Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | Ymir Quest Guide (All Finger Ruin Locations)

The Lands of Shadow in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC are full of secrets, with some of the most interesting being locked behind specific NPCs and their associated questlines. Whether it’s the evolving allegiances of Miquella’s followers or the more intimate interactions with NPCs like Thiollier, there are plenty of colourful characters to meet. One of the most important NPC questlines in Shadow of the Erdtree is the Finger Ruin questline you’ll complete for Count Ymir of the Cathedral of Manus Metyr. This quest is completely optional and outside of the main Shadow of the Erdtree story despite its importance and how much stuff is locked behind this one single questline. 

Ymir’s questline is important for several reasons. From important lore revelations to powerful weapons, armour, and Talismans, there are a lot of reasons to find Ymir and undertake his quest to find the Finger Ruins. It even leads to a secret Remembrance boss fight, one of the most important categories of boss encounters in all of Elden Ring. However, completing the quest requires quite a bit of patience and cunning, especially if you’re going to track down all three of the Finger Ruins. 

Here’s how to complete the Count Ymir questline and find all three of the Finger Ruins in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

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The Finger Ruins of the Shadow Lands

Ymir Quest Location in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

To start the Finger Ruin questline in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, you need to make your way to the Cathedral of Manus Metyr. This is an old, dilapidated cathedral on the eastern outskirts of the Shadow Keep. The easiest way to access it is to travel here from Bonny Village, which you can reach by travelling the pit in the Moorth Ruins.

Upon arriving at the Cathedral for the first time, it will be eerily empty except for one man: High Priest Ymir, who will be lounging around on a throne at the back of the building. Your first meeting with Count Ymir is a cordial one. He’ll welcome you into his abode and gift you with two key items so that you may help him in his quest to understand the stars.

The first item he’ll gift you is a Ruins Map which hints at the location at a nearby set of Finger Ruins, whereas the second item is a Hole-Laden Necklace. The latter is especially important as it actually allows you to interact with the Finger Ruins you find: without the necklace, they’re essentially useless.

Additionally, there is another NPC who calls the halls of Manus Metyr her home. Her name is Jolan and you’ll find her perched by the entrance to the Cathedral Graveyard on the right side of the hall. She is somewhat cold but very loyal to Ymir and someone you should get acquainted with. Once you’re ready, you can set off on your journey to find the first set of Finger Ruins in Elden Ring.

Loyal Jolan

All Finger Ruin Locations in Elden Ring

How to Find the Finger Ruins of Rhia

The first Ruins Map that Ymir gifts you depicts the Finger Ruins of Rhia. This is the largest set of Finger Ruins in the Lands of Shadow and you can see it in the south-eastern section of the map between the Gravesite Plains and the Jagged Peak. There’s only one main path into the Finger Ruins of Rhia and that’s via the Cerulean Coast. This area, in and of itself, is sequestered away and only accessible via a hidden path in Ellac River, the main stream which runs through the middle of the Gravesite Plains.

To reach the start of the river, head east from the Castle Front Site of Grace just outside of Castle Enis. Before long, you’ll see a group of Messmer’s soldiers gathered around a cliff edge, which you can climb down to find a cave which leads to the Ellac River Cave Site of Grace. From there, just keep going south and, eventually, you’ll find yourself at the magnificent Cerulean Coast. 

Once you arrive at the Cerulean Coast, make your way east towards the massive coffin ships that are moored on the coastline: there’s a Site of Grace (the Cerulean Coast Cross Site of Grace) and one of Miquella’s Crosses in this area for some additional guidance. From there, head east along the shoreline until you can climb up one of the crashed coffin ships, which will take you straight to the Finger Ruins of Rhia Site of Grace. 

All of the open Finger Ruins in the Shadow Lands are infested by two notorious enemy types: Fingercrawlers and Lampfreys. The Fingercrawlers are the same creepy crawlies that you likely encounter at the Caria Manor or the Volcano Manor. Meanwhile, the Lampfreys are long, disgusting creatures who will try to paralyse you with magic before feasting on your body. Either way, these enemies are better left alone if you can.

Your goal in the Finger Ruins is to locate a massive hole-laden instrument at the ruin’s heart: you can pinpoint the hanging bell’s exact location on the map by looking for the large fingers arranged in a ring shape.

