If you want to start enjoying Shadow of the Erdtree right away, you’re going to want the best weapons and armor sets we’ve found so far. The DLC exclusive Land of Shadow are where you’ll discover dozens of new weapons, armor sets and items – and where you’ll encounter the toughest bosses Elden Ring has to offer. Without the right gear, these bosses can wreck you in seconds. You’ll need to rapidly expand your inventory and start upgrading these tools of the trade. Some DLC weapons are just better than anything that’s come before. The armor sets look pretty amazing too.
To get you started, here are 10 unique, weird and hidden pieces of gear you can find very early in your adventure. We haven’t decided on what weapons are very best yet – some of the boss weapons you can craft are pretty incredible, but we’ll talk about those later. These are the weapons you can find without progressing too far in the main quest. Most of these weapons you’ll be able to ride out and grab right from the start of your adventure. And these are real keepers.
#10. Greatjar Helmet
One of the best items we’ve found so far is also tricky to get early. You’ll need to venture pretty deep into the Realms of Shadow to get the Greatjar Helmet. It’s worth it, because look at this thing. The massive upturned jar is one of the heaviest – and most resistant – pieces of armor yet in Elden Ring. It’s also ridiculously well-hidden. You’ll find this hlmet in one of the detailed optional dungeons.
On the west side of the starting plains, you’ll find a difficult Legacy Dungeon called Belarut, Tower Settlement. We’re skipping that area and going left from the Greatbridge. You can travel to a lower section of the map with a dangerous field boss in the lake. Ignore it and look for the entrance to Belarut Gaol (Pronounced: Jail). In this long dungeon, you’ll encounter Living Jars and meaty monsters, but the worst part is the jumping puzzles. Dropping from jar-to-jar, you’ll need to reach the very bottom to get this joke item.
Past the jar storage room you’ll reach after the stairs crumble, you’ll have access to a cavern with multiple meat monsters blocking your way to the boss arena. On the cliff with four of these creatures, you’ll need to jump a small gap. To the right there’s a hanging jar far below. You can drop onto it. This jar is actually an elevator, and standing on it will raise the jar up to a hidden path. Platform across this new path to reach a giant jar altar that was tantalizingly visible earlier in the map. Taking the treasure from the altar will reveal our favorite helmet of the DLC so far.
#9. Dragon-Hunter’s Great Katana
The Greatjar is hilarious, but it isn’t that useful. One item we equipped immediately and haven’t dropped since is the Dragon-Hunter’s Great Katana – one of the best Curved Greatswords we’ve found so far. Everyone already knows that Curved Greatswords are ridiculously strong in Elden Ring and that still holds true here. The weapon skill causes your character to leap up and launch a ranged bleed magic attack. This is just a beastly sword that’s pretty quick for its class and deals Bleed damage that matches the all-time best Bloodhound’s Fang sword. That bleed buildup is absolutely critical for taking down the bosses in this DLC. You’ll want to hit hard and deal high damage. That makes this one of the most functional weapons for most Elden Ring players looking for a fresh weapon – and it scales on Strength and Dexterity, so you don’t even need to respec.
The Dragon-Hunter’s Great Katana is dropped by the boss in the Dragon’s Pit dungeon – the boss is a simple invader called the Ancient Dragon-Man. With a few Scadutree Fragment upgrades, you’ll have no problem taking this weak boss down. To reach the Dragon’s Pit, go to the Greatbridge north of the Scorched Ruins, one of the first areas you’ll encounter in the DLC, and take a right. Follow the road east from the Greatbridge to the upper plateau, then follow the dragon statue road south. You’ll find the entrance to the Dragon’s Pit – this looks like an optional dungeon, but it’s actually required to access large parts of the southeast map.
Defeating the boss will get you one of the simplest and most effective weapons in the DLC. But it isn’t the only weapon you’ll need. Another extremely simple tool is also a perfect secondary for taking out low level enemies. Let’s talk about the Smithscript Spear.
#8. Smithscript Spear
An extremely missable weapon, the Smithscript Spear is found in the Ruined Forge of Starfall Past in the Scadu Altus plateau, to the south after passing through Castle Ensis. Reach the Highroad Cross Site of Grace, after leaving Castle Ensis, and take the southeast road down. You’ll find Moorth Ruins. The Ruined Forge is southwest of the ruins in the same field.
