How to Start Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC

Ready to start Shadow of the Erdtree in Elden Ring? Here's how it's done:

By Tanner Dedmon

Elden Ring's massive Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, much like many parts of the base game, will not be accessible through conventional or easy means. Instead, Elden Ring players will have to first progress far enough in the game to the point that they reach two separate, optional bosses, and then comes the task of beating them once you get there. Only then can you actually access the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC you paid for, so if you're starting out on a fresh character, you've got some work ahead of you before you can tackle the Realm of Shadow.

But whether or not you're on a new character or are on one that you've being playing on, you may be wondering what the quickest path to starting the DLC is. If that's the case, here's everything that you need to know about accessing Shadow of the Erdtree. 

How to Start Shadow of the Erdtree

The two bosses you're going to need to fight to start the DLC are Starscourge Radahn and Mohg, the Lord of Blood. For those who haven't played in awhile but may have fought them already, Radahn is the giant, red-haired swordsman who rides a tiny horse over in Caelid. Mohg is beneath Caelid in Mohgwyn Palace who uses a very annoying bleed attack to obliterate players.

Finding and Beating Radahn

  • Begin the Radahn Festival. There are multiple ways to do this, but the easiest one is to activate any Site of Grace in the Altus Plateau. 
  • Head to Redmane Castle which is found in the southeast part of Caelid as shown in the image below. If you've successfully activated the festival, Redmane Castle should be populated with different NPCs present for the event.
  • Challenge and beat Radahn. You fight Radahn by traveling through a waygate located at the end of Redmane Castle out on the beach. Fighting him is its own challenge, so be sure to use the NPC summons available to you as they don't affect his max health given that you're summoning them after the fight is already underway.
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Redmane Castle, home of Radahn, in Elden Ring.

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Finding and Beating Mohg

  • After beating Radahn, your next target is Mohg who resides in Moghwyn Palace. There is again more than one way to reach him, but the easiest is by visiting the Western Consecrated Snowfield waygate shown in the image below.
  • Once reaching this gate, you'll be invaded by a Sanguine Noble who must be defeated before you can use it.
  • After teleporting, simply progress through Mohgwyn Palace to fight the Lord of Blood.
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The gate required to reach Mohgwyn Palace in Elden Ring.

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Activating the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC

  • After all that's done, your last objective is to head to the cocoon in front of you right after resting at the Site of Grace present after beating Mohg.
  • The cocoon will have an outstretched arm with an NPC next to it who'll share some context with you. Simply activate the cocoon, and you'll be teleported to the Realm of Shadow.
  • Once there, you can freely fast travel back and forth between the Lands Between and the Shadow Realm, so don't worry about being locked into the DLC area.

If you want to learn more about what to expect from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, you can check out our review here.

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