We’ve been anxiously awaiting FromSoftware’s announcement of DLC for Elden Ring, and it has finally come along with an ominous title: Shadow of the Erdtree.
You could argue that the Erdtree itself is a parasite in the Lands Between, so if there’s something darker than that on the horizon, it must be really nasty. And there’s nothing that us soulsborne fans love more than wicked entities trying to murder us.
Here’s everything we know so far about Shadow of the Erdtree, from the release date and story to the gameplay and trailers.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree release date
Shadow of the Erdtree was first announced on Feb. 28, 2023 on Twitter. We don’t have an official release date just yet, but we’re anticipating a launch sometime this year.
Shadow of the Erdtree will launch for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X as well as last-gen consoles.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree story
All we have to work with right now is the official artwork that announced the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.
Since it looks like the Erdtree is charred and dying, there is some speculation that this may take place after the main game and continue the narrative. It would be interesting to explore the aftermath of the player’s choice at the very end of the game.
Additionally, there’s speculation that the long, blonde-haired figure riding Torrent in the image is actually Miquella, the brother of everyone’s favorite boss, Malenia. If you remember fighting Mohg, Lord of Blood, then you’ll recall that the cocoon behind him was meant to contain Miquella.
Since we never get to interact with Miquella in the game, it would be cool to see him appear in the expansion, and especially so if he’s a helpful NPC. Afterall, a majority of his backstory involves trying to save his sister from the Scarlet Rot. So he’s got to be good, right? Unless he’s pissed at us for killing his sister. Whoops.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree gameplay
Shadow of the Erdtree isn’t going to radically change the gameplay from the original Elden Ring, but there’s tons of new content to expect. We don’t have anything official yet, but in previous expansions for other soulsborne titles, we’d get new weapons, armor, items, quests, bosses, areas, and more.
The most exciting thing about an expansion is that the new content in a soulsborne game almost always changes the way we build our characters. For example, Bloodborne added new trick weapons which let you completely change your playstyle.
I really hope we see some new magic types. Unfortunately, I have been rather underwhelmed by the magic in Elden Ring.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree trailers
There are no trailers for Shadow of the Erdtree just yet, but stay tuned to this page for when one launches.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree PC requirements
We don’t imagine that Shadow of the Erdtree will have different requirements from the original Elden Ring, but stranger things have happened, so keep these specs in mind.
The original Elden Ring requires a minimum of an Intel Core I5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 3 3300x CPU, 12GB of RAM, and an Nvidia Geforce Gtx 1060 3GB Or AMD Radeon Rx 580 4GB GPU. Meanwhile, the recommended requirements call for an Intel Core I7-8700k or AMD Ryzen 5 3600x CPU, 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia Geforce Gtx 1070 8GB or AMD Radeon Rx Vega 56 8GB GPU.
Some of the best cheap gaming laptops sport a fresh Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, which should be more than enough to get you through base Elden Ring and beyond.
Outlook
Elden Ring is huge, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Shadow of the Erdtree was much bigger than previous expansions in the soulsborne series. We still don’t know much about what to expect from this expansion, but it’s unlikely we’ll have to wait long. Stay tuned for more info on Shadow of the Erdtree.
