Shadow of the Erdtree Shadow Keep: All Unique Item Locations (2024)

Guide to all Item Locations at Shadow Keep in Shadow of the Erdtree, including its sub-areas like Specimen Storage and Church District. weapons, talismans, spells, rare items, and how to reach tricky areas!

This guide is up-to-date for Elden Ring Update 1.12.3

How to reach Shadow Keep

Shadow Keep sits at the northern edge of Scadu Altus in front of the Scadutree. There are several several sub-areas including the castle, Specimen Storage, and the Church District.

Upon arriving at the main gate to the castle, you’ll learn that Miquella’s Great Rune has been shattered. This has lifted the charm he placed on all of the other Tarnished that have made their way to the Realm of Shadow.

I strongly recommend talking to all the NPCs you’ve met at Miquella’s Crosses thus far, as they all have something new to say.

How to reach Specimen Storage

Specimen Storage is the tower sub-area at Shadow Keep, presumably the “Keep”. The main entrance to Specimen Storage in the castle is guarded by a Fire Knight wielding a Greatsword.

The upper region of Specimen Storage with the bats, above Messmer’s arena, is inaccessible from the First Floor castle entrance. You can only reach it by taking an elevator in the Church District.

How to reach the flooded Church District

The Church District at the Shadow Keep is initially flooded. It cannot be accessed from the main entrance to Shadow Keep.

Instead, you must use the dedicated eastern entrance by Rabbath’s Rise and the Cathedral of Manus Metyr by going through Bonny Village via a tunnel beneath Moorth Ruins.

The Church District does connect to Specimen Storage, but you can only initially access the associated elevator from the Church District.

How to drain the water in the Church District

In order to drain the water, you must hop across the parts of buildings that aren’t submerged and pull a lever, opening the floodgates. You will not miss out on any items by draining the Church District, and many items are only accessible after doing so.

When you reach the mostly submerged statue of Marika, there are two walls you can use as bridges.

Looking at both of them, the one on the left-hand side leads to the drainage lever, while the one on the right-hand side leads to the elevator that takes you to the previously inaccessible parts of Specimen Storage.

Weapons

All six of the weapons you can find or exchange for a Remembrance are quite unique.

Main-gauche

The Main-gauche is a parrying dagger, useful against the Aging Untouchables out in the Abyssal Woods so that you can harvest their Swollen Grapes and Exultation.

You can loot the Main-gauche from a corpse in the room with 2 Messmer Soldiers and a Black Steel Twinblade-wielding Black Knight at Shadow Keep.

Fire Knight’s Seal

The Fire Knight’s Seal boosts the damage dealt by all 3 of the Messmer’s Flame Incantations by 15%.

You can loot the Fire Knight’s Seal from a corpse behind the base of Marika’s statue in the Church District after draining the water.

Queelign’s Greatsword

Queelign’s Greatsword is a Heavy Thrusting Sword that’s sort of a hybrid of the weapon classes. You can combine it with his Ash of War: Flame Skewer if you want the biggest Queelign around.

You receive Fire Knight Queelign’s Ashes if you deny him the Grace of Marika by giving him an Iris of Occultation. He has locked himself in the Prayer Room at the main cathedral in the Church District.

You can loot the Prayer Room Key (and Ash of War: Flame Skewer) from Fire Knight Queelign after fending off his invasion at the Church of the Crusade on the western cliff of Scadu Altus. You may need to defeat him at Belurat in order for him to spawn at the Church of the Crusade.

Spear of the Impaler

The Spear of the Impaler is Messmer’s stripper pole. It’s a fun weapon that adds a lot more variety to Pyromancy.

You can purchase the Spear of the Impaler from Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold in exchange for the Remembrance of the Impaler.

Sword Lance

The Sword Lance is Queelign’s Greatsword in that it’s a sort of hybrid weapon, this time combining a Greatsword and a Lance. It also comes with the gravity twirly move used by Commander Gaius as a removable Ash of War.

You can purchase the Sword Lance from Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold in exchange for the Remembrance of the Wild Boar Rider.

Shadow Sunflower Blossom

The Shadow Sunflower Blossom is the humongous head of the Scadutree Avatar. The Unique Skill causes the dead plant to grow a little bit before its head gets slammed into the groun repeatedly.

You can purchase the Shadow Sunflower Blossom from Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold in exchange for the Remembrance of Shadow Sunflower.

Shields

There are a couple of fairly unique Shields you can use protect yourself, both at the Specimen Storage inside the Shadow Keep.

