Elden Ring: How to access the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC ASAP

The fastest way for a new character to access Mohgwyn Palace is via Varre’s questline, which is relatively simple. If you’ve already played through Elden Ring with this character, then you can alternatively find a teleporter to Mohgwyn Palace on the Western edge of the Consecrated Snowfield – if you find that teleporter, you can skip the rest of this section.

You first meet Varre immediately after stepping into Limgrave for the first time, and after you claim a Great Rune and take it to Enia and the Two Fingers in Roundtable hold, he will move to the Rose Church in the Lakes of Liurnia.

It’s here that he’ll gift you with a Festering Bloody Finger, which can be used to invade multiplayer opponents. You can either invade players, or head to Writheblood Ruins in Altus Plateau to find an alternate summon sign that also uses the Festering Bloody Finger.

Either way, Varre will next gift you the Lord of Blood’s Favor, which you must soak in the blood of a maiden. There are corpses at the Church of Inhibition to the Southeast of the Grand Lift of Dectus, and the Church of Anticipation which can be accessed via the second of the Four Belfries. While it might seem more out of the way, we think the Church of Inhibition is easier to reach. If you’re willing to kill an NPC however, you can choose to murder Irina near the entrance of the Weeping Peninsula, or Hyetta, the woman asking for Shabriri Grapes near the Lake-Facing Cliffs.

Once you’ve got a maiden’s blood on the Lord of Blood’s Favor, take it back to Varre at the Rose Church to receive the Pureblood Knight’s Medal. If you don’t want to go all the way to the Consecrated Snowfield, this is the best and fastest way to access Mohgwyn Palace.

Beating Radahn fast – Elden Ring: SoTE

As you probably already know, you must activate the Radahn Festival in order to fight Starscourge Radahn. The easiest way to activate the Radahn Festival is to access a Site of Grace on the Altus Plateau. 

The fastest way to do this is to collect the two Dectus Medallion halves found in Mistwood’s Fort Haight and Dragonbarrow’s Fort Faroth. 

They’re both on the way to Caelid where you’ll fight Radahn anyway.

Once you’ve accessed an Altus Plateau Site of Grace you can head to Redmane Castle where you’ll find the Radahn Festival underway, and you can fight the man himself after speaking with Jerren.

How to enter the Land of Shadow – Elden Ring: SoTE

With all of the above steps completed, all that’s left is to defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood at Mohgwyn Palace and interact with Miquella at the back of the room. Lady Leda will be there when you arrive if you have completed all of the above steps. 

Once you interact with Miquella’s withered arm, you will be transported to the Gravesite Plain of the Land of Shadow, and your adventure will truly begin. Make sure to get every Land of Shadow Map Fragment to make exploring easier.