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Locationmajor

Castle Sol

Castle Sol is a fortified legacy-style dungeon at the northern edge of the Mountaintops of the Giants in Elden Ring.

Importancemajor

Key takeaways

  • Castle Sol is an optional dungeon in the Mountaintops of the Giants, north of Snow Valley Ruins Overlook.
  • The castle’s main boss is Commander Niall, who summons two spectral Banished Knights.
  • Defeating Niall opens the rooftop route to the Haligtree Secret Medallion (Left).
  • The castle contains three Sites of Grace Castle Sol Main Gate, Church of the Eclipse and Castle Sol Rooftop.
  • Many of the castle’s Banished Knights can teleport, turn invisible or attack from awkward angles. The dungeon is dangerous even when its individual rooms look small.
  • The surrounding approach is separate from the castle itself and includes a Walking Mausoleum, a Tibia Mariner and, depending on the route taken, a Death Rite Bird encounter.

About this guide

Base game guide. Spoilers for the Mountaintops of the Giants, Latenna’s questline, the Consecrated Snowfield and Commander Niall.

Overview

Castle Sol is an optional castle dungeon on the northern edge of the Mountaintops of the Giants. It is not part of the central Snow Valley Ruins area, although the two locations are closely connected by the approach road. The castle consists of the outer approach, fortified courtyard, lower and upper interior rooms, Church of the Eclipse, southern ramparts, Commander Niall’s arena and the rooftop route beyond the boss.

Its most important reward is the Haligtree Secret Medallion (Left), which combines with the right half found in the Village of the Albinaurics to activate the hidden route at the Grand Lift of Rold. Castle Sol also contains the Eclipse Shotel, the Cerulean Amber Medallion +1, the Stormhawk Axe, the Veteran’s Prosthesis and a large collection of smithing materials.

Named directory: Castle Sol and immediate approach

The Walking Mausoleum is an exterior landmark. It is not part of the castle and does not need to be defeated to enter Castle Sol, although it is a useful visual marker when approaching from Snow Valley Ruins Overlook.

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Named directory: Castle Sol and immediate approach

Reaching Castle Sol

The usual route begins at Snow Valley Ruins Overlook. Travel north through the graveyard and descend towards the castle. The fortress becomes visible beyond the open ground and the Walking Mausoleum. The main entrance lies on the eastern side of the structure.

A second practical approach begins from the northern Mountaintops roads. The exact approach can vary depending on which Sites of Grace have been discovered, but the castle’s entrance is always reached from the exterior eastern side rather than through a hidden cave or portal.

Game8 places Castle Sol in the western Mountaintops, north-east of Snow Valley Ruins Overlook, and recommends dropping down from the overlook’s surrounding ledges before continuing towards the castle gate.

Access requirements

There is no key, quest flag or boss prerequisite for entering Castle Sol. The practical requirement is reaching the Mountaintops of the Giants, which normally means obtaining the Rold Medallion after progressing through Leyndell and defeating Morgott.

The castle itself can be entered before completing Latenna’s questline. However, the Haligtree Secret Medallion becomes especially important if the player intends to reach the Consecrated Snowfield and Miquella’s Haligtree.

Connections after Castle Sol

Once both halves of the Haligtree Secret Medallion have been collected, use the Grand Lift of Rold and choose the option to hoist the secret medallion. This opens the hidden route to the Consecrated Snowfield.

The left half is in Castle Sol. The right half is obtained from Albus in the Village of the Albinaurics in Liurnia. The completed medallion does not take the player directly to the Haligtree. It first opens the snowy hidden region, where Ordina, Liturgical Town provides the next major progression gate.

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Castle Sol Main Gate

This Site of Grace is outside the main castle entrance. It is the safest starting point for a first exploration and the most convenient checkpoint before clearing the courtyard.

The opening courtyard contains some of Castle Sol’s most dangerous enemies, including two Elder Lions. They are not the dungeon’s named boss, but they can kill an underprepared character quickly, especially if the player is also being pressured by soldiers or ranged attackers.

Church of the Eclipse

The Church of the Eclipse is inside the castle on the upper side of the complex. It is both a Site of Grace and the location of the Eclipse Shotel.

The church functions as Castle Sol’s central navigation point. From it, the player can reach:

The church’s importance is partly practical and partly thematic. Its name and the Eclipse Shotel connect the fortress to the eclipse imagery that dominates Castle Sol’s lore.

Castle Sol Rooftop

The rooftop Site of Grace appears after Commander Niall has been defeated. It is not available during the initial exploration.

From the rooftop, take the lift or follow the post-boss route to reach a tower containing the Haligtree Secret Medallion (Left). A stranded spirit appears on the rooftop after resting and comments on the failed eclipse and the castle’s lost hopes. The medallion itself is found beyond the boss arena rather than in Niall’s immediate room.

