The Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is set to come soon and will have a lot of new things for everyone to discover. Before venturing into it, you'll need to complete a few things to make your journey there a bit easier which we've explained in this guide.
Everything you need to do before Shadow of the Erdtree
Level up to at least 150
The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is bound to be hard judging by the previous FromSoft DLCs. For this reason, you need to be at a decent level to even stand a chance against the various enemies and bosses. Having a level of at least 150 will give you a good start in the DLC.
One thing to make sure of is that your Vigor is at least 50 because you'll probably get hit a lot in the DLC and it's important that you have enough health to keep on going. The difficulty level in the DLC will be more or less the same as those of the endgame locations like Crumbling Farum Azula and Miquella's Haligtree. So, if you're able to take down the normal enemies and bosses in these areas, then you're ready for the DLC.
Fully upgrade your Flasks
Upgrading your Flasks is necessary as you'll definitely need those to replenish your health and FP as much as possible. Collect all Golden Seeds to increase to maximum flasks and all Sacred Tears to fully increase the amount replenished by the flasks. These are bound to make your journey in the Land of Shadow much more bearable.
Take down the major story bosses
While you can start Shadow of the Erdtree DLC without completing the story, it's highly recommended you complete it. All the story bosses in the game are varied which will give you an idea of how to fight against enemies with different skill sets. The DLC is bound to have a wide variety of bosses with different fighting styles, so defeating the story bosses will get you ready to face them.
Plan your builds
Having a proper and focused build is extremely important for survival and combat in Elden Ring. Without this, it's nearly impossible to survive and progress in the game. For example, if you're going for a more melee-based build, level up your Strength and Dexterity. If you're focused on magic, then level up your Intelligence, Faith or Arcane. Additionally, you'll need the best weapons, armor and talismans that add to your builds as well. So, you'll have to essentially make sure your build absolutely destroys enemies in the endgame areas like Crmbling Farum Azula and Miquella's Haligtree in order to have a fun time in the DLC.
Get all the upgrade materials
The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has over 100 weapons and they need to be upgraded constantly to fully unlock their potential. For that you'll need to stack up on the upgrade materials like Smithing Stones and Somber Smithing Stones. To make upgrading more efficient, get all the Somberstone Miner's Bell Bearings and Smithing Stone Miner's Bell Bearings and give them to the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable. You'll have access to all the Smithing and Somber Smithing Stones, with which you can upgrade your standard and Somber weapons to + 24 and +9, respectively.
Collect necessary spells, Incantations, Ashes of Wars and consumables
Spells, Incantations, Ashes of Wars, and consumables add crucial buffs to your builds. These make fighting enemies much easier. So, collecting those which add to and complement your build's damage output and defense will make any fight a piece of cake. For example, if you use spells, then you'll definitely need the Glintstone and Gravitational spells as well as Ashes of Wars like Carian Greatsword and Gravitas. Additionally, if you have a melee-based bleed build, then you'll need items like Bloodflame Blade incantation, Blood Grease, and Ashes of Wars like Seppuku and Bloody Slash.
Defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood and Starscourge Radahn
Finally, to even access the DLC, you'll need to defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood at Mohgwyn Palace and Starscourge Radahn at Caelid. While it's not clear why Radahn needs to be defeated, defeating Mohg is the only way to get into the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC as you'll have to enter the DLC by interacting with Miquella's cocoon, which is behind Mohg.
For more on Elden Ring, 14 Fun Builds to try in the game, here on Pro Game Guides.
