Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree patch 1.12. 3 finally fixes the fight with the Golden Hippopotamus, so that this annoying creature will no longer be breathing down your neck as soon as you enter the arena.
Today, July 4th, Bandai Namco rolled out a new Elden Ring patch, which you can check out in full on the publisher’s website. The new patch is likely to focus on tweaking two of Shadow of the Erdtree’s frustrating bosses: Commander Gaius and the Golden Hippopotamus.
“The boss placement in the rematch against the Golden Hippopotamus and Commander Gaius bosses has been changed so that they are in the same position as in the first fight,” the patch notes read. This means that both bosses will not roll in on you as soon as you enter their arenas, which is nothing short of great news.
Patch 1.12. 3 has been released for #ELDENRING Shadow of the Erdtree. Patch notes are available here: https://t.co/B5gLHZ9bSrThank you for your support and passion. pic.twitter.com/niNSc8IRrGJuly 4, 2024
You hate the Golden Hippo. I hate the Golden Hippo. We all hate the Golden Hippo. However, with this patch it means that the Shadow of the Erdtree boss should wake up from its slumber when you go back to defeat it again, instead of charging at you and not even letting you Spirit Summon it once the fight starts.
The change is also nice for Commander Gaius for similar reasons – the boar-mounted boss will no longer sit on your throat as soon as you start the fight. It must be said that Gaius was considerably easier to deal with once his fight started compared to the Golden Hippo, who was just plain annoying, but still pretty frustrating in his own right.
Additionally, the new Elden Ring patch fixed a bug that was causing the Golden Hippopotamus boss’s “unblockable bite attack to connect with players more easily than intended.” I knew I wasn’t imagining it: every time I thought I’d dodged the attack but got swallowed up by the Golden Hippo, I was, in fact, dodging the attack.
Check out our Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree questlines guide for an overview of where to start each NPC quest.