavior was unintended, and Patch 1.17.1 fixes it. But perception matters, especially with a developer whose audience has been unusually protective of its creative identity. Players who already disliked the Tarnished Pack's existence have treated the patch as confirmation that the add-on is being guarded more actively than the game's broader pain points are being addressed.

Criticism has also centered on value. One prominent strand of reaction is that a $5 charge for a limited selection of gear and cosmetics feels out of step with what fans expect from FromSoftware. Supporters may counter that the content is optional and that the price is comparatively low. Still, the disagreement is about more than the exact cost. It is about whether this kind of small-scale paid release belongs in Elden Ring at all.

A small DLC with larger implications for FromSoftware fans

The Tarnished Pack has been described by some players as the studio's closest move toward microtransactions. That label is debatable: it is a defined paid DLC bundle, rather than a recurring in-game storefront built around consumable currency or randomized purchases. Yet the comparison reflects an anxiety that the boundary could shift further in the future.

For critics, a low-cost gear pack could be the beginning of a direction they do not want to see expanded. Their concern is not that horse armor alone will transform Elden Ring, but that the acceptance of smaller paid content may make more frequent monetized additions easier to justify later. Fans who have celebrated the developer's past approach to premium releases are especially wary of that possibility.

There is no indication in Patch 1.17.1 itself that additional item packs, a larger microtransaction system, or any particular future monetization plan is on the way. The update only addresses the multiplayer eligibility issue and adds no new content. It would be a mistake to treat the patch as proof of a wider roadmap that has not been announced.

At the same time, it is understandable that the first appearance of a small paid equipment package has become symbolically larger than its contents. Elden Ring is not merely another game with cosmetic add-ons; it is one of the most closely watched action RPGs of its era, made by a studio whose choices are dissected intensely. Even a minor patch can trigger a major response when it touches the relationship between progression, multiplayer, and paid content.

What players should expect after the update

Players updating to version 1.17.1 should no longer encounter the multiplayer condition that made Tarnished Pack items obtainable by ineligible accounts. Anyone hoping to collect those additions through the former pickup behavior will need to look elsewhere, including purchasing the DLC if they want reliable access to its full contents.

Players can still trade applicable items with one another, so the social and cooperative side of Elden Ring has not been completely closed off around the new gear. The patch instead targets the repeated, unintended generation of DLC items that occurred when owners and non-owners interacted in multiplayer.

For now, Patch 1.17.1 is a focused maintenance update rather than a sweeping revision of Elden Ring. It does not bring the balance changes, quality-of-life features, or other improvements some players have been calling for. It also does not settle the argument surrounding the Tarnished Pack. If anything, by acting quickly to close the free-item loophole, the patch has ensured that debate will continue.

The immediate message is simple: the multiplayer shortcut is over. The longer-term question is whether the Tarnished Pack remains an isolated experiment in small paid DLC or becomes the model for further additions. Until FromSoftware says more, the community will likely keep debating both the $5 pack and what it could mean for the future of the Lands Between.