Golden Lion Shield

The Golden Lion Shield is a Medium Shield with a Unique Skill that acts as an enhanced version of the Shield Bash Ash of War.

Redmane Freyja gives you the Golden Lion Shield at the Specimen Storehouse on the 7th floor after you speak with Sir Ansbach about her confusion and you courier his explanation back to her.

Carian Thrusting Shield

The Carian Thrusting Shield is part of the new Thrusting Shield class, which is designed to let use your shield offensively, by being able to equip a wider variety of Ashes of War and deal more damage.

You can loot the Carian Thrusting Shield from a corpse in the backroom part of Specimen Storage that is only accessible through the Church District. It’s very close to the Storehouse, Back Section, Site of Grace.

Armor

You’ll find several unique Fire Knight Helmets at the Shadow Keep and unlock the ability to purchase Messmer and Gaius’ Armor Sets after defeating each of them.

Winged Serpent Helm

The Winged Serpent Helm is part of the Fire Knight garb. It boosts the damage dealt by Fire Knight Skills by 10%, so basically any Ash of War or Unique Skill that involves Messmer’s Flame.

You receive the Winged Serpent Helm for defeating Kood, Captain of the Fire Knights, who guards the Dark Chamber near the top of Specimen Storage.

Death Mask Helm

The Death Mask Helm is part of Fire Knight garb. It offers the unique effect to reduce the FP cost of summoning spirits by 15%.

You receive the Death Mask Helm after defeating a specific Fire Knight wearing the helm named Wego. He’s in front of the Marika statue in the Church District summoning a bunch of fire zombies to blow up at you.

Salza’s Hood

Salza’s Hood pointlessly grants +2 Intelligence, but looks absolutely FABULOUS with the Lord of Blood’s Robe.

You receive Salsa’s Hood after defeating Fire Knight Sage Salza guarding the gate to Rauh Ruins.

Messmer’s Armor Set

Messmer’s Armor Set is the garb of Messmer the Impaler, minus the snake. The helmet boots the damage dealt by Messmer’s Flame Incantations and Fire Knight Skills by 3%.

You can purchase Messmer’s armor set from Finger Reader Enia after defeating Messmer the Impaler. The entire set costs 45,000 Runes.

To see the full details of the set, including high resolution photographs from all sides and full lore and stats data, check out our overview to the Messmer’s Armor and Gear article.

Gaius’ Armor Set

Gaius’ Armor Set is ever so slightly lighter than Lionel’s Armor Set and doesn’t feature any unique effects.

You can purchase everything but Gaius’ Greaves from Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold after defeating Commander Gaius and his hog at Scadview, behind Shadow Keep. The 3 pieces have a combined total cost of 28,000 Runes.

You can obtain Gaius’ Greaves from the Albinauric’s Shack right in front of the Scadutree Chalice that Giaus was guarding.

Ashes of War

There are a trio of Ashes of War you can pick up from the Shadow Keep./

Ash of War: Swift Slash

Swift Slash is an Ash of War that is only equippable to Backhand Blades, one of the new weapon classes in Shadow of the Erdtree. You get into your starting position, and then blink forward, dealing damage over the distance you blinked.

You receive the Ash of War: Swift Slash after siding with the Hornsent at Shadow Keep and repelling Needle Knight Leda at the Shadow Keep.

Ash of War: Wall of Sparks

Wall of Sparks is an Ash of War specifically for the new Perfume Bottle weapon class. It’s similar to the strong attack in that you surround yourself with Perfume, but it covers a wider area and ends in an explosion.

You can loot Ash of War: Wall of Sparks from a corpse overlooking the Living Jar infirmary accessible via elevator from Specimen Storage and leads out to Rauh Ruins.

Ash of War: Flame Spear

Ash of War: Flame Spear turns any thrusting weapon into a spear by firing a beam of Messmer’s Flame out from the blade.

You receive Ash of War: Flame Spear for defeating Kood, Captain of the Fire Knights, who guards the Dark Chamber near the top of Specimen Storage.

Talismans

There are 3 generic defensive Talismans you can loot at the Shadow Keep.

Talisman of Lord’s Bestowal

Talisman of Lord’s Bestowal boosts your Poise by 50% while you’re drinking from either your Crimson or Cerulean Flask, essentially making it hard to get interrupted while trying to heal.

You can loot the Talisman of Lord’s Bestowal from the base of the baby Erdtree in the courtyard at the Shadow Keep.

Boltdrake Talisman +3

The Boltdrake Talisman +3 boosts your Lightning Damage Negation by what seems to be a variable amount, though it’s the same amount stronger than Boltdrake Talisman +3 can be quantified as a multiplicative 35-50% boost or an additive 16-20%.

