Walkthrough Elden Ring — West Limgrave

The western half of Limgrave stretches from the windswept highlands of Stormhill to the low-lying forests of Mistwood, and encompasses a wide variety of biomes such as lakes, beaches, plateaus and caverns. Your adventure will begin in the southern portion of this area at the Stranded Graveyard, but several neighboring territories are accessible right away either by directly crossing their borders on foot, or through teleportation. Keep in mind, however, that this region contains a large number of items specifically intended to be acquired early on, and you may find your travels unnecessarily difficult if you rush off to explore other areas without first securing the important tools in West Limgrave.

Entering Limgrave

Before you can begin exploring the Lands Between, you’ll need to create your character. The starting class you choose will have a significant impact on how you play through the earliest portion of the game, but the distinctions between classes begin to blur and eventually equalize as you level up. A slightly more consequential choice is your Keepsake—some of the available items can provide significant conveniences in the early game.

 After the opening cutscene concludes, you’ll assume control of your newly-created character inside the Chapel of Anticipation. You’ll be unable to leave the building until you’ve acquired the Tarnished’s Wizened Finger from the corpse leaning against the wall, so take it and open the doors at the far end of the room.

Exit the chapel, turn left and proceed north across the bridge. Walk through the archway just ahead and approach the statue at the end of the path—as you advance, a Grafted Scion will leap into view and attack. Although it is possible to defeat this boss now, you are unlikely to do so, and even if you survive, you’ll receive only a Greatshield and a set of Paired Straight Swords that you’ll be unable to use effectively at this point. Progressing beyond this area requires you to die, which will occur either during the boss fight or shortly thereafter.

After another cutscene, you’ll arrive in the Stranded Graveyard and receive two Sacred Flasks, which are used for restoring your HP and FP. Just ahead on your right, you’ll see a ghost sitting in a chair next to a message informing you that the game’s optional tutorial area, the Cave of Knowledge, can be accessed by dropping into the nearby pit.

Next, make your way up the stairs near the ethereal golden sapling and open the doors at the top. Through an empty room and up another short flight of stairs you’ll find a Site of Grace, to the right of which you’ll notice an arcade blocked by an impassable magic barrier. Collect the Finger Severer and a Tarnished’s Furled Finger from the corpse at the far end of the room, then continue down the nearby passage into a circular chamber with an elevator at its center. Ride the elevator to the upper level, climb the stairs on the north side of the room and open the iron door to access the Overworld.

Next, make your way up the stairs near the ethereal golden sapling and open the doors at the top. Through an empty room and up another short flight of stairs you’ll find a Site of Grace, to the right of which you’ll notice an arcade blocked by an impassable magic barrier. Collect the Finger Severer and a Tarnished’s Furled Finger from the corpse at the far end of the room, then continue down the nearby passage into a circular chamber with an elevator at its center. Ride the elevator to the upper level, climb the stairs on the north side of the room and open the iron door to access the Overworld.

Dungeon Fringefolk Hero’s Grave If you chose the Stonesword Keys as your Keepsake during character creation, you can insert them into the Imp Statue to the left of the arcade in order to dispel the barrier, but be warned that the area beyond can only be reached by wading through a large pool of poison, populated with extremely powerful enemies, and guarded by a boss which will prove nigh-impossible to defeat at your current stage of character progression. There are a few valuable items to be found within, though. Through careful timing and awareness of your surroundings, you can collect most of them while either avoiding the enemies or luring them into traps.

Directly ahead you’ll spot a man standing at a Site of Grace, but before you approach, examine the Martyr Effigy behind the bushes a few steps east and you’ll receive the Small Golden Effigy. Examine the Martyr Effigy a second time to activate the local Summoning Pool, then speak to the shady-looking man, who introduces himself as Varré. He’ll provide a brief explanation of the Guidance of Grace before pointing you toward Stormveil Castle to the northwest, and while you may head directly there if you wish, you also have the freedom to explore a great many side paths first.

If you wish to tackle Stormveil Castle immediately, skip to Point 20; however, please be advised that this guide is formatted to facilitate exploration of optional areas before mandatory ones, as the former hold items and equipment that can provide you with a decisive edge when tackling the latter.

For example, you’ve likely spotted a mounted knight clad in gold armor patrolling the path between The First Step (the name of the nearby Site of Grace, as shown on the map) and the ruins of a church in the distance. The knight is a Tree Sentinel, a wandering boss which you can fight at any time (or not at all). If you attract its attention by mistake, it will chase you for a limited distance before losing interest and returning to its patrol; luring it too far from its initial position will cause it to despawn and reappear back at the church, although any damage you’ve dealt to it will remain until you rest at a Site of Grace or trigger a loading screen.

While it is possible to defeat this boss immediately with only your starting equipment, doing so will prove quite difficult and you’ll be unable to make immediate use of the reward; there are a few spots nearby where you can procure items and gear that will make the battle significantly less troublesome, so it’s better to explore those locations first and return when you’re fully prepared.

