Beginner’s Guide#

ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree is the major expansion to ELDEN RING. Before entering the Realm of Shadow, two things must be clear: how to get in, and what makes you stronger once inside. This page walks through entry requirements, the growth systems, and starting advice, in that order — everything sourced from official and verifiable material.

Requirements to Enter the Realm of Shadow#

The Realm of Shadow does not open automatically with base-game progress; all of the following must be met:

You do not need to beat the base game’s final boss — meeting the conditions above is enough. Any save at the right progress works; no new character required.

When Should You Enter#

Community consensus suggests entering at around level 150 in the base game (a community recommendation, not an official requirement). The reasoning: the Realm of Shadow’s difficulty design does not fully follow the base game’s level curve — what truly shapes the combat experience is the Scadutree Blessing system below. Levels govern your base-game stat sheet; Blessing level governs your attack and defense adjustments inside the Realm.

Scadutree Fragments: The Expansion’s Most Important Growth Line#

There are 50 Scadutree Fragments in total, scattered along main roads, hidden paths, boss rewards, and NPC gifts. Collect them and upgrade the Scadutree Blessing at Sites of Grace, raising both attack and damage negation — effective only inside the Realm of Shadow.

Current values after the 1.12.2 calibration update of 2024-06-26:

Three rules to memorize:

1. Cost per level increases: level 1 costs 1 fragment, level 2 costs 2, level 3 costs 2… each later level demands more.
2. Diminishing returns after level 12: early levels are dramatic, later ones taper — but maxing at 20 consumes the better part of all 50 fragments.
3. Old figures are obsolete: the widely circulated “+5% at level 1, +30% at level 10, +60% max” predates the 1.12.2 update; the table above reflects the current game.

First order of business: sweep the Gravesplain’s graces and Miquella’s Crosses (each cross usually has 1 fragment nearby) to push your Blessing up before fighting any boss. This is the community-recognized most effective answer to the expansion’s difficulty curve.

Revered Spirit Ash Blessing: The Summoner’s Growth Line#

There are 25 Revered Spirit Ashes in total, also upgraded at Sites of Grace. The Revered Spirit Ash Blessing maxes at level 10, each level granting roughly +5% attack and damage negation to summons (Spirit Ashes and the spectral steed).

Realm bosses hit extremely hard in single blows; whether your ash survives on its feet directly decides whether you get safe damage windows. Its priority is no lower than Scadutree Fragments — collect it in step with the story.

Miquella’s Crosses and Map Fragments#

Following the cross route collects fragments while stringing together Miquella’s narrative trail — the best value-per-hour exploration during the opening phase.

The 8 New Weapon Types#

The expansion adds 8 brand-new weapon types, with roughly 100 new weapons overall counting existing types (Fextralife counts 100; Gamersky’s interactive map lists 105), bringing total weapon classes from the base game’s 32 to 40:

For each type’s role and build ideas see the Builds guide and the full new-equipment catalog.

How to Respec (the correct method)#

Both base-game and expansion stat resets happen at the Grand Library of Raya Lucaria with Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, consuming a Larval Tear:

• No expansion boss needs to be defeated, and the base game need not be finished;
• No runes are consumed;
• Multiple Larval Tears are obtainable in the base game — stock up before respecing.

The widely circulated claim of “respecing with Rennala at the Roundtable Hold for 50,000 runes” is false — no such path exists in this game.

Death Penalty and Rune Management#

Death in the Realm of Shadow follows the base game’s universal rule: your runes drop where you fell, and dying again before recovering them loses them permanently. Runes are your leveling currency — but remember this expansion’s difficulty axis is the Scadutree Blessing, not character level. If you keep dying, go back for fragments before stacking levels. Rune-preserving items from the base game work here too.

Starting Preparation#

Common Beginner Misconceptions#

Quick FAQ#

More answers in the FAQ.

Next Steps#

Read the section in order — the Combat System guide (Blessing values), this Walkthrough (story order), and the Realm of Shadow guide (regional layout) — and you’ll have a complete framework for the opening campaign.