Highlights

  • The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC brings fast-paced weapons like Beast Claws & Throwing Daggers, adding speed to Elden Ring's gameplay experience.
  • FromSoftware's focus on quick weapons enhances player satisfaction, encouraging swift combos over slow, heavy attacks for maximum fun.
  • With a plethora of new weapons in Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree DLC elevates the game's speed-focused gameplay to new heights.

Taking control of the Tarnished in Elden Ring gives players one of the best experiences ever crafted by developer FromSoftware, due in large part to the expansive toolkit that is available for the character to wield. This can get as into the weeds as mixing and matching Elden Ring's talismans and Wondrous Physick tears to best suit any particular build, but it really comes down to the weapons and their powerful Ashes of War.

With the launch of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, FromSoftware has not only introduced a handful of bosses to Elden Ring, but also added a total of eight new weapons to the game world. However, even across so many different weapon types, one specific concept seems to have been solidified in the framework of Elden Ring that pushes it beyond the rest of the Soulsborne series.

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Elden Ring: Shadow of The Erdtree - Blackgaol Knight Full Boss Fight

The Blackgaol Knight is a boss found in the Western Nameless Mausoleum in the Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. Once defeated, the Blackgaol Knight drops the Greatsword of Solitude as well as all four pieces of the Blackgaol Knight armor set.

Aggression is the Name of the Game for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Shadow of the Erdtree's Aggressive Speed

Among the eight new weapon classes brought into Elden Ring, exactly half of them are entirely fast-paced weapons, built around executing speedy combos to build up massive amounts of damage. These include Shadow of the Erdtree's new Beast Claws, Backhand Blades, Hand-to-Hand Arms, and Throwing Daggers. Each of these are weapons that attack with a certain amount of speed, taking some already established weapon styles like curved swords and claws and giving them faster movesets with a better ability to break the distance towards enemies.

These quicker weapons aren't the only ones to have arrived in Shadow of the Erdtree, however, as there are also now Great Katanas and Light Greatswords mixing up the Katana and Greatsword archetypes. While the Great Katana is an overall slower weapon than their ordinary counterparts, these are more on par with being a faster version of the otherwise clunky Curved Greatswords.

Likewise, the Light Greatswords are a middle ground between Straight Swords and Greatswords, offering moderate speed and damage when compared to base game counterparts. Then combining these new Light Greatswords with Elden Ring's new Ashes of War like Wing Stance, and most of these new weapon types can easily be defined by their speed, rather than the slow, deliberate damage of the Colossal Weapons that have become so popular.

The Souls Formula is Best Played at High Speed

FromSoftware's decision to focus on these fast-paced weapons isn't exactly a mistake, nor is it a decision made without the player base in mind. While much of Elden Ring can be steamrolled with a powerful Colossal Weapon using charged heavy attacks to lock even the toughest bosses in an endless string of staggers, that isn't always the most fun way to play. From acrobatic Ashes of War to quick-swiping claws, some of the most satisfying gameplay doesn't come from lining up a single, massive hit on a boss, but from slashing away to build up status effects before dodging deftly away from danger. This is part of what has kept older Soulsborne titles like Bloodborne popular among fans, as it leans the hardest into some of the fastest weapons in the FromSoftware catalog.

So, with so many new weapons pushing the speed angle of Elden Ring's gameplay, Shadow of the Erdtree could be elevating another staple in FromSoftware's stellar history of game design. Of course, these faster weapons in the player's hands are also being tested against some of the strongest enemies that the game has to offer, which could make getting used to them an uphill battle. In that case, this is simply another reason to give a New Game Plus playthrough a try, to see how these new weapons fair against the rest of the base experience.