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One of the coolest new weapons introduced inElden Ring’sShadow Of The ErdtreeDLC is the Sacred Dryleaf Arts, a fighting style that allows your character to use martial arts to defeat their enemies. From flying kicks to fast punches, this weapon has long combos that can break through an enemy’s defenses. By winning a fighting game-esque duel, you can claim the techniques of this martial art for yourself.
Similar to otherHand-to-Hand weapons inElden Ring, such as theSpiked CaestusorHookclaws, the Dryleaf Arts act as a single tool automatically equipped to both hands. While some weapons can be used one-handed or two-handed, the Dryleaf Arts can only be used in your right-hand equipment slot. This still gives you the full moveset of the weapon, including its powerful Ash of War skill.
Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree’s Map Size Compared To The Base Game
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree takes players to the Land of Shadow, which has a significantly different scale and design than the Lands Between.
Where To Find The Dryleaf Arts Weapon
Accept A Monk’s Challenge To Fight
The process for getting the Dryleaf Arts is fairly complicated, as you have toobtain a gesture and use it in front of an NPC to challenge them to a duel. When you enter the Scadu Altus map in theShadow of the ErdtreeDLC, you may meet the NPC namedDryleaf Danenear the Moorth Ruins Site of Grace on your map. This warrior may be one of thebest characters inElden Ringyou meet for their simple philosophy of battle.
Go to the Highroad Cross Site of Gracein Acadu Altus, where you can see a glowing mark on the ground indicating a few items you can pick up. Interacting with the glowing mark will give you theMonk’s Missiveand theMay the Best Win emoteused to get the Dryleaf Arts. The Missive is a note containing a message from Dryleaf Dane, along with an image of the emote you also picked up.
Emotes inElden Ringcan be selected by navigating through the menu to the"Gestures"option on the right-hand side of your Pouch. Highlight specific gestures to have your character perform them as emotes.
The Monk’s Missive states,“Seek me to the east if you wish to pursue the way of the warrior. When you find me, you will challenge me to a bout. There is no need for words.“This tells you that youmust perform the May the Best Win emote in front of Dryleaf Daneto start a duel with the monk. Doing this will teleport you and Dane into a private arena where your character can fight the warrior in a 1v1 brawl.
How To Defeat Dryleaf Dane
Stay Away And Use Magical Attacks
The best strategy to beat Dryleaf Dane quickly is touse weapons with a longer range than the monk’s limbsoractivate strong magic attacksto keep up the pressure from afar. The arena where you fight Dryleaf Dane is an enclosed space with borders marked with magical light gray walls. The fast monk has little armor, causing them to be a speedy opponent who can rush your character down quickly.
Similar to theBeast Claws inElden Ringalso introduced inShadow Of The Erdtree, the Dryleaf Arts can kill targets by locking them in an inescapable combo with a single hit. You need toavoid Dryleaf Daneby dodging away and waiting for small windows to retaliate. Those with magic can simply stand far enough away to shoot accurate spells at Dane, but the monk’s movements might still make them hard to pin down.
Dryleaf Dane acts like Tarnished or other"human"bosses in the game, who are all able to be knocked out of attack animations if you damage their Poise enough.
In addition to the Dryleaf Arts,Dane can use Faith magic to throw circular disksat your character when you get out of range. These attacks are easily dodged, but only if you know the right timing. Dane also likes to use a large shockwave attack in front of them when their health gets low, so be prepared to back off once you land a series of attacks on offense during this fight.
How To Use The Sacred Dryleaf Arts (Stats, Damage Scaling, Ash of War)
Best Paired With A Strength Build
The Dryleaf Arts areone of thebest Strength scaling weaponsinElden Ringalongside most of the other Hand-to-Hand weapons in the game. Once you obtain the martial arts style from defeating Dryleaf Dane, your characterneeds to have certain stat requirementsto wield the weapon properly. Without some points invested in certain attributes, you won’t be able to utilize this weapon’s maximum damage output.
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The Dryleaf Artshave a much higher damage scaling through Strength when upgradedwith Smithing Stones throughout your adventures in the DLC. These marital art techniques come with basic light and heavy attacks that combo together, but they also have a unique Ash of War skill. For 14 FP every time you use it, you may deliver a devastatingPalm Strikeshockwave similar to the one Dryleaf Dane performed before.
As you’re able to see in the above video by YouTube creatorNyce Gaming, the Dryleaf Arts' Ash of War attack can be used to stagger some enemies by breaking their Poise. This technique highlights the best qualities of this weapon, whose basic attacks shred through enemy defenses. Unlike some Hand-to-Hand weapons, the Dryleaf Arts have sweeping strikes that can hit multiple targets when you’re trapped by an enemy group.
It is worth noting that theDryleaf Arts don’t carry any elemental damagesbeyond Physical, so don’t expect any Holy or Fire strikes unless you use a consumable. The critical attack of this weapon is high, giving it the ability to deliver deadly blows. Those who get the Sacred Dryleaf Arts in theShadow Of The ErdtreeDLC forElden Ringwill have to adjust to this unorthodox fighting style to use the weapon consistently.
