Wondering how long Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree is? As the first Elden Ring DLC instalment, there has been much hype and speculation over how long Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree will actually be.
Due to the open-world parameters and a lengthy list of bosses, the base game can take players anywhere from 60-80 hours (even more for extra thorough players who go on to new game plus). If you want to make sure you’ll be getting enough bang for your buck with the Erdtree release, stay tuned and we’ll go through how long we expect it to be.
How long is Shadow Of The Erdtree?
As Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree has yet to be released (the official release date will be June 21), we have to speculate somewhat on the exact length of the DLC and how long it will take the average player to complete.
Our resident reviews expert Ed, was lucky enough to spend a few hours in the opening area of the DLC in a preview event and barely scratched the surface of the various quests, dungeons and bosses on offer. We can safely speculate that the DLC will take most players between 40-50 hours to complete. This is despite previous comparisons of the DLC being of a similar breadth as Limgrave.
During an IGN interview, Elden Ring Director Hidetaka Miyazaki stated that the new DLC map area will be “comparable, if not larger, than the area of Limgrave from the base game”. What’s more, this new area called ‘The Land of Shadow’ will feature “open field maps, with large scale legacy dungeons, and with small to medium scale legacies as well”. Ultimately, this means more field bosses, weapons, equipment, magic and the same level of open-world exploration coined with the original base game.
Limgrave can take players on average anywhere between 15-20 hours depending on how thorough they are. It is one of the major regions in Elden Ring, the first that the Tarnished will visit and contains 15 dungeons and 28 bosses.
Minor spoilers ahead for the names of the first areas in the Shadow Of The Erdtree.
Judging by what we’ve seen both second and first-hand, however, this seems to undersell the DLC a tad. During his playtest, Ed explored the opening area of The Land of Shadow. A grim place called the Graveyard Plains which trailed off to various pathways, dungeons, a tower settlement, three mini-bosses and a trip to the first major area, Castle Ensis, where Messmer’s men laid in wait. This was just in the first few hours.
Again, our predictions are down to speculation until the DLC releases and we receive more information. What we do know for sure, is that the initial DLC install size will be a substantial 16.502 GB, over 1/3 of the initial base game size of 45 GB.
Judging by the dedication of the Elden Ring community and their thirst for lore, it may even take some players upwards of 100 hours to unveil everything the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC has to offer.
What is the Land of Shadow?
The new Elden Ring map area to come with the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC is called ‘The Land of Shadow’. Through promotional material, we know that the DLC will heavily revolve around the Empyrean Miquella, who has retreated in spirit form to this land (most likely due to his unsavoury curse of eternal youth in the Lands Between). The Tarnished must follow his and Marika’s footsteps before him in a land that is within the same realm of The Lands Between but has been disconnected, on a separate map.
The Land of Shadow is said to be ‘where the Goddess Marika first set foot’ after she was brought to the Lands Between by the Greater Will and set about creating her Golden Order. This land promises to be full of new enemies, challenges and no doubt, more convoluted lore to get consumed with. According to Ed’s sneak peek of the DLC, Marika’s footsteps are actually an in-game progression system in the DLC named ‘Crosses’. These Crosses are golden shafts of light that are said to guide the Tarnished. You must find them all in an early sidequest.
You may recall seeing Miquella in his cocoon form, kidnapped by Mohg, Lord of Blood in Mohgwyn Palace. Here is where players will be able to access this new region, where they will be teleported for the DLC storyline. For more context around their relationship, and more about Miquella and the other Empyreans in Elden Ring, see our full rundown of Elden Ring lore and everything we know so far.
That’s all we know so far about how long the Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree is. For more Elden Ring tips and tricks and to prepare for the upcoming DLC, check out our best weapons, best armor, Talismans, builds or boss locations guides.
