Belurat, Tower Settlement Walkthrough – Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC

The first major area you're likely to venture into in FromSoftware's new slap in the face of a DLC doesn't pull any punches, getting right back to that intense difficulty and strange navigation we all know and love.

Here we'll be guiding you through Belurat, Tower Settlement, with some handy items, boss tips, and even a strange little NPC interaction in our walkthrough.

Belurat, Tower Settlement Walkthrough Guide - Items and Boss Tips

To get to Belurat, you'll want to take the left path at the Three Path Cross Site of Grace (1). There'll be two NPCs you can chat to here, one of whom will even help you in the upcoming boss fight. There's also a Scadutree Fragment here, which act as the new 'levelling' system.

Continue on the path, and just before you reach Belurat, there'll be two more NPCs you can chat to, the Main Gate Cross Site of Grace (2), and another Scadutree Fragment. One of the NPCs is even a merchant, and he has plenty of resistance buffing consumables on offer. I suggest picking up his Lightning-Proof Pickled Livers here, as the boss does a whole heap of lightning damage in its second phase.

Continue up the stairs to enter Belurat, Tower Settlement proper. Be careful though, as there's some... 'Spiders' on the path directly after you enter the main gate. They're aggressive and nasty, but thankfully not too tanky. Continue on until you reach a room with two sets of stairs. There's some of the smaller spiders here, but they go down quick enough. Carry on up the stairs and into the Settlement, being sure to grab the Site of Grace (1) on the left of the big metal doors. You can't get through these yet, but they'll act as a shortcut later on. You'll want to go right from the stairs (2) to continue on, so you can ignore the room directly next to the Site of Grace as it's a dead end.

Continuing on you'll come across a Plaza with a waterfall and fountain. There's an item in the waterfall, but be careful as a rather large 'shadow man' will be laying in wait for you, and whilst slow, these guys pack a serious punch. Continue right up the stairs from the Fountain to progress. You'll enter a thoroughfare, and if you head right you'll see a well. Heading down that well (by taking the ladder) will grant you a 'Messmerfire Grease', which is an upgraded version of the fire grease you may be familiar with from the base game.

Head back out the well and continue down the thoroughfare (1), being careful of the two very annoying spellcasters perched on a bridge above the road. There's a small area on the right (2) of this path that holds another Messmerfire Grease, but has yet another big shadow guy guarding it.

Upon reaching the end of the thoroughfare, you'll see an arch on the left. Head on in and up the stairs to get the Small Private Altar Site of Grace. Rest up, and head out. There'll be two arches in the conjoining room here, and you'll want to take the one on the right. The one on the left is a dead end for now, but we'll be coming back to this after we defeat the boss.

There'll be a 'Horned Soldier' enemy on the road as you continue, and these guys mean business. They have very long combo chains and are difficult to stagger, so you'll have to get your dodge timing down. It's best to play it safe and dodge/run back as much as you can, taking any breaks in their combos to deal some damage.

You'll have two ways to go from here, with the right path (2) leading to an open area with a tree and an NPC Invasion. This guy isn't too terribly difficult, but he does deal hefty damage and he does use a spear so be careful of his range. He'll drop the 'Crusade Insignia' upon death (a new talisman that raises your attack power upon defeating an enemy). The left path (1) is your route onward towards the area boss.

Continue up the stairs and take a right to enter the alleyway, then a left to enter the top of the waterfall we saw earlier. There's a bunch of the big shadow guys here, so be careful not to get swamped or backed into a corner. Enter the room on the right at the end of the waterfall basin to find a ladder, and climb it. Once you get to the top, make sure to loot the dead body as you get there, as he holds a key we'll need once we defeat the area boss.

Once you reach the top of the ladder and reach the next area, you've got two choices on where you can head. You can head left, in which case you'll have to deal with some very, very icky bug people, or you can head right and go along the rooftops, in which case you'll have to deal with some very, very grumpy birds. I suggest you take the left path, as whilst gross, the bug people are far squishier than the birds, and you can even net yourself another Scadutree Fragment and Talisman if you take this path.

Assuming you head left, continue on until you reach some more Scorpions. There'll be some rubble on your right, a large room directly ahead, and a shortcut back to a Site of Grace behind you. The shortcut can be accessed by taking the stairs down, heading down the elevator, and then using the lever to open the large metal doors we saw earlier but couldn't open. The large room contains two fittingly large Scorpions, but also a Bone Bow (1). One of the Scorpions is far tankier than the other, so only take this on if you really want that bow. In order to progress you'll need to jump over the rubble (2) and take the archway.

