Summary
- Some Elden Ring dungeons are incredibly difficult right from the start, challenging players with tough enemies and unique mechanics.
- Areas like the Electric Sheep Plateau and Stone Coffin Fissure offer terrifying surprises and maze-like challenges in Shadow of the Erdtree.
- Bonny Village, Enir-Ilim, and other locations in the Land of Shadow are filled with dread-inducing environments and formidable enemies.
Some Shadow of the Erdtree's crushing difficulty, with bosses like 
Promised Consort Radahnrightfully numbered among the game's hardest. Oftentimes, players enter a new Elden Ring area to find nothing but despair - and more often than not, that's not because of a spectacularly difficult boss, but because of a congruence of hideous enemies, or a unique mechanic that presents a once-in-a-lifetime challenge.
Certain areas in the Land of Shadow are perfectly designed to make the player's stomach drop and their skin crawl. These areas prey on player expectations, luring them in with familiar conceits, then shocking them with terrible surprises that make them long for the solace of a Site of Grace. The following are ten of the worst dungeons and field areas in Shadow of the Erdtree, not because of their actual quality, difficulty, or originality, but because of their ability to demoralize the player from the very start.
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10 The Electric Sheep Plateau Delivers A Nasty Shock
Near Cliffroad Terminus
Anyone who's played more than a few hours of Elden Ring has stories to tell about its sheep. These enemies seem docile from afar, and indeed, even up close. But the second an unsuspecting Tarnished turns their back on them, they'll line up a devious roll attack, charging directly at the player like a Beyblade with a grudge. While they don't do too much damage on their own, they can hurt when they gang up. By the time they make it to Shadow of the Erdtree, most players are prepared for the eventuality of getting literally steamrolled by a herd of sheep.
So that's what they prepare for when they see Elden Ring's two new variants of these woolen warriors: a golden sheep, and a giant version thereof, not far from the starting point of the DLC by the Cliffroad Terminus Site of Grace. The giant sheep are an incredible sight, and it's difficult not to be lured in by their majesty, ready to dodge any incoming rolls. But Shadow of the Erdtree's giant sheep have a new attack: a lightning bolt out of the blue that inevitably creates an awful jumpscare the first time it happens. And indeed, navigating this plain is a nightmare of dodging around deadly strikes with little to no warning.
9 The Belurat Well Depths Are Shadow Of The Erdtree's Worst Poison Swamp
Inside Belurat
By now, the mere sight of a pool of green sludge is enough to make every seasoned Soulsborne player's skin crawl. Someone at FromSoft clearly has a thing for poison swamps, and the inclusion of one in each of its games is about as inevitable as that of the Moonlight Greatsword. Players encounter their first poison swamp of the DLC rather early in Shadow of the Erdtree - it's actually inside (or more accurately, below) Belurat, the first major dungeon.
Players can only access the Belurat poison swamp after obtaining the Well Depths Key, which in turn can only be found after unlocking the double doors near the Belurat, Tower Settlement Site of Grace.
As usual, a thick, poisonous muck permeates this area, and players must run between small outcroppings of crumbling debris to avoid building up a full poison meter. These can be hard to read from a distance; sometimes, they look like they're accessible, but absolutely aren't. To make matters worse, this area is swarming with revolting Man-Flies ready to ambush, and an Ulcerated Tree Spirit to boot. The Well Depths were also subject to a glitch that sometimes caused poison buildup to continue even after the player had stepped out of the sludge, but that's since been patched out.
8 The Ruined Forge Lava Intake Is An Exercise In Confusion
Near Castle Front
The Ruined Forges are an entirely new dungeon type in Shadow of the Erdtree, but they're no more welcoming than the classic catacomb. The first one players are likely to encounter, the Ruined Forge Lava Intake, greets them immediately with a floor literally made of lava, evoking the massive magma infinity pools of 
Volcano Manor. Thankfully, players don't have to walk across the lava to get through the Ruined Forges, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of nasty surprises lurking inside.
