Out ofall the new items advertisedacross the multiple trailers forElden Ring’sShadow of the ErdtreeDLC, one of the ones that garnered the most interest was the martial art-type weapons. Turns out these are hand-to-hand martial art ‘weapons’, and there are two of them introduced in this DLC, the Dryleaf Arts and Dane’s Footwork.
Both of these items come from one specific NPC in the DLC named Dryleaf Dane, and you can absolutely get both of these weapons in one playthrough of said DLC. But, a lot of you who are only partially throughSoTEare worried that you might miss out on getting Dane’s Footwork if you progress too far or clear certain areas. So, to ease any worries, let’s go over where exactly these can be found inElden Ring.
8 Strength & 8 Dexterity
Palm Blast
Dane’s Footwork is less of a weapon inElden Ringand more of an equippable martial art. But, for the sake of the game’s mechanic, players actually ‘equip’ Dane’s Footwork in any of their weapon slots. Dane’s Footwork is a kick-based martial art that’s unique to Dryleaf Dane, and he apparently invented these martial arts while training under a waterfall. And, the guy seems to have invented a pretty powerful martial art, considering how much raw damage each of his attacks deals when you fight him at Moorth Ruins.
Mechanically Dane’s Footwork and Dryleaf Arts are very similar, the main differences being that the Dryleaf Arts are more punch-focused while Dane’s Footwork is more kick-focused.This is seen in the movesets of each of these weapon options, as Dane’s Footwork has a lot more kicks both in the light and heavy attack strings, especially if you ‘two-hand’ it, which essentially functionsas a dual-wield power stance. It’s also worth noting that you may swap the Ash of War on Dane’s Footwork just like you can for the Dryleaf Arts, and you can use the Whetblades to even make these weapons scale differently, such as making them into Keen, Cold, or Bleed weapons.
Where To Find Dane’s Footwork
You Really Can’t Miss It
As it turns out, it’s pretty much impossible to miss Dane’s Footwork if you clear all the main content ofShadow of the Erdtree.To get this Martial Art, you’ll need to defeat Leda, the Hornsent, and Dryleaf Dane in battle at Enir-Ilim, one of the final (story) areas of the DLC. Essentially, progress through this area until you arrive at the Cleansing Chamber Anteroom Site of Grace and touch said Grace to unlock it. After this, the next room you’ll enter is this gigantic arena filled with either ash or sand and you’ll see a red summon sign in the center of it after talking to Leda.Interact with this red summon sign, and say yes to fighting Leda and her allies, and you’ll be teleported into an alternate variant of this arena where the Hornsent, Dryleaf Dane, and then Leda all spawn in as NPC invaders in that order.
While you’re able to’t miss Dane’s Footwork, you can miss out on obtaining the Dryleaf Arts if you don’t fight Dryleaf Dane at the Moorth Ruins by walking up to him and using the ‘May the Best Win’ Gesture (and then beating him in the arena you’re teleported into). Dothis NPC questlinebefore lighting the shadow tree using Messmer as kindle or you’ll miss out on this martial art entirely.
This fight is incredibly chaotic, and it’s highly recommended you summon Pureblood Knight Ansbach for this fight (and a co-op partner at the Anteroom SoG if you may find one) as it’s incredibly easy to get overwhelmed in this battle. After successfully beating Leda and her allies, you’ll notice that a popup appears after defeating each individual that says ‘X has died (with X being the character’s name).
Once they’re all beaten, you’ll be taken back to the default version of this room, and you’ll see that the bodies of the NPCs you fought in the battle are now littered across the arena.Dryleaf Dane, in particular, is found slumped dead against the wall near the door leading out of this room, and interacting with his body is exactly how you get Dane’s Footwork. As stated previously, it’s pretty much impossible to ‘miss’ this weapon, as there’s no way to exclude Dryleaf Dane from this fight (AKA avoiding this questline), and there’s no way of progressing past this room to the ‘final boss’ of the DLC without beating Leda and her allies.
