Why overpowered Elden Ring characters will still have an advantage in the DLC

Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will introduce a new progression system to balance the game for all players, but will this actually work?

If you’re like us, you have a highly overpowered character in Elden Ring which you’ve been waiting to unleash on any new bosses and enemies that arrive when Shadow of the Erdtree DLC launches in June. Sure, you’ve been through various New Game Plus cycles so enemies are jacked, and FromSoftware’s DLCs are usually much harder than the base games, but even with all of these factors, it’s going to be a slaughter, with you carving through Messmer the Impaler and his goons like a hot knife through butter.

After all, while you may have experimented with the game‘s various builds, you’ve still got your main character, the one who’s seen every ending, gathered every item, slain every boss, and bullied lots of poor unfortunate souls in the Colosseum expansion. At this point, you laugh when someone invades you because they really picked the wrong world to enter.

Of course, they’re likely to be a super high level and a seasoned veteran too, but you’ve perfected your build, you can see the holes in theirs, but most importantly, you’re Elden Lord here – and they’re in your domain. This only ever ends one way.

Humbling the Elden Lord

Malenia, Radahn, Mohg, the Fire Giant, and the Elden Beast all may have troubled players like us once, but no longer. For over two years, we’ve craved a new challenge, something to finally make us feel a semblance of what these bosses once did. But really, we want to see how quickly we can tear through the next round of horrors that have been dreamed up in the wonderfully twisted mind of Hidetaka Miyazaki. We’ve got the build, we’ve got the levels, the items, the knowledge – the overconfidence, but then we got the news that changed everything.

With the unveiling of the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer, we learned that the Elden Ring DLC will introduce a new progression system that effectively wipes the slate clean and puts all players on an even keel. It’s a system that’s designed to take away the advantage of OP players like us so that even those who are over level 400 will be at just as much risk as those who are new to the game.

For some, this news came as a welcome challenge, especially to those who appreciate fair play and balance. However, this was unwelcome news for others and ruined our mad power fantasy of running through the expansion and cutting down everything in record time – before gleefully celebrating on a pile of crushed enemies. FromSoftware knew our intentions and has already moved to remind us of what Souls games are all about. There are no easy wins and in this world, death comes for us all.

But here’s the thing, we don’t know exactly what this new system will entail yet and how it will work. It’s also worth pointing out that in order to access the DLC, players will need to kill Mohg, then will likely need to approach the egg that supposedly houses a mutated Miquella. To get to this point, players will already need to be approaching the endgame, meaning there’ll be no new or inexperienced players venturing into Shadow of the Erdtree.

Challenge accepted

Pretty much everyone heading into Shadow of the Erdtree will already be a high-level and competent player, so we’re skeptical that this new system will truly level the playing field. We believe that the truly OP players will indeed still have an advantage. Of course, this new system will likely de-fang us to some extent, but we find it highly unlikely that it will completely negate our builds, equipment, and buffs.

We also can’t see how those of us who are at an incredibly high level will lose our advantage if the world’s bosses and enemies have already been capped after seven NG+ cycles. Sure, the enemies in the DLC will likely be even harder, and Shadow of the Erdtree could buff them beyond the seven-cycle cap, but even still. Will this make a dent in those who have reached max level, or even those who are level 400 and beyond? We’re not convinced.

Finally, here’s the main reason we don’t fear the Elden Ring expansion’s new leveling system; we did the work. We already earned the skills and understand what it takes to move through the Lands Between as opponent after opponent falls to our blades. FromSoftware already made us run the gauntlet, several times if you count the Dark Souls games, Demon’s Souls, and Bloodborne too.

We know how to analyze a boss and look for its weak spots and gaps in its defenses. It’s our skill and experience which will carry us through and it’s this skill and experience that allowed us to become overpowered in the first place. While our build, gear, and high levels help, they alone are rarely the path to victory in Souls games. The developers can add as many systems as they like to reduce our advantage, but ultimately, it’s too late to take it away. Therefore, our defiance and overconfidence – at least for now – will remain untarnished.

So do your worst, FromSoftware, and remember, we’re not locked in with your bosses, they’re locked in with us. We’re the real monsters you created.

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