Elden Ring Nightreign Rotted Woods event explained

Looking for the secret of Nightreign’s Shifting Earth: Rotted Woods event? Look no further.

Image credit:Bandai Namco/VG247

Update: We have updated this Rotted Woods guide with more information to help you out, and have added additional links to the rest of our Nightreign guides.

If you thought Elden Ring ’s Caelid was bad, the Rotted Woods – one of Nightreign ’s Shifting Earth events – are even worse. As soon as you enter the area, your Scarlet Rot gauge will begin to fill, and you’ll be inflicted with the unpleasant status ailment throughout your time here until you acquire the area’s secret reward .

As a result, it’s only worth venturing here on Day 2 of your expedition, and much like The Crater event or The Mountaintops event , there’s no time to waste! Here’s exactly how Nightreign’s Rotted Woods work and what rewards the area has hidden away.

Nightreign Rotted Woods event explained

The Rotted Woods is one of four Shifting Earth events currently available in Nightreign, and fortunately for you, the reward this area provides is one of the easiest to get your hands on. This particular event unlocks after defeating approximately 4-5 Nightlords , and you’ll only be able to explore the Rotted Woods area during an Expedition if the event is active.

To skip the event, you can rest at the bed in the Hold until the event concludes. Shifting Earth events also typically last a few runs – between three and five – before they end and Limveld is returned to normal.

Image credit:Bandai Namco/VG247

On top of that, if you wish to visit the Rotted Woods later down the line - long after the event has since disappeared - you can! To do this, you’ll need to take part in whatever available Everdark Sovereign Nightlord fight there is (which you’ll find highlighted purple at the bottom of your Expeditions menu). You must have defeated the original version of a Nightlord to fight its enhanced Everdark Sovereign version, however.

Upon defeating an Everdark Sovereign fight, you’ll be rewarded with Sovereign Sigils that can be spent on retriggering Shifting Earth events (as well as Relics and skins ) at the ‘Collector Signboard’ in the Hold.

One more tip before we get going: we recommend only visiting the Rotted Woods on Day 2 of your Expedition so you’re adequately levelled (and fortunately, the Night’s Tide will close in around the area on Day 2). There’s also a lot of Great Enemy bosses here that are good to tackle on Day 2, after you’ve explored the area.

What to do in the Rotted Woods in Nightreign

Let’s talk about getting the reward from the Rotted Woods event in Nightreign.

Venture inside the castle where the quest marker is on the Rotted Woods map. |Image credit:Bandai Namco/VG247

First things first, look for a red/orange quest marker on your map of the area; this should mark a castle. If you go ahead and explore this castle, there’ll be a map to grab upstairs. The map is a lot like the ones found atop forts that reveal Teardrop Scarab locations to you, but instead, it reveals the location of a flower inside the Rotted Woods where you can acquire the area reward

Go to the next quest marker to find a flower that has a legendary item within it. |Image credit:Bandai Namco/VG247

After collecting the Rotted Woods treasure map, look at where the quest marker has moved to on your map. Head over there, and you should see a huge flower attached to a tree with a legendary item attached to it (shown below).

In multiplayer , only one person needs to retrieve the treasure map from the castle. So, if you’re starting Day 2 off strong, you can send one person to the castle while the others take down mobs and quickly grab the area reward. You can then go about slaying all the Great Enemies in the area and with some luck, you’ll be Level 15 before you know it!

Grab the legendary item sat on this flower to claim the Rotted Woods reward. |Image credit:Bandai Namco/VG247

After retrieveing the map and making your way to the new quest marker, climb the tree and collect the glowing legendary item – which is the area reward – and it’ll provide you with complete immunity to Scarlet Rot . It also provides a unique mechanic in which there is a short cooldown between taking damage and that damage actually being removed from your HP bar, giving you ample time to heal up before being downed. Very Bloodborne .

For more on Nightreign, take a look at our Nightreign tips and tricks , which character you should play , and all boss weaknesses .

Elden Ring: Nightreign

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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