Yes—if you want to hear St. Trina and advance the optional quest tied to Thiollier. Choosing Imbibe Nectar kills your character immediately, but that death is intentional. You respawn normally, return to St. Trina, and repeat the interaction to unlock her dialogue. Passing those words to Thiollier moves his quest forward and eventually leads to his invasion, the St. Trina’s Smile talisman, and further dialogue at the Garden of Deep Purple. If you are not pursuing that side quest, there is no gameplay benefit to drinking, and you can leave the nectar alone.
What happens when you choose “Imbibe Nectar”?
The interaction causes an immediate in-game death. You do not receive a conventional reward from the first drink, and the death is not a bug, failed attempt, or permanent game-over state. After the normal respawn, you can travel back to St. Trina and interact with the nectar again.
This death loop is the intended mechanic for the encounter. The important consequence is not the first drink itself, but the dialogue that becomes available after repeated drinks. That dialogue is the trigger for the linked Thiollier quest steps.
The first drink
Your character dies as soon as the interaction completes. Any runes you were carrying are placed at your death spot under the normal Elden Ring rules, so the run back matters if you had a large amount saved. You can recover them after respawning, provided you reach the spot without dying again.
Returning after death
Once you respawn, return to St. Trina rather than assuming the interaction has failed. The same choice remains available, and each successful drink advances the encounter’s dialogue state. The game does not present a separate confirmation that explains this loop, which is why the first death can look like a punishment for choosing incorrectly.
How many times should you imbibe the nectar?
Drink repeatedly until the dialogue needed for your current quest stage has played. Game8’s walkthrough identifies four drinks as the point at which St. Trina first speaks, while another quest-path guide describes six drinks for hearing all of her initial messages. Those numbers describe different dialogue milestones, not a contradiction about whether the mechanic works.
| Drinks | What the guides report | How to use that information |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Immediate death and normal respawn | Return to St. Trina and repeat the interaction. |
| 4 | First words from St. Trina in Game8’s walkthrough | Continue if the linked quest has not advanced or if more dialogue is available. |
| 6 | All initial messages described by a community quest-path guide | Use this as a broader initial-dialogue target, not a universal total for every stage. |
| Additional drinks | Further dialogue can appear after the initial messages | Keep checking the interaction and your quest dialogue until the current step is exhausted. |
Because the dialogue is stage-dependent, hearing the first line does not prove that every nectar-related message has been delivered. If St. Trina has spoken but Thiollier’s conversation has not changed, return to him, exhaust his available dialogue, and then follow the next prompt before assuming you need a different item or location.
Should you drink before speaking to Thiollier?
If you are following Thiollier’s optional quest, yes. The nectar interaction is the route that reveals St. Trina’s words, and Thiollier’s progression depends on you reporting what you heard. Leaving the interaction untouched means this particular quest route cannot move through its dialogue checks.
Spend runes before starting the loop
Use or bank any runes you do not want to risk before choosing Imbibe Nectar repeatedly. Game8 specifically recommends this precaution because every drink kills you. You can recover a death pile, but repeated trips create additional opportunities to lose it permanently.
Do not treat the death as a failed quest state
The death is the expected result, so do not reload a save or abandon the area simply because the first interaction ends with your character on the ground. Respawn, return to St. Trina, and continue the sequence. The encounter is designed around several deaths rather than a single successful consumption.
How do you advance the St. Trina and Thiollier quest?
The practical sequence is short, but it requires you to complete the dialogue checks in order. Follow these steps when the nectar interaction is available:
- Spend vulnerable runes. Use a Site of Grace or otherwise secure runes before beginning the repeated-death sequence.
- Choose “Imbibe Nectar.” Accept the immediate death and wait for the normal respawn.
- Return to St. Trina. Repeat the same interaction after each respawn. Continue beyond the first drink so the dialogue state can advance.
- Listen for St. Trina’s words. The first dialogue threshold is reported at four drinks by Game8; a separate quest-path guide places the full set of initial messages at six. Keep interacting if additional lines are available.
- Find Thiollier and report what you heard. Select the conversation option that passes on St. Trina’s words. The guide walkthrough says he initially refuses to believe you, so repeat the conversation when the game presents the option again.
- Follow the invasion step. After the required dialogue progression, Thiollier invades. Defeat him to receive the St. Trina’s Smile talisman, as described in the quest guide.
- Return to the Garden of Deep Purple. Exhaust Thiollier’s dialogue there to continue the optional quest rather than stopping after the invasion reward.
The game can place these steps inside a larger world-state sequence. If a character is no longer at an earlier location, that does not by itself prove the quest is broken; major progression milestones can move NPCs or change which conversation is available.
