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Elden Ring’smassiveShadow of the Erdtreeexpansion is finally here, giving us lots of stuff to chew on, including new grueling boss encounters, areas to explore, and even dungeons to conquer. This includes the new Fog Rift Catacombs, which is filled to the brim with secrets, traps, and enemies that will have you questioning if you’re even qualified to be in there.
And, if that wasn’t enough, the dungeon is capped off with a fight against the Death Knight, which is a surprisingly challenging mini-boss encounter, considering most of the bosses found within the base game’s dungeons weren’t all that demanding.
Fog Rift Catacombs: First Layer Walkthrough
After taking the lift down into the catacombs and resting at the Site of Grace,head down the steps to encounter your first Stone Imp enemyof the dungeon. Quickly dispatch it and loot the nearby items to receive aGrave Glovewort [1].
From there,head through the corridor on the left,thenstand just before the entrance into the first roomof the dungeon. Aspike trap will come crashing downin front of you, then raise back up into the ceiling.Wait for the trap to crash downonce more, thenmake a break to the left side of the roomwhen it begins rising again andtake cover in the small alcove.
Next,wait for the spike trap to crash down once more,thenquickly sprint to the doorway at the northern endof the room. You willrun past three Stone Imp enemieshere, so turn around in the doorway anddispatch thembefore moving forward.
With the Stone Imps taken care of,push into the second roomof the first layer to find arobed spellcaster on top of a bridge.If you’re not a magic user or lack ranged options, justrun underneath the bridge to find another Stone Impjust on the other side of the bridge. Take care of the Imp, then head through the doorway into the third room.
Once in thethird room,aStone Imp will launch fireballs at you from atop a stone walkway,withpathways to the left and rightof you. If you don’t have the proper means of dealing with the Stone Imp, we strongly recommendrunning quickly to the room on the right.
When in theroom to the right,there will be anotherFireball Stone Imp directly to the left of the doorway.Quickly take care of it, then be on alert for a standard Stone Imp in the back left cornerof the room. Dispatch this Imp as well, thenloot the itemto obtain theAncient Dragon Knight’s Cookbook [1].
After looting the Cookbook, run directly into the room in front of you and follow the staircase down,stopping at the very edge of it. Once here, you will seeanother spike trap directly above you.Wait for it to come crashing down, thenjump on top of it and ride it up to find an elevated floorwith a Fireball Stone Imp on it.
Jump off the lift anddispatch the Fireball Stone Imp,loot the nearby itemto receiveKnot Resin, and snag theYellow Fulgurbloomnearby before proceeding to the next step.
From there,turn around, jump back on top of the lift,andhead through the elevated doorway to the right.Once inside, you will find anotherrobed spellcaster.Take care of them how you see fit, thenfollow the pathway out until you reach the bridge from earlierwith the previous robed spellcaster.
Eliminate the spellcasteron the bridge, thenhead across it and up the stairs,here you will findtwo enemies standing guardoutside of a room that has even more enemies within it.Bait the first two enemiesto you, deal with them first,then push into the room and dispatch the Knight and Warriorinside.
Loot the item in the guarded roomto receive aGreat Ghost Glovewort. Thendon’t run off just yet,as you’re able to access another secret in this area!
From the room with the Great Ghost Glovewort,head straight and look to the left to find a series of stone arches and pillars.Thevery first arch on the left will have a spike trap above it,trigger it to have it come crashing down, thenjump on top of itto ride it up.
Once here, you will find adoorway on the opposite end of the lift.Make your way over to it and head inside, thenfollow the pathway to a sarcophagusat the end of the hallway with anitem on top.Loot this item to receive theSpirit Ash: Black Knight Commander Andreas.
After obtaining your new Spirit Ash,head out of the room and then to the right, leap out the windowto land where you just were!
Next,return to the staircase that leads to a dead end,wait for thespike trap to crash and rise all the way back up,thenleap off the steps and head into the room directly behind youon the ground floor. Gather theYellow Fulgurbloomand theDragonbolt Grease, wait for the spike trap to trigger again, andsprint forward onto the lift,taking it down into thesecond layer!
