How to Unlock Shadow of the Erdtree and Prepare for the Land of Shadows Along the Way (2024)

This step-by-step guide will explain how to reach the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion area in detail by using several purpose-built teleportation shortcuts across the Lands Between in Elden Ring’s base game, starting from a fresh playthrough, along with low-cost, high-impact preparations you can make along the way.

You enter the Land of Shadow, the new area in Shadow of the Erdtree, by touching Miquella’s hand at the Cocoon of the Empyrean at Mohgwyn Palace after defeating both Mohg, Lord of Blood, and Scarscourge Radahn.

You’ll be using built-in shortcuts in order to skip nonessential content, so you’ll get to the Land of Shadow significantly faster than if you were to follow the Guidance of Grace.

Keep in mind that the Shadow of the Erdtree is a fairly late-game activity, and Mohg, Lord of Blood, can easily be one of the final bosses you fight in the game. As a result, skipping large swaths of the game will cause its difficulty to increase substantially as you get closer to Miquella’s dangling hand at Mohgwyn Palace.

To mitigate this steep difficulty incline and provide a better experience in the Land of Shadow, I have included additional steps in this guide that will make it take a bit longer to start the DLC than if you were to do the bare minimum, but I promise it will result in a far better experience.

My goal with this guide is to walk you through the game from the beginning so that you complete the steps required to reach the expansion efficiently while still being well-prepared to conquer a new endgame-ish area. Time is money, and I’m trying to get you the best bang for your buck.

These recommendations come from someone with over 1,300 hours of playtime in Elden Ring, someone who has spent that time replaying the whole game (as in 100% completion 10+ times) using entirely different PvE Builds and completing all of the different Quests and Endings.

Limgrave Preparations

To reiterate, this guide assumes a fresh start (NG+ or otherwise). You just (involuntarily) left the Chapel of Anticipation and woke up next to a hole in the ground. That hole in the ground that imprisons one of the most dangerous enemies in all of the Lands Between, the Soldier of Godrick.

If that joke flew over your head, I highly recommend you take a brief detour to go visit him by listening to the nearby ghost and jumping down the hole. Once you’ve spoken to White Mask Varré and Merchan Kalé outside, it’s time to get down to business!

You have a few preparations to do in Limgrave, though you won’t be entering Stormveil Castle or the Weeping Peninsula. Your objectives include:

• Obtain the Flask of Wondrous Physick
• Begin Bloody Finger Hunter Yura’s quest
• Defeat Margit, the Fell Omen (for talisman slot and XP)
• Warp to Sellia, Town of Sorcery and Street of Sages (Sorcerers only)
• Obtain Tailoring Tools (optional)
• Obtain recipes for Neutralizing and Preserving Boluses (optional)

Obtain Tailoring Tools and Neutralizing Boluses (Optional)

Tailoring Tools will allow you to make alterations to your clothing, typically by removing or adding a cape, or other flamboyant bits that Edna would likely also disapprove of.

These alterations affect appearance but also slightly increase or decrease the weight and defensive stats provided by the item, depending on whether the alteration adds or removes something.

Reducing the weight of a piece of armor can allow you to wear it without putting you into a heavier Equip Load tier. The minor, temporary decrease in stats is a worthwhile tradeoff.

There is a minor quest associated with the Tailoring Tools, but you don’t need to do it to unlock the ability to alter your clothes. The Tailoring Tools drop from the mini-boss at the end of the Coastal Cave in Limgrave.

Don’t stray too far from this cave just yet. The recipe for Neutralizing Boluses is nearby!

Obtain Neutralizing and Preserving Boluses (optional)

I recommend picking up the recipes for Neutralizing and Preserving Boluses, which cleanse Poison and Scarlet Rot, respectively.

Neutralizing Boluses

The recipe for Neutralizing Boluses comes from Armorer’s Cookbook [2]. You can purchase it from the Nomadic Merchant camping under a piece of ruins just south of the Costal Cave along the beach.

Preserving Boluses

The recipe for Preserving Boluses is Armorer’s Cookbook [6], which can be looted from a corpse at the beginning of the main area in Siofra River. You can access Siofra River at the Siofra River Well elevator near the Minor Erdtree in Limgrave.

