Elden Ring Tarnished Edition Lands With a $4.99 Pack

Elden Ring’s Tarnished Pack went live on August 28 for $4.99, the same day the Switch 2 complete edition launched at $79.99. The pack is the extra classes, armor, and Torrent skins from Elden Ring Tarnished Edition, sold to people who already own the 2022 game on PlayStation, Xbox, or Steam.

That is the product the “new DLC” wait produced: coffee-money leftovers for a giant install base, and an $80 handheld bundle that had to be pulled out of 2025 after shaky show-floor play.

The $4.99 Pack Most Owners Will Buy

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco Entertainment split the launch on purpose. Nintendo Switch 2 gets Tarnished Edition, a full disc-in-name package with the base game, Shadow of the Erdtree, and the new extras. Everyone else who already paid for Elden Ring can buy only those extras as the Tarnished Pack, which Steam has listed the pack at $4.99.

Japan’s publisher note set the complete edition at ¥9,020 including tax and the pack at ¥550 including tax. Bandai Namco Europe’s own FAQ puts the standard price of €4.99, with local stores free to differ. Shadow of the Erdtree stays a separate $39.99 purchase on Steam. The pack does not bundle it.

EDITION VERSUS PACK

Physical Switch 2 copies are a Game-Key Card. The card has to stay in the slot while about 41 GB downloads. Digital Switch 2 pre-orders that were in by the day before launch, and some boxed copies, advertised two gestures, The Ring and Ring of Miquella. FromSoftware also said those poses can drop from a successful co-op session with a player who already has them, so they are not locked to a pre-order forever.

FromSoftware Pushed the Switch 2 Port Into 2026

Tarnished Edition was the first time Elden Ring was coming to a Nintendo platform, shown in the Nintendo Direct on April 2, 2025 with a 2025 window. Hands-on builds at Gamescom in August 2025 were unstable, especially in handheld and open ground, and the companies pulled the year rather than ship that build.

While development is progressing wholeheartedly towards release, it was deemed that more time is required for game performance adjustments, and the decision to change the release date was made.

Bandai Namco Entertainment and FromSoftware, October 23, 2025 delay notice

The same notice said the paid extras for other platforms would slip too. They wanted more time for game performance adjustments, then named August 28, 2026 on June 4. Boxed reservations opened June 5. Digital reservations were due to open June 11.

THE ROAD TO AUGUST 28

1. April 2, 2025: Announces Tarnished Edition in a Nintendo Direct, aimed at 2025.
2. August 2025: Shows a Switch 2 build at Gamescom that reviewers found unstable in handheld and open areas.
3. October 23, 2025: Moves the launch, and the other-platform extras, into 2026.
4. June 4, 2026: Sets worldwide launch for Friday, August 28, 2026.
5. August 27, 2026: Ships Patch 1.17 on PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam so the pack can load.
6. August 28, 2026: Releases Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 and the Tarnished Pack on other stores.

PlayStation and Xbox stores opened the pack at 0:00 local on August 28. Steam opened at 7:00 JST, 00:00 CEST, 15:00 PDT. Patch 1.17 itself is free and required for online play even if nobody buys the pack.

What the Tarnished Pack Adds

Bandai Namco’s Patch 1.17 notes for the Tarnished Pack are blunt about the scale. Two starting classes. Weapons and armor that merchants sell or that sit in the field. Three Spectral Steed Attire options for Torrent. An NPC invasion in Caelid. Another in Leyndell, Royal Capital, which does not run after the city becomes Leyndell, Ashen Capital. Official copy also names four new armor sets. There is no new region and no new remembrance boss.

WHAT $4.99 UNLOCKS

• Idus Knight: A dexterity-leaning start in the Silver Grooved set, with the Idus Sword and Silver Grooved Shield.
• Heavy Knight: A strength and endurance start in the Steel Armor set, with the Hefty Scimitar.
• Torrent attire: Tree Sentinel in Stormveil Castle, Silver of Caria in Liurnia of the Lakes, Funereal Night on the Altus Plateau.
• Invasions: One in Caelid after Starscourge Radahn, one in Leyndell that is missable once the capital burns.

Existing characters do not need a fresh file. The patch says each new class’s gear can be bought from merchants in the Lands Between or found in the world, which is how a 200-hour save gets the steel without sitting through character creation again.

Torrent’s Three New Looks

Tree Sentinel Spectral Steed Attire sits in a chest in the corridor to the right of Godrick’s throne after that fight. Silver of Caria is in the downstairs room of Ranni’s Rise, by the Site of Grace. Funereal Night is on the Altus Plateau near the Night’s Cavalry memorial southeast of the Hermit Merchant’s Shack, the black cloth that reads as a Night’s Cavalry caparison.

Any one of those three adds a Torrent appearance option to the Site of Grace menu. That menu is the pack’s most honest feature: the horse can finally change clothes.

Two Knights, Four Armor Sets

Official Idus Knight text calls the origin “a knight of the land of Idus, famed for their lightweight attire and weaponry, which they wield with ample dexterity.” The Silver Grooved set is also sold by the Nomadic Merchant north of Bellum Church in Liurnia. The Steel Armor set is sold by the Isolated Merchant at the Isolated Merchant’s Shack in the Weeping Peninsula.

