Elden Ring Old Altus Tunnel Walkthrough: Two Stonesword Keys

The Old Altus Tunnel is a mine on the western side of the Altus Plateau with a toll at the door: an imp statue that eats two Stonesword Keys before you can set foot inside. Pay it and the tunnel gives back the Boltdrake Talisman +1, a free Stanching Boluses, and a Stonedigger Troll whose Great Club is one of the plateau's better Strength pickups. Do not mix it up with the Altus Tunnel, the Crystalian mine further east that holds the second Somberstone bearing; the two have separate Sites of Grace on the map.

Where the Old Altus Tunnel is

Start at the Erdtree-Gazing Hill Site of Grace and follow the valley path along its north side; the Boltdrake Talisman page routes it this way. The Great Club page offers a second approach from the Volcano Manor side to the west, and warns that the cliffs and jagged rock make it the harder ride. The same page notes that you can reach the plateau, and this tunnel, before finding either Dectus medallion by climbing the Ruin-Strewn Precipice instead of taking the Grand Lift.

The entrance is the first of the two West Altus imp seals in our Imp Statue Seal guide, and it wants two keys at once; the other seal in this part of the map is inside the Wyndham Ruins. The tunnel's grace is also the closest one to the Wyndham Catacombs, which lie to its west near the road into the Volcano Manor area, according to the catacombs guide.

Old Altus Tunnel walkthrough

Once the seal is gone, head north until you reach the Site of Grace inside. Beyond it, still to the north, the tunnel opens into a large chamber. Take the wooden stairs on the chamber's right side up to a ladder, and the ladder ends at a small wooden hut holding the Boltdrake Talisman +1. The base version of the talisman sits on a corpse below the Limgrave Tower Bridge grace in Stormveil Castle, and the +2 waits on the Dragon Temple Rooftop in Crumbling Farum Azula, so this hut is the middle step of the set for anyone fighting lightning users. A corpse beside the shack carries Stanching Boluses, which the bleed weapons guide lists as the free copy: the consumable cures blood loss build-up and otherwise costs 600 Runes from the Nomadic Merchant southeast of the Coastal Cave or from the Twin Maiden Husks, or a Herba, a Cave Moss and a Land Octopus Ovary with Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook 7.

Stonedigger Troll and the Great Club

Keep going until a locked room ends the tunnel. Open it and the Stonedigger Troll is inside. Our weapon page calls the fight easy and gives one instruction: stay on its legs. It drops 9,500 Runes and the Great Club, a withered branch of the Erdtree in the colossal weapon class. The club asks for 35 Strength and nothing else, scales C in Strength with a token E in Faith, and comes with Golden Land, an area attack that hits everything around you. It is a unique weapon, so no Ashes of War, no grease and no magic buffs, but it upgrades with regular Smithing Stones to +25 and 377 physical damage. It weighs 17 and sells for 200 Runes, which is to say you keep it. The weapons guide lists it among the standout Strength picks beside the Giant-Crusher and the Grafted Blade Greatsword.

Rileigh the Idle, just outside

The tunnel doubles as a landmark for Tanith's second contract. Rileigh the Idle's invasion sign stands on the road north of the Old Altus Tunnel, above Erdtree-Gazing Hill. Rileigh fights like any Tarnished NPC, drops 20 Black-Key Bolts, and the letter turned in at Volcano Manor pays the Serpentbone Blade.

Old Altus Tunnel loot checklist

Old Altus Tunnel FAQ

Is the Old Altus Tunnel worth two Stonesword Keys?

For a Strength character, yes: the Great Club is a 35 Strength colossal weapon with no other requirement, and the talisman and boluses come with it. A caster gets less, and the keys may be better spent elsewhere in the dungeons guide.