Elden Ring Patch 1.17.1 Stops Tarnished Pack Item Copies

FromSoftware shipped Elden Ring patch 1.17.1 on September 8 to stop players without the Tarnished Pack from picking up its items in multiplayer. The file adds no new gear, no new classes, and no balance pass. App Ver. and Regulation Ver. both read 1.17.1, and online play now requires that build on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam.

The hole lasted 11 days after the pack went live on August 28. That is the first time this game has treated a cheap add-on as something that needed an all-platform lock.

Patch 1.17.1 Closes the Free Copy Path

The studio’s English post is four sentences. It does not name the Tarnished Pack, the Switch 2 edition, or any weapon. It talks only about eligibility.

Patch 1.17.1 has been released for ELDEN RING. This update fixes an issue in multiplayer where, under specific conditions, DLC-specific items could be obtained when not normally eligible. No additional content is included. Thank you for your support, Tarnished.

ELDEN RING official account, on X

Patch 1.17.1 has been released for #ELDENRING.

This update fixes an issue in multiplayer where, under specific conditions, DLC-specific items could be obtained when not normally eligible. No additional content is included.

Thank you for your support, Tarnished.

— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) September 8, 2026

The Japanese notice for patch 1.17.1 says the same thing in one line: in multiplayer, under specific conditions, items you were not supposed to obtain could be obtained. It lists the same five platforms and repeats that online play needs the update. Switch 2 is not on that list, because the extras already sit inside Elden Ring Tarnished Edition there and do not sell as a separate add-on.

Players noticed the other omission first. The patch does not touch combat, summons, or the rest of the loot table. FromSoftware moved this file because paid items were crossing a flag they meant to keep shut, and they moved it faster than they usually move a weapon tweak.

The $4.99 Pack Was Built to Keep the Item Pool Whole

The Tarnished Pack is not a new region. It is the Switch 2 extras, sold to people who already own Elden Ring on other machines so those extras would exist in the same world as everyone else’s swords. Xbox lists the Tarnished Pack at $4.99. Bandai Namco Europe prices the add-on at €4.99 and notes that local storefronts can differ. Both store pages say the new classes, armor, and Torrent appearance tools work in the base game and in Shadow of the Erdtree.

That is the bind. FromSoftware put a paid flag on items that still spawn on merchants, corpses, and invasion rewards inside a game whose multiplayer has always let you drop what you are holding. Unify the pool, and you also unify the leak.

TARNISHED EDITION VERSUS THE PACK

Bandai Namco and FromSoftware opened both products on August 28, the same day. Patch 1.17 landed a day earlier so the other platforms could even see the new items.

WHAT THE TARNISHED PACK ADDS

• Two classes: Idus Knight and Heavy Knight, selectable when you make a character.
• Four armor sets: including the starting kits for those two classes.
• Three Torrent attires: cosmetic Spectral Steed looks, unlocked from a Site of Grace menu after you find one.
• New weapons: sold by merchants or left in the Lands Between.
• Two invasions: extra NPC invasion events, one in Caelid and one in Leyndell, Royal Capital.

Until this pack, the only paid extra on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC was Shadow of the Erdtree. Horse attire, new origins, and a handful of sets are a different kind of SKU, and they went into the same drop rules as a sword you pick up off the ground.

How the Copy Loop Worked

FromSoftware never published the exact steps. Players described two holes that both end in the same place: someone who did not buy the pack walking away with pack items.

One route was a classic drop. A pack owner joined another session, put the new gear on the floor, and the second player took it. The original copy stayed in the owner’s inventory, so the pack had been cloned rather than given away. The other route was messier. Pack items showed up as world loot for people who had not bought the add-on, as if the entitlement flag was not attached to the pickup at all.

Either way, the $4.99 layer was optional if you had a friend who had paid. Classes at character creation still needed the pack. The leak was the stuff the pack places in the world: weapons, armor, and the horse looks you can find and then trade.

That is why a four-year-old drop system suddenly looked like a store problem. The items were ordinary inventory objects with a receipt stuck to them, and multiplayer did not read the receipt.

Giving a Sword Now Costs You the Sword

Patch 1.17.1 does not ban trading. Pack weapons and armor can still change hands. The change is that a drop now behaves like a drop. The giver loses the item. The receiver can still pick it up. You can gift a Hefty Scimitar. You cannot mint a second one out of the air and keep yours.

That is a smaller rule than a paywall and a bigger one than a typical bugfix. Elden Ring’s social life runs on putting things on the ground. Runes, crafting mats, duplicate armors, and “try this weapon” sessions all use the same gesture. For 11 days the new DLC used that gesture as a copier. It now uses it as a transfer.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The file: 1.17.1 is a multiplayer eligibility fix with no extra content, and online play requires it on the five listed platforms.
• Trades: DLC weapons and armor can still be dropped; the original copy now leaves the giver.
• Switch 2: Tarnished Edition already includes the extras, so that version was not on the 1.17.1 platform list.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• Old copies: The notice does not say items grabbed before September 8 were deleted from saves.
• The exact trigger: FromSoftware has not said whether the hole was a drop that failed to consume, a world spawn that ignored ownership, or both.

