Blasting monsters in the chops with a Bruce Lee backfist—few things feel more badass than that. So, when FromSoftware said my “hands on” could be literally just that—using my mitts to kung fu the dung out of every shadow under the Erdtree—I was in. The mere idea of testing out Martial Arts in Elden Ring summoned a smirk to my face; three-hours of punch-a-riffic playtime later, it was a toothless ear-to-ear grin.
Ever since the Monk class in Diablo III—or the time I found the Hands of God in Demon’s Souls—I’ve been a big fan of the biff. Particularly in PvP. There’s something hugely satisfying about facing an armed foe thirsty for blood, but you serve them a tall glass of “wa-taaa” instead.
It’s also worth noting that I also decided to make my own Way of the Fist through Shadow of the Erdtree harder still by ignoring the helpful new damage buff system. The only ‘leg up’ I want to use is a heavy sidekick to Spartan Boot baddies off a cliff.
For those of you who are curious, however, Shadow of the Erdtree has Scadurtree Fragments that can be redeemed at a Site of Grace to decrease the amount of damage enemies deal to you in this DLC. Alternatively, there are Revered Spirit Ash blessings, which will instead increase the amount of damage dealt by your spirit summons.
To hear more about how my particular brand of self-imposed masochism went, click here to continue. For now, though, I should provide some price options for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree for you “mind’s already made up” types.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Ed.
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We are so back. These are the four words that invade my brain as I step into my 3-hour Shadow of the Erdtree demo. The fact that those four words will soon change to four others—oh God, please help—is something we’ll get to later. For now, though, let me make the opening majesty of this DLC live for you a little.
And I say a little, because I only really want to describe the barest tip of a massive iceberg that’s roughly the size of Limgrave. If you’re a fellow quadruple-digit-hours veteran, you already know that half the joy of Elden Ring is in its discovery, surprise, and deaths due to overconfidence. Shadow is still rooted in these things, so I’ll try to stick to the main trunk of my experiences. You know—not branch off. Treemendous puns aside, I truly believe many other undiscovered fruits and thorns await you in your own playthrough.
I’m taking the same approach to giving you a plotline beyond a basic overview. Though, to be fair, practically anything I mention here wouldn’t spoil much for 95% of you. Elden Ring is famously obtuse and evasive with its storytelling—that’s back again. But this is just how we like it.
Pain By Numbers
What I’ll do first is hand you some numbers. You see, this demo had to take place on FromSoftware’s home turf, so my 1,200 hour character, Fierce Brosnan, could not be brought to bear.
The obvious downside to that: I was a fish out of water with unfamiliar traits, no Mithril-level long johns nor any of my Excalibur class weaponry. Clearly, the idea was to push me into trying out some of the 100 new weapons that will be in SotE. To save time, I’m outfitted with a handful of them. The ones I mention here will have to be acquired from a spot somewhere in the guts of this DLC.
There’s also an upside to being issued a pre-made Tarnished: The typically aloof FromSoftware was forced to show me its hand a little here. There’s been much evasion as to what level one ought to be at in order to enter these deadly DLC straits. In order to keep media and content creators reasonably effective within our three hour window, my demoers had to pick a number.
How tall do you need to be for this ride? The level numbers “120 to 200” are thrown about in my pre-demo pep talk, but in the end I’m offered a choice of three level 150 avatars. I ignore the Warrior and Sorcerer options to go with their Knight / Dex build (HP: 1939, FP: 110, Stam: 133, Poi: 42). Attributes (Vig: 51, Min: 18, End: 25, Str: 22, Dex: 80, Int: 11, Fai: 12, Arc: 10).
All in all, my Knight seems like a pretty usable build, which my demoer insists will be “good enough” to be effective. That being said, you newcomers ought to be aware that From’s DLC tends to be significantly more difficult than the base games, so I’d grind higher than 150.
It’s also worth noting that I’m decked from head to toe in Oathseeker plate armour. Secondary equipment-wise, I have access to Finger Creeper Ashes +16 (think: a shetland-pony-sized Addams Family hand), Gravebird Ashes +10, and a Black Knight Commander Andreas +10 summon.
