Elden Ring Sealed Tunnel Walkthrough: Illusory Walls and Onyx Lord

The Sealed Tunnel is a mine in the Capital Outskirts, on the Altus Plateau just outside the walls of Leyndell. It earns its name honestly: the way forward is hidden behind one illusory wall after another, and a player who does not swing at the rock will see a dead end a few steps past the Site of Grace. Behind the walls sit the Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing 2, a Stonesword Key, a handful of upgrade stones, the Onyx Lord and, past the boss, the only route to the Divine Tower of West Altus, where Rykard's Great Rune is activated.

Where the Sealed Tunnel is

Our pages describe the entrance from two directions. From the Outer Wall Phantom Tree Site of Grace, the one you earn after the two Tree Sentinels at the capital gate, go east to the small lake, get down to it by the spirit stream or the rock formation, and search the southern end of the lake. The Onyx Lord's Greatsword page calls it a small ravine: drop in, keep the wall on your right, and a small marked opening leads inside. The Somber Smithing Stones guide puts the same spot near the outer side of Leyndell's western gate, at the edge of a shallow river.

Coming from the north instead, start at the Minor Erdtree on the plateau, follow the river beneath it south, and it ends at the tunnel. The Illusory Walls guide gives the same approach as a descent into the canyon north of the Minor Erdtree Church. Whichever way you arrive, the Sealed Tunnel sits north of the Divine Tower of West Altus, and the tower cannot be reached any other way.

Sealed Tunnel walkthrough

The first passage is blocked by wooden drums and crates. Take the path on the left of them and keep going straight to the Site of Grace; a torch burns beside it. The tunnel is a normal mine in shape, an elevator, miners and a boss, but every leg of it starts with a wall that is not really there. The Smithing Stones guide has the right habit for the place: whenever the way seems to end, hit the corners of the room.

Past the second wall, pull the lever and a lift rises to meet you; stand on the switch to ride it down. A narrow path leads to a big root. Drop to the branch below it to reach the wooden platform, walk to the platform's end and drop again, and use the roots and the jutting rocks to work your way down. This root-filled cavern is the lower level of the tunnel, guarded by an Abductor Virgin, and it holds most of the loot.

The Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing 2

The chest behind the first wall is the reason most players come. Clear the enemies in the room, open it, and the Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing 2 is yours. The early max-level weapon guide slots it between the first bearing, which the Crystalian drops at the end of the Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel, and the third in the Zamor Ruins cellar. Hand it to the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold and they stock Smithing Stone 3, Smithing Stone 4 at 900 Runes each, and Cracked Crystal, which the Smithing Stones guide notes takes weapons from +7 through +12 without any more mining.

Loot in the lower cavern

Ride the elevator down and keep dropping through the roots until the Abductor Virgin comes into view. A corpse hangs from a root here with the Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot, and the same page lists a Smithing Stone 6 and a Somber Smithing Stone 5 in the same cavern. The Somber Smithing Stones guide places that Somber 5 on the northwestern wall of the lower section, and the Smithing Stones guide puts a Smithing Stone 5 northwest of the Abductor Virgin once it is dead. In total the tunnel holds three Smithing Stone 6, which makes it the first Leyndell stop on that page's list. The Stonesword Keys guide adds a key above the Abductor Virgin, which it calls the Iron Maiden, and the crafting guide lists the Sealed Tunnel among the tunnels where Cracked Crystal can be picked up.

Onyx Lord

Follow the branches down from the fifth wall and the boss room is at the bottom. The Onyx Lord fights with gravity sorcery and is, in our weapon page's words, an easy enemy: dodge what he casts and hit him in the gaps. He drops the Onyx Lord's Greatsword, a curved greatsword of golden meteoric ore that needs 20 Strength, 16 Dexterity and 16 Intelligence, scales D in Strength and Intelligence and E in Dexterity, and starts at 118 physical and 76 magic damage. Its skill, Onyx Lord's Repulsion, opens a gravity well around you. It takes Somber Smithing Stones, reaches 289 physical and 186 magic at +10, deals 20 percent more to gravity-type enemies, weighs 11.5 and cannot be infused, greased or buffed with magic. The gravity weapons guide ranks it third, and the weapon page builds a level 150 Strength and Faith character around it.

The exit to the Divine Tower of West Altus

Where other mines end at the boss, the Sealed Tunnel keeps going. Beyond the fight, a deep well threaded with branches drops toward the back of the tunnel; platform your way down, pass a couple of doorways, and you step out in front of the Divine Tower of West Altus. Bring Rykard's Great Rune from Volcano Manor before you make the trip. Inside the tower the circular floor is a lift, stairs lead to the roof, and the decayed two fingers there activate the rune, which heals you on every kill until you die and needs a Rune Arc to switch back on.

Sealed Tunnel loot checklist

Sealed Tunnel FAQ

Is the Sealed Tunnel required?

Only if you want Rykard's Great Rune working. The Divine Tower of West Altus has no other approach, so the tunnel is the toll for that rune. Everything else in it, the bearing, the key and the greatsword, is optional, though the dungeons guide singles out the mines for exactly this: the stones, and the bearings that make them buyable.

I reached the Site of Grace and the tunnel ends. What now?

Hit the wall beside the torch next to the grace. That is the first of five illusory walls, and each later dead end hides the next one: behind the chest, by the large root at the bottom of the lift, behind the crates and at the far end of the trunk room.