With Ymir’s Hole-Laden Necklace in hand, you can ring the bell, awarding you the Crimson Seed Talisman +1.

Hole-Laden Bell

How to Find the Finger Ruins of Dheo

After returning to Ymir from the Ruins of Rhia, he’ll bestow upon you two more gifts. The first is the eerie Beloved Stardust, a new Talisman which shortens casting speed for both sorceries and incantations by the utmost at the cost of increasing damage taken. The second is the second Ruins Map.

This map will lead you to the Finger Ruins of Dheo, which are located in the north-east of the Lands of Shadow, close to the Shadow Keep where Mesmer lurks. Reaching the Finger Ruins of Dheo is a bit of a feat, however. The Shadow Keep’s high walls, as well as the mountainous surroundings, block off the Hinterlands from the rest of the world. Before going any further, there are two things you need to do:

• Claim the O Mother Gesture from a corpse north of Bonny Village.
• Unlock access to the Shadow Keep, Back Gate Site of Grace. This will involve draining the water from the Flooded District of the Shadow Keep.

Once you’re ready, teleport to the Shadow Keep, Back Gate Site of Grace and then head right into a small prayer room where you’ll find a statue of Marika. There’s also a short message written on the floor and, if you perform the O Mother Gesture in front of that statue, it will shift aside to reveal a secret passageway. 

This passage leads to the beautiful, and haunting, Shaman Village, the place where Marika was born and where we left several mementoes – including a small Erdtree and a lock of golden hair – before her ascension. To the east of the Shaman Village is Fingerstone Hill, the start of the Finger Ruins of Dheo. From there, you simply need to make your way to the hole-laden instrument at the very south end of the island, avoiding the infuriating Lampfrey enemies as you do so. 

Upon ringing the bell, you will find the Cerulean Seed Talisman +1. Now, return to Ymir so that you can locate the third, and final, Finger Ruin. 

How to Find the Finger Ruins of Miyr

The final Ruins Map that Ymir gives you is a strange one: the drawing depicts that similar ring of gigantic fingers… underneath the Cathedral of Manus Metyr. However, even if you scower the whole area head to toe, you’ll find no entrance, nor any sign of there being a Finger Ruin nearby. 

Instead, you must rest at a Site of Grace or teleport away after receiving the Ruins Map from Ymir. Then, the next time you visit the Cathedral, the High Priest will be absent from his throne. Inspecting the empty seat will reveal a secret button which, when pressed, will unveil a secret passage below the Cathedral. 

Descending the hidden ladder will take you to the Finger Ruins of Miyr, the final set of Finger Ruins. There aren’t any ordinary enemies here like with the Rhia or Dheo Ruins, just an ominous climb to the final bell. However, Swordhand of Night, Anna, sister to Ymir’s loyal retainer Jolan, will invade you and you must defeat her to proceed.

With Anna slain and the path cleared, you must ring the final hole-ladden bell. This will whisk you away to a new location: the Finger Birthing Grounds where Metyr, Mother of Fingers, awaits.

Finger Ruins of Miyr

Metyr, Mother of Fingers

Metyr is one of the most horrific-looking entities in all of Elden Ring: a Lovecraftian abomination of fingers morphed into a spider’s crawling, shambling shape. As a boss, she’s not the toughest target in the Shadow of the Erdtree, with many highly predictable and telegraphed attacks which you’ll quickly get used to. However, with access to several high-powered magic and close-range attacks, don’t underestimate the Mother of Fingers.

In her first phase, Metyr will mainly rely on close-range attacks to try and rid you of her domain.

