Elden Ring is about to be blown wide open with its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, not unlike how Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 expanded profoundly with The Old Hunters, Ashes of Ariandel, and The Ringed City. It’s anyone’s estimate how large Shadow of the Erdtree may be in Elden Ring, but knowing that it’s an expansion to an open-world game and easily FromSoftware’s biggest Soulslike experience thus far, it’s likely going to be competent in scale and size as an accompaniment.

FromSoftware has never been shy about taking inspiration from its previous games to bolster its next endeavors—Dark Souls 3 is unmistakable evidence of that, layering Bloodborne’s horrific atmosphere and ruthless enemy designs into the Dark Souls franchise. FromSoftware’s Moonlight Greatsword and all its distinct iterations are another example that ensures anything and anyone is on the table for a reprisal. Now, if FromSoftware wanted to throw players a massive and divisive curveball with Shadow of the Erdtree, a Lordvessel-esque item would be the ticket.

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Dark Souls’ Lordvessel Makes Its First Half a Game of Smart Routing Choices

Soulslike fans have been absolutely spoiled since Dark Souls 2 and onward as the series—as well as all FromSoftware Soulslikes—would no longer make players earn a key item allowing them to warp between bonfires. Rather, players would be able to instantly warp to and from any bonfire, lamp, and sculptor’s idol they liked. But in Dark Souls, players trek the first half or so of the game back and forth in their pilgrimage without any way to fast travel until after they’ve felled Ornstein and Smough in Anor Londo.

The huge Lordvessel item players receive from Gwynevere then allows warping from any bonfire, though only specific landmark bonfires can be warped to.

Still, this comes as a surprise for anyone on a cold initial playthrough and is a huge relief when they need to then return to incredibly deep and uneasy-to-reach areas such as Dark Souls’ Demon Ruins or Tomb of the Giants. The second half is then terrific for any farming/grinding the player needs to accomplish, let alone access any location they’ve already traveled to and explored beforehand with the back half being more of a boss rush than anything.

Dark Souls 3’s back half is also more or less a boss rush if players know where to go, but being able to warp to any bonfire at any point in the game makes its pacing quicker and its duration shorter than Dark Souls as a result. Some players favor Dark Souls over other Souls entries for this reason, where a lack of warping as a quality-of-life feature improves the experience for them and makes the front half of the game feel more unique. But for others, warping from the beginning is too convenient and helpful to neglect, meaning every other Soulslike experience by FromSoftware may be preferable.

Shadow of the Erdtree’s Open-World Freedom Should Be Initially Stifled

Elden Ring’s site of grace warping is equally convenient, which is even more welcome due to it having an engrossing and extensive open world. Players obviously need to make their way to each site of grace in order to warp to and from them thereafter, but not having to trek all the way back from Leyndell to Limgrave on foot or astride Torrent is logical, let alone inevitable. As it stands, there’s no telling exactly what Shadow of the Erdtree’s scale will be aside from the Land of Shadow reportedly being the size of Limgrave.

If the Lordvessel was to return—likely under a new name since Elden Ring isn’t part of Dark Souls canon—it would be thrilling having to make one’s way throughout the DLC without being able to warp around like players normally would. This would only be effective if the Land of Shadow had vast enough corners to explore and ensured that players couldn’t walk or ride their way out with ease, though it could also help make a relatively smaller region seem much larger and substantial if players couldn’t warp until they found a Lordvessel-esque item.