So far, the discourse around Elden Ring's DLC Shadow of the Erdtree has been wrapped up in a debate about whether or not the DLC for the notoriously hard game, made by the hard game company, is too hard. With certain streamers throwing in the towel and Bandai Namco calling players out for not leveling up their Scadutree Blessing, it seems like there's a pretty big market for a DLC experience that's dialed down a bit—just take a look at Nexus Mods.

A great deal of the mods on offer for Shadow of the Erdtree strive to make the DLC easier in some way. There are mods that give players access to the new Dryleaf arts without having to wait for 100 levels, as well as ones that drastically level up your character. One of those even lands you at level 713 and gives you all the weapons, spells, and blessings, so you can finally feel like the Elden Lord that you always wanted to be. 

Another mod, named Shadow of the Erdtree Journalist Mode, gives you the ability to take 50% less damage if you use the Crimson Amber Medallion, or if you pick Researcher Mode, the medallion lets you take zero damage, which is both pretty funny and terribly broken. “[It] makes the DLC damage a lot more tolerable by making the Crimson Amber medallion a difficulty switch talisman,” modder Sereenaty says in the description. But you'll have to choose one or the other, not both.    

The beauty of mods is that they let players customise their experience and allow them to do whatever they want. So, if you just want to walk through boss encounters while just looking at the scenery and delving into the lore, then this is probably the best way to do it. But modding a FromSoft game so you take no or less damage seems like it's missing the point slightly. 

This isn't to say that Shadow of the Erdtree is in any way easy, and it may well be too difficult for most players to really enjoy, but Shadow of the Erdtree is an endgame DLC that FromSoftware worked on for two years, so it would be rather disappointing if players could skip through it in days without any push back. The new difficulty level that the DLC bosses have reached can definitely be a headache, which is where these mods come in handy, but if you're looking for a fix that doesn't negate any damage or level up your character to unforeseen heights, one decent option is a mod that implements Sekiro's deflection and dodge system.  

Sekiro's bosses are incredibly aggressive, so much so that I found my usual strategy of hanging back to wait for an opening almost always landed me straight in a world of pain, so the only option was to match the aggressive attacks and force openings with the parry system. This style of fighting actually fits quite well with the enemies you come up against in Shadow of the Erdtree, so I can see how the Sekiro Deflect and Dodge 1.12 mod, created by doujzc and Anisol, would make fights slightly more bearable. There's even an early power-up in the DLC that basically turns it into Sekiro, so why not go the extra mile?

If you manage to time your block just right, you'll not only negate any stamina loss for yourself but also inflict stamina damage on the attacker. Succeeding enough times will break your opponent's stance, leaving them open to a critical hit. The flip side of this is that if you don't time your blocks effectively enough, you'll lose a ton of stamina. It also includes Sekiro's directionally-based follow-through deflection: “An attack from the left will be smoothly deflected right, and vice versa,” the description reads. Another small but useful change sees the forward roll switched to a dash, and dodge rolls while you're locked on to a target are now quick steps. 

There really is a massive amount of useful mods that you can use to switch up your experience of Shadow of the Erdtree, so if you're tired of getting religiously pummelled into the ground, it may be a good idea to check some of them out, if only just for research's sake.