With Elden Ring’s DLC as vast as it is, utilizing a Shadow of the Erdtree walkthrough can aid point you in the right direction of those wanting to advancement the story.
Before launch, it was said to be about the same size as Elden Ring’s Limgrave, but the Realm of Shadow is definitely much bigger. It’s easy to lose track of your first plan as you explore, so let us aid remind you where to go next.
Read on to learn how to advancement the Elden Ring DLC’s main story, and what to do erstwhile the communicative wraps.
What this Shadow of the Erdtree walkthrough will cover
Since you’ve played Elden Ring prior to starting the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, you’ll know how easy it is to get lost in your adventure. You see a castle in the distance, you go to the castle in the distance. A blue witch sends you on a quest, you complete that quest.
Shadow of the Erdtree will be no different (other than that there are no blue witches). and this walkthrough will aid you on your journey by telling you how to complete the main way of the DLC — no side quests, no exploration, and no optional bosses.
You’re more than welcome to get sidetracked and explore, but if you’re always wondering what you should do next, you’ll have this walkthrough to aid you get back on track.
Elden ringing DLC walkthrough steps
In brief, here’s the steps of how to complete the main communicative in Shadow of the Erdtree:
- Reach the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace
- Proceed through Belurat, Tower Settlement (optional)
- Defeat the boss at Castle Ensis (optional)
- Reach the Shadow Keep and defeat the boss
- Burn the sealing tree in the Rauh Ruins
- Face Miquella’s followers in Enir-Ilim
- Defeat the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree
As noted, Belurat and Castle Ensis are technically optional, despite the game pointing you in their direction. We will cover how to scope them in this walkthrough, as they feature useful communicative beats and offer a more natural transition into the wilder map — but know you can skip them entirely if you want (which this walkthrough will besides explain).
And, before you can begin any of the above, you request to access the DLC — a tall order in itself — before you can start exploring the Realm of Shadow.
Starting Shadow of the Erdtree
Congratulations, you’ve made it to the Realm of Shadow! As a fair warning, this is simply a very unforgiving land. quite a few enemies will two-shot you regardless of their stature, so be careful out there!
We strongly recommend to research as much as possible and choice up as many Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes as you can due to the fact that they can buff your character in the DLC. With that all said and done, let’s make our way through the starting area, the Gravesite Plains.
Walk out into the Gravesite Plains to be greeted with hundreds of tombstones and castles looming in the distance. Interact with the site of grace ahead of you then go northeast towards the ruins to find the Gravesite Plains Map Fragment. Hop onto your trusty steed, Torrent, and head north to the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace where you’ll find your first Miquella’s Cross and a couple of Miquella’s Followers, Redmane Freyja and Hornsent.
Miquella’s Crosses are utilized as markers that indicate where Miquella has let go of an aspect of himself that bind him to the Golden Order. They’re clues that will point you in the right direction of where Miquella has gone, and Hornsent just happens to give you a map of said clues.
After you’ve activated the grace and spoken to the NPCs, head west through the giant archway to find the Main Gate Cross Site of Grace, where you’ll find a Miquella’s Cross and 2 more of Miquella’s Followers, Sir Ansbach and Moore.
Before you head up the stairs, you should know that there are two routes you can take from here — through Belurat and Castle Ensis, or skip them both. It’s entirely optional to go through Belurat and Castle Ensis, as you can inactive scope the ending of the DLC without them, but we urge that you go through Belurat and Castle Ensis to get a better feel for the DLC’s difficulty, collect any Scadutree Fragments, and have a better knowing of the story.
With that in mind:
- For those heading up the stairs into Belurat, delight decision onto the Belurat section.
- For those who want to skip Belurat and Castle Ensis, delight decision onto the “How to skip Belurat and Castle Ensis” section.
How to skip Belurat and Castle Ensis
Return to the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace and head northeast across the bridge. catch the Castle Front Site of Grace, then run southeast to find a huge stone archway at the bottom of the hill.
Follow the way to the east until you scope a sealed spiritspring. To usage it, you’ll request to proceed east to find a ghostly pile of rocks and hit them with a melee attack. Climb up the cliff utilizing the 2 spiritsprings, but make certain to stick to the right to land outside of the castle. Go around the castle to find the Moorth Highway, South Site of Grace.
Go through the stone formation to the northeast to encounter a Ghostflame Dragon, which we’ll be skipping for now, and run north to find the Moorth Ruins Site of Grace on the east side of the path. Follow the way to choice up the Scadu Atlus Map Fragment and encounter another strong enemy, the Furnace Golem, which we’ll besides skip!
Run past them to enter the Shadow Keep, which will lead to a prompt telling you that “Somewhere a large rune has broken…”, but we’ll keep that in the back of our heads for now.
You’ve made it to the Shadow Keep, so delight proceed to the “Shadow Keep” section of the walkthrough.
Until then, here’s what to do in Belurat and Castle Ensis for those who want to tick them off first.
What to do in Belurat, Tower Settlement (optional)
For those not fond of bugs, I’ll inform you now due to the fact that you are about to encounter any terrifying Spider Scorpions. Head up the stairs into Belarut to instantly meet a immense Spider Scorpion and proceed up the stairs to find a golden statue of an omen, which will have two Revered Spirit Ashes. proceed up the scorpion-ridden stairs until you scope the Belurat, Tower Settlement Site of Grace at the top.
