Technically, you can enter Shadow of the Erdtree pretty much from the start of the game. However, do not make the mistake of rushing to the DLC, or you will be punished severely if you are not rightfully prepared. Therefore, we have compiled this list of the most vital things you need to do before starting your Shadow of the Erdtree adventure.
If you cover these bases, you will have a better chance of surviving the Land of Shadow.
1. Defeat Radahn and Mohg
It goes without saying, but you must complete the necessary steps to access the Elden Ring DLC. If you aren’t aware, all you need to do is defeat both Starscourge Radahn and Mohg, Lord of Blood.
Radhan is found in Redmane Castle, the legacy dungeon of the Caelid region. You can reach this location right from the get-go.
As for Mohg, he can also be reached early on if you follow White Mask Varre’s questline. Regardless, you must know that his questline will teleport you to the Mohgwyn Palace region using the Pureblood Knight’s Medal. This is an end-game level area of the base Elden Ring; thus, you best be prepared with a fitting build to handle the horrors here.
However, the proper way of accessing Mohgwyn Palace is through the secret Consecrated Snowfield area, which is only unlockable after you reach the end-game Mountaintops of the Giants region. Needless to say, you are looking at already challenging tasks before reaching the Land of the Shadows.
Kill them both, and you are good to go. But wait, there is more.
2. Have A Suitable Build Ready
Speaking of Mohg, he is the literal gatekeeper for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, and we all know this boss is no slouch, considering he is one of the end-game bosses of the base game. Consequently, he is the quintessential foreshadowing and the perfect skill check for the DLC.
This means your character must be built right to face him. If your build can defeat Mohg, only then consider yourself ready to face the brutal difficulty of the Elden Ring DLC.
Do not underestimate the new content. FromSoftware has hiked up the hardship considerably; thus, you need to not only have a character of at least 120-150 level, but everything you’ve gotten equipped (talismans, armor, weapons, buffs, etc.) must synergize with your build for maximum impact.
The DLC is unforgiving, to say the least, and you better toughen up or face the music. If you are not at this level or you want to boost your character even more, you can always go on a Rune farming spree.
3. Unlock the Best Talismans and Talisman Pouches
Since the quality of your build is paramount for the Elden Ring DLC, you mustn’t overlook the value of Talismans. These key items can elevate your build to whole new levels if you use them in the right combinations.
Of course, you start the game with only one Talisman slot and can pick up three Talisman Pouches to increase the total number of Talismans equipped to four. I would go as far as to say not to bother accessing the DLC without all four of these slots.
These things will make or break your Shadow of the Erdtree experience. Not only will they help curate a build, but the extra slots will also help you experiment with the new talismans in the DLC.
Here’s how you can unlock all of the Talisman Pouches:
- The first one is rewarded for defeating Margit, the Fell Omen, in Stormhill.
- After defeating two demi-gods/acquiring two Great Runes, talk to Finger Reader Enia in Roundtable Hold to get the second pouch.
- The last one is unlocked after beating Godfrey, First Elden Lord (Golden Shade) in Leyndell, Royal Capital.
Each talisman has its utility, depending on your build, but I’ll mention the ones that will be useful in the Land of Shadows. Remember, I’ll only state the ones in the base game and not the DLC:
- Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
- Spelldrake Talisman
- Flamedrake Talisman
- Boltdrake Talisman
- Haligdrake Talisman
- Pearldrake Talisman
- Claw Talisman
- Graven-Mass Talisman
- Flock’s Canvas Talisman
- Radagon Icon
- Old Lord’s Talisman
- Shard of Alexander
- Carian Filigreed Crest
- Godfrey Icon
- Magic Scorpion Charm
- Sacred Scorpion Charm
- Lightning Scorpion Charm
- Fire Scorpion Charm
- Ritual Sword Talisman
- Winged Sword Insignia / Rotten Winged Sword Insignia
- Millicent’s Prosthesis
- Lord of Blood’s Exultation
- Kindred of Rot’s Exultation
4. Best Weapons and Equipment
By the time you face Mohg, you must have a reliable weapon (ideally fully upgraded). There are many armaments in Elden Ring, making it incredibly difficult to choose one. Not to mention, the option to customize weapons with unique and powerful Ashes of War makes it even harder to decide on a combination.
