Fog Rift Catacombs walkthrough - Elden Ring DLC
Here's how to clear the Fog Rift Catacombs in Shadow Of the Erdtree
Looking for a full rundown of the Fog Rift Catacombs in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree? The Fog Rift Catacombs is a mini-dungeon in Elden Ring's DLC Shadow Of The Erdtree that's infested with tricky enemies and ceiling spike traps that will threaten to massacre your Tarnished to a pulp. The dungeon contains many rewards, however, including a nice pair of twin axes if you manage to defeat the Death Knight boss at the very end.
For all of you who keep getting caught by the catacombs' falling ceilings, we're here to help. In this guide, we'll explain exactly what you need to do to navigate the dark chambers of the Fog Rift Catacombs in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree.
Fog Rift Catacombs walkthrough
To get to the Fog Rift Catacombs, go northwest from the Castle Front Site of Grace. You'll need to make your way deep into a valley, and you'll know you're in the right place when fog starts to permeate the area. The entrance to the catacombs is in a northern rock wall; open the doors, head down the lift, and you'll find the dungeon's Site of Grace.
As soon as you progress into the dungeon, a masked imp will hop out from the shadows. Expect to encounter these guys throughout the entire catacombs; they don't take many strikes to dispatch, but they hit harder than you'd expect. After killing the imp, take the Grave Glovewort [1] from the corpse and go west. You'll see a large room with an imp hanging around in the centre. This is a spiked ceiling trap, another recurring theme of this dungeon.
Be cautious if you run directly into this room, because the ceiling will slam down as soon as you do (likely killing the imp, which is fun). The best practice here is to wait for the ceiling to fall, the dash through as it slowly raises. There's an alcove to your left that you can duck into for safety, as shown in the screenshot below.
There's another imp at the end of this room. Dispatch it and continue onwards. Stay wary as you round the corner in the next corridor, as a spellcaster stands on a walkway blasting down at you. These guys are the other main enemy in the Fog Rift Catacombs, and their main method of attack is to fire projectiles that veer towards you slowly, reflecting additional projectiles off of anything they hit.
Beyond the walkway lies an imp who'll attack from the right and a Yellow Fulgurbloom to the left. Go down the stairs, and you'll find yourself in a wide room with another imp on a platform above you. Chances are this fellow will shoot fireballs your way, so dispatch him quickly. You now have the option of going left or right - the right corridor contains two additional imps lurking in the shadows, another Yellow Fulgurbloom, and a corpse with the Ancient Dragon Knight's Cookbook [1].
The left path leads down a set of stairs to a deep drop. As soon as you near the drop, a spiked ceiling will slam downwards. You'll be doing a bit of backtracking to this point, for the sake of convenience, let's classify this section of the Fog Rift Catacombs as intersection 1.
Fog Rift Catacombs intersection 1
From your vantage point, you can either hop down and explore the ground floor as the ceiling raises, or jump atop the ceiling to navigate to new areas. It's tough to explore the ground floor from your current angle without suffering injuries, so we recommend taking the ceiling route first.
If you jump on the ceiling and run directly across it, you'll find a platform with another imp, a Yellow Fulgurbloom, and 3 Knot Resin on a corpse. After this, run across the ceiling again to reach a new area with a spellcaster, more Yellow Fulgurbloom, and a path that'll take you across the walkway that was previously above you.
Beyond this walkway is a staircase that leads up to two soldiers and a black knight. Take care of all of them (beware the black knight's massive shield and mace), and note that a third soldier will attack you from the right as you walk deeper into the room. A Great Ghost Glovewort awaits you as a reward. Once you've picked this up, exit the way you came and veer left, standing on the edge of the ledge. When the spiked ceiling falls, jump and run across it to reach a corridor that leads to the Black Knight Commander Andreas Spirit Ash.
Once you're done collecting everything, retrace your steps to intersection 1. It's time to explore the ground floor beneath the spiked ceiling that you previously clambered across. When the ceiling is raising, immediately drop down to the ground and roll into a new room with a Yellow Fulgurbloom and an imp. From the angle that you should be standing at if you've been following this guide, all you need to do is roll backwards. You'll see a ladder in this room. Climb it to reach an area with 4 Yellow Fulgurblooms.
