Lords of the Fallen 1.5 Brings Master of Fate update

One of 2023’s biggest Souls-likes was Lords of the Fallen. A mighty change from where that very title was back in 2014 before a reboot under the same name. Unlike its Pinocchio-based cousin in the Souls-like genre, Lies of P, I think Lords of the Fallen fits more into a traditional Dark Souls mold while doing its own thing. I say that though admittedly, I’ve not had all the time in the world to complete it just yet. The final milestone update, announced yesterday, 1.5 “Master of Fate” brings a whole lot to the world of the dead and the living. This is what the press release had to say:

“CI Games today launched Version 1.5 – ‘Master of Fate’, a free update for all owners of dark fantasy action-RPG, Lords of the Fallen. ‘Master of Fate’ is the culmination of over 30 updates since launch, resulting in significant improvements to performance, stability and optimization, alongside rigorous difficulty balancing in response to user feedback. Available on PC, Xbox® Series X|S, and PlayStation®5, the update also delivers the final milestone of the game’s extensive post-launch roadmap: the Advanced Game Modifier System.

Master of Fate concludes a weekly cadence of new content and [quality-of-life] enhancements for Lords of the Fallen vastly improving the experience for players, including:“

What follows is a number of bullet points, including for the aforementioned performance, optimization, and stability improvements. Balance in difficulty, split PvP and PvE balancing, improvement matchmaking, and a number of quality-of-life updates. This includes 12 new spells, “New grievous strikes,” three new projectiles, new armor, new questlines, “Additional secret boss weapon abilities,” and improved boss encounters with additional movesets & new AI.

The press release continues, “The latest new feature – the Advanced Game Modifier System – places power directly into players’ hands, allowing them to fully customize their game experience, using any combination of seven modifiers, to make the game easier, more difficult, or simply a completely new experience every time. Modifiers include the ability to randomize enemies, alter mob density[,] and even enable a form of permadeath.” Adding a new Rogue-like/lite elements.

Saul Gascon, executive producer and Head of Studio at Hexworks, pre-empts a video overviewing the update as seen below. Though Gascon goes on to say in the press release: “We’d like to thank the many players who have embarked upon Mournstead since we launched six months ago; their belief in our vision has been a real driving force for us. In response to their support for the game, we expanded the period of live support for Lords of the Fallen with an ambitious post-launch roadmap.

This was built around four significant content updates, alongside numerous smaller releases, which included tons of new content and major performance and stability improvements. Reaching Version 1.5 with the Master of Fate update and its genuinely groundbreaking modifier system marks the completion of that roadmap, making the Lords of the Fallen experience the best it’s ever been.”

The release of the update also brings the deepest discount to date for those playing on PlayStation, cutting 50% off of my second favorite Souls-like of 2023, right behind Lies of P but only just off. Maybe if I had the time, I’d see it as more. Those on PC (particularly Steam) won’t have to wait long for a discount either, as the CI Games’ Steam Publisher Sale is set to begin Monday, the 29th of April. Now with the modifier addition, I think this add-on allows for difficulty increases or accessibility in reducing enemy density, which could be a great thing for many people.