Scorpion River Catacombs - Elden Ring Guide - IGN (2024)

Scorpion River Catacombs is one of the minor dungeons you'll encounter as you begin your Shadow of the Erdtree journey. It is an optional dungeon that is home to a few treasure items and various enemies. This page contains information on the location, walkthrough, and guide to traverse this dungeon, locate all of its treasure, and tips to defeat the enemies within.

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How to Get to Scorpion River Catacombs

In order to reach Scorpion River Catacombs, you'll need to enter the ravine between Scadu Altus and Rauh Ruins via the pathway north of Moorth Ruins in Scadu Altus. Loop around to the west, eventually passing two giant golems. Follow the river around to the right and you'll find the entrance in the cliff face of the main Rauh Ruins cluster (just north of the Church of the Bud, Main Entrance site of grace on the map).

Scorpion River Catacombs Walkthrough

After pushing open the doors and heading down inside, ride the elevator down to reach the site of grace. Beyond the site of grace, a cannon-headed Imp will drop from the ceiling on the far side of the first room. If you continually sprint into the room, you'll be able to reach and attack the imp before it can fire a projectile.

Then head down the steps to the northeast to find another Imp roaming around in the room ahead. After killing it, go into the room on the left to cause an Imp to drop from the wall ahead, protecting a corpse holding 3 Rejuvenating Boluses; these will come in handy for this dungeon.

Go back to the previous room and begin to cross the bridge and you'll discover two threats - another Imp will charge your position, and a Basilisk statue will activate up ahead, and while active it'll steadily build your Death Blight gauge. Be careful!

If this gauge fills completely, you'll instantly die, so use a Rejuvenating Bolus to save yourself if needs be. The majority of this dungeon will be about carefully keeping an eye on your Death Blight gauge, and hiding in the right spots at the right time.

The Basilisk statues will only be active if they have a direct line of sight on you, so standing behind any kind of geometry will break the contact and will stop your gauge from building, and it will slowly decrease. As such, bait the statue to activate and the Imp will begin running at you. Stay on this side of the bridge and kill the imp, all the while attempting to stay behind/near one of the pillars.

You'll then need to cross the bridge, so sprint all the way across and into the passageway beneath the statue and you should make it in time before the gauge fills (so long as it was mostly empty when you began running). Head down the stairs and an Imp will ambush you from the alcove on the right. Also be careful as you then pass through the next doorway, as another imp will ambush you from the left-hand side as you enter the room.

Once dealt with, head to the northeast edge of the upper platform and you'll see an imp below you that you can ambush from above.

After killing it, turn around and loot the corpse for a Grave Glovewort 3. Continue through the next tunnel and down the stairs where you'll find a cannon-headed imp in the alcove to the left where you'll also find a Yellow Fulgurbloom plant.

With the room clear you can loot the corpse in the southeast corner for x5 Redflesh Mushroom, and then continue further down.

Here you'll reach a junction where you can go down to the right or straight through a narrow passage where a corpse is visible in the distance. Head through the passage to find two Imps, one regular and one cannon-headed. Deal with them both and then take the Ghost Glovewort 5 from the corpse.

Go back through the passage and then down to the left to reach a wide open room. Be careful, because as soon as you step out a spiked ceiling will begin to slam down so bait it by stepping out and then return back into the passageway and only run forward to take shelter under the archway as the ceiling rises back up again. You can also loot the corpse off to the left for a Ghost Glovewort 3 if you're careful.

As you round the corner to the northwest, you'll see two Messmer soldiers and a black knight in the distance; be careful though, as there is a second spiked ceiling between you and them. Bait the ceiling to come down and then head into the small alcove on the right where you'll find a ladder.

This is an excellent time to equip any magic or throwables so you can bait the enemies one by one from a distance and have the ceiling do most of the work for you. Just be careful the ceiling doesn't catch you as you approach to get in range and bait them, and as you lure them under the ceiling.

After all three enemies have been dealt with, head to the altar the black knight was stood at and you can pick up the Black Knight Captain Huw Spirit Ash. Now carefully return to the alcove with the ladder and climb up. At the top, turn around and wait for the ceiling to slam down, and quickly jump on top. As it rises up, you'll then be able to reach a platform with a corpse you can loot for a Ghost Glovewort 6.

Drop back off the side and be careful as another Basilisk statue will activate across the gap on the left side of the room. When ready, sprint across the bridge and take cover behind the pillar, but don't continue into the next passageway. Instead, drop onto the ledge running along the eastern wall and jump up to be on the same platform as the Basilisk statue.