Once again, retrace your steps back to the ground floor of intersection 1, then run directly across to a new room where a staircase goes down. Loot a corpse to get 2 Dragonbolt Grease, and keep going to step on a lift pressure plate that takes you down.
On this new level of the catacombs, go straight, kill two more imps, and check under the stairs to find 4 Rada Fruit and a Yellow Fulgurbloom. From the stairs, reverse your steps and go north, grabbing another Yellow Fulgurbloom along the way and taking out the spellcaster in front of you. You'll see a room in front of you and a pathway that goes to your left. Explore the room first; defeat the imp and grab the Grave Glovewort [1].
Exit, pick up yet another Yellow Fulgurbloom (Are you getting tired of finding these yet?) and go down the stairs to reach a large, cavernous room. Don't step inside yet. Consider this intersection 2, as more backtracking is about to commence.
Fog Rift Catacombs intersection 2
You should be used to it by now - a big spiked ceiling will squash you the instant you step into this room, but there are four alcoves scattered across both sides of the chamber. Get ready to zig-zag into the alcoves to avoid the ceiling, and watch out for the imp who'll try to ambush you in the first alcove on the left.
The middle left alcove is interesting, as it contains a giant hole. If you drop down, you'll be in a series of sewer passageways which are fairly straightforward as long as you avoid the oozes that might catch you off-guard. Aside from the oozes, you can expect to encounter another spellcaster, a few imps sticking to walls, a whopping 6 Yellow Fulgurbloom, and corpses with Ghost Glovewort [4] and Electrocharge. Once you're done in these sewers, climb the only ladder in the vicinity to reach a platform with a - you guessed it - Yellow Fulgurbloom. Drop off the platform, turn left, and you'll be back where you started in the room with the big spiked ceiling.
Once you've navigated the spiked ceiling room (and picked up the Glass Shard on the corpse in the northernmost left alcove), a spellcaster and four imps await you. Kill 'em all and loot the chest to pick up a Shadow Realm Rune [3]. Following this, stand on the railing by the chest, wait for the ceiling to slam down, and then hop into the little opening in front of you.
When the ceiling takes you up, turn around to see a chest with the Blinkbolt Ash of War inside. Grab it, wait for the spiked ceiling to fall again, then jump atop it and run across to a passage located in the far northeast. An altar lies here; you'll either pick up a Stone-Sheathed Sword at this altar, or if you already have one, you can change your blade to a Sword of Darkness.
Now go left down the ladder, take out the two imps that await you, and grab the Ghost Glovewort [5] off the corpse. Jump down the hole that seems like it would kill you (don't worry, it doesn't), and you'll land back in the third left alcove where you previously found the Glass Shard. Run directly across as soon as the spiked ceiling raises to go to the final unexplored alcove on the right side of the room. This leads to yet another trap room with a spiked ceiling (but at least it's a much smaller one this time) and a Broken Rune lying on a corpse.
Run through this area onto the platform, hit the pressure pad, then take the lift down. Finally, you'll reach the entrance to the boss chamber, where the Death Knight awaits you.
How to defeat the Fog Rift Catacombs boss
The Death Knight is a formidable boss who will attack you with axe spins and swings, as well as lightning bolts and lightning dashes. He hits hard, but his lightning attacks have a lengthy windup time which means you can definitely sneak in several well-timed melee slashes. You can also break his Poise with two consecutive heavy attacks, and if you have any items that can confer lightning resistance (like Lightningproof Dried Liver, now's a good time to use them.
If the Death Knight ever transforms his cape into giant wings, start rolling. This is the indicator of a dash move where the knight will grab you, stabs you multiple times, and slam your body back down into the ground. Obviously, it hurts a lot, but once again, the telegraph is quite obvious.
It may take a few tries to fell the Death Knight, but practice makes perfect. Once you do bring him down to size, you'll get the Death Knight's Twin Axes, the Crimson Amber Medalion [3], and a nice 110,000 Runes. Head to the teleporter to go back to the dungeon entrance.
The Death Knight is defeated, and the Fog Rift Catacombs has finally been cleared. Nice work! For more Elden Ring: Shadow of The Erdtree dungeon walkthroughs, take a look at our guide to the Ruined Forge Lava Intake. And if you're struggling to reach other areas of the Land of Shadow, we've got all the info you need for reaching the Cerulean Coast, the Cathedral of Manus Metyr, Charo's Hidden Grave, and the Stone Coffin Fissure.