I’m just one episode into my expert walkthrough of Lies of P over on our YouTube channel, but developer Neowiz has already dropped a patch that has some pretty significant changes to the overall difficulty of the game, nerfing a number of bosses and buffing up the Capacity stat and other abilities.
The update bumps the version number to 1.2.0.0 on the Steam & PlayStation versions only, with the Xbox version of the patch still being tested. As for the changes it brings, there are three bosses that are now much easier, one of which is a major spoiler, but I am at least aware of the Fallen Archbishop Andreus and the King of Puppets having had their overall HP significantly reduced.
I’m sure a number of our hardcore Souls fans will bemoan the reduction in difficulty, but as a member of our community, Keneric86, rightly pointed out in the comments, that one of these bosses led to them dying a whopping 83 times. I wasn’t looking forward to that level of shame hanging over my head.
I think rebalancing is a natural part of ironing out the kinks in Souls-likes, too. Extreme difficulty does lead to incredible highs when you succeed, but there’s a fine line between dopamine hit and heart attack. Sometimes, it just isn’t fun, and I’m glad Neowiz isn’t afraid to pull back when it makes sense.
The changes aren’t limited to bosses either, with a number of regular enemies also getting an HP nerf, or being easier to stagger. The Dimensional Butterflies also have less health, making them far less frustrating. All this is balanced out somewhat by changes to item drops, such as a reduction in the number of Star Fragments (which are used in summoning allies) and an increase in material and XP drops.
While there are fewer Star Fragments, when you summon an ally, they’ll deal more damage and spawn with more health than before. This leads me to the biggest change, though: an increase in carrying capacity. You’ll now be able to carry more weight for each point you spend on Capacity, meaning you’ll be able to carry heavier weapons and tankier armour while maintaining that all-important mid-roll.
In any case, I’m curious to see if I feel the difference in these changes on the next episode of my walkthrough, and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on these changes, so let me know down in the comments!
This content was originally published here.
