The Millicent quest in Elden Ring takes you on a journey that runs parallel to your progress through the main game. It also requires you to defeat several bosses, but undertaking her quest is the only way to unlock the other Elden Ring endings after you've received the Frenzied Flame. The quest spans the length and breadth of the Lands Between and also digs into one of the biggest mysteries in Elden Ring's story: the nature of the Scarlet Rot and Malenia.
To get started with Millicent's quest, you need to head to Gowry's Shack in Caelid. You can do this first step early on, assuming you have the nerve to brave the nightmare enemies that inhabit the region. Progressing the quest further, however, means you'll have to explore further into the game, so don't expect to finish this quest quickly. If you're ready to learn more about Elden Ring Millicent and each of her quest steps, here's what you need to know.
Elden Ring Millicent quest summary
Here's a brief overview of the steps you need to take to finish Millicent's quest:
- Go to Gowry's Shack in Caelid and agree to help Gowry.
- Kill Commander O'Neil in the Swamp of Aeonia to get the Unalloyed Gold Needle.
- Return the item to Gowry at his shack.
- Find Millicent at the Church of the Plague and give her the needle.
- Return to Gowry at his shack and speak with Millicent.
- Retrieve the Valkyrie's Prosthesis item from The Shaded Castle in Altus Plateau.
- Speak to Millicent at Erdtree Gazing Hill and hand over the item.
- Defeat the boss at Windmill Village and speak to Millicent there.
- Speak to Millicent at the Mountaintop of the Giants.
- Access the Haligtree and find Millicent.
- Defeat the Ulcerated Tree Spirit mini-boss.
- Make a choice between invading or being summoned.
- If you helped her, reload the area and speak to Millicent to get the Unalloyed Gold Needle
- Use the needle at the Scarlet Bloom in Malenia's boss arena after the fight to get Miquella's Needle and a Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone.
Caelid
Where to find Gowry's Shack
Gowry's Shack is found in Caelid, just south of Sellia, Town of Sorcery. If you haven't explored this area, the easiest way to get here is via the road from the northeast corner of Limgrave. Just run past everything and pick up the Sites of Grace along the way.
Once you reach the Southern Aeonia Swamp Bank Site of Grace, continue along the road to the north and pass through the large gate—just watch out for the troll throwing rocks from the cliff above. On the other side, you should see the shack off the road to your right. Talk to Gowry inside the wooden hut and he'll tell you he wants to heal a girl but needs you to find the Unalloyed Gold Needle first.
How to get the Unalloyed Gold Needle
This item is dropped by Commander O'Neil, a boss found in the nearby Aeonia Swamp. He's located within the circle of rot just to the east of Gowry's Shack, but it's worth grabbing the Inner Aeonia Site of Grace immediately to the north of this location so you spawn right next to the boss arena if he gives you trouble.
Commander O'Neil isn't particularly tough but he does summon help which can make the fight more annoying. You can also fight him while riding Torrent which can be helpful. If you have problems taking him down, you can engage the boss, then lead him back towards the Inner Aeonia Site of Grace. The Scarlot Rot geysers here do a decent amount of damage to him so you can kite him into them to bring his health down quickly.
Once you have the Unalloyed Gold Needle in your possession, head back to Gowry's Shack and hand the item over. Gowry will give you Sellia's Secret in return immediately, but to continue the quest, you need to fast travel away or reload the game and return to him. Once you're back, Gowry will hand back the repaired needle.
Elden Ring Millicent location: Church of the Plague
Next, you need to head to the Church of the Plague, which is just to the east of Gowry's Shack but at the top of the cliff.
When you gave Gowry the Unalloyed Gold Needle in the last step, he told you the secret of Sellia which allows you access to the road from this side. You can go ahead and light the beacons in the village to gain access, or you use Torrent to run down to the location from the Bestial Sanctum in the north. You can access the sanctum via a waygate in Limgrave near the Third Church of Marika (D in Roundtable Hold tells you about this after you pick up your first Deathroot).
Millicent is found inside the ruins of the Church of the Plague. Hand over the needle then rest at the nearby Site of Grace. Talk to her again until she gives you the Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom talisman.
Now you need to return to Gowry's Shack. Speak to Gowry, then fast-travel to the closest Site of Grace and return to his shack or simply reload the game. Millicent should now be there. Speak to her and exhaust her dialogue options.
Altus Plateau
Elden Ring Valkyrie's Prosthesis location
You won't find Millicent again until you reach Altus Plateau, just past the Grand Lift of Dectus in the northeast part of Liurnia. You can find her just to the north of the Erdtree Gazing Hill Site of Grace, but you can't progress her quest further until you retrieve the Valkyrie's Prosthesis item from a chest in the Shaded Castle in northern Altus Plateau.
The map above shows the location of the Valkyrie's Prosthesis in the Shaded Castle, and you'll need to fight or run past a Cleanrot Knight to access the room where it resides.
Once you have the Valkyrie's Prosthesis, return to Millicent in Altus Plateau and hand it over. You now need to keep talking to her until you run out of new dialogue.
Defeat the Godskin Apostle at Windmill Village
Now you need to head to Windmill Village in the north of Altus Plateau. Once you've activated the Windmill Village Site of Grace, head up the narrow area of land to the east and you'll find the Godskin Apostle boss at the top, near a windmill. If you've already handed over the Valkyrie's Prosthesis to Millicent—which you should have if you're following this guide—she'll be available as an NPC summon to help you out.
