Stellar Blade Update 1.003 Adds New Boss Challenge, New Outfits, and More

Stellar Blade developer Shift Up Corp. has released patch 1.003, adding a new Boss Challenge, new outfits for main character Eve, and more.

Stellar Blade is an action game released exclusively for PlayStation 5 in April. IGN’s Stellar Blade review returned a 7/10. We said: “Stellar Blade is great in all the most important areas for an action game, but boring characters, a lackluster story, and several frustrating elements of its RPG mechanics keep it from soaring with the best of the kind. »

Now, a month after release, the new update adds Boss Challenge mode, which pits players against the base game’s 19 bosses. Progression in the Boss Challenge requires battle data from bosses you’ve already defeated, director Kim Hyung Tae explained in a post on the PlayStation Blog. You can also fight bosses on hard difficulty after seeing the end of the game.

To start the challenge, you can either load up and use your own equipment that you have used, or choose one of the many presets. “Choose the minimum preset for a real challenge, which is extremely low-key, or the maximum preset, which has all your skills and stats upgraded, if you want to taunt the boss with spectacular fights,” suggested Kim Hyung Tae.

Once the challenge is completed, your battle data is automatically analyzed. You’ll see metrics like combat time, number of perfect parries and dodges, consumable usage, and much more. You can compare your results with those of your friends. If you beat all bosses in the Boss Challenge on Normal difficulty or higher, you will get the Neurolink suit for Eve below.

Speaking of new outfits, the update adds two new Nano Suits: White Kunoichi and Black Kunoichi (check them out in the images below). Kim Hyung Tae encouraged players to look for more Nano Suits in the game.

And finally, the quality of life improvements mean that if you go into ranged attack mode and come back while locked on to an enemy, you will automatically lock on to the enemy again. The update also adds an option to always show the compass in the HUD.

Wesley is the UK news editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.