Shadow Keep walkthrough in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Shadow Keep is Elden Ring’s third legacy dungeon in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. You’ll find it to the north of Castle Ensis after defeating Rellana, Twin Moon Knight.

Our Elden Ring guide will walk you through the Shadow Keep legacy dungeon and point you toward every site of grace, boss fight, and important item.

If you want to reach the Hinterlands from the Shadow Keep, we have a dedicated guide for that via the Shadow Keep Back Gate.

Shadow Keep is the first legacy dungeon you’ll explore after reaching Scadu Altus. You’ll find it pretty much straight north of Castle Ensis.

Inside the Shadow Keep, you’ll be able to meet up with Redmane Freyja and Sir Ansbach. There are two named bosses to tackle as well: the Golden Hippopotamus and Messmer the Impaler.

From the Highroad Cross Site of Grace that you find just north of the fight with Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, follow the road north. You’ll pass by the Scadu Altus Map Fragment, and then come to a camp. As you enter the camp, watch along the low wall on the right to grab a Scadutree Fragment. Keep heading north through the camp.

There are a lot of Messmer Soldiers and Perfumers — and some Black Knights a Furnace Golem — to deal with as you go, but not a lot to pick up. Past the north end of the camp, head into the giant, imposing black stone keep and ride the elevator up to find the Shadow Keep Main Gate Site of Grace.

As soon as you enter the Shadow Keep proper, just past the Shadow Keep Main Gate Site of Grace, you’ll have to tackle the Golden Hippopotamus. For help with the fight, our guide on how to beat the Golden Hippopotamus can help.

Once it’s defeated, you’ll pick up the Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns Ash of War and a Scadutree Fragment. You’ll also unlock the Main Gate Plaza Site of Grace.

When you leave the new site of grace, only one path will be open to you. Head through the door to the west. Chat with the ghost in the next room, and then continue up the stairs. Deal with the Messmer Soldiers, and take the stairs on your right.

At the very first landing just a little up the stairs, duck into the room on your right. Deal with the pair on Messmer Soldiers, and then turn to the room on your right. There are two more Messmer Soldiers along with a twinblade-wielding Black Knight. Off to the left, grab the Main-Gauche dagger from the corpse.

Head back to the previous room and jump out of the window to your right (the window where that one Messmer Soldiers was standing). You’ll be a courtyard with a glowing tree and a bunch of praying Shadow Undead. The Talisman of Lord’s Blessing, er, talisman is at the base of the tree.

Head through the door in the southern corner and drop off the ledge. This will bring you back to the room with the ghost.

Retrace your steps up the stairs and past the hall. There are two pairs of Messmer Soldiers at the next open area — one to the right and one to the left. Clear them out and then keep going up the stairs ahead of you.

There are two Black Knights in the hall at the top of the stairs — one with a greatbow (and a twinblade) directly ahead of you, and a sneaky one just to the left of the door. If you’re careful, you can kite the sword-and-shield one back down the stairs to fight him without getting shot constantly. Once they’re both dealt with, grab the Golden Vow consumable and the Shadow Realm Rune (6).

Quick aside: the door on the left side of the hall is a shortcut, but we’re about to open an even better shortcut, so you can skip it for now. To open it, start at the glowing tree where you picked up the Talisman of Lord’s Blessing, head toward the dead end alley to the west (where there’s a Black Knight guarding a Golden Vow). On the right (north) side, look for an open door. Deal with the Black Knight and Messmer Soldiers inside, and keep working north to find a ladder. That ladder leads to the other side of this door.

Head through the door at the east end of the hall and cross the bridge. Grab the Holyproof Pickeled Liver and then take a right. Deal with the Vulgar Militia as you pass the burning ships(?) heading east.

At the center of the rampart, take a right and go down the long ramp, taking out Vulgar Militia as you go. Take a right at the bottom and push open the door to open a shortcut back to the Main Gate Plaza Site of Grace.

Head back through the door you just opened and climb the rampart ramp back up to the top. Take a right. All the way at the far end, look on the north side for a ladder leading down. Climb down and turn right to walk toward the falling water. Duck under the water to the left to find a hallway and another ladder. At the bottom of this very long ladder, you’ll find a room with the “Domain of Dragons” painting. Head all the way back up to the top of the rampart.

