How to start Shadow Of The Erdtree, the Elden Ring DLC

Here’s how to access Shadow Of The Erdtree

Image credit:Bandai Namco

Want to know how to start the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC in Elden Ring? Elden Ring is already a gigantic open-world masterpiece, but FromSoftware have expanded it ever-further with their Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC. Featuring a brand new map that’s smaller but far more densely packed than the original, the expansion is packed with new bosses, weapon types, and more.

But how do you actually access the new map and begin the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC? As you might have expected, it will take a fair bit of playing through the base game before you can reach the Land Of Shadow. Follow this guide to learn exactly how to start Shadow Of The Erdtree , along with a roundup of useful guides to get you started in the Elden Ring DLC.

Take a look at the trailer for Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree here, and then check out ourShadow Of The Erdtree trailer breakdownguide for all the hidden details!Watch on YouTube

How to start Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC

To start the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC, you must first defeat Starscourge Radahn and Mohg, Lord Of Blood. Once you’ve defeated these two bosses, go to the throne at Mohgwyn’s Palace and you’ll see a new character standing next to the cocoon. Speak to her, and she’ll introduce herself as Needle Knight Leda, a follower of Miquella. She instructs you to interact with the withered arm in the cocoon to begin the DLC.

Touching the withered arm will transport you to the Land Of Shadow, the new map in which the Elden Ring DLC is set. You can move in and out of the Land Of Shadow at will afterwards, but in order to unlock the new DLC map you need to reach and interact with the arm in the cocoon.

To reiterate, here are the steps you must complete to start Shadow Of The Erdtree:

1. Defeat Starscourge Radahn.
2. Defeat Mohg, Lord Of Blood.
3. Touch the withered arm in the Cocoon in Mohgwyn Palace.

If you’re looking for the absolute quickest path to starting the DLC, check out our walkthrough on the fastest way to start Shadow Of The Erdtree , which takes you from your first steps in Limgrave to the Withered Arm in Mohgwyn Palace in record time!

1. Defeat Starscourge Radahn

Image credit:Bandai Namco

Starscourge Radahn is the major boss of Caelid, the Rot-infested region to the east of Limgrave. To defeat him, you must wait until the Radahn Festival is active, then travel to Redmane Castle in the southeast corner of Caelid and activate the portal on the beach.

There are three ways to start the Radahn Festival:

• Reach any Altus Plateau Site Of Grace , OR
• Progress Ranni’s quest until you mention Radahn to Blaidd in Siofra River, OR
• Progress Ranni’s quest until you mention Witch-Hunter Jerren to Iji.

Caelid is a tricky region and we’d recommend you complete Limgrave and Liurnia (and possibly the Altus Plateau ) first. For full details, check out our Elden Ring area order guide.

2. Defeat Mohg, Lord Of Blood

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco

The other boss you must defeat to activate the DLC is Mohg, Lord Of Blood. He can be found inside Mohgwyn Palace, an underground region which can only be accessed in two ways:

• Use the teleporter in the west of the Consecrated Snowfield , OR
• Use the Pureblood Knight’s Medal given at the end of White Mask Varré’s quest.

The second method allows you to get to Mohgwyn Palace far quicker. However, Mohgwyn Palace is a very tough endgame area, so if you use the Pureblood Knight’s Medal to get there quickly, you may find yourself underlevelled and unprepared to take on Mohg himself.

If you need some help dealing with Mohg, check out our Elden Ring Mohg, Lord Of Blood boss fight guide.

3. Touch the withered arm in Mohgwyn Palace

Touch the withered arm and you’ll be transported to the Land Of Shadow, the DLC map. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco

Once you’ve defeated Mohg in his throne room, you simply need to interact with the withered arm poking out of the bloody cocoon on Mohg’s throne. This arm belongs to the demigod Miquella, brother of the infamous boss Malenia, Hand Of Miquella .

Miquella is a very mysterious figure who is absolutely central to the lore and story of the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC, so it makes sense that he is your gateway into the Land Of Shadow.

If you don’t have the ability to interact with the withered arm, then simply fast travel to the nearby Site Of Grace again to reload the area, and you should find a character standing next to the arm. Speak to her, and she’ll introduce herself as Needle Knight Leda, one of the key NPC characters of the DLC. She’ll instruct you to touch the withered arm to transport yourself to the Land Of Shadow.

How to prepare for the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC

If you are capable of defeating Mohg, Lord Of Blood, then you likely are already at the right level of power for beginning your journey into the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC. The entire map should be a similar level of difficulty to late-game areas in the base game such as Miquella’s Haligtree and Crumbling Farum Azula .

If you want a better idea of what to expect, then have a read of our guide on the recommended level for Shadow Of The Erdtree .

If you’re looking for more in-depth guides that are specific to the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC, we’ve got a lot of those too. Take a look at these guides to prepare yourself for the DLC:

Bosses:

• Shadow Of The Erdtree boss locations
• Shadow Of The Erdtree main boss order
• How to beat Furnace Golems in Shadow Of The Erdtree

Locations:

• Shadow Of The Erdtree map fragment locations
• All Shadow Of The Erdtree Sites Of Grace
• All 50 Scadutree Fragment locations
• How to get to the Cathedral Of Manus Metyr
• How to get to Charo’s Hidden Grave
• How to get to the Stone Coffin Fissure
• How to get to the Abyssal Woods
• How to get to the Cerulean Coast
• How to get to the Hinterland
• How to get inside the Ruins Of Unte

Weapons:

• Shadow Of The Erdtree best weapons
• Shadow Of The Erdtree new weapon types
• All new weapons in Shadow Of The Erdtree
• How to get the Backhand Blade
• How to get the Beast Claw
• How to get the Great Katana
• How to get the Dryleaf Arts
• How to get the Light Greatsword
• How to get Milady
• How to get the Perfume Bottles
• How to get the Throwing Blades
• How to get the Dragon-Hunter’s Great Katana

Key Items:

• Shadow Of The Erdtree Iris Of Grace location
• Shadow Of The Erdtree Iris Of Occultation locations
• How to get the Prayer Room Key
• How to get the Imbued Sword Key
• How to get the Storeroom Key
• How to get the Well Depths Key
• How to get Wing Stance

Quests:

• Leda questline
• Should you suggest Thiollier or the Hornsent?
• Should you assist Leda?
• Thiollier questline
• Should you Imbibe Nectar?
• Ymir questline
• Moore questline

Other Guides:

• How long is Shadow Of The Erdtree?
• Shadow Of The Erdtree system requirements

That’s all you need to know in order to get started with Elden Ring’s gigantic Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC. To prepare yourself for the coming fights, why not check out our guides on the best Elden Ring builds , best Elden Ring weapons , and best Elden Ring armor sets on offer?

Elden Ring

PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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