Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs

Key takeaways

• The entrance is reached from Zamor Ruins by following the route east and uphill towards the narrow bridge, then turning back down to a lower path before crossing it.
• The dungeon has one named Site of Grace, Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs, immediately inside the entrance.
• The main puzzle is not a conventional locked door You must use lifts and hidden drop-down routes to reach the lever that opens the Ulcerated Tree Spirit's arena.
• Its most valuable rewards are Fire Monk Ashes, Deathroot, high-level Grave Glovewort, a Golden Seed, and Glovewort Picker's Bell Bearing [2].
• The Bell Bearing is particularly useful because giving it to the Twin Maiden Husks unlocks purchasable Grave Glovewort [4], [5] and [6].
• The dungeon contains frost, poison and explosive environmental hazards, as well as Imps, Living Jars, Miranda Sprouts and Land Squirts.

About this guide

Overview

Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs is an optional catacomb dungeon in the Mountaintops of the Giants, positioned on the approach to the northern part of the region. It is not part of the nearby Zamor Ruins, Giant-Conquering Hero's Grave or the wider bridge route, although all four locations occupy the same general stretch of the Mountaintops. The dungeon is built as a deliberately confusing multi-level grave, with repeated rooms, descending lifts, hidden drops and a lever route that loops back through previously visited areas. Its final boss is an Ulcerated Tree Spirit.

Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs is an optional catacomb dungeon in the Mountaintops of the Giants, positioned on the approach to the northern part of the region. It is not part of the nearby Zamor Ruins, Giant-Conquering Hero's Grave or the wider bridge route, although all four locations occupy the same general stretch of the Mountaintops. The dungeon is built as a deliberately confusing multi-level grave, with repeated rooms, descending lifts, hidden drops and a lever route that loops back through previously visited areas. Its final boss is an Ulcerated Tree Spirit.

Boundaries and neighbouring locations

Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs should be treated as a self-contained dungeon rather than a broad named subregion. Its external entrance lies beneath the route leading towards the northern bridge in the southern part of the Mountaintops of the Giants. The entrance is easy to miss because the obvious route continues towards the bridge, while the catacomb door is on a lower path that doubles back beneath it.

The following places are nearby but are not included within the catacombs:

The catacombs do not have separately named internal districts. For navigation, it is useful to divide them into functional sections:

These are descriptive route names, not official in-game subarea names.

Boundaries and neighbouring locations

• Zamor Ruins
• Giant-Conquering Hero's Grave
• Forge of the Giants
• Guardians' Garrison
• Castle Sol

Boundaries and neighbouring locations: steps

1. 01
   Entrance and first Imp corridor
2. 02
   Lower lift and boss-door level
3. 03
   Living Jar and blade-trap section
4. 04
   Poison corridor and Fire Monk Ashes route
5. 05
   Hidden drop and second lower lift
6. 06
   Lever balcony
7. 07
   Ulcerated Tree Spirit arena

Named directory: locations and facilities

Sites of Grace

• Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs

How to reach the entrance

The most reliable approach begins at Zamor Ruins.

The entrance is below the main route rather than directly on it. If you reach the bridge and cannot find the doors, do not continue north. Turn around and search the lower ledge beneath the approach.

How to reach the entrance: steps

1. 01
   From the Zamor Ruins Site of Grace, travel east along the mountainous path.
2. 02
   Continue uphill through the gap in the cliffs.
3. 03
   Follow the route until you reach the narrow bridge leading towards the northern part of the region.
4. 04
   Before crossing, turn back towards the direction from which you came.
5. 05
   Look for a lower path beneath the bridge route, on the side away from the most obvious enemy approach.
6. 06
   Follow that lower path to the catacomb doors.

Access and progression

No Stonesword Key, quest item or NPC interaction is required to enter Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs. The practical requirement is access to the Mountaintops of the Giants, which is normally obtained through the story route after Leyndell. The dungeon itself does not change its layout according to an NPC quest, ending choice or major progression flag in the base game.

It remains available after advancing the story, although the general difficulty of the region means that many players will encounter it after reaching the late-game Mountaintops. The boss and rewards are optional and are not tied to the Fire Giant encounter.

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1. Enter the catacombs and activate the Site of Grace

Open the doors and follow the first passage around to the Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs Site of Grace. Activate it before exploring further. There is no reason to rush past this checkpoint because the opening section contains several Imp ambushes and the dungeon's repeated architecture can make returning from the lower levels confusing.

