Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree: How to skip Rellana and Castle Ensis

The good thing about Torrent being a little ghosty horse is that poison doesn’t affect him. Hop on board for this segment, and head northeast through the swamp. You’ll emerge on a narrow cliff path and come across a sealed spiritspring. Sealed Spiritsprings are pretty much what the label says – the same upward wind draft as in The Lands Between, but sealed and unusable. 

You need to find a small pile of rocks like the spectral ones in the sealed spring’s center and use a melee attack to break them. The rocks in this case are on the ledge above the spring, so keep heading north, turn back, and climb the ledges. Smash the rocks, get on Torrent if you’ve dismounted, and, in the center of the Spiritspring, jump. The spring will throw you into the air, and despite the ridiculous height you reach, you won’t take any damage when you finally land.

The landing happens at the back end of the Fort of Reprimand, an awful little fortress with horned knights, Messmer soldiers, and an Omen Killer in the basement. You can grab a Furnace Visage in the barracks and get the Iris of Occultation in the basement, an item you can give to Jolan or Queelign later in their quests.

Or you can just leave and make your way to the Scadu Altus map fragment so you actually have a clue where you are. There’s a dragon on the road leading away from the Fort of Reprimand, but you can leave him be. He’s busy eating soldiers. 

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree: Can you skip Rellana?

Taking this shortcut means you can completely ignore Rellana, and like in the base game, you don't miss out on any story progress by not completing a specific boss fight. However, it does come at a cost – a bigger one than you have to pay for skipping Godrick, the first major Elden Ring boss. You’ll miss out on Rellana’s Remembrance, which grants you her twin swords or her devastating twin moon spell, and you’ll also miss the “May The Best Win” emote.

That might sound inconsequential compared to the Remembrance, but you have to use the May The Best Win emote to speak with Dryleaf Dane near Moorth Ruins. He's an important Shadow of the Erdtree NPC, and if you don’t use it, he ignores you. That means the entirety of his quest - and the items he might give you later - pass you by.

Still, if you need to grab Scadutree Fragments and raise your level before you feel able to challenge her, exploring Scadu Altus early is certainly a viable strategy.

Check out the best Rune farming locations if you need to bump your level up, and get some new gear from a Nameless Mausoleum if your current setup needs some work.