ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition Get Dung Eater Puppet: Quest

The Dung Eater Puppet is one of the most sought-after spirit summons in ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition, and knowing exactly how to get the Dung Eater Puppet separates players who plan their questlines from those who stumble through the Lands Between. This puppet isn't just a novelty — it's a powerhouse that applies Death Blight buildup and can stagger even late-game bosses when upgraded properly, which makes it a genuinely valuable addition to any spirit ash collection.

What makes this summon particularly tricky is that it's locked behind Seluvis's questline, which has multiple fail states and requires precise dialogue choices at the right moments. If you progress too far into Ranni's quest or kill the wrong NPC, you can permanently lock yourself out of this puppet for the entire playthrough. That's why this guide walks you through every step, from buying the potion to reloading the area so the puppet appears in Seluvis's shop inventory, plus the exact FP costs and upgrade materials you'll need to make it viable in combat.

Understanding the Dung Eater Puppet's Value

Seluvis's Potion Delivery: Dung Eater vs. Nepheli Loux Branch

The critical fork in obtaining the Dung Eater Puppet occurs when Seluvis hands you his potion in the Three Sisters. Delivering it to the Dung Eater in his cell beneath Leyndell (accessible after reaching the Capital) locks in the puppet path, whereas giving it to Nepheli Loux instead yields her puppet but forfeits the Dung Eater version. After the delivery, you must reload the area—either by fast-traveling or resting at a Site of Grace—to refresh Seluvis's shop inventory. Only then does the Dung Eater Puppet appear for purchase, costing 5,000 Runes alongside the Seluvis's Starlight Shard consumable.

Before you commit to the questline, it's worth understanding why this particular spirit ash commands so much attention from the community. The Dung Eater Puppet costs 74 FP to summon, which places it in the mid-to-high tier of spirit summon FP costs, but the investment pays off because of its unique Death Blight application that can proc on humanoid enemies and even some bosses.

The puppet's moveset mirrors the actual Dung Eater NPC fight, which means it uses the Omen Cleaver with sweeping attacks that have surprisingly good reach. When upgraded to +10, it gains substantial poise damage and can trade hits with late-game enemies without getting staggered immediately, which is something that many lighter spirit ashes simply cannot do. According to community testing reported on the official ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition page, the puppet's AI is notably aggressive — it doesn't hang back and wait for you to engage, which makes it excellent for drawing aggro while you set up spells or heal.

Here's a quick breakdown of what you get: the Dung Eater Puppet costs 100 FP to summon, making it one of the pricier Spirit Ashes in the game, but that cost buys you a tanky, aggressive melee fighter who inflicts both Hemorrhage and Death Blight buildup with his sword attacks. Compared to cheaper early-game options like the Jellyfish Spirit Ashes (34 FP) or the Wolf Spirit Ashes (55 FP), the Dung Eater Puppet's high FP investment is offset by his exceptional poise and ability to draw aggro, letting you focus on landing critical ripostes or charging heavy attacks without interruption.

• Death Blight buildup on every hit, which can instantly kill certain NPC-type enemies

• High poise damage that staggers knights and even some bosses

• Aggressive AI that maintains pressure without constant babysitting

• Omen Cleaver moveset with wide sweeps that hit multiple targets

The comparison above shows why the Dung Eater Puppet occupies a unique niche — it's the only early-to-mid-game spirit ash that applies a status effect while also dealing respectable physical damage. The Skeletal Militia Ashes are cheaper and provide two bodies, but they lack the killing power and status application that makes the Dung Eater Puppet special.

Step-by-Step Quest Walkthrough

The path to obtaining this puppet follows Seluvis's questline in the Three Sisters area of Liurnia, and it requires careful sequencing to avoid soft-locking yourself. You'll need to have progressed far enough to access Ranni's Rise and completed the initial dialogue with Ranni herself, because Seluvis won't offer his services until you've been introduced to the wider Carian family.

Starting Seluvis's Quest

Your first step is to travel to the Three Sisters sub-region northwest of Caria Manor in Liurnia of the Lakes. After defeating the Royal Knight Loretta boss at the end of Caria Manor, you'll gain access to this area. Approach Seluvis's Rise — it's the tower with a blue glow on the western side of the Three Sisters plateau. Inside, you'll find Seluvis standing near a table with a glowing potion.

