Returning to the Realm of Shadow could have a different purpose this December. The Elden Ring community challenge will give players five enormous collective targets, turning familiar activities from Shadow of the Erdtree into a month-long effort. Instead of introducing another questline, Bandai Namco wants the community to work toward the same goals across every platform.
Called Path of Shadows, the initiative runs from December 1 through December 28, 2026. It is the fourth and last event of the Elden Ring Community Quests, with exclusive commemorative artwork and a Twitch chat badge announced as rewards.
Elden Ring community challenge brings five huge targets
The most interesting part of Path of Shadows is its scale. Players are not being asked to defeat a particular boss or complete a new storyline. Instead, their combined progress must reach five milestones involving locations, materials and interactions from the expansion.
Bandai Namco has established the following objectives:
- 1,000,000 Scadutree Fragments collected.
- 15,000 visits to the Abyssal Woods completed.
- 10,000 drinks of St. Trina’s Nectar consumed.
- 70,000 Larval Tears obtained.
- 500,000 Revered Spirit Ashes obtained.
These targets are deliberately varied. Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes encourage exploration and character progression, while the Abyssal Woods and St. Trina objectives draw attention to specific experiences within the expansion. Larval Tears add another collectible to the shared checklist.
Consequently, the event is not centered exclusively on combat. Its design gives returning players several reasons to revisit places and activities they may have left behind after finishing the main expansion.
How to join the Elden Ring community challenge in December
Participation is straightforward. Play Elden Ring with Shadow of the Erdtree between December 1 and December 28 and contribute toward the community objectives. Bandai Namco describes this as a collective initiative rather than a separate in-game quest.
That distinction matters. Players should not expect a newly added mission or an individual five-step questline. The challenge uses activities already found in Shadow of the Erdtree, and progress is counted across the community.
However, owning only the base game is not enough to contribute to these expansion-specific objectives. Players need access to Shadow of the Erdtree, regardless of which supported platform they use.
For updates, the official Elden Ring Discord will publish progress information and reminders throughout the event. Meanwhile, the official Elden Ring website from Bandai Namco remains the publisher’s central destination for game information.
Why Path of Shadows offers a different reason to return
One of Elden Ring’s defining features is how differently players experience its world. Some carefully investigate every hidden path, while others concentrate on difficult encounters or character builds. Path of Shadows brings those different approaches together under a shared objective.
Rather than measuring individual performance, the event emphasizes accumulated community activity. A player returning to explore the Abyssal Woods contributes to the same overall initiative as someone gathering upgrade materials elsewhere in the expansion.
There is also a timely connection with Nintendo’s latest hardware. Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition arrived on Nintendo Switch 2 on August 28, 2026, bringing together the original game and Shadow of the Erdtree. That gives Switch 2 owners access to the expansion content required for December’s challenge.
For readers following Nintendo’s newer console, our Nintendo Switch 2 release calendar provides additional context about its expanding game library.
Exclusive artwork, Twitch badge and an uncertain 2027
Bandai Namco has confirmed two commemorative rewards for Path of Shadows. Artist Crisppyboat is creating exclusive artwork, while Carsondrewit has designed a St. Trina Twitch chat badge. No additional rewards have been announced.
These rewards reinforce the event’s community-focused identity. Instead of promising new weapons or equipment, the initiative highlights artwork and an online collectible connected to Elden Ring’s world.
Path of Shadows also closes a sequence of earlier events. Previous Community Quests included September’s Path of the Tarnished and November’s Path of the Elden Lord. December’s event is explicitly presented as the fourth and final entry in the initiative.
Nevertheless, that does not necessarily mean Community Quests will disappear permanently. Bandai Namco has not confirmed whether similar events will return in 2027, so any continuation remains uncertain.
For now, the Elden Ring community challenge offers a clear reason to revisit Shadow of the Erdtree before the year ends. Its success will depend on players working toward common goals, even while pursuing their own adventures. Will the community manage to complete all five milestones before December 28?
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