Summary
FromSoftware had an arguably unenviable task ahead of itself when it came toElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Considering the large variance that exists between individual players and their builds, properly balancing the difficulty ofShadow of the Erdtreeto account for both new and returning players would have been a monumental task that significantly upset the established meta. Thankfully, FromSoftware found a happy middle ground by keeping the base game’s meta still intact and introducing the new Blessing system specifically for Shadow of the Erdtree’s Shadow Realm, but players should still consider the importance of stats and scaling when it comes to the DLC’s new builds, especially where soft caps are concerned.
Each of the core stats inElden Ringprovide players with boosts to a particular area, and certain stats are essential for certain builds based on the way that the player’s equipment scales with them. With this in mind, players obviously want to max out the effectiveness of their equipment load by investing in the right stats, but Shadow of the Erdtree throws another consideration into the mix withthe Blessing system. There’s a plethora of new equipment available for players to discover and experiment with in Shadow of the Erdtree, and keeping the stat soft caps in mind is just as crucial as obtaining as many Scadutree and Revered Spirit Ash Blessings as possible.
How Elden Ring’s Stat Soft Caps Have and Haven’t Changed With Shadow of the Erdtree
At their core, stat soft caps still work the same in Shadow of the Erdtree as they did in the base game ofElden Ring(andother FromSoftware titles, for that matter). Players will receive bonuses for each skill point they allocate into a given stat, with the returns on these bonuses increasing up to a certain point. After a stat hits its first “soft cap”, the player will get diminishing returns for each point they invest into the stat, at which point they will eventually hit the second soft cap. All stats have a hard cap of 99, but the first and second soft caps of each stat arrive long before players can level them up that high.
For reference, here are the soft caps for each stat as ofElden Ring’s most current version, 1.12.2:
Perhaps most important to note about the soft caps in the wake of Shadow of the Erdtree’s launch is how they impact scaling, especially with players likely using any hoarded Larval Tears for handy respect. For instance, many of thebest new weapons in Shadow of the Erdtreedeal split physical and magic damage, meaning players will want to invest at least 50 stat points into either Intelligence or Faith along with either Strength or Dexterity, depending on which stats a new piece of gear scales best with.
Blessings Are More Important Overall in Shadow of the Erdtree, But Stat Soft Caps Still Matter
One thing that has greatly changed with the DLC is the existence of the Scadutree and Revered Spirit Ash Blessings. These new player buffs work exclusively within the confines of the Shadow Realm from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and don’t have an impact on players' time in The Lands Between, but they are practically necessary to collect to have any hope of besting any of theElden RingDLC’s new bosses. In fact, both FromSoftware andElden Ring’s publisher Bandai/Namco have each taken to Twitter to remind players to collect the Scadutree fragments if they’re feeling “stuck” anywhere in the DLC.
However, soft caps for stats are still an important aspect of character builds that arguably matter more now than ever, especially in the wake of dozens of new items being introduced intoElden Ring’s meta. Players' existing builds from the base game are still viable in the DLC, but the existence of new items and the potential for builds to be based around them suggests that FromSoftware intended for players to experiment. When crafting a new build, it’s important to get the most out of a limited pool of stat points by maximizing their effectiveness and keeping soft caps in mind.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
WHERE TO PLAY
Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware’s groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.
