If you are wondering what the Recommended area order is for Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, we’re here to help. After all, the Shadow Realm is a vast place, with several optional areas that have no connection to the main story. This can make navigating Shadow of the Erdtree a bit tricky if all you want to do is follow the critical path and reach the final boss, so we’ve kept our zone order reasonably fluid, covering the large areas related to Shadow of the Erdtree’s main story, followed by our recommended progression route through all of its optional areas as well.
You can of course tackle the optional areas in any order you like, and if you want to complete all of Shadow of the Erdtree’s side quests, you’ll definitely want to visit them all before taking on the final boss, as the final story area is where many of them reach their conclusion. Therefore, treat this Shadow of the Erdtree area order guide with a degree of flexibility, as the joy of FromSoftware’s RPGs often lies in the thrill of exploration.
However, if you need a hint on where to go next, read our Recommended zone order and progression route for Shadow of the Erdtree.
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Recommended Zone Order for Shadow of the Erdtree
Below, we’ve annotated the Shadow of the Erdtree map to help you navigate the recommended order of zones for the Elden Ring DLC. Each zone is color-coded and numbered to indicate the order in which you should tackle them, with black numbers indicating the main story progression route and white numbers indicating where the optional Shadow of the Erdtree zones are located.
As mentioned above, you’ll likely want to visit most, if not all, of Shadow of the Erdtree’s optional areas before taking on the area’s final boss (7), Enir-Ilim, so take your time exploring the map as you see fit.
You can see on the map that Shadow of the Erdtree’s The main story takes place mainly in the northwest corner of the mapand if you were to draw an arrow from start to finish, it would probably look like a sort of inverted C as you progress from Gravesite Plain through its first two dungeons, Belurat Tower Settlement and Castle Ensis, into Scadu Altus, to the eastern side of Shadow Keep, and then back through the ancient ruins of Rauh until you finally reach the DLC’s final dungeon, Enir-Ilim.
But Gravesite Plain also has several other exits that lead to optional areas of Shadow of the Erdtree. You could easily travel to the Cerulean Coast from there, for example, and then return to Scadu Altus, or start exploring Jagged Peak and Charo’s Hidden Tomb by exiting the other end of the Gravesite Plain’s optional Dragon Pit dungeon.
There are also several optional areas leading to different sides of the Shadow Keep, both from the Shadow Keep’s back gate to access the Scaduview Hinterlands and the Dheo’s Fingers Ruins, and through its secret coffin to descend to the River of Recluses and the Abyssal Woods.
What is the best zone order for Shadow of the Erdtree side quests?
If your main priority is to complete as many of Shadow of the Erdtree’s side quests as possible before reaching the final boss, then you will want to progress through the main story as slowly as possiblebecause there are several important moments where events will progress on their own if you move too quickly through the story:
- Approaching the Shadow Dungeon (or upon entering Rauh’s Base for the first time): You’ll know you’ve reached the first major plot progression point because you’ll hear a bell ringing in the distance and the message “Somewhere, a great rune has broken…” will appear on your screen. This marks the point at which the spell binding all the side quest NPCs is lifted, and from that point on, their individual plots will begin to progress as they all gradually begin to turn against each other.
- Complete the Shadow Dungeon: With several side quests taking place within the Shadow Keep itself, completing this dungeon and defeating its boss Messmer the Impaler is the second major point in Shadow of the Erdtree where you can unintentionally advance the plot if you’re not careful. As such, you’ll want to slow down here if side quests are important to you.
To make sure you don’t accidentally miss anything, we’ve categorized each area based on the NPCs you’ll find there during their side quests, giving you an idea of how they intersect and where you might want to explore first if you want to follow a particular storyline:
| Area name | Associated NPC side quests |
|---|---|
| Cemetery Plain | Freyja (1st encounter, Cross of Three Paths) Hornsent (1st meeting, Three Ways Cross) Ansbach (1st meeting, Main Gate Cross) Moore (1st meeting, Main Gate Cross) Thiollier (1st meeting, Cross of the Chemin du Pilier) Igon (1st encounter, Pillar Path waypoint) Fire Knight Queelign (1st encounter, Belurat Tower Colony) |
| Scadu Altus | Knight of the Needle Leda (1st encounter, Highroad Cross) Hornsent (2nd meeting, Highroad Cross) Dry Leaf Dane (1st encounter, Moorth Ruins Cross) Fire Knight Queelign (2nd encounter, Crusade Church) Count Ymir/Jolan, the Sword Hand of the Night (1st encounter, and 4th and final encounter, Manus Metyr Cathedral) |
| Cerulean Coast | Thiollier (2nd encounter, Stone Coffin Crack) Count Ymir/Jolan, the Sword Hand of the Night (2nd encounter, Rhia’s Finger Ruins) |
| Jagged peak | Igon (2nd encounter, Foot of the Jagged Peak) Igon (3rd encounter, Jagged Peak summit) Igon (4th and final encounter, Foot of the Jagged Peak) Priestess of the Dragon Communion (1st and final encounter, Great Altar of the Dragon Communion) |
| Scaduview Hinterland | Count Ymir/Jolan, the Sword Hand of the Night (3rd encounter, Dheo’s Finger Ruins) |
| The Shadow Dungeon | Freyja (2nd encounter, warehouse, seventh floor) Ansbach (second meeting, Store 1st floor) Hornsent (3rd meeting, Messmer’s Dark Room) Knight of Fire Queelign (3rd and final meeting, prayer room) |
| Ancient Ruins of Rauh | Hornsent (4th and final encounter, Ancient Ruins of West Rauh) |
| Enir-Ilim | Leda, Knight of the Needle (3rd and final encounter) Freyja (3rd and final encounter) Ansbach (3rd and final meeting) Thiollier (3rd and last meeting) Moore (2nd and final meeting) Dryleaf Dane (2nd and final encounter) |
For even more information on each NPC quest, you can also read our dedicated character-specific walkthrough guides:
Future…
- Knight Leda Quest Walkthrough
- Freyja’s Quest Walkthrough
- Ansbach Quest Walkthrough
- Moore’s Quest Walkthrough
- Hornsent Quest Walkthrough
- Count Ymir Quest Walkthrough
- Jolan Swordhand of the Night Quest Walkthrough
In short, if you find yourself rushing towards Shadow Keep and are worried about missing side quest steps, this would be a good time to start exploring the optional areas of Shadow of the Erdtreein particular the Cerulean Coast for Thiollier, Count Ymir and Jolan Swordhand of the Night, and the Jagged peak for Igon and the Priestess of the Dragon Communion.
The Recluse River area and the Abyssal Woods do not have any NPC side quests associated with them. – the only reason to visit them is to find its map fragment and beat one of the 10 Remembrance bosses there, Midra, Lord of the Flame Frenzie.
That’s all you need to know about the order of the zones in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. Remember to consider these suggestions as a rough guide on how to progress through your journey through the Shadow Realm. There’s a lot to explore and discover in the Elden Ring DLC, and plenty of mysterious places to find, visit, and loot for treasure, so we hope you enjoy finding them all, at a pace that suits you.
Need help? Improve your stats by finding all the locations of the Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes in Shadow of the Erdtree. You can also see which Erdtree bosses you have left to defeat and find awesome new weapons to aid you in your adventure.
