Here are some small but helpful tips for starting Shadow of the Erdtree

Before Shadow of the Erdtree finally goes live, Bandai Namco has implemented a patch that adds a couple of small features and updates just in time for the DLC’s launch in a few short hours. FromSoftware also shared a new launch trailer to herald the DLC’s arrival, but it’s chockful of spoilers, so beware. The update isn’t particularly earth-shattering, but it does include some things worth keeping in mind before all you Tarnished get your head beat in by the vicious monsters patrolling the Shadow Lands.

Firstly, we get new hair options! I was pretty down on Elden Ring’s character creator for its lack of Black hairstyles. It just didn’t make sense that the character creator was so robust and detailed but lacked hairstyles that represent a good chunk of the human population. There are five new styles to choose from, with two of them being dreadlocks. I chose the loose loc option so my Tarnished can finally get rid of her abhorrent pigtails. I’m not sure if the “white hairs” option was present in the base game or a new addition with this patch, but I really like how it adds gray to my locs, reminding me of when I started picking out errant gray hairs when I had locs.

To change your appearance, all you have to do is visit Fia, Deathbed Companion’s room at the Roundtable Hold. She should have a mirror you can interact with that will let you change your appearance. However! If you’re like me and have completed Fia’s questline, neither she nor her mirror will be present at the Roundtable Hold. Instead, travel to the Raya Lucaria Grand Library site of grace and talk to Rennala. You’ll be able to change your appearance through her.

Secondly — and this is arguably the best little housekeeping update the game has had — the new patch lets you see all your recently acquired items. From now on, new items you pick up either in the Lands Between or the DLC’s Shadow Lands will be marked with a little exclamation point. The game will even collect those new items under their own tab, though that “new items” tab isn’t enabled by default. You have to go into the game’s settings and select the “Show recent items tab” option.

It was extremely helpful in my journey to see the new items and equipment I picked up so I could compare them to the stuff I’d been carrying around for the last 100 hours. Without it, I would have missed the new “Festive Grease” item that increases the number of runes you earn every time you land an attack and the little notes I picked in my travels that hint at where to go next. The “new items” feature makes choosing the right gear and weapons to tackle all the new threats in Shadows of the Erdtree so much easier. Enable it right away.

Beyond that, the patch adds a bunch of weapon balance changes and helpfully tweaks the summoning pool feature for folks who need help taking down Mohg, Lord of Blood, in order to access the DLC. The new patch will also let you summon your faithful horse-goat Torrent during the Elden Beast fight, which will undoubtedly make that final encounter loads easier. You can read the patch notes in detail here.