War Dead Catacombs Elden Ring: Full Walkthrough

FromSoftware’s latest entry Elden Ring is praised for its vast stretching open world that pushes the boundaries of exploration. The game is one month into release, and players are still discovering new locations and secrets that uncover the lore. One particular location also includes War Dead Catacombs Elden Ring which hides in plain sight on the map. Although, this location is pretty much an endgame for players and involves defeating the incredibly powerful Starscourge Radahn boss. After that, you can easily gain access to the War Dead Catacombs dungeon in Elden Ring. 

If you are a completionist like most players, it is highly important to complete the War Dead Catacombs in Elden Ring. The main reason behind it is that the dungeon involves a handful of rewards and secrets that will satisfy players’ cravings for storyline lore. Plus, it is a minor optional dungeon, making it even easier to miss.

Now that it has come to your attention, you might also need a walkthrough of the War Dead Catacombs Elden Ring and how to complete the dungeon. This guide entails all the details that you need to know about the dungeon and how you can navigate inside it. With that said, let’s get right into it. 

Similar Read: Elden Ring Bloodhounds Fang: Locations, Builds, and Requirements

War Dead Catacombs Elden Ring

War Dead Catacombs is located in the Caelid, one of the most darkest and dangerous locations in the Lands Between. Although, the dungeon of War Dead Catacombs is minor. But it holds many secrets and precious rewards that are a must-have for every kind of player in the game. You will be going to the east side of the stretching desert in the Caelid region. 

If you have defeated the Radahn, you can use the Starscourge Radahn site of grace too easily fast travel in the desert and then progress further to the War Dead Catacombs. Here is the complete walkthrough of the location. 

How to get to the War Dead Catacombs in Elden Ring

Getting to the War Dead Catacombs is a little tricky. But navigating through the site of grace makes the whole process smooth. You do not have to cast around the huge dessert to find the minor Catacombs. In fact, that approach will not only waste time but also add potential threats of engaging in the battle with lurking enemies. 

For that instance, all you need to do is to fast travel to the Starscourge Radahn site of grace. From here, you will be taking the extreme north and going straight to the mountain alongside the coast. You will need your torrent to travel the huge distance between the site of grace to the War Dead Catacombs gate. Once you reach the double doors on the large stones, you will have to interact with them to gain access inside the dungeon. There you have it, you can now interact with the elements inside the War Dead Catacombs and uncover all the secrets it holds. 

War Dead Catacombs Walkthrough

Now that you have finally gained access to the dungeon, you will be surprised to see a unique location with some familiar blood-thirsty enemies. As soon as you enter through the gate, you will see a site of grace that you will have to hit before diving into the Catacombs. 

After that, you will be going down through stairs into the hall that leads to more flights of stairs. However, most prominently, you will be spectating a brutal spirit war between spectral knights and soldiers. Although, they may pose a threat to your character. But waiting for a few minutes will allow them to disappear from the hall. 

The battle does not vanish all by itself. In fact, it continues below the hall in the scarlet rot. When they are out of the way, you can proceed to any of the stairs in the hallway to get to the other side of the dungeon. Beware of the archers that are also hiding in the shadows. They will not stay away from making the moves of attacking your character. So make sure to bring your ideal weapon and armor for the character. Or you can also dodge these arrows to keep a safe side from taking the damage.

Completing the dungeon involves a series of fights and looting the items from the chests. The first path that you are going to take is the right stairs at the end of the hallway. Before that, retrieve the Magic Grease from the corpse in the center of the hall. Moreover, on the left side of the corpse, you will also be able to obtain a Grave Glovewort item that will come in handy during your journey in the Lands Between. 

Now you can take the stairs on the extreme left side of the hall. That will take you to another side of the dungeon. Here you will encounter another spirit archer. Ignore every encounter with the spiritual enemies and go straight path until you see a statue-like structure from the window ledge. Here you will have to jump below and take the stairs on the left side. Once again ignore the blood-thirsty archer and interact with a lever below the statue. 

Interacting with the level will show the message “Somewhere, a heavy door has opened”. We will come to that door later. Let’s gather other loots that are abundantly scattered around the War Dead Catacombs in Elden Ring. 

Return to the main hallway where you collected the Magic Grease. If you are facing the hallway with the main entrance in the back, you will have to take the first stairs on the left side of your character. That will take you to the basement arena where spirit knights are fighting in the rot. However, you will also see a chest, which will reward players with an item Collapsing Stars. Go back a little and on the left side, you will see another corpse that has a Golden Rune. Moreover, at the end of the Scarlet Rot, there is another corpse that will offer Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot. 

Now you can follow the straight path from this corpse to get out of the Scarlet Rot. Take the stairs and you will return to where you started in the original hallway. Now you will have to once again go to the same location where you pushed the lever to open the heavy door.

Instead of taking the window ledge with the archer, go straight and you will find a corpse lying in the Scarlet Rot. It will reward players with immensely useful Radahn Soldier ashes that are a great addition to your arsenal if you are looking for a companion to fight alongside your character. 

Proceed forward through the Dungeon Lever statue and take the straight path until you reach a doorway with two statues. These are the doors that you have opened by interacting with the lever. This is the ending sequence of the overall dungeon that will involve a mighty boss fight with Putrid Tree Spirit. After defeating the boss, players will receive a Golden Seed and Redmane Knight Ogha spirit. 

Tips for Defeating the Putrid Tree Spirit

Putrid Tree Spirit is the boss’s fight for completing the War Dead Catacombs dungeon. Plus, defeating the boss will challenge players’ patience and practice. For that instance, you must bring Flasks to regenerate health. One of the most prominent practices is to utilize sword and shield combinations. The shield will allow players to not only dodge the fast strikes coming from the Putrid Tree Spirit but also utilize Parry attacks to deal heavy damage. 

If you are new to the Elden Ring, you can follow the guide that entails all the details on how to Parry in Elden Ring. Another most important tip that you should know is to utilize the boss intro. Putrid Tree Spirit will pop out of the ground. During that, you can make your move to dish out heavy damage early on in the fight. It is pretty much safe around the boss and you can make the strikes with the sword or jump attacks. 

Apart from that, you can easily put it down with a block and attack strategy. Avoid the blow attacks from the boss as they can be a death sentence for your character. You can also pursue any other strategy and character build to defeat the boss. 

Final Thoughts

With numerous items available for players to loot and a unique experience with a Putrid Tree boss fight, War Dead Catacombs are indeed worthy of attention in Elden Ring. It can be a little tricky to navigate inside the catacombs. However, following the complete walkthrough will make things much easier to finish the dungeon. 

That is about it for completing the infamous War Dead Catacombs dungeon. Do you find this guide helpful for navigating inside the War Dead Catacombs in Elden Ring? What are your approaches to taking on the ancient Putrid Tree Spirit battle? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section down below.