Speak to him until he offers you Seluvis's Potion, which is the key item that kicks off this entire questline. Accept the potion and listen to his instructions — he wants you to deliver it to one of two targets: the Dung Eater in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath Leyndell, or Nepheli Loux who can be found in the Village of the Albinaurics. For the purposes of getting the puppet, you need to give the potion to the Dung Eater.

Delivering the Potion

The Dung Eater is located in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, which you can reach through the well in the capital city of Leyndell. You'll need to have progressed past the Draconic Tree Sentinel boss fight to enter Leyndell proper, then find the well near the avenue balcony site of grace. Drop down into the sewers and navigate through the area until you find the Dung Eater's cell.

The cell is locked behind a door that requires the Sewer-Gaol Key, which you can find in a nearby room guarded by a Grave Warden Duelist boss. Once you have the key, open the cell door and talk to the Dung Eater. He'll be hostile to the idea of drinking the potion, but you need to select the dialogue option that convinces him to drink it. After the cutscene plays, he'll consume the potion and become temporarily incapacitated.

Purchasing the Puppet

After delivering the potion, return to Seluvis's Rise and speak with Seluvis again. He'll comment on the delivery and offer to sell you the Dung Eater Puppet from his shop inventory. However, there's a catch — you need to reload the area by fast-traveling away and back, or by resting at a site of grace, before the puppet actually appears in his shop stock.

The puppet costs 5,000 runes, which is a modest price compared to other special spirit ashes. After purchasing it, you'll have the Dung Eater Puppet in your inventory and can equip it at any site of grace. Make sure you complete this purchase before progressing Ranni's questline past a certain point, because Seluvis's shop becomes inaccessible if his questline fails.

FP Costs and Summoning Requirements

Understanding the elden ring spirit summon fp cost system is essential before you invest in the Dung Eater Puppet, because FP management can make or break boss fights. Every spirit ash in the game has a fixed FP cost that doesn't scale with your character's stats, which means you need to plan your build around the summons you want to use.

The Dung Eater Puppet's 74 FP cost is significant, especially in the early game when your Mind stat is low. To put this in perspective, a character with 20 Mind has roughly 120 FP at base, which means summoning the Dung Eater Puppet leaves you with only about 46 FP for your own spells and weapon arts. This is why many players recommend investing in Mind to at least 25-30 before relying on this puppet as a primary summon.

Here's how the FP costs compare across popular spirit ashes: the Dung Eater Puppet demands a hefty 108 FP to summon (the highest among the commonly used summons), whereas the Skeletal Militia Ashes cost only 42 FP, the Jellyfish Spirit Ashes require 54 FP, and the Wolf Spirit Ashes sit mid-tier at 65 FP. This variance is critical when planning your Mind stat allocation, since a low Mind build may only have enough FP for one Dung Eater summon per encounter, forcing you to rely on the Cerulean Flask for a second activation.

• Wolf Spirit Ashes — 55 FP for three wolves that apply bleed pressure

• Jellyfish Spirit Ashes — 32 FP for a tanky ranged support with poison

• Skeletal Militia Ashes — 42 FP for two skeletons that revive once

• Dung Eater Puppet — 74 FP for a single powerhouse with Death Blight

The Jellyfish Spirit Ashes remain one of the best early-game options because they cost only 32 FP and provide excellent survivability with their poison spit attack and high HP pool. However, the Dung Eater Puppet outclasses them in raw damage output and crowd control once you have the FP pool to support it. If you're struggling with how to get more spirit summons, the answer is usually tied to your Mind stat and FP management rather than finding new ashes.

Optimal Upgrade Path and Materials

Once you own the Dung Eater Puppet, you'll want to upgrade it to maximize its effectiveness in combat. Like most regular spirit ashes, it uses Grave Glovewort as its upgrade material, which means you don't need to hunt down the rarer Ghost Glovewort that's required for special summons like the Mimic Tear.

The upgrade path follows the standard 10-level progression, with each level increasing the puppet's HP, damage, and poise. At +10, the Dung Eater Puppet gains a significant boost to its Death Blight buildup and can reliably proc the status effect on most humanoid enemies within two or three hits. This makes it particularly effective against NPC invaders and black knife assassins who are vulnerable to the status.