Roll against the right wall of the room to reveal an illusory wall. Head through it and down the stairs. Follow the ramp down. Rest in the coffin there, and you’ll ride down a waterfall. Head out of the tunnel to find the Castle Watering Hole Site of Grace. There’s nothing here for us at the moment — it’s a route to the Unte Ruins and the Abyssal Woods — so head back to the Main Gate Plaza and retrace your steps to the rampart.

Back at the center of the rampart (and the top of the ramp), turn north. Cross the bridge to meet your first Fire Knight. Continue into the castle and ride the elevator up. At the top, you’ll find the Storehouse, First Floor Site of Grace.

Before heading into (and up) the Specimen Storeroom, there are some good items to collect and a(nother) exit to unlock by taking a little diversion.

From the Storeroom, First Floor, start around the room heading left and take the first left. Take out the Shadow Undead and collect the Rune Arc you find there. In the next room, you’ll find an elevator that goes (a long way) down.

At the bottom, take the first left. Grab the Ash of War: Wall of Sparks from the corpse on the railing, and then head back into the hall.

Take a left and go all the way to the end of the hall. Take out the Living Jar, and grab the Gold Pickled Fowl Foot.

Head back out and take the first left. A Those Who Live in Death will jump out at you. Keep going straight and deal with another Those Who Live in Death. The hall ahead of you splits. The left side looks like a dead end, but it’s actually an illusory wall. Roll against it to pass through and collect the Battlefield Priest’s Cookbook (4).

Back out of the room and head down the stairs. Clear out the Those Who Live in Death and the Living Jars in this room and the next. Head over to the left to find an Iris of Grace and a Hefty Cracked Pot under the balcony where you grabbed the Ash of War a second ago.

Continue out the door heading west and down the stairs (either side). Head out the door to find the West Rampart Site of Grace. The rest of this path leads out and into the Ancient Ruins of Rauh region, so it’s time to warp back to the Storehouse, First Floor Site of Grace in the Specimen Storeroom.

Loop around the first room of the library clockwise, and clear out all of the Shadow Undead and Vulgar Militia you see. On the far side, there are some stairs down that lead to a very obvious secret passage you can’t do anything with yet. Instead, take the stairs up and to the left.

Snake through the stacks to clear out any enemies (and watch out for the Fire Knight). Your next stop is the room down the stairs at the north end of the room. Inside, past the whale(?) skeleton, you’ll find Sir Ansbach in his second location.

Back in the main room, take two rights to find another staircase. Go up. Sweep this floor for enemies (including another Fire Knight) and items.

Starting at the top of the stairs, head over to the right and follow the walkway around. Below you on the left, you’ll see an open room with large tables. Jump the railing and drop down to find the Boltdrake Talisman +3.

Along the west wall, you’ll find a lever that moves that conspicuous bookcase we saw a second ago. Retrace your steps up to the second floor and then continue up the stairs against the north wall.

On the next floor up, turn back to the south and take on the Fire Knight before they notice you. Check the room to the west for some more enemies and items. When you’re done, head onto the balcony around the center of the room.

Head to the left (east) side. Watch on your left for a buttress you can jump onto. Use that to cross to the section of room across from you and head to the south end to find the Dueling Shield.

Hop back across the buttress to the balcony and continue south. At the end of the walkway, the corpse of a giant(?) will be hanging to your right. Jump over the railing onto its feet. When you reach his knees, turn to the right and look down. You’ll be standing directly over that goat-thing corpse that’s directly in front of the site of grace. Drop off the knees onto the goat’s back for a Revered Spirit Ash.

Drop to the floor and retrace your steps all the way to the hanging god corpse. This time, walk up along its back and onto its head. Jump from its head to the balcony ahead of you to find the Storehouse Cross message from Sir Ansbach, a Miquella’s Cross, a Scadutree Fragment, and the Storehouse, Fourth Floor Site of Grace.

From the site of grace, head out onto the balcony and take a left. Follow the ledge around and past the Fire Knight.

Around the next corner, you’ll pass some stairs on your left. Go down. Make a U-turn to the left at the bottom to find a Shadow Realm Rune (5).

