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Dungeon crawling inElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreeremains as confusing as ever, forcing players to double and triple-back multiple times to find everything there is to find in the area.
A prime example is the Lamenter’s Gaol, found at the far end ofCharo’s Hidden Grave, directly underneath the point where the Tarnished steps foot into the Land of Shadow for the first time.
Lamenter’s Gaol Guide
From the Lamenter’s Gaol Site of Grace, continue down the tunnel until you see a fork: one path heading left and one straight ahead. The metal door in front requires a key found deeper in the Gaol, so take the left path.
There is nothing in the cell to the right other than a Shadow enemy and a fewFrozen Maggots. Down the tunnel, there will be a narrow stone walkway over a chasm, and another room will be to the right. Ignore the right room for now and continue down the bridge. Enter the next room slowly, as a potless flesh monster will run at you from the far end of the room as soon as you enter. Defeat him and continue forward to pick up thePrattling Pate “Lamentation"near a cage.
Go back the way you came and enter the cave just before the narrow bridge. Open the chest to get the’Gaol Upper Level Key.‘This key opens the door at the start of Lamenter’s Gaol, near the Site of Grace. Open the locked door and take the ladder down to reach a large frozen cavern.
In the frozen cave, enter the first room to the right and pick up theChilling Perfume Bottlefrom the corpse. Exit the room and turn right again to the next section of the room. Directly to the left of the entrance of this chamber will be a hole you can drop down. This leads down a sewer filled with rats and a corpse with theClarifying Horn Charm +2. Pick up the charm and use the ladder to return to the frozen room.
To the far right of this room, there are rocky steps you can climb to reach the entrance above. Walk forward a bit, and the floor will collapse, dropping you into a new section.
Defeat the Shadow enemies in this room and take the narrow stairway to go up. There are three levels of this staircase: the first one leads to a locked door, the second one leads to the next section, and the top one will take you back to the starting area. Take the middle door and progress through the tunnel to find yourself in a large cavern with lots of pots.
At the far left corner of this cavern will be a chest guarded by a large pot with the’Gaol Lower Level Key.‘To its right will be a corpse containing aLiving Jar Shard. Pick these items up and go back to the staircase with the three doors.
This time, enter the first door (at the lowest landing). At the end of this tunnel, the wall behind the bright white brazier is actually a false wall. Attack it to reveal the locked door. Interact with the door, and your character will use the Gaol Lower Level Key to unlock it. Pick up the two items inside: there will be aShadow Realm Rune [4]and aLamenting Visage(Torch). Exit out the other end of the room, and you’ll find yourself at the other end of the room where the floor collapsed previously.
Go back to the staircase and, this time take the door at the very top. Drop down to the room below and interact with the locked door to use the ‘Gaol Lower Level Key’ to open it. Use the ladder to go down, and you’ll end up face-to-face with the boss room.
How to Beat Lamenter Boss
The Lamenter, by himself, has a very basic moveset that’s easy to counter. But a third of the way through the fight, he will start summoning clones of himself in the boss arena. These clones die in one hit but, if left alone for too long, will put aninsta-kill debuffon the player. There are two ways to counter this:
Unfortunately, finding the real Lamenter is anything but easy, as there are no tell-tale signs to look for and no identifiers to separate him from the crowd; either you get lucky, or you die. Clearing the room quickly is the more reliable strategy. There are multiple ways of doing this, but the easiest way is to rely on AoE.
The absolute option is theSacred Relic Sword’s weapon skill, Wave of Gold, as it can wipe out the entire room in one go. Alternatively,Icerind Hatchet’sHoarfrost Stomp Skillor the newAsh of War: Divine Beast Frost Stompfrom the Dancing Lion are also good options. For incantations, the newGiant Golden Arcis tailor-made for this, but the Dragon Breath attacks work just as well, if not better. For Sorceries,Adula’s Moonbladeis the go-to, as it’s quick to cast and has enough range to reach the far end of the room.
After the Lamenter is taken down, players will receive theLamenter’s Mask, a reusable item used totransform into an Omen. The transformation requires you to unequip all armor pieces and lasts until death.