All of the Drake Talismans appear to change the percentage, not your relevant Defense stat, but applies a greater effect the lower your associated Damage Negation percentage is. It’s as if diminishing returns are being applied to the percentage, not the stat as one might expect.

You can loot the Boltdrake Talisman from the common area at the Storehouse on the first floor, behind the stacked tablets and secret passage bookshelf, though you can also just drop down to it from above.

Pearldrake Talisman +3

The Pearldrake Talisman boosts your non-Physical Damage Negation (Magic, Fire, Lightning, and Holy) by half of what you’d get for a single stat from one of the other +3 Drake Talismans. It follows the same variable behavior as the other Drake Talismans.

In other words, Pearldrake Talisman +3 boosts your non-Physical Damage Negation by multiplicative 18-25% boost or an additive 8-10%.

You can loot the Pearldrake Talisman +3 from the giant horned specimen from the 2nd Floor after pulling the lever to lower the specimens handing in the middle.

The lever is located on the northeastern side of the 6th Floor.

Sorceries

There are 3 Sorceries obtainable at Shadow Keep, 1 of which is from a Remembrance.

Impenetrable Thorns

Impenetrable Thorns is a Thorn Sorcery for the purposes of Alberich’s Armor and Staff of the Guilty. It applies bleed buildup to both you and whatever it hits and deals an often negligible amount of damage.

The Sorcery has a fairly long, ground-based range, and the middle of the 3 Thorns tracks to your current target, though the other 3 will pop out of the ground at the same time. It’s more likely to deal damage (and trigger Blood Loss) the less distance the Thorns have traveled.

You can loot Impenetrable Thorns from a corpse that sits on the overhang for the 4th floor, where that first bat sits.

You can reach it by dropping down from the outer walkway that leads to Messmer’s tower.

Mantle of Thorns

The Mantle of Thorns allows you to wear whatever you want and still deal a small amount of (Poise) damage when you roll, just like you can with the Briar Armor Set.

You recieve the Mantle of Thorns after draining the water out of the Church District and defeating the Ulcerated Tree Spirit in the courtyard to the main cathedral. This may have been a Minor Scadutree…

Blades of Stone

The Blades of Stone is a Gravity Sorcery that summons several waves of spiky rocks from the earth, similar to the Gravity Stone consumables.

You can purchase the Blades of Stone from Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold in exchange for the Remembrance of the Wild Boar Rider.

Incantations

There are 6 Incantations you can procure from the Shadow Keep, though 2 of them are from Remembrances.

Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns

Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns turns you into a porcupine, just like it did for the Hippo after it gobbled up a Scadutree Fragment.

You receive the Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns for defeating said Hipporcupine at the main gate of the Shadow Keep.

Fire Serpent

The Fire Serpent summons a lil’ fireball of the Messmer variety that only begins seeking after a delay, throwing off dodge timing. You’ll have plenty of experience avoiding it though because practically every enemy in Specimen Storage can cast it.

You can loot the Fire Serpent Incantation from a corpse on one of the backroom upper levels at the Specimen Storehouse, accessible only from the Church District.

Wrath from Afar

Wrath from Afar allows you to project a knockback at your target from a great distance away.

You can loot Wrath from Afar from a wooden gear in the rafters of Specimen Storage, accessible only from the Church District through the backrooms.

Rain of Fire

Rain of Fire is an Incantation that causes Messmer’s Flame to rain down from the sky over your target. It doesn’t deal nearly as much damage as something like Founding Rain of Stars, but because the AoE is centered on your target, not you, it is far easier to use.

You receive Rain of Fire after defeating Fire Knight Sage Salza guarding the gate to Rauh Ruins. His Rain of Fire is a lot better than yours.

Land of Shadow

Land of Shadow is the Scaudtree Avatar version of a similar attack used by the Erdtree Avatars. In addition to firing shadowy gold projectiles, it also applies a weaker damage and knockback to enemies near you at the end of the cast.

You can purchase the Land of Shadow from Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold in exchange for the Remembrance of the Shadow Sunflower.

Messmer’s Orb

Messmer’s Orb causes you to leap into the air and float on the Messmer Flame Orb that forms in your hand. It’s the same attack that Messmer and his Base Snake use as their openers in the boss fight.

The damage dealt and costs are similar to Giantsflame Take Thee and Flame of the Fell God, but it’s buffed by a different Seal, and you’ll evade attacks that require you to jump, like the flame stomps from the Furnace Golems.

