The first (and likely only) Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree , expands the base game with more bosses, weapons, dungeons and more.
There are several things we know, first of which are the Elden Ring DLC release date of June 21 and the price: $40. It’ll be available for all the platforms Elden Ring was released for: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox One X/S. While that may seem steep for a DLC, the studio FromSoftware has earned players’ faith with popular expansions for prior games including Bloodborne and Sekiro. Then there’s Elden Ring itself, which was a massive success that won many awards when it launched in 2022 with so many areas, bosses, weapons and dungeons to explore that playthroughs often exceed a hundred hours. Players have been eager for new content.
Judging by the hands-on preview event ahead of the DLC’s launch we attended, players have plenty to get excited about. The hours we played had more bosses, areas, weapon types, spells, summon ashes and ashes of war for players to discover — and take back to the base game for much more remixing. With that in mind, we’ve learned a lot about what’s coming in Shadow of the Erdtree. Here’s everything we know about the new expansion — and our suggestions for how to prepare for it. Shadow of the Erdtree takes place in a new area separate from the lands of the original Elden Ring. The new area is about the size of Limgrave, the large zone players start in at the beginning of the main game. FromSoftware hasn’t said how many dungeons or extras are packed into the Land of Shadow, as the new area is called.
But the studio has confirmed several things the DLC introduces, including: All those weapons, spells and skills can be brought back into the main game. And yes, you can bring everything from the main game with you into the Land of Shadow. You only need to do two things in-game to unlock the DLC: defeat the major bosses Radahn and Mohg, the latter of which serves as a sort of soft check to make sure players are powerful enough to handle enemies in the new area. Players should be around level 120 to 150 to tackle the DLC. To access the DLC, players should enter Mohgwyn Palace (after defeating Mohg) and head toward the newly appearing giant fleshy ball with a withered arm drooping out. Touch the arm and you’ll be spirited away to the Land of Shadow.
FromSoftware has said very little about the story for the DLC. We know it centers on Miquella, a member of the semi-divine family of powerful beings that includes Marika, Radagaon and Godwyn. In Elden Ring’s lore, Miquella tried and failed to cure his sister Malenia of the Scarlet Rot and left his body to travel to the Land of Shadow. It’s unclear if he’ll help or hinder the player.