What to do in Elden Ring before playing Shadow of the Erdtree

Jun. 4, 2024

There are things you should do to prepare for the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Wondering what to do before Shadow of the Erdtree to prepare as much as possible? The Elden Ring expansion isn’t something you should wander into - it’s an endgame final test of everything the player has mastered during their time in the core game, all the skills, weapons and abilities they’ve earned. It means that if you go in at anything other than full power, you’re likely going to have a tough time - well, an even tougher time - and there’s some things you should absolutely do first before playing to better prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree. With that in mind, here’s the ideal checklist for those planning to go to the Realm of Shadow.

1. Make sure you’ve completed the required steps for the DLC

There’s plenty you can do to prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree, but most of it is optional, a way to make it easier. However, some things are mandatory - namely, you’ll need tobeat two specific bosses, Radahn who’s part of the story, andMohg, the Lord of Bloodwho was an option boss,and clear the path to the cocoon that teleports you to the DLC area. For more info, our guide onhow to start Shadow of the Erdtreewill help you clear the steps specifically.

The bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree aren’t messing around, and most players will need to have the stats reach a high enough level that they can handle the threats within the Realm of Shadow. Obviously more skilled players won’t be so difficult, and there are means within that realm to modify the difficulty, but we otherwise recommend you increase your Vigor to atleastlevel 50 for the health buff, and do the same for whatever your primary stat is (intelligence for sorcerers, dexterity for katana users, etc etc). If you want to level up as fast as possible, we have anElden Ring Rune farming locationguide to help players do so.

Levelling up is only one part of becoming stronger and making your Tarnished into their best self. As a priority, you’ll want to hunt down all theElden Ring Bell Bearing locations, as these will allow you to buy the vast majority of Smithing Stones and upgrade any weapons you own, or find in SOTE, for that matter. You’ll also want to get theElden Ring Golden Seeds, to enhance your healing flasks, and maybe also theElden Ring Great Runesif you have the chance.

Early bosses and enemies like theShadow of the Erdtree Divine Beast Dancing Lionhave a variety of elemental attacks across the board, so you’ll want to make sure you’re protected accordingly. The best option is finding the materials for single-use consumables, but any method works. Specifically, you’ll want to make sure you’re insulated against magic and fire for one boss, and lightning and frostbite for the other.

Having conferred with others who played the preview, success against Erdtree’s early bosses seemed to come more quickly to those using massive, heavy weapons, though any weapon will work if you’re skilled enough. The reason is pretty simple - like theElden Ring Elden Beastboss fight, these bosses move around a lot or find reasons to keep you at arm’s length, so you’re not able to hit them that often. When the chance comes up, you need to maximise damage and effect as much as possible - and that means swinging around something that hits like a truck. Obviously this benefits Strength builds a little more, though every build will have some weapon or gear that plays to this approach.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

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.

Path of Exile 2 developer says “we are trying to avoid nerfing skills and builds,” but as it sets its sights on a popular explosive build, players argue it “discourages creativity”

How to trade in Path of Exile 2

How to work out the Indiana Jones Cloud Atlas code