Fog Rift Catacombs: Second Layer Walkthrough
With the first layer of theFog Rift Catacombscleared, you willactivate a Stake of Marika upon entering the second layer,meaning if you happen to die, you have theoption to respawn at the very start of this layerinstead of all the way back at the Site of Grace at the beginning of the first layer.
In thefirst room of the second layer,you will find acouple of Stone Impsand someYellow FulgurbloomandRada Fruityou can gather, along with a room directly in front of you and to the left.
Entering theroom to the northwill have arobed spellcasterin it, along with aStone Imp.Take down both of these enemies as you see fit, thenloot the item nearbyto receive aGrave Glovewort [2].
After that,head to the room that was on the left,andbait the spike trap to crash down,then quicklymake your way to the left side of the room,taking cover in thealcove within the wall.There will be aStone Imp that drops downin the alcove with you, so dispatch it quickly.
Bait the spike trap again,then make your way to thesecond alcovejust a bit further up from where you are.This nook will have a part of its floor missing,and werecommend jumping into the holeto reach the basement for some extra goodies.
There will berobed spellcastersdown here, along withSkeletal Slimemonsters, so be wary of them as you explore the basement. You will collectGrave Glovewort [4]down here, along with even moreYellow Fulgurbloomand even theElectrocharge Incantation.After gathering these items,climb up the long ladderto the beginning of the second layer!
Afterreturning to the beginning of the second layer,head back into the room with the hole in the floor, butcontinue heading north toward the spellcaster and Stone Imps.Again, bait the spike trap the crash land, then move from alcove to alcove before breaking toward the staircase.
Eliminate the four Stone Imps and lone robed spellcaster,thenloot the sarcophagusto obtain aShadow Realm Rune [3]. Before moving onward,head to where the spellcaster was initially to bait the spike trapagain, revealing asmall area you can jump inside.
Leap into the side of the lift and ride it up to reveal a Chest.Loot the Chest to obtain theAsh of War: Blinkbolt.From here,bait the spike trap once more, then leap on top of itto find adoorway to the far right on the opposite endof the room.Run across the lift and head through the doorwayto find yet anotheritem:theStone-Sheathed Sword!
Next,head back to the room where the robed spellcaster and Stone Imps wereandhead through the doorway to the northeast.Theroom right after this will have another spike trap;just bait it like the others, thenrun to the area on the opposite end of the roomto find a lift.Take this lift down into the third and final layerof the Fog Rift Catacombs!
Fog Rift Catacombs: Death Knight Boss Fight Guide
You’ve finally made it to thethird and final layerof theFog Rift Catacombs,but, as expected, instead of a way out, you must first go through a boss, and this one is no joke. TheDeath Knighthas many tricks up its sleeve that will make your already exhausting journey through this dungeon feel even more perilous.
Death Knight: Electric Whirlwind
While theDeath Knight has many basic attacks,we would like tohighlight three of the more annoying and potent attacksthat will help you get the edge over him in combat and ultimately beat him. Once you know how to deal with these actions, you should be more than fine.
The first move is hisElectric Whirlwind,where heimbues his Twin Axes in lightning before twirling violently toward you,dealingtremendous amounts of damageif you get caught up in it. Themoment you see his axes become electrified, begin running sideways, then continue rolling in that direction as he gets closer.
If you avoid this attack, you canfollow up with two to three hits,but we don’t recommend trying to squeeze in any more than that, as he hurts and is surprisingly swift!
Death Knight: Lightning Spears
Next is hisLightning Spears,where he willsummon an arrangement of Lightning Orbsin front of himself beforelaunching several Spears of Lightningat you. As soon as theorbs appear, stop what you’re doing, then roll to the left or right the moment one fires toward youto evade taking damage. You willlikely be too far away from him to attack,so just remain on the defensive afterward!
Death Knight: Healing Grab
Finally, hismost annoying actionis hisHealing Grab,which has him perform a really cool-looking animation where hehunkers down and sprouts black and white wingsbeforeinstantly dashing toward you with his arm outstretched.If hemakes contact with youhere, he willgrab hold of you, hold you high in the air, and drain your HP while replenishing his own.It’s brutal.
Themoment you see him sprout wings, stop moving and wait for him to dashat you.As soon as you see him approachyou,dodge to the left or rightto avoid his grab, thenfollow up with two to three attacksof your own to punish his mistake!
