Elden Ring’s upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC unearths confessions about things players didn’t know about the main game 

As the release date for Elden Ring’s Shadows of the Erdtree DLC draws closer, people have been voicing their hype for FromSoftware’s newest piece of content. In addition to the plethora of fanart, gameplay clips, and memes of Elden Ring, a new hashtag titled “Elden Ring’s DLC is just a month away but I only just learned this about the main game” has been gaining popularity on social media site X. Posts with the hashtag include both well-known and obscure mechanics in the game – leading to both humorous and surprising discoveries. 

One such revelation comes from Washington Post video game reporter and critic Gene Park who, after playing Elden Ring 7 times, only realized that the Radahn Festival needs to be triggered by the player’s actions. The Radahn Festival is an integral event in Elden Ring’s overarching story, so the game makes it easily accessible to players who explore The Lands Between. The event can be triggered in one of three ways: by activating any Site of Grace in the Atlus Plateau, informing the NPC Blaidd about Radahn at the Siofra River, or talking to the giant Iji about Jerren at the Kingsrealm Ruins. While the last two methods require following the NPC Ranni’s questline, almost everyone will make it to the Atlus Plateau at some point in their journey. Gene Park’s lack of knowledge regarding the Radahn Festival means that he must have made a beeline for Redmane Castle (where the event is held) in one of his succeeding playthroughs and come face to face with an enemy-filled castle, as well as the Lion Misbegotten Warrior and Crucible Knight boss fight. 

Other discoveries by fans include getting enemies to fire ballista projectiles at their allies, picking up rare weapons in co-op sessions that were thought to be host-specific, and finding unique details about the red Albinaurics located in Mohgwyn Palace. Elden Ring has a ton of features, references, and secrets – not all of which have been found yet, according to game director Hidetaka Miyazaki. Shadow of the Erdtree will add a slew of new content to Elden Ring, so now is as good a time as any to get back into the game before the DLC comes out. 

The Elden Ring DLC “Shadow of the Erdtree” is scheduled for release on June 21 for the PC (Steam), PS4/PS5 and Xbox series X|S/Xbox One.