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Leyndell, Royal Capital is one of the largest legacy dungeons in Elden Ring. What some players may not realize is that there's an entire underground section of the city that's worth exploring. The underground portion, better known as the Subterranean-Shunning Grounds, is just as expansive. This is why it deserves its own guide.
The Shunning Grounds has some bosses, unique NPCs, loot, and many challenges. It's difficult to traverse because each area of the sewers is a maze or purposefully meant to be confusing. That's why we've made a guide to go through how to complete each area in the Leyndell sewers and reach the end.
Overview
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Bosses |
Mohg, The Omen |
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Esgar, Priest Of Blood |
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Loot |
Mohg's Shackle |
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Omen set |
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Haligdrake Talisman |
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Omen Bairn |
How To Get Into The Subterranean-Shunning Grounds
From the Avenue Balcony Site of Grace, you want to head down the stairs to where the knight is with the lightning bow. Go behind him and the tail of the dragon. There's a ladder, but that's not where we want to go and that leads to a dead-end anyhow. Instead, go under the dragon down the steps. This area is full of rubble. You'll want to jump on top of the rooftops and over to the next area.
Here will be an old well hidden away in a corner. Also, there's a ladder going down the well. This will take you to the Subterranean-Shunning Grounds of Leyndell, Royal Capital.
In the alternate version of the city, Leyndell, City of Ash, you can still access the Subterranean-Shunning Grounds by heading directly south from the City of Ash Grace. There will be a large hole in the ground you can carefully drop into.
Underground Roadside Site of Grace
Once inside the well, there's only one set way to go. You'll walk down some sewers and then meet some stairs, where rats will be at the bottom. They shouldn't be an issue. Continue straight, down the stairs and through a doorway.
Now you're deep in the shunning grounds. There are three large ogres below that are very tough enemies. You can try to range attack and kill the one nearest to you, to the right. The best thing to do right now is to go down the ladder and quickly reach the nearby Site of Grace. It's just past the ladder to your left.
The ogres are big enough to enter the Site of Grace room if you happen to lead them to it, trapping you. However, you can always rest at the Site and the enemies will reset their locations.
From the Underground Roadside Site of Grace, you'll notice double doors across from you. Those are shortcut doors you open later on. For now, you'll want to leave the grace and head left, down the road.
Just before the two ogres at the end of the road, there will be a ladder leading downward. Head down here.
Imp Infested Pipes
Imps are always annoying because they hide in corners on the wall and wait to jump down on you and Bleed you to death. That's why you want to make sure to constantly target lock while in this area, apart from taking it slow. The first wooden platform in front of you and on your right will have an imp about to drop down. Then there will be an imp on the pipes above you as well.
Whether you have ranged weapons or not, walk slowly so that even if you trigger an imp to drop on you, you can duel him instead of getting overwhelmed by multiple.
You'll want to make your way across the pipes, continuing straight. Past the imp at the doorway will be stairs leading up. You want to be very careful exiting the stairs, as there will be an ogre to your left.
Next, there is a lever to the right. Quickly run in and activate the lever. This opens a shortcut for you, leading back to the Underground Roadside Grace.
Now you can go back to the imp infested pipes. There's nowhere else to really go here other than to drop down onto more pipes. You can safely drop down from two locations: where the doorway to the shortcut is, or at the beginning where you came down the ladder. There are lower pipes to drop onto, then you drop down into a large den. This large area has two lobsters ready to attack.
There are short pipes on the ground that you can run into and take shelter in when running from the lobsters. The only thing down here is the start of the Leyndell Catacombs. See the arrow in the photo series above to understand how to exit the lobster den and into the catacombs. A Grace will be to your right once you enter through the hole in the wall next to the second lobster.
The Leyndell Catacombs
Before starting the Leyndell Catacombs, you'll want to take the lift up. It will lead to some spirits that will attack you. There is a spirit that is actively re-summoning the others each time you kill them. This summoner is hidden behind two fake walls.
Shortcut
The first fake wall is directly beside the stairs. The next is the second wall under the stairs. This will reveal a spectral snail, which upon defeat will make the other spirits disappear. A Haligdrake Talisman can also be found here.
Up the stairs is a lever that opens part of the ceiling to your right. This leads back to the Underground Roadside. Be careful, as the previous ogre is up there.
Now it's time to go back to the Leyndell Catacombs grace and begin your journey. The catacombs can be very confusing if you don't understand what's going on. It consists of three different loops. Each time you jump off the ledge onto the coffin, it will start a new loop.
We'll call the first loop the fire loop since it has corpses that are on fire and explode when they get close. The second loop's beginning portion is empty, and the third loop is riddled with Ghost Glovewort.
Loop One: Fire Corpses
On your first run into the catacombs, there will be enemies clawing at the wall in the first room and then enemies on fire down the hall. If you leave the passive enemies near the wall in the other room, it will help you to remember which loop you're in. It's important to know that the fire-breathing pillars in the catacombs can be stopped and then used as an elevator.
Run to the right after the fire is out to take a breather, then run towards the pillar and smack it. This will make it go underground and become harmless. Jump on top of it and smack it again. The first loop's pillar will lead you to a room with an ogre and the Crucible Scale Talisman.
Going back down the pillar and to the stairs, passing the ogre, and jumping down onto the coffin will start loop two, which is what you want.