From there, activate the site of Grace, climb the hill, ignoring the clay men, and ride the elevator up to the next level. You can find the recipe just past the second Site of Grace down there.

You’re not far from the Abandoned Merchant either, and he sells a Larval Tear (respec currency) along with the Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook, which has the recipe for Soap. Head over to the wooden shacks and climb up the scaffolding to reach the merchant.

Skip Stormveil Castle and Head for Liurnia of the Lakes

Once you’ve gotten your preparations in Limgrave out of the way, it’s time to head to Liurnia of the Lakes. You can get there through Stormveil Castle, but it’s nonessential and time-consuming, so I recommend going around.

The shortcut is alongside the eastern wall of Stormveil Castle, past the Stormhill Shack and underneath the Limgrave Tower Bridge. You’ll want to head to the end of the demolished bridge with the Finger Reader Crone and turn left.

Drop down onto the ground and head onward. It’s a pretty straight shot, and you’ll end up getting spit out at Stormveil Castle’s exit, near the Lake-Facing Cliffs Site of Grace and Church of Irith.

Liurnia of the Lakes Preparations

Just like with Limgrave, you have some preparatory steps to take care of in Liurnia of the Lakes, with your next milestone being to break into the Academy of Raya Lucaria.

• Obtain a Lantern
• Meet Rya and the Blackguard
• Obtain the Academy Glintstone Key
• Continue Bloody Finger Hunter Yura’s quest

Obtain a Lantern

Some areas of the game are super dark. You can use a torch to light your way, but that takes up one of your equipment slots and adds weight. Enter the Lantern.

There are 2 vendors in the game who sell a Lantern, and the one on your path to the Land of Shadow is a Nomadic Merchant at the Liurnia Lakeshore Site of Grace. Even better, it only costs 1,800 Runes!

Complete the Academy of Raya Lucaria

Once you finish your preparations, you’ll need to complete the Academy of Raya Lucaria dungeon by defeating Rennala, Carian Queen. Doing so will do the will do the following:

• Unlock the ability to respec
• Grant you an audience with the Two Fingers at the Roundtable Hold
• Count as 1 of 2 Runes needed to unlock another talisman slot (if applicable)
• Open the way to Lyndell, Royal Capital, on the Altus Plateau (not essential)

While you’re there, be sure to travel through a portal near the boss room. It’s on a balcony behind a locked door beneath the Pumpkin Head Man and his big metal ball dispenser. You can get there by jumping off the balcony near the chest with the Glintstone Scarab helmet.

The portal leads to the Turtle Pope. No, I will not elaborate.

Beginning White Mask Varré’s Quest

I hope you enjoyed spending your spring break with the Chelonian Pontifex and graduation from the Academy, but it’s time to get back to work. After you’ve defeated Rennala, fast travel back to the Roundtable Hold and enter the newly opened central chamber.

Your actual objective is to speak with White Mask Varré at the Rose Church, but he won’t have much to say to you until you’ve sought an audience with the Two Fingers, interpreted by Finger Reader Enia, so you’ll need to exhaust her dialogue first.

Completing his quest will ultimately give you access to the Pureblood Knight’s Medal, allowing you to warp to Mohgwyn Palace, though there’s still a lot to do before then.

White Mask Varré will tell you to invade and defeat someone using a Festering Bloody Finger. If you are playing online (and are confident in your skills), you can do this immediately. Otherwise, you’ll need to head to Writheblood Ruins.

Taking a Ride in an Abductor Virgin

You’ve done all you need at Liurnia for now, so it’s time to warp to the Altus Plateau. Fast Travel back to the Schoolhouse Classroom Site of Grace, just past the mills.

To warp, you must let the Abductor Virgin at the bottom kill you by eating you. I recommend leveling up or equipping a Sacrificial Twig so that you aren’t leaving any Runes behind.

Once you’re ready, ride the mill down to the bottom, where you’ll find said Abductor Virgin roaming around. In order to warp, you need this specific Abductor Virgin to kill you with its eat attack.

It looks the same as all the others, but this specific Abductor Virgin is programmed to use its eat attack far more frequently. If you played Dark Souls 3, the teleportation method is similar to how you had to hop in the backpack cage of a specific enemy to gain access to the Mound Makers Covenant.

