Shadow of the Erdtree was rushed and its quality suffered because of it.

[♛⁧Schultheiß]

After months of anticipation, FromSoftware’s long-awaited expansion Shadow of the Erdtree is finally in our hands, and while it introduces some interesting new mechanics and lore, it’s hard not to feel that the DLC was rushed. And because of this, it seems to fall short of the excellence players expect from FromSoft titles, especially given the pedigree of Elden Ring.

One of the most glaring issues is the late-game area Enir-Ilim, which feels punishing in the worst ways. Enir-Ilim isn't the fun, challenging difficulty that Elden Ring is known for. It’s stupidly difficult, designed not to test your skills in a rewarding way but to frustrate and annoy. The enemy scaling feels wildly disproportionate, as if it was meant to artificially stretch the gameplay rather than offer an engaging endgame challenge.

Take the boss fight with the Promised Consort as an example. Even after the patches, he remains a notorious roadblock. The Promised Consort is infuriating not because of the challenge itself, but because the fight design feels unfair—it's less about mastering skill and more about enduring an unnecessarily difficult slog. What’s worse? The reward for defeating him is completely underwhelming. After all that effort, players expect something that feels powerful or, at the very least, satisfying. Instead, the reward feels lackluster and doesn’t justify the amount of time and resources sunk into the battle.

Then there’s the problem with the Scooby Snacks (or Scadutree fragments)—a primary resource in the DLC. They’re tied to the encounter with Commander Gaius, and defeating him nets you a massive influx of these fragments. On paper, this sounds great. In practice, however, it throws off the entire progression system. Getting a huge amount of fragments all at once allows you to powerlevel far too quickly, making the rest of the DLC feel hollow. The thrill of slow, measured progression—the hallmark of FromSoftware’s design—is lost. In a way, it makes the rest of the content feel like an afterthought.

But the issues start much earlier than that. The DLC's starting areas suffer from terrible balancing. Despite needing to defeat a hidden endgame boss from the base game to even access the DLC, the early sections feel punishingly empty and unrewarding. It’s as though FromSoft forgot that by the time players reach this content, they’re already seasoned, likely having fought some of the toughest battles the base game offers. Rather than scaling the experience appropriately, the enemies and loot are underwhelming.

It’s disappointing to see these aspects of Shadow of the Erdtree fall so short, especially when we know what FromSoftware is capable of. When content feels rushed, and balance isn’t carefully considered, the result is frustration rather than fun. A lot of the DLC feels like padding, and not the kind of intricate world-building or smart enemy placement that FromSoft usually nails. The endgame areas like Enir-Ilim and bosses like the Promised Consort are prime examples of where this DLC fumbles.

So while Shadow of the Erdtree has its moments, it’s hard to shake the feeling that, with a bit more time in development, these glaring issues could’ve been avoided. What do you think? Were you frustrated by Enir-Ilim and the boss designs, or did you find enjoyment in the chaos?

[Zogtar]

The biggest disappointment was that they couldn't get the rights to Donkey Kong or Jim Davis.

[Key]

Read the first few lines and put the rest on GPTZero because it just felt like AI dribble.

Lo and behold, GPTZero is 87% confident that this has been entirely written by AI.

[vamirez]

Oh, thx, OP! If anyone wonders what type of essays I object to, here is a good example.

Look at this: "it’s hard not to feel that the DLC was rushed. And because of this, it seems to fall short of the excellence players expect from FromSoft titles".

It's hard not to feel. Uh huh. And it "seems to fall short" because of this. Riiight.

"Enir-Ilim isn't the fun, challenging difficulty that Elden Ring is known for. It’s stupidly difficult, designed not to test your skills in a rewarding way but to frustrate and annoy. The enemy scaling feels wildly disproportionate, as if it was meant to artificially stretch the gameplay rather than offer an engaging endgame challenge."

