Shadow of the Erdtree is out at the end of the month, but I was lucky enough to get to play three hours of the upcoming Elden Ring DLC recently as part of a preview event. Consequently I already have my build picked out, one entirely focused on the new weapon type: Martial Arts. Monk builds aren't just for Baldur's Gate 3 anymore, it seems - now you can throw hands in the Lands Between as well.
When given my preview of the DLC, Bandai Namco were quick to provide some context that Shadow of the Erdtree would come with a staggering range of gear; over 100 new weapons and eight new weapon types among them. One of those immediately spoke to me: Martial Arts, a real departure from classic FromSoftware operating procedure. It's rare in any Soulsborne games to go into an encounter without your hands being full - either with tempered steel or arcane fire. Well, not any more.
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Of all the new weapons I was given to try out, two of them fell under the Martial Arts bracket - though calling them weapons is only true in the technical sense. In reality they were each their own pair of gloves equippable in the weapon slot that I guess… somehow imbue the wearer with black belt-level ass kicking abilities.
One was the Dryleaf Arts, a dexterity-focused combat style based around rapid strikes. The other: the Red Bear's Claw, which focuses on strength builds, bleed damage, and sounding delicious. It was the former that I got the most glee out of, running in and indiscriminately brutalizing's the hapless warriors, scorpions, ghosts and necrotic peacocks of the Belurat ruins. The individual punches in Martial Arts don't do much damage (at least from my experience), but you're throwing out dozens of them in a flash, and the ability to chain strikes together fluidly without loss of momentum is fantastic, typing complex combos on an enemy's nose.
Punch drunk
Beyond damage, Martial Arts are devastating on an enemy's poise in a way that almost no other weapon in Elden Ring seems to be. Whenever a burly knight would advance on me with sword drawn, I'd roll under the first swing and come up in a barrage of melee strikes that sent him reeling and left him wide open to have his heart ripped out of his chest, Temple of Doom style. Other times I'd go sprinting into a sepulchral temple and announce myself to the slathering horror squatting inside with a flying kick to the head.
Equipped with one of these new Arts, Elden Ring almost feels like a whole new game at times, though hardly an easier one. I admit that while beating up regular schmoes with palm strikes usually went well enough, stunlocking a giant boss was like trying to nuzzle your way through a statue, though perhaps the time and opportunity to craft my own custom build will help there. Either way, I'm looking forward to sparring my way through the Realm of Shadow when the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC drops on 21 June.
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