There are some dungeons in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree that have proved to be a real challenge for many players. In these cases, players are not only frustrated by the bosses themselves but also by the cleverly designed enemy groups or unique game mechanics that combine to create a rare and severe test.

Some areas in Shadow of the Erdtree stand out for their unsettling design, which creates a strong sense of unease. These areas cleverly use some familiar fantasy elements to lure players in and then give them a series of terrifying surprises that will make them want to escape to the more peaceful Site of Grace.

This guide will inspect the seven most frustrating dungeons and field areas in Shadow of the Erdtree.

7. Electric Sheep Plateau

These seemingly docile enemies appear harmless when watching from a distance, but when the player’s back is turned, they will launch a series of cunning rolling attacks to directly ram the player. Although the sheep-like enemies deal limited damage individually, they are much more threatening when they are in groups.

When players enter Shadow of the Erdtree, they will encounter a golden sheep, and a giant sheep, both located in Cliffroad Terminus Site of Grace near the starting area of ​​DLC. The giant sheep’s presence easily attracts the player’s attention and makes them ready to dodge potential attacks.

The giant sheep brings a new lightning attack, which players need to dodge with little warning. After defeating it, there is a chance to get Elden Ring Runes as a reward.

6. Belurat Well Depths

Poison swamps have been added to almost every game of FromSoftware development team, and they have become as iconic as Moonlight Greatsword. In Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, players will encounter the first poison swamp below Belurat, which is the first major dungeon players will encounter.

This area is filled with thick poisonous muck, and players have to shuttle between small outcroppings of rubble to avoid contact with these poisons. These poison swamps seem safe to pass from a distance, but they are actually very dangerous. This area is usually full of Man-Flies, as well as an Ulcerated Tree Spirit.

5. Ruined Forge Lava Intake

Ruined Forges is a new type of dungeons that isn’t particularly popular with players. The first time you encounter a Ruined Forge Lava Intake, it immediately greets you with its lava floor. But fortunately, you don’t need to traverse lava when exploring these Ruined Forges.

The adventure begins with encounters with stone golems, which can only be effectively damaged by attacking them from behind. In addition, there are magma slimes lurking on the ceiling, ready to drop down or ambush you if you enter unsuspectingly, so players often need to carefully navigate through narrow passages.

4. Stone Coffin Fissure

A large, fog-shrouded hole in the ground, lined with giant coffins that seem to be carved out of the stone walls, is Stone Coffin Fissure, a daunting scene for players. The descent itself is fairly easy with the help of Torrent’s double jump. But it’s inherently scary, and what lurks at the bottom is even worse.

Stone Coffin Fissure is actually sealed at the start of DLC, as if to warn players that they’re not ready for what’s inside. This challenge requires players to jump from high places and pass through Bloodfiends and Stone Caterpillars. Putrescent Knight lurks at the end, guarding St. Trina’s deadly secret.

3. Darklight Catacombs

Elden Ring emphasizes the cyclical nature of dungeons by reusing elements such as short staircases, white-flame braziers, and vaulted double doorways. Players might confidently walk into Darklight Catacombs in Scadu Altus, pry open the door, activate Site of Grace, and then find that the lights are all out after.

Most of Darklight Catacombs require traversing in almost complete darkness, which can cause a lot of confusion around. Players can relight the lights by finding levers hidden throughout Darklight Catacombs. Lanterns can also help illuminate the immediate area, but gargoyles often lurk out of sight until their fireballs hurtle by.

2. Rauh

Although players can see Rauh as early as Gravesite Plain, you have to travel through most of Shadow Keep to actually enter it. Once you arrive, the idyllic image of a mountaintop ruin is immediately shattered. Rauh is infested with bugs, including giant scorpions swarming through the once-hallowed halls, and Romina, Saint of the Bud, who waits in the deepest sanctum.

1. Finger Ruins Of Rhia

In Dark Souls, Bells of Awakening are usually sounded by striking a bronze instrument. In this scene, however, the sound of the bells comes from a different source. Rather than coming from a traditional percussion instrument, it comes from a uniquely designed stone device. This device consists of another stone finger, its surface riddled with holes, and it is hung upside down. To make sounds, Tarnished needs to blow air with his mouth instead of tapping as before.