This is meaningless blather. Perhaps, if seen in the best possible light, a subjective experience, but clearly being sold as factual. How is it "stupidly difficult"? How do you know it's "designed not to test your skills in a rewarding way but to frustrate and annoy"? You don't. The reason for it not being the "the fun, challenging difficulty that Elden Ring is known for" is because it says it right here.

And it goes on exactly like this.

[Yard-Dog®]

Originally posted by Schultheiß:

Shadow of the Erdtree was rushed and it's quality suffered because of it.

It's "its."

[Azylis]

1) DLC is great. Sorry you didn't like it, you are entitled to your opinion.

2) Enir-Ilim is actually really cool. Yeah, it's difficult, but honestly, compared to Ringed City DLC of Dark Souls 3, for me personally, it comes in 2nd. Ringed City was much more difficult for me. But, I found that I think some things are easy, some bossfights are easy for me, that were insanely hard for my friend who introduced me to both Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3, and vice versa. And also, that it differs between characters and playstyles that I use.

3) Promised Consort is not unfair. It's a skill issue on your end. They fixed visibility of stuff quite decently, so you can see much better what he is up to, which helps the fight a lot. Did him pre nerf also, yeah, tough cookie, but never once I felt unfairly treated.

4) 5 is not an "insane amount" and you also don't need them. You can do fine without those ones, and even without even more. Snacklevel 8 is fine for Messmer, 15 or 16 is absolutely sufficient for Promised Consort, you can do with even less if you bring some patience even for a casual player (I certainly am). But, I refer to point 3 for "some fights are more difficult for people etc.".

5) Didn't you just complain how difficult everything was....? Or does "underwhelming" mean something different here? Mind you, I'm not a native speaker, so some meanings of words may be unfamiliar to me.

I personally thought the stacked map design was genius. I enjoyed it a lot to try and find where the pathways are to the map sections, it gave me quite a bit to do, and you also gather quite a few Scadusnacks on the way. The unveiling of Enir-Ilim put me in some awe, I really liked that part. The one thing I did not like was that the DLC didn't come with at least 50 additional save slots. I like to experiment with all the new toys, but I also get attached to my characters, so I'm a bit in a pickle now.

And yes, I also agree with Key, that it reads like AI generated (but at least it kinda made sense compared to some other AI generated BS that we get on this discussion forum).

[Fineous🔥]

Greetings, OP.

Originally posted by Schultheiß:

Snip

Im sorry that you actually have no Elden Ring at all.....OP. Did you actually had plans to upload a Banana or CS review but the AI went nuts and went full anti Elden RIng?

Goodbye, OP. Dont forget to buy Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree edition! You are going to love it, come back after you play it a few hours to share your hot takes!

[SoundsOfNight]

It tooks years to make...how tf was it rushed lmao

[♛⁧Schultheiß]

Originally posted by Azylis:

1) DLC is great. Sorry you didn't like it, you are entitled to your opinion.

2) Enir-Ilim is actually really cool. Yeah, it's difficult, but honestly, compared to Ringed City DLC of Dark Souls 3, for me personally, it comes in 2nd. Ringed City was much more difficult for me. But, I found that I think some things are easy, some bossfights are easy for me, that were insanely hard for my friend who introduced me to both Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3, and vice versa. And also, that it differs between characters and playstyles that I use.

3) Promised Consort is not unfair. It's a skill issue on your end. They fixed visibility of stuff quite decently, so you can see much better what he is up to, which helps the fight a lot. Did him pre nerf also, yeah, tough cookie, but never once I felt unfairly treated.

4) 5 is not an "insane amount" and you also don't need them. You can do fine without those ones, and even without even more. Snacklevel 8 is fine for Messmer, 15 or 16 is absolutely sufficient for Promised Consort, you can do with even less if you bring some patience even for a casual player (I certainly am). But, I refer to point 3 for "some fights are more difficult for people etc.".

5) Didn't you just complain how difficult everything was....? Or does "underwhelming" mean something different here? Mind you, I'm not a native speaker, so some meanings of words may be unfamiliar to me.