Your first and most important order of business is to learn the lay of the land, to which end you must acquire the Map Fragment for Limgrave. This item is located a relatively short distance north along the road from your current location, so begin by sneaking past the Tree Sentinel toward the ruined church (simply stay far away from the boss without entering its line of sight as you move, and it won’t detect you). Outside the front entrance, just to your right, you’ll see a human suspended from an oddly-shaped crucifix resembling the Martyr’s Effigy you just encountered—examine the white light at the base of the crucifix and you’ll receive a Fringefolk’s Rune.

Inside the ruins you’ll find a Site of Grace and, at the far end of the building, a traveling merchant and his pack mule resting at a campfire next to a rudimentary forge known as a Smithing Table. Search the table for a Smithing Stone Shard, then speak with the merchant, Kalé, and exhaust all of his dialogue. Kalé will recommend that you buy a Crafting Kit, and if you use the Fringefolk’s Rune you obtained outside, you’ll receive just enough currency to make the purchase— do so, then rest at the Site of Grace.

Open your Map and note that while you have not yet ac[1]quired the Map Fragment which reveals the surrounding topography, you can still see Sites of Grace you’ve activated, as well as main roads and continental borders. Rather more importantly, you’ll notice a backlit, tower-shaped icon at a road intersection north and slightly east of the Church of Elleh (your present location). Place a beacon on your Map at the location of this icon, then close the Map and use the Compass to orient yourself toward the beacon you just created—you’ll see a shaft of blue light extending into the sky to guide you toward the destination you’ve marked.

Follow the road from the church through the forest toward your beacon. You’ll encounter a few Stormveil Soldiers patrolling the woods, so either kill or avoid them until you emerge from the trees above the Gatefront Ruins. A short distance to the left of your beacon, you’ll spot a Site of Grace—make it your first priority to rest there (you can avoid the enemies in the ruins by simply hugging the cliff face to the west as you move).

When you sit at the Site of Grace, you’ll be approached by a robed woman who introduces herself as Melina and offers her aid in exchange for escorting her to the Erdtree. Even if you refuse, you can simply stand up and then rest again, at which point you’ll receive a dialogue prompt to speak with her and reconsider her proposal. Note that Melina will appear at several predetermined Sites of Grace besides this one, so you may encounter her elsewhere first if you explore other areas before visiting Gatefront.

Accept Melina’s accord and you will gain the ability to level up at Sites of Grace by converting your Runes into additional stat points. She will then grant you the Spectral Steed Whistle, which allows you to summon a horse like spirit named Torrent. From this point onward, you can ride Torrent while traversing the Overworld to greatly increase your movement speed and engage in mounted combat; Torrent is also capable of a double-jump which can cover great distances and allows you to cross gaps (and scale some obstacles) that would prove impassable on foot.

Before you move into the ruins to collect the Map Fragment, open your Map, hover the cursor over the Church of Elleh, and select it to fast-travel to the Site of Grace at that location. When you arrive, you’ll spot something amiss: Kalé is unconscious, the area is blanketed by an unnatural fog, and a mysterious figure wearing a steepled hat sits perched on a collapsed section of the northern wall.

The figure will call out to you and, upon speaking with her, you will learn that she is a witch by the name of Renna. She will pose a question as to your identity, and if you confirm that you’ve been granted the ability to summon a Spectral Steed, she will entrust you with a Spirit Calling Bell and the Lone Wolf Ashes. Henceforth, you may use the bell while in range of a Rebirth Monument to evoke the spirits of any such ashes in your possession. These spirits function as NPC allies, each with different capabilities, and will assist you in combat until you either complete an objective such as defeating a boss, or stray too far outside the Rebirth Monument’s range.

If you’ve crossed paths with any Stormveil Soldiers or saved up a few Golden Runes, you should now have enough capital to purchase a Torch from Kalé—do so, then spend any remaining funds on his Cookbook items to unlock additional crafting recipes. Exhaust Kalé’s new dialogue and fast-travel back to Gatefront with Spirit Calling Bell in hand. The Monument Icon will appear on the left side of your HUD, indicating that you can use the Lone Wolf Ashes you just received, so summon your new allies and put them to work clearing out the Stormveil garrison at the Gatefront Ruins to the east.

With the camp cleared, you can safely pillage a Lordsworn’s Greatsword and a Flail from the two wagons on the north side of the road, as well as the all-important Whetstone Knife and the Ash of War containing the Storm Stomp Weapon Art from a treasure chest in the underground chamber. Now that you have the Whetstone Knife, you can use any Ashes of War you acquire to replace the Weapon Arts and scaling Affinities on your armaments with new ones, although some restrictions apply based on weapon type.