Mapped field weapons include the Idus Sword on a corpse northwest of the Liurnia Lake Shore Site of Grace, the Hefty Scimitar from the Nomadic Merchant north of Fort Haight West in Limgrave, a Reverse-Bladed Sword at the Twin Maiden Husks in Roundtable Hold, a Reed Great Katana on the mound north of Fort Faroth in Caelid, and a Ritual Thrusting Shield inside the Caelid Colosseum behind the Great Jar. Several of those arms ship with their own skills, so the pack is a small combat kit, not only a closet.

Knight Leontiel Waits in Radahn’s Arena

The Caelid invasion is Knight Leontiel, who can also be summoned during the Radahn fight. After Radahn is down, the invader appears in the north of the Wailing Dunes arena and drops Leontiel’s armor plus Leontiel’s Greatsword, a unique blade whose skill plays as a muleta flourish. Build notes already treat that sword as the pack’s damage toy.

Leyndell’s invader, Noble Broken Mask, asks for a specific beat: stand on the “Regression alone reveals secrets” message in front of the Radagon / Marika statue and cast Law of Regression. The drop is the Golden Order Flail and the Broken Gold Mask / Gold Tattoo pieces. If a save already burned the capital, or already used that statue secret before 1.17, the event may never fire on that file.

That missable path is the sharp edge of a $4.99 add-on. The pack is small enough that one late-game flag can erase a whole armor set.

The Switch 2 Version Locks at 30 Frames

The expensive SKU is still a port of a 2022 open world, not a new FromSoftware campaign. Hands-on play after the delay describes a locked 30fps cap in docked and handheld, with no 60fps mode, and a picture that holds well enough once dodge timing adjusts to the thicker air.

SWITCH 2 PLAY, IN BRIEF

• Frame target: Fixed 30fps in TV and handheld, with no quality / performance toggle like PS5 or Xbox Series.
• Where it slips: Crowded castle yards and some faster bosses still lose frames, including early tests on the Red Wolf of Radagon.
• Where it helps: Handheld play is the point of the wait, and testers who came from Steam Deck called the image cleaner than that machine’s wobble.
• Install size: About 41 GB, on a Game-Key Card that must remain inserted.

Accounts still split on how often the cap breaks in the Realm of Shadow, which is the half of the bundle that actually stretches a handheld chip. The delay bought a playable 30fps complete edition. It did not buy the frame rate the 2022 game already had on home consoles.

A 30 Million Copy Game Sells a $4.99 Pack

FromSoftware’s June 4 notice restated that Elden Ring had more than 30 million copies shipped as of March 2025, that Shadow of the Erdtree had passed 10 million by July 2025, and that the Nightreign spinoff had passed 5 million by the same July tally. The franchise had already moved on to a separate game. The Tarnished Pack is what you ship when the complete edition needs a Nintendo SKU and the other stores need a matching receipt.

Steam’s user score for that receipt is Mixed, with 50% of 1,539 reviews positive. That split fits the product. Five dollars is hard to call a gouge, and it is also hard to call a new Elden Ring expansion when the last one was a whole land. Sony’s own store post about the pack drew a loud argument about physical discs, which is a tell: the extras were treated as a checkout beat, not as a new hunt.

Rise, Tarnished.#ELDENRING Tarnished Edition and the Tarnished Pack DLC are now available. pic.twitter.com/NVq0plm6lE

— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) August 28, 2026

On September 1, Bandai Namco Europe opened community quests through September 28, with shared targets such as 300,000 Rogier summons and 1,000,000 Sacred Tears, plus commemorative art if the counts land. That is how you keep a 30 million copy game warm when the new map already shipped two years ago and the new “DLC” is three horse blankets.

The Lands Between are open again on a handheld, at 30 frames, for $79.99. Everyone who finished the game on another machine can buy the leftover knights for $4.99, then go see whether Leyndell has already burned.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Tarnished Pack include Shadow of the Erdtree?

No. Shadow of the Erdtree stays a separate download on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, and Steam still lists that expansion at $39.99. Switch 2 Tarnished Edition is the only SKU that puts the 2022 campaign, the 2024 expansion, and the new extras in one $79.99 purchase.

Can an old Elden Ring save use the new gear?

Yes. Patch 1.17 lets existing characters buy or find the Idus Knight and Heavy Knight equipment without a new journey. The Steel Armor set is at the Isolated Merchant’s Shack in the Weeping Peninsula, and the Silver Grooved set is at the Nomadic Merchant north of Bellum Church in Liurnia of the Lakes.

Where are Torrent’s new appearances in Elden Ring?

Tree Sentinel Spectral Steed Attire is in Stormveil Castle, Silver of Caria is in Liurnia of the Lakes, and Funereal Night is on the Altus Plateau. After the first attire is picked up, Sites of Grace gain a Torrent appearance option, so the other two skins are swaps rather than separate mounts.

Are The Ring and Ring of Miquella locked to pre-orders?

No. FromSoftware said the gestures also come from a successful co-op session with a player who already holds them. Digital Switch 2 copies only attached the bonus if the reservation was in by the day before August 28, and boxed copies were limited, so co-op is the lasting path.

What if Leyndell has already become the Ashen Capital?

The Noble Broken Mask invasion does not run after that change, and it may not return on a file that already revealed the Radagon statue secret before Patch 1.17. A new journey, or a save from before the capital burns, is required to see that Golden Order set on those characters.