# Boss Arena
A boss fight arena mod for Elden Ring. This mod was made especially for practicing boss fights and trying out different builds, without having to spend hours on getting to the boss and upgrading your character, as well as for players who mainly enjoy the boss fights for replayability. Killing a boss doesn't disable them, so that you can keep fighting them.

## Features
* Includes all bosses (any enemy with a named HP bar at the bottom) in the base game and the vast majority of the DLC bosses. 
* Fight any boss as many times as you want (killing them doesn't matter)
* After creating a character, you get teleported to Roundtable Hold
* Roundtable Hold has everything you need to get going fast:
  + You can level up for free
  + You have all the items to max out your HP and FP flasks
  + You have all the Crystal Tears to use with the Wondrous Physick
  + You have all the Great Runes
  + You have access to all the Ashes of War from Kalé
  + You have the Whetstone Knife and all the Whetblades from the start
  + You have Spectral Steed Whistle from the start (so, Torrent)
  + You have the Crafting Kit from the start
  + You have the Spirit Calling Bell from the start
  + You have max memory slots and max talisman slots from the start
  + You can get pretty much every item for free from Kalé
  + Hewg can upgrade your weapons without upgrade materials or runes
  + Roderika can upgrade your spirit summons without upgrade materials or runes
  + Jar-Bairn gives you 1 million runes whenever you ask him
  + Jar-Bairn can also give you infinite HP, FP and stamina (you can toggle these on/off)
  + You can increase the Game Cycle (NG+) by talking to Morgott. Note that it is not possible to revert this and go back to a lower game cycle without external tools like Cheat Engine or the Debug Tool, aside from starting a new character.
  + You can reallocate your stats at Rennala without a Larval Tear
  + You can also change your appearance at Rennala
  + You can alter garments (you have all needles and tailoring tools)
  + You have the entire map visible from the start
* These features were added so that creating or changing your character is fast and easy, and that you can get to fighting bosses fast
* You can fight bosses by talking to the Malformed Star that is located in the chamber where the Two Fingers used to be
  + Talk to him, and you can then select which boss to fight
  + Selecting a boss teleports you close to the boss
* Dying to a boss teleports you close to the boss whenever possible, so that you can try again quickly
* Killing a boss teleports you back to Roundtable Hold
* You can also teleport to Roundtable Hold normally by using the map in most instances

## Installation
1. You need [Mod Engine 2](https://github.com/soulsmods/ModEngine2/releases) to use this mod. It has been extensively tested with version 2.1 of ModEngine, so that's the one I recommend at the moment.

2. Once you have Mod Engine 2 installed, unpack the mod file (.zip-file) and move the CONTENTS of the "mod" folder (NOT the folder itself) to inside Mod Engine 2's own "mod" folder. If you end up with a "mod" folder inside another "mod" folder, you've done it wrong.

3.If you use an existing ModEngine folder rather than a fresh download, make sure its "mod" folder is completely empty before doing step 2. Remember you can have multiple ModEngine instances for different mods.

4. Click launchmod_eldenring.bat file to launch the game with the mod (launching through Steam doesn't work).

## Uninstallation
1. Simply remove the mod's contents from Mod Engine 2's "mod" folder and launch the game normally.

## Caution (please read this)
* BACKUP YOUR SAVE FILES BEFORE USING THIS MOD.
* Aside from Mod Engine 2, you do not need other mods/tools to make this mod work.
* About Mod Engine 2:
  + When using Mod Engine 2, this mod doesn't change the actual game files.
  + Mod Engine 2 automatically disables EasyAntiCheat when the game is run through launchmod_eldenring.bat
    - You cannot connect to FromSoftware servers or online features.
    - Thus launching and using the mod through ME2 should not get you banned.
* Using the modded character save when playing online might get you banned!
* Compatibility with other mods is not guaranteed.
  + Please take into account that this mod changes multiple aspects of the game and many resources the game uses:
    - Maps, event scripts, conversation scripts, character placements, game parameters, title screen, text parameters
  + Because of this, I don't believe you can use this mod straight out of the box with other mods.
  + Getting this mod to work with other mods probably requires manual work and understanding of how mods internally work.
* Please create a new character when using the mod. Using old saves might make some bosses unplayable, and make the game and the mod work in weird ways, and it might screw up the progression system of the old save.
* Please do not explore the game world outside the Roundtable Hold and fighting bosses. This mod was designed to be a very focused, standalone experience, only to be played through fighting the bosses and using the tools in Roundtable Hold. Playing the game outside the intended areas might cause bugs in the game and in how the mod works. If you would prefer a more flexible option for re-fighting bosses that integrates with the main game, I recommend checking out Boss Resurrection by Vawser: https://www.nexusmods.com/eldenring/mods/2790
* There are most probably some bugs that I have missed. From my own testing and playing the mod, I haven't had any major issues, but please report any bugs you find to the Bugs tab on NexusMods.

## Special Thanks
- RepO98, the original creator of this mod, which happens to be my favorite Elden Ring mod and why I started to learn modding in the first place so I could bring it back.
- All the creators of modding tools for FromSoft games. Particularly DSMapStudio/Smithbox, UXM, ModEngine, DarkScript3, ESDStudio and WitchyBND.
- All the contributors to the FromSoft modding wiki for the invaluable information they have compiled. Shoutout in particular to thefifthmatt for his excellent tutorial on EMEVD scripts in Elden Ring on top of his many contribution to the tools above (and for the countless hours of fun I've had with his randomizer mods).
- Grimrukh and LobosJr for their "Learning to Mod FROMSOFT Games" series on YouTube, which served as an excellent introduction to modding for a complete beginner like me.

## Finally
I hope you have a good time using the mod, and find it useful. Enjoy! :)