While the announcement of Elden Ring's upcoming DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, may have reignited interest in the game, players going back to revisit the Lands Between may want to avoid taking their endgame characters into New Game Plus. Boasting an ambitious open world and FromSoftware's signature RPG formula, Elden Ring is the developer's biggest success yet, selling record copies and winning an unprecedented number of awards in 2022 - and with the recent announcement of DLC for the game being in development, it's poised to capitalize even further on its massive success.In true FromSoftware fashion, the announcement that the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is in development came with very little additional information, with the only possible fuel for speculation being the DLC's title and a vague, evocative image of a lone figure riding a horse in the middle of a field. In spite of the relative lack of information, however, several theories place Shadow of the Erdtree's most likely point of focus as the enigmatic Miquella. And, although anything from FromSoftware is sure to contain at least a few big surprises, there is one safe bet regarding the upcoming DLC - its release makes starting New Game Plus a riskier proposition.
Elden Ring's New Game Plus Can Wait Until After DLC
With FromSoftware DLC usually scaled for the mid-to-late sections of the base games, starting a New Game Plus cycle could place players in an awkward position by the time of Shadow of the Erdtree's release. While the Elden Ring DLC has no clear release date, players starting a New Game Plus cycle could place themselves at risk of not being at the right part of the game to jump into Shadow of the Erdtree immediately upon release. Additionally, experiencing the DLC on a New Game Plus cycle's increased level scaling could interfere with its intended difficulty, as Shadow of the Erdtree will likely be designed for the default new game experience.
New Game Plus Will Make Shadow Of The Erdtree More Difficult
Aside from potentially not being able to immediately access the DLC in New Game Plus, however, Shadow of the Erdtree's potential difficulty should also be considered. In many cases, DLC for FromSoftware games can be harder than the content of the base game, an issue that could be compounded by a New Game Plus cycle's increased enemy health and damage. Given Shadow of the Erdtree's potential to outdo the difficult bosses in Elden Ring's base game, players may want to make sure that they have at least one character remain on their first playthrough, to experience the DLC both immediately and at the natural difficulty.
While it can be satisfying to start a New Game Plus cycle in Elden Ring and crush the game's early portions, players with only one endgame character may want to hold off until Shadow of the Erdtree's release. For those with multiple characters, or those who are confident in reaching the game's end before the DLC's uncertain release period, however, a second journey through Elden Ring could be a worthwhile endeavor.
Source: Elden Ring/Twitter