With the release of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, players can finally delve into the Land of Shadows and seek out the mysteries of the Empyrean Miquella. Along the way, you'll encounter new enemies, new bosses, and a ton of new weapons.

One weapon type that was featured prominently in the trailers for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree was "Hand-To-Hand Arts", which are less a weapon and more of a fighting style. These allow the Tarnished to unleash flurries of punches and kicks to bring down their foes, making them an excellent option for staggering enemies and building up status effects. This guide will explain the NPC questline that unlocks the first Hand-To-Hand Art: Dryleaf Arts.

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Finding Dryleaf Dane

In order to learn the Dryleaf Arts, our Tarnished will need a teacher. Fortunately, Dryleaf Dane is among Miquella's Followers in the Land of Shadows. This taciturn martial arts master is waiting for a worthy opponent at the Moorth Ruins in Scadu Altus. Unfortunately, we can't get him to acknowledge us unless we use the right gesture, so first we'll need to head for the Highroad Cross Site of Grace to the northwest of him.

There are two ways to reach Scadu Altus and Dryleaf Dane. The most obvious method is to defeat Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, in Castle Ensis and head northeast out of the castle afterward. The second method is a little more involved, requiring you to take the path southeast from the castle entrance and find the Elder's Hovel. There's a Spiritspring near here that can be unsealed by breaking a pile of rocks nearby, which allows you to launch upward and reach the Fort of Reprimand. Fight through the Fort of Reprimand to gain access to the rest of Scadu Altus. This second method is a lot easier, despite the complexity, because you don't need to fight a boss to exit the Fort.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree_Monks Missive Location

At the Highroad Cross Site of Grace, have a little look around for an item on the ground. You'll find the "Monk's Missive" alongside a gesture called "May the Best Win." Once you have this gesture you can head back to Dryleaf Dane to challenge him. (The Missive is a clue to help you work out that he's waiting for you to use the gesture)

Dryleaf Dane Fight

ELDEN RING_ Shadow of the Erdtree - Dryleaf Dane Quest

Dryleaf Dane fights like a player character, utilizing the Dryleaf Arts to lash out at you in lightning fast combos. Dodging his Palm Blast attack (which requires charging) is the best way to leave him open to a counterattack. You could also try trading damage with him using a heavy weapon and knocking him off his feet. Generally speaking, he is left open for a short time after finishing a combo, so that's your ideal moment to strike. The other big weakness of his fighting style is a lack of reach, so if you use a longer weapon like a Spear or Halberd you can easily dodge and counter from a safe distance.

After Dryleaf Dane is defeated, he'll leave behind the Dryleaf Arts near Miquella's Stake at the Moorth Ruins, along with a message for you: "Grow Not Complacent. Continue to Temper Your Strength." With these words of sage wisdom, we can now use the Dryleaf Arts.

Dryleaf Arts - Weapon Overview

The Dryleaf Arts are a flexible fighting style capable of quick strikes and powerful kicks, but lacking in reach due to consisting of hand-to-hand attacks. Light attacks will throw out punches that can be linked together into long combo chains, ideal for building up status effects, triggering the Winged Sword Insignia and Godskin Swaddling Cloth, and overwhelming weaker foes. Heavy Attacks will instead throw out kicks, dealing more damage and inflicting more stance damage. Picking the right moment to unleash these kicks is essential to getting the most out of them, since they can easily be punished by faster foes if you attack at the wrong time.

The Dryleaf Arts come with the weapon skill "Palm Strike", which is incredibly powerful and risky. This is a palm strike that unleashes a burst of energy directly ahead of you, which can knock most enemies off their feet and deal an incredible amount of damage when fully charged. It takes a while to charge though, which can leave you open to attacks. Of course, the huge amount of poise you have while charging it means the only thing at risk is your health bar, so it can be used to trade blows against tougher foes if you time it well. This Ash of War comes equipped to the Dryleaf Arts by default but can be freely removed and switched out with other Ashes as desired. It can also be put on other weapons if you wish, providing its incredible charged strikes on demand.

Weapon Scaling

The Dryleaf Arts are an incredibly versatile weapon that will perform well with a ton of different affinities. Quality is the obvious choice based on their initial scaling, but they also have excellent scaling with pretty much any infusion. For example, a Faith Build could very comfortably use Sacred or Flame Art Infused Dryleaf Arts to great effect, while an Intelligence Build could easily make use of Magic or Cold Infusions. Arcane can get in on the fun too with excellent Poison and Bleed Affinity scaling, along with the ever-popular Occult infusion.