Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree: Dragon's Pit walkthrough
Here's how to clear Dragon's Pit in Shadow Of the Erdtree
Looking for a full rundown of Dragon's Pit in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree? Dragon's Pit is a dragon-themed mini-dungeon in Elden Ring's DLC Shadow Of The Erdtree that serves as an appropriate stopover before your Tarnished reaches the Jagged Peak, the most dragon-infested area of the Land of Shadow. Expect to face draconic skeletons, a magma wyrm, and an ancient dragon warrior in these dark depths. If you survive, you'll end up with a sweet katana to use against other scaled monstrosities.
In this guide, we'll explain exactly what you need to do to uncover everything that Dragon's Pit has to offer in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.
Dragon's Pit walkthrough
The entrance to Dragon's Pit is located amongst the cliffs to the southeast of Castle Ensis and the Castle Front Site of Grace. The easiest way to reach this area is to start at the Castle Front and veer southwards along the road; you'll eventually come across the Pillar Point Site of Grace, which is where you first meet Igon, an important NPC for Shadow of the Erdtree's questlines. Continue your trek towards the southern cliffs, and west of the Suppressing Pillar you should see several broken dragon statues leading towards a cave entrance. Enter, and you'll find the Dragon's Pit Site of Grace.
The Dragon's Pit isn't a huge dungeon, but it does stretch fairly deep underground. The main enemy you'll encounter here are draconic skeletons. Two of them await you as soon as you enter the first chamber of the Dragon's Pit - one is in plain view, and the other is hiding under the ledge you stand on as you first enter the room. After you've killed them, be sure to smash their skeletons one last time with an attack, or they'll resurrect themselves. You can also pick up 6 Smithing Stone [1] from a corpse located down one of the narrow passageways branching from the first chamber.
Once the skeletons are shattered, proceed deeper into the cave and watch out for another skeleton that jumps out at you from the shadows on your right. Eventually, you'll come onto a windy ledge with two more draconic skeletons to contend with, including an archer who shoots at you from afar. Take out the archer as soon as you can to avoid being harrassed with ranged projectiles.
There's an altar to your left - as soon as you get close to it, two skeletons will rise from the dirt. Kill them and nab the Shadow Realm Rune [2] on the corpse at the altar's base. Then proceed down the windy ledge to a new chamber that branches off into two rooms - stairs to the east which lead to an upper level guarded by a lesser magma wyrm, and a passage to the west that leads to a lower ceremonial chamber and a seemingly bottomless pit.
There are four skeletons in total to take out in this chamber. Once you've dispatched them, go up the eastern stairs to deal with the magma wyrm, who is technically an optional boss, but well worth killing.
The giant creature will charge at you as soon as you enter its room, unleashing a wave of fire that sets portions of the floor alight, so get ready to dodge. Once you roll around it and get your bearings, you can slice the dragon from behind or kite it by retreating back down the stairwell which you came from. The wyrm's too big to fit through the stair opening, and while it'll breathe fire at you as best it can, you can pick it off from afar at your leisure with Sorceries, projectiles, or simply well-timed weapon strikes.
When the wyrm's dead, you'll recieve a Dragon's Heart and an Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone as your rewards. You can also loot a Smithing Stone [5] and Knot Resin from the grounds of the wyrm's den.
Go back the way you came and enter the passageway that leads to the ceremonial chamber. Near the bottomless pit, you'll see a message on the ground. It reads "Be Brave. Show no fear." This is your hint to jump into the pit. Instead of dying, you'll land on a patch of soft sand, right in front of the entrance to the boss chamber. Look behind you to pick up a Smithing Stone [4].
How to defeat the Dragon's Pit boss
The Ancient Dragon-Man will dash your way as soon as you enter the boss room. He can be taken out relatively quickly with repeated, strong melee combos, but you'd do well to watch out for his fast katana strikes, which can halve your healthbar rapidly.
The Ancient-Dragon Man can also summon a dragon's head to spray bursts of flame across the room in a fashion reminiscent of the wyrm you just killed. Luckily, he takes up much less space than the wyrm and his fire attack isn't nearly as obstrusive, so be sure to roll, parry, and slash him repeatedly before he can pull off anything fancy.
Once you've turned the dragon man into fossils, you'll receive the Dragon Hunter's Great Katana as a reward. A portal will also appear to take you back to the dungeon's entrance, but if you want to plow onwards to Jagged Peak, continue through the door in front of you.
That finishes our guide on clearing the Dragon's Pit. For more Elden Ring: Shadow of The Erdtree walkthroughs, take a look at our guides to the Ruined Forge Lava Intake, Taylew's Ruined Forge, the Fog Rift Catacombs, the Darklight Catacombs, Bonny Gaol, and Belurat Gaol. Happy dungeon delving!