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The Loathsome Dung Eater, a scourge on the living, is one of Elden Ring's, and FromSoftware's, most reviled characters. He is a Tarnished whose favorite pastimes are threatening the player, murdering NPCs, and defiling corpses to such a disgusting extent that their ancestry is cursed for generations to come.
Completing the Dung Eater's questline unlocks a new ending, one that some theorize hints at connections between the Dark Souls and Elden Ring universes. Players will have to do horrific things for (and to) the Dung Eater, but the reward is a Mending Rune that plunges the world into writhing, cursed defilement so deep-rooted that the Golden Order itself can't escape it.
Talk To The Dung Eater's Shade After Reaching Altus Plateau
The Dung Eater is one of the NPCs named in the game's introductory cutscene, but he can only be encountered for the first time after some requirements are met. To spawn the Dung Eater in Roundtable Hold, you need to somehow get to the Altus Plateau, either by using the Dectus Lift or by taking the dangerous ravine side path.
The Dung Eater can be met next to the room containing the Twin Maiden Husks. The door is normally closed, but once Altus has been unlocked it will open to a festering room with the Dung Eater's shade comfortably resting in the center. He refuses to talk to the player until they have found a Seedbed Curse.
Find A Seedbed Curse And Free His Physical Body Under Leyndell
Seedbed Curses are what the Dung Eater uses to defile corpses and prevent their bodies from returning to the Erdtree. There are six total in Elden Ring, and the first most players come across is found in Leyndell. Head to the Fortified Manor (the Roundtable Hold clone) at the base level of the Capital City to find a Seedbed Curse in the same spot the Dung Eater normally sits.
Head back to Roundtable Hold proper and talk to the Dung Eater once more. He asks you to free his body from imprisonment beneath Leyndell in a place called the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds. To get here, look around the ruined lower levels of the Capital to find a well surrounded by Albinaurics. Drop down the well and follow the path to eventually find a Site of Lost Grace surrounded by Ogres.
Defeat The Dung Eater When He Invades In The Outer Moat
Talk to the Dung Eater's physical body by dropping down a hole in the grating down the hallway to the left of the Site of Lost Grace, then continue around the corner, past a Miranda Bloom, and up a ladder. Choose the option to free him after opening his door, then teleport back to Roundtable Hold to find a message where the Dung Eater's shade was sitting.
The message tells the player that he will defile them next, and to meet him at the Outer Moat of Leyndell. Head to the Outer Wall Phantom Tree Site of Lost Grace and head until you reach the main entrance to the city. Just beyond this is the Outer Moat - carefully navigate down, and wait for the Dung Eater to invade your world. Don't worry about his threats - you can try this as many times as you need to.
Give Him Four More Seedbed Curses To Unlock A New Ending
After defeating the Dung Eater in the outer moat you can talk to his shade in Roundtable Hold once more. Without spoiling too much, he comes to a strange and twisted realization, and implores the player to place Seedbed Curses within his own flesh to create a curse so foul it could defile the Golden Order itself. This leads to one of the game's endings - the Age of the Curse.
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Leyndell, Royal Capital
- One is found in the Fortified Manor, where the Dung Eater normally rests
- From the East Capital Rampart head southward to find an elevator in a room that goes down. Go through the next area, then follow winding stairs upward to reach another Seedbed Curse
- The last in Leyndell is on Blackguard's body after the Dung Eater defiles him. You must progress his questline to get him to move to the Outer Moat before defeating the Dung Eater invader
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Volcano Manor
- Near the Temple of Eiglay up a set of stairs, locked behind a Fog Wall requiring one Stonesword Key. Carefully fall down the hanging cages to find one here.
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Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree
- From the room where Cleanrot Knight Finlay's ashes can be found, head out to the courtyard and jump onto an archway below. Follow the path up to a balcony and loot it off of a corpse
- The last is found beneath a room with two Cleanrot Knights near the Prayer Room Site of Lost Grace, by jumping off the edge before engaging these enemies you will find a secret room below containing the curse
There are five more Seedbed Curses in Elden Ring, but only a total of five (so four more) are necessary for completing the Dung Eater's questline. If you mess up Blackguard's questline and he never moves to the Outer Moat, you can still get enough Seedbed Curses to satisfy the Dung Eater's requirements. After giving him all five, he will bequeath the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse, finishing his questline and allowing players to usher in an age of defilement at the end of the game.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S.