Elden Ring has so many mysterious and often disturbing NPCs, but few are as outright repulsive as the Loathsome Dung Eater. This cursed individual is obsessed with defiling corpses, to make sure their souls never return to the Erdtree. His questline is not for the faint of heart, but completing it unlocks the Blessing of Despair Elden Ring’s ending, one of the game’s alternative conclusions. This guide tells everything to complete the Dung Eater quest, from finding him at Roundtable Hold to collecting the necessary Seedbed Curses, fighting him as an invader, and finally unlocking the most sinister ending.
Where to Find Dung Eater in Elden Ring
You’ll first encounter Dung Eater at Roundtable Hold, but he won’t appear until you’ve reached the Altus Plateau. There are two ways to get there:
- Activate the Grand Lift of Dectus – It requires both halves of the Dectus Medallion, found in Fort Haight and Fort Faroth.
- Take the Ruin-Strewn Precipice route and defeat Magma Wyrm Makar.
Once you’ve reached Altus Plateau, return to Roundtable Hold and go to the previously locked room near the Twin Maiden Husks. Inside, you’ll find Dung Eater sitting among a pile of dead bodies on the ground but not in his real body. At first, he won’t want to talk to you, dismissing you outright unless you have a Seedbed Curse in your inventory. You need at least one of these to proceed to give him so make sure to find one before visiting him.
Find a Seedbed Curse
Seedbed Curses are rare items found in specific locations, usually tied to corpses defiled by Dung Eater. The first one you can obtain is in Leyndell, Royal Capital. From the East Capital Rampart Site of Grace, walk from the path into the city. After passing some Envoys and a Broken Statue, you will reach a room with some candles. Go to the bottom of the stairs and take the lift next to go down. Following the way will lead you to a room with a Perfumer enemy. Go to the upper floor through the ladder, then go upstairs. At the top, you’ll find a corpse—loot it to get your first Seedbed Curse.
With a Seedbed Curse in hand, return to Dung Eater at Roundtable Hold. Show him the item, and he will finally acknowledge you. He’ll then hand you the Sewer-Gaol Key, instructing you to free his real body locked beneath Leyndell. This key is required to unlock the sewers where you need to head next.
Find Dung Eater’s Corporeal Form
Dung Eater’s body is locked inside the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, a nightmare-filled sewer beneath Leyndell. To reach it, start at the Avenue Balcony Site of Grace in Leyndell. Go down through the stairs, exit the door, and turn left along the railing. Drop down into the big area where Crawling Albinaurics are lurking around. Look for a well—this is your entrance to the sewers. Descend into the Underground Roadside Site of Grace.
Inside the sewers, move left from the Site of Grace and drop into a hole in the floor, landing in a rat-infested room. Keep walking past poisonous flowers and climb a ladder. Be careful—this room has giant Fingercreepers (spider hands). Quickly open the Sewer-Gaol cell door with the Sewer-Gaol Key, and you will encounter Dunger Eater again inside, talk to him and tell him to leave the cell. Choose “Leave your gaol!”, setting him free.
After doing this, go back to Roundtable Hold at your first meeting place with him. Dung Eater will not be here for now, he will be gone leaving behind a message: “I’ll defile you next. Come to the outer moat.”
Defeat Dung Eater at the Outer Moat
The Outer Moat is located just outside Leyndell, Royal Capital, northwest of the Capital Rampart Site of Grace. From here, move northwest to the moat area. If you’ve interacted with Blackguard Big Boggart in Liurnia of the Lakes, he will now be in this area. Buy a few boiled prawns from him at the Boilprawn Shack, and he will warn you about Dung Eater. Reload the area—when you return, Blackguard will be dying after being attacked by Dung Eater. Loot him to obtain a Seedbed Curse and some of his items.
The outer is a limited water area and right after you enter the water, Dung Eater will attack as a hostile red phantom. The fight itself isn’t too difficult but be prepared for a few surprises. Dung Eater wields the Sword of Milos, a creepy, jagged weapon that restores FP when it lands a kill. This creature is aggressive and will try to overwhelm you with quick swings and strong attacks. If you’re not careful, a Giant Crab might join the party coming from the water to make the fight more chaotic. Try to lure the boss onto dry land to avoid extra trouble.
Once you defeat him, he drops his Sword of Milos, a solid weapon for FP regeneration, especially in caster-heavy builds. But the fight is not completely over—Dung Eater’s real body is still waiting back in the sewers. Return to Roundtable Hold to continue his twisted quest.
Feed Dung Eater Seedbed Curses
Back at Roundtable Hold, Dung Eater is back in his room waiting for you. Talk to him, and he will request you bring more Seedbed Curses to his actual body in the sewers. You need to collect five Seedbed Curses to end the quest. Here are all the Seedbed Curses locations to obtain all of them:
- Leyndell, Fortified Manor: Located in a Roundtable Hold lookalike room in the Fortified Manor.
- Volcano Manor: Found behind a Stonesword Key fog door near the Temple of Eiglay.
- Haligtree, Prayer Room: Available on a dead body tied to a chair in the upper sections.
- Haligtree, Secret Balcony: Hidden behind a Cleanrot Knight encounter, can be accessed through a secret ledge jump.
- Outer Moat: From Blackguard Boggart by completing his part of the story.
After giving Dung Eater all five Curses, he will succumb to his defilement. In his place, you will find the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse. This rune allows you to unlock the Blessing of Despair Ending, which brings about an eternally cursed world where no one escapes defilement.
To trigger this ending, defeat the final bosses Radagon of the Golden Order and Elden Beast. Once given the choice to mend the Elden Ring, select “Use Mending Rune of the Fell Curse”. With that, you’ve successfully doomed the world forever in one of Elden Ring’s darkest endings.
Alternatively, you can hand over Seluvis’ Potion from his questline to Dung Eater instead of completing his objective. It will turn him into a puppet summon available to purchase from Seluvis. However, this locks you out of the Blessing of Despair Ending. So, it’s up to you which Dung Eater quest’s ending you want to see in Elden Ring
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