This boss is pretty tough and you should be prepared to dodge a lot. Multi-hit magic damage seems to break his poise and he seems to be somewhat susceptible to bleed. As with most bosses, it's best to play it safe and be ready to dodge until you've figured out his attack patterns and the tells for his more devastating attacks.
Once you've defeated the boss, activate the Windmill Heights Site of Grace. Rest or fast travel away and back again and you'll find Millicent standing nearby. Exhaust her dialogue once more.
Mountaintop of the Giants
Talk to Millicent at Mountaintop of the Giants
You won't see Millicent again to speak to until you reach the Mountaintop of the Giants region, to the northeast of Leyndell, Royal Capital (you need to defeat the boss there to access it). You can find her at the Ancient Snow Valley Ruins Site of Grace, to the south of Castle Sol and the southeast of Stargazer's Ruins.
Speak to her here and she'll say that you can call her in battle. She also talks about finding Malenia and mentions the Haligtree Secret Medallion that unlocks a hidden location at the Grand Lift of Rold. For details on how to access Miquella's Haligtree endgame area, check out our Haligtree Medallion guide.
At this point, you can return to Gowry's Shack in Caelid and talk to him about Millicent. He has a fair amount to say, although none of it is necessary to progress through the rest of Millicent's questline.
The Haligtree
Meet Millicent at Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree
Once you have access to Miquella's Haligtree, you need to carefully make your way down the tree branches, fighting giant ants and poor Albinaurics on the way. It can be a tricky area for melee characters; I'd recommend bringing some kind of ranged attack so you don't roll off the tree to your death.
Eventually, you'll start to run into buildings near the trunk of the tree. Keep moving forward through the enemies until you reach the Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree boss. Once you get her down, move past her location into Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree.
Make your way through until you reach the Prayer Room Site of Grace. Find Millicent nearby, speak to her, and she'll talk about Malenia.
Defeat the Ulcerated Tree Spirit mini-boss
Continue on through Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. There are many, many enemies to defeat as you head lower into the area. Once you reach the Elphael Inner Wall Site of Grace, keep going until you reach the Drainage Channel Site of Grace after a bunch of icky Scarlet Rot pools.
Past the the Drainage Channel is more Scarlet Rot, but this time there's an Ulcerated Tree Spirit lurking in one that you have to drop down to. As gross as it is, you have to defeat this Ulcerated Tree Spirit to continue with Millicent's quest.
Millicent's Prosthesis or Miquella's Needle choice
Elden Ring guide: Conquer the Lands Between
Elden Ring map fragments: Reveal the world
Elden Ring weapons: Arm yourself
Elden Ring armor: The best sets
Elden Ring Smithing Stone: Upgrade your gear
Elden Ring Ashes of War: Where to find them
Elden Ring classes: Which to choose
Once you've defeated the mini-boss, return to the Drainage Channel Site of Grace. Run back to the boss area and you'll find two summon signs where you're faced with a choice, similar to the Sellen quest choice. The yellow summon sign will have you summoned to Millicent to help her defeat NPC invaders. The red summon sign will let you invade and kill her.
If you go with the red summon sign, you'll have to fight Millicent. If you successfully defeat her, you'll earn Millicent's Prosthesis and prematurely end the quest. If you do this, you will not be able to continue past this point.
If you go with the yellow summon sign and help her kill the NPCs, you're rewarded with the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, a talisman that greatly raises attack power with subsequent hits.
You can then rest at the Drainage Channel Site of Grace again, or reload the game, and find Millicent near the spot where the summoning signs were. Talk to her, then rest or reload again and you'll return to find her body. You can loot her for the Unalloyed Gold Needle item, which you can use to acquire Miquella's Needle.
Miquella's Needle
Elden Ring Miquella's Needle: How to get it
Once you've received the Unalloyed Gold Needle by choosing the yellow summon sign in the step above, you need to progress further into the Ephael, Brace of the Haligtree area and beat the optional Shardbearer, Malenia. Once you've defeated her, reload the area and return to the boss room to find Malenia's scarlet bloom, then use the Unalloyed Gold Needle and you'll receive Miquella's Needle in return.
Miquella's Needle has the unique ability to undo the Flame of Frenzy ending if you went down that route. As a reminder: that's located underneath Leyndell at the bottom of the Subterranean Shunning Grounds, through a bunch of tunnels and past Mohg's boss room. Inside, there's a big door that requires you to take your armor off to enter it. Once you do, you'll be marked by the Flame of Frenzy and have yellow eyes.
Without doing Millicent's questline, you'll be locked to this ending if you proceed. But you can undo the Flame of Frenzy if you see her quest through.
Tame the Flame of Frenzy with Miquella's Needle
To undo the lock on your character for the Flame of Frenzy ending, you must take Miquella's Needle to the boss room for Dragonlord Placidusax.
The Dragonlord is located in Farum Azula, which is only accessible in full after you've interacted with the Forge of the Giants in the Mountaintops of the Giants. Once there, go through normally until you reach the Beside the Great Bridge Site of Grace. From there, head down the nearby elevator, down the stairs, past the beastmen, and outside. Walk straight out like you're walking off the map and then look down to see a path of rocks below. Jump down and make your way toward the tornado until you reach the building fragment. Stand on the vacant part of it and interact with it to initiate a cutscene that takes you to the boss room.
In the boss room, equip Miquella's Needle or use it in your menu and select yes to tame the Flame of Frenzy. Now, you can continue on with the game normally and you won't be locked into that ending, and you'll have saved Melina in the process.
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