Summary
SomeElden Ringfans believe that Shadow of the Erdtree won’t feature Sites of Grace. The upcomingElden RingDLC may instead replace these checkpoints with something else.
Elden Ring’s Sites of Graceserve as the game’s equivalent of Bonfires fromDark Souls. Resting at one resets all nearby enemies and allows players to level up, upgrade their flasks, change spell memorization, and mix Wondrous Physick, among other activities.
Shadow of the Erdtree May Replace Elden Ring’s Sites of Grace with Miquella’s Runes
Following the May 21 debut of theElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreestory trailer, some fans have grown convinced that Sites of Grace won’t be making a return in the upcoming expansion. According to that theory, which recently gainedsome tractionon social media, the base game’s checkpoints may be replaced by Miquella’s Runes, which are assumed to be functionally similar, if not identical. This idea is largely based on the observation that the DLC’s story trailer features no fewer than four depictions of Runes emerging from a grounded source of light that appears to resemble a Site of Grace. The theory is substantiated by the fact that not a single actual Site of Grace is depicted in the video.
Neither the new trailer nor previous promotional materials for the expansion explicitly identify these mysterious sites as Miquella’s Runes. But seeing how their design clearly points to them being some kind of Great Runes and in light of the fact that FromSoftware President Hidetaka Miyazaki said thatElden Ringplayers would be following in Miquella’s footsteps in Shadow of the Erdtree, many fans are now convinced that these are indeed Miquella’s Runes.
That theory is also substantiated by Miyazaki likening Miquella’s footsteps to the “blessings from Grace” that players follow over the course of the main story in the Lands Between. The DLC’s first two trailers also hinted that the Land of Shadow may be entirely devoid of the Grace of Gold, so assuming that there are no Sites of Grace to be found there doesn’t seem like too big of a stretch, according to some fans.
This theory will be confirmed or debunked no later than June 21, when Shadow of the Erdtree is scheduled to release for PC and consoles. In the meantime, Bandai Namco is likely to continuesharing details about the upcomingElden RingDLC, which the publisher has already been doing ever since dropping its first trailer back in late February 2024. Shadow of the Erdtree can currently be pre-ordered for $39.99, or bought bundled with the base game for $79.99.
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ELDEN RING, developed by FromSoftware, Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to date. Hidetaka Miyazaki - President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls.George R.R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire - A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with the lovely Parris in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
