5 Shadow of the Erdtree tips you should know before playing

Jun. 20, 2024

Elden Ring’s only DLC expansion is incredibly tough, and there’s some tips you should know first

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These Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree tips and tricks can be the difference between an exhausting and liberating first few hours, as the initial experience of Erdtree can be a brutal one if you’re not prepared. Now, many were expecting the Elden Ring expansion to be tough - but maybe notthistough, as a lot of players have found Erdtree to be kind of frustrating.

Well, there’s ways around that. Having played through the whole of Shadow of the Erdtree and consulted with others who’ve done the same, I’ve put together this list of the top tips and tricks that you should know before starting theElden Ring DLC.

1. Build up your Vigor if you haven’t already

Let’s be clear: Shadow of the Erdtree is an endgame DLC that assumes you’ve not only completed Elden Ring, but done a lot of side content and levelled up.Some of you might have a robust Vigor score already, but if you don’t (45 at the very least, and ideally 60 or up) you’ll find yourself getting one-shotted by a lot of enemiesin Shadow of the Erdtree. This stat is arguably more important than anyShadow of the Erdtree level requirements.

If you’re not at that point yet, you might want to use our guide onElden Ring Rune farming locationsto find a place to ramp up, or use theElden Ring respecsystem to move some points there.

Shadow of the Erdtree Miquella’s CrossesShadow of the Erdtree Furnace GolemsShadow of the Erdtree main bosses in order

The locations ofShadow of the Erdtree Scadutree Fragmentsare listed in the attached guide, and you shouldabsolutely get as many as you can, as soon as possible.SOTE has its own levelling system tied to these Fragments, where finding them and redeeming them at a Site of Grace boosts pretty muchallof your stats and allows you to become far more powerful in a flash. Going out and hunting down a few Scadutree Fragments can be the difference between hours of defeat and sudden success.

Not only that, buta secondary priority is the Revered Spirit Ash, an item that’s a bit less common, usually found at places of worship in-game. These are spent at Sites of Grace to buff yourElden Ring Summons, giving them greater survivability and stopping bosses from killing them on the first hit.

The dung beetles that drop Ashes of War are still in the game, but more importantly, SOTE has lots of ghostly enemies, especially in the early areas. If, at any point, you see a ghost balancing a large pot on its head that glitters, go after it! It’ll run away from you, butif you can kill it, it’ll drop some great items - like Scadutree Fragments, Revered Spirit Ash, or rare loot.They respawn if you miss your chance, but you can only harvest items from them once, meaning farming Fragments from them isn’t an option (sadly).

The Realm of Shadow has multiple regions, and some of them areveryhard to access - not because there’s a boss blocking them off (though that can happen), but becausethe route or method of reaching them can be obscure; a partially concealed cave, or a door in a building you overlooked.Sometimes it requires a puzzle or a questline, much like theGrand Lift of Dectus in Elden Ring, so while we won’t spoil the solutions here, it’s wise to pay attention, comb nearby areas for access points, read messages left by other players or even think about Gestures you’ve found that certain parts of the world might respond to. Obviously findingShadow of the Erdtree map fragmentsis still helpful, but there’s a lot more going on this time.

In Elden Ring proper, dungeons and buildings tended to have one entrance and one exit. That can still happen, but it’s much rarer in Shadow of the Erdtree -a castle, labyrinth or lair might have multiple entrances, ways through, secrets to find, and paths out to different locations, including some major ones.

The Shadow Keep in particular, the central structure in north Scadu Altus, is practically a crossroads to half the map, a small town where players can find half a dozen different ways in and out alike. Basically, if you think you finished with a dungeon the first time - you probably didn’t.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

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