The final area of the game, this ash-strewn version of Leyndell doesn’t have much in the way of enemies or loot. Still, there are a few things to collect before facing the game’s final series of bosses.
This version of the capital is only accessible after defeating Maliketh, the Black Blade in Crumbling Farum Azula. Once you do so, you’ll be transported to this new version of Leyndell.
As well, after progressing their quests, these NPCs will come to this area
After defeating Maliketh and being transported to the ashen version of Leyndell, you’ll find yourself in front of the Leyndell, Ashen Capital site of grace. Activate it and rest (don’t forget to spend your runes) — before we go any further on the main path, we’re going to go grab an item from the other side of the city. Open your map and teleport to the Forbidden Lands site of grace (east of your current location). Once there, turn around and go southwest into the building and ride the elevator up. Head west out of the tower and continue across the bridge. You’ll have to fight a knight on horseback, and beyond him is a soldier plus two footmen (one of which is ranged).
With the enemies defeated, you can continue west down the stairs and then take the large wooden elevator down. Continue west off of the elevator and then turn right to go north. Follow the stairs as they curve northwest, and then start sneaking near the bottom of the stairs. Once you get off the stairs, turn around to go east-southeast. Now you’re going to hug this left-hand wall and make your way most of the way around the area. When the tree spirits are far away you can risk running, but it’s best to stealth most of the time.
Keep going south until you hit the corner of the area, then turn right to continue west. About halfway down this wall, another tree spirit will come out of the ground — don’t panic! It won’t aggro as long as you’re sneaking. Make your way to the tree trunk to the southwest and walk up it to find the Erdtree’s Favor +2 talisman; once you’ve grabbed it, teleport back to the Leyndell, Capital of Ash site of grace.
From the site of grace, go south-southwest, downhill towards the center of the little cluster of mostly un-submerged buildings. You’ll come to an opened manhole — at the bottom of a series of drops is the Crimson Amber Medallion +2. Start by dropping from the side of the hole with the wooden platform beneath it. From the wooden platform, drop off the northwestern edge. For the final drop, line yourself up with the wooden beam before walking off the edge. Once you’ve snagged the medallion you can teleport once again back to the Leyndell, Capital of Ash site of grace. Note that if you haven’t yet grabbed the Underground Roadside site of grace, you should do so now before teleporting — drop from the beam and go northeast, and it’s the first left down the hall (see here).
Back at the Leyndell, Capital of Ash site of grace, run the same direction as before, south-southwest to the manhole — due west of the manhole you can go through a doorway to find a Tarnished Golden Sunflower. Leave the way you came in and then head southeast uphill through the buildings to find a corpse with a Rune Arc. From there, head southwest towards the huge dragon spear, and once you reach it, turn left to face south. If you’ve been following his quest, you’ll find Corhyn here, near where the dragon’s spear is entering the ash. Just to the northwest around the small structure is another corpse with another Tarnished Golden Sunflower you can grab and then head back to where the dragon spear enters the ash. From the dragon’s spear, look south-southwest and you’ll see a doorway up a long flight of stairs — that’s our next destination.
At the top of the stairs, ride the elevator up, and at the top, head southeast and then east up the wide staircase to enter the building. Inside, you’ll see a familiar face: Sir Gideon, formerly of the Roundtable Hold.
Once Gideon’s been dealt with, make sure you activate the Erdtree Sanctuary site of grace in the boss room and spend your runes. Next, we’re going to grab the last few items before continuing to the final bosses. Teleport one more time to the Leyndell, Capital of Ash site of grace, and head west-southwest towards the huge dragon. Just like the first time we were in Leyndell, we’re going to run up the dragon’s wing. At the broken tip of the wing, jump to the southeast down onto the rubble, and then continue forward and climb the ladder.
Continue southeast up the two flights of stairs, and at the top of the stairs, face northwest — there is a broken section of guardrail near one of the huge dragon’s legs. Go stand where the guardrail should be and look down (southwest) into the courtyard below, where you’ll see a gargoyle patrolling. You can kill it from up here with ranged attacks, you can drop down and fight it, or you can sneak to get the two items below. There’s a Seedbed Curse southwest of where you’re standing and the Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone south of you.
If you want to sneak past him, the best way to do it is to drop down and then immediately quit to the title screen — then reload your save, and he should be patrolling nearby with his back to you. If he isn’t, try running into the small structure to the southwest and then quitting and reloading again.
If you’ve done Goldmasks’s quest, you can go get his mending rune and armor now (open the tab below for details). Otherwise, you can just teleport to the Erdtree Sanctuary site of grace once you’ve picked up both items.
From the corpse that had the smithing stone, go east-southeast and through the doorways.
Inside, go up the stairs and continue south-southwest up the next set of stairs. Cross the bridge southwest and go up the stairs, then turn left and continue until the path ends. Here, you can drop down off the cliff to the ground below — you’ll take a bit of fall damage without the Longtail Cat Talisman, but it shouldn’t be lethal.
Teleport to the Erdtree Sanctuary site of grace, and head east out onto the balcony. Turn left (north) and you’ll see a tree root — follow it south and west to the building’s upper story. On the wooden balcony, go north through the doorway and cross the bridge to the stairs. Head up them and activate the Queen’s Bedchamber site of grace. On the bed is the Erdtree Heal incantation, so make sure you grab it before heading southeast and outside. Continue up the stairs, and beyond the gold fog wall you’ll face the first Elden Lord — but for real this time.
With Godfrey/Hoarah Loux defeated, you can activate the Elden Throne site of grace, rest, and level up. When you’re ready, go southeast up the stairs and touch the golden light at the top to begin the final boss fight(s).
After defeating the Elden Beast, you’ll find yourself facing Marika (or rather, what’s left of her). Turn around and activate the Fractured Marika site of grace. If you want, you can end the game now, but you can also finish anything you have left to do and come back here later. When you’re ready, interact with Marika (or summon Ranni using her nearby sign) and make your choice!
This concludes our Elden Ring walkthrough (although we will continue to fill in missing sections/info for the next few weeks). We hope it was helpful! It’s been wonderful getting feedback, secrets, and tips about stuff we missed from so many users, and all the kind words were great motivation to continue working hard on these guides. We hope you’ll return when FromSoft releases their next game (or when you do your next playthrough)!
Unabashed FromSoftware fanboy still learning to take his time with games (and everything else, really). The time he doesn't spend on games is spent on music, books, or occasionally going outside.
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