Summary

• Elden Ring's DLC is tough, with players struggling against bosses and enemies in Shadow of the Erdtree.
• Players band together using message appraisal healing to overcome challenges and receive significant heals.
• Message placement is key, with well-placed messages potentially leading to a steady stream of heals, but luck is always a factor.

harder than base Elden Ring, or just complicated by players' inexperience after months of hiatus, remains up for debate. What's undeniable, though, is that players are getting absolutely wrecked by everything and anything in the DLC: bosses, regular enemies, even environmental hazards.

Thankfully, players have many tools up their sleeves to cope with Shadow of the Erdtree's difficulty. There's the classic co-op mechanic, which allows them to summon friends or strangers to fight by their side. Spirit Ashes and NPC summons fill the same niche. A controversial pair of items in Elden Ring's DLC, Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes, allow players to activate special buffs for themselves and their allies in the DLC. But even those aren't always enough. Thankfully, enterprising players have figured out another solution - but it requires devoted collaboration and a lot of luck to be worthwhile.

Elden Ring DLC Players Are Leaving Messages Begging For Healing

Praise The Message

Near central Sites of Grace, boss battle arenas, and other high-traffic areas, Elden Ring players may see a plethora of seemingly meaningless messages that say things like, "healing required ahead, therefore praise the message!" Messages are ostensibly used to tip players off to things like ambushes and hidden items, but there's a hidden bonus: whenever a player's message is rated positively by someone else, they get a pretty significant heal. That's the real purpose of these messages: players are leaving them where they're most likely to be seen by large numbers of players, hoping that they'll receive abundant healing at opportune moments.

Players can have up to ten active messages at once, and can "protect" some of them so they're not automatically deleted when placing new ones.

Does Message Healing Really Work In Elden Ring's DLC?

A Useful Tool Against Shadow Of The Erdtree's Bosses

Anyone who's ever had a message praised in the heat of battle knows just how useful those "message appraised" heals can be. But they're unreliable by nature, only appearing when another player deigns to praise an unhelpful message. That said, most players have itchy trigger fingers for message rating, and good placement can ensure regular healing. Still, it can be more effective to leave a more practical message, offering a strategy tip or warning of an ambush - these are more likely to get positive ratings from more discerning players, which can lead to a steadier stream of HP.

But while Elden Ring's DLC is still new, player counts are high, and even the most innocuous messages are likely to be seen by thousands if they remain in place long enough. It can happen that, with a high-quality message in a noticeable place, the player will be subject to an almost-constant barrage of appraisals and heals, the likes of which will outpace almost any boss' damage output. But these cases are rare, requiring a perfect convergence of factors mostly outside the player's control.

While they can be useful in certain situations, message appraisal heals are no substitute for the player's Flask of Crimson Tears and a quick dodging finger. The prevalence of desperate messages in the DLC speaks to Shadow of the Erdtree's difficulty, but whether they work comes down mostly to luck. But even so, a well-placed message can be an invaluable tool for any playthrough of Elden Ring's DLC.