Patches is a recurring character in FromSoftware’s games who usually appears as some sort of rogue or thief. You can find him lurking within a secluded cave in Elden Ring, where he will be up to his usual tricks.
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Patches’ Location in Elden Ring
There is a shallow river extending from the north of Agheel Lake in Limgrave. On the west side of the shallow river, about halfway up, you’ll find Murkwater Cave. The entrance is marked by a small campfire and is near where you’ll get invaded by Bloody Finger Nerijus. You won’t be able to get into the cavern while Nerijus is alive, as a white fog gate will block the way into Murkwater Cave. You’ll have to take down the red phantom first. Though, the insides of this cavern hold dangers as well.
Beware the Ambush in Murkwater Cave
As the map icon for this location indicates, Murkwater Cave is technically a dungeon. However, it’s pretty small and is rather unconventional. The cave itself consists of a small passage leading to a larger central room with many bushes. There are around half a dozen undead soldier enemies lying in wait, so be ready for an ambush. When you walk around this chamber, you’ll hear the ringing of a bell, which will cause the undead soldiers to attack as a mob. Individually, they’re not very tough, however, together, they can overpower you if you get caught off guard.
After you clear the main room of enemies, you’ll find 2 passages leading away from it besides the way you came. The first leads to a golden fog gate, indicating a boss room. The other direction will lead you to a small room with a chest. Don’t get excited, as the chest only holds 5 Mushrooms.
Where to Find Patches in Murkwater Cave
To find the infamous Patches, you’ll need to head through the golden fog gate. Beyond, you won’t immediately encounter a boss. Instead, you’ll find a large room with many barrels and boxes as well as a single chest.
To get Patches to appear, you’ll need to open the chest. From this chest, you’ll get 1 Cloth Garb and 1 Cloth Trousers, which are basically useless as armor. However, when you open the chest, Patches’ voice will call out to you and accuse you of theft. The bald man will then demand you hand over all of your money and will attack you, beginning a boss fight of sorts.
Patches even gets a boss health bar for this encounter. This implies you should take him seriously as a threat. In battle, Patches will be wielding a spear and a greatshield. This is similar to his previous appearances in past FromSoftware games.
How to Beat Patches
An easy way to overpower Patches is to break his stance while he is guarding. His spear pokes can hurt a bit, but, between attacks, Patches will raise his greatshield while walking side to side. This would be a great time to perform a jumping attack. Since Patches is just a regular Tarnished, his guard will get broken fairly easily from jumping attacks. While he’s vulnerable, walk up to Patches and perform a critical attack on him for huge damage.
You should keep up the offense, as Patches will back down soon enough. When his HP drops below 50%, your foe will surrender and ask for mercy. If you stop attacking him, eventually the “Enemy Felled” text will appear on screen as if you defeated a minor boss. You’ll also receive 2 Golden Runes [1] and a gesture called “Grovel for Mercy”.
The gesture, appropriately, is the same one that Patches uses while cowering before your might. It’s recommended to let Patches live instead of killing him, as he becomes a merchant after the fight.
What Patches Does in Elden Ring
In addition to selling you items—including some unique ones—Patches is also a source of comical dialogue. His roguish charm is a bit grating, at first, but also can be a refreshing change of pace.
How to Get Patches to Become a Merchant
You’ll have to speak with Patches until he asks you if you forgive him. When prompted, you should choose the “Forgive and forget” option, as this is the one that leads to Patches becoming a mostly-friendly merchant. The thief will then go on to tell you that he’ll need a bit of time to set up his shop and that you should come back later.
In this case, “later” means after you rest at a Site of Grace. You don’t need to pass time either, just rest and then go back to Patches’ section of Murkwater Cave. Though, you’ll have to be wary of the undead soldiers that respawn.
When you return to Patches, he’ll have some dialogue about the chest in the room. Before you try to loot it, be sure to check out what Patches has to sell. To put it simply, the chest contains a trap, which you shouldn’t activate until doing a bit of business with the thief-turned-merchant.
