The long-awaited expansion for 2022's Game of the Year, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, is finally revealed! Read on to learn about our first impressions of the game, its story, and gameplay.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree News
⚫︎ Elden Ring DLC Release Will Be Absolutely Massive
⚫︎ Elden Ring DLC Story Trailer Shows Stunning History of the Realms of Shadow
⚫︎ Elden Ring Offers 10-Foot-Tall Statue of Messmer The Impaler as Grand Prize for Contest
⚫︎ Elden Ring 2 Could Happen After Shadows of Erdtree DLC
⚫︎ FF14 Dawntrail Official Release Date is a Week Later Because of Elden Ring DLC
Everything We Know About Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Story Plot
Embark to The Land of Shadow, a place obscured by the Erdtree. Where the goddess Marika first set foot. A land purged in an unsung battle and set ablaze by Messmer’s flame. It was to this land that Miquella departed. Divesting himself of all things Golden: his flesh, his strength, his lineage.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Gameplay
In the 3 minute trailer, it reveals a ton of new areas to explore, new weapons to wield, new abilities and spells to cast, and even more lore bombs to drop. The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion features an all-new story set in the Land of Shadow imbued with mystery, perilous dungeons, and new enemies, weapons and equipment. As foreseen by many players and fans alike, the DLC will start by interacting with Miquella's withered hand in Mohgwyn Palace as said in the trailer.
It was also said in an interview with FromSoftware's president Hidetaka Miyazaki, that there will be over 10 new boss fights and eight new weapon categories while retaining the structure of the base game with open fields, dungeons, and other areas.
While the difficulty of FromSoftware games have always been challenging to say the least, it will take a similar route to Dark Souls 3's Ringed City DLC and Bloodborne's The Old Hunters DLC where it will be similar to the scaling of the endgame of the base game. Several enemies and bosses have already been shown in the trailer such as Messmer the Impaler, a horse-riding monstrosity with a boomerang for a weapon, and many more.
The new map will be somewhat larger than Limgrave, or the base game's first area, as confirmed by Miyazaki. Furthermore, he also confirmed the existence of a poisonous swamp area as expected from each and every Soulsborne game from FromSoftware and even said that he realized that he liked creating poisoned swamps and that it was "a little place of introspection and reflection" for him.
New Enemy?
The official Elden Ring Twitter(X) account posted a seemingly new entity that takes a form of a bipedal ignited brazier fashioned into a tree golem. This creature was seen in the first DLC trailer for a short while, but the image makes it obvious as to how gargantuan it is compared to the other human characters.
New Weapon Types and New Weapon Attacks
In an exclusive three hour preview event, more details about the DLC describing eight brand new weapon types namely the following:
⚫︎ Light Greatsword
⚫︎ Martial Arts
⚫︎ Beast Claws
⚫︎ Perfume Bottles
⚫︎ Reverse Grip Swords
⚫︎ Throwing Daggers
⚫︎ Dueling Shield
⚫︎ Great Katana
For the case of Perfume Bottles and Throwing Daggers, these weapons are actual ranged weapons which is new to the series as most ranged options are tied to consumables, spells, incantations, and the like. However, these are new weapons that give players a ranged playstyle without committing to being stationary when doing so.
In the case of Martial Arts and Beast Claws, these are unique movesets with some similarities to past weapons that the series have had, specifically the Bone Fists from Dark Souls 2 and Beast Claws from Bloodborne respectively. In addition to new weapon types, the existence of Throwing Weapons have also been added in the DLC. These weapons have a throwing attack for their Heavy Attack (R2) which doesn't have ammunition or resources used. The discovered weapons during the preview were a throwing axe, throwing spear, and a throwing greathammer.
Shadow Realm Blessing
In addition to the gameplay additions, the DLC also has a new system named the "Shadow Realm Blessing" for progression exclusively for the Land of Shadow. New consumables called the "Scadutree Fragments" are used to strengthen your blessing which increases your damage output and decreases incoming damage in the DLC area. These consumables are only usable in Sites of Grace similar to Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears in the base game.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Trailer
Newest Trailer
The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion features an all-new story set in the Land of Shadow imbued with mystery, perilous dungeons, and new enemies, weapons and equipment.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Product Information
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| Title | ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | June 21, 2024 |
| Developer | FromSoftware Inc. |
| Publisher | FromSoftware Inc., Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| Supported Platforms | PlayStation 5 / PlayStation 4 /Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One / Steam (PC) |
| Genre | Action, RPG |
| Number of Players | 1～4 Players |
| ESRB Rating | Rated M |
| Official Website | Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Official Website |
