Looking for Patches in Elden Ring? By now everyone Souls fan is familiar with FromSoftware’s famous thief and his tendency to turn up in games to kick you down holes and lock you behind doors, all with the hope of robbing your corpse. But strange as it may seem, Patches isn’t a bad guy.
More often than not, he actually shows you the way to go, or helps you find something important—it just so happens that these important things are in areas containing horrific enemies. And when you actually confront him and say that trying to kill you wasn’t cool, he’ll apologise, and explain how he just can’t help himself.
If you don’t want anything spoiled for you, read no further. Otherwise, read on, and I’ll explain every run-in you might have with the famous NPC, and how to complete the Elden Ring Patches quest.
Locations
Where is Patches in Elden Ring?
Stormveil Castle
Your first encounter with Patches is likely to be when you head into Stormveil Castle. If you take the back route, you’ll eventually spot a doorway to a dark room, but when you step inside, the door will lock, and you’ll hear a snigger. You’ll quickly realise there’s a powerful Exile Knight in the room with you. Still, if you manage to kill him, in the chest in the far corner is the key to unlock the door at the end of the corridor that lets you into the castle. See? Patches was only trying to help you out.
Murkwater Cave
If you decided to go dungeon-delving before assaulting Stormveil Castle, you might happen upon Patches here. When you arrive at Murkwater Cave, you’ll be invaded by Bloody Finger Nerijus, but before long Yura will show up to help you. Once that’s done, head inside to find a cave with some traps on the floor, and enemies dotted around. Head right through the tunnel and into the boss. There’s a chest in the centre of this room, but once you open it, Patches will appear and try to rob you blind. If you beat him down to half HP he’ll surrender, letting you chat to him while he explains how he fell in with a bad crowd. He also tells you his new game moniker: Patches the Untethered.
Elden Ring’s NPC quests
Liurnia of the Lakes
Patches shows up next at the Scenic Isle Site of Grace in Liurnia of the Lakes, which is found southeast of Raya Lucaria Academy. When you talk to him here, he’ll mention using a specific enemy found at the Academy to get to the base of the Erdtree. He’s basically telling you one of the ways to get to Volcano Manor, though following his advice will mean you need to fight past a boss. There’s a far easier way to get there, which is detailed in our Volcano Manor quest guide.
Volcano Manor
As you may have guessed from his dialogue in Liurnia, Patches shows up in Volcano Manor. You can find him in the entrance hall, sitting on the floor on the right-hand side if you’re facing the door. You can talk to him and he’ll offer you some dialogue, but if you choose to join Volcano Manor and complete your first assassination, you can start the short Patches questline.
Shaded Castle
There have been reports that Patches also shows up at the Shaded Castle before the main boss there. If you speak to him he’ll hand over the Dancer’s Castanets key item, which you can offer to Tanith at Volcano Manor. It’s unclear if this has any effect on anything.
Quest
How to complete the Elden Ring Patches quest
You need to speak to Tanith and join the Volcano Manor when prompted if you want to start Patches questline. Once you’ve carried out the first assassination and returned and spoken to Tanith, Patches will have some new dialogue for you.
Talk to him at his location in the entrance hall of Volcano Manor and you’ll receive the Letter to Patches item. This works in the same way as the main Volcano Manor questline letters, in that you need to go and assassinate someone at the location marked on the map. In this case, it’s Great Horned Tragoth and you can find their summoning sign in the Ruin Strewn Precipice.
You need to defeat the Magma Wyrm Makar boss as this is the room where you find Tragoth’s summon sign. In fact, if you used this route to bypass the Grand Lift of Dectus to reach Altus Plateau and have already killed the boss, you may well have used Tragoth to help you as a summon. Once you’ve taken care of the boss and activated the Magma Wyrm Site of Grace, you’ll find the red summoning sign right next to it.
Once you’ve beaten Great Horned Tragoth, return to Volcano Manor and speak to Patches again. Talk to Tanith then reload the area until Patches rewards you with the Magma Wyrm Candlestick weapon.