Head inside. Just to the left of the door, grab the Holyproof Pickled Liver. Walk forward to the edge. Take a right, and pick up the Secret Rite Scroll. Warp back to the Storeroom, First Floor Site of Grace and head back to Sir Ansbach to hand over the scroll. When you’re done, travel back to the Storeroom, Fourth Floor Site of Grace and retrace your steps.

Go past the stairs and the Giant Bats, and then take the first left you come to back into the Storehouse (there’s also a Rada Fruit at the end of the walkway). Take a left and check the room at the end of the hall for a Smithing Stone (6). Go back past the door and follow the floor around counterclockwise. Keep going past the Fire Knight and up the stairs.

At the top, you’ll start hearing Redmane Freyja speaking — but she’s not on this floor. Take a left, go up the stairs, and then another left and more stairs. Grab the Sliver of Meat at the top, and then head through the door to find the Storeroom, Seventh Floor Site of Grace and Redmane Freyja’s second location. Talk to her and exhaust her dialogue. You can’t get much out of her at the moment, though.

Warp back down and talk to Ansbach some more and he’ll have new dialogue. Head back up to the Seventh Floor.

Head back out of the room heading east and cross the bridge to find (oh, surprise!) another Fire Knight. Keep going past them to the end of the walkway.

When it dead ends, turn to the left and jump onto the back of the goat-creature for a Revered Spirit Ash.

Drop down to the room below you. At the east end, there’s a corpse with a Shadow Realm Rune (5) on the right. Against the east wall, throw the lever. That will raise all of the hanging specimens on the central pillar.

Backtrack to the north a little and look for a section of balcony (with no railing) jutting out on your left. Jump across to the beam that you just repositioned.

Climb up the steps, and then jump to the platform on your left. Jump to the right onto the hanging deer(?) corpse. Run up along its back to the head and jump into the room ahead of you.

Out on the balcony, take a right and go up the stairs. At the top, turn left and take out the Flame Knight waiting for you. It will drop the Winged Serpent Helm and the Ash of War: Flame Spear when defeated. Push through the doors it was guarding to pick up a Scadutree Fragment.

Turn left and head up the stairs to find the Dark Chamber Entrance Site of Grace.

Before we go any further, there’s a really good talisman we can pick up now. Fast travel back to the Storeroom, First Floor Site of Grace. Work around the Storehouse retracing what you did before until you get to the third floor (where there’s that Fire Knight standing at the edge). Over to the west, you’ll see that hanging giant has moved. Walk over under its head to pick up the Pearldrake Talisman +3 talisman.

Head back to the Dark Chamber Entrance.

Push through the doors next to the site of grace for a cutscene, some insults, and the Messmer the Impaler boss fight.

When you get him to about half health, you’ll get another cutscene that’s not gross or disturbing at all. Messmer will become Base Serpent Mesmer and a second phase of the fight will begin.

Once you defeat him, you’ll pick up the Remembrance of the Impaler and Messmer’s Kindling. Messmer’s Remembrance can be turned into the Spear of the Impaler great spear or the Messmer’s Orb incantation back at Roundtable Hold.

Before you leave, rest at the new Messmer’s Dark Chamber Site of Grace. When you get up, Hornsent will be kneeling by the statue. Speak to him and exhaust his dialogue.

Head down to the First Floor and go check in with Sir Ansbach. He’ll give you a Letter for Freyja. Return to the Seventh Floor and pass on the Letter for Freyja. Exhaust her dialogue to receive the Golden Lion Shield.

You may have noticed that your journey through the Shadow Keep doesn’t actually take you through all of the keep. And there’s an entire flooded section off to the east. Reaching the rest of the Shadow Keep and draining the flooded Church District is its own adventure.

At the Shadow Keep Back Gate, the “O Mother” gesture will open a path to the Hinterlands where you can tackle a boss fight against Commander Gaius.

Looking for more Shadow of the Erdtree guides? Check out our guides on new Elden Ring DLC weapons, armor, map fragments, sites of grace, and talismans. We’ve also got location guides on where to find Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes, and an interactive Elden Ring DLC map.