You can purchase Messmer’s Orb from Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold in exchange for the Remembrance of the Impaler.

Cookbooks

There are a pair of Battlefield Priest Cookbooks available for you to add to your library at the Shadow Keep.

Battlefield Priest Cookbook 1

The Battlefield Priest Gookbook 1 allows you to craft the stronger versions of (Drawstring) Holy Grease.

You can loot the Battlefield Priest’s Cookbook 1 from a corpse on the balcony overlooking the waiting room at the Scadutree Worship area leading to the Scadutree Avatar boss arena.

Battlefield Priest’s Cookbook 4

The Battlefield Priest’s Cookbook 4 teaches you how to craft the Sunwarmth Stone consumable item, which is a stronger version of the Warming Stone.

You can loot the Battlefield Priest’s Cookbook 4 from a corpse hidden by an illusion wall in the wing opposite the room where the great jar ambushes you at the Living Jar infirmary at Shadow Keep.

Spirit Ashes

There are 2 Fire Knight Spirit Ashes you can find at Shadow Keep.

Fire Knight Hilde

Fire Knight Hilde is your Spirit Ash for a standard Fire Knight.

You can loot the Fire Knight Hilde Ashes from a precariosly placed corpse near the Fire Knight up in the rafters of the Specimen Storehouse backrooms accessible only from the Church District. In order to reach it, you must jump onto the closer elevator as it comes up.

Fire Knight Queelign

Fire Knight Queelign is the Spirit Ash of the NPC invader you defeat twice before at Belurat and the Church of the Crusade. You cannot receive Fire Knight Queelign’s Spirit Ashes and Greatsword in the same playthrough.

You receive Fire Knight Queelign’s Ashes if you choose to give the wimpering baby an Iris of Grace. He has locked himself in the Prayer Room at the main cathedral in the Church District.

You can loot the Prayer Room Key from Fire Knight Queelign after fending off his invasion at the Church of the Crusade on the western cliff of Scadu Altus. You may need to defeat him at Belurat in order for him to spawn at the Church of the Crusade.

Scadutree Fragments

There are a whopping 11 Scadutree Fragments at Shadow Keep. That’s over 20% of the entire Scadutree Fragment serving size!

Hippocupine Fragments (x2)

As soon as you disembark from the main lift into the Shadow Keep, you’ll be ambushed by a Hippocupine mini-boss. You can enlist the help of the Hornsent to defeat it if you wish. Defeating it will drop Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns along with 2 Scadutree Fragments.

There is a huge statue of Marika standing above it, so presumably, the Hippocupine had one and ate the other Fragment. He also drops the Incantation. Aspects of the Crucible: Thorns.

Maybe the Hippos are like Pokémon and Scadutree Fragments are like Evolution Stones for them…

Marika Statue in the Church District

At the Church District in Shadow Keep, there is a Marika statue that’s initially mostly submerged. Drain the water, and then jump onto Marika’s back, and walk onto her arm.

You might not have to drain the water, but the lever is nearby, so you might as well in case you don’t make it. I recommend jumping to her back because it’s a larger target.

Stairway to Messmer Mini Marika Statue

There’s a tiny statue of Marika built into the wall behind the door to the staircase up to Messmer’s Dark Chamber at the Shadow Keep.

Shadow Keep, Back Gate

There is a statue of Marika with a Scadutree Fragment at its base next to the Shadow Keep, Back Gate, Site of Grace that leads out to the King Bulbin boss fight and Scadutree Chalice.

Use the O Mother Emote from Bonny Village in front of this Marika statue at the Shadow Keep, Back Gate, to open a secret passage to Finger Ruins of Dheo and another special place on the way.

Scadutree Chalice (x5)

There are a whopping 5 Scadutree Fragments at the Scadutree Chalice past Shadow Keep, Back Gate, guarded by Commander Gaius and his demonic warthog.

Storehouse Cross

The Storehouse Cross is located on the fourth floor of the Specimen Storehouse tower at the Shadow Keep. There aren’t any NPCs at the Cross itself, but you can find Redmane Freyja and Sir Ansbach hunting for clues along with a message from the latter.

We have a full guide listing all locations of Scadutree Fragments in Shadow of the Erdtree. If you want to grab them all, use that guide to make sure you haven’t missed any during your playthrough.

Revered Spirit Ashes

There are 2 Revered Spirit Ashes located at the Shadow Keep, exclusively on preserved beast corpses at Specimen Storage.

