Without a doubt, Elden Ring is one of the most popular and successful games of 2022, as critics and fans alike were enamored by its phenomenal open world design, excellent combat mechanics, and gorgeous presentation. With that said, one weak point the game has is that its PvP offerings are rather lacking compared to Dark Souls 3, a previous FromSoftware ARPG that had a wide variety of joinable factions, earnable rewards, and PvP modes. While Elden Ring's PvP certainly has its diehard fans, most players have been disappointed with the shallowness of the multiplayer.
Many have wondered if the developers have any plans to flesh out Elden Ring's PvP, and thanks to a surprise update, we now have our answer. Elden Ring has received the Colosseum Update, a special patch that adds several new PvP modes and arenas throughout the Lands Between for players to enjoy. In this guide, we'll go over everything you need to know about it, including where to find the arenas, how to play the new modes, what makes each of the modes unique, and more.
Is Elden Ring's Colosseum Update free?
With both the original Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3 offering access to PvP arenas in paid DLC expansions, some have wondered if Elden Ring's Colosseum Update DLC costs money as well. Thankfully, we have good news: the new PvP arenas and modes in the Colosseum Update are completely free, and are available for all Elden Ring players.
Something that's important to note, though, is that you have to find, open, and unlock all three of the new colosseum arenas before you can actually play the update's PvP modes. Accessing all of them will require a fair amount of exploring and game progress, so don't expect to unlock everything right away unless you've already beaten the game.
Elden Ring: Colosseum PvP arena locations and how to find
There are a total of three PvP colosseum arenas you need to find and open before you can play all of the Colosseum Update's new modes. First, we'll provide a simple spoiler-free explanation about where you can find them if you're still playing through the game and don't want specific locations within regions to be revealed before you reach them. Under a separate heading, we'll then give a more detailed and specific explanation about where (and how) you can find the colosseums.
You'll find the Limgrave Colosseum in northwestern Limgrave, east of the large castle that's visible at the northwesternmost point of the region. The Caelid Colosseum is in northwestern Caelid, west of the massive tower players can see in the northern part of the area. Finally, the Royal Colosseum is located at the southernmost point of the Altus Plateau, within the region's walled city.
How to find each colosseum PvP arena
Here, we'll offer more detailed (and spoiler-filled) information on how to find Elden Ring's new PvP arenas.
To find the Limgrave Colosseum, go east of the Stormhill Shack Site of Grace until you reach the Warmaster's Shack Site of Grace. From here, proceed directly north. If invaded by the Recusant Henricus NPC, kill him and continue north until you see the colosseum structure. Open the doors and walk inside to unlock it.
Next up is the Caelid Colosseum. To reach it, you'll need to head to the underground Siofra River area that's accessible via the elevator in the Mistwood forest, found in eastern Limgrave. Once there, proceed directly north until you reach an elevator sealed by an Imp Statue. Next, use two Swordstone Keys to break the seal and activate the elevator. Once you're at the top, you'll find yourself in Caelid. Rest at the nearby Deep Siofra Well Site of Grace, then get on Torrent and ride through the valley to your right. Run or fight the large Golem enemies, using the rocks and massive fallen tree branches on the ground as cover from their greatbows. Keep going until you reach the massive Great-Jar standing in front of the colosseum. Finally, walk behind him to reach the colosseum's doors. Open them and walk inside to unlock this colosseum.
To find the Royal Colosseum, start from the West Capital Rampart Site of Grace found in the southwestern section of Leyndell, Royal Capital, which you can access by climbing the wing of the fallen dragon Gransax. From there, simply head southwest across the nearby bridge, at which point the colosseum will be clearly visible. Head up the nearby path to reach its doors, fighting or running past the Duelist enemies. Make sure you open the doors and walk inside to unlock the colosseum fully.
Elden Ring Colosseum Update: New PvP modes
The Elden Ring Colosseum Updates brings several new PvP modes to the game, along with a variation of them that allows players to spawn their best Spirit Ashes to assist them in battle. We'll go over the details of each mode below, including what the gameplay format for each of them is and which colosseum you'll need to open to unlock them.
- United Combat: This mode features 2v2, 4v4, and 6v6 team deathmatch-style combat for five minutes, awarding victory to the team with the most kills at the end of the match. Respawns are enabled. Limited HP and FP flasks. Version without Spirit Ashes is unlocked at the Limgrave Colosseum, while the version with them is unlocked at the Caelid Colosseum.
- Combat Ordeal: This free-for-all mode pits up to six players against one another for five minutes. Whoever scores the most kills by the end of the game is the winner. Respawns are enabled. Limited HP and FP flasks. Version without Spirit Ashes is unlocked at the Limgrave Colosseum, while the version with them is unlocked at the Caelid Colosseum.
- Duel: As the name implies, this is a 1v1 mode in which two players duel against each other. The player that kills their opponent is the victor. Respawns are disabled. No HP flasks, limited FP flasks. Version without Spirit Ashes is unlocked at the Royal Mausoleum, while the version with them is unlocked at the Caelid Colosseum.
Elden Ring Colosseum Update: How to play
Once you've opened at least one PvP colosseum, you can begin playing with other players. To do so, activate the Effigy of Marika statues you can find in the back of the room you enter when going into colosseums or to the left of the fireplace in the Roundtable Hold's central room.
Before you start matchmaking, you can choose several different options for the mode you want to play, including the match's player count, matchmaking passwords and team preferences for organized battles with friends, and whether or not you want Spirit Ashes to be enabled or disabled.
Note that while searching for games from colosseums will lock in the specific modes and settings offered by that colosseum, searching for games from the Roundtable Hold will give you access to all of the modes and formats from all three of the colosseums. This, as well as the fact that access to the Roundtable Hold is instantly available at all times via fast travel, makes the Roundtable Effigy of Marika the best way to engage with the Colosseum Update.
Elden Ring Colosseum Update: Are there rewards?
Sadly, there are no rewards attached to the Colosseum Update's new PvP arenas, meaning that you won't earn anything from playing in them. While it would be cool if players could earn new pieces of gear like weapons, armor, or shields by playing arena PvP, none of these are currently earnable by performing well in the arena.
With that said, it's always possible that the developers could flesh out arena PvP over time with additional updates, which could include the introduction of some PvP-focused rewards. If anything like this is announced or added to the game in a future patch, we'll make sure to update this article with what you need to know.
Elden Ring is here, and it's available for $60 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC. It's one of the best Xbox games you can play right now if you're a fan of challenging action RPGs, and we strongly recommend it. Between its amazing gameplay, phenomenal presentation, and its staggering amount of overall content, it's an absolute triumph.
