Everyone else was busy drooling over the new characters and bosses in Elden Ring Nightreign's The Forsaken Hollows DLC. I was busy throwing confetti over a patch note that let me rename relic presets. Yes, I am that player. The one who reads patch notes like a treasure map and gets emotionally attached to menu improvements. In 2026, with the DLC no longer the shiny new toy and the meta settled into its usual swamp, I can say it plainly: this was the real buff.

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Let me explain. Nightreign lets you save relic setups, which is incredibly useful for tailoring builds to different bosses. I had an Ironeye preset with a relic that gave his bow poison damage for bosses weak to poison. Great idea. Not every boss is weak to poison, though, so a sensible player keeps a few presets ready. I am not always sensible, but I do keep presets. I also keep chaos.

Before the patch, you could only sort presets by the date you saved them. Why? No idea. Maybe FromSoft wanted to give my memory palace a cardio session. I would frantically skim each preset like a raccoon checking trash cans. Is this fire? Is this frost? Is this the one where I panicked and saved a relic with a bonus to standing very still? Nobody knew. Not even me.

The patch fixed that. I can name them whatever I want. Fire is now called fire. Frost is now called frost. This sounds tiny. It is not tiny. It is the difference between preparing for a boss and performing an interpretive dance in a menu while said boss rearranges my organs.

Preset name before patch Actual purpose My reaction
Preset 1 Fire damage Was this fire or regret?
Preset 2 Frost damage Probably frost. Possibly fear.
Preset 3 Poison bow for Ironeye The only one I remembered
Preset 4 Panic build Still valid, honestly

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The relic system has been divisive from the start. Most people hate how hard it is to randomly roll one with useful effects. I do not mind that part. If you could just make perfect relics, relics would be far less interesting. The RNG is part of the fun. What I did not like was how fussy they were to actually use and sort through. FromSoft focusing on usability instead of adding a crafting bench is the correct call. I do not need a relic laboratory. I need a text field and maybe a snack.

People digging into the game files since the patch went out claim relics roll better stats more often now, but the improvement is not substantial. The more impactful change is the buffs to weaker passives, like physical attack power up, which effectively raise the floor on bad relic rolls. That is the sneaky-good stuff. It does not make every roll a winner, but it makes the losers less insulting.

My 2026 relic-patch report card:

  • 🎯 Rename presets: huge.

  • 🎲 Better rolls: modest.

  • 💪 Weaker passive buffs: sneaky good.

  • ⚔️ Direct balance changes: light.

The patch notes are light on direct balance changes, mostly because the small changes should be enough on their own. Melee characters like Wylder and Raider got big buffs to related passive effects, which is nice for people who enjoy hitting things with a large object. I respect that. My personal buff was menu literacy, and I will take it.

It is also very likely that The Forsaken Hollows map contains tons of new weapons and items that help out too. By 2026, that DLC has had time to breathe, and the lesson still holds: more gear and more bosses make preset organization more valuable, not less. When every fight asks for a different setup, a well-named preset is a tiny vacation for your brain.

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Now my relic presets have names. Actual names. Poison Bow for Ironeye. Fire, Actually Fire. Frost But I Panic. Please Do Not Freeze Me. Wylder Unga Bunga. This is the endgame. Not a new boss. Not a shiny weapon. A text field. And honestly, after years of games treating quality-of-life like a luxury, I am thrilled.

If you are picking up Nightreign in 2026, name your presets early. Future you will thank present you. Future you is also bad at dodging, but at least future you will be organized. That is growth.

So yes, the DLC bosses are cool. The melee buffs are cool. But the best change in that patch was letting me type frost instead of playing menu roulette. Nightreign is finally playable. I am exaggerating. Mostly.