As you start Shadow of the Erdtree, you might find yourself a little lost. There’s a lot of content in Elden Ring’s DLC, and it can be daunting not knowing what you should be doing or if you’re missing something. Many new regions and types of creatures await you in the Shadow Realm.
From looking to map fragments and items that will ease your journey (at least a bit) to enemies you should avoid, here are some tips on what things to do first in Shadow of the Erdtree. Check out this IGN guide for some quick tips to get you started.
Use the New Leveling System
Apart from the regular mechanic of using runes (your currency) to increase individual stats of your choice, Shadow of the Erdtree features a new system in which you can make your character and your Spirit Ashes stronger.
To do so, you need to find Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes. These are unique collectibles that you will find throughout the entirety of the new regions in the DLC. You’ll mostly find Scadutree Fragments when discovering new Sites of Grace, but these can also be found in specific corpses and near statues. On the other hand, Revered Spirit Ashes are only found on statues in some locations.
For more specific info about how leveling works, please visit our How to Increase Your Attack and Defense in Shadow of the Erdtree page. Also, check out our Scadurtree Fragment Locations and Revered Spirit Ash Locations pages.
Fear the Furnace Golems
As soon as you start your journey in the Shadow Realm, you’ll notice a type of giant wicker man creature on one of the main paths. This is a Furnace Golem, and it can be an incredibly tough enemy for beginners. Just like the Tree Sentinel in the original game, this is an enemy ready to break your hopes and make you see the “You Die” screen multiple times.
The cool thing about the Furnace Golems is that they are entirely optional, and you can avoid them by riding Torrent far from their area (always beware of long-distance projectiles if they spot you, though). So you don’t have to worry too much about them during your first hours.
However, at one point you’ll want to fall these giants, and you’ll get a sweet reward for doing so: unique Tears for your Flask of Wondrous Physick. So, what to do? Not all these fights will be the same, as some Furnace Golems have some features that make them unique, like armored legs, or they will be near elevated grounds you can climb up to.
For the regular golems that have their legs exposed, you can equip a heavy weapon that breaks enemies’ stances faster and attack the same leg a couple of times with charge attacks. After breaking it two or three times, the giant will completely fall to the flower, exposing its sun symbol for a devastating critical attack.
Regarding its attacks, you can avoid the fire waves of Furnace Golems’ stomps just by jumping at the right time, while riding Torrent or being on foot. Then always try to be on their back, as they can try to grab you or attack with their arms if you’re in front of them.
Beware of two consecutive stomps with two waves of fire from time to time. Always keep in mind your stamina bar.
For golems with protected legs, you’ll have to use spells that can attack their face symbol. If you can reach higher ground and lock on their basket, using Hefty Fire Pots or Hefty Furnace Pots will deal significant damage to them.
Learning How To Explore and Where To Go
Much like in the base game, exploration is the heart of the experience. But it can be pretty confusing and mind-numbing, too, with several paths available from the beginning and not-so-clear indications of where exactly to go.
If you want to go straight to the story bits, just follow the indications that Leda and the rest of Miquella’s followers give you. From the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace, you’ll need to go west to Belurat. Then reach Scadu Altus, the region after Castle Ensis (use the bridge on the northeast of the aforementioned Site of Grace), and enter Shadow Keep.
Following these indications will lead you to the main new bosses and the main story events. However, it’s worth mentioning that the bosses are pretty tough and that if you’re skilled enough, you can complete the DLC main content in more or less 15 hours. We recommend exploring all the surrounding regions after or even before going through Belurat.
Optional regions like the Cerulean Coast, Charo’s Hidden Grave, and the Abyssal Woods should be some of your next stops, apart from exploring every cranny of the Gravesite Plains and Scadu Altus.
Be mindful that finding these regions won’t be easy as they require using some unorthodox routes. For more info, please visit our location guides.
If you find tunnels, caves, and catacombs, always give them a try! Catacombs with names usually lead you to some other entirely new regions when you reach their end. You can also find spots with Sealed Spiritsprings, which you can free by looking for glowing stones near the covered Spiritspring. Using these while riding your horse will elevate you to zones that you wouldn’t be able to reach without them.
Trying out New Equipment
Fortunately, the DLC brings a nice number of new weapons, armor sets, spells, and more for you, regardless of your build and what type of player you are. Granted, not every new weapon or spell is great and most are more fun than useful — but hey, they are really fun.
You can get some of these pretty early in the game, too. For example, the Great Katana can be found on a corpse on the lake where you’ll most likely fight your first Ghostflame Dragon, north of the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace. You can find the Beast Claw by defeating Logur, in the forest just southeast of your starting Site of Grace.
As for armor sets, you can get the Blackgaol Set pretty quickly by going west from the initial Site of Grace and finding the entrance to a Mausoleum. Here you need to defeat the boss carrying the set, which is among the most accessible bosses in the DLC.
Some spells like Glintblade Trio and Heal From Afar can be found relatively early by exploring Castle Ensis and Scadu Altus, respectively. Also, you can get the new Martial Arts weapon by finding the NPC Dryleaf Dane near the Site of Grace in Moorth Ruins, East of the Highroad Cross Site of Grace in Scadu Altus. You need to make the gesture May The Best Win in front of the NPC and then win against him in a battle.
This gesture is learned in Highroad Cross, and you’ll find the monk’s letter here.
If you find something that looks cool but you can’t use it because of stats, always remember that you can go to Rennala’s Site of Grace in the base game and respec your character. You’ll need Larval Tears for this, which you can find in the original Elden Ring but also in the DLC. These can be spotted in glowing bushes in the Shadow Realm.
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Being Together
Try to talk to every NPC you find on your way. You won’t only learn more about Shadow of the Erdtree’s intricate lore and what’s going on with Miquella, but you’ll also get the chance to gain new allies. Characters like Leda and Redmane Freyja can be summoned in some of the toughest boss battles, giving you a hand.
Some boss fights, like Divine Beast Dancing Lion, let you summon two NPCs. We recommend only summoning one of them, though. The thing is, each NPC you invite to the battle will increase the boss’ health, making an already tough encounter longer. You can summon one NPC before entering the arena and then one of your Spirit Ashes.
Don’t forget that you can also summon your friends by using the co-op system in the game. This way you can explore Shadow of the Realm with up to two friends. Check out our multiplayer guide for more details about this.