How To Reach Abyssal Woods In Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree

The world of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree holds many secrets, and one of these leads to a rather harrowing experience. Not only do you need to find a hidden passageway, but you must also delve deeper into the darkness and survive against invulnerable foes. Here's our guide on how to reach the Abyssal Woods in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains spoilers.How to reach the Abyssal Woods in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree - Secret area guideTo Abyssal Woods in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is in the central portion of the world map. Curiously enough, this entire place is covered in a fog of war, and you might wrack your brain trying to figure out how to access it. The secret itself lies in the foreboding fortress of Shadow Keep. How to unlock Abyssal Woods mapThe process to unlock the Abyssal Woods requires you to reach the Shadow Keep legacy dungeon, which is somewhat comparable to Leyndell Royal Capital in the base game. From there, you must head south by following the Recluses River. Where to go once you're in Shadow Keep?Here's what you need to do once you're in Shadow Keep:Defeat the Golden Hippopotamus boss at the main entrance.Traverse the ramparts and barracks until you reach the path that leads to the Specimen Storehouse (i.e. the one with the lift that's guarded by a Fire Knight).In the particular spot you see in the image above, there's a well-hidden ladder that you can use to climb down. The painting roomClimb down the first ladder and pass through the canal to see, yup, another ladder. Further down below is a small storage room with a secret painting. There's nothing else here, right? Well, no, not quite.Hit the wall to the right of the painting to reveal that it's just an illusion. Follow the tunnel until you see a coffin. The coffin ride to the Ruins of UnteInteract with the coffin and watch the cutscene (which will remind you of a certain moment in the base game). Anyway, once your character wakes up, you'll realize you're in the watering hole area, the lake below Shadow Keep. The Ruins of Unte is also nearby. Keep going south along Recluses RiverFollow Recluses River downstream and you'll be one step closer to reaching the Abyssal Woods in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. However, we do want to remind you that there are some goodies in this area:The East Nameless Mausoleum can be found close to the Recluses River Downstream waypoint.You could also acquire the Dryleaf Dane set from the base of the waterfall.At the part with the steep drop, you can either jump down from the ledges (left-hand side) or take the narrow cliffside path (right-hand side). If you head to the right, you can pick up an ash summon.A couple of hippopotamus enemies at the left-hand drop Scadutree Fragments. Darklight CatacombsIn the mist-covered base of the plateau, you'll see the Darklight Catacombs. This is a large dungeon that's crawling with Imps and other dangerous denizens. One, in particular, is a Bigmouth Imp that can blast you with its cannon.The most unique characteristic of this dungeon is that several floors are completely pitch-black, making navigation very hard. However, if you pull the levers that you find, they will activate nearby torches. Additionally, you can throw Glowstones to help light the way. Inquisitor JoriThis boss awaits you once you reach the exit of the Darklight Catacombs. He shoots multiple holy projectiles, and he can even spawn ripping tornadoes. Worse, he summons other inquisitor-type mobs, such as the Chubby Inquisitor that likes to jump to squash you. Eliminate this boss to receive the Barbed Staff-Spear, which is one of the new DLC weapons. The madness in the Abyssal WoodsAfter exiting Darklight Catacombs, you'll find yourself in the Abyssal Woods in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Congratulations! You just accessed one of the game's secret areas. But, your trials have only just begun. Here's what you can expect:Torrent will be terrified in this region, which means you won't be able to mount up. You can only explore this area while on foot.A certain invader-type enemy, the Madding Hand, is wandering this place. Take him out to acquire a weapon that inflicts the madness debuff.The most dangerous foes you'll encounter in this secret region are the Mushroom Clickers--they look like the Clickers from The Last of Us and they have glowing, spore-laden fungi for heads. These creatures are invulnerable, and they will chase you down to inflict the madness debuff consistently until you're dead. Your only recourse is to stay stealthed by crouching and using tall grass to hide. Where should you go in Abyssal Woods?There are five waypoints in the Abyssal Woods proper, including the Church Ruins to the southeast. Your goal, however, is to head all the way to the southwest. There, you'll find a dungeon called Midra's Manse, which happens to have a major (but optional) boss. You can learn about the other great foes in our bosses guide.That does it for our guide on how to reach the Abyssal Woods in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Since there are other regions that you can visit, you might want to check our guides regarding the Cerulean Coast/Charo's Hidden Grave, Jagged Peak, Ancient Ruins of Rauh, and Hinterlands (secret northeast region).Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree takes you to the Realm of Shadow where you have to search for Miquella the Empyrean. If you're looking for more tips and tactics, you can head over to our guides hub.