How to get to the West Altus Divine Tower in Elden Ring
Where to activate Rykard's Great Rune.
The West Altus Divine Tower is easy to see, but it can be difficult to figure out how to get there. The tower's positioning also doesn't give much of a clue as to which Great Rune it activates either. Don't worry though, I'll answer both questions in this guide.
If you've not come across any Great Runes yet, they're dropped by Shardbearer bosses found throughout the Lands Between. You can equip them to give a passive bonus, but you'll need to activate them first—and that's where the Divine Towers come in. So without further ado, here's how to get to the Divine Tower of West Altus in Elden Ring.
Elden Ring Divine Tower of West Altus: How to get there
The reason you might be having trouble locating the entrance to this particular Divine Tower is that you need to work your way through a dungeon to reach it. The West Altus Divine Tower powers up Rykard's Great Rune, so even if you reach the outside, you won't be able to open the doors until you've defeated the boss in Mt Gelmir.
To make matters worse, the dungeon in question has a number of concealed passages behind illusory walls, so you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd hit a dead end.
To get started, head to the Outer Wall Phantom Tree Site of Grace to the west of Leyndell, then head east towards the moat. The Sealed Tunnel dungeon entrance is located on the southern shore.
After activating the Site of Grace inside, you'll find a fake wall on the west side of the room. Break through here, then stick to the right, taking out enemies as needed, then find another illusory wall behind the chest in the lower area. From here, take the elevator to the bottom, pass through two more illusory walls, then make your way across the roots and continue until you reach an area that looks blocked.
Drop down the gap in the floor to your right, but look out for enemies and exploding stone clusters. Head southeast to find another illusory wall. Now you need to use the roots and stone ledges to drop down to the boss area. Once it's been defeated, head out the door on the opposite side to find a Site of Grace and the door to the Divine Tower. Use the elevator inside to get to the top, where you can activate Rykard's Great Rune.
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Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.