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Gravesite Plain (West) Essential Path Walkthrough
The Gravesite Plain is the first main region you’ll enter in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. This page contains an essential path walkthrough and guide to the western half of Gravesite Plain, including important character questlines, powerful blessings, items, and weapons - and the path to the first Legacy Dungeon: Belurat, Tower Settlement.
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How to Access the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC
To begin the Shadow of the Eldtree DLC, you will first need a save file that has beaten both Starscourge Radahn and Mohg, Lord of Blood. It is also recommended that you have a character somewhere in the 100-150 Rune Level range, and have one or more highly upgraded Weapons and Spirit Summons (+25 regular weapon/spirit ash or +10 special weapon/spirit ash).
Once you are ready, head to the Cocoon of the Empyrean Site of Grace in the Mohgwyn Palace region of the underground. Here you will find a new character, Leda, who is a follower of the demigod Miquella. The child of Marika appears to have renounced their body and entered a Realm of Shadow, and his charmed adherents are intent on following him. Leda will instruct you to touch Miquella’s arm to be taken to this new realm.
As you appear in a new area, you will find yourself in a cave with a small church just above you and out of reach. Proceed straight ahead to exit and reach the first region of the DLC, Gravesite Plain. Be sure to activate the Site of Grace in front of the cave entrance.
Gravesite Plain (West) Walkthrough
The Realm of Shadow is a vast place, and though not quite as big as The Lands Between, you’ll find it has several regions that grow the size of your map the more you explore. These regions are also quite dense, and can lead to certain critical Legacy Dungeons, or smaller but no less dangerous “minor” Legacy Dungeons that each have a powerful boss inside. Our essential path guide will lead you to each of these while finding important items and meeting special characters along the way.
The first Legacy Dungeon, Belurat, is actually located very close to the start of your new adventure to the north, which you can make a beeline for if you want, but there’s a few quick detours worth making.
Start by heading northeast through the plains from the site of grace towards the Map Stele which you can see marked on your blank map. Be wary, as a powerful chakram-wielding enemy waits atop one of the archways leading to the map fragment. The Curseblade Ascetic is incredibly aggressive and powerful, able to unleash lasting combo attacks, and even perform a leaping grab attack on your head.
On the other side, you’ll find a small road where the map stele and fragment is. This is near the Scorched Ruins, which you can explore to find a Hefty Cracked Pot (a new powerful thrown item material), the Greater Potentate’s Cookbook 1 (allows you to craft Hefty Fire Pot), and the Blade of Mercy Talisman (increases damage after critical hit).
Before continuing north, it’s worth following the road as it curves south for a moment. This will take you down a slope past a few despondent Messmer Soldiers you can fight, leading to a church at the base of a large waterfall. The Church of Consolation is guarded by a Black Knight of Messmer, who wields a wicked great hammer that they can imbue with holy damage when they slam down. Defeating this particular knight will earn you the Black Steel Greathammer (or possibly his shield), but the real prize is located below the statue of Marika: Two Scadutree Fragments.
With the Realm of Shadow being much tougher than what you’ve faced in The Lands Between regardless of your current level, a new Shadow Realm Blessing system will let you become stronger in this realm - separate from having to spend Runes to level up. When resting at a Site of Grace, you can spend these blessings (similar to how you’d spend Golden Seeds or Sacred Tears) for a net increase in your overall attack power and defense from threats specifically in this new realm. Consider stockpiling as many of these as you can find, and use them to gain an edge when you come upon a boss or threat that seems to overpower you otherwise.
Leveling Up vs. Shadow Realm Blessings
While you can still keep acquiring Runes to increase your level in Shadow of the Erdtree, it's fair to say that increasing your stats won't have as much effectiveness in the long run as increasing your Shadow Realm Blessing. You should still aim to spend runes - especially to hit a decent amount of Vigor, or reach a certain weapon requirement, or even improve your scaling. But more often than not, if you start to encounter enemies or a boss that give you trouble, the key to victory may lie through increasing your Shadow Realm Blessing instead of getting a few more Rune Levels, as the first few blessing ranks increases your attack and damage negation by anywhere from 5-10%!
Before leaving the church and heading back up, look for a cave to the left of the falls behind the church, and you can find three Soldiers of Messmer guarding a special consumable - a Blessing of Marika. It’s a rare full restore, so use it wisely!
Note - as you head back up the path through a small wooded area, you can sometimes spot a strange man walking through the trees. Logur, the Beast Claw is a fairly tough fight unless you start using some Scadutree Fragments to strengthen yourself, as he’ll use those claws to rapidly tear you to pieces. If you manage to defeat him however, you can earn the brand new Beast Claw weapon type for yourself!
Return to the Scorched Ruins and be sure to activate the site of grace north of the buildings, and look for a small path leading east to a cemetery. Among the Shadow Undead here, you can spy one holding a pot over its head that glimmers. Chase him down like you would a scarab (or he’ll run away and vanish) and defeat him to get another Scadutree Fragment!
Keep traveling southeast near a large hanging tree until you reach a cliff edge high above the Church of Consolation. There’s a large headless corpse altar here, and interacting with it will provide you with Revered Spirit Ashes. What the Scadutree Blessing does to your own power, Revered Spirit Ashes can be used in a similar way to bolster both your Spirit Ash summons, as well as Torrent’s health too!
