While I had a relatively easy time on my first character through the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC for Elden Ring, other characters have struggled a bit. My very first, an Int-focused spellcaster/Darkmoon Greatsword-wielder, hit some of the bosses that only took me one or two attempts on my Strength/Faith/dual-greatsword/jump build and really struggled - Gaius, in particular, which only took me two attempts the first time around because I blundered into his arena without realizing I was walking into a boss fight, proved a bit of a wall.
So, I've taken by Dex/Int character, who in the main game was using Moonveil and a Cold Uchigatana dual-wielded, I've sort of adapted to now use a Cold Milday with the Wing Stance ash of war. The L2 Wing Stance leap-and-thrust hits very hard, and while the timing can be tough on bosses, it's been proving pretty good.
After reaching Messmer, but not yet attempting him, I found myself eager to clear some of the optional areas/bosses. While not quite as efficient as my "main" character, I was able to clear the Scadutree Avatar in maybe 4 attempts and Gaius in I believe 3. Interestingly, Midra, who took me only I think one attempt on my original character, was actually pretty tough - I came back after getting the giant number of Scadutree Fragments after Gaius and didn't have too much trouble after that - Midra in particular was an important boss for this character, who is the one I got the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending on (unfortunately, as a character with only 8 Faith, I don't actually get to use a lot of the Frenzied Flame incantations or weapons. I'm tempted to make a character specifically to use those, but I also understand it's more of a PvP power, as most creatures are immune to madness).
I also went off and descended into the big fissure to fight the Putrescent Knight. Somewhat like Midra's Manor, the dungeon itself felt surprisingly quick (especially compared to how I remembered it). So, now, I'm at Bayle and have yet to do much of the Ymir/Metyr questline (other than just meeting Ymir) but I think I might do all of those before taking on Messmer (I also have access to Rauh - it's funny that Messmer is kind of in this out-of-the-way side-chamber in the Shadow Keep despite being the main boss shown in the DLC trailers. FromSoft loves doing this, like making Artorias or Maria the real faces of their games' DLCs but not the final boss of either. Anyway, the Putrescent Knight only took me two attempts (and I nearly got it on the first). I'm not sure at what point in the sequence Thiollier will tell you he's headed south, but I think you can summon him against the Knight. Even if you don't, though, he'll still be around for his questline.
I have been tempted to return to other FromSoft games - indeed, since playing Elden Ring I have also gone back to Bloodborne (which I still adore) but I don't think I've revisited Dark Souls III (Dark Souls I I had on the Xbox 360, which I'm not sure even works anymore). It would be amazing to see a Bloodborne II with some of the quality-of-life improvements we got in Elden Ring, such as a Jump button. Indeed, it's be very cool to see a Bloodborne sequel that embraces the variety of gameplay styles you get in Dark Souls/Elden Ring, while still retaining its distinctive style (and Trick weapons).
I'm given to understand that they recently stated there aren't currently any plans for an Elden Ring sequel. I love Elden Ring, but I also understand that building a world as astonishingly massive as Elden Ring, and then following it up with a "this could be its own game"-sized DLC with Shadow of the Erdtree, they might want to take a break from all that. Assuming they still want to iterate on the Demon's Souls formula as they have been for the past 15 years, I suspect we'll get something more like the earlier titles than Elden Ring's massive open world. That said, I hope they try to implement the same kind of flexibility found in Elden Ring to keep future games from having a brick wall you need to break through. At least on my first playthrough, the very early parts of Bloodborne, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls III were all really frustratingly difficult, with very little recourse if you got stuck. All of these games kind of smooth out as you get far enough to be able to upgrade a bit (the fact that Bloodborne and DSIII don't even let you level up until you've made a bit of progress is kind of obnoxious. Technically Elden Ring does that, but as long as you don't try to fight the Erdtree Sentinel, it's really not asking a ton for you to get to the Gate Town Ruins to meet Melina).
Elden Ring is, I think, a better game for your ability to hold off on certain challenges. If you're getting your ass kicked by Margit the Fell Omen, you have all of Limgrave to explore and level-up through.
Anyway, thinking back to the Shadow of the Erdtree, I do feel like the DLC seems to favor builds that can land really big hits. I've done best when I can do by Wing Stance thrust, and my main character was rolling in like he had in the base game by slamming two big greatswords down on his targets. Elden Ring generally has easier-to-stagger enemies than in Dark Souls, and it seems those really heavy hits tend to do a better job of getting foes to that point.
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