Head northeast through the tiny passage between the building and head up the stairs by the water fountain. Turn to the left to find 2 shadow undeads slinging golden spirals at you from atop the draped arch. rapidly run underneath the arch and into the doorway on your left. Go up the stairs to find the Small Private Altar Site of Grace.
Follow the way up the stairs and proceed through the narrow corridor full of shadow undeads until you scope a area with a ladder. Climb the ladder and head up the stairs on your right. proceed along this path, where you’ll traverse rooftops with Gravebirds, a bridge with a dangerous foe, and a spiral staircase with a spinning Curseblade, until you scope the Stagefront Site of Grace.
Through the doors, you’ll face off against Divine Beast Dancing Lion, the first major boss of Shadow of the Erdtree. As the first major boss, the Dancing Lion can be extremely difficult, so we urge to search for any Scadutree Fragments to improve how much harm you deal and negate.
Once you’ve beaten the Dancing Lion, ride the elevator and head up the stairs to find that the way is blocked, which is why we’ll gotta find another way — and that’s through Castle Ensis.
Where to go after Dancing Lion and Belarut (optional)
With Belarut completed, let’s return to the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace and make our way across the bridge to Castle Ensis, which you can inactive skip if you like (see the erstwhile section in this guide for specifics on how).
Follow the way ahead until you scope the Castle Ensis Checkpoint Site of Grace where you’ll find a locked gate.
You’ll request to drop down into the gap to the south and climb up the ladder by the waterfall. This will put you on the another side of the gate where you’ll follow the way until you scope an elevator that takes you to the Castle-Lord’s Chamber Site of Grace. At the top of the stairs, you’ll find the fog door that’ll take you to Rellana, duplicate Moon Knight.
Once you’ve defeated them, exit from the northern side to find the Highroad Cross Site of Grace and a fewer acquainted faces. From here, follow the way north to the Shadow Keep, but don’t forget to collect the map fragment and the Scadutree Fragment along the way.
Where to go after Rennala and Castle Ensis
As you close the Shadow Keep, you’ll get a prompt saying, “Somewhere a large rune has broken…” and “and so besides has a powerful charm,” but we’ll ignore those for now.
Head up the elevator to be instantly greeted by a fog door, which holds the Golden Hippopotamus. If you’re struggling, now might be a good time to search for the broken large rune and gather any more Scadutree Fragments.
Once defeated, go through the door on the left and follow the way until you ride an elevator to the Specimen Storehouse. Head up to the second level to find a large omen statue with its feet beside the railing. Get on top of the omen statue and jump from its head to the 4th level to find the Storehouse, 4th Floor Site of Grace.
Proceed up to the seventh floor where you’ll find the Storehouse, Seventh level Site of Grace, and activate it so you don’t request to run through all of those enemies again. Drop down to the sixth floor and activate the lever along the confederate wall that will decision the statues in the center. Hop along the statues to the next level and advancement along the way to find a Fire Knight blocking a large black door, which leads to Messmer the Impaler.
Where do you go after Messmer and Shadow Keep
Once you’ve defeated them and received Messmer’s Kindling, return to the Storehouse, First level Site of Grace. Enter the area to the northwest and ride the elevator down. advancement through the castle and cross the bridge with raining fire to scope the Rauh Ruins.
Hop onto Torrent and follow the way to the right to enter the ruins. You’ll go through rooms full of shadow undeads, Spider Scorpions, more shadow undeads, and lastly any snails to scope a spiritspring leading to a lower floor. Head northwest and follow the way until you find the Rauh Ancient Ruins, East Site of Grace.
Cross the broken bridge and go under the hidden stone archway to the south to unlock the Rauh Ancient Ruins, West Site of Grace. Head southwest to find an entrance to more ruins and stick to the left to find an elevator. Ride the elevator up then go northwest through the gazebo to find another ruin site full of scarlet rot. Head up the ramp to scope the Church of the Bud, where you’ll face Romina, Saint of the Bud. After you’ve defeated Romina, you’re ready to burn the sealing tree, which will automatically take you to Enir-Ilim.
Where do you go after Romina and Rauh Ruins
Well, you don’t truly have a choice as to where you go as you’re automatically sent to Enir-Ilim after burning the sealing tree. Enir-Ilim follows a alternatively linear approach as following the main way will take you consecutive to the next boss. Feel free to research the branching paths to catch Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes as this is the final area.
Progress until you scope a large circular area where Leda will halt you in your tracks and face you for going against Miquella. Here, you’ll request to defeat Leda and her allies, which may vary depending on how you interacted with Miquella’s followers.
Once they’ve been dealt with, proceed distant to find the fog door to the final boss — Radahn and kinda Miquella. If there was ever a time to research the remainder of the map, it would be now. If you thought Radahn from the base game was bad, wait until you see this guy. You’ll want to increase your Scadutree Blessing as much as you can before taking him on.
Once you’ve defeated them, you’ll be able to access 1 of Miquella’s memories — providing a small more backstory to their relationship.
What to do after the final boss in Shadow of the Erdtree
After you’ve watched the memory, you might be wondering, “is it over?” The answer is yes — well, at least for the critical path. If you’re looking for a small more insight into the plot, we urge to check out the Stone Coffin Fissure in its entirety. another than that, there are no end credits for the DLC, so you’re free to research the realm of shadow!
With all of Miquella’s followers dead, you’re somewhat limited in what you can do erstwhile it comes to quests, but here’s any inspiration of another things you can do in the Realm of Shadow if you haven’t already