The fun begins with stone golems, who, despite their apparent hearts of gold, are incredibly aggressive, and can only be damaged effectively from behind. Couple that with the magma slimes who line the ceilings, prepared to drop down on or sneakily snipe unsuspecting Tarnished. These dungeons also often have convoluted layouts with multiple layers, which often necessitate careful navigation across narrow pipes. Thankfully, the one obstacle the Lava Intake doesn't have is a final boss.
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7 The Stone Coffin Fissure Is A Giant, Ominous Hole In The Ground
On The South Cerulean Coast
Much like poison swamps, every Soulsborne game includes some kind of jumping (or more accurately, falling) puzzle, usually drenched in player bloodstains. Stone Coffin Fissure starts out as one of those, which is cause for consternation enough: the sight of a giant, fog-shrouded hole in the ground, lined by giant coffins seemingly carved out of its stone walls, is, in a word, intimidating. Strangely enough, the descent itself is fairly easy, especially aided by Torrent's double jump. But it's innately terrifying, and what lurks at the bottom is even worse.
The Stone Coffin Fissure is actually sealed at the beginning of the DLC, which makes matters worse, as if to warn the player they're not yet ready for what's inside. It's a gravity-defying gauntlet through Bloodfiends and Stone Caterpillars, requiring many a leap from great heights. The 
Putrescent Knight lurks at the end, guarding the deadly mysteries of St. Trina - a fitting end for this ominous dungeon.
6 The Darklight Catacombs Leave Players In Darkness
In South Scadu Altus
And again, no one makes it very far into Elden Ring without exploring a few catacombs. The game uses a repetitive iconography - in this case, short staircases, white-flame braziers, and vaulted double doorways - to signify the recurring mechanics of these ubiquitous min-dungeons. Players may swagger up to the Darklight Catacombs in Scadu Altus thinking they know what to expect, pry open the door, activate the Site of Grace and walk forward - only for every single light in the place to go out.
That's right, much of Darklight Catacombs must be navigated in near-total darkness. Lanterns may help illuminate the immediate area, but gargoyles with gargantuan cannons often lurk just out of sight, impossible to notice until a fireball is already hurtling on its way. Thankfully, the darkness doesn't last for long, but it does cause plenty of havoc while it's around. Players can turn the lights back on by finding levers hidden throughout Darklight Catacombs.
5 Rauh's Beauty Masks Terrible Secrets
Beyond The Shadow Keep
At first glance, the Ancient Ruins of Rauh don't belong on this list. They're strikingly scenic, full of rolling hills, isolated plateaus, and the crumbling vestiges of a once-great society. But beauty is never to be taken at face value in Elden Ring, and any seasoned player knows that the moment they set eyes on Rauh from afar. It's unusually difficult to reach this region - although players can see it from as early as Gravesite Plain, they must progress through much of the Shadow Keep to actually access it. Once they get there, that vision of an idyllic hilltop ruin is immediately shattered.
Rauh is infested with bugs, from the giant scorpions who swarm the player in its once-hallowed halls, to 
Romina, Saint of the Bud, who waits within its innermost sanctum. As an avatar of Scarlet Rot, her presence seems to implicitly explain why Rauh fell so hard.
4 The Finger Ruins Of Rhia Exude Eerieness
On The Southern Shore
From the start, nothing about 
Ymir's request for the Tarnished to travel to a set of "Finger Ruins" sounds good. Players may have even wondered at the Finger Ruins of Dheo, a similar location that can be seen from the map screen - located in the far northeast, they simply look like windswept ruins of some ancient city of spires. Of course, the reality is far worse: when the player first arrives at the Finger Ruins of Rhia, they're encountered with a far-flung field of giant stone fingers, each slouching towards some fog-shrouded central point.
It's sickening to think about how something like this even came about. But players must go a step further and wade into the sea of petrified fingers to sound the bell Ymir sent them after. And this is no percussive bronze instrument like the Bells of Awakening in Dark Souls - the bell is another stone finger, riddled full of holes and hanging upside down, that the Tarnished must put their mouth on to blow.