I also have two swords and a shield that I’ll detail later on, because the challenge here is to rely almost entirely upon my fists and feet of fury. Additionally, waiting in the equipment is my new Martial Arts, called the Keen Dryleaf Arts +25 (Attk: 178+, 231) and it’s running an Ash of War named Whirlwind.
Leaving the Lands Between
Before I bid adieu to The Lands Between by touching that protruding hand at the Cocoon of the Empyrean Site of Grace, I have a quick chinwag with a knight named Leda (who I believe was the voiceover character in the Story trailer). She says she’s been guided along an honourable path by kindly Miquella to the Land of Shadow, a place where some of her friends already are. Should I find them, they will help me; she also won’t be far behind either, so perhaps we’ll meet again.
No other dialogue is forthcoming, so I walk forward and shake hands with my fate, literally. When I do, the world goes black…
Allow me to explain what happens next, like an old school Text Adventure. I spawn at the Land of Shadow starting point, at what I presume to be the south western bottom of this new map. It’s dark as hell, and I’m instantly surrounded by tall shrubbery. Beyond that hedge, it seems I’m also hemmed in by large cliffs to my north and south, and there’s a huge impassable sea at my back to the west. Eastward is the only way up, so I crest a small hill through a cave to be met with an absolute moneyshot of a vista.
I’m gawking directly east over a vast open meadow that spills away for ages until it eventually hits a large cliffside that’s garnished with a patchy pine tree forest. Beyond those nodding trees, the world tapers off into a thick mist that spans an indeterminate distance between what I can see and this distant, dominating Erdtree. It seems to be a younger or sickly sprout whose roots are half bonded to the top of some indiscernible structure.
Though I’m on the clock, I can’t help but stand here for a few minutes, watching as the wind tussles the prairie, flicks leaves past, and eventually pushes in a light drizzle of rain across this living lake of grassland. The whole scene reeks of opportunity, danger, and time wasting secondary-path locales.
In the middle-distance to the south-east (and the edge of my demo playspace) are scant signs of ruined civilization—a highway gatehouse perhaps. On the horizon to my extreme north east, the imposing mountain fortress of Castle Ensis rises up out of the gloom, too.
In the yawning distance between me and that goal is a light sprinkling of ruined architecture, randomly jutting out of this vast field. Curiously, one of the most distant of these structures appears to be both on fire and…moving. More on that horror in a minute.
Venturing into Shadow
In my immediate vicinity, there are dozens of ghostly gold gravestones. Creepily, they sort of wink out of existence as I pass through them. Unwilling to add myself to their number, or become exposed to attack in that open field to God knows what, I turn to put the cliffside to my left, and I hug it in a north-to-north-easterly heading.
Pretty soon, I begin to sashay through a handful of small stonework archways. Some have avian-esque gargoyles atop them. A quick R3 click reveals what I already know, and as if by invitation, these non-concrete condors start to swoop in.
When Big Bird lands, I feed him a full six piece and soda with a four hit punch combo that instantly feels gratifying, damaging, and (unlike regular unarmed in Elden Ring) viable. You see, one can already play the base game with no weapons, technically, but that’s like saying you can steer a car with your feet. You could do it, but it’s not to be done—unarmed base damage was abysmal, and the scaling virtually non-existent.
Martial Arts in Shadow of the Erdtree is a different beast altogether. Damage is comparable to a perfectly good sword, repeated strikes propel me forward a nice distance, and my kicks and punches pierce through ranks to hit enemies crowding behind their mates. More importantly, it’s just…fun and flashy to do.
Better yet, when these buzzards try to thwart my range by hovering in the air, I tap L2 for a Whirlwind kick. I ground them with the sort of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku that’d get a thumbs up from Ken Masters. It’s at this point that I fall head over heels with my own heels. Literally kicking arse with Martial Arts is all I wanna do for three hours now.
A Grave Situation
With a new sense of cockiness, I continue north. The mini-archways with easy-to-spot raptors give way to an actual cemetery featuring gnarled trees that perfectly camouflage my feathered friends. In my haste to escape their swoops, I accidentally dive-roll down into The Western Nameless Mausoleum via a short staircase. At the base of it [minor spoiler here] is a boss mist barrier to a Blackgaol Knight whose opening gambit is a crossbow that pings 9 bolts in about 3 seconds. That’s all I’ll say about him.