Internal structure

Castle Sol’s layout can be divided into the following practical subareas:

These are functional exploration divisions rather than separate named map regions.

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Castle Sol has no friendly resident population. Its inhabitants are hostile or spectral versions of military units associated with the fortress.

Internal structure: steps

  1. 01
    Main gate and outer courtyard
  2. 02
    Lower barracks and rat-filled rooms
  3. 03
    Chapel and Church of the Eclipse
  4. 04
    Southern wall and upper ramparts
  5. 05
    Albinauric and Exile Soldier rooms
  6. 06
    Shortcut lift route
  7. 07
    Commander Niall’s arena
  8. 08
    Rooftop and medallion tower

Banished Knights

Banished Knights are the castle’s signature enemy. Castle Sol contains unusually aggressive variants, including knights who can disappear, teleport or reappear behind the player.

The most dangerous examples are usually encountered on narrow walkways and upper ramparts. They can punish healing, close distance rapidly and use long attack strings. Fighting them in open spaces is safer than engaging them beside ladders or ledges.

Some Banished Knights are spectral. These phantom versions are tied to the castle’s failed history and are especially prominent around the Church of the Eclipse and the upper passages.

Exile Soldiers

Exile Soldiers occupy the lower and outer sections of the castle. They use swords, spears, fire pots and ranged weapons. Ballista positions can make the opening courtyard and approach particularly dangerous if the player charges directly through the centre.

The soldiers are individually less threatening than the elite Banished Knights, but their placement encourages the player to fight while also avoiding projectiles, alarm calls and ambushes.

Albinaurics

Albinaurics are found in enclosed rooms and cages. Some hang from ceilings or occupy elevated positions. They can alert nearby enemies or create additional pressure if ignored.

A careful player should look upwards before opening doors or collecting items in the smaller interior rooms. Several encounters are designed to punish rushing towards an apparently unguarded pickup.

Other enemies

The wider castle contains beasts and minor creatures, including wolves, slugs and Warhawks. The Warhawks are particularly dangerous in open courtyards because their mobility makes them difficult to hit with slow weapons.

Enemy directory

The enemy types above are listed for Castle Sol by the Elden Ring Wiki’s location entry.

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Commander Niall is the only named boss inside Castle Sol. He is an optional late-game boss and is fought at the end of the castle’s upper route.

Niall begins the encounter with two spectral Banished Knights. Their equipment and behaviour differ, so the opening phase can become chaotic if both remain active. One uses dual swords, while the other carries a shield and weapon combination.

Enemy directory

Practical strategy

The most reliable general approach is to manage the summons before committing to a full attack on Niall.

Spirit Ashes can be summoned in the arena. Multiplayer and NPC or player assistance can also reduce the pressure of the opening phase, although the boss’s area attacks remain dangerous in a group.

Commander Niall has 15,541 HP in the standard encounter, awards 90,000 runes and drops the Veteran’s Prosthesis.

Practical strategy: steps

  1. 01
    Enter with a summon, ranged tool or crowd-control option prepared.
  2. 02
    Create distance immediately if the two knights begin their attacks at once.
  3. 03
    Defeat or heavily weaken one summon before allowing Niall to build momentum.
  4. 04
    Watch for frost and lightning attacks, as well as the boss’s wide-area leg and storm attacks.
  5. 05
    Avoid standing directly beside Niall when he begins a large-area attack.
  6. 06
    Use the arena’s space to separate Niall from the remaining knight.
  7. 07
    Once the summons are gone, punish Niall during the recovery windows after his larger attacks.

Rewards

The Veteran’s Prosthesis is a fist weapon with lightning-related attacks. The Haligtree Secret Medallion is not awarded directly by the boss. It is collected in the tower reached after the fight.

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Recommended first pass

1. Activate Castle Sol Main Gate

Approach the castle from the exterior and activate the Site of Grace before entering the courtyard. This gives you a checkpoint before the Elder Lions and reduces the cost of failed attempts.

2. Clear or bypass the courtyard

The courtyard contains Elder Lions and other enemies. You can fight them one at a time by drawing them away from the central group, or run towards the buildings and return later.

The lions guard valuable smithing materials, including Somber Smithing Stones. They are optional but worth clearing if you are upgrading special weapons.

3. Search the lower rooms

Move through the lower buildings and check corners, ceilings and side passages. Rats and Albinaurics occupy some rooms, while other areas contain upgrade materials and consumables.

Do not assume every ladder leads towards the boss. Castle Sol uses ladders and narrow exterior paths to connect optional loot routes with the main progression route.