The eat attack deals a fair bit of damage, so you don’t need to get hurt too much by the automaton’s other attacks in order for it to work, but it must be the eat attack that kills you, as you need to die inside the chamber.

Reaching the Altus Plateau

When you revive, rather than returning to the last Site of Grace or a Stake of Marika, you will respawn at an otherwise inaccessible area below the massive mechanical bridge at the Volcano Manor at Mt. Gelmir on the Altus Plateau.

This entire section is pretty linear, but if you get lost, just follow the river of lava downstream. Be prepared to fend off some bats and lava slugs along the way.

Eventually, you’ll arrive at the nightmarish Subterranean Inquisition Chamber, home to some lava slugs and traumatized Albinaurics that will crawl at you while making some rather disrespectful growling noises. Don’t they know they’re addressing the future Elden Lord?

Rest at the Site of Grace if you wish, grab the unremarkable loot, and then exit the chamber. The path out is across one of the pillars that bridges the lava to another section of walkable terrain. Arrows point where you want to go in both the above and below pictures.

Eventually, you’ll be surprise-dropped into a safe area with a bunch of moss to pick up that’s just outside of a boss room where you’ll have to defeat 2 Abductor Virgins.

They can’t go through each other and take damage from each others’ attacks, so try to position yourself where one of them is blocking the other. Their weak point is the fleshy chamber while the doors are open, but be careful not to get eaten!

Once you defeat the Abductor Virgins, the exit will “unlock,” and you’ll pop out at Seethwater River on the Altus Plateau near a Site of Grace by the same name. You must rest at any Site of Grace on the Altus Plateau proper, where Melina speaks to you about making it this far.

Doing so triggers General Radahn’s Festival at Redmane Castle, allowing you to fight him, though you can also trigger it by agreeing to serve Ranni the Witch at Caria Manor. Either way, you must defeat Starscourge Radahn to access the new area for Shadow of the Erdtree.

Technically, you can go there now if you like, but since you’re already in the neighborhood, I think you should go to the Second Church of Marika and Writheblood Ruins first. You’ll need to do all 3 in order to defeat Mohg this early in the game.

Obtain the Purifying Crystal Tear

The Second Church of Marika is where you’ll find the Purifying Crystal Tear. From Seethwater River, head southeast and cross the Wyndham Ruins, defeating the Tibia Mariner along the way. You can skip him, but you’ll get a bit of extra XP, and it doesn’t take much time.

As you reach the other side of the ruins, you’ll be cut off from your first destination by a canyon, but you can see the Second Church of Marika in the distance.

There’s a safe slope into the canyon down to the right of this side as you’re facing the church, and then an updraft whirlwind you can use Torrent to leap up to the other side.

The updraft is located near the entrance to the Old Altus Tunnel Mine, guarded by the trolls, at the lowest point of the divide between the canyon and the little Erdtree. Once you make it across, head up to the church, speak to Yura on the ground, and defeat Eleonora, the Violet Bloody Finger.

Eleonora drops the Purifying Crystal Tear that will protect you from Mohg’s Bloodboon Ritual phase change attack. It is possible to defeat Mohg without this, but it will be extremely challenging given that you will be at a level disadvantage against Mohg.

Eleonora also drops Eleonora’s Poleblade (shocker, I know). This is the main weapon I recommend for a bleed build that you can assemble along the way.

You’ll also use the Reduvia, which dropped from Bloody Finger Nejirus back in Limgrave.

Bloody Finger Invasion for Varré (Offline)

If you opted not to invade someone online, your next objective is to invade a specific NPC at Writheblood Ruins. Unlike all other offline invasions and summons, you’ll need to use a Festering Bloody with each attempt.

White Mask Varré gave you a handful of them when telling you to do this, but if you run out, you can buy them from most merchants.

Head back over to the whirlwind you came from and use it to jump in the opposite direction towards another whirlwind. Your offline target is located at the Writheblood Ruins, north of the Rose Church, past the bridge to Mt. Gelmir.

There is no need to cross the bridge as Writheblood Ruins are on the same side of the canyon as the Rose Church. However, I recommend taking a brief detour to activate the Bridge of Iniquity Site of Grace (across from said bridge) since it’s the closest one around and will save you from having to deal with these particular updrafts again.