What happens after you report St. Trina’s words?
Thiollier’s first response is disbelief, according to the walkthrough. The important action is to select the report option again when prompted rather than ending the conversation after his initial refusal. Once the required dialogue has been acknowledged, the quest advances toward his invasion.
Defeating the invading Thiollier awards St. Trina’s Smile. This talisman is a later quest consequence, not a payment for the first drink. After the fight, return to the Garden of Deep Purple and continue speaking with Thiollier until his available lines are exhausted.
If the invasion has not occurred, check the earlier requirements in order: St. Trina must have delivered the relevant words, Thiollier must have received them through the correct conversation option, and the world must be at the progression point that allows the invasion. The available guides do not provide a single universal calendar of every world-state cutoff, so advancing the NPC steps when they become available is safer than postponing them through several major milestones.
What if you leave the nectar alone or stop after one drink?
Nothing harmful happens to the rest of your save, but this interaction will not advance the St. Trina–Thiollier route while it remains incomplete. A single drink only demonstrates the death mechanic; it does not provide the dialogue needed for the quest.
You can leave and return later, but timing matters if you want the full optional storyline. The community quest-path record and walkthrough both associate NPC locations and dialogue with broader world progression. They do not document every possible cutoff with primary developer instructions, so the cautious approach is to complete the available St. Trina and Thiollier conversations before pushing through major late-game milestones.
Stopping after St. Trina’s first words can also leave the sequence unfinished. The four-drink threshold reported by Game8 is specifically for hearing the first words, while the other guide records additional initial messages after more drinks. Continue until the interaction no longer provides the dialogue needed for your current stage.
Can the nectar kill you permanently or erase your progress?
No. “Imbibe Nectar” produces a normal player death, followed by the standard respawn loop. Your character, equipment, map progress, and quest state remain intact; the practical risk is losing carried runes if you fail to recover the death pile.
Because the interaction is repeatable, the safest routine is to spend runes, drink once, respawn, return, and repeat. Do not mistake the repeated deaths for a requirement to use a special resurrection item or to alter your build. The guides describe the deaths as the intended cost of hearing St. Trina.
Is this interaction required to finish Shadow of the Erdtree?
The St. Trina and Thiollier sequence is presented as an optional side quest, not as a mandatory step in the expansion’s central progression. You can leave the nectar untouched if you are focused only on the main route, but you will not advance this linked NPC storyline through that interaction.
For players collecting optional rewards, the sequence is valuable because the later Thiollier invasion awards St. Trina’s Smile. The talisman is tied to the completed dialogue and invasion progression, so it is not available simply for discovering St. Trina’s location.
Are there platform-specific differences?
The available quest guides do not document different nectar behavior on PlayStation, Xbox, or PC. The publisher’s edition information concerns how the expansion is sold and confirms that the expansion requires the base game; it does not identify a platform-specific version of this quest interaction.
That means the same practical advice applies regardless of platform: expect the death, repeat the interaction, report the words to Thiollier, and continue through the invasion and Garden of Deep Purple dialogue. If a future patch changes the sequence, check the game’s current version notes or an updated walkthrough before assuming a platform is responsible.
What is the safest decision for your playthrough?
Use this checklist before selecting the option:
- You want St. Trina’s dialogue or Thiollier’s quest: imbibe, accept the deaths, and repeat the interaction until the current dialogue stage is complete.
- You want to preserve a large rune stockpile: spend the runes first, then begin the loop.
- You heard only the first message: do not stop automatically; the guides describe later lines after the first threshold.
- Thiollier refuses to believe you: repeat the report conversation when the option reappears, then follow the invasion step.
- You are not interested in optional quests: leave the nectar alone; drinking has no standalone reward that offsets the repeated deaths.
The direct answer is therefore conditional only on your goal. For the quest, drinking is necessary and safe when treated as an intentional death loop. Outside that quest, it is an optional interaction with no independent reason to endure the deaths.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the St. Trina and Thiollier quest required for the expansion’s main ending?
The available walkthroughs classify it as an optional NPC quest rather than a main-story requirement. They do not document it as a condition for reaching the expansion’s central ending.
Do PlayStation, Xbox, and PC use different nectar mechanics?
No platform-specific variation is documented in the quest guides. The same interaction and dialogue sequence is described across the available coverage.
Why did St. Trina speak, but my next conversation still look unchanged?
The dialogue is tied to quest stage, not only to the first line you hear. Check for additional nectar interactions and repeat Thiollier’s report conversation when the option is offered again.
Is St. Trina’s Smile awarded for drinking, or for a later step?
It is associated with defeating Thiollier during his later invasion. The initial nectar interaction unlocks the dialogue path but does not itself grant the talisman.