Elden Ring's Convergence Mod Explained

Summary

FromSoftware's Soulslike games on PC have a strong fanbase, thanks to the availability of mods that enhance the gaming experience. Dark Souls: Archthrones and Nightfall are ongoing fan projects that bring new features and content to the games.
The Convergence mod for Elden Ring expands the gameplay and world design. It introduces interconnected areas, new starting points for each class, a fast travel system, and changes to progression and boss fights.
The Convergence mod greatly expands the build options in Elden Ring with new classes, equipment, and spells. The mod also improves the crafting system and introduces rebalanced status effects. It provides a fresh experience and adds replay value to the game.

Even with a heightened risk of cheaters and hackers, FromSoftware’s Soulslike games still have a large fanbase on personal computers. This can be a general platform preference, but many like to take advantage of the various mods every PC FromSoftware title receives. Fan projects are practically a staple of the FromSoftware community, ranging from the famous DSfix that made computer copies into Dark Souls 1's best version, to research projects like importing Armored Core 6 models into Elden Ring to see how large they really are. The Dark Souls trilogy, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Elden Ring, and Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon are all part of this trend, and it shows no sign of stopping.

Indeed, it seems like the community's best efforts are still ahead of them. A project called Dark Souls: Archthrones, which intends to bring Demon’s Souls features into Dark Souls 3, is still ongoing, much like a fan sequel to Dark Souls 1 called Nightfall. Two especially notable mods share the name “The Convergence,” with one for Dark Souls 3 and the other for Elden Ring. Dark Souls 3: The Convergence is complete, and remains one of that title’s most famous mods thanks to how thoroughly it changes and expands the game and its magic system. Elden Ring’s equivalent isn't likely to finish development for a long time, but the current Convergence builds already feels like a whole new game.

Elden Ring: The Convergence Is A Truly Open Game

Elden Ring Convergence Mod All Classes Starting Locations Blood Initiate Rose Church Liurnia

Dark Souls 1 fans have been known to fondly reminisce about how it used shortcuts to tie areas together, often in unexpected ways. The resulting 3D metroidvania design hasn’t been as prominent in any FromSoftware games since, so Dark Souls 3: The Convergence became like an idealized Dark Souls 4 by linking areas with warp points. Dark Souls 3: The Convergence’s general design ethos carried over into Elden Ring: The Convergence, and that includes said interconnected approach. That may seem redundant with Elden Ring’s open world, but such notions are quickly dispelled upon experiencing The Convergence’s changes.

Immediately, players will discover that every starting class has its own starting point, and that enemies in regions like Caelid or Altus are weaker than normal. All of this and more makes it quickly apparent that most of the game is accessible right away. On top of The Convergence's many places to go first and the expected warp shortcuts, Minor Erdtrees have also gained their own fast travel system distinct from Sites of Grace. Most importantly, progression is now tied to defeating one member from five groups of Remembrance bosses, a major change from fighting two Great Rune bearers in vanilla Elden Ring. The Convergence managed to make Elden Ring’s world feel more open, and that's all before unpacking its gameplay changes.

The Convergence Massively Expands Elden Ring’s Build Options

Elden Ring Convergence Mod All Classes Starting Locations Frenzied Knight Carian Magic

As mentioned, every class has their own starting point, and that's far from all. Like its Dark Souls 3 counterpart, The Convergence introduces many new classes, each with a distinct theme and build orientation. Not only that, but they also have their own progression quests, with notes hinting at equipment and progressive spell items hidden in appropriate areas. With the enormous spell list increase to match DS3’s own and a steadily growing equipment list, Elden Ring’s build variety is steadily climbing. The patch 1.3.3 list of 27 starting classes and their specialties are as follows:

Vanguard (STR/DEX - Offense)
Retainer (STR/DEX - Defense)
Marksman (STR/DEX - Long Range)
Berserker (STR - Offense)
Dreadnought (STR - Defense)
Sellsword (DEX - Offense)
Rogue (DEX - Defense)
Glint Sorcerer (INT - Magic)
Starcaller (INT/STR - Physical)
Underworld Mage (INT/DEX - Lightning)
Volcanist (INT/FTH - Fire)
Stormcaller (INT/FTH/STR - Physical)
Nox Oracle (INT/FTH/DEX - Magic)
Necromancer (INT/FTH, Summoner - Holy)
Frost Witch (INT/ARC - Magic)
Aberrant Heretic (INT/ARC - Physical)
Flame Prophet (FTH, Offense - Fire)
Fundamentalist (FTH, Defense - Holy)
Bestial Devout (FTH/STR - Physical)
Dragon Cultist (FTH/DEX - Lightning)
Godskin Celebrant(INT/FTH - Holy)
Frenzied Zealot (INT/FTH - Fire)
Blood Initiate (FTH/ARC - Fire)
Servant of Rot (FTH/ARC - Physical)
Mystic (FTH/ARC - Magic)
Perfumer (ARC - Consumables)
Prisoner (RL1)

Even though it will take some time for modders to develop original content in Elden Ring’s engine, what The Convergence has now still feels like a new experience. Plenty of Elden Ring's equipment has been tweaked or replaced already, and more additions will come. In the meantime, players can adjust to the rebalanced status effects, a switch from staffs and seals boosting spell families to spell damage types, and more. Special mention goes to Elden Ring’s underused crafting system, which has been given new life through tying it to the game's Talismans and Physick Tears. Players could spend years figuring out The Convergence's new meta, and the mod isn’t even done yet.

Old Elden Ring Players Will Be Constantly Surprised By The Convergence

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So many other quality-of-life changes can be found in The Convergence’s alpha builds, including a separate place for the mod’s save files, Remembrance boss re-fights, and some more detailed item descriptions. In general, even with Spirit Ashes being rebalanced to be more like NPC summons, The Convergence can feel like an easier take on Elden Ring. However, Dark Souls 3's Convergence was the same way, and it still changed so much that players never knew for sure how to deal with the mod's next surprise.

Novel Playthroughs Are The Convergence’s Greatest Strength

In similar ways to a randomizer mod, The Convergence makes exploration fun again through plenty of clever changes. Enemies and dungeons have been remixed on top of their altered scaling, new bosses replace certain old ones, a couple areas have become Legacy Dungeons, and the new main and class quests mean players can experience different swaths of the game with each playthrough. Despite its incomplete state, The Convergence adds the replay value some Elden Ring fans felt was missing, and should continue to impress long after Elden Ring’s DLC has come and gone.

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