Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, despite receiving near-unanimous praise from critics ahead of its release, has found itself embroiled in an impassioned debate regarding the merits of its difficulty. The expansion is certainly a step up in challenge compared to the base game, with major bosses like Messmer the Impaler causing trouble for players even after FromSoftware's latest calibration patch, which significantly improves power scaling in The Land of Shadow.