You’ve probably seen him. He’s that gross, red phantom sitting in a room full of corpses in Roundtable Hold. He looks like a heap of rusted metal and bad intentions. Honestly, the Elden Ring Dung Eater quest is the exact moment where Hidetaka Miyazaki decided to see just how far he could push the "M" rating. It isn't just a side mission. It’s a descent into the absolute worst impulses of the Lands Between. Most players find him, get creeped out, and move on. That's a mistake. If you want the most cynical, bleak ending in the game—the Blessing of Despair—you have to get your hands very, very dirty.
He calls himself the Loathsome Dung Eater. The name isn't just flavor text; it's a warning. While other NPCs are out here trying to save the world or reclaim their lost grace, this guy wants to curse every single living soul for all eternity. It’s nihilism on steroids. You aren't just fetching items for him. You are helping him cultivate a literal plague that prevents souls from returning to the Erdtree.
Getting started with the Elden Ring Dung Eater quest
You can’t actually talk to his physical body right away. First, you need to reach the Altus Plateau. Once you’ve rested at a site of grace there, he shows up in the Roundtable Hold, tucked away in the library wing. He’s dismissive. He thinks you're pathetic. To get him to take you seriously, you need a Seedbed Curse. These are nasty little items found on bodies he has "defiled."
The easiest one to grab early is in Leyndell, Royal Capital. Near the East Capital Rampart, there’s a building with a lift that leads down to a room where a corpse sits in a chair, looking thoroughly miserable. Bring that back to him. Suddenly, he's interested. He gives you the Sewer-Gaol Key. This is where things get really claustrophobic. You have to head into the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath the capital. It’s a maze of pipes, giant lobsters, and omens.
Finding the physical body
Finding his cell is a nightmare if you don't know the layout. From the Underground Roadside site of grace, you drop down into the pipes and look for a hole in the floor. Navigate past the giant rats and plants. Eventually, you’ll find a ladder leading up to a room filled with giant miranda sprouts. Run past them, take the stairs, and you’ll find his cell.
When you open the door, he’s just sitting there. Banging his head against the wall. It’s unsettling. He tells you to leave his body alone and instead meet his phantom at the outer moat of Leyndell.
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The Blackguard Big Boggart complication
This is where the Elden Ring Dung Eater quest gets genuinely tragic. There’s another NPC named Blackguard Big Boggart. He’s the guy who sells you boiled prawns. If you’ve followed Boggart’s questline and he’s moved to the moat near Leyndell, he becomes a victim.
Go talk to Boggart. He’s terrified. He knows the Dung Eater is coming. After you reload the area, you find Boggart tied to a chair, dying in agony. This is how you get another Seedbed Curse, but at the cost of one of the few "normal" guys in the game. Right after this, the Dung Eater invades you. Kill his red phantom. It’s a standard fight, nothing too crazy if you’ve got a decent build. Go back to the Roundtable Hold. He’s back in his chair, but now he’s sounding different. He wants you to bring him more Seedbed Curses. He wants you to defile his own physical body in the sewer.
Five. That’s the magic number. You need five Seedbed Curses to finish this.
- The one from the Leyndell manor (the "Fortified Manor" version of the Roundtable Hold).
- The one Boggart drops (or found in the moat if Boggart isn't there).
- One in the Volcano Manor, hidden behind a Stonesword Key door near the teleport to Rykard.
- Two in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. These are the hardest to get because the enemies there hit like a freight train.
One is on a balcony overlooking the rot-soaked promenade. The other is at the bottom of a staircase guarded by two cleanrot knights. Getting these requires patience. Or a lot of running and screaming.
Why people actually choose the Blessing of Despair
Why would anyone do this? From a gameplay perspective, finishing the Elden Ring Dung Eater quest gives you the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse. Using this at the end of the game triggers the "Blessing of Despair" ending. The sky turns a sickly, jaundiced yellow-brown. Everyone is cursed. Their children will be cursed. Their children's children will be cursed.
It’s the "bad" ending, objectively. But in the lore community—shoutout to creators like VaatiVidya who have spent hours dissecting this—there's a theory that the Dung Eater is trying to create a weird kind of equality. If everyone is cursed, then being "cursed" becomes the new normal. No more discrimination against the Omen. No more "grace" for the chosen few while others suffer. It’s a twisted, horrifying way to achieve a classless society.
It’s also worth mentioning his armor: the Omen Set. It’s hideous. It’s covered in chopped-off horns. But it has incredible poise and high resistances. If you kill him early or at the end of the quest, you get the set and the Milos Sword. The sword is great for FP regeneration, making it a staple for certain "battlemage" builds.
The Seluvis Puppet Alternative
There is a secret way to end this quest that is arguably even more cruel. If you are doing Preceptor Seluvis’s questline at the same time, you’ll have a potion. You’re supposed to give it to Nepheli Loux. Don't.
Instead, wait until the Dung Eater is tied to the chair in his cell at the very end of his quest. You can choose to give him the potion. He drinks it, screams, and falls unconscious. You don't get his ending rune this way. Instead, you can later buy him as a Spirit Summon from Seluvis. The Dung Eater puppet is widely considered one of the best summons in the game, rivaling the Mimic Tear. He’s a tank. He inflicts bleed. He debuffs enemies. Having him as your personal slave is a poetic kind of justice for a guy who wanted to enslave the world’s souls.
Common misconceptions and pitfalls
A lot of players think they've locked themselves out if they kill the Dung Eater early. If you kill him the moment you see him in the sewer, you get his armor and sword. That's it. The quest is over. You can’t get the Mending Rune.
Another mistake is missing the Seedbed Curses in Leyndell before the city turns into the Capital of Ash. Once the city is buried in ash, some of those curses are gone forever. If you didn't grab them earlier, you’re forced to wait until New Game Plus to see the ending.
Also, the "defilement" he talks about? It's heavily implied to be ritualistic. He isn't just killing people. He’s doing something to their "inner" selves. The Seedbed Curses grow inside the bodies of his victims. It's biological warfare on a spiritual level.
Finalizing the Curse
Once you hand over the fifth Seedbed Curse to his body in the sewer, he has a moment of ecstatic, terrifying realization. He gives you the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse. He then dies, or fades away, leaving his armor behind.
You’re now holding the key to the most miserable ending possible.
The Elden Ring Dung Eater quest serves as a grim reminder that in the Lands Between, not everyone wants to fix the ring for the better. Some people just want to watch the world rot. Whether you choose to help him, kill him for his gear, or turn him into a mindless puppet, his story is a masterclass in dark fantasy writing. It’s gross, it’s difficult, and it’s deeply memorable.
Practical Next Steps for Your Playthrough:
- Check your inventory for Seedbed Curses: If you have zero and you’ve already burned the Erdtree, head straight to the Haligtree to see if you can still find the two located there.
- Visit Blackguard Big Boggart: Buy his prawns before you trigger the invasion at the moat. If you don't, you lose out on his unique buffs for the rest of the game.
- Decide on the Puppet: If you value a powerful combat ally over a specific ending trophy, hold onto Seluvis’s potion. The Dung Eater summon is significantly more useful than the Blessing of Despair ending in actual gameplay.
- Level up your Vitality: The sewers are filled with enemies that cause "Death Blight." If that bar fills up, you die instantly regardless of your HP. Wear armor with high robustness and bring Boluses.