Why co-op Elden Ring players are already complaining about PvP

Many Elden Ring fans are looking forward to PvP, but those interested in cooperative play will be forced into playing it.

Player-versus-player fights can be very memorable in FromSoftware games, but many fans would rather just be left alone. This creates a problem for those who want to play through the game cooperatively. According to early reviewers and leakers, Elden Ring players must have PvP enabled in order to team up with friends. This decision is ruffling some feathers, though there are some ways to get rid of invasions altogether.

In Elden Ring, there are essentially two kinds of online multiplayer. The first is co-op, where players show up in other worlds to help the host defeat bosses and explore the Lands Between. The other is invasions, where hostile players attempt to kill the host. Invasions can be summoned intentionally or completely randomly by using different materials. FromSoftware has decided that in order to benefit from cooperative play, players must be eligible for random invasions via the Festering Bloody Finger.

This means that Elden Ring parties can suddenly get crashed by hostile players looking to undo all the progress made by the host. In some cases, the invader can even arrive before the coop partner, leading to a difficult one-on-one duel. 

Invasions are one of the most divisive mechanics in FromSoftware games. Having a random player suddenly appear to halt all progress is a nightmare for gamers who are already struggling. Others enjoy the ability to engage with other players in a sudden test of skill. Those that don’t want to deal with invaders in their Elden Ring playthrough do have a few methods available to make the Lands Between a little less dangerous.

How to play Elden Ring in offline mode

If you don’t want to interact with anyone during your Elden Ring journey, there are multiple ways to run the game in offline mode. The most straightforward way is to boot Steam in offline mode. If the program is already running when you open Elden Ring, open the Steam friends menu and click the arrow next to your username. Set your status to offline and all open games will disconnect from the internet. It’s also possible that Elden Ring will have an offline mode in the options menu or on startup. 

If this option to play Elden Ring in offline mode isn’t available on consoles, there’s always the more direct way to keep your journey peaceful. Simply disconnect your PlayStation or Xbox from the internet manually. This can be done in the console options menu. Just remember that these options will also disable coop play.

Those with ethernet connections can just remove the plug from the back of their machine after starting up the console. Keep in mind that this method will not prevent invasions from NPCs. Based on previous Dark Souls titles, there should be quite a few scattered throughout the Lands Between.