If you've had a hard time with Elden Ring's fiendishly difficult Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, rest assured that you're not alone. Popular streamer Asmongold has also struggled with the notoriously difficult DLC, going on stream to rant about it and calling it "too hard to be fun."
Asmongold finds the Elden Ring DLC too difficult
The news was delivered in one of Asmongold’s trademark tirades, in which he primarily criticized the expansion’s boss design. Perhaps in an attempt to save face, he insisted that he could beat the DLC but just didn’t feel like it, which is something I tell myself as I spend eight hours trying to beat Twin Moon Knight Rellana and her cheap magic attacks.
Complaints about Shadow of the Erdtree's difficulty have taken over most of the game's online discussions, with the expansion receiving mixed reviews on Steam and every third post on the Elden Ring subreddit complaining about one ridiculously overtuned boss or another. Whether it's the Divine Beast Dancing Lion or the Golden Hippopotamus, every boss in this expansion represents a brick wall you can spend hours bashing your head against. Asmongold specifically called out the long, near-inevitable combos that many of the DLC's bosses utilize and the very small windows to dish out damage in return.
Elden Ring is unique among From Software’s offerings in that you can simply choose to walk away from that wall and return later with a sturdier helm. Much of the disconnect between players and Shadow of the Erdtree comes from the expansion’s own level-scaling system. It doesn’t matter if you have every Vigor point in the world; if you’re not out collecting Scadutree Fragments and earning your Blessings, you’re going to encounter the exact same frustration that plagues the Elden Ring community.