Your target is located in one of the northernmost ruined buildings. Once you’re done, you’ll need to return to White Mask Varré at the Rose Church, but it makes more sense to do this part at the end.

Varré’s final task takes place in Liurnia. Since he ultimately enables you to teleport to Mohgwyn’s Palace, it will be one of the last stops on our list.

Reach and Defeat Starscourge Radahn

Now that you’ve visited the Altus Plateau, you can participate in Radahn’s Festival. You don’t have to do an entire dungeon, and while Redmane Castle is at the eastern edge of Caelid, you can use portals to get through most of it.

The portal you need is located atop Fort Gael, which is right on the border between Caelid and Limgrave.

Head along the main road, Caelid Highway, until you reach the Finger Reader Crone, Smoldering Wall Site of Grace, and Bird’s Eye Telescope. Then, turn right and fight your way to the top of the Fort.

The portal should take you straight to Redmane Castle, right outside of the plaza, but it may only take you to another portal that’s across the bridge on Castle Redmane’s island. Take the other portal, and you’ll be in the right place.

This is where you want to be. Head over to the plaza and speak to Jerren, the colorful castellan, to begin the festival and fight Radahn!

If this isn’t NG+, head to the top of the Divine Tower of Caelid after defeating him to unlock his Great Rune. Scale the outside of the building, and once you’ve made it to the Divine Tower of Caelid: Center Site of Grace, go through the doorway with stairs going up.

Afterward, have a quick chat with Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold to unlock your third talisman slot. This one is a reward for defeating a second Shardbearer.

Obtain the Pureblood Knight’s Medal

Return to the Rose Church at Liurnia of the Lakes and inform White Mask Varré of your successful cold-blooded murder.

He’ll tell you your next target would be your maiden, but since he thinks you don’t have one, you get to go stick your hand in some other gal’s corpse to get some blood on a handkerchief.

The lady in question is Vyke’s maiden, who can be found at the Church of Inhibition in northeastern Liurnia. Once you’ve ruined the handkerchief and defiled the corpse, return to White Mask Varré at the Rose Church one last time.

White Mask Varré will reward you with a free on-site medical procedure, no appointment needed! Your brand-new Bloody Finger will allow you to invade people without consuming other people’s Festering Bloody Fingers. Exhaust his dialogue, and he’ll give you the Pureblood Knight’s Medal.

Caelid XP Bonanza (Optional)

There are a ton of mini-bosses in Caelid, almost all of which will give you a huge chunk of XP. I have marked the locations of each of these 13 mini-bosses on the map of Caelid in green. It’s not essential to do this step, but you’ll definitely appreciate being at a higher level when you go to fight Mohg.

I find this to be a far more enjoyable and rewarding experience than smearing the remains of gaggles upon gaggles of lethargic Albinaurics across Mohg’s front yard, but you do you.

I especially recommend fighting the Putrid Avatar at the Erdtree in the Northeast, as it has the Opaline Hardtear, which reduces all damage taken for several minutes. In general, it’s wise to procure both Tears you plan to put in your Flask of Wondrous Physick.

Grab Goodies at Lyndell (Optional)

You have a few goodies you can pick up at Lyndell, Royal Capital, and the Subterranean Shunning Grounds beneath it. The city is quite a bit out of the way, and none of it is essential to reaching the Land of Shadow, but it’s a tantalizing prospect nonetheless:

• 4th talisman slot
• Mohg’s Shackle
• Lord of Blood’s Exultation talisman (for Mohg and Bleed build)
• Somber Smithing Stone [7]
• A bunch of Golden Seeds
• Rold Medallion and Big Story Moment
• 2 major bosses + more mini-bosses for XP
• Lotsa juicy Golden Rune consumables (at least for the first playthrough)

I won’t cover this section in quite as much detail, and instead, focus on the most valuable pieces and how to obtain them efficiently.

Path to Godfrey and Morgott

Your goal is to defeat the golden ghost of Godfrey, First Elden Lord, at the Erdtree Sanctuary (Site of Grace), and then head onward to defeat Morgott, the Grace-Given, at the Elden Throne.

You only need to defeat Godfrey to get your 4th Talisman Slot, but there’s almost nothing in between him and Morgott, who will give you another bevy of Runes, and a potential option for the bleed build with his Remembrance, Morgott’s Cursed Sword.

