Look, I get it. You want the best possible damage for your dual-wielding curved sword build. You've heard about this legendary talisman that gives you a massive dexterity boost and makes your attack power skyrocket with every swing. But here's the thing: getting Millicent’s Prosthesis in Elden Ring is a dirty, heart-wrenching business.
Most players stumble into this questline trying to be the hero. They want to save the girl with the scarlet rot. They want to help her find her destiny. But if you want this specific talisman, you have to do the unthinkable. You have to betray her.
How to get Millicent’s Prosthesis (The Brutal Way)
The biggest misconception I see online is that you can get this talisman and the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia in the same run without some serious save-file manipulation or a friendly trade. You can't. You have to choose. If you want the prosthesis, your journey with Millicent ends in blood, usually right when she starts to trust you the most.
To actually get Millicent’s Prosthesis, you basically have to follow her questline until she reaches a specific point, then kill her. Here is the play-by-play.
- Find Gowry in Caelid. He’s in a rickety shack just south of Sellia, Town of Sorcery. He’ll tell you about a girl rotting away in the Church of the Plague.
- Kill Commander O'Neil. He's in the Swamp of Aeonia. It's a swamp, it's gross, and he summons spirits. Just get it done. He drops the Unalloyed Gold Needle.
- Fix the Needle. Take it back to Gowry. He’ll "repair" it. You might need to reload the area (sit at a grace) to get the fixed version.
- Heal Millicent. Go to the Church of the Plague (high up on the hill above Sellia). Give her the needle. Talk to her until she stands up.
- Visit the Shack. Go back to Gowry’s Shack. Millicent will be there. Talk to her again.
- The Altus Plateau Meet-up. You’ll find her next near the Erdtree-Gazing Hill Site of Grace. She’s missing an arm and feeling pretty useless.
- Fetch the Valkyrie’s Prosthesis. This is in the Shaded Castle, way up north in Altus. It’s in a chest guarded by a Cleanrot Knight.
- Give her the arm. Head back to Millicent at the Erdtree-Gazing Hill and hand over the mechanical arm. This is a critical step.
The Point of No Return
Once she has that arm, she moves to the Windmill Village (Dominula). You have to beat the Godskin Apostle boss at the very top of the hill first. After he's dead, reload the area, and Millicent will be standing there, looking at the view.
This is where things get "meta."
Technically, you can kill her the moment you give her the arm at Erdtree-Gazing Hill. Some people say it works. But honestly, the most reliable way to ensure the drop—and the way most veterans do it—is to kill her at Windmill Village or any point after that.
Why would you actually do this?
It sounds mean, right? It is. But from a pure "numbers go up" perspective, Millicent’s Prosthesis is arguably better than the "good" ending reward for many builds.
Why? Because it stacks.
The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia (the reward for helping her) does not stack with the regular Winged Sword Insignia. But Millicent’s Prosthesis stacks with both. If you’re running a build that hits fast—think Twinblades, Scavenger's Curved Swords, or even a fast Katana—having both the Prosthesis and an Insignia equipped at the same time is disgusting.
The Prosthesis gives you:
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- +5 Dexterity. This is huge for meeting weapon requirements or squeezing out extra scaling damage.
- Successive Attack Buff. It raises attack power in three tiers ($4%$, $6%$, and $11%$).
Compare that to the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, which gives $6%$, $8%$, and $13%$. The "good" reward is stronger on its own, but it doesn't give you that +5 Dex, and it doesn't let you double-dip on the multi-hit buff like the Prosthesis does.
Is it worth the guilt?
Gowry, that creepy old sage, actually wants you to do this. He thinks that by betraying her, you’re helping her "bloom" into a scarlet valkyrie. It’s some weird rot-cult logic. If you kill her at the Windmill Village, you get the item immediately. You don't have to deal with the late-game nightmare of the Haligtree or the Ulcerated Tree Spirit in the rot pond.
But if you wait until the very end—the Haligtree—you face a different choice. You'll see two signs on the ground: one to help her, one to invade her.
If you choose to invade her at the Haligtree, you fight her and her sisters. Winning gets you the Prosthesis. If you help her, you get the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia.
Moving forward with your build
If you're looking to maximize your damage output, the strategy is usually to get the Prosthesis in your first playthrough. It's available much earlier (Altus Plateau) than the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia (which requires reaching the very end of the game). Then, in New Game Plus, you can do the "nice" thing, help her at the Haligtree, and get the Rotten version.
Equipping both in NG+ is how you reach those ridiculous damage numbers you see in "One Shot" boss videos.
Next Steps for Your Character:
- Check your current Dexterity. If you're 5 points away from a major soft cap or a weapon requirement, go get the Prosthesis now.
- Head to the Shaded Castle in the north of Altus Plateau to find the Valkyrie's Prosthesis in a room on the western ramparts.
- Decide if you can live with yourself after striking down one of the few genuinely kind NPCs in the Lands Between.