For most builds, weapons are the primary way of dealing damage; thus, you must select one of the best weapons for your build. If you are a casting mage player, then you need the best catalyst in the game.
Weapons like the boss-melting Blasphemous Blade (Faith Builds) and the surprisingly superb stance-breaking Wing of Astel (Intelligence Builds) will help even the odds in Shadow of the Erdtree. For pure melee builds, the “Guts” Greatsword,
For sorceries, the Lusat’s Glintstone Staff or the Carian Regal Scepter are the best. As for incantations, the Golden Order Seal and Erdtree Seal are the go-to. However, your preference may differ depending on the type of spells you cast. For example, if you are a heavy Dragon Incantation caster, then opting for the Dragon Communion Seal will prove more worthwhile.
Additionally, get your hands on some better armor sets. Some armors may protect you from certain damage types more, and you never know what kind of enemies wait for you in the DLC.
5. Gather Upgrade Materials And Bell Bearings
When talking about weapons in Elden Ring, the immediate follow-up requirement is to upgrade them. To get the most out of your current weapon, shield, staff, or seal, you should fully upgrade them before you reach Shadow of the Erdtree. I can’t stress this enough: these things must be fully upgraded to make any dent in the Land of the Shadows.
In addition to improving your existing arsenal, you need an ample collection of upgrade materials for all the new weapons in the DLC, such as the Hand-to-Hand Arts.
For regular weapons, you need 12 Smithing Stones of each level to upgrade the weapon to +24 and then an Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone for the last +25 level. As for the unique weapons, you need 1 Somder Smithing Stone of each level to reach +9, then a rare Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone to get to +10.
As you can count, you need a ton of these materials to upgrade your favorite weaponry. Other than the Ancient Dragon stones of both kinds (which are limited in quantity), you need to spend a stupid amount of time farming all the rest of the smithing stones in the base game.
Instead of farming these, it is better to hunt down the Bell Bearings, which will allow you to buy the stones with Runes directly from the Twin Maiden Husks at Roundtable Hold.
You will need the Smithing-Stone Miner’s Bell Bearing (1 to 4) to unlock the regular Smithing Stones and the Somberstone Miner’s Bell Bearing (1 to 5) for the Somber Smithing Stones.
Below is a handy video of each bell bearing’s location video:
Once you have all of these unlocked in the shop, your smithing stone supply will never run dry, and you can experiment with upgraded weapons as much as you like.
6. Boosting Crimson and Cerulean Flasks
This is one of the most important things you can do before beginning Shadow of the Erdtree. I have been to the Land of Shadow and have bad news: enemies here will shred your HP like it’s nothing. The bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, especially, hit like a truck. Hence, you will be chugging those Flasks of Crimson Tears like water bottles.
If your build relies heavily on weapon skills or you are a caster, you need a boatload of FP to sustain their usage. In this case, you need a healthy allocation of Flasks of Cerulean Tear.
Regardless of your flask requirements, you must upgrade them to get the most out of them, or your survival will always be threatened. Ideally, you should have fully upgraded your flasks before facing Mohg.
You must find 30 Golden Seeds to increase the number of flasks you can carry to a maximum of 14. You can ignore the other seeds since there are way more in the game. Also, to increase the amount of HP/FP you receive with each flask use, you need to locate 12 Sacred Tears.
7. Flask of Wondrous Physick
Make sure to collect the correct Crystal Tears for your Flask of Wondrous Physick. Finding the right combination that suits your build can provide a significant power boost.
For example, a sorcery build benefits from the Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear, which increases magic damage by 20%, and the Cerulean Hidden Tear, which negates the consumption of FP for 10 seconds, giving you unlimited potential to cast spells without replenishing FP.
Two tears that work well for any build are the Greenburst Crystal Tear, which provides stamina regeneration, and the Crimsonburst Crystal Tear, which offers HP regeneration. Together, these two tears fill both of your regeneration buffs, providing a substantial boost for any build.
Understand your build and concoct a combo of cracked tears that elevate it even further. Again, the Elden Ring DLC will be less annoying if you come in prepared with a synergized build.
