Patches Questline - Elden Ring Guide - IGN (2024)

Patches is one of the many NPCs you'll encounter that has a side quest to complete in Elden Ring. For this part of our Elden Ring guide, you'll find details of where to find him, how to begin his questline, and the outcome of the choices you make along the way.

• In Limgrave (First Encounter)
• In Liurnia
• At Mt. Gelmir
• At Volcano Manor
• In the Shaded Castle
• Back to Limgrave

Where to Find Patches in Limgrave (First Encounter)

You'll first find Patches in Murkwater Cave in Limgrave. Upon entering the final cavern of this cave, you will find it empty save for a chest. Upon opening it, you will hear a voice call out to you, shaming you for assuming you could simply take any treasure you find.

At this point, Patches will drop down from a ledge behind you and his boss health bar will appear on your screen. Engage him in combat until he is at approximately 1/4 HP, at which point he will beg for you to let him surrender. Here you have two options.

• Kill Patches: If you choose to continue the fight, he will begin to fight you again. At this point, you have no choice but to end the fight with death, as he will not return to his pacified state during this time. Upon killing him, you will receive his unique armor as well as his +7 spear, which is a strong weapon early in the game. You will also receive the Patches Bell Bearing key item, which can be taken to the Twin Maiden Husks in the Roundtable Hold to unlock his merchant inventory. However, this will end his questline.

NOTE: If you let him surrender (allowing you to learn the Grovel for Mercy gesture) and then attack him again, he will become aggressive after 2-3 hits and fight back. However, once he's gotten your health down to around 1/4 HP, he will ask you if you would like to beg for your life. Performing the Grovel for Mercy gesture at this point will cause him to once again become mollified.

• Let Patches Live: If you stop attacking Patches when he grovels and begs for mercy (thereby teaching you the Grovel for Mercy gesture), his boss health bar will disappear after a few seconds, and you will be able to speak to him. He will ask for your forgiveness. Regardless of your answer, he will now act as a merchant at this location.

Assuming you chose to let Patches live, reload the area to find that a new chest as appeared next to Patches. This is a teleporter trap that will take you near the Mistwood Outskirts in Limgrave. You'll need to interact with a Site of Grace before you can fast travel again (the closest Site of Grace is the Mistwood Outskirts, just northwest of your destination location). Return to Murkwater Cave and speak to him again; exhaust his dialogue here to get him to move to his next location.

Patches at the Scenic Isle Site of Grace in Liurnia

Go to the Scenic Isle in Liurnia, to see Patches again. He'll sell a few additional items, including an Estoc. Here you can talk to him about both the Rya Questline as well as the Abductor Virgins at the bottom of the Academy of Raya Lucaria. The specific Abductor Virgin he mentions will transport you to a dungeon below Volcano Manor, and you'll have to navigate this lava-filled cavern to escape - see our guide for more information.

Note that this interaction is not necessary to progress his questline--if you miss him here, he will still automatically move to Mt. Gelmir as soon as you rest at a Site of Grace on the Altus Plateau.

Patches in Mt. Gelmir on the Altus Plateau

Patches will appear again later at Mt. Gelmir. You can find him northwest of the First Mt. Gelmir Campsite Site of Grace. You'll see a line of Rainbow Stones leading towards a cliff's edge. Speak to Patches who is hiding in the bush and he'll encourage you to look at the shimmering stones (you can also just trigger the next action by heading past Patches and getting too close to the edge of the cliff).

Here, a cutscene will begin where Patches will kick you off the cliff and tell you to stay away from Volcano Manor. Go back to him and he'll apologize and repeat his warning to stay clear of Volcano Manor.

Patches at Volcano Manor in Mt. Gelmir

When you've reached Volcano Manor, talk to Tanith and begin the Tanith Questline to join the Volcano Manor. After speaking to Tanith (regardless of whether or not you choose to join her), Patches will now appear in the entrance hallway. He'll have an expanded merchant inventory here (including Great Arrows and Ballista Bolts); you will also now have a dialogue prompt to ask him more about himself.

When you've completed a Volcano Manor assassination, you'll also be able to receive a Letter to Patches from him that has a special assassination request. Upon fulfilling his request to assassinate Great Horned Tragoth near the Ruin-Strewn Precipice, return to Patches and ask what the reward is for completing his mission. He'll hand over a Magma Whip Candlestick. Once you've completed Volcano Manor and killed Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy you can speak to him again and he'll say goodbye.

NOTE: Be sure to complete Patches' assassination request prior to defeating Rykard. If you defeat Rykard first, Patches will automatically move into his "goodbye" dialogue, and you will be unable to receive the Magma Whip Candlestick until NG+.

Patches at the Shaded Castle on Altus Plateau

Continue through your journey until you reach the Shaded Castle, located in the cove on the northern shore of the Altus Plateau. Head up the lift from the Shaded Castle Inner Gate Site of Grace, until you reach a long hallway dotted with statues, at the end of which is a golden fog indicating a boss room (Elemer of the Briar, in this instance). Look to the left to see Patches reclining against the wall.

Speak to him here and he'll give you Dancer's Castanets to give to Tanith, whom you can find in Rykard's chamber (note that giving them to her appears to have no effect on either her or Patches' questlines). He seems to die at this point; however, he drops no items here, and his body disappears if you reset the area. Head back to the Murkwater Cave in Limgrave to find him again.

Patches' Return to Murkwater Cave in Limgrave

Attempting to access to his arena will reveal that the boss fog has returned. Traverse the mist and interact with the now-closed chest. Patches will once again drop down to the ground with a boss HP bar and attempt to attack you. After hitting him only 2-3 times, he will recognize you and stop fighting. If you hold off on attacking him, he'll give you the Patches' Crouch gesture.

Upon reloading the area, Patches will open up his emporium again, allowing you to access his shop and all the items he's previously sold. Note that at this point, his merchant inventory has not expanded from anything he offered previously at Volcano Manor. This appears to officially end his questline, as he will continue to stay in this location as a merchant.