Elden Ring: All Status Effects & How They Expanded In Shadow Of The Erdtree

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Elden Ring

Elden Ring's combat system includes unique damage types referred to as "status effects" comprised of seven different "conditions" that affect players and NPCs in various ways, and Shadow of the Erdtree expanded on these status effects by adding new items and areas. Tarnished will encounter these unique status effects as they explore the Lands Between and the Shadow Realm. The effects build up over time on a status bar and start to inflict damage after reaching the threshold. Status effects can be used to the Tarnished's advantage depending on the type of Buffs/Debuffs and other gear they have equipped.

Status effects can result from weapon and shield skills or passives, specific environments or regions (typically for lore-related reasons), spells or incantations, consumables, and much more. The DLC expanded the library of available items that implement status effect buildup, as well as status effects found in environments like The Abyssal Woods, a madness-infested new region in Shadow of the Erdtree. Understanding each of these statuses, how to counteract them, where to avoid them, and when they can be used to the Tarnished's advantage will make exploration of the Lands Between and Land of Shadow much more manageable.

1 Poison

Deadly Venom: Poison's Lethal Potential

POISON OVERVIEW*

Resist Stat / Attribute	Resist/Cure Skills, Items & Spells	Offensive Skills, Items & Spells	Unique Armor	Unique Talisman	Locations Affected	Variant
Immunity / Vigor	Immunizing Cured Meat, Immunizing Horn Charm (+1), Neutralizing Boluses, Cure Poison , Flame, Cleanse Me, etc.	Poison Moth Flight Skill, Deadly Poison Spray, Ant's Skull Plate, Poisoned Hand, Tooth Whip	Mushroom Set, Guardian Garb (Full Bloom)	Kindred of Rot's Exultation	The Shaded Castle, Stillwater Cave, Sewer Level of the Belurat Tower Settlement	Deadly Poison
*Only limited examples are provided for all overview charts on this list.

Once the Poison effect has reached its threshold, it inflicts a small amount of damage (based on the weapon used) each second for an extended duration or until the effect is removed/cured with spells like Cure Poison or consumables like Neutralizing Boluses. Poison also has an advanced variant called Deadly Poison, which deals roughly twice the damage as regular Poison, but for a third of the time. Shadow of the Erdtree added many Deadly Poison items, including the Poisoned Hand and the Tooth Whip, which trigger certain passive Poison-dependent buffs more often than the regular variant.

The Poisoned Hand and Madding Hand fist weapons can be equipped in the off-hand to take advantage of their passive abilities, even if the player doesn't have the stats required to use them . For example, the Poisoned Hand requires 28 Arcane, but can be equipped in the offhand for the passive damage increase, even with an Arcane score below 28.

Poisonous effects can be enhanced with items like the Mushroom Crown , and by self-inflicting poison damage with items like the Raw Meat Dumpling, players can trigger passives from Poisoned Hand and Kindred of Rot's Exultation. Poison also scales with Arcane, boosting the effect's build-up rate on enemies, though the resulting damage will be the same. To resist poison, players should invest stat points in Vigor and focus on boosting Immunity. In the Lands Between, Poison is found when facing Miranda Sprouts, while exploring the Witchbane Ruins or The Shaded Castle, or in the DLC's Belurat Tower Settlement in the sewers.

2 Scarlet Rot

Rotting from Within: Scarlet Rot's Corrosive Effects

SCARLET ROT OVERVIEW

Resist Stat / Attribute	Resist/Cure Skills, Items & Spells	Offensive Skills, Items & Spells	Unique Armor	Unique Talisman	Locations Affected
Immunity / Vigor	Immunizing Cured Meat, Immunizing Horn Charm, Preserving Boluses, Law of Regression, etc.	Rotten Staff, Poleblade of the Bud, Ash of War: The Poison Flower Blooms Twice, Rotten Breath, Rotten Butterflies, Cleanrot Spear	Mushroom Crown	Kindred of Rot's Exultation	Swamp of Aeonia; Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree; Church of the Bud; Lake of Rot

While Scarlet Rot is similar to Poison, it deals damage over time based on the target's max HP — damage does not scale with the weapon being used. Scarlet Rot deals damage at a quicker rate than Poison, lasting slightly less time. Tarnished will be more than familiar with this status effect after traveling through Caelid or in certain areas of the Land of Shadow, such as the Church of the Bud. Preserving Boluses or spells such as the Law of Regression can be used to mitigate or cure Scarlet Rot's effects, as well as high Immunity.

