Elden Ring guide: Murkwater Cave walkthrough

Murkwater Cave is a hidden dungeon in Elden Ring’s West Limgrave area, with an invading NPC to deal with, as well as items to find and a boss fight with Patches. In this Elden Ring Murkwater Cave guide, we’ll tell you how to find the dungeon, how to defeat the enemies, what to do about Patches, and the available rewards.

Murkwater Cave location and Bloody Finger Nerijus

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Murkwater Cave is set into the west wall of the river north of Agheel lake. Steep cliffs mean you can only approach from the north or south.

Bloody Finger Nerijus

As you approach, you will be invaded by Bloody Finger Nerijus. They are a powerful enemy who moves quickly and fights with throwing weapons that inflict Bleed damage. Bloody Finger Hunter Yura will automatically be summoned to fight alongside you, but he can be slow to appear.

Nerijus is relatively far from any site of grace except for the Murkwater Cave, and you can’t enter the Cave while they are summoned, so if you die it can take a while to get back to the area. Here’s a trick for that. Once they invade, run back southward (you won’t be able to get on your horse) toward Agheel lake. Watch out for the Skeletons when you get close to the main lake area.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Nerijus will chase you, but if they get far enough away from their spawning position, they will disappear with the message “Bloody Finger Nerijus has returned to their world.” Murkwater Cave will now be accessible so you can activate that site of grace to have a handy base to easily retry the fight.

Whenever you do fight Bloody Finger Nerijus, stay back and watch out for their thrown daggers to buy time until Bloody Finger Hunter Yura appears. Once you have help, try to attack at the same time so that Nerijus is occupied.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

Upon defeat, Bloody Finger Nerijus will drop a Furlcalling Finger Remedy and the weapon Reduvia. Furlcalling Finger Remedies allow you to see summoning signs, so they’re necessary if you want to play co-op. Reduvia is a Standard/Pierce Dagger which causes Bleed buildup. It requires 13 Dexterity and 13 Arcana to use.

Murkwater Cave enemies and items

Murkwater Cave is dark, so you may want to purchase a torch from Merchant Kalé for 200 Runes in the Church of Elleh before proceeding.

Inside the cave are some Undead Soldiers. There is long grass here which can help you to sneak, but be careful of the bell traps on either side of the main path as it opens up into the cavern. If you do alert them, the enemies aren’t too hard to deal with, but it’s better to take them out stealthily if you can.

On the left is a chest with five mushrooms in. On the right is the boss door.

Murkwater Cave boss: How to deal with Patches

When you first enter the boss area, it will appear empty. Open the chest to get Cloth Garb and Cloth Trousers.

Patches will appear to reproach you for trying to steal his things and fight you. He fights with a tower shield and a spear, as well as spitting an AOE mist that doesn’t do damage but will reduce your attack power.

Though the shield can be annoying, Patches isn’t too difficult to fight once you find his openings. Light attacks when you can see a gap in his shield defence should go through, or try to get around the back of him. Plus, you don’t have to defeat him all the way. At about half health, he will stop fighting and surrender.

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

At this point, you can stop and spare him, or you can kill him. Either way, you will get two Golden Runes [1], each worth 200 Runes from the equipment menu or at vendors.

If you spare him, you will get the Grovel for Mercy Gesture, and Patches becomes a merchant located in the Murkwater Cave, as well as appearing later in Elden Ring. If you kill him, you will get his Bell Bearing, which you can use later to unlock purchasable items in the Roundtable Hold. You will also get his Leather Armor, Leather Gloves, and Leather Boots, plus his Spear, which is upgraded +7. It requires 12 Dex and 15 Dex to use and does Pierce damage.