Cave of the Forlorn is a Minor Dungeon in Elden Ring, located in the Mountaintops of the Giants Region. It is filled with Misbegotten and Jellyfish enemies, and the dungeon’s final boss is the Misbegotten Crusader.
Additionally, you can find loots like the Rune Arc, Thawfrost Boluses, and Golden Order Greatsword. This walkthrough will help you fully explore the Cave of the Forlorn in Elden Ring and tell you how to defeat the boss.
Cave of the Forlorn Elden Ring location
The cave of the Forlorn is located in the Mountaintops of the Giants region. In this region, first, travel to the Consecrated Snowfield. Once there, head toward the frozen ravine to the east. This ravine divides the northern and southern portions of the region.
Run along the left side of the ravine (northern side) until you encounter a Giant Land Octopus guarding the cave entrance. The octopus has a very small health pool, so you shouldn’t have much trouble taking it down. After defeating it, use a Stonesword Key on the Imp Seal to open the cave entrance.
Elden Ring Cave of the Forlorn Walkthrough
After going through the cave opening, you must activate the Site of Grace. It’ll be next to the dragon corpse, which you see up ahead.
Before going down the cave, loot the dead body next to the dragon’s corpse to get a Golden Rune (7).
The path in this cave splits into two from here. You can either go towards the north or the east.
First, loot the corpse on your right to get Freezing Grease 4x. The corpse is right next to a sleeping Misbegotten, so you should kill it before you loot the corpse.
After that, go down the path to the north. This will lead you to a room with two Misbegotten and three rats. One of the Misbegotten has wings, and the other has an axe, so they’ll be a little hard to take down.
Once you’ve defeated all of the enemies in the room, go all the way to the end of the room and look to the southeast to find a crevice in the wall. There will be a corpse there which you can loot for Freezing Grease.
You must now return to the initial fork in the road. This time, instead of going north, take the path to the east. While taking this path, keep to the left.
You will encounter a winged Misbegotten and a sleeping Misbegotten in your path. Kill them and loot the corpse behind them to get a Nascent Butterfly.
Before continuing down this path, go into the room to the south, grab the Golden Rune (10) from the corpse, and then come back out.
Now, continue moving down this path until you reach the massive ice pole. On top of the pole, you’ll notice a corpse.
To get on top of the pole, use the debris next to it as a platform. Once up there, you can loot the corpse to get a Hero’s Rune (2).
Your path now is split into two once again. You can either go up the slope (which will take you towards the north) or go towards the west.
First, go up the slope and take down the sleeping Misbegotten. Then, head down the tunnel ahead, and it’ll lead you into a cave where you’ll have to fight three Misbegotten.
Take them down and then head to the northern end of the room. Loot the corpses to get a Rune Arc and Spirit Flame Arrow x10.
Now, head back to where your path split into two and go down the western path this time. It will lead you into a cavern that has a bunch of Jellyfish.
These Jellyfish will be guarding three corpses. So, first, take the Jellyfish down and then loot the corpses to get Crystal Dart x8, Thawfrost Boluses x2, and Miquella’s Lily x3.
Afterward, go towards the northwest and wrap around the corner to find another corpse and more Jellyfish. This corpse will give you Thawfrost Boluses x3.
After looking at the corpse, drop down into the opening next to it and use the platforms to get to the bottom. The last platform will have a corpse, which can be looted for Freezing Grease x4.
You can then drop down to the ground below to find a mist wall—where you’ll fight the Misbegotten Crusader.
How to Defeat the Misbegotten Crusader in Cave of the Forlorn?
The Misbegotten Crusader might seem strangely familiar to you. The reason is that the Misbegotten Crusader is the same as the Misbegotten Warrior from Redmane Castle and Leonine Misbegotten from Castle Morne.
The biggest strength of the Misbegotten Crusader is its agility. It moves extremely quickly, so you must dodge perfectly throughout the fight.
But this will create a big problem for you—stamina. You need to be efficient with your dodges so you don’t constantly run out of stamina during the fight.
The Misbegotten Crusader has quite a few deadly attacks up its sleeve. One of its favorite attacks is when it slashes three times with its sword and then jumps up, ending the attack with a big slam on the ground.
The only way to dodge this attack is to dodge-roll perfectly. You can’t just run away; the Crusader can catch up to you immediately. Instead, you’ll have to dodge-roll each of the three swings and then once more for the ground slam. You can also parry the attack, which will be very hard due to the fast animation speed.
The scariest attack of the Crusader is the one where it launches itself straight towards you, then up in the air, back down into the ground, where it stabs its sword.
To dodge this attack, doge-roll the first part of the attack, where it launches towards you, then stand directly under it while in the air, preparing for the slam. You’ll then have to roll at the last moment when it’s about to slam on the ground.
Another noteworthy attack of the Crusader is when it swipes at you with its claws (multiple times), then leaps into the air and slams down its sword, which results in a big shockwave. Dodge-roll the initial swipes and then roll back to avoid the shockwave at the end of the attack.
When you get up close to the Crusader, it may do a foot stomp, followed by a full spin attack with its sword. This attack has the potential to one-shot you, so you’ll need to be always prepared for it. Luckily, you can block the foot stomp and then do two or more dodge-rolls to avoid the spin attack.
Once you’ve defeated the Misbegotten Crusader, you’ll be rewarded with the Golden Order Greatsword.
