Welcome to the Elden Ring Walkthrough for the Miquella’s Haligtree and Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree regions! Miquella’s Haligtree is basically the secret “post-game” area in Elden Ring, as reaching it requires almost completing the game, and it has some of the highest level enemies and one of, if not the hardest boss in the entire game. It is a giant tree located to the north of the Mountaintops of the Giants, with a large castle built surrounding and through the inside of the tree, with the boss who is the source of Scarlet Rot located at the very bottom.
For all other regions refer to Elden Ring Walkthrough.
Miquella’s Haligtree & Elphael
Progression Order:
- Entering Miquella’s Haligtree
- Haligtree Canopy
- Haligtree Town
- Haligtree Town Plaza
- Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree
- Haligtree Promenade
- Prayer Room
- Elphael Inner Wall
- Drainage Channel
- Haligtree Roots
- Malenia, Goddess of Rot
- Divine Bridge
- Isolated Divine Tower
Entering Miquella’s Haligtree
Miquella’s Haligtree is basically the equivalent of a post-game secret area in Elden Ring, and as such you need to nearly beat the game to be able to reach it. You require two halves of a secret Medallion for using at the same elevator you use to get to the Mountaintops of the Giants, which then allows you to go to the western section and at the very north after solving a puzzle, take a portal to reach Miquella’s Haligtree. For all the steps of where to grab the Medallion halves, and how to solve the puzzle to reach the portal, you can check the following guide:
Once you go through the portal, you are placed on the south end of the area on the branches of the tree, with the first site of grace just in front of you.
Haligtree Canopy
To progress, you need to travel down the tree branches towards the buildings in the distance, dealing with the Envoys along the way. Follow the first obvious path, then when you reach the first spot with a bunch of mushrooms you need to drop to do the lower branch to the right.
Keep following the branch leading left past the first big Envoy, until you reach where the second big Envoy is and you can take the path continue left to reach the large main branch.
Watch out for the ants that will be on the large branch, as well as the Envoy on the branch overhead that will shoot orbs at you, as well as the traps that spray Scarlet Rot powder when you get near. When you reach the bottom of the branch there will be a white platform to the left.
Don’t go rushing off the side or anything, there is a ladder on the west edge that you can safely take to the platform below.
You can note at the bottom that there is an inoperable lever. This is for the shortcut elevator that you can activate right before the boss in this area.
Turn around and head into the building to find the next site of grace in the area.
Haligtree Town
Continue out the other side of the building to start making your way into the Haligtree town. In this area, you need to mostly watch out for Misbegottens that are hanging around praying or hiding to attack you. If you are sneaky you can backstab the praying ones to deal with them more quickly.
The ladder ahead leads to an upper level where you can obtain a Pearldrake Talisman +2, and take a route around the buildings ahead if you want. If you don’t want, then continue down the steps ahead towards the next building.
Watch out in this area as along with the Misbegottens, it is also full of the zombie-like enemies you’ve seen before, though these ones don’t explode when you kill them, they just try to grab you.
Head into the building ahead, either jumping to the lower level on the right side or going in the doorway on the left leading to the upper level. Watch out for the enemies inside, then you can either jump out the open wall or take the ladder on the right. If you go down to the lower level watch out for the two large plant enemies that will try to mess with you.
Head through the next building where you can see an unnamed Leonine Misbegotten ahead look at a statue. Be careful going out the doorway, as there is another Misbegotten hanging out to the right that will attack once you pass through the doorway.
Make sure that you also grab the Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone from in front of the statue the enemy was sitting in front of before continuing.
Go left into the next building, where you can go through the far door and cross a bridge to find the next site of grace.
Haligtree Town Plaza
To continue further, jump off the edge of the platform leading south to reach the rooftops ahead.
Continue south across the rooftops. Just ahead on the lower level, you can spot a Summoner Snail enemy that summons a Crystalian. There are actually three snails ahead, with the second hiding off the edge of the rooftop to the right.
Then a third sitting just to the side of the building you jump off the rooftop from. You can rush the Snails and when they die the summoned Crystalian will also die, making it slightly easier to get around this rooftop area.
Carefully jump to the next rooftop leading southeast, then go towards the east corner where you can drop down to the next level below.
Continue to the southeast into the next building, then take the left leading back outside.
Watch out for the human enemies in the next area, as they are strong Glintstone Sorcerers that will do heavy ranged damage if you alert both of them at once. You can alert just one of them at a time and wait for them to come to you in the building, then they are much easier to deal with.