When you head into the archway, be very careful, as one of the bug people will instantly rush out to try and grab you. This can do some nasty damage if you're lower on Vigor, and outright kill you if you're already wounded. Either way, deal with the bug people, and press on. You'll come across the aforementioned Scadutree fragment in the next room, and then the Dried Bouquet Talisman (1) (which raises your attack power once your summoned spirit dies) directly on the left as you exit that room. To continue on you'll need to drop down from the ledge you're on (2), but don't fret: it's not high enough to cause any fall damage.

Head left when you drop down, dealing with any bug people in your way. You'll find an arch at the end which has a ladder back up, but be careful as there's yet another ambush bug waiting behind the large stone pillar in the room with the ladder.

Continue on, being careful of all the shadow guys nearby and heading for the room with the large spiral staircase ahead. There's another nasty enemy on these stairs, the Curseblade, which is also highly mobile and aggressive. Killing it has a chance of yielding you its Cirque though, which might be fun for all you Dex players out there.

Continue up the stairs to be confronted with the gate to the area boss. There'll be an NPC summon sign here for anyone playing solo (Redmane Freyja, the NPC we saw at the Three-Path Cross earlier). Please note that any summons will increase the amount of HP the boss has, but Redmane Freyja (and a lot of the summons in the DLC) have substantially higher stats than any in the base game, so the decision is yours.

Belurat, Tower Settlement Boss Guide - Tips & Tricks

And here we have it, the first boss of the DLC. To say this absolute freak is a 'skill check' is putting it far too lightly, as frankly it's nigh incomprehensible your first few attempts. This abomination will twist, spin, feint, bite, summon lightning, and summon frost. Finding a moment to get a safe hit in is half the battle, and its enormous health bar is the other.

Your best bet for this one is going to be to hammer on until you get most of the dodge timing for its attacks down, and using either a high bleed, or high poise damage weapon. I found the Backhand Blade from the DLC with a blood affinity to be quite good, as the quick attacks meant I didn't have to risk my skin every time I wanted to land a single strike, and the bleed procs (although infrequent) did big chunks off his gargantuan health bar.

Those Lightning Proof Livers we got from that merchant earlier come in really handy in the second phase, in which the angry dog will summon plenty of lightning (almost the same was as Lichdragon Fortissax does) to keep you on your toes. Fight on, cry a bit, and work like hell until it finally keels over and dies.

The big sweeping dust attack (1:39 in the video above) is one to be very wary of; you'll see it throw this out in its first phase. Note it can be dodged through. If you've got some distance you can run away from this, but if you're up close you should roll toward the boss. Getting the timing down is tricky, especially since it'll throw out multiple waves at once.

As you'll see in the video (1:54), sticking to the sides of the boss is crucial for being able to do damage, and being able to avoid a lot of attacks. As a good majority of the attacks come from the head of the boss, knowing where it is at all times is absolutely crucial to being able to read telegraphs of upcoming attacks. Sticking to the sides and behind gives you a good view, whilst also keep the flanks open for attacks.

This boss punishes a less aggressive playstyle, as its range and speed will cut you down if you try to go anywhere other than directly next to it. In the second phase, you've got to be wary of its lightning and frost attacks. When it goes up in the air and coils in on itself (2:58), it's charging up for one of these elemental burst attacks. Distance is your friend in these situations, especially if it's coiling up for a frost attack. However, you'll want to close that distance as soon as the burst is over, and it'll very aggressively punish you if you remain away for too long.

Belurat, Tower Settlement - Where to Use the Storeroom Key

Once the dust has settled, rest at the new Site of Grace that'll have popped up in the arena, and grab the item it dropped. This item is the head of the weird cat you just killed, which can be equipped and used to get a hidden NPC interaction in the area and net yourself a nice new spell (Watchful Spirit, which summons a guardian spirit over your head).

To get this interaction, head back to the Small Private Altar Site of Grace, and take the left arch as you exit which you saw earlier. Kill those spellcasters on the bridge, and head for the door at the far end. Use the Storeroom key that you picked up off that corpse earlier, and head on in. Equip the Divine Beast Head you picked up, and speak to the NPC on the right of the room. Being blind, she'll assume the what I can only imagine is foul smell coming from you means you must be one of the Divine Beasts, and she'll be more than happy to talk to you and shower you with praise. She'll ask that you take her son with you to dispense some hard fought justice, and she'll grant you the Watchful Spirit spell.

And with that, you've completed Belurat, taken out your first major boss, and likely realized the DLC is going to be far harder than you first thought by now.

If you've found this guide helpful and are looking for some more Elden Ring content from us here at Pro Game Guides, check out our guide on Where to find a Light Greatsword early or our guide on How to get the best early game weapon and armor in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.