Echoes of Aincrad Patch Notes

Released September 25, 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam, Ver.1.0.6 is a broad balance patch shipped ahead of the Genesis Maidens expansion DLC. Bandai Namco states its goal is to make tough enemies — bosses above all — feel more substantial, and to rebalance each weapon's basic actions, Unique MODs, Sword Skills and partner performance so more builds are viable. The biggest winners are One-Handed Maces, Two-Handed Swords and Two-Handed Axes, all of which gained basic attack speed and base ATK. A new difficulty above Very Hard is confirmed to arrive alongside the DLC.

Feature Additions

System-Wide Balance

• Stated intent: a broad balance pass ahead of the Genesis Maidens expansion DLC — boss and other tough enemies were retuned so fights feel weightier, and each weapon's basic actions, Unique MODs, Sword Skills and partner performance were reviewed so more builds are viable.
• Enemy parameters: raised the HP and attack power of some boss enemies.
• Raised the HP coefficient for elite enemies and bosses on Hard and Very Hard difficulty — both tiers get harder.
• Camera: adjusted the camera for certain attacks in the Golem Tyrant fight.
• Basic actions: raised the attack speed and base ATK of Light, Heavy and Crush attacks for One-Handed Maces, Two-Handed Swords and Two-Handed Axes.
• Partners: partially adjusted the behaviour and status of every partner, and cut the time to revive after being downed from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
• Keystones: adjusted the cooldown of the Red Stone and the effect value of the Brown Stone.
• Paralysis: shortened the recovery time from the Paralysis ailment, and down value no longer accumulates while paralysed.
• Golden Gates: weapons dropped by Golden Gate bosses can now roll every shared weapon EX-MOD, and higher-rank EX-MODs are more likely to appear.
• Death Game Mode safety net: if your HP hits 0 in the story events after the 'Labyrinth District' and 'Legend of the High Elf' main quests, you now return to the start point instead of losing the run — your data is not deleted and you resume from the checkpoint.
• Key assignment: dodge and Slash can no longer be bound to the same button (changing the generic action also changes the Slash input).
• Adjusted the terrain in some areas.

Sword Skill Adjustments

Unique MOD Adjustments

Support Skill Adjustments

Fixes in Ver.1.0.6

• Fixed an issue in some quests where you could enter the boss area without accessing the Magical Seal in front of the quest boss.
• Fixed an issue where the materials and Col required to produce certain weapons at the Smithy were not set correctly.
• Fixed an issue where a save created after activating the 'Magic Bridge' in 'Rasta Grand Canyon — Bottom Path' would load with the bridge not extended if loaded after applying Ver.1.0.5.
• Fixed several other minor issues.

Released August 7, 2026, Ver.1.0.5 is the first major balance patch since launch. Its goal is to make every weapon type viable — Swords, Daggers, Two-Handed Axes, Maces and Two-Handed Swords all received Sword Skill tuning, plus system-wide difficulty, SP and partner adjustments. It also fixes the long-standing 'Summons' black-screen bug and adds two new kill-effect toggles. Bandai Namco also confirmed a new difficulty level beyond Very Hard is planned within 2026.

Feature Additions

System-Wide Balance

• Adjusted difficulty levels — Story-to-Hard enemy strength and spawn counts were far below Very Hard, so they were raised for more engaging combat.
• Parameters: increased enemy HP and attack power on Normal and Hard difficulty.
• Increased the number of enemies appearing on Story, Normal, and Hard difficulty.
• Relaxed multi-hit damage from some enemies while using a Sword Skill's Super Armor.
• Quests: the main quest 'Summons' now grants more starting Healing Potions and a new Bombstone; some quest bosses gained higher HP and attack power.
• Partners: Argo's Support Skill 《Analyze》 had narrowed partner choices — reduced its Support SP boost and bonus damage correction.
• Adjusted SP gauge recovery rate per weapon, and the SP gained from Normal and Heavy attacks per weapon (slow, low-hit weapons earn more SP; fast, high-hit weapons were tuned down).
• Individual weapon mods: Swords — the Dress Sword unique mod 《Sword Barrier》 lost barrier value and gained cooldown; Daggers — the Mournflower unique mod 《Supreme Shooter》 lost damage multiplier and gained cooldown on thrown Sword Skills.

Sword Skill Adjustments

Fixes in Ver.1.0.5

• Fixed the 'Summons' quest black screen — after unlocking the boss area's barrier, gameplay no longer stalls on the blackout following the enemy intro (was the known issue under investigation in Ver.1.0.4).
• Fixed an issue where players rarely became invincible during quests.
• Fixed an issue where players could enter boss areas without accessing the Magical Seals before encountering quest bosses.
• Fixed a lingering orange hit-effect when Daggers' 《Single Shoot》 and 《Strike Rain》 defeated close-range enemies.
• Fixed an item-count drop in quests when 'Items Carried + 1' (INT 30) combined with the 'Armor of Wisdom' unique mod of the 'Soulforce Robe' top.
• Fixed an undefeatable enemy that could be defeated via the 'Soul Bite' unique mod of the 'Death's Salvation' sword, halting progression.
• Fixed other minor issues.

Released after the Day 1 Patch, Ver.1.0.4 resolves the two confirmed known issues from Ver.1.0.3 (the Thicket Visgo resurfacing bug and the event-scene rendering bug), fixes the community-reported 'Original Sin' black-screen stall, corrects a phase-transition failure after breaking certain enemies' Break Markers, and addresses other minor issues. A new known issue — the 'Summons' black screen — is under investigation.

Fixes in Ver.1.0.4

• Fixed an issue in the sub-quest 'Opportunity' where the Ark Boss 'Thicket Visgo' could remain underground if hit by certain attacks while performing its digging animation.
• Fixed an issue where the player character could occasionally fail to display correctly during certain event scenes under specific equipment conditions.
• Fixed an issue in the quest 'Original Sin' where the screen would remain black after quest completion if a partner other than Iori, Zash, or Argo was selected.
• Fixed an issue where phase transitions could occasionally fail to occur properly after reducing certain enemies' HP to 0 and destroying their Break Marker.
• Added two Death Game Mode exceptions: reaching 0 HP during the post-clear story events of the Main Quests 'Labyrinth' and 'Legend of the High Elves' no longer deletes your save — you return to the starting point and resume from the last checkpoint. Every other death in the mode still deletes it.
• Fixed several other minor issues.

How to Claim the Free Support Item Set

1. Apply the latest update (Ver.1.0.3 or later) on both the demo and full game.
2. Progress the story until the main quest "Iori's Request" becomes playable.
3. Open the Chest at the Inn to receive the set.
4. The set is granted once per save data — do not skip the Inn on your first visit.

• Adjusted the performance of each weapon type.
• Adjusted the performance of Sword Skills, Combination Skills, and Support Skills.
• Adjusted the ATK values of Slash (Reversal, Parry, Dodge).
• Adjusted enemy parameters and the number of enemies appearing per difficulty level.
• Adjusted event scenes and lighting.
• Changed the step motion and extended the invincibility period.
• Adjusted the behavior of rolling and stepping.
• Reduced the reaction upon falling from high places.
• Shortened the recovery animation when falling from high places or landing in deep water.
• Adjusted the balance of unique MODs and EX-MODs for weapons and shields.

• Fixed a bug where the player's motion would freeze after certain actions.
• Fixed a bug where a dead zone was set during mouse operation.
• Fixed a bug where enemies would stand still or get stuck on some maps.
• Fixed other minor bugs.