The path is too long to go into too much detail here, but these are the major steps as outlined with the arrows in the images above:

1. From the East Capital Rampart Site of Grace, make your way across the rampart, past the tooting Envoys, into the building behind the broken gargoyle.
2. Take the elevator down or drop down onto the roofs outside. Either way, you’re trying to reach the main avenue.
3. Weave through the buildings, heading towards the main avenue.
4. Defeat the Erdtree Avatar that appears in the middle of town. There’s also a Crucible Knight in the rotunda to the east near the rampart.
5. Turn right (facing away from the East Capital Rampart)
6. Rest at the Avenue Balcony Site of Grace.
7. Continue forwards, going down the stairs. There are many Lyndell Knights in the next area.
8. Optional: Dropping down to the lower area on the right will let you fight an Ulcerated Tree Spirit and reward you with a Golden Seed. Return to the Avenue Balcony Site of Grace
9. Climb onto the dead dragon’s wing (Gransax is its name) and go all the way up until you’re inside the West Capital Rampart.
10. Head forward and rest at the West Capital Rampart Site of Grace.
11. Keep going forward and hop onto the branch/root of the Erdtree and follow it up to reach the Erdtree Sanctuary.
12. Defeat Godfrey, the First Golden Lord, as a golden ghost and rest at the Erdtree Sanctuary Site of Grace.
13. Equip a 4th talisman.
14. Go straight through towards the Queen’s Bedchamber and defeat a Black Knife Assassin outside.
15. Defeat Morgott, the Grace-Given, at the Elden Throne.

Path to Mohg’s Shackle and Lord of Blood’s Exultation

Mohg’s Shackle item and the Lord of Blood’s Exultation talisman are at the bottom of the big room with all of the Stone Imps at the Subterranean Shunning Grounds. If you aren’t sure how to get there from Lyndell, Royal Capital, check out our Dung Eater Quest and Blessing of Despair Ending Guide.

We’ll be starting from the Underground Roadside Site of Grace heading down the ladder on the opposite side of the road. From there, head down the main pipe towards the Imp that will throw things at you.

Look down from where the Stone Imp was, and you’ll see there’s another pipe to drop down to.

Then, drop down again to the bottom from the lowest point on the pipe. Be sure to use Soft Cotton or the Longtail Cat Talisman so you don’t take fall damage. Be prepared to fight 2 Lobsters. Like the Abductor Virgins, they will damage each other.

Mohg’s Shackle will be over behind the lobster on the right. Pick up everything down there, and then head through the broken part of the wall. Don’t go up the elevator right now, just turn right and go rest at the Site of Grace.

Going straight will take you to the Lyndell Catacombs. You’ll need to crank the lever that opens the door near the entrance to said Catacombs and defeat the mini-boss Esgar, Priest of Blood, who has the biggest hood you’ve ever seen. He will drop the Lord of Blood’s Exultation talisman.

Reach the Cocoon of the Empyrean

Ignore what White Mask Varré said before. It is time to seek an audience with Mohg now. Use the Pureblood Knight’s Medal in your Inventory to warp to Mohg. You’ll end up at the bottom of Mohgwyn Palace proper, with the area map on the ground in front of you and the lake of blood behind you.

The vast majority of the enemies in this section are zombies, but they all explode when they die or (want to) and leave behind a cloud that applies Bleed while you stand in it.

If you have Hoslow’s Armor from a previous playthrough, I recommend equipping it now for maximum bleed resistance. The Sacred Relic Sword is also exceptional here.

You might also want to consider swapping out your weaker talismans for Lord of Blood’s Exultation and/or Stalwart Horn Charm (+1) if you have them. You can boost your Bleed tolerance with Invigorating (White) Cured Meat and cure any buildup with Stanching Boluses.

Climbing the Steps

Outside, there’s really just a ton of the blood zombies. You can run past them if you want, but there is an extra-large blood clot on the way, so be careful.

I recommend playing it safe and using AoE attacks to clear out the zombies so you can remove the clot with minimal interruption.

Dark Mausoleum

As you head into the mausoleum, it will be dark inside. The enemies in the mausoleum are a bit different. You can encounter up to 4 Sanguine Nobles, wielding a Bloody Helice and a Reduvia. The Sanguine Nobles will parry you.

