Burning of the Erdtree is a pivotal moment in Elden Ring, as it takes you a step closer to becoming an Elden Lord.
After igniting the Erdtree, you reach the Crumbling Farum Azula, where you need to fight and defeat Maliketh.
Defeating him changes the Royal Capital Leyndell into Ashen Capital as the once glorious metropolis gets completely covered in the ashes of the burning Erdtree.
A massive visual change accompanies this event transforming the scenery across the Lands Between. The sky, once radiant with the golden glow of Erdtree, gets enveloped in burning embers and ashes.
This event progresses the story and also changes a lot of things. The 99% of items in Royal Capital will become unobtainable as Erdtree’s ash blankets everything in the city.
Some questlines and stories also come to a complete halt when Erdtree burns.
To make sure none of us misses anything we might regret later on, let’s pinpoint everything that needs to be completed before burning the Erdtree.
Table of Contents
Pick up Missable Items
Pick up every unique item inside Royal Capital Leyndell before it becomes unobtainable, as Ash will cover the capital once Erdtree burns up.
Bolt of Gransax
Pick up from the giant spear lodged in the capital. You can jump on to spear by taking the lift down from the Erdree Sanctuary after defeating Godfrey’s Golden Shade.
Deathbed Dress
Find it below the giant dragon structure inside a small building. It is on the bed.
Lionel’s Set
Obtain it below the giant dragon structure inside a small building, the same place as the Deathbed Dress.
Omensmirk Mask
Loot it below the giant dragon structure by defeating an Omenkiller enemy.
Alberich’s Set
The armor set is found inside the Fortified Manor (the alternate Roundtable Hold in the Royal capital). It is in the main hall on the ground floor.
Raging Wolf Set
You can obtain the whole set in the Fortified Manor through Recusant Bernahl’s questline. Invade the Raging Wolf Varagram’s world, then defeat him and his sorcerer friend to get the armor set.
Painting: Flightless Bird
Take from inside the Fortified Manor. The room with the painting is accessible from the main hall.
Coded Sword
Obtain from inside the Fortified Manor. It is found in the room where the Two Fingers would be housed.
Hammer
The smithing hammer can be found inside the Fortified Manor, aside from the place where Master Hewg would be forging and smithing.
Sanctified Whetblade
Get it from inside the Fortified Manor at the place where Master Hewg would be smithing.
Gesture: By my Sword
Inside the Fortified Manor, it is found on the bed where Fia, the Deathbed Companion, would be seated.
Quest item: Seedbed Curse
Seedbed Curse (Fortified Manor) This one can still be found later in Ashen Capital, but it’s safer to obtain it inside the fortified manor as it is guarded by a Valiant Gargoyle later on.
The Seedbed Curse is found in Dung Eater’s room past where Twin Maiden’s Husk (the merchant) would be located.
Seedbed Curse (Near East Capital Ramparts) This one cannot be found later in Ashen Capital, unlike the previous one. Take the lift down past the trumpeting enemies from East Capital Ramparts.
Once you enter the building after getting off the lift, climb a ladder along the wall and navigate to the highest floor of the building. The Seedbed Curse will be on a defiled corpse seated on a chair.
Gravel Stone Seal
It is dropped by one of Leyndell Knights. The one that drops it can be found outside the Fortified Manor (the alternate Roundtable Hold in the Royal Capital) at the base of the dragon structure.
Black Bow
The weapon can be taken from northeast of Avenue Balcony Site of Grace, atop the roof of one of the buildings in the area below.
Imp Head (Corpse)
It is hidden among alleys of golden-roofed houses along the main road of the Royal Capital. The item can be accessed by jumping down the East Capital Ramparts of navigating to it from the Avenue Balcony Site of Grace.
It is in the alleyways along the east wall, inside the main city, just before the gate exit (the gate blocked by Morgott) to the path to Forbidden Lands.
Ash of War: Thunderbolt
A teardrop scarab beetle drops this top tier Ash of War. You can find the bug where you access the giant dragon structure from the Avenue Balcony Site of Grace.
The beetle is with the sleeping commoner enemies, and be careful of the Leyndell Knights guarding the area.
Craftable: Cracked Pot
Get it below the area from Avenue Balcony Site of Grace from a corpse.
