Road to Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Part 2 – What if Elden Ring had a Pursuer?

Dark Souls 2 was the game in the Souls saga that played around with the idea of a chase enemy of sorts. Not like one that you’d find in a modern Resident Evil Game, but boss The Pursuer. Located in early game area Forest of the Fallen Giants, he could be fought in his arena or slightly earlier in a one off encounter. He could later be found as a miniboss in Ironhearth Hall in Iron Keep where the player fights the Smelter Demon and an encounter vs two of them in Drangleic Castle’s throne room on NG+. There was also Navlaan, who invaded the player if they interacted with him in the wrong body state. In Scholar, the Forlorn could invade a vast number of places and was a nice surprise to returning players.

My point being, they’ve done it before and Elden Ring’s open world formula would have been perfect for an enemy that follows you across The Lands Between. They would appear in a multitude of places, culminating in a super boss for the final encounter.

Who could the stalker enemy be? Well if you wanted to redesign them a little and give them new purpose, the Grafted Scion seems like it could be a perfect match. They’re used rather sparingly in Elden Ring quite surprisingly – only appearing as the boss of the Chapel of Anticipation, appearing again in Stormveil Castle, there’s two in the Fringefolk Hero’s grave and one on Mt Gelmir, hinting at Godrick’s involvement in the battle of Mt Gelmir during the Shattering.

If we’re to take the Grafted Scion, perhaps mix the design with the Royal Revenants. First we change the lore – this is a bunch of Tarnished grafted together under orders from Godrick to stop us. With this in mind, I think they would only spawn once Godrick was dead. We’ll call it the Tarnished Revenant

Here’s where I think they would appear. In every encounter, they would disappear before death much like first encounter Lanseax or Adula. The full fight would be in the last encounter.

Stranded Graveyard Coast

Conditions: Beat Godrick the Grafted or Renalla, Queen of the Full Moon

For your first encounter, you would find the Tarnished Revenant in Limgrave, on the very beach the player originally started on (before it was changed for the final release). This would be your introduction to this boss and I imagine it would be more difficult than other bosses found in Limgrave or the Weeping Peninsula.

I include Renalla in the options for the conditions because while Godrick is probably the first Shardbearer the player encounters, Renalla is another good first option. If they kill the Onix Lord in Raya Lucaria, then they may want to find the one in Limgrave, where this boss would now be.

Outside Volcano Manor

Conditions: Kill Rykard (and get Tanith/Bernalh etc to move)

I think this one works based on the way Volcano Manor’s quests work. You beat Rykard. return to Tanith. Tanith then moves back to Rykard’s arena where you kill Tanith. For this, you would return to the main hall and exit out of the entrance where the Frenzied Troll was. This is where the boss would spawn.

Forbidden Lands

Conditions: None (Beat Morgott I guess)

Since the player has no reason to revisit this area (Unless they chose not to fight the Night’s Cavalry and Black Blade Kindred their first time through), this would be the only time the Tarnished Revenant would appear when the player is also visiting for the first time.

The fog that obscures vision would make for a great ambush for the boss. While it’s not something that Elden Ring does, it’d be very cool if the boss spawned at a random spot on the trail every time, just to keep the surprise up every time they play.

Leyndell, Ashen Capital (Final Encounter)

Conditions: Previous three encounters

This is the last encounter, taking place after the battle with Maliketh, the Black Blade. Head towards the Elden Throne for your usual gauntlet of Gideon/Hourax Loux/Elden Beast but head towards what was the old entrance of Leyndell to encounter the proper boss fight with the Tarnished Revenant.

I’m not actually sure what this boss fight would entail, but having a bonus secret 16th (Pre DLC) Remembrance boss would be a cool reward for people who are exploring the nooks of the Lands Between.

This part 2 of 4 articles in the Road to the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Check in tomorrow for another piece as we eagerly await the DLC’s release.