How to beat the Putrid Tree Spirit in Elden Ring
Here's how to get through the War Dead Catacombs and defeat its boss.
The War-Dead Catacombs in Elden Ring is a location in Caelid with a very nasty boss at the end of it: the Putrid Tree Spirit.
This area in Elden Ring can be quite easy to pass through as several enemies have decided to battle each other. You can take part in the epic fights, but if you're looking for loot and want to stay alive, it's probably best to let them take each other down.
Once you finally reach them, we're here to show you how to beat the Putrid Tree Spirit in Elden Ring.
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War-Dead Catacombs location in Elden Ring
You can reach the War-Dead Catacombs in Elden Ring after defeating Starscourge Radahn, as it's found within the large region he uses as a boss arena - the Wailing Dunes. Explore the area after your victory and you will find the entrance to the catacombs in the north:
Exploring the War-Dead Catacombs in Elden Ring
Activate the Site of Grace 'War-Dead Catacombs' and follow the north-west corridor down the stairs. You will come across a fight between the ghosts of some Redmane Knights and Lesser Cleanrot Knights, but you don't have to intervene. At least not yet.
They will fight for quite a while and will even continue the fight down in the Scarlet Rot pool below. The treasure chest in the lower area has a Collapsing Stars Sorcery spell in it, and the corpse has a Golden Rune (6). If you like, you can assist the soldiers, as the knights are a much tougher enemy.
At the same time, this is a good place to farm runes, as the stream of enemies won't die down any time soon. You can literally stand still and collect runes for doing nothing. Someone always dies here. The corpse in the centre of the room also has from 3 Magic Grease to collect, and next to it we find a Grave Glovewort (6).
The western corridor leads to the boss door, which is currently still blocked. At the end of the stairs on the left, you can pick another Grave Glovewort (6).
How do you get to the lever that opens the boss door? Walk back and look to the left. You will see a small passageway in the form of a window with a statue behind it.
Jump through there and you will reach a room with several ghosts. It doesn't matter whether you want to eliminate them or not. Run up the steps, jump through the next window to the west, kill the knight behind it and you will find yourself in front of the lever. This opens the entrance to the boss.
Before we get to grips with the boss, though, there's still a lot to see in the catacombs. For example, in the room with the ghosts, there is another chamber to the south here, in which a Lesser Cleanrot Knight Spirit will spawn. He guards the Radahn Soldier Ashes.
Drop down next to the statue, kill the two imps and you will find a Ghost Glovewort (4) on the eastern wall. The passage to the south leads directly to another item - one Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot.
Now we've seen almost everything the catacombs have to offer. It's time to face the boss.
How to beat the Putrid Tree Spirit in Elden Ring
This boss is a nastier variant of the Ulcerated Tree Spirit from the Fringefolk Hero's Grave.
The Putrid Tree Spirit essentially behaves in the same way, but it's a lot more dangerous this time round. The problem with it is its sheer physical strength. It is not uncommon for a single hit to drain more than half of your health bar.
Summons are very important in this fight to distract the Tree Spirit, at least for a short time. With luck, you will also manage to push it into a corner where it cannot defend itself very effectively.
The worst thing about the Putrid Tree Spirit is that it will infect you with Scarlet Rot, which is why Preserving Boluses are vital for this fight. Otherwise, follow the same tactics for beating the Ulcerated Tree Spirit: use summons and do your best to break his stance to score a critical hit.
The rewards for beating this boss are 67,200 runes, Redmane Knight Ogha Spirit Ashes, and a Golden Seed.
Need more help? Jump back to our list of Elden Ring bosses or our Elden Ring walkthrough.