Elden Ring is full of interesting NPCs that want you to do them a favor or two. Usually these favors are asked in obtuse riddles and can leave you pretty confused on what exactly you’re supposed to be doing. Ranni the Witch’s questline in Elden Ring is one of the longer ones, with a few steps that could be easily missed. Here is how to complete Ranni the Witch’s quest line and earn yourself the Dark Moon Greatsword.
Finding Ranni the Witch
Players will initially interact with Ranni the Witch after returning to the Church of Elleh in Limgrave early in the game, where she presents them with the Spirit Calling Bell. Players will not see her again until they reach Liurnia, where she can be found past Carnia Manor, in Ranni’s Rise tower, the middle of the three. Ranni can be found at the top of the tower.
Ranni will ask you to join her service and you need to accept. After that head down to the bottom floor of the tower and speak with her three lackeys. After that, speak to Ranni one more time before you are allowed to leave the tower. Ranni wants you to find the treasure of Nokron, Eternal City and bring it back to her. Here, she will tell you to meet up with another of her associates and explore the underground Siofra Well. Don’t bother, because the entrance to Nokron, Eternal City is locked until you defeat General Radhan, the shardbearer located in Caelid. His castle is in the southeast.
Once defeated, all of the stars Radhan was holding back will return to the sky, with one massive one crashing into the Lands Between. The NPCs hanging out after the Radhan fight will tell you it landed somewhere in Limgrave.
Nokron, Eternal City
The hole is located in East Limgrave, south of the Mistwood Ruins. If you look into the sky, you will see a bunch of floating rocks. The entrance to Nokon, Eternal City is directly below those rocks, so you can use them as a guide. When you arrive at the hole, you will see a bunch of floating rocks leading further into the hole. Using Torrent, platform your way into the hole. You will enter some ruins and if you head a little further, you will find yourself jumping across some gothic rooftops.
After navigating across the rooftops, you will come to a small plaza, where the Nokron Site of Grace is located. Forward and slightly to the right you will see an archway that looks like it leads into a building. Instead, there will be an alleyway that leads to a cliffside. Head towards it and you will discover a staircase heading right. From here, head forward until you reach an area blocked by boss fog. In here you will fight the Mimic Tear boss, which will mimic your current equipment and weapons. An easy way to beat this boss is to remove all of your equipment before entering and then quickly putting it back on after the mimic takes form. This will leave it without armor or a weapon.
After defeating the Mimic Tear, there will be a bridge heading north in front of you. Follow this bridge until there is a grassy forest area on your left hand side. Head down and head towards the left cliff wall and continue heading forward while hugging the wall. Eventually there will be an opening with a Site of Grace heading towards some more gothic rooftops. You will need to jump onto the side of a building and navigate further into this area. You will eventually fight two more mimics that turn into generic enemies and find yourself looking at an arch with a road below.
Drop down to your left and head into the church-like building. There is a chest with the Fingerslayer Blade, which is the item you were looking for.
The Ansel River
Head back to Ranni’s Rise and speak with Ranni. She will tell you your task is complete and that she will be taking a nap. After this, Ranni’s Rise, the first of the Three Sisters towers in this area, will now be unlocked. Head inside and you will find Ranni’s armor set, with the Snow Witch Hat, Robe, and Skirt. At the top of the tower is a teleport gate, which will take you to Ansel River Main, where a Site of Grace will be right in front of you. Right next to that is the Ranni the Witch doll. Pick that up, rest at the Site of Grace and you will have the option to speak with the doll.
It will ignore you the first few times but eventually the doll will acknowledge that it is in fact actually Ranni, who was attempting to hide from some would-be assassin’s that are down in the Ansel River. You will need to track down these assassin’s and defeat them. From here, head south through the river. You will quickly approach the Uhl Palace Ruins, head through them to find a small river tunnel. Continue forward until you reach a cavern full of flying giant ants. Head to the right and you will find some more gothic buildings. Head through the door on the left and you will reach the Nokstella, Eternal City Site of Grace.
There will be a set of stairs to your left and a ground level path to the right. Take the ground level path on the right and follow the river until you reach a small building on the left, with an elevator in it. Take the elevator down and you will find the Nokstella Waterfall Basin Site of Grace in front of you. There will be a cave directly in front of you that will lead straight to the invasion fight you need to complete. Within the cave are a bunch of lizards that inflict the death status effect that will kill you instantly if the meter fills. Sprint past them and you will enter a red-tinged area where you will find the Baleful Shadow, which looks similar to another NPC Blaidd but isn’t actually him.
Defeat the Baleful Shadow and Ranni will give you the Discarded Palace Key. From here enter the building in the southeast corner of this area and take the elevator down to the Lake of Rot Shoreside Site of Grace. Activate this, as we will need to come back later. From here, fast travel to the Raya Lucaria Grand Library. This is where the Rennala boss fight took place, in the academy in the center of the Liurnia lake. Sitting to the left of the Site of Grace is a chest that was locked. The Discarded Palace Key opens this chest, which contains the inside of the chest is the Dark Moon Ring, which we will need later. Fast travel back to the Lake of Rot.
The Lake of Rot
Once back at the Lake of Rot, head down to the edge of the water. From here, you are trying to reach a building to the south. You cannot use Torrent here, so you will need either Preserving Boluses to get rid of Scarlet Rot or a high number of Crimson Flasks to continuously restore health. There are a few pressure plates that lift up platforms you can stand on between you and the building, but not enough to make a complete bridge. There is a Site of Grace inside the building once you reach it, so don’t worry about using all of your flasks trying to get across the lake.
The building is called the Grand Cloister and is filled with bug warriors, the ones typically found in Caelid. You will have to jump down onto ground level, where there will be a small red river flowing west. Follow this a short way until you find a stone coffin sitting on the edge of a waterfall. The game will prompt you to get into the coffin, which is how you advance to the next area.
You will find yourself in a new underground lake area, except this one just has regular water instead of scarlet rot, advance forward and you will find a boss fight. Here you will have to fight Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, a space scorpion-like creature. After defeating the boss there will be a sealed door at the back of the arena, which is opened by the Dark Moon Ring. Follow the pathway through the cave until you reach an elevator and take that elevator up.
Moonlight Altar
You will emerge on a high plateau in the Liurnia region, which is not accessible through other means. From where you emerge you want to head north up the hill into the Cathedral of Manus Celes. The path is straight forward but you will want to hop on Torrent. Right as you are about to enter the cathedral, a Glintstone Dragon boss will spawn directly in front of the church. If you are on Torrent you can ride past the dragon inside, where you will find a Site of Grace. To the right of that is a tunnel heading beneath the cathedral. It’s fairly dark, so you will want a torch or lantern. You will need to drop down into the hole by dropping onto different ledges heading downward.
Continue along the path in the caverns until you come across Ranni’s real body in a cavern. Here you will put the Dark Moon Ring on her hand and pledge your allegiance to her. She will tell you to continue your journey to become the Elden Lord and that when the time comes you two shall rule together.
After she vanishes, you will find the Dark Moon Greatsword, a powerful magic greatsword that requires 38 intelligence to wield.
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