Elden Ring Tarnished Edition: August 28, New Classes, and One Suspicious PR Phrase
Elden Ring Tarnished Edition has a release date. August 28. Coming to Switch 2 and, apparently, every other platform you might already own the game on.
Here's what's actually in it and why one sentence from the press release is worth paying attention to.
Two New Starting Classes
The big additions are Heavy Knight and Knight of Ides.
Heavy Knight is the strength build. It comes with a never-before-seen weapon type in the series: a curved greatsword. New armor too. No shield. That last part is interesting. A strength-centric class with no shield pushes you toward aggressive play from the start. This could mean FromSoftware wants you swinging instead of turtling. One possibility is it's just a class fantasy choice. Either way, starting without a shield on a strength spread is going to change how new players approach the early game.
Knight of Ides starts with the M'lady light greatsword, which is a Shadow of the Erdtree weapon. If you ran the DLC you know light greatswords have their own moveset and feel distinct from standard ones. Starting a fresh character with a DLC-tier weapon is going to make some people very happy and probably annoy the purists.
The Lucatiel Armor
Lucatiel of Mirrah's armor set is included. She's from Dark Souls 2. This is FromSoftware doing the thing they do, threading their universe together through gear and lore. Lucatiel is a genuinely memorable character from DS2. Her armor showing up in the Lands Between is going to mean something to people who've been in this universe for years.
There are also additional weapons and armor sets beyond the two starting classes, though specifics on those haven't been detailed yet.
That "Available to Purchase" Language
Here's the part worth noting. The Bandai Namco press release says the new content will be "available to purchase" for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Not "available." Not "free update." Available to purchase.
That phrasing almost certainly means existing platform owners are paying for this separately. Nothing confirmed yet, but plan accordingly. One possibility is that Switch 2 gets it bundled since Tarnished Edition was originally supposed to be a Switch 2 launch title before getting pushed to 2026. That would make business sense, even if it's annoying for people who already own the game on PC or console.
Who Actually Cares About This
If you've never played Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is probably the version to get on Switch 2 assuming it runs well. New classes, all the DLC content, extra gear. Clean entry point.
If you're already on PC or console: wait for the price. Two new starting classes and some armor sets are a nice addition but whether they're worth paying for depends entirely on what Bandai Namco asks. Under $10 and it's probably a yes. Priced like a mini-expansion and that's a different conversation.
August 28 is the date. Pricing announcement will tell you the rest.
Source: Pcgamer