What Patches Sells
Patches will have 14 different kinds of items to sell you. Some are them are rare or unique, so you should definitely pick some of them up if you have the Runes to spare. If you need more money, remember that you can consume Golden Runes to instantly acquire more Runes.
| Name | Rune Cost | Quantity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold-Pickled Fowl Feet | 600 | 3 | When used, this item will temporarily increase how many Runes you get from defeated enemies. |
| Fan Daggers | 160 | 20 | This is a consumable item that will act like a throwing knife but will spread out to cover more area. Think of it like a knife shotgun. These items will deal physical damage. |
| Margit's Shackle | 5,000 | 1 | This is a unique item that can be very handy against Margit, the Fell Omen, who guards the way into Stormveil Castle. When used during the fight against Margit, this item will temporarily immobilize them. However, Margit's Shackle is a single-use item, so you only have one shot to use it. |
| Grace Mimic | 100 | 15 | Similar to certain Sites of Grace, using this item will point you towards the nearest major boss. |
| Glass Shard | 100 | Infinite | This item is useless, don't buy them. |
| Furlcalling Finger Remedy | 1,000 | 3 | When used, this item will reveal both hostile and co-op summon signs. |
| Festering Bloody Finger | 1,000 | 5 | When used, you will invade another player's world as a red phantom. |
| Stonesword Key | 5,000 | 1 | This item is used to dissipate the white fog gates that appear beside imp statues. |
| Missionary's Cookbook [2] | 800 | 1 | This item, when obtained, will unlock the crafting recipes for Scripstones, Grace Mimics, and Gold-Pickled Fowl Feet. |
| Parrying Dagger | 1,600 | 1 | This is a dagger-type weapon that can be equipped in either hand. Its skill is Parry, which can be used to break a foe's guard. |
| Great Arrow | 300 | 10 | This is ammo classified as greatarrows. They have 100 physical attack power and deal pierce-type damage. |
| Ballista Bolt | 300 | 5 | This is ammo classified as great bolts. They have 160 physical attack power and deal pierce-type damage. |
| Horse Crest Wooden Shield | 1,000 | 1 | This is a medium shield with no skill. It's light for its size and offers decent damage negation against all damage types except fire damage. |
| Sacrificial Twig | 5,000 | 1 | This is a talisman that you can equip to your talisman slot. If equipped, you will not lose Runes when you die, but the Sacrificial Twig will break in the process. |
What Happens if You Open the Trap Chest
If you open the closed chest, you will not get an item. Instead, you will get ensnared in a gray smoke cloud that will teleport you to a location that you might not have been to before in the east of Limgrave.
You’ll spawn right behind a huge bear. Thankfully, if you sneak, the bear won’t notice you. After being affected by the transporter trap, you won’t be able to fast travel until you rest at a Site of Grace. While this turn of events seems inconvenient, you can actually use it to your advantage.
Find the Map of East Limgrave
Very near to where you spawn behind the bear, you’ll be able to find the map for east Limgrave. This can help you navigate out of the dangerous forest. From the place you spawn, head east and you’ll soon find the map sitting at the base of a tall stone tablet.
After unlocking the map of this area, you’ll find that you’re near the middle of a road that leads north and south. To find the nearest Site of Grace, head north along the road until you find the Third Church of Marika where the road turns west.
When you’ve rested, you’ll be able to fast travel once more. If you want to see Patches’ comical reaction to your return—or wish to do more shopping—you can teleport back to Murkwater Cave.
Other FromSoftware Games Where Patches Appears
In addition to showing up as Patches “the Untethered” in Elden Ring, Patches can be found in a bunch of older games by FromSoftware. This recurring character, with the exception of Patch the Good Luck, has been voiced by the same actor in all their appearances: William Vanderpuye. Here’s a breakdown of all of Patches’ in-game appearances and names.
- Armored Core: For Answer – Patch the Good Luck
- Demons’ Souls – Patches the Hyena
- Dark Souls – Trusty Patches
- Dark Souls 3 – Unbreakable Patches
- Bloodborne – Patches the Spider