Then head into the passage and you'll see two imps guarding a corpse in the room ahead. Defeat them both and loot the corpse for the Knight's Lightning Spear Incantation.

Head up the stairs just outside this room and watch out for an imp that'll ambush you from the right at the top, and you'll find a corpse to loot for x6 Yellow Fulgurbloom. You can then drop off the edges to shortcut to an earlier part of the dungeon, but for the time being return to the Basilisk statue and bait the spiked ceiling to drop so you can get on top of it.

Riding it up, drop off the right-hand side to find a corpse you can loot for the Imp Head (Lion) headwear. You can then drop off the ledge to the southwest.

Sprint back across the bridge (being careful of the Basilisk statue) and proceed southeast to find the next elevator to take you down. At the bottom, you'll find a Stake of Marika to help save progress if you die further in. Go forward through the tunnel and wait as you reach the junction. Through this section, the eyes of a Basilisk statue will be bouncing back and forth through the entire tunnel. They will only build your Death Blight if they can see you (coming towards you), so wait for the eyes to go back up the tunnel away from you and follow them.

As you take shelter in the lower archways, be careful as an imp will drop from the left on the far side so bait it and then kill it while remaining in the tunnel to ensure your gauge doesn't build as the eyes glide overhead. Wait for the eyes to glide towards and past you and then quickly jump up the rubble ahead and sprint forward, going down the tunnel to the right.

In the room ahead, you'll see a cannon-headed imp and a regular imp will also ambush you from the right as you enter the room. Deal with them both then carefully approach the corner to the southeast. Peering around the corner, you'll see a giant cannon-headed imp. Bait it to fire into the wall and then rush it, dodging a follow-up shot it may be able to perform.

Once it's dead, loot the corpse in the northwest corner for a Grave Glovewort 4, and then go down the steps to the southeast. You'll arrive at a room with an upper platform across the way with two imps and an undead spellcaster. Use magic or a throwable to bait the Imps down, all the while being careful of the projectiles that the spellcaster will summon from the floor beneath you.

Once clear, there's a corpse on the northern end of the room you can loot for a Ghost Glovewort 8 alongside a Yellow Fulgurbloom. Right next to the corpse is a ladder you can descend to loot a Great Ghost Glovewort off a corpse, and there are 3 Basilisks under the bridge to the southwest you can kill if you wish, though they won't aggro if you descended the ladder and looted carefully.

Go back up the ladder and head through the tunnel to the south, and before you begin going up the steps ahead be careful as there is another set of moving Basilisk eyes. Wait for them to be moving away from you (northeast) and quickly follow them until you get halfway across the walkway over the chasm.

Look down and carefully drop onto the lower walkway where you'll immediately find an imp waiting. To the southeast you'll find a Yellow Fulgurbloom, and to the northwest you'll find a ladder. At the top of the ladder, you'll see a chest across the room from you that a cannon-headed imp will protect. As you approach, be careful as another imp will ambush you from the left-hand side. Carefully defeat both imps and you can then loot the chest for the Ancient Dragon Knight's Cookbook 2.

You can then drop off to the southwest, though be careful as you're in the first basilisk eye tunnel. Retrace your steps all the way through to the room where the spellcaster was, and when at the second moving set of basilisk eyes, follow them all the way to the end of the tunnel where you can dart in to the right just as they begin to bounce back toward you.

From here you can ride the next elevator down and straight through the next room and down the steps you'll reach the fog door for the boss fight of this dungeon.

Boss Fight - Death Knight (Scorpion River)

This Death Knight variant is very similar to the one you'll fight in the Fog Rift Catacombs in Scadu Altus, but instead of two smaller axes, this Death Knight wields a singular, much large one.

Most of its moveset is very similar to the other Death Knight, using its large axe in arcing swipes and overhead slams, frequently imbuing it with electricity to slam down and create AoE impact zones on the ground. Additional replicated moves include the Death Knight sprouting wings and lunging forward in a health-leeching grab attack.

A unique element to this Death Knight is its mobility. To close distance the Death Knight will essentially teleport around/toward you in a flash of electricity, and can even be used offensively to shock you if the Knight passes through/appears right next to you.

Much like the other Death Knight, this one is equally susceptible to Bleed, and even more vulnerable to heavy attacks, particularly jumping heavy attacks. These attacks will consistently stagger and cancel the attack animations for the Death Knight, allowing to you essentially stunlock the Knight if timed correctly.

Upon defeating the Death Knight, you'll earn the Death Knight's Longhaft Axe and the Cerulean Amber Medallion 3. You can then use the wispy strand in the back of the room to teleport back to the beginning of the dungeon.