Elden Ring Lake of Rot walkthrough

Trying to make your way through the Lake Of Rot in Elden Ring? The Lake of Rot is notoriously difficult to find, and thanks to its Scarlet Rot status effect, even harder to traverse. As long as you know which coffins to rest in and what obelisk buttons to press, you'll clear this treacherous lake in no time.

This Elden Ring Lake Of Rot walkthrough will help you survive the Lake of Rot and its annoying Scarlet Rot affliction.

Lake of Rot location

The Lake of Rot is found in an underground area, next to the Ainsel River and Nokstella regions. In the Elden Ring area order, it roughly follows the Deeprot Depths and Nokstella areas, while preceding Mt. Gelmir, Dragonbarrow, and Leyndell. It's recommended to reach level 80 or higher before attempting to cross the Lake of Rot.

How to reach Lake of Rot

To reach the Lake of Rot, you must defeat Starscourge Radahn in Redmane Castle (which requires the activation of the Radahn festival). This boss battle is part of Ranni's quest.

Once you've defeated Radahn, a 'Starfall Crater' will appear in the eastern part of Limgrave; descend down this crater and take the tunnel on the northern side to reach Nokron, the Eternal City. From that point onwards, there are two ways to reach the Lake of Rot:

• Retrieve the Fingerslayer Blade and return it to Ranni, which unlocks a portal to the Lake of Rot.
• Go north through Nokron, defeat the Valiant Gargoyle duo boss, and use a coffin portal behind that boss.

If you'd like to find the Fingerslayer Blade (which is faster), head north from the 'Nokron, Eternal City' Site of Grace, past the Mimic Tear boss and across the large bridge, and go left at the first opportunity. Stick to the left to find the 'Ancestral Woods' Site of Grace. From there, jump onto the rooftops and keep going southwest until you find the Silver Tear enemy, then turn to the southeast. You must drop down into the cathedral, take the southwestern exit, and unlock the Night's Sacred Ground Site of Grace outside. Run in a straight line to the northeast, and you'll find a chest containing the Fingerslayer Blade at the top of the stairs.

Return to Ranni in Ranni's Rise and show her the blade. You can now use a portal at the top of Renna's Rise (the tower north of Ranni's Rise) to reach Ainsel River. You must proceed through Nokstella and take two elevators down (the first is at Nokstella Waterfall Basin) to reach the Lake of Rot.

If you'd rather use the coffin portal to reach the Lake of Rot, proceed towards the north after entering Nokron: past the 'Nokron, Eternal City' Site of Grace, past the Mimic Tear boss, past the caves behind the glowing jellyfish, and then through Siofra Aquaduct. After defeating the Valiant Gargoyle duo boss, interact with the stone coffin in the boss arena, which will transport you to the Deeproot Depths.

From there, ride west across the tree branches towards the Site of Grace and the Finger-reader, then cross the lake towards the north and interact with the 'Nameless Eternal City' Site of Grace. Just a few paces west of this location, you'll see another coffin standing at the top of a waterfall. Rest in this coffin to be teleported again, then follow the main path to Nokstella.

At the Nokstella Waterfall basin, you'll find an elevator that'll take you to a lower tunnel. From here, follow the main path to yet another elevator - this will (finally) get you to the Lake of Rot.

Lake of Rot walkthrough

Before we start this Elden Ring Lake of Rot walkthrough, get some items or incantations to protect yourself against Scarlet Rot. The Lake of Rot is filled with it, and it's very hard to survive without any countermeasures. Here's what you can use:

• The Immunizing Horn Charm talisman, which raises your immunity (this Elden Ring stat will reduce Scarlet Rot buildup). It's on a corpse southwest of the Ainsel River Downstream Site of Grace. You can also get the Immunizing Horn Charm +1; it's dropped by an enemy inside the Lake of Rot. If you sprint directly south into the lake, kill the first opponent you see, take the loot, and immediately fast-travel to safety, you can get it before the buildup kills you.
• Immunizing Cured Meat also boosts immunity. You can find it, buy it from a Nomadic Merchant in Liurnia, or craft it with the Armorer's Cookbook [5].
• Preserving Boluses cure Scarlet Rot. You can find them in the wild or craft them with the Armorer's Cookbook [6].
• Use the Flame Cleanse Me incantation to cure Scarlet Rot. You'll need 12 Faith to use this incantation.
• Equip the Mushroom Armor set, which offers the best immunity in the game. The legs, body, arms, and head are all found in the Seethewater Cave north of Caria Manor. Beware that this set only increases your immunity - it does not make you immune to Scarlet Rot.

Starting from the Lake of Rot Shoreside Site of Grace, walk towards the lake's shore and obtain the area map from the corpse.

Next, turn to the southwest and run to the nearest obelisk. See the pressure plate in front of this obelisk? Step on it to create some platforms. You can grab the Rot Grease on the nearby corpse, and then proceed to the next obelisk further south. Step on this button as well.

Use the platforms southeast of this location to reach the third obelisk. Again, press the pressure plate when you're there. The fourth obelisk is southwest of this location, just a bit further ahead.

The fourth obelisk will lift you upwards, but you don't need to clear this area. If you want, you can walk north and defeat the Alabaster Lord, which will get you the Alabaster Lord's Sword as well as a nearby Somber Smithing Stone [9]. You may also get some additional loot by exploring the Lake of Rot before continuing; there are plenty more Smithing Stones and Aeonian Butterflies at the border of the lake, and you'll find the Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook [22] in the building northwest of this location.

To complete your Lake of Rot walkthrough, however, you must take the ladder back down and go inside the large building in the south. Don't worry about Scarlet Rot buildup; the Grand Cloister Site of Grace is right ahead of you.

Walk down the stairs and carefully drop down the ledges in the west, until you reach ground floor. You can take some time to defeat the enemies and loot this place, but then you must head west, towards the large doorway (there's a treasure chest with a Scorpion's Stinger weapon in there), and turn left to the waterfall.

At the top of the waterfall, you will find a tomb. Interact with it to reach the Astel, Naturalborn of the Void area, where you'll find the Astel boss. Defeating this boss will progress Ranni's quest.

And that concludes this Elden Ring Lake of Rot walkthrough. Take a look at our full Elden Ring walkthrough to find your next destination in The Lands Between. We can also point you to the Elden Ring boss locations, but you might want to get the best builds and best armor sets first.