The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion for Elden Ring has only been available for a few days, and many players are already finding that their character – which has become Elden Lord of the Lands Between – is barely a match for the first chakra blade-wielding weirdo you can enter. These early, grueling fights are just a prelude to the raw aggression of the DLC bosses, who can turn you into a bloody mess on the ground with just a few attacks. Worse yet, this augment in difficulty spares no one – regardless of your level, the weapon you wield, or the armor you wear.
The key to salvation in the Shadowlands lies in the all-new Shadowlands Blessing system, but if you’re not paying attention, you might just miss it.
With a little exploration, you’ll probably find at least one Fragment of Scadutreewhich gives you a brief hint:
It’s easy to miss this tip in the middle of a battle or when distracted by distant points of interest, but it’s safe to say that Erdtree’s Shadow may be underestimating how important your Scadutree Blessing is. Simply put, it can quickly be the difference between victory and defeat in almost any encounter, and is barely comparable to Elden Ring’s normal leveling system.
The reason for this is that Shadow of the Erdtree must accommodate the wide range of players looking for a challenge in this DLC world: fights must be difficult enough for a level 500 player in New Game+ 7, but also winnable for someone who just one day after I beat Mohg for the first time. Solution: Make everything hit extremely hard, with incredibly high health pools, but introduce a new item to quickly increase your own damage dealing and negation skills.
Using just one Scadutree Fragment to increase Shadowlands Blessing to level 1 will increase weapon damage AND damage negation to all sources by approximately 5%, and significantly more fragments can be found in the first region alone.
As a test case, let’s use an early enemy that many players will likely have a rude awakening from: the Blackgaol Knight of the Nameless Western Mausoleum. His Great Sword of Solitude seems to strike harder than the Radagon and leave players wondering if any amount of leveling could level the playing field.
For my level 162 character with 50 Vigor and 50 Strength, my Blasphemous Blade had an attack power of 795; and my armor and other stats gave me 157 Defense Power with 44.355% physical damage negation as a multiplier.
Facing the Blackgaol Knight, my basic one-handed swing only did 398 damage to his 525, which I only managed to counter with a jump attack that did 550. His did… a lot more.
However, with just one level of Scadutree’s Blessing, my attack power was increased to 834 and my physical damage negation was increased to 47.004%. This increase caused me to deal 416 and in return I only received 496, which was a 4.9% increase in damage dealt and 5.5% damage taken.
Even if that doesn’t sound like much – I then grabbed every Scadutree Fragment on the Gravesite Plain, raising my Scadutree Blessing to level 4. Now my attack power increased to 954 and my damage negation increased to 53.629%, which meant my hits now dealt 20% more damage that hit harder than the Blackgaol Knight, which was reduced by approximately 17.3%!
As you can see from the table above, each blessing can greatly increase your power, and with the maximum of 20 Scadutree Blessings you can acquire throughout the game, you’ll be doing MUCH more damage by the end than when you first entered the Shadow Realm.
What about regular leveling? My table also includes spending enough Runes to get four Strength points compared to Scadutree’s four Blessings. At 50+ strength, the returns barely resulted in a measly percentage of damage increase, and the constant increase in Defense Power instead of negating damage from all sources meant I was losing about the same amount of HP per hit. This is an important aspect to note because it means that since all players will be in the endgame, you can’t defeat bosses by simply spending runes. However, it’s still worth adding a few points here and there, especially to increase your HP pool with Vigor, increase your stamina with Stamina, or fulfill the requirement to equip a new weapon.
So where can you find more Scadutree pieces? You can check our guide track down every piece of Scadutreebut if you prefer to explore on your own, here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Scadutree fragments most often appear in front of Marika statues, such as those found in churches or soldier camps.
- You are also guaranteed to find one at each Miquella Cross, which the demigod left behind, marking his journey to important places in the Shadowlands.
- In some areas, such as ruins or destroyed cities, an Undead Shadow may sometimes appear holding a shiny pot. Hurry up with them before they escape and you can get the treasure, which sometimes contains a Scadutree Fragment.
- Progress in Shadow of the Erdtree is rarely permanently blocked by a boss. If you’re low on power, try looking for alternative paths to new regions where you can find more Scadutree Fragments.
- Like these fragments, the ashes of the Reverend Spirit can also be found in front of large altars with headless corpses or in Undead Shadow potholders. The Reverend’s Blessing of Spirit Ashes will increase the power of Summoning Spirit Ashes, much like Scadutree Fragments enhance your own.
Once you feel strong enough to take on the toughest challenges, there’s plenty more for you to do, and we’ve cataloged it all in our full Shadow of the Erdtree guide.
Brendan Graeber is a senior guide writer at IGN and is still working hard to uncover every secret of the Elden Ring. You can find him on Twitter/X @Ragga_Fragga