What To Do After Divine Beast Dancing Lion in Elden Ring DLC

After you conquer Belurat and beat down the Divine Beast Dancing Lion boss, you’ll promptly find your progress up the tower in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is blocked by vines of shadow. You can’t break these just yet, so the question is: where next? Assuming you’ve already dropped by all the locations in our list of first stops, including Prospect Town and Abandoned Ailing Village, here’s where to go after Divine Beast Dancing Lion in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.

1. Castle Ensis

The in-game map for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree with an arrow pointing to Ensis Castle — ©FromSoftware / Restart

The next main stop (though entirely skippable) on Kindly Miquella’s trail is Castle Ensis, reached by heading northeast over the bridge from Three Pass Cross. Be warned: you’ll need to dodge ballista fire and battle through an encampment to reach it. Be sure to snag the Firespark Perfume Bottle from a chest on the east side of the camp as you pass, and also the Scadutree Fragment from below a statue closer to the castle.

Head up to Ensis itself and beat the troll at the entrance and you’ll find the gates locked, but you can work your way inside by dropping down a hole nearby to the entrance, on the opposite side to the Site of Grace. The castle itself holds plenty of interesting items, including Milady, one of the DLC’s new light greatsword weapons.

The player collects the Milady weapon from castle ensis in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree — ©FromSoftware / Restart

Reach the end of Castle Ensis and you'll need to prepare for a challenging fight against Rellana, Twin Moon Knight. We won't spoil the fight, but will offer one tip: be ready to jump when the moment comes. With her taken out, you’ll gain access to Scadu Altus, a massive new region for you to explore.

2. Fort of Reprimand / Ellac River

An annotated map from Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree showing the locations of Ellac River Cave and Fort of Reprimand — ©FromSoftware / Restart

If you don’t fancy Ensis or are tired of falling foul of Rellana, Fort of Reprimand offers an alternate route up to Scadu Altus – one which doesn’t demand you face a boss. To reach it, head from the Castle Front Site of Grace outside of Castle Ensis. Instead of following the road, head down hill, following the lower path (just left of the route to Ruined Forge Lava Intake).

The player rides a horse toward a split path. An Arrow points left to the lower route. — ©FromSoftware / Restart

Stick on this path, hugging the cliff to your left until you reach a small poison swamp. From here you can head left and down to reach Ellac River, the lower waterway. Or you can continue along the cliffs toward Fort of Reprimand.

For the latter, you’ll pass a sealed spiritspring (the big rushing gusts of air that Torrent and leap upwards upon). To activate it, follow the path along until you see a shack called Elder’s Hovel. Grab the Talisman of the Dread within, then double back on the upper path. You’ll find a small pile of stones on the level above the spiritspring. Hit them to break them and unseal the spiritspring.

The player rides a horse beside a spiritspring in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree — ©FromSoftware / Restart

Leaping upwards on it and the further spiritspring above will take you high into Fort of Reprimand, where a Site of Grace will be close at hand. Fort of Reprimand is filled with several Omenkillers, but your sneaky entrance route opens the chance for some stealth attacks. There are multiple Sites of Grace within the castle grounds, and once you open the main entrance you’ll be free to head forth into Scadu Altus.

One chamber of Fort Reprimand is home to the Black Knight Edredd boss. He’s tough but entirely optional. Activate the nearby Site of Grace, then return when you’re ready to face him and snag the flashy Aspects of the Crucible: Wings Ash of War as your reward.

3. Dragon’s Pit and the southern coast

A towering mountain of stone looms before the player who stands with a sword in hand in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree — ©FromSoftware / Restart

Another path open to you lies to the south, hidden through a small dungeon. Take the road south from Castle Front outside Ensis, this time staying on the left path and the higher road. When you pass through a field of long, tall ghost worm creatures, your path splits. Head up and you’ll reach the Suppressing Pillar with a valuable Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone at the top.

The Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree map with arrows showing where to go to reach the Dragon's Pit — ©FromSoftware / Restart

Take the path to the right and you’ll enter a valley with several gravebirds and a surprisingly weak Ancient Dragon-Man invader. Take him out and keep going to reach the Dragon Pit. This dungeon is actually a gateway. Complete it and you’ll open the path toward the Grand Altar of Dragon Communion. You’ll need to take out a dragon to get there, but by this point you should be well versed in clipping the wings of Elden Ring's oversized salamanders.

The player arrives at Charo's Hidden Grave, a rocky, grassy area with flowers growing. — ©FromSoftware / Restart

Scale the giant dragon’s corpse at the Grand Altar and you can head beyond to Charo’s Hidden Grave. There’s another nasty boss here in the form of a deathbird, but also plenty of paths onward to explore new regions. It’s also utterly gorgeous, which is reason enough to head over for a visit.

4. Fog Rift Catacombs

The map showing the location of Fog Rift Catacombs in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree — ©FromSoftware / Restart

If you'd prefer a more northerly expedition, the Fog Rift Catacombs can be reached be heading up through the woods from the Castle Front Site of Grace. Dash or fight past the soldier and smaller enemies to eventually reach an underground tomb.

The player collects the Black Knight Commander Andreus spirit ashes from the Fog Rift Catacombs in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree — ©FromSoftware / Restart

The Fog Rift Catacombs are laced with traps and secret paths. Be sure to explore them thoroughly (and carefully) to secure the Black Knight Commander Ashes. An extra word of warning though: watch out for the Death Knight boss's grab attack. Suffice to say, it's not a pleasant experience.

Those are the four main paths open to you after Divine Beast Dancing Lion. Each one has its own challenges, but the beauty of an open world is that you can hop between each as you see fit. And if you haven't visited them yet, make sure to head to our recommended early locations too. Good luck, Tarnished!