These dungeons and wild areas are not just part of the game, they are also a test of the player’s skills, courage and determination. As players gradually unlock and conquer these areas, you will not only get satisfaction but also get a deeper experience in the game. To make it easier to complete these activities, you can follow Giveaway channel in IGGM discord, which will release product giveaway information from time to time. Remember to be active in the discord group.

Elden Ring does not actually explain the game to players specifically, but only makes an introduction of a simple set of explanation and the vague direction they’re supposed to head in without any details being provided. This gives players a lot of freedom to play the game in their own way and at their own pace and explore the mysteries hidden in it without being restricted.

Many players said that they enjoyed this mode and often immersed themselves in it. However, due to the lack of detailed explanations, many players did not know the more nuanced mechanics.

Although players can experience the game at their own pace, getting known as obscure mechanics could offer you more fresh game experience, and gain an advantage over other players. Now let’s take a closer look at these 5 obscure mechanics.

5. Buff Stacking

The game does not explain the specific use of buffs. Based on their gaming experience, many players believe that different buffs can be combined which is not entirely correct. Because only some buffs can be combined with others to enhance performance.

There are five varieties of buffs in the game: aura, body, weapon, regeneration, and unique, separately. Under the normal circumstance, Tarnished can only own one buff from each category (exclude unique buffs, which can stack with one another without limitation). Once players establish the combination of buffs they require, the difficulty of the game will plummet.

4. Counter Attacking

There are many types of attacks in Elden Ring, such as simple attacks, vigorous attacks, powerful weapon skills, and guard counters. However, counter-attack is not being described in detail. In fact, if the player attacks the enemy with counter-attack, the damage output will be greater than usual. Combing with Spear Talisman, which will enhance the degree of damage, the damage output of counter-attack will increase by 45%.

There are two conditions for an attack to be viewed as a counter-attack. In the first place, the player must employ a weapon that deals with piercing damage. Secondly, Tarnished have to attack an enemy while they are in the middle of an attack animation.

3. Feinting

Feinting is one of the obscure mechanics that being barely known. Maybe many players don’t know the existence of this mechanism, or even if they know about it, they have never actually used.

Feinting provides another type of attack to the player’s arsenal, enlarging the possibilities and chance of attack, and also creating the false impression of opponents in PvP. Considering the fact that multitude of people do not figure out the function of it, feints offer much help in the aspect of catching other players off-guard.

2. Hyper Armor

The amount of hits Tarnished can bear before flinching is an important thing for players to pay attention to. The result is calculated by combining the poise of all armor pieces that they are currently wearing. Talismans also have a certain impact on the result. But there is another number that needs to be counted.

That number is Hyper Armor itself. Each attack that a player performs will offer them a certain amount of Hyper Armor, serving as an additional poise on top of what their armor is that they already own. Under normal circumstances, the size and weight of the weapon also have a bearing on Hyper Armor.

For example, larger weapons have Hyper Armor on most attacks, but some smaller weapons only have Hyper Armor on some attacks. You can get some weapons equipped with more Hyper Armor by devoting some Elden Ring Runes. By the way, charged attacks and some weapon skills will have more Hyper Armor.

1. I-Frames

I-Frames are a mechanism that helps players dodge. If there are some I-Frames, the player will become invincible during the dodge process. Since Fast rolls have more I-Frames than Medium rolls, dodging attacks will become more simple and easy. In a similar way, heavy rolls own fewer I-Frames than both Medium and Fast rolls, making it much more difficult to dodge attacks in the situation of being encumbered.

However, what many people do not master is that there are other methods to embrace I-Frames in Elden Ring. Mounting and dismounting Torrent while standing gives the player I-Frames while lasting for a short period. In addition, the following weapon skills also promise players I-Frames:

• Ash of War: Quickstep
• Ash of War: Bloodhound’s Step
• Ash of War: Vow of the Indomitable
• Ash of War: Raptor of the Mists
• Bloodhound’s Finesse Skill
• Dynast’s Finesse Skill

If you are a loyal fan of Elden Ring, you can log in to IGGM discord. There will be some lucky draws in Giveaway channel, and you can also get more real-time information about the game.

The above is about sharing some little-known but useful mechanisms in Elden Ring. I hope it can give some inspiration for you.