Head towards the center platform, then take the first left to the smaller platform with the small structure in the middle. This is the shortcut elevator leading back to the Haligree Town site of grace, giving you a much shorter run back if you need for the boss instead of all the way across the rooftops again and through the two Sorcerers.
Head back down and across the next bridge to the large platform, and through the door to the boss.
Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree
Reward: 200,000 Runes, Loretta’s Mastery (Spell), Loretta’s War Sickle (Weapon)
This is basically a 1:1 copy of Royal Knight Loretta you would have fought in Caria Manor, just with stronger stats. Loretta is riding a horse and uses a long polearm as well as spells. She can either charge at you for a melee attack or use homing swords or a greatbow magic spell. At the start of the fight, summon Lone Wolf Ashes, they will attack her from all sides and keep her busy. As a spell user spam her with magic from afar, and as a melee user roll through her melee attacks for an opening to hit her. Don’t let her flying swords fool you, they will not come at you immediately – react to the start of their movement and not the spell casting itself.
Once Loretta is defeated, you can head to the north end of the platform to find the next site of grace.
Haligtree Promenade
Continue out the other side of the promenade, then don’t the stairs until you reach a ladder you can take to the lower area.
To continue you need to head inside the tower and take the elevator down, but you should first make a quick trip up the stairs leading left. At the top of the tower, you can find a chest containing an Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone.
At the bottom of the elevator, you will now be in Elphael, the castle area of Haligtree.
Head across the bridge towards the far side where you can spot the next site of grace. Watch out for the left of the doorway, as there is a Cleanrot Knight waiting to try and stop you from entering.
You can either fight the Knight or try and run past, then activate the site of grace in the room ahead.
Prayer Room
Continue out of the prayer room towards the walkway around the area. Your main goal for progression currently is basically continuing counter-clockwise all the way around Elphael. This area is full of soldiers, basically the same as the ones you fought in Leyndell, though noticeably stronger.
Watch out for the weak soldiers who have a golden glow in their chest, as they will explode when they attack you if you don’t kill them first.
Continue following the path ahead until you reach a set of stairs going down. Follow the first set down, then you want to jump over the railing onto the part sloping down to the tower, then across to the section with the gazebo in the middle.
Then take the doorway leading to the left beside the enemy, and inside this room you can find the Spirit Ash Cleanrot Knight Finlay, one of the legendary Ashen Remains.
You can then jump off the other side of the platform onto the next sloped structure, taking it up to the level above. In the room immediately ahead you can find a chest containing a Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone.
Head back out of the room and continue forward. From this level, you can drop down to some lower levels to the right using the tree roots, then across the next sloped section.
The location you need to go to progress is actually at the end of the bridge in the middle where you can spot an Erdtree Avatar standing in front of a doorway, but heading across the sloped section to the farther part of the area allows you to sneak around the back without having to directly fight the Avatar or try to avoid the crossbow turrets that are pointed directly at the bridge.
Watch out for the Cleanrot Knight that will be in the building ahead, along with a number of other Knights.
Continue outside and up the stairs, then climb the slanted section to the left of the two Soldiers on the crossbow turrets.
You then want to jump across to the walkway to the west where you can spot an open doorway leading into the next building.
Head inside and drop down to where you’re now behind the Erdtree Avatar, and in the room with the next site of grace.
Elphael Inner Wall
Continue down the stairs into the next hallway, then take a right and climb the roots leading into the wall on the left.
Your goal in this area is crossing the area of rot water ahead, aiming to jump down onto the root on the far side to continue.
Going forward through this area you’ll start running into Kindred of Rot enemies (the skin bug-like enemies you might have ran into in Caelid). There are also mini versions that don’t wield weapons but are all over the place within the rot liquid area. You can help yourself out before traveling by standing on the edge of the liquid and using lock-on to find the enemies within the liquid, then shooting them with arrows to kill them.
Once you’re ready to progress you can start heading across the liquid. Note that you only have slow movement in this area, so if you want you can make a pitstop at the rock in the middle, before continuing to the far side.
On the far side jump down to the root below, then follow it out and jump to the next one to reach the ledge on the far side.
Head into the doorway on the east wall, then take the ladder in this room down.
Follow the water down into the next room where you can find the next site of grace.
