Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki said Shadow of the Erdtree would be hard, and he wasn't kidding: "I'm getting stomped"

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"Everything hits like a bus"

An Elden Ring character enters a large chamber
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

Elden Ring veterans are getting absolutely "stomped" mere minutes into Shadow of the Erdtree, going to show that FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki was right when he warned us about the DLC's difficulty.

"We've kind of really pushed the envelope in terms of what we think can be withstood by the player," Miyazaki said in an interview earlier this month regarding Elden Ring's new DLC, which is a downright terrifying phrase. If FromSoftware's president and Elden Ring's director is saying Shadow of the Erdtree is tough, you'd best believe it's brutal.

Now players are finding out just how tough the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC really is. You can see a smattering of Reddit posts attesting to the DLC's difficulty just below, with commenters adding in things like "I thought the first enemy I encountered in the DLC was a mini boss because of how much damage it did," and "everything hits like a bus," which is putting it lightly.

Me right now from r/Eldenring
Shit is Tough out here from r/Eldenring

Without spoiling too much about the DLC, it utilizes a different set of leveling methods to scale the player against enemies in Shadow of the Erdtree. Despite this, players are writing that even after they've 'leveled up' using this system several times, they're still seriously struggling against enemies throughout the early hours of Shadow of the Erdtree. 

Then there's the Blackgaol Knight. We previously covered how Elden Ring veterans are getting slaughtered by this optional boss, but the scale of just how much pain and suffering the Blackgaol Knight is dishing out is staggering - "Yeah after about 15 attempts I dipped and went to get some of the fragments," one commenter writes, referencing the new method of leveling up your Tarnished in the DLC.

Every Tarnished right now from r/Eldenring
Blackgaol Knight when you first walk into his crib from r/Eldenring

"Bro absolutely melted me with his crossbow on my second attempt. I laughed so hard because I just made a beeline towards him once I entered the fog just to immediately get shotgunned lol," adds another player. Yeah, that's not going to end well: Blackgaol Knight has a rapid-fire crossbow, which somehow doles out an endless stream of bolts.

Still, this is a FromSoftware product, so it was always going to be tough. Miyazaki said elsewhere that games like Elden Ring have to be hard, adding that "if we really wanted the whole world to play the game, we could just crank the difficulty down." 

Check out our in-depth Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Scadutree Fragments guide if you want to buff yourself in the Lands of Shadow.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.