Elden Ring's bugged PvP shield spell is mightier than any sword

  

Elden Ring's bugged PvP shield spell is mightier than any sword

Carian Retaliation is the latest exploit in Elden Ring PvP.


When FromSoftware buffed the efficacy of shields in the latest patch for Elden Ring, it surely didn't mean to inadvertently create a new exploitable PvP build. But as is often the case for game developers, just as you whack one exploit-mole, another one emerges.


Elden Ring players have found a new way to one-shot opponents (and many enemies in PvE) with a simple shield skill that sends occasionally invisible blades at opponents for ridiculous amounts of damage.

The damage of the skill scales based on your shield's upgrade level, and But here's the galaxy-brained catch: you can parry your own spells. But here's the galaxy-brained catch: you can parry your own spells.

If you activate an item like the Wraith Calling Bell that emits its own spell-like projectiles, you can immediately parry after and activate Carian Retaliation. This is also possible with other items like Glintstone Scraps that function similarly. All together it's an easy setup for an attack that some people report will instantly kill people at 50 vigor or below, which is quite a bit for the average player.


It gets worse too. The magical blades that Carian Retaliation spawns don't visibly launch forward on the enemy players' screen. There's almost no way to reliably dodge them without a visual indicator for when to roll or strafe out of the way. And if the exploiter uses the spell before they invade you, the magical swords are completely invisible.

The bug seems to be the fact that you can parry your own spells and the animation of the swords only showing up on the user's screen. The high damage it inflicts might be intentional given that it should be a difficult thing to pull off with a devastating reward.

If you're looking to brawl with other Elden Ring players, pray the invisible blades don 't find you.