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Elden Ring DLC Trailer Teases What Happens in the Shadow of the Erdtree

Good luck making sense of it all, but unpeeling lore layers is what a FromSoftware game is all about.

David Lumb Mobile Reporter
David Lumb is a mobile reporter covering how on-the-go gadgets like phones, tablets and smartwatches change our lives. Over the last decade, he's reviewed phones for TechRadar as well as covered tech, gaming, and culture for Engadget, Popular Mechanics, NBC Asian America, Increment, Fast Company and others. As a true Californian, he lives for coffee, beaches and burritos.
Expertise Smartphones | Smartwatches | Tablets | Telecom industry | Mobile semiconductors | Mobile gaming
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David Lumb
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A man in red holding a spear sits on a thrown while behind him stretches a war-soaked land wreathed in flame and shadow, as well as a dim golden light.

Shadow of the Erdtree, new downloadable content for the award-winning Elden Ring, is set to come out June 21.

 Bandai Namco

FromSoftware has dropped a new story trailer for The Shadow of the Erdtree, the upcoming downloadable content for the blockbuster video game Elden Ring. Arriving a month ahead of the June 21 release date for the DLC, the clip teases what's awaiting players in the big adventure that expands on one of the best games of 2022.

The trailer shows the Land of Shadow that the main character of the Erdtree DLC, Miquella, traveled to after leaving the areas depicted in Elden Ring. A city that sits in the titular shadow of the massive, bright Erdtree is shown engulfed in flames from a dire battle.

As is fitting for the cryptically hidden story in Elden Ring, the DLC story trailer reveals only scraps of lore, all of which is wrapped in the original game's backstory of a semi-divine family of powerful beings, like Marika, Malenia, Godwyn and others. In the lore, Miquella couldn't rid his sister Malenia of the Scarlet Rot and left his flesh behind to travel to the Land of Shadow, where it's unclear if he'll help or harm the Tarnished player. 

The trailer does feature glimpses of another character who seems to play a central role in Shadow of the Erdtree: Messmer the Impaler. He prominently appears amid the army burning the city below the Erdtree and makes short work of an enemy closing in on him. His position and disposition to Miquella and the player are unclear, however. 

The story trailer will give fans plenty to chew on during the month till the game publicly launches, but it doesn't offer anything extra about the gameplay or areas to be explored in the DLC. The February gameplay trailer remains the only inside look at the new enemies, bosses, weapons, skills and spells that await players in the Land of Shadow.

Read more: Elden Ring Smithing Stones: How to Find Every Bell Bearing

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