Dark Souls 2 players on last-gen systems will receive the free 1.10 update on February 5th, ahead of the upcoming release of Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, introducing a new character, a plethora of improvements and online multiplayer adjustments.

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin – the remastered version of Dark Souls 2 combined with the Three Crowns DLC – is coming April 7th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC. In the meantime, current Dark Souls 2 players on last-gen systems will receive a free patch of “new story elements to prepare for The Scholar of the First Sin” and all of the improvements that developer FromSoftware “can possibly give.”

This includes a multitude of matchmaking and online tweaks and additions, such as the bonfire warp selection screen will highlight the top three active areas and players on their first playthrough will be able to match with other players who are on their second or further playthrough.

Invading players also won’t be able to use items that invite more enemies and the effect of the Human Effigy can be cancelled out at bonfires. The addition of a new item called the Agape ring, which absorbs souls during online play, allows users to "control their online matchmaking experience by limiting their total souls collected."

The patch notes are quite lengthy, so make sure you head by Bandai Namco's Tumblr for all the details.