I personally thought the stacked map design was genius. I enjoyed it a lot to try and find where the pathways are to the map sections, it gave me quite a bit to do, and you also gather quite a few Scadusnacks on the way. The unveiling of Enir-Ilim put me in some awe, I really liked that part. The one thing I did not like was that the DLC didn't come with at least 50 additional save slots. I like to experiment with all the new toys, but I also get attached to my characters, so I'm a bit in a pickle now.

And yes, I also agree with Key, that it reads like AI generated (but at least it kinda made sense compared to some other AI generated BS that we get on this discussion forum).

Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for engaging in the discussion. I completely respect that the DLC worked for you, and you're right—everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. I didn’t mean to suggest that no one could enjoy it; I just wanted to voice my personal frustrations.

What I meant by "underwhelming" isn't necessarily the difficulty of the areas, but more about the starter zones feeling empty and padded with low-tier filler content. In particular, the low-tier Smithing Stones you get early on feel underwhelming considering how far into the game you have to be to even access the DLC. For me, the start just lacked that sense of excitement and purpose.

Regarding Enir-Ilim, I understand the comparison to the Ringed City DLC, and it’s fair to say that difficulty can feel subjective. For me, the frustration with Enir-Ilim comes from how it feels unfairly stacked, like the spell spam on the stairs, which made it feel more like artificial difficulty. The balance seemed off compared to the rest of the DLC, and not in a way that felt like a natural progression. But again, I recognize this is subjective—difficulty hits everyone differently.

About Commander Gaius, I fought him when I had a relatively low Scooby Snack blessing, and because of that, I was able to gain two full levels from that one boss fight. For me, this felt a bit like a missed opportunity for a more balanced progression curve. It didn’t make sense to have so much power come from defeating such an easy boss. I get that everyone can manage their levels differently, but it felt like a strange design choice to gatekeep that much power behind what felt like an earlier-game fight.

[Senki]

It did feel rushed and disappointed me in many areas but it's still a fun dlc overall.

Now I can't 100% confirm if some things were rushed or they just fell off really hard as far as quality goes but Promised consort radahn pre-patch was the most obvious sign of either of those things. Disgusting moveset design and balancing with huge performance issues as a cherry on top.

Some areas are beyond lame even though you would expect more of them (like abyssal forest) and the design of the shadow tree fragments is pretty badly done.

Now I'm still calling it fun because it has plenty of positives as well.

The catacombs were much better than in the base game, the new spells and equipment they added is really fun and despite the existence of certain abominations like Radahn there are also fun bosses like Messmer and Midra.

[Azylis]

Originally posted by Schultheiß:

Originally posted by Azylis:

snip

Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for engaging in the discussion. I completely respect that the DLC worked for you, and you're right—everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. I didn’t mean to suggest that no one could enjoy it; I just wanted to voice my personal frustrations.

What I meant by "underwhelming" isn't necessarily the difficulty of the areas, but more about the starter zones feeling empty and padded with low-tier filler content. In particular, the low-tier Smithing Stones you get early on feel underwhelming considering how far into the game you have to be to even access the DLC. For me, the start just lacked that sense of excitement and purpose.

Regarding Enir-Ilim, I understand the comparison to the Ringed City DLC, and it’s fair to say that difficulty can feel subjective. For me, the frustration with Enir-Ilim comes from how it feels unfairly stacked, like the spell spam on the stairs, which made it feel more like artificial difficulty. The balance seemed off compared to the rest of the DLC, and not in a way that felt like a natural progression. But again, I recognize this is subjective—difficulty hits everyone differently.

About Commander Gaius, I fought him when I had a relatively low Scooby Snack blessing, and because of that, I was able to gain two full levels from that one boss fight. For me, this felt a bit like a missed opportunity for a more balanced progression curve. It didn’t make sense to have so much power come from defeating such an easy boss. I get that everyone can manage their levels differently, but it felt like a strange design choice to gatekeep that much power behind what felt like an earlier-game fight.

