Elden Ring DLC Shadow Of The Erdtree: Release Date, Content, Lore Theories & More

Finally we have more information for the Elden Ring DLC! Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has been officially announced – it will be the first major DLC expansion following the free Colosseum update, which enabled PVP combat and a matchmaking system in the titular Colosseums.

The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will introduce a whole new area called The Land of Shadow and introduce a ton of new bosses, weapons, sorceries and more.

If you are interested in the artbooks vol. 1 and vol. 2 , I highly recommend them, as the art is truly incredible.

While details about the Elden Ring DLC are still limited, we have gathered all the available information to prepare you for the next expansion to the Lands Between.

Shadow of the Erdtree: Release Date & Playtime

Release Date

Shadow of the Erdtree will be released on June 21, 2024 as was revealed in the first trailer. Since Elden Ring released in February 2022 this means that the DLC will launch over two years after the main game. This is a pretty long time, if you compare it to previous titles of FromSoftware.

For example, Dark Souls took 11 months to release its Artorias of the Abyss DLC, while Dark Souls 2 took 3 months to release its Crown of the Sunken King DLC. Bloodborne took 8 months to release The Old Hunters DLC, and Dark Souls 3 took 7 months to release Ashes of Ariandel DLC. We can only hope that the long wait is a good sign for the size and quality of the DLC...

Playtime

We don't have official numbers here, but would guess a playtime of about 20-30 hours for Shadow of the Erdtree. The main game took about 50-60 hours for a regular playthrough and would go up way above 100 hours if you wanted to explore everything. While we don't know the exact size of the Elden Ring DLC, we already saw a couple of new areas and rumors are that the new surface area should be approximately the size of Liurnia.

While this might not sound that big (Liurnia is maybe 10-15 % of the whole Elden Ring Map), we shouldn't forget that surface area is only the area visible from above. Dungeons, plateaus, and castles will add significantly to that. Just think back to Raya Lucaria Academy, the Shunning Grounds or even Stormveil Castle – you could spend a whole day in one of those areas alone.

Shadow of the Erdtree: Weapons & Bosses

Of course, the Elden Ring DLC will introduce a ton of new weapons and bosses, some of which we could already spot in the trailer. We don't have a full list here and mostly also don't know names, but here is what we know so far:

Miyazaki confirmed that the DLC will introduce eight new weapon types. Not weapons, but weapon types, meaning there could be well over 50 new individual weapons. So far we know of Odachis (huge two-handed Japanese Katanas), reverse-handed swords that seem to be dual-wielded and look like a lot of fun, throwing daggers (as actual weapons, not consumables), dueling shields that can be used defensively and offensively and a pretty insane looking machine gun crossbow.

Those were the weapons we saw being used by a player character in the trailer, however, we highly suspect that players will again be able to obtain boss weapons as well, so those will add to the arsenal.

Concerning the bosses, there are supposed to be at least 10 new ones. Two of them were shown in more detail in the trailer. One being the scary looking lion-beast that uses some pretty intimidating lightning attacks, and the other being Messmer the Impaler. Messmer seems to play a bigger role, since he is featured on the cover and also available as a figurine in the collector's edition. He shares a lot of features with Malenia and could be an extremely hard opponent.

Shadow of the Erdtree: Elden Ring DLC Story Theories

Shadow of the Erdtree was announced on February 28, 2023 and we got the first trailer on February 21, 2024. The promotional image for Shadow of the Erdtree DLC gave us limited information, with only a name and a piece of concept art showing a blonde figure on Torrent (or a horse like him) riding towards a damaged version of the Erdtree. However, the trailer showed a lot more:

As far as we know, Miquella, the godly brother of the goddess of rot, Malenia will play a huge role in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. This is a short poem on the website of Bandai Namco:

The Land of Shadow.A place obscured by the Erdtree.Where the goddess Marika first set foot.A land purged in an unsung battle.Set ablaze by Messmer’s flame.It was to this land that Miquella departed.Divesting himself of his flesh, his strength, his lineageOf all things Golden.And now Miquella awaitsthe return of his promised Lord.

Miquella tried to cure his own curse and his sister's rot by creating the Haligtree, but Mohg stole him away and hopes to become his consort. In Shadow of the Erdtree we will follow in Miquella's footsteps. If you aren't that deep into the lore, but have played Elden Ring, you have already met Miquella. When you defeat Mohg, the Lord of Blood, you will encounter a cocoon at the far end of the boss arena that has an arm hanging out. This is Miquella's cocoon, which will apparently also be the point of entry into the new DLC area called The Land of Shadow.

So while we don't know too much about the story of the DLC yet, we do know that it is based on Miquella. However, one of the new main characters we get to see in the trailer, is Messmer the Impaler. We don't know any background lore on Messmer so far, but he shares a lot of features with Malenia and is seen sitting on a throne, so he definitely is a mighty character and probably even another demigod.

Shadow of the Erdtree Lore: Different Lore Theories

Of course, there are a few community theories out there, apart from the few hints we got in the trailer. We summarized a few fan theories here for you:

Miquella & Torrent

Torrent is a spectral horse that chooses the player as its rider at the beginning of Elden Ring. Witch Ranni/Renna gives the player the Bell of Beckoning and the Ashes of the Lonely, with reference to Torrent's previous owner.

Interestingly, there is a statue in Farum Azula that depicts a child surrounded by three wolves, reminiscent of Miquella. Was Torrent's previous owner Miquella before the player?

Godwyn's Roots

The tree in the background of the art appears to be a dark Erdtree, possibly strangled by another twisted tree, which VaatiVidya suggests could be Godwyn's Deathroot. This would make sense since Godwyn's and Miquella's stories are closely intertwined.

St. Trina

It is unclear when or where the expansion takes place, as the landscape is vastly different from the Lands Between we know. Looking at the black tree, it points out Helphen's black spire, which is described as the dark counterpart to the Erdtree and guides the dead with its light.

This could suggest that the expansion takes place in a ghost world or dream world where Godwyn's Deathroot has spread.

This seems plausible since Miquella's female alter ego, St. Trina, is associated with sleep and dreams. The alter ego named Saint Trina, who was a traveling healer that left relics of sleep magic through the sword of Saint Trina and craftable items like sleep arrows. Saint Trina's appearance is enigmatic, as some say she is a comely young girl while others believe that Trina is a boy.

Trina is also presented as an adult woman on her torch that induces sleep. The theory is Miquella took the form of Saint Trina until he was ripped from his dreams. Now, once again, Miquella may slumber induced into a nightmare in which death takes over the world he wished to heal.

The title "Shadow of the Erdtree" suggests that this location will be central to the DLC's plot, and the "O" in the word "shadow" appears to be two branches wrapping through each other, with possible inspiration from Berserk's World Tree.

The location in the image cannot be found in-game, but based on the Erdtree's angle, it appears to be in the far south. However, the landscape looks nothing like what one would expect from that location, which leads to the possibility that it is a dream world.

The DLC might focus on Miquella's dream world, which was either left open to interpretation or removed during development. This would explain the bizarre landscape, and it would also shed light on the other aspects shown in the trailer, such as the endless field of wheat, which could be related to Miquella possessing the "rune of abundance."

There are also references to Greek mythology, particularly with Miquella and his connections to it. The monuments resemble the ones from Dark Souls 3's Crucifixion Woods, but they may be modeled after Miquella's great rune. Overall, Elden Ring's "Shadow of the Erdtree" DLC suggests that it will explore Miquella's dream world and reveal more about the game's lore.

That's all there is to tell about Elden Ring's DLC Shadow of the Erdtree. Are you hyped yet? You can check out the different pre-order editions here.