How to complete the Patches quest in Elden Ring

Want to finish the Elden Ring Patches quest? Though it doesn't offer any especially great items for completing it, there are a few unique gestures you can get from Patches, as well as Tragoth's Bull-Goat armor set, and the Magma Whip Candlestick. If you aren't interested in his quest, you can also get a +7 spear and a cool-looking armor set by killing Patches right at the start of the game.

The Patches quest is pretty fun in its own way, though. As you encounter the loveable rogue throughout the Lands Between, he'll offer you tips on other NPC quests, secret routes to skip over certain areas, and gestures, including the iconic Patches squat which you get for finishing his story.

In this guide, I'll run through every step of the Patches quest, including those added in the recent patch. Most of his encounters are optional, but if you want to get every interaction and piece of dialogue, you can still follow them. As always, if you don't want parts of the story spoiled, stop reading now.

Elden Ring Patches quest summary

Here's where you'll find Patches throughout the game, and what you actually need to do to complete his quest and get any rewards:

1. Fight Patches in the Murkwater Cave dungeon until he surrenders.
2. Revisit Patches shop in Murkwater Cave, use the teleporter chest to shortcut to East Limgrave, then return to talk to him.
3. Speak to Patches at the Scenic Isle site of grace south of Raya Lucaria Academy in the lake (optional).
4. Use the Abductor Virgin at the bottom of the water wheel in Raya Lucaria to teleport to the Volcano Manor (optional)
5. Head into Mt. Gelmir and follow the rainbow stones near the broken bridge and Patches will kick you off the cliff (optional).
6. Join the Volcano Manor and speak to Patches in the hallway.
7. Complete a Volcano Manor assassination, speak to Patches, and he'll give you a letter to kill Great Horned Tragoth.
8. Defeat Magma Wyrm Makar in the Ruin-Strewn Precipice, then summon Tragoth to fight him and get his armor.
9. Head back to Patches and talk to him until he gives you the Magma Whip Candlestick.
10. Defeat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy.
11. Speak to Patches outside the Elemer of the Briar boss room in the Shaded Castle to get the Dancer's Castanets.
12.  Give the Dancer's Castanets to Tanith in the Rykard boss arena.
13. Head back to Murkwater Cave and fight Patches. He'll surrender again and re-open his shop.

How to start the Patches quest

Where to find Patches

You can find Patches at Murkwater Cave. When you arrive there, you'll be invaded by Bloody Finger Nerijus, but before long Yura will show up to help you. Once that's done, head inside to find a cave with some traps on the floor, and enemies dotted around. Head right through the tunnel and into the boss. 

There's a chest in the centre of this room, but once you open it, Patches will appear and try to rob you blind. If you beat him down to half HP he'll surrender, letting you chat to him while he explains how he fell in with a bad crowd. He also tells you his new game moniker: Patches the Untethered. This will also give you the Grovel for Mercy gesture. After you return, he'll sell some handy items such as Margit's Shackle to help you in that boss. There will also be a new chest that lets you warp to East Limgrave.

If you've no interest in Patches quest or its rewards, however, you should definitely kill him. He drops a pretty decent armor set, and a +7 spear, which is one of the earliest upgraded weapons you can get. 

How to get the Calm Down and Extreme Repentance gestures

While Patches is in Murkwater Cave there are two extra gestures you can get from him. You get the Calm Down gesture by teleporting through the trap chest to East Limgrave and then returning to talk to him. Extreme Repentance is another gesture from the boss fight. Once he tries to surrender, hit him a few more times, and then let him kill you. This should give you Extreme Repentance.

Liurnia of the Lakes

Where to find Patches in Liurnia

Patches shows up next at the Scenic Isle site of grace in Liurnia of the Lakes, which is found southeast of Raya Lucaria Academy. When you talk to him here, he'll mention Rya and also tell you about the Abductor Virgin in Raya Lucaria Academy that lets you teleport to Volcano Manor. If you use this method, you can find the Abductor Virgin at the bottom of the waterwheel. Simply let it grab and kill you, and you'll teleport to the interior of the Volcano Manor.

From here you can drop down into the lava to make your way up to the manor itself, by fighting the Godskin Noble boss. Either that, or head through the caves to fight the dual Abductor Virgins and get out onto the edge of the Altus Plateau. The other option to get straight to the Volcano Manor is to do the Rya quest, as she'll teleport you there from the Altus Plateau.

Volcano Manor

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How to help Patches at the Volcano Manor

As you may have guessed from his dialogue in Liurnia, Patches shows up in the Volcano Manor once you've joined it and rested at a site of grace. You can find him in the entrance hall, sitting on the floor on the right-hand side if you're facing the door. You can talk to him and he'll offer you some dialogue, then once you've completed your first assassination, he'll offer you a chance to fight Great Horned Tragoth.

After getting the letter from Patches, head to the Ruin-Strewn Precipice and the Magma Wyrm Makar boss. Once it's defeated, you can summon Tragoth in the arena and fight him to get the Bull-Goat armor set. Head back to Patches and make sure to talk to him mutliple times to get the Magma Whip Candlestick. When you beat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, you can talk to Patches for some new dialogue, but he'll leave either way and head to the Shaded Castle.

Shaded Castle

How to get the Dancer's Castanets

After the Volcano Manor, Patches can be found at the Shaded Castle in Mt. Gelmir. You'll have to fight your way through the area to the Elemer of the Briar boss to find find Patches in front of the fog door. Talk to him to receive the Dancer's Castanets item. You can give these to Tanith in Rykard's boss arena, but they still don't seem to have any effect. This might change in a future patch, though, so we'll update this if it does. Now Patches heads to his final location, where you first found him.

Murkwater Cave... again

How to finish the Patches quest

If you head back to Murkwater Cave, you'll find that Patches has returned. Head into his boss arena and fight him again until he surrenders and gives you the iconic Patches Crouch gesture. He'll open his shop again, but sadly, the gesture is all you get for the final steps of his quest.

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