Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has only been out for a few days, and many players are already discovering that their character – who became the Elden Lord of the Lands Between – is barely a match for the first chakram-wielding weirdo you might encounter. These early punishing battles are just a prelude to the raw aggression of the DLC bosses, who can turn you into a bloody smear on the ground with just a few attacks. Worse still, this difficulty level spares no one – regardless of your level, the weapons you wield or the armor you equip.
The key to redemption in the Realm of Shadow lies in a brand new Shadow Realm Blessing system, but if you’re not paying attention you might just miss how it works.
With a little research you will probably find at least one Scadutree fragmentwhich gives a short tooltip:
It can be easy to overlook this tip in the middle of battle or when you’re distracted by points of interest in a distance, but it’s safe to say that Shadow of the Erdtree may underestimate how important your Scadutree Blessing really is. Simply put, it can quickly make the difference between victory and defeat in almost any encounter, and it hardly compares to Elden Ring’s normal leveling system.
The reason for this is that Shadow of the Erdtree needs to cater to a wide variety of players looking for a challenge in this DLC realm: battles need to be difficult enough for a level 500 player on New Game+ 7, but also too win for someone who recently defeated Mohg for the first time. The solution: Make everything hit extremely hard, with incredibly high health pools, but introduce a new item to quickly increase your own ability to deal and nullify damage.
Using just one Scadutree fragment to increase your Shadow Realm Blessing to level 1 will increase your armor damage AND your damage denial to all sources by approximately 5%, and there are many more fragments to be found in the first region alone.
As a test case, let’s use an early enemy that will likely give many players a rude awakening: the Blackgaol Knight of the Nameless Western Mausoleum. His Greatsword of Solitude seems to hit harder then the Radagon itself, and leaves players wondering if some leveling can even the odds.
For my level 162 character with 50 power and 50 strength, my blasphemous blade had an attack power of 795; and my armor and other stats gave me 157 defense power with 44.355% physical damage denial as a multiplier.
While I was looking at the Blackgaol Knight, my simple one-handed swing only dealt 398 damage to his 525, which I could only counter with a jumping attack that did 550. His did… much more.
However, with just one Scadutree Blessing level, my attack power increased to 834 and my physical damage negation increased to 47.004%. This increase saw me dish out 416 while only getting 496 in return, which was about a 4.9% increase in damage dealt and 5.5% damage taken.
Even though that sounds small, I then grabbed every Scadutree fragment in the Gravesite Plain, increasing my Scadutree Blessing to level 4. Now my attack power shot up to 954 and damage negation to 53.629%, meaning my hits now did 20% more damage that hit harder than the Blackgaol Knight’s, which was reduced by about 17.3%!
As you can see from the table above, each Blessing can significantly increase your powers, and with a maximum of 20 Scadutree Blessings you can obtain over the course of the game, you will be doing MUCH more damage through the end than you were before. first entered the Realm of Shadow.
But what about regular leveling? My table also includes spending enough Runes to put four points in Strength versus four Scadutree Blessings. At 50+ Strength, the returns barely resulted in a paltry percentage of damage increase, and the flat increase in Defense Power instead of damage denial from all sources meant I lost about the same amount of HP per hit. This is an important aspect to note because it means that since all players are in the endgame situation, you can’t beat bosses just by spending runes. However, it’s still worth adding a few points here and there, especially to increase your HP pool with Vigor, add more stamina with Endurance, or fulfill a requirement to get a new weapon to rest.
So where can you find more Scadutree fragments? You can consult our guide track down every last Scadutree fragmentbut if you’d rather explore on your own, here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Scadutree fragments appear most often before statues of Marika, such as those found in churches or soldier camps.
- You’re also guaranteed to find one with every Cross of Miquella left behind by the demigod on his journey to key locations in the Shadow Realm.
- Certain areas, such as ruins or destroyed cities, can sometimes contain a Shadow Undead holding a sparkling pot. Hurry them before they run away and you can collect treasures that sometimes contain a Scadutree fragment.
- Progress in Shadow of the Erdtree is rarely permanently guarded by a boss. If you find yourself without power, try looking for alternate paths to new regions where you can find more Scadutree Fragments.
- Like these fragments, Revered Spirit Ash can also be found in front of large headless corpse altars or from Shadow Undead potholders. The Revered Spirit Ash Blessing increases the power of your Spirit Ash Summons, similar to how the Scadutree Fragments enhance yours.
Once you feel strong enough to take on the toughest challenges, there’s plenty more to do, and we’ve cataloged it all in our complete Shadow of the Erdtree Guide.
Brendan Graeber is a senior guide writer for IGN and is still hard at work uncovering every secret in Elden Ring. You can find him on Twitter/X @Ragga_Fragga