Walkthrough#

The main story of ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree carries you from the Gravesplain all the way to Enir-Ilim. This page lays out the main quest’s skeleton in region order, with objectives and collection priorities at each node. The per-boss breakdown lives in the Boss guide; the full regional division is covered in the Realm of Shadow guide.

How this page is written: step-by-step terrain guidance along the main path (which fork, which monument, which illusory wall) involves a huge amount of point-by-point detail that this site does not cover without verification. What we provide is the verified region order and node objectives; for turn-by-turn routing, cross-check a leading guide site’s maps.

Entering the Realm of Shadow#

Pre-entry preparation (community recommendation, not an official requirement): around level 150 in the base game; your main weapon fully upgraded there (normal +25, Somber +10 — base-game mechanics); and a go-to Spirit Ash to pair with the ash blessings.

Main Story Order#

There are only about 6 mandatory story bosses (counting the ally standoff before the final battle), in this order:

The Abyssal Woods, Jagged Peak, the southern coasts, and the Finger Ruins sit on the exploration line and are never mandatory — how deep you go is your call.

Stage 1: Gravesplain#

The starting region of the Realm of Shadow, a broad open wilderness. No story boss here — the goal is laying a solid foundation:

Retreat check: the combat feel of this stage is the difficulty curve’s thermometer — if ordinary elite enemies kill you in two or three hits, your Blessing level is too low. Keep collecting fragments instead of pushing on.

Stage 2: Belurat, Tower Settlement#

The stage for the story’s first major boss, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion — a vertically stacked old town you climb level by level.

• Objective: defeat the Dancing Lion at the top and open the road toward Castle Ensis;
• Combat notes: this fight’s real difficulty depends almost entirely on fragment collection — with enough fragments it’s a tutorial fight; without them it’s the first wall (community consensus);
• Collect in passing: graces and fragments between tower levels — missing a lower level means a repeat climb later.

Stage 3: Castle Ensis#

The story fortress, held by Rellana, Twin Moon Knight. She is the most famous “optional” boss on the story route — in progression terms you cannot reach Scadu Altus without beating her, so “optional” means she’s an optional entry on the tough-boss list, not skippable.

• Objective: defeat Rellana and open the road to Scadu Altus;
• Combat notes: a combo-heavy swordfighter; the community broadly advises holding mid-range and reading her gaps. When your Blessing level is short, the price of greed grows dramatically.

Stage 4: Scadu Altus#

The mid-game hub highlands connecting Castle Ensis to the Shadow Keep, ringed with landmarks:

Pacing advice for this stretch: finish collecting before advancing. Scadu Altus leads into the high-pressure late game; topping up fragments and spirit ashes before entering the Shadow Keep beats backtracking after a beating.

Stage 5: Shadow Keep#

The story’s core stronghold (the community also calls it “the fortress”), Messmer’s residence — multi-layered with branching routes:

Combat notes: before Messmer, push both Scadutree Blessing and Revered Spirit Ash Blessing to match your progression, and prepare resistance tools for his damage profile. Specific moveset breakdowns are not covered on this site — defer to hands-on play.

Stage 6: Ancient Ruins of Rauh#

A sprawling ancient ruin complex, large and vertically layered, where Romina, Saint of the Bud waits at the Church of the Bud — she is a story boss, not an optional fight.

• Objective: defeat Romina to open the direction of the final region;
• Exploration notes: the ruins’ vertical layout is intricate; light each Site of Grace floor by floor before descending, and avoid repeated corpse runs on the high routes.

Stage 7: Enir-Ilim#

The final region — a tower reaching for the sky. At its summit, the story converges in a forced standoff with Needle Knight Leda and her allies — the lineup depends on your earlier NPC quest choices, detailed in the Quest guide — before the final boss, Radahn, Consort of Mordem.

• Preparation: the community broadly recommends challenging him at or near max Scadutree Blessing (level 20: roughly 2.05x attack, ~50% damage reduction);
• Difficulty evidence: the official 1.14 patch (2024-09) specifically nerfed this boss fight — a single boss written into patch notes shows the scale of feedback its difficulty generated;
• After the credits: defeating Radahn completes the expansion’s story and you return to the base game. The DLC has no traditional ending branches; post-clear activities (full collection, optional bosses, quest wrap-ups) are covered in the Endgame guide.

Exploration Line: Areas Worth Inserting Midway#

Jagged Peak#

A dragon-held mountain, fairly linear overall. Climbing the path you first meet the fixed field boss Ancient Dragon Senessax (no trigger required), while the summit belongs to Bayle the Dread — a community-recognized top-difficulty superboss of the whole expansion. Max your Scadutree Blessing before attempting it.

Abyssal Woods#

The most oppressive region on the map: limited visibility, with Frenzy-flinging enemies and environmental threats throughout, and Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame at its heart. Two tips:

• The entry route involves specific terrain not covered here — cross-check a leading guide site’s maps (an earlier version of this page claimed the entrance required advancing Hornsent’s questline; that claim was found unsourced and removed);
• Community consensus on Frenzy: keep your distance and prioritize killing the casters; the exact buildup values are unpublished.

The Southern Coasts#

A stretch of coastline containing three sub-regions — the Cerulean Coast, the Stone Coffin Fissure, and Charo’s Hidden Grave — the latter two themselves carrying hidden qualities, a fitting finale for the exploration line.

The Finger Ruins#

An exploration line tied to Metyr, Mother of Fingers; the hidden boss waits deep within the ruins.

Collection Pacing#

This site does not publish unverified point coordinates — the totals (50/25/13/5) are the community’s standard completion checklist; for distribution details refer to the interactive maps on Fextralife, Game8, or Gamersky.

Key Node Self-Check#

The Blessing levels below are community recommendations (not official requirements) for judging whether your pacing is healthy:

Exact numbers vary by player and build: the Blessing level is a regulator of relative pressure, not a hard gate — the real test is always “can I still fight comfortably in this area?” When stuck, top up fragments before blaming your execution; more practical checkpoints in the Tips guide.