FromSoftware’s new Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is brutally difficult – not surprising from a studio known for the demanding nature of its games, right? Well, the expansion is incredibly challenging even by Soulsborne standards, so many players were completely surprised by its difficulty level. Even the first mini-boss makes life difficult for the Tarnished, and upon release the DLC was met with “mixed” reviews, with many players complaining about the merciless damage distribution and hyper-aggressive bosses.
I feel the former could use some tweaking, but after playing through all of the DLC for my review last week, I can safely say that its bosses aren’t at all unfair or impossible to fight without Spirit Ashes or cheap strategies – and the key to succeeding against them is actually a lesson I first learned in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, FromSoftware’s First The Game of the Year award-winning ARPG.
That lesson is “hesitation is defeat,” which Sekiro players will remember as the phrase the game’s final boss, Isshin, says every time he slices you into julienne strips with his katana. It’s basically a cool way of saying “you need to be aggressive and stop playing passive,” and Sekiro burns that lesson into your brain over the course of your playthrough with its narrow attack windows and stance mechanics that force you to constantly attack and fend off a boss until you break his stance and land the killing blow.
Elden Ring may not have Sekiro’s stance system or defenses, but the basic principle of “hesitation is defeat” absolutely applies to Shadow of the Erdtree. In Dark Souls and much of the base game of Elden Ring, you could get away with playing the spacing game and rolling or running away from attacks, then going in and getting a few hits in yourself before the boss started his next combo. In the Elden Ring DLC, however, this doesn’t work, as the bosses don’t give you time to get close to them. And Go on the offensive before starting a new move.
To effectively deal damage, you must instead roll through Attacks and towards the boss, allowing you to immediately follow up with some moves of your own. I immediately got much further in each fight than I had before after adopting this mindset, and this approach helped me play through the entire DLC (including the insanely hard final boss, which I’ll be posting a guide for shortly).
If you’re having trouble getting past bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, try dodging them, staying on their trail, and being aggressive. Provided you stay calm, roll at the right time (watch out for tricky delayed attacks), and Do not hesitateyou will make great progress. I promise.
The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is finally here and makes it one of the best xbox games And best pc games ever, even better. It’s available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and Windows PC for $39.99.
