Summary
In a first for FromSoftware games,Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreeintroduces an entirely new progression system separate from the base game’s Rune Levels, which the DLC’s content is balanced around. GatheringScadutree FragmentandRevered Spirit Ash, which can be found at specific locations spread around the Land of Shadow, players can make either themselves or their Spirit Ashes (and Torrent) stronger, respectively — but it can be hard to know exactly how much of an effect each individual level can have.
For most players,Scadutree Fragments inShadow of the Erdtreewill prove very important to collect, as the extra damage and defense they provide will be necessary for taking on the DLC’s notoriously tough enemies and bosses. Functionally, Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes work similarly to theGolden Seedin the base game, as higher levels of the blessings that they provide start to require more of each resource. However, while the effects of each Shadow Realm Blessing are very noticeable, it can be hard to figure out exactly how effective individual levels of the blessings are.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Review - FromSoft’s Greatest Hits
Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is a victory lap for FromSoftware, bringing in elements from past games without losing what made it special.
How Shadow Realm Blessing Works In Shadow Of The Erdtree
Individual Levels Don’t Give Much, But They Add Up Fast
InShadow of the Erdtree,each individual level of the Scadutree Blessing gives what seems to be around 4-5% extra damage and 4.7% damage negation. What’s important to keep in mind, though, is that damage negation inElden Ringis calculated multiplicatively per source of negation, and each level of the Scadutree Blessing seems to count as a separate source. Moreover,the defensive gains from Scadutree Blessing levels also seem to have diminishing returns at higher levels, resulting in a maxed-out Scadutree Blessing level of 20 giving a character around 50% damage negation by itself.
The Best Spirit Ashes For Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC in Elden Ring
There are almost two dozen new Spirit Ashes available in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC featuring common enemies and old legends.
Revered Spirit Ashwork similarly, but seem to provide more damage and defense per level, since there are only a total of 10 levels. Due to a lack of displayed stats for Spirit Ashes, it’s harder to test for the exact values, buteach level can tentatively be assumed to provide around double the Scadutree Blessing values.
Requirements for leveling up the Spirit Ash Blessing scale more heavily. While no Scadutree Blessing level will take more than three Fragments, the last two Spirit Ash levels will take four and five Ashes, respectively.
As a result, players may find that their progression across both Shadow Realm Blessings is uneven throughout the length of the DLC -Scadutree Fragments are more common, but the requirements also start to scale earlier, requiring two Fragments to level up as soon as the second level, and requiring three each starting after the tenth. Comparatively, the first three levels of the Revered Spirit Blessing only require one each, but they begin to scale much quicker beyond that, to the point where players may start to go for long stretches of time without leveling their Revered Spirit Blessing.
Is Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree Harder Than The Base Game?
Plenty of players are finding Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree to be tough, but how does it actually compare to the base game’s difficulty?
You Should Level Up Shadow Realm Blessings
Scadutree Fragments And Revered Spirit Ash Blessings Provide A More Balanced Experience
FindingScadutree Fragmentsand, to a somewhat lesser extent, Revered Spirit Ashes is very importantfor players looking to have a somewhat balanced experience inShadow of the Erdtree. Bosses and enemies in the DLC can deal lethal damage very quickly to players with under-leveled blessings, so anyone not looking to do what would essentially be a challenge run should seek out Scadutree Fragments as they progress. While getting every fragment isn’t a strict necessity for beating the DLC,players should still seek them out and use them wherever possible.
How Many Scadutree Blessing Levels Are In Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree offers players a brand new buff called the Scadutree Blessing which can be leveled up to give them some major perks.
However, as the Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes are spread across the map,there is a hard limit to how many levels of each blessing players can get before progressingthrough certain areas and beating certain bosses. For example, right at the start of the DLC,players can only get ten Scadutree Fragments before they have to beat a certain bossto progress to new areas, allowing them to reach the fourth level of the blessing at most.
While Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes don’t make base game progression entirely meaningless, as players will still generally want a high Rune Level and fully upgraded equipment, they are important for dealing with the high difficulty of the DLC. For the most part, Fragments and Ashes are relatively simple to find through exploration, and so they can serve as a way for players to easily get stronger or even to customize the difficulty ofElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreeto their liking.