Humpback Ash

There’s a Revered Spirit Ash resting on the hump of the large beast at the very front of Specimen Storage. You’ll need to jump across the bookshelves to get to it.

Specimen Storage Hanging Beast

There’s a bovine horned beast hanging in Specimen Storage that has a Revered Spirit Ash on its back.

“Domain of Dragons” Painting

One of the 3 paintings in the Realm of Shadow is located at Shadow Keep.

You can find the easel holding the painting “Domain of Dragons” in a room concealed by a moat-related waterfall in Shadow Keep.

To get there, go to the wall near the elevator to Specimen Storage, the one with all of the Messmer Fire pit boats and Shadow Militia (AKA Jawas).

There’s a ladder down to the moat near the waterfall in question. There’s also a lootable corpse right next to the ladder with some piece of junk you can stuff in your pockets too.

Also inside the room with the painting, there’s an illusion wall that takes you to a room with a coffin that will transport you to the Ruins of Unte, which is the only path to the Abyssal Forest.

If you want to find the location in “Domain of Dragons” on your own, here’s a slightly larger version:

The physical location of “Domain of Dragons” is up on Jagged Peak as you’re making your way from the Mountainside to the Summit Sites of Grace. It’s on a lower elevation than the main path along the dragon corpses. You won’t see the landscape in the painting, but the storm will stop all of a sudden as you get close and the clouds will clear up.

Your reward for finding the painter is the Rock Heart, which is a reusable item transforms you into a dragon. The Rock Heart dragon form boosts the Dragon Communion Incantations (dragon breath and such).

Rare Consumables and Other Notable Items

These aren’t strictly one-offs like the rest of what’s included here, but I think these items are valuable enough to be worth retrieving.

Hefty Cracked Pot

You can loot a Hefty Cracked Pot from a bed in the abandoned jar infirmary/rebilitation center.

Based on all of the perfume everywhere, I imagine they abandoned it because of the stench…

Iris of Grace

There are a few NPCs that you’ll have the option to give an Iris of Grace or Iris of Occultation. Giving them the Iris of Grace seems to turn the NPC into a Spirit Ash.

There is a super fleshwad at the front of the jar infirmary who drops an Iris of Grace upon being defeated.

Iris of Occultation

There are a few NPCs that you’ll have the option to give an Iris of Grace or Iris of Occultation. Giving them the Iris of Occultation seems to end their life and give you a special weapon.

You receive an Iris of Occultation for defeating a SECOND Ulcerated Tree Spirit in the Church District. This one is near all of the crabs.

Great Grave Glovewort

You can loot a Great Grave Glovewort from a corpse at the flooded Church District atop the stone enclosure around the Minor Scaudtree. Once you have drained the water and defeated the nearby Ulcerated Tree Spirit, the corpse will be present on the ground.

Boss Items

There are 3 bosses associated with the Shadow Keep, each corresponding to a different sub-area.

Messmer the Impaler

You receive the Remembrance of the Impaler and Messmer’s Kindling for defeating Messmer the Impaler, allowing you to purchase Messmer’s Armor from Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold and exchange the Remembrance of the Impaler for either Messmer’s Orb (Incantation) or Spear of the Impaler (Greatspear).

Messmer’s Kindling is required to burn the Sealing Tree at Rauh Ruins, opening the way to Enir-Ilim.

Messmer the Impaler is the main boss at the Shadow Keep. His Dark Chamber is located near the top of the Specimen Storehouse. You do not need to access the Church District to reach him.

Commander Gaius

You receive the Remembrance of the Wild Boar Rider for defeating Commander Gaius, allowing you to purchase everything but the Greaves from Gaius’ Armor Set from Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold.

In addition, you can exchange the Remembrance of the Wild Boar Rider for either the Sword Lance (Greatsword) or Blades of Stone (Sorcery). You also gain access to the Scadutree Chalice, which has 5 Scaudtree Fragments around it.

You face off against Commander Gaius at Scadview, by taking a long elevator from the top of Specimen Storehouse (backroom area) down to the Shadow Keep, Back Gate.

Scadutree Avatar

You receive the Remembrance of the Shadow Sunflower and what remains of Miquella’s Great Rune for defeating the Scadutree Avatar (for the third time!).

You can exchange the Remembrance of the Shadow Sunflower for either the Land of Shadow (Incantation) or Shadow Sunflower Blossom (Collossal Weapon) with Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold.

You can use Miquella’s Great Rune to remove the charm that he places on you in the final boss fight at the Divine Gate atop Enir-Ilim.

You face off against the Scadutree Avatar at the base of the Scadutree behind the Church District.