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Defensively speaking, the Cleanrot Spear's passive ability boosts Immunity by 50 and helps mitigate both Poison and Rot. SOTE expanded on the many options for dealing Scarlet Rot damage with spells such as Rotten Butterflies and the Poison Flower Blooms Twice Ash of War. Players will also find the Poleblade of the Bud at the Church of the Bud in the Land of Shadow. Because Poison and Scarlet Rot are quite similar in how they function, gear such as the Mushroom Crown, Poisoned Hand, and the Kindred of Rot's Exultation talisman work well in a build incorporating either one.

3 Blood Loss (Hemorrhage)

Hemorrhagic Shock: Managing Blood Loss

Elden Ring Boss Mohg, Lord Of Blood, with his arms spread wide.

Blood Loss, otherwise known as Hemorrhage in Elden Ring, functions much differently from both Poison and Rot and arguably is one of the most effective build types in the game (FromSoftware has updated many Bleed-based mechanics since launch). To inflict bleed, blood loss must exceed the target's Robustness level, which immediately causes damage based on Max HP and up to +200 additional damage based on the weapon used, such as Morgott's Cursed Sword. Further, Hemorrhage combined with high Arcane will multiply damage output exponentially, especially when combined with blood-based gear such as the White Mask and Rivers of Blood.

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Blood Loss is integral part of Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree, with bosses such as Mohg, Lord of Blood, the Ancient Dragon Man, and the Chief Bloodfiend. To mitigate Blood Loss, invest in Endurance for higher Robustness, which will raise the amount of bleed Tarnished can endure, or keep some Stanching Boluses on hand. For builds incorporating various bleed effects, the Lord of Blood's Exultation raises attack power by 20% for 20 seconds when blood loss occurs nearby. Another essential set comes from SOTE, Ansbach's Set, with each piece boosting bleed damage by 3–5%.

4 Frostbite

Frozen in Fear: Frostbite's Paralyzing Grip

FROSTBITE OVERVIEW

Resist Stat/Attribute	Resist/Cure Skills, Items & Spells	Offensive Skills, Items & Spells	Unique Armor	Locations Affected
Robustness / Endurance	Bestial Constitution, Thawfrost Boluses, Invigorating Cured Meat, Stalwart Horn Charm (+2), Flame, Cleanse Me	Dark Moon Greatsword, Putrescence Cleaver, Freezing Mist, Ghostflame Breath, Borealis's Mist	Snow Witch Hat	Consecrated Snowfield, Mountaintops of the Giants, Freezing Lake

Unlike the previous status effects, Frostbite deals a small amount of damage once inflicted but increases damage taken by 20% for thirty seconds. Importantly, the effect will not begin to build up again until the thirty seconds subsides or the Debuff is removed. Frostbite has unique properties and can (logically) be removed by interacting with any source of fire, such as Flame, Cleanse Me or Fire's Deadly Sin. For Tarnished without quick access to fire, Thawfrost Boluses and Invigorating Cured Meat will help. Similar to Blood Loss, Frostbite can be mitigated further with high Robustness, raised through the Endurance stat.

Status effects will typically function differently in PvP and PvE, with damage and build-up times being lower to avoid giving any one type an unfair edge. Items such as Rivers of Blood were heavily nerfed to avoid PvP players taking advantage of the overpowered status effects.

Tarnished who explored the Mountaintops of the Giants will remember Borealis, the Freezing Fog and his Frostbite Incantation, Borealis's Mist. Some interesting SOTE additions to the Frostbite catalog include the Putrescence Cleaver and the Vortex of Putrescence, dropped from the Putrescent Knight at the entrance to St. Trina's cave. Frostbite can also be encountered in the Land of Shadow when facing the many Ghostflame Dragons, as well as Demi-Human Swordmaster Onze in Belurat Gaol. One important caveat: despite seeming like it should, Frostbite does not scale with Intelligence, though many Frostbite weapons deal Magic damage that does.

5 Sleep

Restless Repose: Sleep's Unsettling Consequences

Shadow of the Erdtree wrapped in purple.