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3 Something Stalks Players Through The Abyssal Woods
Through Darklight Catacombs
In case the scores of dead trees and ghostly fog weren't enough, the Abyssal Woods have what effectively amounts to a giant "Keep out" sign at its border. It's rare for an Elden Ring location to its own danger so boldly, but as players first enter the Abyssal Woods, they find a series of messages that look different from the average player-written tips. They read, in sequence, "It awaits inside," "Don't let it see you," "Once it sees you, there is no escape," "It cannot even be touched." To really send the message home, if the player rides in on Torrent, he'll immediately disappear once they enter the woods proper.
These ominous warnings aren't for nothing, either. The Abyssal Woods are swarming with nigh-invincible enemies called Aging Untouchables. Covered with an array of piercing, yellowed eyes, these monstrosities can inflict madness on the player merely by looking at them. The whole area plays out like an Assassin's Creed mission, as players are forced to sneak between patches of tall grass while Untouchables aren't looking to reach Midra's Manse, a mini-legacy dungeon located at the far end of the area.
The only way to beat an Aging Untouchable is to parry its grab attack, then land a critical hit while it's staggered.
2 Bonny Village & Bonny Gaol Are Filled With Dread
In Scadu Altus
Bonny Village welcomes the player with a disheartening sight: countless jars lying cracked and abandoned on the ground, or strung up on ropes over burnt-out buildings, against a noxious yellow-green sky. Alexander and his village of warrior jars were many players' favorite Elden Ring NPCs, and this area stands in stark contrast to their base game home of Jarburg. The jars here are subject to terrible oppression, far from their happy, flower-growing cousins in Jarburg. They're protected, however, by half-naked, cleaver-wielding Greater Potentates, which pose a problem for the player.
Things only get worse within the nearby Bonny Gaol, which greets players with jars chained to the ceiling. As they wander further within, they can also get a look at the horrid, twisted mounds of fused flesh that grace the innards of every jar in the Land of Shadow. The result is stomach-turning - it's hard to stay in the Bonny Village for very long.
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1 Enir-Ilim Constantly Hangs Over The Player's Head
Behind Belurat
Finally, the DLC’S final dungeon, Enir-Ilim, is the most ominous location in Shadow of the Erdtree. Players can see it from their very first steps into the Land of Shadow: a sort of spiral staircase of loose columns and stairs, snaking up into the sky from a distance. As they draw closer to it, they find that it's obscured by a tree made of pure shadow, and they'll have to burn it to get inside. And all this before they ever learn Enir-Ilim’s name.
The interior of the dungeon is no more comforting, full of crumbling paths, dark hallways, and all the most intimidating enemies introduced by the DLC: Man-Flies, Inquisitors, Spider Scorpions, and Horned Shamans alike. This is a place where allies turn on each other, and players must face the most difficult boss in Elden Ring, Promised Consort Radahn. It all adds up to one of the most memorably terrifying dungeons in all of Elden Ring.
Elden Ring
-
- Top Critic Avg: 95/100 Critics Rec: 98%
- Released
- February 25, 2022
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment, From Software
- Engine
- Proprietary
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PS4 & PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
Elden Ring is a popular game released by From Software, creators of games such as Armored Core, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne. Players assume the role of a Tarnished, a being once exiled to the Lands Between and has returned to repair the Elden Ring after the events of "The Shattering." "The Shattering" occurred when the offspring of Queen Marika battled to claim the shards of the Elden Ring, known as Great Runes. Their war has brought lawlessness, destruction, and chaos to the land, and the player will challenge them with the assistance of a Maiden known as Melina as they travel towards the great Erd Tree to face their destiny and to become the one true Elden Lord. Players can tackle the game how they choose and can adventure across realms as they build their character how they want - be it a powerful magic caster or a brutal swordsman - they will have complete control over their build.
- Cross Save
- no
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Platform(s)
- Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- How Long To Beat
- 58 Hours
- Metascore
- 96
- Platforms That Crossplay
- PS4 & PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
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