Elden Ring’s first and only expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, features an exciting new storyline with dozens of hours of gameplay to experience—but accessing it isn’t a walk in the park, and data suggests that there are crucial steps many players haven’t yet taken. If you want to see what the challenging new DLC has to offer, you’ll have to find your way to a well-hidden section of the main game and defeat multiple optional bosses, including one of the toughest in the game: Mohg, Lord of Blood.
If you’re on a new save file, you can expect that reaching these optional bosses will take you between 15-30 hours. However, those who have progressed fairly far in the game already will have a much easier time getting to the necessary locations if they haven’t already.
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Step One: Defeat Starscourge Radahn
The first major step you’ll want to take is defeating Starscourge Radahn. This optional boss is found in Redmane Castle in southeast Caelid. However, he will only appear after meeting certain requirements, some more complicated than others.
The easiest way to unlock access to Starscourge Radahn is to simply advance through the game normally and rest at any Site of Grace in Altus Plateau. This will trigger the Radahn Festival back at Redmane Castle. With that underway, you can go to the castle and make your way to the plaza where you’ll find an NPC just up the stairs. Speak to him, then continue forward and down a lift to a wide-open desert arena. On the other side of the teleporter is the fight against the hulking Starscourge Radahn.
Since Starscourge Radahn rides on a horse and can maneuver around the arena very quickly, you can also use your steed, Torrent, to match his momentum. The fight is rather difficult solo, but if you’ve advanced through some of the many optional character storylines during your adventure, you’ll find summon signs throughout the arena that will grant you help from NPCs.
When Starscourge Radahn falls, it’s now time to make your way to Mohgwyn Palace to take on Mohg, Lord of Blood.
Step Two: Defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood
There are multiple ways to reach Mohgwyn Palace, but the most direct way is to follow White Mask Varré’s questline. You’ll first meet him at the beginning of the game when emerging into Limgrave, but you can’t advance his story until you’ve reached the Roundtable Hold.
After obtaining at least one Great Rune (you’ll have at least one from defeating Starscourge Radahn), speak to the Two Fingers in a chamber within the Roundtable Hold. This will cause White Mask Varré’s location to change to the Rose Church in Liurnia of the Lakes.
Speak to White Mask Varré at the Rose Church to obtain a Festering Bloody Finger. At this point, you can either invade and kill three other players, or go to the Writheblood Ruins in Altus Plateau, find the red summon sign for Magnus the Beast Claw, and slay him.
Regardless of which option you choose, return to White Mask Varré upon completion. He’ll now grant you the Lord of Blood’s Favor and ask you to soak it in the blood of a maiden.
There are multiple maidens whose blood you can use for soaking the Lord of Blood’s Favor, but the easiest and least storyline-affecting is a corpse at the Church of Inhibition. Go there, soak the item, then return once more to White Mask Varré.
White Mask Varré will grant you a Bloody Finger upon speaking with him again. However, if you speak to him a second time, he’ll also provide you with the Pureblood Knight’s Medal, which is exactly what we’ve been after this whole time.
Access the Pureblood Knight’s Medal in your inventory and use it to teleport directly to the entrance of Mohgwyn Palace. Work your way through this new area until you reach a large lift just past the Dynasty Mausoleum Midpoint Site of Grace. Take it up to finally be standing face-to-face with one of Elden Ring’s most challenging bosses: Mohg, Lord of Blood.
Mohg, Lord of Blood is an endgame boss and shouldn’t be tackled at low levels. If you’re feeling adequately prepared, though, equip gear that improves your fire and bleed resistances. This boss loves to cause bleed build-up, so it wouldn’t hurt to also bring along consumables that can reduce the frustrating damage this can cause.
Step Three: Enter the Land of Shadow
When you’ve tackled Mohg, Lord of Blood, you’ll finally have access to the Land of Shadow. To reach this area, simply walk up to the massive cocoon at the very back of the boss arena and interact with the arm hanging out. This will now allow you to check out all of the content that is only available via the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.
In this fresh storyline within the Land of Shadow, you’ll explore an all-new map filled with never-before-seen dungeons and bosses, additional weapons and spells to find, and plenty of other secrets that should keep you busy for many hours. Good luck, tarnished.