The Spear is located on a dead body in the starting room, so you can run in and grab it. What might look like a basic light spear is actually incredibly useful. Equip it to your secondary weapon slot, because the spear can be thrown infinitely. You’ll have infinite ammo for this ranged weapon – it only costs a little stamina to throw. You can also stab enemies while your shield is raised, making this one of the most effective basic weapons against groups of weak enemies. Shield up and poke or throw your spear to defeat enemies one-at-a-time to soften up mobs. The Smithscript Spear is also surprisingly powerful as a ranged weapon. There is one more amazing throwable spear you can acquire in the DLC, but we’ll talk about that later. For getting started, I highly recommend grabbing the Smithscript. There’s a lot of Smithing Stones in the Forge dungeon too, so stock up for upgrades.
#7. Solitude Set
One of the earliest encounters you’ll find in the Realm of Shadow is an optional boss called the Blackgaol Knight. This guy has an impressive Greatsword and a set of intimidating armor – but he’s way too tough at the very start of the expansion. You’ll want to upgrade with a lot of Scadutree Fragments before returning to him, but otherwise he’s an easy miniboss. He doesn’t carry a shield, so you can bully him into submission with your own Curved Greatsword, stunlocking him and dealing high bleed damage until he’s down. He has one healing charge, but that’s nothing. The boss arena is located right at the start of the DLC – check west of the Scorched Ruins to find a small area called the Western Nameless Mausoleum.
Walk inside and defeat the boss to earn his full set. That includes an incredible set of dark fantasy heavy armor. If you want to look intimidating, the Solitude Set is a great place to start. The Solitude Greatsword is nothing to scoff at either. Grab the full set for one easy kill and enjoy unlocking a spooky look for your starting hours in the Realm of Shadow.
#6. Bloodfiend’s Arm
Let’s get back to the weird stuff. The Dragon-Hunter’s Great Katana is one of the best for your average heavy-duty knight, but the Bloodfiend’s Arm is when you want to really surprise during your invasions. The Bloodfiend’s Arm is literally a giant club made from the meaty severed arm of an enemy called a Bloodfiend. These bloated demihumans are surprisingly dangerous, but if you get into the right rhythm, they’re no challenge at all.
The Bloodfiend’s Arm is dropped by monsters on the lower right to the right of the Greatbridge in the center of the map. Follow the road down toward the Ruined Forge Lava Intake and you’ll encounter regular soldiers fighting the bloated monsters. Fight enough of these things and there’s a chance one will drop the Bloodfiend’s Arm. It looks incredibly gnarly and really compliments the savage cannibal look – if that’s what you’re going for.
#5. Black Steel Greatshield
Another random drop is also one of the best. It’s a useful shield that provides 100% physical damage negation when guarding. Its elemental damage negation isn’t as good, but it works. You’ll need 35 strength to use this properly, but that’s just a given in the expansion. All your main stats should be at least 40 before attempting the Realms of Shadow.
We got the Black Steel Greatshield early after defeating a Black Knight that spawns at the Church of Consolation. The church can be found by following the road south from the Scorched Ruins – you’ll be lead down a hill and to the church. If this knight doesn’t drop the shield, any of the Black Knights in the early areas should work. You’ll find plenty of these guys in Castle Ensis and the Shadow Keep. If you’re lucky, you’ll also find their armor set.
#4. Rabbath’s Cannon
Now let’s get back to the weird. You can get your own personal arm-mounted cannon by traveling up to the Scadu Altus plateau through a secret path – remember Moorth Ruins? The area we mentioned earlier when hunting the Scriptsmith Spear? If you drop down the crater, you can exit out to an area called Bonny Village. Traveling northeast, follow the road north and you’ll encounter a tower called Rabbath’s Rise. For reference, it’s to the north of the giant cathedral called Manus Metyr. You really can’t miss it.
And Rabbath’s Rise is a unique place. Going inside, you won’t be able to access the top floor. Activating the elevator, you’ll find the lift platform just doesn’t work. You’ll need to find a different way up. In the third room of the building, attack the wall to reveal a hidden balcony. Smash the standing stones here to unlock a spirit spring. These are the gusts of wind you can jump high on with Torrent. Jump in the wind and you’ll reach the upper level of the tower. There’s a chest containing this amazing weapon.
