Version 1.2.4 of INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road is a systems-heavy update. It adds small but important quality-of-life tools, rewires how experience is earned, and clamps down on passive farming in ranked play, while also clearing a list of story and training bugs.
The update is live on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X｜S, and Steam. A comparable patch is planned for Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch, which currently sit on an earlier version.
Where to get update 1.2.4
| Platform | Version status | How to update |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 / PlayStation 4 | 1.2.4 available | Update through the system’s game update prompt or the product page in the PlayStation Store. |
| Xbox Series X｜S | 1.2.4 available | Use automatic updates or the “Manage updates” option on the Xbox dashboard or the game’s store page. |
| Steam (PC) | 1.2.4 available | Let Steam auto‑update, or right‑click the game in your library and select “Update”. |
| Nintendo Switch 2 / Nintendo Switch | Earlier version live | Update 1.2.4 is planned but not yet released; current version updates come through the usual system update flow. |
The official patch notes for 1.2.4 are listed on the update page for each platform on the Victory Road website at inazuma.jp. Platform-specific listings (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Steam) for the game itself are also linked from the main product page.
Quality-of-life changes in menus
Two small changes target one of the most repetitive parts of building a team: jumping between players to tweak builds.
| Menu | New action | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Abilearn Board | Switch to other characters in the same Team Dock directly from the board. | Removes the need to back out to a higher-level menu every time you want to adjust a different player’s abilities. |
| Equipment Menu | Switch to other characters in the same Team Dock from the gear screen. | Makes it much faster to compare and assign equipment across the full squad. |
In practice, this means you can sit in either the Abilearn Board or Equipment Menu and cycle across everyone in the Team Dock, making adjustments in one pass instead of dipping in and out per character.
Story Mode balance changes
Story Mode is one of the main focus areas in 1.2.4. Several adjustments are aimed at smoothing difficulty spikes and removing ways to trivialize matches.
Story Mode changes in 1.2.4
| Change | Mode / chapter | What actually changes |
|---|---|---|
| Training goals tuned | Story Mode – Chapter 9 | Training targets in Chapter 9 are adjusted, addressing a sharp difficulty spike reported around late‑story drills. |
| Avatar level sync | Story Mode – all matches with Avatars | Any Avatar at level 51 or higher is temporarily scaled down to level 50 during Story Mode matches. |
| Score carryover on retry | Story Mode – mid‑match retries | If you lose and retry from the middle of a Story Mode match, the score you had already achieved now persists into the retry. |
| Experience curve adjusted | Story Mode (indirect) and all other modes | The experience required to level up has been recalibrated for all characters, affecting how quickly teams grow throughout the story. |
The Chapter 9 training changes should make late‑story drills less punishing without removing the need to engage with training systems. The new Avatar level sync closes a loophole where players could import exceptionally high‑level Avatars from other modes and steamroll story matches; with the cap, Story Mode stays closer to its intended power curve.
The score carryover change is more about frustration than difficulty. Previously, failing a Story Mode match meant completely replaying the scoreboard. Now, if you choose to retry from mid‑match, you keep the goals you already scored, which makes repeated attempts less punishing.
One caveat appears in the official notes: Cross-Save between platforms can show different Chapter 9 training targets because of version differences. So players moving a save between, for example, a Switch version and a patched console or PC build may briefly see mismatched or higher values.
Experience and leveling rework
Under the hood, 1.2.4 makes sweeping changes to how experience is earned and distributed.
| Experience system change | Where it applies | Intended effect |
|---|---|---|
| Rebalanced EXP requirements | All characters, all modes | Adjusts the EXP needed per level across the full level range, affecting total grind time and pacing. |
| Bonus EXP for lower-level players | Team Dock (up to 16 members) | The five lowest-level characters in the 16‑player Team Dock receive additional post‑match EXP, scaling with how far behind they are from the average team level. |
| Online defeat EXP reduction | Ranked Matches | Experience gained when losing a ranked match is cut to one quarter of its previous value. |
The EXP curve adjustment is global but invisible: there is no explicit breakdown of how many points each level now requires. Players will mainly feel the change over time as characters hit milestones sooner or later than before.
The targeted bonus for the lowest five characters in the Team Dock is easier to understand. If your squad’s average level is high but you keep adding new recruits, those new or underused players now climb faster after each match. The exact bonus depends on how far below the team average each of those five is, which nudges the roster toward a more even spread without manual grinding for specific players.
At the same time, online EXP for losing ranked games is sharply reduced. Combined with new rules around rewards (explained below), that change is aimed at discouraging players from treating ranked as a pure leveling tool instead of a competitive ladder.