Here's the material breakdown for upgrading: the Dung Eater Puppet requires the standard Spirit Ashes upgrade track, using Grave Glovewort from +0 to +9 and Ghost Glovewort for the final +10 rank, with no Somber Smithing Stones involved. Because this puppet's FP cost sits at a hefty 108, you'll want to prioritize Mind investment before committing to those late-game Glovewort upgrades—otherwise, you risk summoning him and immediately running dry on FP in the middle of a boss fight. Farm Grave Glovewort early in Nokron or from the Giant's Mountaintop catacombs, but save your scarce Ghost Glovewort (only a handful exist per playthrough) until you've confirmed your build can sustain his FP drain alongside your weapon arts.

• Levels 1-3 — Grave Glovewort [1] through [3], found in Limgrave catacombs

• Levels 4-6 — Grave Glovewort [4] through [6], found in Liurnia catacombs

• Levels 7-9 — Grave Glovewort [7] through [9], found in Altus Plateau and Mountaintops

• Level +10 — Grave Glovewort [10], found in the Consecrated Snowfield

You can also check the spirit ashes tier list to see where the Dung Eater Puppet ranks compared to other summons, which can help you decide whether to invest your limited Grave Glovewort resources into this puppet or save them for a different ash. The Grave Glovewort locations are spread across multiple catacombs, so planning your upgrade route in advance saves you significant backtracking time.

Best Strategies for Using the Dung Eater Puppet

Having the puppet in your inventory is one thing, but knowing how to use it effectively in combat is another matter entirely. The Dung Eater Puppet excels in specific scenarios and struggles in others, so understanding its strengths and weaknesses will help you get the most value from this unique summon.

The puppet's aggressive AI means it will charge into melee range immediately after being summoned, which makes it excellent for drawing boss aggro while you set up ranged attacks or buffs. However, this same aggression can be a liability in fights where you need to control positioning, because the puppet won't retreat when you're trying to create distance. You'll need to adapt your playstyle to work alongside its relentless pressure.

Here are the most effective strategies reported by players: prioritize completing Seluvis's questline up to the point where he sells the Dung Eater Puppet for 5 Starlight Shards, as this is the only guaranteed method outside of Nepheli Loux's alternate reward path. To maximize FP efficiency—the puppet costs 82 FP to summon—pair it with the Cerulean Amber Medallion +2 and the Ancestral Spirit's Horn talisman to sustain its AoE pestilent breath attacks in boss fights. Additionally, players report that upgrading the puppet to +10 with Grave Glovewort significantly boosts its Madness buildup, making it a reliable counter against tanky enemies like the Omenkillers in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds.

• Pair it with a bleed build — the puppet's Death Blight buildup complements bleed procs for rapid damage

• Use it against NPC invaders — most invaders are humanoid and vulnerable to Death Blight

• Summon it at the start of boss fights — its aggression creates openings for your own attacks

• Combine with frost spells — the status effects stack for massive damage spikes

If you're running into issues where your spirit summons aren't appearing or behaving correctly, the spirit summons troubleshooting guide covers common problems like insufficient FP, incorrect equipment, and area restrictions that prevent summoning. The Dung Eater Puppet follows the same summoning rules as all other spirit ashes, so understanding those mechanics is crucial for consistent performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get the Dung Eater Puppet in ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition?

You must complete Seluvis's questline by accepting his potion, delivering it to the Dung Eater in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds beneath Leyndell, then returning to Seluvis's Rise and reloading the area. The puppet appears in his shop for 5,000 runes after you reload.

Can I miss the Dung Eater Puppet permanently?

Yes, you can lock yourself out by progressing Ranni's questline too far, which causes Seluvis to die. You also miss it if you give the potion to Nepheli Loux instead of the Dung Eater. Complete the purchase before advancing Ranni's quest past the Nokron section.

What FP cost does the Dung Eater Puppet have?

The Dung Eater Puppet costs 74 FP to summon, which is higher than most early-game spirit ashes. You'll want at least 20 Mind to summon it while retaining enough FP for your own spells and weapon arts during boss fights.

Is the Dung Eater Puppet worth upgrading to +10?

Yes, the puppet gains significant damage and Death Blight buildup at higher upgrade levels. At +10, it can reliably proc Death Blight on humanoid enemies within two or three hits, making it one of the strongest status-applying summons in the game.

What's the best way to use the Dung Eater Puppet?

Summon it at the start of boss fights to draw aggro while you deal damage from range. Its aggressive AI maintains pressure on enemies, and the Death Blight buildup works exceptionally well against NPC invaders and humanoid bosses who are vulnerable to the status effect.