Ah great, a genuine discussion! I like that!

Thanks for clearing up your understanding for "underwhelming", that helped to understand your point better. I can see why it would feel underwhelming to be rewarded with those lower tier smithing stones, considering that most players more than likely are already Elden Lord when they enter the DLC. It doesn't seem to make sense indeed especially because at that point, one probably got the according bellbearings to buy all the smithing stones one could ever wish for (except the ancient ones of course). I personally found it nice, because I could use them to upgrade all those new toys in the DLC to be able to immediately try them out without spending lots of souls on smithing stones first, but everyone is different, and everyone plays the game differently, after all that's Elden Ring's strong suit, right? Also, with my current character, a lady with halberds, I'm at Mogh's palace now to intentionally do the DLC before I continue to Farum Azula, so the timeline is more in line. Her weapon level is kinda low still, so she'll welcome all those level 4 and 5 and 6 smithing stones!

Yes, I understand your frustration with Enir-Ilim, absolutely. The difficulty ramps up quite a bit at that point, that is true, and yes, I also remember the running up the stairs under constant spell fire.... yep, that had me mumbling curse words to myself, too. Overall it was still easier than RC - or that first bit of the cathedral in DS3, where you have to run past some ranged dudes, those hanging goblins that drop ontop of you, and if that wasn't enough, shortly before the grace, there's those assassins also. I had to put the game to the side for a few days to calm down, and I'm definitely not loosing my cool easily, not over a game anyway.

Oh yeah, right, you can do Gaius at a rather low snack level, I forgot about that. Then yeah, it can feel a bit overpowerd to then just fill your belly to the brim with those scadu snacks for sure! When I read that part, it read like you had a tough time with him, which is why I answered that way. But yeah, you definitely wouldn't need those (some people do have a hard time with Gaius, my earlier mentioned friend sure did, whereas I thought he wasn't that hard), you'd still have a good snack level even without them. Since they changed a bit how they scale, you would be fine with around snack level 15 or 16 for Promised Consort. But yeah, we did agree on the subjective impression of difficulty, and Promised Consort definitely is one of those.

Sorry if that was a wall of text, I'm genuinely happy that I can have a discussion with someone on this forum on why they may not really feel the DLC like I did myself (which is entirely fine!) and who is willing to share their perspective without being condescending and deranged vocabulary! Thank you for this nice interaction!

(I should also add in all fairness, because I said "skill issue" considering Promised Consort: I needed almost 2 weeks to beat him the first time..... and still a week to beat him the second playthrough. So, I should really not be touting "skill issue". I'm sorry for that. The rest of that point stands though, even though it took me forever, to me it did not feel unfair once I somewhat figured out his moveset.)

[Naamtar]

I'm not sure that "padding" feeling with regards to the content is realistically avoidable in an open world game. You can't measure a person's progress the same way you can in a linear experience while also granting them the "you choose where you go" experience, and adding dynamic scaling to these kinds of games just defeats the feeling of adventure.

The DLC has the worst hit boxes of any FromSoft game. I'm not sure what happened there. That was really the only super disappointing aspect of the DLC for me, though. Feeling like something is off after repeated attempts, going to analyze it frame by frame, and realizing the hit boxes aren't lining up at all. It makes me inclined to agree with you that it needed a little more time before being released, to smooth over those rough edges.

[zero]

so any sources that the dlc was rushed or was it "rushed" because you dislike it?

[Modus]

Surprised to see Enir-Ilim catching strays here... I found it be one of the better areas the DLC has to offer.

[Modus]

Originally posted by vamirez:

snip

I do agree. It's also... bloated as hell. Could have removed two thirds of the text and still gotten the point across just as well. An irritating read, even without focusing on the validity of what was said :/

[nfinite.recursion]

Doesn't own the game: Fair enough, I suppose. I mean, maybe OP is a family share leech?

0 hours played: Nope. Not even a leech. Time to take this thread behind the barn for the Old Yeller treatment.