4. Reach the Church of the Eclipse

Continue towards the church and activate the Site of Grace. Collect the Eclipse Shotel from the altar area.

The Eclipse Shotel is a curved sword and one of the game’s legendary armaments. It is a fixed pickup, not a random drop.

5. Explore the southern ramparts

From the church, take the route towards the southern wall and climb the ladder. Follow the elevated walkway to find the corpse carrying the Cerulean Amber Medallion +1.

Game8 describes the talisman as being on a corpse on a wooden platform along the southern wall. The area is guarded by a dangerous Banished Knight capable of teleporting and using long-range attacks.

6. Collect the Stormhawk Axe

The Stormhawk Axe is found on an elevated wooden platform reached through the upper exterior routes. It is easy to miss because the correct route involves climbing and jumping across part of the castle’s outer structure.

The weapon is a fixed pickup. It is separate from the Stormhawk King quest item and does not require Nepheli Loux’s questline.

7. Collect the Sorcerer Painting

The Sorcerer Painting is located in a room reached through the castle’s upper passages. It is a fixed painting collectible. Examining it begins the associated painting hunt, whose ghostly artist can be found outside Castle Sol in the wider Mountaintops region.

The painting’s reward is not inside the castle, so treat this as a collectible and a later exploration clue rather than an immediate equipment pickup.

8. Open the shortcut lift

The upper rooms lead to a lever that activates a lift connecting the interior route with the lower section near the entrance. Open this shortcut before attempting Commander Niall if possible.

The shortcut is particularly useful because the approach from the Main Gate Grace can otherwise require another trip through the courtyard and exterior enemies.

9. Enter Commander Niall’s arena

After the shortcut is open, continue through the upper route to the fog gate. Prepare your flask allocation, spirit summon and preferred damage type before entering.

Defeat Niall and activate the Castle Sol Rooftop Site of Grace.

10. Retrieve the left medallion half

After resting at the rooftop grace, follow the route beyond the arena and take the lift towards the tower. Search the corpse at the end to obtain the Haligtree Secret Medallion (Left).

This is the castle’s most important progression reward. It remains in the inventory after being collected and is not consumed by merely visiting the Grand Lift of Rold.

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The following directory consolidates the fixed items reported for Castle Sol and its internal subareas. Minor consumables and upgrade materials can appear easy to overlook because they are placed on corpses, ledges, platforms and side rooms rather than in obvious treasure chests.

Major equipment and progression items

Upgrade materials and consumables

The Elden Ring Wiki’s Castle Sol listing includes the above categories and identifies the principal boss and progression rewards.

Placement summary

The Cerulean Amber Medallion +1 is particularly easy to miss. From the church-side route, climb the ladder behind the church, cross towards the southern wall and defeat or bypass the elite Banished Knight before taking the item from the platform.

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Castle Sol is strongly associated with the eclipse. Its Church of the Eclipse, the Eclipse Shotel and the spectral soldiers all reinforce the idea that the castle’s inhabitants were devoted to a celestial event they believed could overcome death.

The Eclipse Shotel’s description connects the eclipse with the draining of the sun’s colour and with the hope that the event might grant life to soulless bones. This helps explain the castle’s atmosphere and its dead or spectral military presence.

The castle’s military history is tied to Banished Knights and Commander Niall. Niall is described as a veteran commander who sacrificed his prosthesis in exchange for the lives of defeated or imprisoned knights, forming an army with no nation. The implication is that his force is held together by loyalty, exile and service rather than by a normal kingdom.

The surviving soldiers therefore appear less like ordinary castle guards and more like remnants of a failed military order. Their spectral forms, unusual teleportation and aggressive ambushes support the impression that Castle Sol is a place caught between military duty and death.

Placement summary

ItemArea or routeFunction
Cerulean Amber Medallion +1Southern wall, on a wooden platformGreatly raises maximum FP
Eclipse ShotelChurch of the EclipseLegendary curved sword
Haligtree Secret Medallion (Left)Tower beyond Commander NiallOpens the hidden Grand Lift of Rold route with the right half
Stormhawk AxeElevated exterior platformAxe weapon
Veteran’s ProsthesisCommander Niall rewardFist weapon
“Sorcerer” PaintingUpper interior roomPainting puzzle
Stonesword KeyUpper castle routeUnlocks an Imp Statue seal elsewhere
Somber Smithing Stone [8]Exterior ledges and side routesSpecial weapon upgrade material
Smithing Stone [7]Rooms and corpses around the inner castleStandard weapon upgrade material

The failed eclipse

After Niall’s defeat, a stranded spirit appears on the rooftop and laments the failure of the eclipse. This is one of the clearest direct pieces of environmental storytelling in the castle. The rooftop’s view towards the distant Haligtree also connects Castle Sol’s failed religious hope with the later route to Miquella’s domain.

