The much-awaited day has arrived with the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion officially live in the Elden Ring. There's a lot of new content to enjoy and players start a new adventure that's full of new secrets.
In this new expansion, players get to enter the Realm of Shadows and embark on a journey where they follow in the footsteps of Miquella. They get to discover new spells and new abilities, among others, while also facing dangerous bosses. However, as they say, every great adventure starts with small steps and in this case knowing how to get to the Shadow Realm.
Now the way to enter the Shadow Realm is pretty straightforward though it won't be easy. That's because you'll need to beat two rather significant bosses.
Taking Down Radahn
The first boss you need to defeat is Starscourge Radahn. He was once considered as one of the mightiest living demigods after he fought Malenia the Severed to a standstill during the war of the Shattering. However, the resulting affliction caused by the Scarlet Rot has caused him to be driven to insanity while the same time crippling him and even reducing him to a state of feral rage
In terms of the game's main storyline, he's actually an optional boss. Meaning even if you don't defeat Radahn, the story moves forward. You doo need to beat him though is you want to enter the Shadown Realm.
To beat him, you'll need to travel to Redmane Castle in Caelid. However, this needs to be done while the Radahn Festival is active. To activate the festival, you'll have to complete of the questlines from Ranni the Witch and Blaidd the Half-Wolf. You should reach a point where you'll be told by the Sorceress Sellen that Radahn needs to be defeated to enter Nokron.
There's also another way to activate the festival and that is once you've started Ranni's questline, look for Witch Hunter Jerren and Blacksmith Iji and talk with them.
There's also the option to head to the Altus Plateau and simply rest at any Site of Grace in the area. After that go to Redmane Castle and the festival should be active.
Defeat the Lord of Blood
Once you're done with Starscourge Radahn, you now have to defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood. This Omen demigod specializes in blood magic and can use Omen blood to wield bloodflame magic after encountering the Formless Mother. Much like Radahn, Mohg is also an optional boss though you'll need to pass through him if you are to enjoy the new expansion.
What you need to do is go to Mohgwyn Palace. This can be done in two ways. The first is through the Sending Gate in the Consecrated Snowfield. Second is following the questline of White Mask Varré until you reach the point of getting the Pureblood Knight's Medal. Once you have that, use it to travel directly to the palace.
Once you reach the palace, you'll then need to find Mohg and, of course, defeat him.
Once Mohg has been defeated, you should be able to interact with the arm hanging out of the cocoon and then be transported to the Shadow Realm. By the way, once you've managed to rest at any of the Site of Grace in the Realm of Shadow, you should be able to fast travel between the Lands Between and the Realm of Shadow using the map.
What do you think? Excited to enter the Shadow Realm? Learn more about the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion here. There are different editions available and you can read more about it here.
