Elden Ring DLC: Preparations – What you should do before you start in Shadowland

There are a few preparations to make so that you can immerse yourself in the Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree without any problems. There are two specific bosses to defeat

Elden Ring DLC – these conditions must be met

In order to enter the new DLC area in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, you must first defeat two bosses from the base game.

• One of the bosses is Starscourge Radahn, which is traditionally the third of five story bosses if you have been guided by the Sites of Grace. He is located in Caelid and if you have already played through the game, you won’t need to worry about him any further. In the boss fight with Radahn, you can use summon signs to support NPCs in battle

• The second boss you must have defeated beforehand is Mohg, Lord of Blood. As he is an optional boss in the game and you cannot simply enter his area, it is quite possible that you have not yet fought him.

• The quickest way to get to him is if you have the two halves of the secret Haligtree medallion. You can get the right half from Albus in the Albinauric village, who has taken the shape of a pot. The left half is in Castle Sol. You must have defeated Commander Niall there first. Only then will you reach the north-eastern tower, on the roof of which you will find the key item

• With both halves of the medallion, head to the Grand Lift of Rold, east of the Royal Capital Leyndell. This leads you into the previously inaccessible area of Gehweites Schneefeld. In the far west of the area is a portal that will take you to Mohgwyn Palace

• At the end of the dungeon, you will face Mohg. In his first phase, he mainly deals bleeding and fire damage, both through direct and Area of Effect (AoE) attacks. However, his second phase is much trickier, as he starts a ritual about halfway through his life which heals him and deals high bleed damage to you. Heal the damage received immediately against

• Make the fight easier with items such as Mohg’s Shackle, which temporarily incapacitates him, or the Purifying Crystal Tear, which you mix into your Physick to reduce the damage of his ritual. He is generally susceptible to bleeding damage and all types of physical attacks. Once Mohg has been defeated, you have fulfilled all the requirements for the DLC.

Important items for the DLC

The Elden Ring DLC Shadow of Erdtree also comes with a variety of new weapons and therefore new builds that are worth trying out. With items such as the Larval Tears or Forge Stones in your luggage, you can make your start in the new area much easier.

• In order to reskill in Elden Ring, you need Larval Tears, an item that is available in limited quantities in the world of Elden Ring. As there will be eight new weapon types in the expansion, it may be advisable to have a few Larval Tears on hand in order to use the correct status values for the weapons

• In order to improve the new Elden Ring weapons, you will need a large number of forge stones. There are several locations in the game where you can farm forge stones, such as the Crystal Tunnel in Caelid. Alternatively, you can collect the sound pearls from the Forgestone Prospector and the Darkstone Prospector and hand them in to the Twin Maiden Husks in the Round Table. The materials can now be bought there in unlimited quantities

• In general, it is worth upgrading the healing potions in the game to the maximum if you have not already done so. As Shadow of the Erdtree is an endgame level expansion, it is not a bad idea to improve both the number and potency of HP and mana potions. Golden Seed locations are scattered all over the map

• Runebows are very useful as they activate the effects of the currently equipped Great Rune, making the battles you face in the Shadow Realm easier. Fortunately, there are several places in the game where you can farm the rune bow consumable item.

The right level for Elden Ring DLC

For the Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree, it is advisable to have a certain level in order to be prepared for the dangers of the Shadow Realm. The runes required to level up must first be farmed in the base game.

• Although it is theoretically possible to play through the game from start to finish at level 1, it is a challenge for most players even with regular leveling up. As the DLC is only unlocked late in the game and you should already have reached a level between 80 and 90 for the boss Mohg, a level range between 100 and 150 is recommended for the DLC.

• If you still have some optional bosses open before the start of the DLC, it may be worth defeating them beforehand to dust off their runes. Endgame bosses such as Malenia or Rykard in Volcano Manor are particularly useful here if you have already reached the end of the game. Malenia is particularly interesting because she is the twin sister of Miquella, who plays a role in the DLC

• However, there are also ways to farm runes more quickly. In addition to places where there are generally a lot of enemies, there are also a few tricks you can use to get the much sought-after EXP unscathed. If you go to more dangerous areas to level up, it’s worth having sacrificial branches to hand. This item prevents you from dropping your runes when you die

• If you don’t want to or can’t invest time in leveling, the Ultimate Anti-FOMO Saves on Nexus Mods are a collection of endgame saves that let you jump straight into the DLC. According to the creator FateEX, there are saves for all classes and these have completed 99% of the game. This means that almost all items, weapons, spells etc. have been unlocked.