How to start Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and tips to prepare (2024)

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How to start Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC in Elden Ring

To start the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, all you need to do is beat Starscourge Radhan and Mohg, Lord of Blood. Once these two bosses are done and dusted, make your way to the throne room in Mohgwyn’s Palace and interact with the large withered arm protruding out of a large egg. Doing all of these things will trigger a cutscene and you will enter the Land of Shadow. We had to do these steps during our Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree preview, and once we got stuck in we never wanted to leave.

The Land of Shadow is the new map added in Elden Ring and it is where the whole Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will take place. Once you’ve visited the Land of Shadow for the first time, you can freely fast-travel back and forth from the Lands Between whenever you want.

How to start Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and tips to prepare (2)

1. Defeat Starscourge Radahn in Caelid

As one of the main Sharbdearer bosses, it’s always in your best interest to defeat Radahn. To find him, you need to travel through Caelid and challenge Redmane Castle. Once you get to the end, you will find a portal that will take you to a large beach where the boss battle takes place. Defeating Radahn is part of Ranni’s quest, as it opens the path to Nokron.

2. Defeat Mohg, Lord Of Blood

With Radahn down, you need to progress through the game all the way to Moghwyn Palace, which is a fairly late-game area. There are two ways to get to Moghwyn Palace: the first is by finding the teleporter in the Consecrated Snowfield, and the second is by progressing White Mask Varre’s quest for the Pureblood Knight’s Medal. You really want to make sure you’re around level 100 before going that way. Mohg himself isn’t a tough boss fight, but you will need to be properly levelled to take this region on. For an in-depth walkthrough covering how to beat Mohg, check out our guide.

3. Touch the large arm in Mohgwyn Palace

After you beat Mohg, you just need to interact with the creepy large arm sticking out of an egg in the boss room you’re in, which is also the Cocoon of the Empyrean Site of Grace. Once you touch the arm, you’ll be transported to Shadow of the Erdtree DLC region and you can start the new adventure.

How to prepare for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

During our time playing the preview portion of Shadow of the Erdtree, we know that the level range you want to be to tackle the DLC is 100 – 150. Since the DLC section of the game is technically part of the ‘end game’ content, you can probably expect it to be of a similar challenge and level to the likes of Crumbling Farum Azula. As such, there are probably a few things you should do before trying to jump into the DLC.

1. Collect all Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears

The Golden Seed and Sacred Tear are consumable items that increase the usage and efficacy of your Flask of Crimson Tears and the Flask of Cerulean Tears. Seeds increase how many uses you have while Tears improve how much Hp or FP is restored. The maximum use for one flask is 14, while the maximum potency for how much is restored is +12. There are more Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears in Elden Ring than you need, so you have a higher chance of maxing out your healing flasks.

2. Find the best Talismans

Talismans are the lifeblood of your builds in Elden Ring and making sure you have the best of the best will gear you up especially well for Shadow of the Ertdree. Granted, we will most likely find new and more powerful Talismans in the DLC, but having the best from the base game is highly recommend. Generally, we would recommend getting the following, as they are fantastic for all builds:

Assassin’s Crimson Dagger – This Talisman restores your HP when you perform a backstab or a critical hit. This is extremely useful if you like to fish for parries or sneak around for backstabs; the extra HP is always helpful in a pinch. You can find this Talisman in the Deathtouched Catacombs in West Limgrave.
Crimson Amber Medallion – This Talisman increases your maximum HP, but you specifically want the +2 version that grants an 8% increase. You can find this in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds after defeating Maliketh. You can only access this area when the capital becomes Leyndell, Ashen Capital. While here, look for a golden sewer grate you can drop down to find the Talisman.
Erdtree’s Favour – The Erdtree’s Favor is one of the best Talismans around since it provides an increase to max HP, stamina, and equip load. This is essentially the Ring of Favor and Protection from DS1. While the original Talisman is good, you can find the +2 version in Leyndell, Ashen Capital on the eastern side of the city. It is found on a large branch, ridiculously guarded by three Ulcerated Tree Spirits.
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman – This Talisman is incredibly useful because it reduces physical damage taken by 20%. You can find this in Miquella’s Haligtree, following the path down from the Drainage Channel and dropping into a chapel from above.
Taker’s Cameo – Tanith awards the Taker’s Cameroat theVolcano Manorfor a third assassination contract to kill Juno Hoslow. You can find Juno in the Mountaintops of the Giants.

3. Find all the legendary Spirit Ashes

Not all Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring are born equally, and the game has six Legendary Spirit Ashes to find throughout the world. By the time you’re at a place able to start the DLC, you might have already found these. In case you haven’t, it’s worth tracking them all down and levelling your favourite ones to the max.

Mimic Tear – Found in a chest behind an imp statue in Night’s Sacred Ground in Nokron.
Black Knife Tiche – Dropped after beating Alecto, Black Knight Ringleader in the Ringleader’s Evergoal, which can be found in southwest Liurnia.
Cleanrot Knight Finlay – Looted from a chest in the Haligtree. This chest is guarded by a Cleanrot Knight. Travel to the Prayer Room Site of Grace and follow the path until you find the stairs. Head up and you will see a gazebo lower down. Jump to it and look for the room with the chest nearby.
Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff – Travel to and clear the Sainted Hero’s Grave, which is west of Leyndell.
Redmane Knight Ogha – To get this Spirit Ash, you need to beat the Putrid Tree Spirit inside the War Dead Catacombs in Caelid.
Lhutel the Headless – To get this summon, you must beat the Cemetary Shade in the Tombsward Catacombs. This cave is found south of the Church of Pilgrimage on the Weeping Peninsular.

Out of these, we highly recommend the Mimic Tear and Black Knife Tiche to get to the maximum level. Tiche was invaluable to us in fighting Malenia thanks to her HP drain and her knockdown capabilities. We also want to give a special shoutout to the Greatshield Soldier Ashes and the Spirit Jellyfish Ashes. These two summons are fantastic for controlling fights; the Greatshield Soldiers have excellent defence and they can completely stun-lock some enemies while the Jellyfish can inflict poison and act as a great distraction.

4. Level your Vigor to 50 Endurance to 30 – 40

While you want to focus on levelling your main stats for your builds, it is crucially important to get your Vigor and Endurance stats levelled high. We recommend 50 because there is a soft cap on both of these stats at these levels and you will start to notice diminishing returns if you keep investing in them. More HP means you can take more hits and increases your chances of escaping a flurry of attacks by some enemies. Increasing Endurance is also extremely useful for keeping your attacks going and having some spare stamina to roll away. This is also great for builds using shields, as it means you can block more hits without having your guard broken.

5. Find all the Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones and Somber Smithing Stones

Two smithing stone items will fully max out your weapons in Elden Ring, and there is a limited amount in the base game. The Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone will upgrade a normal weapon to +25 while the Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone will increase special weapons – like the Rivers of Blood – to +10. There are13 Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones and 8 Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones and the only way to get more is to go into New Game Plus.