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How to enter Ruins Of Unte in Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree

Here's the secret to getting inside the Ruins Of Unte in the Elden Ring DLC

An establishing shot of the interior of the Ruins Of Unte in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, with a bed of colourful flowers between the camera and the altar in the centre of the ruins.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco
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Guide by Ollie Toms Guides Editor
Updated on

Stuck trying to get inside the Ruins Of Unte in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree? As with a great many locations in Shadow Of The Erdtree, there's more to the Ruins Of Unte puzzle than meets the eye. In fact, at first glance it's not even clear that the Ruins Of Unte holds a puzzle at all. Elden Ring has a talent for giving players a sense of discovery when it comes to exploration, and if you've found the Ruins Of Unte, you already know just how well FromSoftware likes to hide away important areas.

The Ruins Of Unte are found in the Castle Watering Hole southeast of Shadow Keep, and the way inside is blocked by a dead Furnace Golem. In fact, the whole place is littered with destroyed Golems. But the Ruins themselves hold an important secret, so it's worth exploring them fully. In this guide, we'll walk you through exactly how to get to the Ruins Of Unte in Shadow Of The Erdtree, and how to get inside the Ruins to obtain the area's treasure.

In this guide:

How to get to the Ruins Of Unte

The Ruins Of Unte are in the lake southeast of the Shadow Keep, and the only way to get to them is using a secret passage hidden inside the Shadow Keep itself. To get to the Ruins Of Unte, progress through the front entrance of the Shadow Keep and past the Golden Hippopotamus. Fight your way up to the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the Specimen Storehouse.

From here, facing the tower, turn right. On the left-hand side, past the second boat, there's a ladder that leads down to a walkway next to a waterfall. There's a doorway hidden behind the waterfall, so head through it and then down the ladder beyond.

The player in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree stands in front of the entrance to the Specimen Storehouse. A yellow arrows points in the direction of the path to the Castle Watering Hole.
The player in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree stands in front of a ladder down to the Castle Watering Hole in Shadow Keep.
The player in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree descends a ladder next to a waterfall in Shadow Keep. A yellow arrows points to a hidden doorway through the waterfall.
The player in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree stands in front of a painting in Shadow Keep. A yellow arrow points towards a hidden doorway on the right-hand side wall.
The player in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree stands in front of a coffin at the top of a waterfall below Shadow Keep.
The player in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree stands next to the Castle Watering Hole Site Of Grace. The Ruins Of Unte stand before them in the background.
Follow these steps to use the Shadow Keep's hidden passage to the Ruins Of Unte. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco

At the end of this path you'll find a room with a painting inside. Hit the right-hand wall to reveal another secret passage. Follow this passage to the end, and you'll find an open stone coffin on the top of a precipice. Walk up to the stone coffin and interact with it to lie down inside.

Lying inside the coffin will prompt a cutscene where you're teleported below the Shadow Keep, to a place called the Castle Watering Hole. Exit the cave you're in to find the Castle Watering Hole Site Of Grace; and right in front of you will be the Ruins Of Unte.

How to get inside the Ruins Of Unte

The way inside the Ruins Of Unte is blocked by a broken down Furnace Golem. To get inside the Ruins, you must throw a Hefty Furnace Pot inside the basket of the dead Furnace Golem to wake it up again.

It has to be a Hefty Furnace Pot - not a Hefty Fire Pot, and certainly not a regular Fire Pot. Once you throw in a Hefty Furnace Pot, the Furnace Golem's insides will ignite once more, and it will stand up out of the way of the entrance to the Ruins Of Unte.

The player in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree lifts a Hefty Furnace Pot above their head, preparing to throw it into the basket of a broken down Furnace Golem at the Ruins Of Unte.
A Hefty Furnace Pot in the basket does wonders. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco

If you don't yet have a Hefty Furnace Pot, you can craft one as soon as you've picked up the Greater Potentate's Cookbook [2] from the Run-Down Traveler's Rest shack, just south of the "Greatbridge, North" Site Of Grace in the Gravesite Plain. Craft a Hefty Furnace Pot out of 1 Redflesh Mushroom, 1 Ember Of Messmer, and 1 Furnace Visage, then toss it into the Furnace Golem's basket to wake it up.

Of course, you now have to deal with the Furnace Golem. Thankfully it's the kind without reinforced ankles, so stay on horseback and keep whaling away at its legs until it falls over, then hit it in the face for enormous damage. For full details, check out our in-depth guide on how to beat Furnace Golems in Shadow Of The Erdtree.

What's inside the Ruins Of Unte?

Inside the Ruins Of Unte, there are exactly two things of note. The first is a structure at the centre of the square, with a chest inside. Open the chest to obtain the Giant Golden Arc Incantation, which unleashes a powerful arc of Holy damage in exchange for 24 FP (and a prerequisite cost of 34 Faith to cast).

The other noteworthy thing inside the Ruins Of Unte is a small, glowing stone altar: an Altar of Light and Dark. There are three of these Altars in the Land Of Shadow; the other two are across an invisible bridge next to the rot area of the Ancient Ruins Of Rauh; and in the Fog Rift Catacombs, reached by climbing atop the final set of three spike traps.

The order in which you interact these three Altars determines their purpose:

  • The first Altar gives you the Stone-Sheathed Sword.
  • The second Altar transforms the Stone-Sheathed Sword into the Sword Of Light.
  • The third Altar transforms the Sword Of Light into the Sword Of Darkness.

Bear in mind also that you can visit the second and third Altars again in order to switch between the Sword Of Light and the Sword Of Darkness at any time.

There's nothing else of note inside the Ruins Of Unte, so once you've collected these two items, feel free to move on with your journey through the Land Of Shadow!

The player in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree loots the Giant Golden Arc Incantation from a chest in the Ruins Of Unte.
The player in Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree interacts with a glowing stone stele in the Ruins Of Unte.
These two powerful unique prizes can be obtained within the Ruins Of Unte. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco

That's the secret of the Ruins Of Unte in Shadow Of The Erdtree well and truly outed. The path ahead is pretty tough, so make sure you're picking up all the nearby Scadutree Fragments along the way to keep your character as powerful as possible. While you're here, why not also check out our guides on the best weapons, best builds, best armor sets, and best spells in Elden Ring?

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