SLEEP OVERVIEW

Resist Stat/Attribute	Resist/Cure Skills, Items & Spells*	Offensive Skills, Items & Spells*	Unique Armor	Unique Talisman	Locations Affected	Variant
Focus / Mind	Clarifying Cured Meat, Clarifying Horn Charm +1, Stimulating Boluses, Lucidity	Sword of St. Trina, Soporific Grease, Eternal Sleep Pot, Sleep Evermore	St. Trina's Blossom	St. Trina's Smile	Consecrated Snowfield, Stone Coffin Fissure, Garden of Deep Purple	Eternal Sleep

True to its name, Sleep is a status effect that puts enemies asleep or into a vulnerable state that opens them up to Critical Attacks. Once the Sleep meter is filled, the target will be unable to move or attack, and Tarnished can either run away or go in for Critical Damage, after which the enemy will wake up. In Shadow of the Erdtree, this mechanic was expanded to an advanced form, Eternal Sleep. This functions similarly to Sleep, but the enemy will not wake up after being attacked and isn't prone to a Critical Attack.

All Status Effects have different results when used on bosses versus regular enemies. Some bosses are vulnerable to specific effects, such as Sleep on the Godskin Apostles, while others are immune or resistant to nearly every status effect, such as the Elden Beast.

In addition to Deep Sleep, SOTE introduced a handful of Sleep-related loot, such as St. Trina's Blossom, St. Trina's Smile, the Velvet Sword of St. Trina, and the Sleep Evermore skill, as well as an entire area dedicated to St. Trina herself, the Garden of Deep Purple. Both Sleep and Eternal Sleep have some quirks: the effect has a chance to result in the enemy shaking itself awake mid-animation, returning to combat and resetting the status bar. Sleep is mitigated primarily through Focus, which is boosted through Mind, but Stimulating Boluses and spells like Lucidity also counter the effects.

6 Madness

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The Madness status effect is one that, once triggered, deals damage based on Max HP, and also drains a percentage of the target's FP. In addition, an animation will play where targets spew yellow flame out of their eyeballs and grab their heads in anguish. Elden Ring veterans likely remember the Elden Ring's Frenzied Flame ending, Shabriri, and the infamously maddening Frenzy-Flaming Tower. The DLC expanded this element with Midra Lord of Frenzied Flame and the surrounding Abyssal Woods. As with Sleep, Focus can be raised to counter Madness buildup by investing stat points into Mind or by using Clarifying Boluses.

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Shadow of the Erdtree also gave players a trove of new Madness-based gear to build around, such as the Madding Hand, Black Dumpling, and Aged One's Exultation, all of which boost damage when Madness triggers nearby. Tarnished can trigger the passive effects using Howl of Shabriri, Frenzied Flame pots, or with items such as Nanaya's Torch. Tarnished will need to navigate the Abyssal Woods to get their hands on this new Madness gear, and defeat or sneak past one particularly challenging madness-afflicted enemy, the Aging Untouchable, one of whom can be defeated with a well-timed parry for the above talisman.

7 Death Blight

Eternal Darkness: Unleashing the Power of Death Blight

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree Divine Beast Dancing Lion boss from DLC expansion

DEATH BLIGHT OVERVIEW

Resist Stat/Attribute	Resist/Cure Skills, Items & Spells	Offensive Skills, Items & Spells	Unique Armor	Locations Affected
Vitality / Arcane	Prince of Death's Pustule, Rejuvenating BolusesImmutable Shield, Speckled Hardtear	Eclipse Shotel, Death Flare Skill, Death Lightning, Fia's Mist, Lhutel the Headless Ashes	Lusat's Set, Fia's Set, Deathbed Dress	Deeproot Depths, Crumbling Farum Azula

Of all the status effects in Elden Ring, Death Blight stands in a league of its own. Crucially, it only works on Tarnished, meaning it is not a viable build type for PvE. When the effect is triggered, the Tarnished is impaled by thorns and suffers Instant Death. Death Blight is most famously encountered in the Deeproot Depths and Crumbling Farum Azula, and in various locations where the terrifying Wormface enemies are found. While SOTE didn't introduce any Death Blight gear or items, the Divine Beast Dancing Lion in the Ancient Ruins of Ruah inflicts Death Blight in its second phase.

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To resist Instant Death, players will want to raise Vitality, which directly lowers Death Blight vulnerability. Increasing Arcane will raise Vitality, but the Prince of Death's Pustule talisman, Fia's Set, Lusat's Set, and the Deathbed Dress are also viable options. One unique Death Blight weapon is the Eclipse Shotel's skill, Death Flare, great for PvP. Death Blight is also mitigated with Rejuvenating Boluses, and Tarnished should be extra cautious when approaching enemies that use Death Blight. Whether it's Poison, Rot, or Death Blight, understanding Elden Ring's status effects will help the Tarnished as they journey through the Lands Between.