Proceed down the stairs. Three Imps guard a Grave Glovewort [7]. Check the walls and ceiling before collecting it, because Imps can attack from awkward angles and quickly build Bleed if they are allowed to surround you.

2. Take the first lift down

From the opening stairway, take the route down to the right. Two more Imps occupy the passage. They are dangerous at close range because of their rapid attacks and Bleed buildup, so avoid fighting both in a narrow doorway if possible.

Continue to the lift at the end of the hallway. Ride it down. At the bottom you will see the sealed boss door, but the lever needed to open it is not on this level. Do not waste time searching the door itself. Take the route down to the left instead.

3. Find the Living Jar and the trap corridor

The next chamber contains another group of Imps, including enemies that throw magical bombs. Defeat them before moving on, since their projectiles can knock you into the lift shaft or surrounding hazards.

Use the second lift to descend. At the bottom, a large Living Jar patrols the room. Defeat it and take the stairs to the right.

The corridor ahead contains a pressure plate. Stepping on it activates a line of arrows that inflict physical damage and can build Frostbite. Move along the side of the corridor, keeping away from the central trigger where possible. The arrows can also damage nearby enemies, making the trap useful if you can position them in its path.

4. Cross the falling-blade room

Turn left and sprint through the next room. Large blades descend from above, while explosive Living Jars occupy the far side. The safest approach is to move decisively rather than stopping in the centre of the room.

At the top of the stairs, the route becomes a poison-heavy corridor. Several enemies can inflict Poison, so cure it before it drains too much health. Poison resistance, Neutralising Boluses or a suitable restorative incantation are useful here, but none is mandatory.

At the end of the corridor is another large Living Jar and a Grave Glovewort [7]. Defeat the jar before collecting the flower, as the confined space makes it easy to be interrupted.

5. Take the hidden drop

The corridor appears to end after the second Living Jar. It does not.

Return to the preceding room and look for an open drop beside a corpse. Drop down to collect Stimulating Boluses. Continue down to find a Nascent Butterfly. This drop is one of the dungeon's main navigation tricks, because it leads to a lower level that is not obvious from the upper corridors.

6. Reveal the lower lift level

Return to the lift. Activate it, but step off immediately while it is moving. The lift will continue without you, exposing another level beneath it.

Drop down onto the large Living Jar below and defeat it. Then follow the path around the balcony. This leads to the lever controlling the boss door.

Pull the lever, collect the Golden Rune [10] from the nearby corpse, and return to the lift. Ride back up and retrace the route to the boss-door level. The Ulcerated Tree Spirit arena is now open.

Named enemy directory

The main dungeon enemy lists identify Imps, Miranda Sprouts, Living Jars and Land Squirts, while the wider location directory also records an Erdtree Burial Watchdog. The walkthrough route most clearly emphasises Imps and Living Jars, with poison-producing enemies present in the later corridor.

Named enemy directory

• Ulcerated Tree Spirit

Practical enemy advice

Imps: These are the most common threat near the entrance and lifts. Listen for their movement and check ceilings before collecting Glovewort. Their Bleed buildup is especially dangerous when two or more attack together.

Living Jars: Large Living Jars occupy several rooms and corridors. Avoid fighting them beside pressure plates or falling blades unless you deliberately intend to use the trap. Their size makes them vulnerable to doorways and narrow corners, but their attacks can stagger lightly armoured characters.

Poison enemies: The poison corridor is safer if you clear it slowly from the entrance. Running through is possible, but it risks being poisoned while also triggering the room's hazards.

Erdtree Burial Watchdog: The named enemy directory records one in the dungeon, although the commonly documented route focuses on the Imp, Jar and trap sections. Treat this entry as a verified dungeon association, but do not assume it occupies a separate named subarea.

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The Ulcerated Tree Spirit waits behind the lever-operated door. It is an optional boss encounter and uses the same broad family of attacks seen in other Ulcerated Tree Spirit fights: violent lunges, sweeping body attacks, sudden movement across the arena and a dangerous burst attack when it becomes vulnerable.

The arena is enclosed and the boss's body fills much of the available space. Staying close to its side or rear can be safer than retreating constantly, although the boss's sudden turns make positioning unreliable. The most important practical points are:

A chest in the boss room contains Deathroot. The boss rewards and the Deathroot are fixed, not random drops.