Ranked Match anti-idle measures
One of the most controversial changes in 1.2.4 targets idling and early forfeits in ranked.
| Ranked rule | New behavior | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Rewards on defeat | Rewards for a loss are only granted if the match is played through to the end. | Players who go idle or disconnect intentionally before the final whistle stop receiving ranked rewards. |
| EXP on defeat | Experience gained from a loss is reduced to one quarter of the previous amount. | Ranked becomes a poor choice for power leveling through repeated losses. |
| Conceding the match | Using the concede option now grants no rewards at all. | Fast forfeit farming chains no longer return bond stars or other ranked rewards. |
Before this update, one common pattern in the community was to queue with friends, let a half play out, then concede or idle to quickly collect bond stars or EXP, sometimes on both sides. With 1.2.4, that loop is effectively broken: concessions are unrewarded, and partial or idle matches are no longer a reliable way to earn anything.
These rules do not affect non‑ranked modes like Quick Match and offline play. Players who want to focus on character growth or resource farming are pushed toward those modes or the various Chronicle and Competition matches instead of staying in ranked purely for grind efficiency.
Cross-Save and progression fixes from 1.2.3
Version 1.2.3, released a few days before 1.2.4, addressed some critical issues around Cross-Save and story progression that are worth keeping in mind, especially for anyone jumping between platforms.
| Fix | Issue | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-Save error resolved | Attempts to upload or download Cross-Save data between Nintendo Switch 2 / Nintendo Switch and PS5, PS4, or Steam would fail with an error. | After 1.2.3, Switch-family save data can be uploaded and then downloaded on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X｜S, and Steam once the patch is installed and the save is re-uploaded. |
| South Cirrus story lockout | In ranked or lobby matches, a player who had not finished Story Mode could gain South Cirrus characters they had not yet reached, blocking story progress. | Ranked and lobby matches no longer hand out those characters in a way that stalls the story. |
| Keyboard controls rollback (Steam) | A prior change to keyboard control specs did not land well. | On Steam, keyboard controls have been reverted to their earlier behavior. |
Anyone using Cross-Save with Nintendo hardware must both update and then resave on the Switch or Switch 2 before uploading again to make use of the fixed flow. Cross-Save setup details are documented on the game’s Cross-Save guide at inazuma.jp.
Story Mode bug fixes in 1.2.4
Beyond balance, 1.2.4 resolves several blocking issues in the main story and related training content.
| Area | Bug | Fix in 1.2.4 |
|---|---|---|
| Spirit Exchange | Spirits used in exchanges would sometimes not decrease from the inventory even after being spent. | Spirit counts now reduce correctly when used. |
| BB Stadium – Campaign Mode | Resuming Campaign Mode with “Continue from save” and winning a match could cause the game to stall when starting the next match. | Campaign progression now continues normally after these resumed wins. |
| Special Training – Gatling Kraken Trap | At high frame rates, this Special Training scenario sometimes could not be cleared even when conditions were met. | Frame rate no longer prevents completion; the drill can be cleared as intended. |
| Story Mode – Chapter 6 | After winning a skill showdown, the game could occasionally fail to advance. | Chapter progression after this event is now stable. |
| Story Mode – Chapter 8 vs Royal Academy | The screen effect from a Special Tactic could persist longer than it should, and the same tactic could sometimes be used twice in a row in the second half. | Visual effects now clear correctly and the Special Tactic usage behaves as designed. |
| Story Mode – abilities display | The number of abilities owned in Story Mode could be shown incorrectly because it referenced items from other modes. | Ability counts in Story Mode now reflect only the correct, mode-specific items. |
| Story Mode – Chapter 9 (Darian Moonward) | When controlling Darian Moonward, players could fast travel to South Cirrus Junior High but then be unable to return to Raimon, effectively blocking story progression. | Fast travel in this sequence no longer traps players; Raimon becomes accessible again. |
| Story Mode – map interaction | Opening the map at the exact moment of touching a red dashed line (an impassable boundary) could cause the game to become unresponsive. | Map opening and collision with these lines no longer combine into a softlock. |
| Ranked Match points on disconnect | Ranked points could still be awarded even when a connection was canceled during a match. | Points granting now respects proper completion and connection state. |
| Miscellaneous | Unspecified minor bugs across modes. | Various small stability and correctness fixes are bundled into 1.2.4. |
For players stuck in specific chapters—especially Chapter 6 and Chapter 9—the update is effectively mandatory. Once installed, progression blockers around skill showdowns, travel with Darian, and some Royal Academy match glitches should clear.
What this means for how to play now
Patch 1.2.4 does not add new content, but it shifts how the existing modes should be used.
- Story Mode is more consistent: late‑game training and certain matches are less spiky, and the worst softlocks have been addressed.
- Ranked Matches are explicitly framed as a competitive space. Losses now pay out minimal EXP, concessions pay nothing, and idling your way through a season is no longer viable for farming.
- Offline and non‑ranked modes are where team building makes the most sense, supported by the new “catch‑up” EXP for underleveled squad members.
- Cross-Save between Switch-family hardware and other platforms is finally usable again, as long as both sides are patched and saves are re-uploaded.
For now, the biggest gap is on Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch, which are still waiting for this specific version. That delay means Switch players can, for a short time, continue to use pre‑1.2.4 behaviors, including more generous ranked EXP and the absence of some anti‑idle rules. Once the update lands there as well, Victory Road across all platforms should behave much more similarly, with clearer lines between where you compete and where you grind.
