After a Shadow of the Erdtree-induced hiatus, Elden Ring's Seamless Co-op mod is already back with support for the expansion
After being briefly borked by the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring's Seamless Co-op mod is now ready to use in the expansion. Passing a message from mod creator Luke Yui yesterday, Seamless Co-op Discord moderator Dalvik wrote that "While not perfect, it has reached a state where it can be used to play Elden Ring and the DLC in co-op."
FromSoftware's unique implementation of cooperative play is great for if you need to bring a stranger or friend into your game for help on a boss, but Elden Ring's open world and death/boss defeat disconnects make it a chore to experience the whole thing beginning to end with a friend. Seamless Co-op fixed that, with a no muss, no fuss, impressively polished solution. It runs in a separate .exe with its own saves and on its own servers, bypassing Easy AntiCheat. Once you've made it to your friend's instance via a simple password match system, you stay there until you're ready to leave.
The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC understandably altered the game enough to require an extensive update to the mod from Luke Yui in response, and he has delivered it in record time. Notably, all Seamless Co-op saves from prior versions will still work and can be taken into the DLC, and Seamless Co-op now supports optional invasions for the first time.
Dalvik also outlined some other improvements present in the update in a conversation with PCG senior editor Wes Fenlon. Thanks to a more modular structure in how the mod's built now, gestures and items earned in conversations will update properly for all players, while everyone present in an instance can now load into the optional Evergaol boss encounters together.
We were wondering if the new Scadutree Fragment system might play havoc with Seamless Co-op, but according to Dalvik, FromSoft made it relatively easy on Luke Yui: "The DLC has added many new mechanics, interesting edge cases and underlying code changes—some of which would seem mundane to the player—but have required new solutions for them to work correctly," Dalvik explained. "Fortunately, the Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes are very much localized and do not require any special synchronization."
You can now download Seamless Co-op's latest version from the Elden Ring Nexus, and take on the Land of Shadow with a friend in tow—just be aware that Luke Yui will still be ironing out some of those bugs in the coming days.
Luke Yui has noted on the Discord that some initial downloads of Seamless Co-op aren't carrying crucial files due to an error with the Nexus, so you may need to redownload the mod from the project's GitHub page if this happens to you. Also, the new version of Seamless Co-op contains new items for activating online features, and you have to rest at a Site of Grace to receive them.