Boss reward directory

Boss reward directory

• Ulcerated Tree Spirit

Using the Bell Bearing

Fixed loot directory

Available directories agree on the major rewards, including Fire Monk Ashes, Ritual Pot, Deathroot, Golden Rune [10], high-level Grave Glovewort and the boss rewards. One source gives the dungeon-wide Glovewort collection as Grave Glovewort [7], [8] and [9], while another route description explicitly identifies two Grave Glovewort [7] pickups.

The dungeon's main secret is its vertical structure

Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs is designed to make the player mistake repetition for lack of progress. Several rooms resemble earlier areas, and the crucial route depends on taking a lift and leaving it while it is still moving. If you reach a room you recognise, check for:

Status effects

Carry the appropriate cures if your build has limited resistance. The dungeon can be completed without specialised equipment, but status cures reduce the danger of the narrow passages.

Traps as weapons

The arrow and falling-blade mechanisms can hurt enemies. This is most useful against Living Jars, which are large enough to be lured into the trap corridors. However, the payoff is situational. A trap that kills an enemy can also stagger you, inflict Frostbite or force you into an explosive jar.

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The dungeon belongs to Elden Ring's wider network of catacombs and burial sites, but the available location material does not establish a named historical event or a unique faction associated specifically with Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs. Its most concrete lore connections come through its rewards.

The Deathroot links the dungeon to the wider Deathroot and Beast Clergyman material. The Fire Monk Ashes connect it thematically to the Mountaintops' Fire Monks, although the dungeon itself does not contain a Fire Monk NPC or a Fire Monk faction hub. The presence of high-level Grave Glovewort reinforces the catacombs' function as a late-game Spirit Ash upgrading location rather than a story-critical settlement.

The nearby Giant-Conquering Hero's Grave is a separate dungeon with its own boss, traps and loot. It should not be merged with Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs despite the similar naming and close regional placement. The same distinction applies to the Consecrated Snowfield Catacombs, which belong to the later secret region and have a separate layout and boss.

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For a first clear, use this order

1. 01
   Activate the entrance Site of Grace.
2. 02
   Collect the first Grave Glovewort [7].
3. 03
   Clear the first Imp corridor.
4. 04
   Take the first lift down and identify the sealed boss door.
5. 05
   Return left and descend through the second lift.
6. 06
   Kill the Living Jar.
7. 07
   Cross the frost-arrow and falling-blade sections.
8. 08
   Clear the poison corridor.
9. 09
   Collect the Glovewort and inspect the apparent dead end.
10. 10
    Drop beside the Stimulating Boluses.
11. 11
    Collect the Nascent Butterfly.
12. 12
    Return to the lift and step off while it is moving.
13. 13
    Drop to the lowest exposed floor.
14. 14
    Pull the lever.
15. 15
    Collect the Golden Rune [10].
16. 16
    Return to the boss door.
17. 17
    Defeat the Ulcerated Tree Spirit.
18. 18
    Open the chest for Deathroot.
19. 19
    Take the Bell Bearing to Roundtable Hold.

Is Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs required?

No. It is an optional dungeon. You can continue through the Mountaintops of the Giants and fight the Fire Giant without clearing it.

Where is the entrance?

From Zamor Ruins, follow the route east and uphill towards the narrow bridge. Before crossing, turn back and descend to the lower path beneath the route. The catacomb doors are at the end of that path.

How do I open the boss door?

Reach the lower lift section, activate the lift and step off while it is moving. Drop to the newly exposed lower floor, follow the balcony and pull the lever.

What does the boss drop?

The Ulcerated Tree Spirit drops a Golden Seed and Glovewort Picker's Bell Bearing [2], along with 48,000 runes. A chest in the boss room contains Deathroot.

What does Glovewort Picker's Bell Bearing [2] unlock?

It allows the Twin Maiden Husks to sell Grave Glovewort [4], [5] and [6].

Is this the same place as Giant-Conquering Hero's Grave?

No. They are separate locations in the Mountaintops of the Giants. Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs contains the Ulcerated Tree Spirit, while Giant-Conquering Hero's Grave has a different route, boss and reward set.

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Sources

• Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs | Elden Ring Wiki | Fandom — eldenring.fandom.com
• Elden Ring: How to Complete Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs | Push Square — pushsquare.com
• Glovewort Picker's Bell Bearing [2] | Elden Ring Wiki | Fandom — eldenring.fandom.com