Craftable: Perfume Bottles 2X
You will miss 2 Perfume bottles found among the buildings in Royal Capital.
For the first one, reach the building you access from the lift down the East Capital Ramparts. Climb the ladder inside it and find the bottle from a chest inside the building.
For the second one, from Avenue Balcony Site of Grace along the main road, head towards the path that takes you to the Forbidden Lands, outside the gate that is locked till you defeat Morgott. Find it from a corpse guarded by Leonine Misbegotten and a bunch of other enemies in that area.
Stonesword Keys
You can miss out on multiple Stonesword Keys scattered across Royal Capital. Although you usually have these items at an excess than you need, so there is no need to worry if you miss some of them.
You can find 81 in the world as loot or by purchasing from merchants, plus 2 can be obtained as a keepsake. You will need just 46 of them to unlock everything.
Goldmask and Brother Corryhn Questline
During Goldmask and Brother Corryhn’s questline, after they meet up in the broken bridge west of Windmill village, they will move to Leyndell Royal Capital.
You can find them in the hilltop Coliseum in the Royal capital, the duo will be on the cliff side facing the Erdtree.
To progress with their quest here, you need to tell Goldmask the real identity of Radagon.
This can be done by casting the Law of Regression in front of Radagon’s Statue, which can be reached by taking the lift accessible from the western door out of the Erdtree Sanctuary.
The Radagon Statue will change to Queen Marika’s statue, and a readable white notice will also appear before the statue, which reads Radagon is Marika. Once you read it, return to Goldmask and tell him the secret to progress their questline.
If you don’t do this before the Royal Capital burns, then you will be locked out of the questline and will be unable to choose the Age of Order as the final ending.
Volcano Manor, Recuasnt/ Knight Bernahl Questline
A part of Volcano Manor Questline involving Knight Bernahl can only be done before burning the Erdtree.
You need to get the Letter from Bernahl after finishing two assassinations for Tanith. It is necessary to complete Bernahl’s quest before burning Erdtree or defeating Rykard.
This takes you to the Fortified Manor, where you can interact with a summon sign to fight Raging Wolf Varagram and Errant Sorcerer Willhelm.
Defeat the duo to satisfy the quest line and return to Bernahl at Volcano Manor. Ensure you obtain your reward from him before defeating Rykard or unlocking Farum Azula.
Dung Eater Questline
You can still complete Dung Eater’s questline once Erdtree has burned, but there is one condition that might cause a potential failure.
You will need 5 seedbed curses, and you can potentially be locked out if you haven’t gotten one from near the East Ramparts or failed to do Blackguard Big Boggart’s questline and get one from his corpse.
Being locked out of these two Seedbed Curses means you will only get 4 total and end up failing the quest, as you will need to give Dung Eater 5 Seedbed Curses. (in case you get locked out, you can instead give him Seluvis’s Potion and turn him into a puppet)
Note: You can still get a Seedbed Curse from a dead body in the Ashen Capital near the West Capital Rampart area, the one that was previously inside the Fortified Manor (the alternate Roundtable Hold), but you won’t get the one near the East Capital Rampart area in the Ashen Capital.
Things That Won’t Change Even if Erdtree Burns
You can complete these questlines even after Erdtree Burns up with no issues. They have their own individual points of failure, but burning the Erdtree isn’t one of them.
- Millicent Questline (involves Gowry)
- Ranni Questline (involves Seluvis, Blaidd, Iji, and Pidia)
- Sorceress Sellen Questline (involves Jerren)
- Volcano Manor Questline (involves Tanith, Rya, Patches, Bernahl and Blackguard Boggart)
- Iron First Alexander Questline
- Fia Questline (involves Rogier, Hunter D, and his twin brother)
- Hyetta Questline and Frenzyflame Ending (involves Shabriri, Irina, and her father)
Some areas near the Royal Capital won’t change even if you burn the Erdtree.
- Subterranean Shunning Grounds
- Capital Outskirts
The remaining Shardbearers outside the Royal Capital are unaffected and can still be fought after the Erdtree burns.
Finger Maiden Enia will die after Erdtree burns, but you can still buy the Champion’s equipment and exchange the boss’s remembrance for items by interacting with her dead body.
