If you’ve been wondering what exactly comes with the Elden Ring Tarnished Pack, you’re not alone. With the pack releasing on August 28, 2026, there’s a fair amount of new content to keep track of, especially if you’ve already spent hundreds of hours exploring the Lands Between.
The good news is that this isn’t a huge expansion on the scale of Shadow of the Erdtree. Instead, the Tarnished Pack adds a collection of new starting options, equipment, Torrent customization, and a couple of new encounters to the existing game.
Here’s everything included and, more importantly, where you can find the new content.
Elden Ring Tarnished Pack Guide – New Classes, Weapons
The Tarnished Pack is a paid DLC for Elden Ring released on August 28, 2026 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam.
It brings the additional content from Elden Ring Tarnished Edition to platforms that don’t receive that edition.
There’s an important exception, though: if you’re playing on Nintendo Switch 2, the Tarnished Pack content is already included with Elden Ring Tarnished Edition. You don’t need to purchase the pack separately.
Support for the DLC was added to the base game with Patch 1.17, which released on August 27, 2026.
Tarnished Pack New Classes
One of the easiest additions to notice is the two new starting classes.
When you’re creating a new character, you can now choose between:
- Heavy Knight
- Idus Knight
Both are available directly during Character Creation, giving new players two additional ways to begin their journey.
But there’s a useful detail here that you might miss: you aren’t permanently locked out of their equipment if you choose another class.
The equipment associated with these classes can also be obtained later during the game. You can purchase the gear from merchants or discover it while exploring the Lands Between.
So if you’re already attached to a particular starting class, you don’t have to restart your character just to get the new equipment.
New Weapons in the Tarnished Pack
The pack also adds new weapons to the game.
These aren’t restricted to the new starting classes. The weapons can be obtained during your normal journey by either finding them in the Lands Between or purchasing them from merchants.
The individual weapons are being catalogued as they’re confirmed in-game, so this section will expand as more specific locations and details become available.
For now, the important thing to know is that the new weapons are integrated into the main world rather than being locked exclusively behind character creation.
New Torrent Spectral Steed Attire
This is probably one of the more fun additions if you spend a lot of time traveling around the Lands Between.
The Tarnished Pack introduces three new Spectral Steed Attire options, allowing you to change the appearance of Torrent.
The three options are:
| Torrent Attire | Location |
|---|---|
| Tree Sentinel Spectral Steed Attire | Stormveil Castle |
| Silver of Caria Spectral Steed Attire | Liurnia of the Lakes |
| Funereal Night Spectral Steed Attire | Altus Plateau |
So these aren’t simply rewards that appear automatically in your inventory. You’ll need to explore the corresponding areas to find them.
Tree Sentinel Spectral Steed Attire
The Tree Sentinel Spectral Steed Attire can be found in Stormveil Castle.
If you’re already exploring Stormveil, this is one more reason to poke around its corners rather than rushing through the main route.
Silver of Caria Spectral Steed Attire
The Silver of Caria Spectral Steed Attire is located in Liurnia of the Lakes.
The area is already packed with secrets and things worth investigating, so keep an eye out for the new attire while you’re exploring.
Funereal Night Spectral Steed Attire
The third option is the Funereal Night Spectral Steed Attire, which can be found in the Altus Plateau.
This gives you another reason to explore the plateau beyond simply progressing through the main story.
How to Change Torrent’s Appearance
Finding the attire is only part of the process.
Once you’ve obtained any Spectral Steed Attire, a new option becomes available at a Site of Grace.
Simply use the Site of Grace menu and you’ll be able to change the appearance of your spectral steed.
So you don’t have to stick with whichever appearance you first equipped. Once you’ve collected multiple options, you can switch between them whenever you want.
New NPC Invasions
The Tarnished Pack also adds two new NPC invasion events.
These encounters take place in:
- Caelid
- Leyndell, Royal Capital
These aren’t just cosmetic additions—they give you two more hostile encounters to discover while exploring the existing world.
Caelid NPC Invasion
The first new invasion takes place somewhere in Caelid.
If you’re exploring the region, keep an eye out for the conditions that trigger the new NPC encounter.
Caelid being Caelid, you can probably assume this isn’t going to be the most relaxing invasion you’ve ever experienced.
Leyndell NPC Invasion
The second invasion occurs in Leyndell, Royal Capital.
There’s one particularly important thing to remember here:
The invasion won’t occur after Leyndell changes into Leyndell, Ashen Capital.
So if you want to experience this encounter, make sure you trigger it before progressing the area to its later state.
That’s an easy one to miss if you’re already far into the story.
Is Shadow of the Erdtree Included?
No.
This is probably the most important thing to clarify before buying the Tarnished Pack.
Shadow of the Erdtree is not included.
The expansion remains a separate purchase, so the Tarnished Pack shouldn’t be confused with a bundle that includes the major expansion.
The Tarnished Pack is focused on the new classes, weapons, Torrent customization, and NPC invasions.
Tarnished Pack Release Times
The release timing depends on your platform.
PlayStation and Xbox
The Tarnished Pack released on Friday, August 28 at 12:00 AM local time.
Steam
The Steam release time was:
- 7:00 AM JST
- 12:00 AM CEST
- 3:00 PM PDT
So if you’re waiting for the Steam version, make sure you’re checking the release time for your region rather than assuming it unlocks at midnight locally.
Do You Need Patch 1.17?
Yes.
The Tarnished Pack requires Patch 1.17 or later.
The update itself is free, and the patch is also required for online play.
So if you’ve purchased the DLC but can’t see the new content, the first thing I’d check is whether your game has actually been updated to the required version.
What Changed With Patch 1.17?
Patch 1.17 wasn’t only about adding support for the Tarnished Pack.
It also made changes to certain items found in the field or dropped by powerful enemies in the Realm of Shadow, upgrading them to higher-tier items.
There’s an important catch, though: items you had already collected before the patch aren’t changed.
In other words, the upgrade applies to relevant items you obtain after the patch rather than retroactively changing everything already sitting in your inventory.
If you’ve already played through Elden Ring and want new ways to start a character, additional weapons, extra encounters, and more ways to customize Torrent, the pack gives you some fresh content to play around with.
The new classes are especially interesting for anyone planning another playthrough, while the Torrent attire is a nice bonus for players who care about customization.
Just keep your expectations in check: this isn’t replacing Shadow of the Erdtree as the game’s major expansion. It’s a smaller content pack designed to add more variety to the existing Elden Ring experience.
For completionists, collectors, and anyone planning another journey through the Lands Between, though, there are some worthwhile additions to hunt down.