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Shadow of the Erdtree is the hardest FromSoftware content ever made and I am not okay

SoulsBorne_S

1 posts · Joined Feb 2026

Jan 27, 2026 568 views

I have 800 hours in Elden Ring. I have platinumed Dark Souls 1, 2, and 3. I have beaten Malenia 47 times just to help people through it in co-op. I thought I was prepared for Shadow of the Erdtree.

I was not prepared.

Messmer the Impaler hit me so hard on my first attempt that I sat in silence for a full thirty seconds before pressing continue. Bayle the Dread made me genuinely question whether I should find a new hobby. The final boss of the DLC — I won't name it for spoilers — took me four hours across two sessions and I'm still not entirely sure I didn't get lucky on the kill.

And yet. AND YET. I cannot stop thinking about it. Every death taught me something. The world design is some of the best FromSoftware have ever produced. The lore implications for the base game are staggering.

Is it too hard? Genuinely asking. I know my opinion on difficulty is probably not representative of the average player. Did anyone else find this a significant step up even from the base game?

4 Replies

PixelVanguard Jan 28, 2026

Yes it's significantly harder than the base game and no I don't think that's entirely a good thing. Bayle specifically feels tuned for people who have spent hundreds of hours in the game rather than people who just finished the base story and jumped in. The Scadutree Blessing system helps a lot but finding all the fragments requires exploring every corner of a massive map which most players won't do before hitting a difficulty wall.

That said, Messmer is one of the best designed boss fights I have ever played in my life. The phase 2 transition is perfect.

NintendoNerd Jan 28, 2026

I say this as someone who does not play FromSoftware games and has watched my partner play Elden Ring for 200 hours — even I could tell from across the room that the DLC was on a different level of violence. My partner, who beat Malenia first try (I know, I know), got stuck on the final boss for an entire weekend.

Is the DLC accessible to someone who beat the base game comfortably or do you need to have really mastered the combat systems?

SoulsBorne_S ↩ NintendoNerd Jan 29, 2026

Honestly? If your partner beat Malenia first try they are in the top 1% of Elden Ring players and will probably be fine. For a normal person who beat the base game comfortably — the DLC is going to require patience and a willingness to explore for Scadutree fragments before pushing into boss fights. It's not impossible but it will test you.

Tell your partner Bayle says hello. They will not think that is funny. They will also know exactly what I mean.

PCMasterRace Jan 30, 2026

Played it on PC at max settings and the performance held up well in most areas. The DLC environment design especially the Shadow Keep is some of the best art direction I've seen in gaming this generation. On the difficulty question — I think the intended experience is that you explore thoroughly and upgrade your Scadutree Blessing to max before the final boss. If you do that it's very hard but fair. If you don't it's borderline unreasonable.