Returning back up to the same surface entrance a short while later, I consider poking around the cemetery until I spot half a dozen of these weird pool noodle things poking out of the ground. Glowing in an eerie bioluminescent blue, they’re about seven foot tall, and they are peaceful…until I charge up a flying kick into one. Instantly, all twelve become a pissed off hive mind. I have to book it when they all sprout angry pink heads and then try to whack-a-mole me into my own grave.
I bail eastward into the open field again, whereupon I hit the Three-Path Crossroads and some choices open up. To the south, there’s that dilapidated gatehouse, adjoined by yet another cemetery. A quick poke down there reveals some lethargic shadow folk whose hobbies include silent prayer to the Erdtree or casting swift moving, near-endlessly-homing skull magic at me. Further south than that unwelcoming committee is a Map Fragment you’ll really want to get.
Alternatively, going east from the Three-Path crossroads yields a bit more grassland, weird stone spiral columns, more mini mausoleums, and roving packs of candelabra + sword wielding tree goons. Pruning my way through them reveals the first of the 100 new weapons in this DLC. It’s something my demoers have already added to my build, wicked dual scimitars that are held “ninja reverse-style.” The one I own is a Keen Backhand Blade +25 (220+, 367).
Any progression eastward is thwarted by a large canyon that scars this land from north to south—a non-water-based moat that may only be crossed via a highway-sized bridge to my north. Curiously, when I squint across this abyss, I get a free ticket to an endlessly repeating show.
It’s tough to discern who’s who from the bleachers, but it seems a fellow knight is trading culture with a trio of 8-foot-tall trolls. At least one of these beasts desperately wants this human to join his club. Literally. Big wooden one.
Distracted by a dozen other things to do and see, I forget to make my way down to reach them, and am left wondering if they’re one of Leda’s pals. Feels likely.
Shadow of the Erdcolossus
Shrugging, I turn northwest to an even more awe-inspiring sight. One of those fire giant things from the trailers dominates the prairie between myself and the castle’s bridge. Burnie Boy is basically a wicker Shadow of the Colossus understudy with a lit brazier for a head and chest. Technically, he does have an actual face. Three of them, in fact. Mask-like objects adorn his abdomen and each upper thigh. Freaky stuff.
While watching in intimidated silence, I note that this lumbering monstrosity is tracing a slow circular patrol across this meadow. However, on the edge of his commute stands hope in the form of a reasonably-sized chunk of stonework. The message that pops into my head: “Visions of Cover Cheese, Try Peck and Roll.”
I sprint to the perceived safety of that little brick oasis while giving my target a wide berth, only to be horrified as I’m spotted from an incredible distance away. Hobo Stove On Legs then kicks the ground in front of him to send an arcing wave of car-sized lava boulders at me. It’s an overkill amount of projectiles. By some small miracle, I thread through with a dive-roll before reaching cover.
What happens next, during my brilliant plan to nip at his cankles while he wallhumps the stone column between us? Chaos. Whenever I round my cover to strike, he raises that hoof and delivers a stomp with AoE flames. Upon learning that this attack can flare “through” my cover, I horse up and gallop the hell out of Dodge to the north.
The fact that I’m nearly unhorsed by a farewell lava ball assault as I’m tearing away at top speed, tells me a mounted assault on that dude might be suicide, too. Needless to say, Fireman Spam has become my new nemesis, and I can’t wait to make him snuff it. Preferably with kung fu.
Bridge to Terrorbiffya
The elevating field northward becomes progressively rockier and foggier—akin to a Scottish Highland. When I crest this hill, I’m at yet another crossroads. Further northwards dips down into a huge open valley pocked with more ghostly gravestones, I can’t see where it ends because the land gets eaten by a Stephen King level of horror-hiding mist.
I’m not permitted to venture down there. And, frankly, I don’t even want to go.