• Fingercrawler Summon: Metyr will rip open the hole in her chest, spawning several Fingercrawlers onto the field. The spawn animation will deal damage to you if you’re close enough so just back away and then deal with the Fingercrawlers before continuing to damage Metyr.
• Head Smash: Metyr will slowly shamble forward before propelling herself into a head smash. Wait until you see her jump and then dodge left or right to avoid the attack. Metyr will sometimes combo this attack with a second and third leaping smash, so wait to see if she’s just doing the solo or combo smash before moving in for damage.
• Crawling Combo: Metyr will quickly rush towards you with her fingers in a sideways crawl, damaging you several times if you’re caught. This is Metyr’s deadliest attack, capable of reducing you from full health to nothing extremely quickly if you get hit by all her fingers. Once you see Metyr raise one half of her body, begin rolling backwards away from her to avoid damage.
• Eye Beam: Metyr will shoot a long-range magic beam from her head. Her head will glow a faint pink right before she is about to fire, giving you a warning to dodge left or right.
• Gouging Leap: Metyr will rip open her chest before leaping high into the air, raining tiny fingers upon you before smashing down into the ground. To avoid this attack, you must dodge towards the direction Metyr leapt from, as dodging backwards will put you right into the path of her attack.

Metyr, Mother of Fingers

Once Metyr hits 50% health, she will transition into phase two. This will begin with Metyr summoning a black hole from the two large fingers on her back which she will then use to blast the arena with damage. She’ll continue to use many of her attacks from phase one, but she’ll sprinkle in several new magic attacks.

• Otherworldly Influence: Metyr will raise her arms, summoning a myriad of yellow bubbles around the arena. After a few seconds, they will detonate, dealing big damage to anyone caught in the blast radius. Simply find a safe spot in the arena to wait until they detonate.
• Levitating Spin: Metyr will use her magic to rise into the air. Then, she will begin rapidly spinning in a circle before slamming down into the ground as a fleshy cyclone. Keep an eye on where she’s going and then dodge either left or right depending on which direction she’s coming from.

Slay Metyr, though, and you’ll earn the Remembrance of the Mother of Fingers, as well as 42,000 Runes. 

Metyr Phase Transition

Ymir, the New Mother

To finish Ymir’s questline, return to the Cathedral of Manus Metyr after slaying Metyr. Upon examining Ymir’s altar, Jolan will invade and chastise you for making the High Priest upset. She wields the Sword of Night, a deadly close-range katana which can deal heavy magic damage to those caught in its devastating Skill. 

Defeating Jolan is only the beginning, though, as her demise will summon Ymir. Instead of the frail old scholar you remember, though, he will return as Count Ymir, Mother of Fingers, manifesting Metyr’s cosmic power for his own desires.

As a boss, he’s honestly not too tough, fighting primarily with ranged Glintstone attacks which have a delayed rate of fire. Alongside that, he’ll constantly spawn a small armada of Fingercrawlers from the slit on the torso, the same one Metyr had in her fight. Fortunately, these Fingercrawlers are pretty weak and you should be able to deal with them easily enough. Ymir’s final major attack is a close-range attack where he summons a ring of fingers from the floor to protect him. 

Defeating Ymir will put an end to his short-lived reign as the new Mother of Fingers and, as a reward, you’ll obtain several items. Firstly, you’ll get to keep Ymir’s Bell Bearing, allowing you to purchase any of his unique sorceries in case you didn’t get around to buying them before. Secondly, you’ll receive the Maternal Staff, a special Glintstone Staff which buffs finger sorceries, the same kind of sorceries Ymir sold and employed in battle. Lastly, you’ll also obtain the full High Priest clothing set, the same set Ymir himself wore. 

Count Ymir, Mother of Fingers

Jolan and Yuri

There are a few more things to do to close out Ymir’s questline in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Return to the Cathedral one final time and you’ll find Jolan bleeding out in her usual spot. 

As Jolan lies there dying, you can give her one of two items. You can either give her an Iris of Grace or an Iris of Occultation, with each granting you a different reward. 

• Iris of Grace: Transforms Jolan into Swordhand of Night Jolan Ashes, allowing you to summon Jolan to your side in battle.
• Iris of Occultation: Causes Jolan to pass away, allowing you to claim the Sword of Night from her body. 

Additionally, after defeating Ymir, visit the small graveyard to the side of the Cathedral. Before Ymir’s death, you could find the grave of his son, Yuri, who died at an early age. This drove Ymir to despair, to the point where he named a Fingercrawler after the boy. Now, with Ymir gone, you can find the Cherishing Fingers sorcery at Yuri’s grave. 

That was how to complete the entire Finger Ruin questline for Count Ymir and how to reach all three Finger Ruins in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. 

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