Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree – Navigating the Controversy Over Its Difficulty
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, while receiving critical acclaim, has reignited the long-standing debate about the game’s difficulty. Recently, more players have expressed a desire for a less challenging experience, leading to a drop in Steam reviews to a “Mixed” rating last week.
Currently, the “Mixed” rating persists, with 69% of reviews being positive. A significant factor behind the criticism is the Scadutree Fragments system—a DLC-specific mechanic that boosts players’ defense and offense after finding certain items, similar to Sacred Tears and Golden Seeds from the original game.
In essence, the damage in Erdtree is particularly harsh in the initial stages, and players who repeatedly face a boss without exploring may find the game excessively challenging. The advice to “go get Scadutree Fragments” has become the new mantra, akin to “level your vigor” in the base game.
To address these concerns, FromSoftware has made adjustments in the first balance patch for the DLC. The patch revises the “attack and damage negation curve scaling of the Shadow Realm Blessings.” Scadutree Fragments now provide a more significant boost for the first 10 levels, with subsequent enhancements being more gradual. Additionally, the final level of Blessing enhancements now offers a slightly increased benefit.
This update means players are encouraged to explore moderately, but it’s less necessary to max out their Shadow Blessing level, though doing so will still offer significant rewards. This compromise seems fair, balancing the need for exploration with the desire to avoid mandatory completionism.
The DLC’s initial implementation of the Scadutree Fragments system faced mixed reactions, particularly regarding the balance of its bosses. I completed every fog-gate boss without using ashes or summons but had to adjust my build significantly for the final boss, which required hunting for Scadutree Fragments. This process, while a break from challenging encounters, disrupted the game’s flow. Thus, I welcome the revision, which should enhance the DLC’s replayability.
FromSoftware also addressed graphical issues, citing a bug where ray tracing settings were automatically enabled if players loaded saved data from previous versions. Although this wasn’t the case for me, some players with high-end systems experienced stuttering, indicating other underlying problems.
The developer promised further balance adjustments and bug fixes in future patches. Meanwhile, players must continue to adapt and persevere, as recently demonstrated by marathon streamer Kai Cenat, who encouraged them to “go out there, and go fight.”
