Though Elden Ring sports a wide variety of intriguing NPCs and questlines to follow, few are as long or hold as much weight as that of Ranni the Witch. Not only does her quest span the entire game and open up a unique ending, but following it is also the only way to get your hands on one of the most beloved weapons in From Software's history. Here's how to complete Ranni the Witch's questline and earn yourself the Dark Moon Greatsword.
Ranni's Rise is in the northwest part of Liurnia.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.
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.
The treasure of Nokron is located within the Night's Sacred Ground.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.
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.
From here, head down to the right and follow the river northwest.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 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.
Take a short ride in a coffin.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.
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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