Anyone who already took a free set may still be wearing it. The studio has not published a rollback, a wipe, or a ban note tied to this patch. The lock is on new pickups, not a public audit of every inventory.

Friday’s Launch Left a Hole Until Tuesday

The window is short by Elden Ring standards and long for a store SKU. FromSoftware announced the split products in early June, shipped the support patch the day before launch, then needed a second patch to make the receipt stick.

FROM ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE LOCK

1. June 4, 2026: FromSoftware and Bandai Namco announce Elden Ring Tarnished Edition for Switch 2 and a separate Tarnished Pack for the other platforms, and set the Japanese price at 550 yen.
2. August 27, 2026: Patch 1.17 goes live so PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam builds can load the pack. Online play requires that update.
3. August 28, 2026: The pack and Tarnished Edition launch. PlayStation and Xbox stores open at 0:00 local time; Steam opens at 7:00 JST.
4. September 8, 2026: Patch 1.17.1 closes ineligible DLC pickups in multiplayer. App Ver. 1.17.1 and Regulation Ver. 1.17.1 both replace 1.17.

Eleven days is not a season of neglect. It is also not the pace this studio uses for a PvP complaint. The paid flag got a dedicated build. The rest of the August 27 balance list, the one that actually changed weapons and parries, is a different file from a different week.

Save Backups Have Copied Gear for Years

Elden Ring has never been a sealed box. On PC and consoles, players have long copied items by dropping them in a session and reloading an older save, a method that lives in the save file rather than in the drop code 1.17.1 just touched. That path is older than the Tarnished Pack, and this patch does not describe it.

What changed is the motive. Copying a greatsword you both already earned is a convenience argument. Copying a $4.99 add-on so a friend never sees the store is a receipt argument. FromSoftware wrote 1.17.1 in the language of eligibility, not in the language of cheating, and that wording is the tell. They are protecting a product flag inside a loot game.

The speed makes the same point. Players have asked for PvP passes for years and watched some combat bugs sit through several numbered updates. A cheap cosmetic-and-class pack that was leaking through multiplayer got its own version bump in 11 days, with a notice that goes out of its way to say nothing else is in the download.

Merchant Shelves Still Sell the New Sets

Owning the pack still does more than unlock a menu. The August 27 notes say the new starting-class equipment can also be bought from merchants in the Lands Between or found in the world, so a buyer on an old save does not have to roll a fresh Idus Knight to wear the kit. The three Spectral Steed Attire locations are in Stormveil Castle, Liurnia of the Lakes, and Altus Plateau. Find any one of them and the grace menu gains the Torrent appearance toggle.

Those pickups are the objects 1.17.1 is now watching. If you bought the pack, they are yours to wear, drop, or lose. If you did not, they are supposed to stay out of your inventory even when a friend who paid is standing next to you. Character creation is the one gate that never used the floor. You cannot select Heavy Knight or Idus Knight without the add-on, and this patch does not change that.

Online sessions now require version 1.17.1, so the free copy path is closed for anyone who still wants to summon or invade.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Included in the Elden Ring Tarnished Pack?

The pack adds the Idus Knight and Heavy Knight origins, four new armor sets, three Spectral Steed Attire options for Torrent (Tree Sentinel in Stormveil Castle, Silver of Caria in Liurnia of the Lakes, and Funereal Night in Altus Plateau), extra weapons on merchants and in the field, and two NPC invasion events. The Leyndell invasion does not fire after the capital has become Leyndell, Ashen Capital.

How Much Does the Tarnished Pack Cost?

Xbox lists it at $4.99, Bandai Namco Europe lists €4.99, and the June FromSoftware notice lists 550 yen including tax in Japan. Bandai Namco says local storefronts can differ with exchange rates, and the pack requires a copy of Elden Ring on that platform.

Does the Tarnished Pack Include Shadow of the Erdtree?

No. Shadow of the Erdtree stays a separate purchase on PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam. Nintendo Switch 2 Tarnished Edition is the version that bundles the base game, the expansion, and the new extras in one product, listed at 9,020 yen including tax in Japan.

Did Patch 1.17.1 Remove Items People Already Picked Up?

The published notes do not say already-held DLC items were deleted. Patch 1.17 even stated that items already found would not be changed when some Realm of Shadow drops were swapped to higher-tier loot, and 1.17.1 is silent on a wipe. Whether copies taken between August 28 and September 8 still sit in those saves has not been confirmed.

Which Platforms Received Elden Ring Patch 1.17.1?

PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam. Nintendo Switch 2 is omitted because Tarnished Edition already includes the extras, so there is no separate pack entitlement to enforce on that SKU. Online play on the five patched platforms requires 1.17.1.