8. Obtain The Most Useful Great Runes
Great Runes are a great way to gain raw stats for no effort really. There is no point in acquiring and activating all the Great Runes in the game; you should only aim to unlock the best ones. These include:
- Radahn’s Great Rune: This increases HP, Stamina, and FP by 15%.
- Morgott’s Great Rune: This expands HP by a staggering 25%.
Both these Great Runes provide a respectful HP boost which could easily prevent you from reaching an early grave. The danger of dying fast is always looming in the Shadow of the Erdtree and these Great Runes will surely save your hide in a clutch.
Don’t forget, you need the Rune Arc to activate the Great Runes. These things aren’t readily available, and there are no bell-bearing to unlock them infinitely. They are even fewer and harder to find in the DLC so you best stock up in the base game.
9. Get the Best Spirit Summons
Don’t let others bring you down for using a Spirit Summon to aid you in boss fights. FromSoftware has clearly added this feature and obviously balanced the game accordingly. The game is hard and any form of help is always welcomed. This goes doubly for the Elden Ring DLC.
To cut to the chase, you better upgrade your Mimic Tear to the maximum level using the Ghost Glovewort. This is the best spirit summon in the game, period. It is the only one that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you against the evils of Shadow of the Erdtree.
Similar to the aforementioned upgrading materials, you can unlock these at the shop by hunting down all the Ghost-Glovewort Picker’s Bell Bearings instead of farming for them.
There are other summons like Black Knife Tiche that are amazing, too, but the Mimic Tear has no competition. You can experiment if you like but make it a priority to upgrade the Mimic Tear first.
10. Respec As You Like
In the Elden Ring DLC, you’ll probably want to respec and test out new weapons and spells. For that, you’ll want a lot of Larval Tears, which enable you to respec at Rennala.
I ended up respeccing four times while completing the Shadow of the Erdtree: twice to experiment with the new weapons (the Milady and the Hand-to-Hand arts in this scenario) and twice to beat the final boss, where I switched from a DEX/INT hybrid caster to a Thrusting shield turtle build and ended with a Faith build harnessing the OP Blasphemous Blade.
This was only possible with the Larval Tears I amassed while playing the base game. There is no bell bearing for this item so you better go look for them.
11. Get Acquainted With Buffs
Apart from using talismans, one of the fastest ways to enhance any character’s power is to ensure that you have a set of temporary buffs and understand how to stack them correctly. In Elden Ring, temporary buffs are divided into six categories: weapon buffs, shield buffs, body buffs, aura buffs, and regen buffs for both health and stamina.
In my opinion, the two most important ones you should focus on are body buffs and aura buffs. They’re very powerful and very accessible.
An early example of a body buff is the Boiled Crab sold by Blackguard Big Boggart. This gives you an impressive 20% physical damage negation for 60 seconds. The most common buff most players use, with a bit of faith investment, is the Flame, Grant Me Strength incantation. This spell boosts your physical and fire damage output by 20% and increases stamina regeneration as well.
The best aura buff everyone should apply is the Golden Vow incantation. Granted, you must be at 25 Faith to use it, but it’s an investment worth every “cent”. This spell lasts for 80 seconds, boosts damage by 15%, and increases damage negation by 10%. There is also a weaker Ash of War version of this buff, which you can slap on a dagger for quick use.
You can stack different categories of buffs for mind-boggling results. Research all kinds of buffs in the game and develop a combination that works well with your build. You will need all the help you can get to tackle Shadow of the Erdtree, and buffs are the right tool for the job.
12. Go Over Miquella’s Lore
If you are anything like me, then you love the expansive saga of Elden Ring. Without spoiling anything, Miquella is the center of Shadow of the Erdtree. Why not brush up on the story surrounding Miquella?
You can dive into the base game and uncover everything that is there regarding Miquella or you can watch Vaatividya’s extremely detailed video on this topic to catch up.
According to the crumbs we got in Elden Ring, Miquella was an enigmatic yet larger-than-life character. What he was and what journey he will take you on in the DLC is fascinating. There are so many interesting moments waiting for you in the Land of Shadows, and learning more will only sweeten the impact of the surprises ahead.
Even though I tried to be as detailed as I could, the truth is, there is so much to do in the base game that the right answer would be to do everything before accessing Shadow of the Erdtree.