Directly to my west stands a Moria-esque archway carved into the cliffside, beyond it lies the Belurat Castle Settlement (whose labyrinthine streets snake higher up to the House of the Dancing Lion). Dismounting, I run due east to the aforementioned overpass. The game christens it the Ellac Greatbridge. But I just think it’s ok.
That’s mostly because it’s littered with debris, rows of chevaux de frise, and a guard of half a dozen zombie vikings. Worse, a giant ballista that fires accurate, arcing explosive rounds every 8 seconds has a long and commanding overwatch on me. See what I mean? Averagebridge, at best.
Sadly, my heroic plan to serpentine charge through said artillery, kill the shooter, and then use his weapon against the bridge mobs fails (you can’t use it). So, I lure these norsemen, one by one, into the nearby soldier encampment beyond. Just as I force-feed a knuckle sandwich into the last of them and the intensity of this tent city lessens, the true owners of these bivouacs pounce.
Chief among these unhappy campers is a knight chieftain, wielding a shield the size of a large metal door and what looks to be an engine block on a stick. Adopting a When In Rome approach, I strap my left arm with a Messmer Soldier Shield +25 (196+, 43) to better absorb his hits and answer with either a heavy sidekick or a jumping superman punch to his grille.
When he’s stunned, I clobber him with my full R1 six-hit combo. I’m talking uppercut, elbow, roundhouse, sidekick, backfist, back-kick—I ding that tinman until he’s crushed for recycling.
A little further to the east, beyond a much-needed Site of Grace, I encounter a mid-boss who receives a different style of pasting. Being a 15-foot heavy-hitter with a penchant for slow stomps and vertical sword strikes, I opt to deliver faster hits in a longer combo, a technique facilitated by “two-handing” my Martial Arts with Triangle + R1.
I’m even more delighted with the new strikes in this 11-hitter. We’re talking double-tapper roundhouse kicks and a finisher that’s this powerful two-handed clapfist to the ears of your opponent. Or, in this case, either side of old mate’s shinbone.
Despite being level 150 still, I’m reasonably effective in this fight, though I do fall victim to the second irritation of my demo experience (the first being a brief moment of mass object pop as riding across the grasslands). While cheesing this mid-boss around the corner of a large cathedral, I fall victim to him vertically chopping me through the building by a wide margin with a sword that could be God’s own letter-opener. It’s a legacy issue in Soulsbornes that should have been made extinct by now, but I adjust for it and make him pay with his life.
The Dismount
A short distance beyond this menace, the staircase and ladder-filled cathedral district thickens in complexity. In short, Shadow of the Erdtree finally starts to do what I love best about this series—that spaghetti-wind level design that offers up boltholds, ambush points, and loot-hiding cul de sacs. In the case of the latter, a nearby one hides a meme-tastic sword, the Keen Milady +25 (263+, 320).
After a few satisfying test swings, I tip a phantom fedora to it, and stubbornly stick with my fists for the remaining 2 hours of demo time. In fact, I basically decide then and there to do my full launch day run like this, purely because I’m so utterly enamoured with haymaking horrors, unleashing running flying kicks into faces, or simply Crit Attacking fools with brutal kidney-strikes.
And it’s at this point, I’ve just realised that I’ve gushed for far too long about a very, very small, fraction of my time with Shadow of the Erdtree. I’m going to hit pause on my tale for today. Hopefully, an opportunity will arise for me to regale you with the remaining 2/3rds of the demo, where I effectively turn back, cross over Ellac Okaybridge, and head westward to a major objective.
For it’s on that heading that lies the castle domain of Shadow of the Erdtree’s first full-cutscene boss. I can say that he will be a major migraine for all but the best of you, but one you’d be absolutely nuts to miss out on. Alternatively, here’s the account of one of my US contemporaries who scooped up an axe and made a beeline to that other castle.
Because after the full three hours my instincts were telling me nothing but good things about the remainder of this DLC. There is little doubt in my mind. The pieces seem very much in place for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree to become one of the most essential bits of extra content I’ve played since the venerable Bloodborne: The Old Hunters.
And as you veteran Tarnished should already know, my Soulsborne compliments don’t get much higher than that.
Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.