You may now finally claim the Map Fragment for West Limgrave, which you’ll find tucked away in the base of a large, ornate Guide Stele on the north side of the road where you placed your map beacon. This will reveal a large portion of the surrounding lowlands as well as the path through the mountains to Stormveil Castle, making it much easier to navigate area and plan your next move.

Fast-travel back to the Church of Elleh. At this point you should have enough Runes to buy the remainder of Kalé’s important items: the Cookbooks, the Cracked Pots and the Nomad’s Letter regarding a Flask of Wondrous Physick and the Waypoint Runes. Don’t bother with any of his other wares unless you intend to participate in online multiplayer using the Furlcalling Finger Remedies (and even then, these are a poor investment compared to leveling up or purchasing new equipment, and you can craft them yourself from commonly-available materials once you’ve found the necessary Cookbook). You’ll be meeting another merchant soon, so it’s better to save any spare change for future purchases.

Summon Torrent and ride southwest from the church, toward the coast. Make your way down the cliffs to the western beach, but watch out for the Troll Warrior patrolling the slope as you descend—this is a very tough enemy, and although it is not impossible to defeat as you are, you should leave it alone unless you are confident in your capabilities. You can easily avoid the Troll by staying out of its immediate vicinity and hugging the cliff face to the east as you work your way down; these creatures have poor peripheral vision, so as long as you give them plenty of room and don’t walk directly in front of them, they’ll take no notice of you

When you arrive on the beach, follow the base of the cliffs north until you spot a trail of glowing lights circling a group of rock formations near the water’s edge. An invisible Scarab enemy is responsible for this phenomenon—stand directly in its path, then time an attack so that you strike it as it approaches you. You’ll receive the Ash of War containing the Stamp (Sweep) Weapon Art for your trouble.

Summon Torrent again and ride south along the coast— you’ll pass a couple of adult Land Octupus enemies accompanied by several juveniles of the same species. They are far too slow to pursue you, so you can ignore them unless you’re running low on Runes; if you wish to engage anyway purely for curiosity’s sake, aim for the two large tentacles to sever them, then strike the beak to break the octopus’ Super Armor and leave it open to a Critical Hit. Juvenile Land Octopuses can drop a unique helmet, the Octopus Head, which has no special properties beyond its comically bizarre appearance.

A short distance onward, you’ll pass a group of Demi-Humans: individually weak creatures that only become a real threat in numbers or at night. You’ll spot a cave entrance just beyond them, but leave it for later and keep following the beach until it curves eastward— you’ll soon arrive at a merchant’s campsite beneath the shelter of a massive ruined wall propped up by the nearby cliff face.

Speak with the merchant and buy the Armorer’s Cookbook and the Nomad’s Letter regarding the Mineshaft Giant—the former will enable you to craft Fire-elemental arrows and bolts, while the latter provides a hint on how to defeat the boss of the Limgrave Tunnels dungeon. Although the other items he offers are optional, the Short Bow provides your first means of physical ranged attack unless you started as the Bandit or the Samurai, and the letter regarding Land Squirts directly divulges their weak point. The Halberd, meanwhile, is the first of its type that you’ll meet the stat requirements to use, and makes a solid replacement for weaker starting weapons.

To reach Stormveil Castle, fast-travel to Gatefront, summon Torrent and ride northwest through Stormgate. A Troll Warrior and a small contingent of Stormveil Soldiers will attempt to ambush you as 20 you proceed, so move from side to side in order to avoid being shot by the crossbowmen and don’t stop moving until you’re far enough away from the gate to be sure that you aren’t being pursued.

Continue following the road as it curves northward and when you pass an ethereal golden sapling on your right, search it for a Golden Seed. A bit further ahead you’ll reach the Stormveil Shack at a fork in the road—make use of the Site of Grace and speak with the young woman inside, then resume your northward trek until the road curves back around to the south along the curtain wall of Stormveil Castle.

You’ll have to run a gauntlet of soldiers and infantrymen no matter what you do, but be sure to stay off the fortified stretch of road leading into the castle—approaching from this position places you in the direct line of fire of a heavy artillery emplacement at the gate, so it’s safer to stick to the trees on the left and avoid the fortifications entirely. Even so, you’ll still have to deal with several soldiers patrolling the treeline, although you don’t necessarily need to fight them if you move quickly enough to reach the gate before they catch up with you. Inside, you’ll find a Site of Grace at the far end of the tunnel—activate the site and rest to ensure that you aren’t still being chased by the defending force outside, then make any necessary preparations for the boss fight that awaits just ahead.

DUNGEON COASTAL CAVE

Recommended Weapon Level: +0

An introductory cave-type dungeon with a few Demi-Human enemies and a boss fight balanced for the earliest portion of the game. The Tailoring Tools and Sewing Needle obtained upon completion will enable you to convert certain pieces of armor and attire between their standard and “altered” versions, and since you’ll end up just outside the entrance after finishing the Essential Objectives in Limgrave, it’s well worth clearing this area regardless of your character setup. Bring a Torch.

to be continued...