A pool of blood will come from nowhere when you get close to one of several spawn points and the Sanguine Noble rises out of it. The same spawn point will not spawn another Sanguine Noble until the current one is defeated and you have exited and reentered the detection/spawn radius.

However, you can spawn multiple Sanguine Nobles at the same time if they come from different spawn points. The entire area is meant to disincentivize you from running past everything.

There’s also a pack of blood zombies in the corner of the main cavern and a few notable Items including those sold by an Imprisoned Merchant, a Lord’s Rune, and a Great Ghost Glovewort.

Imprisoned Merchant

There in an Imprisoned Merchant in the first alcove on the left.

Great Ghost Glovewort

There is a Great Ghost Glovewort growing in the far corner of the main cavern, though there’s a bunch of blood zombies nearby and it’s easy to get lost, so be strategic about attacking them.

Lord’s Rune

There is a Lord’s Rune (50k Runes!) at the obelisk right as you enter the main cavern.

White Mask Varré Invasion

As you reach the exit of the dark area, right before the Dynasty Mausoleum Midpoint Site of Grace, you’ll come across the invasion point for White Mask Varré.

Note: Based on the description of the Pureblood Knight’s Medal, you may be able to summon White Mask Varré for the fight against Mohg once Shadow of the Erdtree is released.

Only invade White Mask Varré or defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood, if you already have or don’t want the White Mask and War Surgeon armor set. If you defeat either of them, the invaders that drop the armor will stop invading.

If you want the War Surgeon’s Armor set, and you do want its helmet for the bleed build, rest at the Site of Grace, and then head to the middle of the southern section of the lake of blood to be invaded by Nameless White Masks.

There isn’t a great dropdown spot, so you’ll either have to warp down to the Dynasty Mausoleum Entrance or Palace Approach Ledge-Road and head to that area. There are 3 Nameless White Masks that can invade you in that southern region of the lake.

Once you’ve defeated them, return to the Dynasty Mausoleum Midpoint and invade White Mask Varré. Make sure you have some tissues at the ready to wipe away the tears because Varré’s greatest weapon isn’t his metal rose bouquet; it’s his words.

Mohg, Lord of Blood

Just past the Site of Grace, there’s a gaggle of the blood porcupine Albinaurics looking up to a Saguine Noble that’s in front of a chest. Use your beefiest AoE or try to aggro only a few of the Albinaurics at a time, and save the Sanguine Noble for last.

The chest contains a Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone, and behind the statue, a Golden Rune [13]. There is a little bit of a dropdown path there for the War Surgeon set, but it’s incomplete. This will likely be your first +10 Somber Smithing Stone, so go and use it to upgrade your chosen weapon, like Eleonora’s Poleblade.

Fast travel back to the Dynasty Mausoleum Midpoint Site of Grace and equip the Purifying Crystal Tear. Don’t forget to put Mohg’s Shackle as one of your quick items too.

Purifying Crystal Tear will prevent you from getting killed by Mohg’s phase 2 transition attack, Bloodboon Ritual. Mohg’s Shackle will interrupt and stun him for a few seconds, but only during the first phase of the fight, and it only works successfully 3 times. You cannot use Mohg’s Shackle it to interrupt the Bloodboon Ritual.

Now that you’re ready, it’s time to face the impending bloodbath known as Mohg, Lord of Blood. Take the elevator up to the Cocoon of the Empyrean and gulp down that Wondrous Physick.

After you defeat Mohg, if you’re going for the bleed build, I recommend purchasing both items with the Remembrance of the Blood Lord. Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear is more important to the build than than Incantation: Bloodboon. Also, don’t forget to take off the Purifying Crystal Tear and any other items you were using for this area.

After buying the first item, you’ll need to retrieve a second copy of his Remembrance at one of the Wandering Mausoleums that had a bell underneath. Just keep going around to the Mausoleums until you find one that has it and other Shardbearers available.

When you’re ready, return to the Cocoon of the Empyrean and touch the tender hand of Miquella, drooping flaccidly before you, to enter the Land of Shadow!

Congratulations! Now you have full access to the new expansion area in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree! But, what’s even better, you have the gear and experience to journey into the Land of Shadow prepared for the new challenges!