The connection is thematic rather than a confirmed statement that Castle Sol served Miquella directly. The medallion is physically stored there, and the castle’s interest in the eclipse is clearly linked to the “soulless” and the possibility of life after death, but the game leaves some details deliberately unresolved.

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Latenna’s questline

Castle Sol does not require the player to begin Latenna’s questline. However, the medallion half found here is part of the route associated with the Albinauric quest and with access to the Consecrated Snowfield.

Latenna’s quest can be progressed independently of the castle’s boss. The important practical condition is simply obtaining both halves of the secret medallion.

No ordinary merchants

There are no verified functional shops, merchants, smiths, inns or purchasable properties inside Castle Sol. Decorative structures should not be interpreted as services. The castle is a military ruin and dungeon, not a settlement.

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Completionist route

  1. 01
    Approach from Snow Valley Ruins Overlook.
  2. 02
    Activate Castle Sol Main Gate.
  3. 03
    Clear the courtyard and collect the smithing materials.
  4. 04
    Search the lower rooms.
  5. 05
    Enter the Church of the Eclipse and activate its grace.
  6. 06
    Collect the Eclipse Shotel.
  7. 07
    Search the southern ramparts for the Cerulean Amber Medallion +1.
  8. 08
    Collect the Stormhawk Axe from the elevated outer platform.
  9. 09
    Find the Sorcerer Painting.
  10. 10
    Collect the remaining smithing stones, consumables and Stonesword Key.
  11. 11
    Activate the shortcut lift.
  12. 12
    Defeat Commander Niall.
  13. 13
    Activate Castle Sol Rooftop.
  14. 14
    Take the post-boss lift to the Haligtree Secret Medallion (Left).
  15. 15
    Return later with the right half to use the Grand Lift of Rold.

Fast boss route

This route leaves most of the equipment and upgrade materials behind. It is useful for a second character or a player who only wants access to the Consecrated Snowfield.

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If the main objective is the medallion

  1. 01
    Activate Castle Sol Main Gate.
  2. 02
    Run through the courtyard towards the interior buildings.
  3. 03
    Reach the Church of the Eclipse.
  4. 04
    Take the upper route towards the shortcut and boss approach.
  5. 05
    Activate the lift if possible.
  6. 06
    Enter Niall’s arena.
  7. 07
    Defeat Niall.
  8. 08
    Take the rooftop lift and collect the left medallion half.

Before leaving the region

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Is Castle Sol optional?

Yes. Castle Sol is optional for completing the main story. It is highly important if you want access to the Consecrated Snowfield and Miquella’s Haligtree, but the main route to the Elden Ring does not require entering the castle.

Do I have to defeat Commander Niall to get the medallion?

Yes, under the normal route. The Haligtree Secret Medallion (Left) is in the tower beyond Niall’s arena, so the boss must be defeated to reach it through the intended path.

Is the Walking Mausoleum part of Castle Sol?

No. It is an exterior landmark near the approach. It is visually associated with the castle because it stands outside the entrance, but it is a separate overworld structure.

Is the Eclipse Shotel missable?

It is a fixed item inside the Church of the Eclipse. It is not dropped by Commander Niall and does not require a quest. If you leave the castle without collecting it, you can return later.

Where is the Cerulean Amber Medallion +1?

It is on a corpse on a wooden platform along Castle Sol’s southern wall. Reach the route through the church-side upper passages, climb the ladder and follow the rampart. An elite Banished Knight guards the approach.

What is the most important item in Castle Sol?

For progression, it is the Haligtree Secret Medallion (Left). For equipment, the Eclipse Shotel, Cerulean Amber Medallion +1, Stormhawk Axe and Veteran’s Prosthesis are the major fixed rewards.

Can I summon spirits in Castle Sol?

Yes. Spirit Ashes can be used in the ordinary dungeon areas where the summoning icon appears, including Commander Niall’s arena.

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This guide treats Castle Sol as the named fortress and includes its internal buildings, courtyard, ramparts, church, boss arena and rooftop tower. It does not merge the wider northern Mountaintops, Snow Valley Ruins, Stargazers’ Ruins or the Walking Mausoleum into the castle itself.

The available sources agree on the principal Sites of Grace, boss, progression item and major rewards. Minor pickup counts and the exact allocation of every low-value consumable can vary between guide directories because some lists group multiple placements together or omit ordinary crafting materials. The named equipment, upgrade-material categories, enemies and progression rewards listed here are supported by the cited location and walkthrough sources. This is therefore a researched guide, but not a claim that every decorative object or every individual low-value pickup has been independently catalogued.

Sources