Summary
Unsurprisingly,Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree’s bossesare much harder than those inElden Ring’s base game. If Tarnished aren’t getting tangoed to death by theDivine Beast Dancing Lion, they’re being needled by a gross porcupine hippo or messed up by Messmer. Thankfully, the DLC alsoadds a new item that could potentially turn the tides in the fight against these unforgiving bosses.
Thanks to an abundance of AoEs and some nasty damage output, theMimic Tearisn’t quite as dependable inShadow of the Erdtreeas it is in the Lands Between, but it isstill an extremely handy tool for the DLC. For those who don’t know, the Mimic Tear is an upgradable Spirit Ash that summons a clone of the player with high health and the ability to use any of their equipped items. If the player keeps a powerful healing item on their hotbar,the Mimic Tear can use it to effectively double their health.

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Shadow of the Erdtree is full of difficult bosses, but this set of 10 takes that to another level, posing extreme challenges for the Tarnished.
Support Your Mimic With A Blessing Of Marika
A Powerful Combination
One of the rarest andmost useful items added by theShadow of The ErdtreeDLCis theBlessing of Marika, a single-use potion that “completely restores HP and heals all ailments.” There are three known fixed locations for the Blessings: one inside a cave behind the Church of Consolation, another on a corpse behind the Fort of Reprimand, and another dropped by the Tree Sentinel in the Hinterlands. Functionally identical to Divine Blessings from theDark Soulsseries, these items are so rare that they ought to be used only in the direst of circumstances.
As Twitter user@Ziggy_Princess_points out,Blessings of Marikaare immensely more useful in the hands of a player’sMimic Tear.While the player is limited to around three uses per playthrough, Blessings can be consumed once per boss attempt by Mimic Tears without affecting the player’s limited stocks. This means that if the player reserves one hotbar slot for the item during boss fights, their Mimic has a chance of radically extending their lifespan during the DLC’s longer and tougher encounters.

Don’t Be Afraid To Secure Every Advantage Against Shadow Of The Erdtree’s Bosses
Use Whatever Wins
Shadow of the Erdtree’s bosses fight dirty, and so should any lowly Tarnished who hopes to topple them. Fans have argued endlessly about how “valid” or “fair” Spirit Ashes are as a tool againstElden Ring’s bosses, but the debate is as old as time. Certain FromSoftware fans scoff at summons for the same reason that those apocryphal English bowmen turned their noses up at crossbows – honor. ButBayle the Dread couldn’t care less about honor. Bayle weighs the same as an aircraft carrier. Bayle’s sneezes are measured in megatons.
Elden RingandShadow of the Erdtreeprovide the player with dozens of spells, incantations, Ashes of War, and various tools to temper boss difficulty.The DLC poses a formidable challenge, but it was also designed with the assumption that the player would make use of these tools to succeed. They exist for a reason. All is fair in love, war, and FromSoftware games.

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There are almost two dozen new Spirit Ashes available in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC featuring common enemies and old legends.
AI for NPC summons is a mixed bag inElden Ring, so Mimic Tears aren’t always guaranteed to use their Blessing of Marika during a fight, but any FromSoftware fan who’s got this far should be hardened to a little RNG. Also, a minor aside –the Blessing’s icon resembles that of theFlask of Wondrous Physick, so players should make sure to keep the two well away from each other in their hotbars. This trick has the potential to be truly game-changing for many and may help them to finally glimpseShadow of the Erdtree’s ending cutscene.