If you’re looking for another challenge, you can also ride west of the Scorched Ruins, where you’ll find several Gravebirds guarding the Western Nameless Mausoleum. Inside, you’ll have to face off against a very strong Blackgaol Knight boss.
He wields a fast repeating crossbow and a very powerful greatsword that can kill you extremely quickly when he wields it in both hands, so you may want to return once you’ve found more Scadutree Fragments. Defeat him, and you’ll get his full Solitude Set and his Greatsword of Solitude.
By now you’ve probably noticed the large fiery giant in the distance. These Furnace Golems can spot you from a large distance, and can shower you with flames at range or up close, and are heavily armored against your attacks. For now, it’s best to give these behemoths a wide berth, and stay out of their line of sight.
Circling around the golem to stay out of its line of sight, travel north to where three roads converge, and a large cross is sticking out of the ground with some NPCs gathered around, as well as another site of grace. Activate this, the Three Path Cross site of grace, then speak to the nearby NPCs who are fellow followers of Miquella - Freyja, a former warrior in Radahn's army, and a local Hornsent, who despises Marika and her ilk for what Messmer has done to his home.
They seek to follow the demigod on his path, which has been marked by these special crosses as sites where Miquella divested himself of his form. Lucky for you, this leaves behind a Scadutree Fragment, giving you a reason to seek these crosses as well. One of the NPCs, the Hornsent, gives you the Cross Map, which will lead you to more of these Miquella Crosses - one of which is very close by.
The path to Belurat is just through the large tunnel west, but if you’re looking to find a few more important items, there’s more to see in the other direction.
Travel east along the cliffs below the bridge (and out of sight of the large golem), and you can find a small mausoleum guarded by strange cultists that holds a Backhand Blade, a new type of reverse-grip weapon that can be dual-wielded.
Not far from this weapon, you can hug the cliffs to the east to find a small alcove holding a special Painting, “The Sacred Tower”, which will require you to find the site it was painted at.
The path north of the greatbridge also has some points of interest to consider - an Abandoned Ailing Village is full of strange flymen and an Ailment Talisman, and off to the right on a lower ledge you can find another big headless corpse holding a second Revered Spirit Ash.
This area also has an entrance to a mini dungeon, the Belurat Gaol, just above a large pond where a Ghostflame Dragon guards a new weapon type - the Great Katana (just be sure to retreat when the dragon awakens). If you’re feeling gutsy, you can try defeating this dragon to earn yourself a Dragon Heart and a Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone.
Just a bit to the north of the gaol entrance, you can spot five or so Gravebirds around some pillars and a small mausoleum with a body that holds the Gravebird Armor.
Return to the three road cross, and follow the road going west. This will take you up a hill to the base of Belurat, where you will find another Miquella Cross, another Scadutree Fragment, and two more NPCs: Ansbach, who once served Mohg, and a meek merchant named Moore. Moore has a Note that explains a new type of Sealed Spiritsprings, which need to be broken open before they work.
Be Nice to the Forager Brood!
Speaking to Moore, you'll learn that he likes to help Miquella's group by finding things along with the "Forager Brood", that Ansbach will also mention. You can actually find the forager brood while exploring, in the form of docile Kindred of Rot digging in the dirt. If you happen upon them, do not kill them -- or you may face consequences from Sir Moore...
How to Get to Prospect Town
From here, the first Legacy Dungeon awaits, but if you’re looking to get a few more new items and extra blessings before going in, there’s a secret path worth checking nearby. Look to the south of Belurat along the cliffs to find a path you can take along the cliffside.
This leads to the Cliffroad Terminus on a high plateau, and you can find a small pool of water along the eastern cliffs to get another Revered Spirit Ash.
The nearby Prospect Town is full of bleed-inducing Bloodfiends, and guard an Arcane-increasing Outer God Heirloom talisman at the top of the town.
Just like the Scorched Village, you can find a nearby path to the north leading to a cemetery with another Shadow Undead holding a pot, who will drop another Scadutree Fragment if killed quickly.
Be sure to look carefully to the east of the town, as you can spot a docile Kindred of Rot digging in the dirt. This is one of Moore’s forager brood that helps him find items, and interacting with it will earn you a Forager Brood Cookbook 2.
Finally, you can travel south through a forest of electrified sheep and hug the western cliffs to find a small tunnel guarded by a Curseblade Ascetic.
Sprint past this tough foe, and on the other side you’ll find the Church of Benediction located right above the cave you first entered the Realm of Shadow. Inside the church, you can find a Blessed Blue Dew Talisman to gradually restore FP! You can also look on the ledge looking down where you first arrived to find a knight’s body holding a full Oathseeker Knight Set, and a Pata fist weapon!
As you head back, be sure to search the plateau above the church for an Artist’s Shack holding another painting, “Incursion”. This piece was actually painted close by, below the giant land bridge leading to Belurat, seen southwest of the pond where the Ghostflame Dragon is, and will award you a Serpent Crest Shield for finding the painter.
Now you should be well equipped with new items and blessings to handle Shadow of the Erdtree’s first Legacy Dungeon. Once you’re ready, head up the stairs from where Ansbach and Moore are, and open the giant door into Belurat, Tower Settlement.