Drainage Channel
Head out the next door and you will be back outside of the structure, and need to continue again counter-clockwise around the area following the roots.
Follow the roots until you basically reach a dead end, then drop down to the slope on the right, and follow it down until you can jump onto the next root leading left.
When you reach the end of this one you can spot a balcony ahead leading inside, but instead of going in there, you want to follow the slope back up towards the left.
At the top, you can jump on another root leading to the right, which then gets you onto the rooftop of the building where there is a hole you can drop into.
Watch out on the left side, where there is a balcony with a normal Kindred on it, along with 3 small ones. This is where you actually want to reach next, so it would be recommended you try and take out at least the small Kindred first.
Once you can safely drop down, do so and open the chest against the wall where you can obtain the Legendary Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman.
You can then drop down into the room below, then go through the doors leading to the north where there is an elevator you can take down.
In the room ahead you can find the last site of grace before the boss.
Haligtree Roots
The room to the left leads to an elevator which takes you right back up to the entrance of Elphael if you want, or you can continue forward to the fog wall leading to one of if not the hardest boss of the game.
Malenia, Goddess of Rot
Reward: 480,000 Runes, Malenia’s Great Rune, Remembrance of the Rot Goddess
Technically the hardest boss in the game, but can be made very simply with the right attack. First, get the Ash of War: Hoarfrost Stomp, from the lake southeast of Caria Manor (hit the moving white line in the lake to reveal a scarab that drops it, as seen in the video). This Ash of War makes the boss an absolute joke, even after it was nerfed it is still very good against Malenia. Equip it to a high damage weapon, like a Greatsword. Level the weapon as far as you can, otherwise, you don’t deal much damage, and make sure you have the Mimic Tear Ashen remains fully leveled up so that it has a ton of health to distract Malenia.
Now the Malenia strategy is simple: summon your Mimic Tear, stand behind them, spam the Hoarfrost Stomp at Malenia. Repeat in her 2nd phase. You can kill her very quickly with this one attack, it deals large AoE frost damage. Your Mimic Tear will likely use the same move, thus essentially stunlocking Malenia the entire time due to her low poise, especially if you can push her into a corner. Always run away when she focuses on you, let her focus on your Mimic. Place your attacks so they hit where your Mimic stands, Malenia will walk into it and you’ll be at safe distance. In her 2nd phase when she does her flying attack that casts a sort of rot flower after she lands, run straight when she flies up and she’ll miss you. The flower deals some rot damage but if she’s near-death you can rush in and finish her off quickly, as she’s completely defenseless and doesn’t move while in the flower (but don’t do it unless her health is nearly depleted as it will put Rot on you).
If you’ve been playing a mage so far, keep this boss for last (can still go here after fighting the final story boss but before triggering the ending), then respec your character to a strength melee build at Rennala in the Academy of Raya Lucaria, and max out a Greatsword at the smith.
Once Malenia is defeated, you can activate the site of grace closer to the tree roots on the west side of the arena.
To activate Malenia’s Great Rune, you need to reach the Isolated Divine Tower (the one out in the middle of the ocean directly north of Bestial Sanctum). To reach this, you need to use a portal located in Leyndell in a somewhat secret area. The easiest way to reach it, whether Leyndell is currently destroyed or not, is by using the trap teleporter chest located at the Tower of Return in Leyndell. Climb to the top of the tower and interact with the chest to be taken to Leyndell.
This takes you to the top of the large elevator located within the Fortified Manor in Leyndell, which you can’t actually reach if the capital is destroyed, meaning this is the only way to get here. Continue up the steps ahead where you can find a site of grace.
Divine Bridge
Continue forward through the large arch into the next area where there is a Golem lying on the ground. You can fight it or ignore it, it’s not necessary to defeat to progress.
Go to the left side of the platform where you can interact with the portal to warp to the tower.
This warps you directly in front of the door of the tower, which will only open if you possess Malenia’s Great Rune. Head through and up the elevator, where you can find the typical site of grace on the balcony.
Isolated Divine Tower
Head up to the top of the tower, where you can activate the great rune.
Miquella’s Haligtree & ElphaelSide Areas – All Sites of Grace & Named Locations
Haligtree Canopy
Haligtree Town
Haligtree Town Plaza
Haligtree Promenade
Prayer Room
Elphael Inner Wall
Drainage Channel
Haligtree Roots
Malenia, Goddess of Rot
For all other regions refer to Elden Ring Walkthrough.
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