There are two ways to go at the coffin. Continue into the catacombs to start the next loop, or go back to the boss room. This is a fake boss room, as the Leyndell Catacombs grace is not found above the stairs. This room contains two ogres, instead.
Loop Two: Empty
This loop is notable for its lack of enemies in the first room and hall. Loop two is really where you need to be to complete the catacombs. Using the fire pillar here as an elevator will eventually lead you to the lever that opens the real boss room. Instead of one room with an ogre, the pillar will raise you to the same room but with another pathway to the right.
Two imps will surprise you here. This will take you to the lever, where you can also jump down to the starting loop and actual boss. If you don't take the pillar up and instead use the stairs in the hall, you'll continue the loop to loop three.
Loop Three: Gloveworts
This loop is easily identified by the Ghost Gloveworts growing. They don't respawn, but you can always notice the leaves and stem of the plant where it once grew. There is no fire-breathing pillar in loop three. If you go to where the pillar should be, an ogre will drop down on you.
If you continue to the right, the loop will lead you back to loop two, because that's where you need to be.
Boss
The official boss for Leyndell Catacombs is Esgar, Priest of Blood. He drops Lord of Blood's Exultation Talisman upon defeat.
Backtrack To Roadside Grace
Now you've cleared out the imp infested pipes and catacombs. The next area lies deeper. Between the two ogres at the very end of the Underground Roadside, there are sewer grates you can jump down from.
Beware, because there will be rats below.
From this location, you can either make a left to find the Dung Eater or make a right to continue the tedious journey through the Leyndell sewers.
Be careful as to not lead the ogres here, as they are big enough to follow you in.
To reach the Dung Eater, all you have to do is run past the giant Miranda flowers and up the ladder at the end of the sewer. Up the ladder will be a room full of hidden spider hands. The jail cell at the very end will have the Dung Eater inside, granted you've found a Seedbed Curse and spoken to him at the Roundtable Hold.
There's nothing else to do in this area. To progress through the Leyndell sewers, you must go back and take that first right instead. You'll be entering a confusing pipe system now.
Maze Of Pipes
These pipes are pretty simple at the beginning. Take it slow, otherwise, you'll fall into the two holes within this pipe system.
To exit this pipe system you only have to jump over the first hole, continue, and jump over the second hole. Then turn right, to the exit.
If you happen to fall into the first hole, it leads you to a small area containing four wraith callers. Continuing through here will just lead you back to where you fell. Hole Two drops you into a wraith den with an elite mini-boss that can be terrifying. Once defeated, or if you simply want to run away, there is a pipe sticking out of the wall to the North-West. When in the pipe, turn right to head back to where you originally fell.
The end of this pipe system contains an ogre and a ladder in an open area. The ogre can follow you inside the pipes. Luring in is not advised since you can't see where you're going, and it's a tight space. Fight him in the open or simply make a run for the ladder.
Up the ladder, you can open doors that lead to a shortcut. This is where you want to take it slow or fast. Just past the doors is two more ogres, but they are turned away. You can easily sneak by them if the previous ogre isn't chasing you up the ladder.
There is a lever to the right of the room that opens the gate, creating a shortcut back to the Roadside grace. The adjacent doors lead to the next area, an empty chasm with spiraling stairs.
Chasm
These stairs are relatively safe. There are only two corpses on the stairs that are not aggressive. The second corpse will be standing near the edge. This is where you have to carefully jump down to reach the next area. Instead of jumping from the direct ledge the enemy was standing at, go to the railing instead. Don't roll or jump, try inching closer and closer to the edge, so you fall softly.
Once you've successfully made the "jump", there will be passive rotten skeletons and some small Miranda flowers down the halls. You'll reach stairs and a ladder in the distance. The ladder leads to a giant Miranda. To continue, turn right and go under the stairs. More pipes, yay.
There's only one direct way to go here. Your first right has a locked gate door next to an enemy that resembles Gatekeeper Gostoc. This can be unlocked later. Continue straight and take the next right at the end of the tunnel. This leads you to yet another large room with an ogre inside.
This ogre will drop the Omen Bairn item upon defeat. Whether you defeat him or run away, the ladder in this room leads to the next area. Opening the doors, you'll find yourself above the previous imp-infested pipes.
Higher Imp Pipes
Turn left from the doors and walk up the pipes. Following the images above, you only have to walk all the way up the pipe, jump down and turn around and reach the area with a doorway. Be careful here, as an imp will jump out of the doorway to surprise you. Inside, you'll find yourself above the area with the ogre. Jump down the pipe hole.
Second Maze Of Pipes - The End Of The Line
Dropping down will put you at a fork in the road. Forward, most South-East will bring you to the end of the entirety of the sewers. Going right, most South-West will lead to dead ends and backtracking.
This South-East Pipe system will lead you to the boss. The first hole you encounter will have a giant rat on the opposite side of it that you can lure to fall down. Down that hole is where you saw the enemy that looks like Gatekeeper Gostoc by a locked door. The second hole in this pipe system drops you onto the other side of this locked door. You can open it to unlock a shortcut, but continue straight instead.
This will lead you to a ladder. The ladder will take you to a small room full of sleeping jar enemies and a metal lift to your right. The lift will take you to the Forsaken Depths Site of Grace and then the end boss of the sewers, Mohg, The Omen.
The South-West pipe system leads to a dead-end and brings you back to the imp infested pipes. It's full of FP and HP scarabs, as well.