Two years after FromSoftware’s masterpiece Elden Ring came out, we finally got a DLC: Shadow of the Erdtree. Many old fans and even new players started playing the game all over again in preparation for the DLC. After all, Shadow of the Erdtree would be a walk in the park if you level up your character and get everything in the main game, right?
Well, it turns out that it’s not like that at all. No matter if your character is level 10 or level 100 or if you are on NG+, the DLC scales to your character’s level. The only way to get more powerful is to collect Scadutree Fragments spread across the map. The majority hated the concept of having a collectible as the source of their power, but I am here to tell you why this should be the system going forward.
Scadutree Fragments are More than just a Collectible Item
The new leveling system in Shadow of the Erdtree is called Scadutree Blessing, and you gain a blessing by collecting a certain amount of Scadutree Fragments. Initially, you only require one or two fragments per blessing level, but later, you will require three fragments to go up one level of blessing.
Let’s be honest, if you aren’t the completionist type, collectibles are just boring, and most players can’t seem to be bothered with it. I never cared for them either, but Scadutree Fragments are more than just a collectible item.
But unlike typical collectible items in games, Scadutree Fragments aren’t things that are hidden off the beaten path; they’re in the major areas, around the POIs, and you even get them by defeating some of the tougher, heavier enemies in the open world.
Beating bosses and opening up new areas in Shadow of the Erdtree also reward you with Scadutree Fragments by finding Miquella’s Crosses, which are usually found when a new area opens up apart from being spread apart in multiple different areas as well.
The gist is that the more you do, the more enemies you defeat, the more bosses you conquer, and the more land you uncover, you will get stronger by finding Scadutree Fragments as a reward for it. It makes total sense narratively that the more your character gets familiar with the new world they have found themselves in, the stronger they get.
Exploration is Encouraged More than Ever Before
Despite the DLC map size being smaller in its area than the main game map, the Shadow Lands are so dense and feature a lot of verticality with multiple levels to explore. Anyone who has played Shadow of the Erdtree will tell you that there are so many places to go to and explore that it gets overwhelming when trying to decide where you should go next.
And this is for a reason: the game wants you to explore. In the main game, it was technically possible to just hyper-focus the main line quest and not really explore that much as long as you were farming runes and leveling up your character to keep up with the increasing difficulty.
Now, since your character level doesn’t really have any influence on your actual power, you kind of have to explore around and see if you can find some new areas with new bosses and, you guessed it, find more Scadutree Fragments.
In the main game, if you get stuck at a boss and feel like you aren’t powerful enough, all you really have to do is just go around and farm a bunch of runes by killing some easier enemies that are around the boss fight area, level up your character and you are now more powerful, and the boss is now easier.
But with the Scadutree Blessing system, you can’t cheese it like that; you have to go around and actually do other things and maybe try defeating a different boss in a different zone, explore more POIs, find more Miquellas Crosses, all in an effort to get more Scadutree Fragments. You can’t just Elden Skip your way through the game.
Character Builds Get a Whole New Meaning
Now you must be wondering, what about the builds you must make based on your character levels by using runes? Well, runes still hold as much value as they did because you still need to increase your stats and create a build. The reality is that creating a proper build is more important now with this system.
This is because you are still going to need a proper build for your weapons and equipment to be effective. Sure, you need Scadutree Blessing levels to increase your power and damage negation overall, but the Dex scaling sword you use isn’t perform well if your Dex stat is the lowest.
Previously, builds were more focused on what could be the most powerful and most broken. Now, it’s more about making sure the weapons and items you’re using are performing at the level they are supposed to by having the stats required.
You can’t just break a build by tanking all your stats in strength and bonking enemies in the head with it. Doing that will only make sure the weapon is efficient in its use and is doing the damage it’s supposed to. The power increase can only come from your Scadutree Blessing level.
With so much to see and explore and so many new bosses to defeat, exploration is so much more fun knowing that you are going to get rewarded with a power increase for it. Before, if you saw a considerably powerful enemy that could be potentially skipped, it’s getting skipped. Now, you always wonder, “What if I get a Scadutree Fragment off of them?” and end up fighting them instead.
The Scadutree Levelling system in Shadow of the Erdtree fixes a lot of the missing gameplay loop that the rune leveling system could never have. Does it force you to do a lot of things? Yes, but it forces you to actually PLAY the game, and that’s why this is the better leveling system for Elden Ring.
