Scadutree Fragment bug is preventing Elden Ring players from reaching max level

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree introduces a new leveling system through the Scadutree Fragments. However, now a bug is preventing some players from finding them all.

Those who play through Shadow of the Erdtree in a linear fashion will soon come unstuck by some of the DLC’s double-tough bosses. To help players boost their stats and become more powerful, players are encouraged to explore the world and track down the 50 Scadutree Fragments.

Consuming these at Sites of Grace will increase their Scadutree level, but to reach the max level, they’ll need all 50 Scadutree Fragments. However, a game-breaking bug is preventing players from achieving this, essentially forcing them to face some bosses without being able to reach their full power potential.

You see, some Scadutree Fragments are held by creepy shadow people carrying pots. These enemies sparkle so are easily distinguishable from their less important counterparts. They’ll also try to escape when they spot you, giving the player a brief time window to get in, kill them, pick up the fragment, and then get away.

Should the player fail to catch one, they’ll just respawn so this can be attempted again. However, if the player kills one of these sparkly pot carriers but then dies before they pick it up, the enemy will respawn but the Scadutree Fragment won’t.

This locks the player out of retrieving them all, meaning that they can’t use all 50 and, therefore, can’t reach max level.

Since the DLC was released, players are starting to realize this and have expressed their frustration.

“I genuinely cannot f****** believe they didn’t recognize that this would be a problem and I am so f****** angry I can literally never get max level on this character on this ng cycle now. What the f***,” wrote one player on Reddit.

Another said: “Welcome to the club, I’m missing a single Scadutree Fragment from the Rauh Ruins too. It stings so much considering how little I’ve missed otherwise.”

Others questioned why the item even needs to be picked up, saying: “Why would they not just have it go straight to your inventory? It makes zero f****** sense.”

Some players were hopeful that FromSoftware would address the issue and allow the Scadutree Fragments to respawn in their pot holders, allowing players to try again: “Hopefully a patch for it soon [will be released] as it’s pretty stupid that they wouldn’t drop it again if you died before getting it.”

Chances are, this is simply an oversight by the developers and that an upcoming patch will allow players to not be locked out of reaching max level.