PvP backstabs are back on the menu thanks to Elden Ring's latest patch

The latest balance patch for Elden Ring has brought great celebration, and some sadness, to the PvP community. The age of backstabs is here.

But what eactly happened? Well, looking at the recent patch notes, one specific point is crucial to this bright new backstabby future. "Critical hit angles have been extended," means that the game is not as strict with where you must be located in order to trigger the backstab animation on enemies. This is useful in PvE, sure, but in PvP situations where other players are moving quickly and often jumping around due to netcode issues, increased critical hit angles make backstabbing other players far easier.

Perhaps the best visual aid on what this will look like comes from Reddit user Lagideath2, whose post "Yep, DS3 backstabs are back" is a blast from the past for anyone who stayed up late fighting off other players in Irithyl. In it, we see a player run right behind their opponent, trigger the backstab animation, and get the attack off even when the other player made a full 180 degree turn. Nice.

This came as great news for many out there who are bored of the current meta of big barriers and swinging wildly. With backstabs easier to perform, the opportunity to use builds focused on crit damage are now more viable than ever before. "Dark Souls 3 here I come," writes user EconomyFly5920.

However, others were not so happy. "Not sure if I'm gonna get downvoted or not, but here it goes: backstab fishing is not a fun meta to play against," writes user ElNido. "He did more than 50% of the dude's health bar in a duel because of that. Fight is already over as long as the backstabber doesn't play terribly."

If you're an Elden Ring player, what do you think of this change? Also, if you were a big PvPer back in the day in previous Souls games, let us know what your experience with these online backstabs below!