Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has solely been out for a number of days, and lots of gamers are already discovering that their character — who turned the Elden Lord of the Lands Between — is barely a match for the primary chakram blade-wielding weirdo you’ll be able to run into. These early punishing fights are merely a prelude for the uncooked aggression of the DLC bosses, who’re in a position to flip you right into a bloody smear on the bottom with just some assaults. Even worse, this issue ramp-up spares nobody — no matter your stage, the weapons you wield, or the armor you equip.
The key to salvation within the Realm of Shadow lies inside a model new Shadow Realm Blessing system, however when you aren’t paying consideration it’s possible you’ll simply miss out on the way it works.
With a little bit of exploring, you are more likely to discover no less than one Scadutree Fragment, which supplies a brief tooltip:
It may be simple to miss this tip within the thick of battle or when distracted by distant factors of curiosity, but it surely’s secure to say Shadow of the Erdtree could also be underselling simply how vital your Scadutree Blessing actually is. Simply put, it could possibly rapidly grow to be the distinction between victory and defeat in nearly each encounter, and it is barely even akin to Elden Ring’s regular leveling system.
The purpose for it is because Shadow of the Erdtree has to account for all kinds of gamers in search of a problem on this DLC realm: Fights should be tough sufficient for a stage 500 participant on New Game+ 7, but in addition winnable for somebody who simply beat Mohg for the primary time the opposite day. The answer: Make every thing hit extraordinarily onerous, with extremely excessive well being swimming pools, however introduce a brand new merchandise to quickly elevate your personal skills to deal and negate harm.
Using only one Scadutree Fragment to extend your Shadow Realm Blessing to Level 1 will elevate your armaments harm AND your harm negation to all sources by round 5%, and there are various extra fragments to seek out simply within the first area alone.
As a check case, let’s use an early enemy many gamers are more likely to get a impolite awakening from: The Blackgaol Knight of the Nameless Western Mausoleum. His Greatsword of Solitude appears to hit more durable than the Radagon himself, and go away gamers questioning if any quantity of leveling up may even the chances.
For my stage 162 character with 50 Vigor and 50 Strength, my Blasphemous Blade had 795 assault energy; and my armor and different stats had been giving me 157 Defense Power with 44.355% bodily harm negation as a multiplier.
Facing down the Blackgaol Knight, my fundamental one-handed swing was solely dealing 398 harm to his 525, which I used to be solely in a position to meet with a leaping assault that did 550. His did… much more.
However, with only one Scadutree Blessing stage, my assault energy was boosted to 834, and my bodily harm negation to 47.004%. This improve had me dealing 416 whereas solely taking 496 in return, which was roughly a 4.9% improve in harm given and 5.5% harm taken.
Even if that sounds small — I then grabbed each Scadutree Fragment within the Gravesite Plain, elevating my Scadutree Blessing to Level 4. Now my assault energy shot as much as 954 and harm negation to 53.629%, which meant my hits had been now doing 20% extra harm that had been hitting more durable than the Blackgaol Knight’s, which was diminished by round 17.3%!
As you’ll be able to see from the desk above, every blessing can improve your powers by a considerable quantity, and with a most of 20 Scadutree Blessings you can get hold of over the course of the sport, you will be dealing a LOT extra harm by the top than whenever you first entered the Realm of Shadow.
But what about common leveling? My desk additionally contains spending sufficient Runes to place 4 factors in Strength vs 4 Scadutree Blessings. At 50+ Strength, the returns barely resulted in a measly p.c of injury elevated, and the flat Defense Power improve as an alternative of injury negation from all sources meant I used to be shedding roughly the identical quantity of HP per hit. This is a vital side to notice, as a result of it means since all gamers will likely be in and endgame setting, you’ll be able to’t overcome bosses simply by spending runes. However, it is nonetheless value including a number of factors right here and there anyway, particularly to extend your HP pool with Vigor, add extra stamina with Endurance, or hit a requirement to equip a brand new weapon.
So the place can you discover extra Scadutree Fragments? You can verify our information to observe down each final Scadutree Fragment, however when you desire to discover by yourself, listed below are some ideas to remember:
- Scadutree Fragments most frequently seem in entrance of statues of Marika, like these present in church buildings or soldier camps.
- You’re additionally assured to seek out one at each Cross of Miquella that the demigod has left behind marking their journey to vital places within the Shadow Realm.
- Certain areas like ruins or destroyed cities can typically embrace a Shadow Undead holding a glowing pot. Rush them down earlier than they run away and you’ll achieve treasure that typically features a Scadutree Fragment.
- Progression in Shadow of the Erdtree isn’t completely gated by a boss. If you end up missing energy, attempt in search of alternate paths to new areas the place you’ll find extra Scadutree Fragments.
- Similar to those fragments, it’s also possible to discover Revered Spirit Ash in entrance of enormous headless corpse altars or from Shadow Undead pot holders. The Revered Spirit Ash Blessing will improve the ability of your Spirit Ash Summons just like how the Scadutree Fragments increase your personal.
Once you’re feeling robust sufficient to tackle the hardest challenges, there’s a lot extra to do, and we’ve got all of it catalogued in our full Shadow of the Erdtree Guide.
Brendan Graeber is a senior guides author for IGN, and continues to be onerous at work discovering each final secret in Elden Ring. You can discover him on Twitter/X @Ragga_Fragga