#3. Death Knight’s Twin Axes
Another early weapon that’s incredibly useful for simple Strength builds – especially if you want to attack faster. The Death Knight’s Twin Axes are one of several sets in the expansion that give you two weapons at once. Instead of equipped two, you can swap between one weapon or two by dual-wielding. Instead of holding one weapon with two hands, you’ll suddenly spawn a second weapon. Does it make any sense? No. Do we care? No.
The Death Knight’s Twin Axes are the Fog Rift Catacombs – a spooky optional dungeon located to the northwest from the Greatbridge. North of the Greatbridge is a large military camp. Take the left road and follow it north past the army checkpoints to reach a very foggy wooded area. The Fog Rift Catacombs are found here. Reach the end and defeat the Death Knight to take home a pair of powerful axes. Just the thing you’ll need if you want to deal more damage a whole lot faster. And because the bosses in this expansion are so fast, some of them just never stop attacking, you’ll need all the speed you can get.
#2. Armor of Night Set
If you’re looking for a real Dark Lord look in Elden Ring, you can’t do much better than this armor set. The Armor of Night is located in the Bonny Gaol – south of the Bonny Village, which we also talked about earlier for Rabbath’s Cannon. Just as a refresher, you can reach this area by dropping down into the deep crater at Moorth Ruins. Climbing up out of the well, you’ll be in Bonny Village. This place is really gross, so let’s go straight south across the rope bridge to a different gross location.
South of Bonny Village, look for a bunch of cages in the ground, signifying the entrance to Bonny Gaol. Near the end of the dungeon, you’ll need to drop down onto a hanging jar that will activate and lower you to the bridge far below. Instead of disembarking, stay on the lift and it will raise back up to a hidden section of the dungeon. Search the torture rack to get yourself a full set of Night Armor.
You can grab the Shield of Night nearby. Go up the stairs past the torture rack to find a door guarded by a meat monster. Kill it and loot the body on the ledge to get your shield. Now you’ve got a full set that screams Sauron. And that’s just one of the most obscure sets – the next item on this list is one of the most difficult to find so far.
#1. Queelign’s Greatsword
Don’t miss out on this incredibly easy-to-miss Greatsword. We can’t exactly say this is an early weapon, but if you visit the right spots, it is possible to get it before fighting any of the major difficult bosses in the DLC. If you want it, you’ll need to visit three separate locations and collect three separate items. This is the kind of obscure secret stuff we expected to see in an Elden Ring expansion.
Starting off, you’ll need to invade the Fort of Reprimand. Travel south of Moorth Ruins to reach this fort. In the main courtyard, find the body chute and drop through into the mass pile of corpses – defeat the Horned Warrior down here to get the Iris of Occultation. Step one complete.
Next, travel to the Church of the Crusade. North of Castle Ensis, you’ll reach another massive military camp leading to the Shadow Keep. Go left (or west) to find the simple church. An NPC Invader will appear and attack you. Defeat the unique invader to collect the Prayer Key. Step two complete.
Finally, we need to reach the Shadow Keep, Church District. Remember Rabbath’s Rise and the Cathedral of Manus Metyr? There’s a road north of the Cathedral that leads to a tunnel that takes you to the flooded Church District. Traverse the flooded rooftops and drop into the massive cathedral. Inside, you’ll find a locked room that requires the Prayer Room Key.
Use it and you’ll find an NPC. You’ll request one of two items – we gave him the Iris of Occultation, but you can also give him an item called the Iris of Grace which can be found in the Specimen Storehouse area later in the Shadow Keep. Give him one of these items and he’ll expire, leaving behind his extremely rare and awesome Greatsword.
This isn’t your average Greatsword. It’s a piercing weapon that you’ll thrust forward. It deals high fire damage and has a special skill that pierces right through the enemy’s guard. If you’re struggling against enemies that keep their guard up, Queelign’s Greatsword is one of the best.
And that’s 10 awesome weapons we’ve found very early in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. There’s still so much we’ve got to talk about in the biggest expansion of the year, and we’re going to dig through every single poison swamp to share secrets with you. Drop us a like, comment or subscribe if you’re looking for more Elden Ring in your life.
