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Lake of Rot is part of a secret underground river system, hidden beneath the Lands Between in Elden Ring. Walking through the scarlet rot lake means imminent death and the bosses and enemies don't help, either. It can be frustrating trying to figure out where to go when the very ground you have to walk on kills you.RELATED: Elden Ring: Limgrave Complete WalkthroughThis guide will explain how to survive the scarlet rot and get out of the lakes, onto the next area and its boss. The last portion of the article will showcase all worthy loot and enemies in this area. Lake of Rot is related to Ranni The Witch's sidequest and can be accessed through the underground Ainsel River, which you can be teleported to via a portal atop Renna's Rise or by using the Ainsel River Well elevator in East Liurnia of The Lakes.

How To Survive Walking Through Lake Of Rot

In Lake of Rot, you have to run through a sea of scarlet rot to get to your final destination. This means the status effect scarlet rot will build up quickly and start chopping away at your health before you even reach the finish line.

There are multiple ways to combat this so that you're not constantly dying. One of the best ways is to just allocate every flask to HP instead of FP, and constantly chug health potions as you run through the lake. With your Flask of Crimson Tears increased from Golden Seeds and made stronger from Sacred Tears, spamming health potions while in the Lake of Rot works wonders. This is only until you get to the next Site of Grace.

You can also grind for precious materials to craft multiple Preserving Boluses. These are consumables that cure the scarlet rot status effect. You will need a lot to consume back to back as you progress through the lake. You can either spam HP flasks or spam Preserving Boluses. There is also armor you can equip that will boost your immunity.

To unlock the crafting of Preserving Boluses, you need Armorer's Cookbook (6). This cookbook can be found in Siofra River. Then you need to collect enough ingredients of Dewkissed Herba, Crystal Cave Moss, and Sacramental Bud.

Where To Find Ingredients For Preserving Boluses:

Dewkissed Herba - Siofra River, Deeproot Depths, Moghwyn Palace, Eternal City

Crystal Cave Moss - Stillwater Cave, Academy Crystal Cave

Sacramental Bud - Church of the Plague, Writheblood Ruins

Finding The Path Out Of Lake Rot

You can run all the way through Lake of Rot to the end, but it would be much easier if you activated the stone pathways available. There are multiple platform buttons, noticeable by the pillars above them, that will activate pathways for you. This will make a no-scarlet-rot run viable, as you can take breaks on the pathway and avoid being in the lake too much. The pathway out of Lake of Rot is shown above in a series of photos.

  1. The first platform is easy to find. From the Site of Grace, head down to the shoreline and take a right. You'll see a pillar in the near distance. Step on the pressure plate to activate a stone walkway.
  2. Walk down the walkway and to your right will be the second platform and pressure plate. From here, you can run to the other platforms and make your way to the third pillar with a pressure plate, as shown in the photos above.
  3. From platform #3, you should be able to see platforms #4 and #5 from a distance. South-West is platform #4 and across to the East is platform #5. Run to platform #4. From here, you can see a large entryway. This will lead you to the next Site of Grace, Grand Cloister. There is also a small church-like building far West. Inside is a treasure chest with the Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook (22).

Platform #4 and #5 are not necessary for traversing the lake and getting to the next area. These pressure plates activate arenas for bosses.

Regarding boss fights and the platforms, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • When activating the pressure plate on platform #4, the platform will rise, elevating you to a boss arena above the lake. If you die, you can't use platform #4 anymore. Along the South wall where the platform was, you can find a natural ramp upwards to reach the boss again.
  • Platform #5 is next to the Lake of Rot boss fight, which is optional. This pressure plate makes it so fighting the boss without scarlet rot is viable, by creating platforms around the boss.

RELATED: Elden Ring: Liurnia Of The Lakes Complete Walkthrough

Exiting The Grand Cloister And Finding The Next Boss

From the Grand Cloister Site of Grace, you'll need to parkour your way down to the ground floor of the Grand Cloister. This area is just as difficult, only due to the enemies. There is a small river of scarlet rot that can easily be avoided here. However, the real problem is the Kindred of Rot enemies that one to two hit you with a special attack if you let them. To get down to the ground floor from the Site of Grace, follow the photo series above.

After reaching the bottom, you may want to wait until the patrolling Kindred of Rot are out of eyesight, so you can sneak your way out of the Grand Cloister. The enemies that seem to be praying at the end will not aggro onto you unless you attack them or get too close. So the patrolling enemies are the ones you have to worry about.

You can easily walk down the aisle of the Grand Cloister and make a swift left, where there will be a waterfall and empty coffins. To reach the final boss of this area, you must enter the lonely coffin at the end of the river. To keep retrying this boss, you'll want to sneak and make a run for the coffin instead of worrying about the enemies.

The special room that the Kindred of Rot are praying towards contains a treasure chest with the Scorpion's Stinger dagger weapon.

If you go East instead of forward to the West, there will be Smithing Stones 6 and 7 in the North waterfall. Trying to get these results in the spawn of a mini-boss.

Notable Loot In Lake Rot

Loot Location
Immunizing Horn Charm Talisman Dropped by a lone Ancestral Follower, most North on the Worthy Loot photo above.
Dragonscale Blade Dropped by the Dragonkin Soldier boss South-East of the map.
Alabaster Lord's Sword Dropped by the mini-boss Alabaster Lord, most South-West on the map. Accessible through use of platform #4.
Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook (22) Found in a treasure chest in a building in South-West Lake of Rot.
Somber Smithing Stones and Smithing Stones 5-8 Found all along the edge of the lake.
Scorpion's Stinger Found in a treasure chest at the end of the Grand Cloister.
Golden Seed Dropped from defeating mini-boss Ulcerated Tree Spirit in the Grand Cloister.

Notable Bosses In The Lake Of Rot

Boss Location
Dragonkin Soldier South-East of the lakes.
Alabaster Lord (Elite Enemy) South of the lakes, above platform #3. Accessible through the use of platform #4.
Ulcerated Tree Spirit (Elite Enemy) In the Grand Cloister, behind the waterfall North-West.
Astel, Naturalborn of The Void Past the Grand Cloister, through use of the coffin.

All of these bosses and mini-bosses are optional and avoidable other than Astel, Naturalborn of The Void. Defeating Astel is required to progress in Ranni The Witch's quest and in finding the otherwise inaccessible Moonlight Altar in Liurnia of The Lakes.

Next: Elden Ring: Complete Guide And Walkthrough