Elden Ring: Church Of Vows [Location And Items]

Pay a visit to the friendly tortoise in Elden Ring at the Church of Vows!

The Church of Vows is easily one of Elden Ring’s most important early-game locations. It’s rich in characters, items, lore, and boss fights. Along with that, the Church of Vows has one of the most unique and valuable progression-based mechanics – Absolution, which lets you revive and continue blocked NPC quest lines in Elden Ring.

Key Takeaways
  • Players can find the Church of Vows in Elden Ring near the northeastern cliff of Liurnia next to the lake.
    1. Start at Liurnia Highway South Site of Grace, head north along the eastern uphill path.
    2. Reach the Artist’s Shack, continue north, passing the bridge behind it.
    3. Locate the Church atop the cliff near the Lake on the far left.
    4. Inside, interact with Miriel, a large tortoise NPC, for spells, Prayerbooks, and Demigods’ stories.
    5. Perform absolution at Statue of Rennala in the Church of Vows to revive NPCs.
  • There’s also a secret Bell-Bearing Hunter boss fight here; players can encounter it inside the Church by first resting at the Site of Grace till Nightfall.

Where Is The Church Of Vows?

You can find the Church deep within the northeastern region of Liurnia alongside the lake. You can access this biome after defeating Godrick the Grafted and heading outside Stormveil Castle from his arena.

Liurnia Highway South Elden Ring
Liurnia Highway South Site of Grace (Screenshot Captured by eXputer)

Following are the steps I followed to reach to the Church Of Vows in Elden Ring:

  • Starting from the Liurnia Highway South Site of Grace, make your way straight down the highway by following the stone-paved road.
  • As you continue straight down, you’ll eventually come across the Liurnia Highway North Site of Grace on the road behind just a Sword Monument.
Liurnia Highway North Site of Grace in Liurnia of the Lakes Elden RIng
Liurnia Highway North Site of Grace near the Sword Monument (Image by eXputer)
  • Now, make a right and continue the uphill path by following the muddy trail past the broken-down pillars and debris.
  • Continue this trail, avoiding all the wolves, crabs, and Tibia mariners along the way, and it’ll lead you directly to the Artist’s Shack behind the patrolling Leyndell Knight.
Artist Shack Liurnia of the Lakes
The Artist’s Shack (Image Credit Copyright: eXputer)
  • Take the Site of Grace outside, head behind the Shack, and cross the bridge at the back to get to the other cliffside.
  • Next, make your way north into the open field past the Burning Slugs, and climb atop the hill in front.
  • Once you’re uphill, you’ll find the Church of Vows and its Site of Grace at the edge of the cliff.
Church of Vows in Lurnia's northeast
The Church of Vows (Screenshot Grab: eXputer)

Inside The Church

As you set foot into the church, the first thing you’ll notice is the giant tortoise dressed as a pope on the left. This is Miriel, Pastor of Vows and a non-hostile NPC. As you first interact with him, you’ll understand the origin and importance of the Church of Vows. The major takeaways here include the following:

  • The introduction of Radagon and Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon.
  • The marriage of these two demigods at the Church.
  • Why Radagon returned to Leyndell and became the second Elden Lord.

After exhausting Miriel’s initial dialogue and talking to him again, you’ll now be able to buy Sorceries and Incantations from him. Alongside purchasing these spells, you can give Miriel Prayerbooks to increase his collection and lets you purchase even more.

Giving Miriel Prayerbooks Elden Ring
Giving Miriel Prayerbooks in the Church (Image Source: eXputer)
Important: You can only purchase these sorceries and incantations with runes. Each Prayerbook will offer a unique set of spells that you can immediately buy off Miriel once you’ve given it to him.

Rennala’s Statue And Atonement

Another key highlight here is the Statue of Rennala, surrounded by a small pool at the center of the Church. This statue lets you atone for your in-game sins, as this option not only revives NPC whom you’ve killed but also removes all NPC hostility towards you in the game. This way, you can continue your quest with these NPCs whom you’ve intentionally or accidentally turned against yourself.

Rennala's Statue Absolution in Church of Vows
Atonement at Rennala’s Statue (Screenshot taken by eXputer)

This process requires you to have a Celestial Dew in your possession. Celestial Dews are extremely rare vial items, and you can only get 10 of them per playthrough. You can find the majority of these vials in the game’s underground locations – Nokron, Nokstella, and Ainsel River.

Celestial Dew Elden Ring
A Celestial Dew (Screenshot Captured by eXputer)
  • To use the atonement option, simply stand next to Rennala’s Statue until you see the ‘Atone’ prompt.
  • After it asks you if you want to receive absolution, select ‘Yes’ and the statue will remove all NPC hostility and revive any dead NPCs at the cost of 1 Celestial Dew.
Important: You can atone up to 10 times in a single playthrough with 10 Celestial Dews. If you don’t have any friendly-NPC hostility, then the process won’t waste any Dews and perform any absolution.

Cloth-Altering Gear

Besides the atonement and learning spells, you’ll also notice a small chest at the far right of Rennala’s statue. Once you open this chest, you’ll receive the Gold Sewing Needle and the Golden Tailoring Tools. These items let you alter a Demigod’s attire at any Site of Grace.

Gold Sewing Needle and Gold Tailoring Set
The Gold Sewing Needle and the Gold Tailoring Tools inside the Church’s chest (Screenshot by eXputer)

Once you defeat a Demigod, you can purchase their garments from Enya, the Finger Maiden, at the Roundtable Hold. Altering these garments is a great way to make the clothing set more effective, as they usually help lower their equipment load while also boosting poise.

  • To alter attire, simply rest at any Site of Grace and select the ‘Alter garments’ option.
  • Here, you’ll find the complete list of clothing in your inventory that you can modify.
  • Each altering process requires 500 runes, and you can also reverse the change for an additional 500 runes if you want.
Modifying Demigod armor
Altering Demigod Attire at a Site of Grace (Image Source: eXputer)

Fighting The Bell-Bearing Hunter

Whilst the Church of Vows doesn’t have any hostiles, you can still partake in a secret encounter against one of the Bell-Bearing Hunters at this location. There are 4 Bell-Bearing Hunters in the game who only spawn at night and follow are the similar moveset that I used to Elemer of the Briar.

  • To fight the Bell-Bearing Hunter at the Church, rest at its Site of Grace outside and pass the time to ‘Until Nightfall.’
  • Once that’s done, you’ll find the Hunter inside the Church, spawning in front of Rennala’s Statue.
  • One quick way to tell if you’ve activated the boss fight beforehand is by seeing the statues surrounding Rennala’s Statue lighting up and Miriel disappearing for the time being.
The Bell Bearing Hunter at the Church of Vows
The Bell Bearing Hunter encounter (Image Credits: eXputer)
Important: It might take you several attempts to initiate the Bell-Bearing Hunter boss fight. One method to improve your chance of beginning the fight is resting at the Church of Vow’s Site of Grace till Nightfall, talking to Miriel about Radagon, and resting at the grace again.

Killing the Hunter will give you 6000 Runes and the Meat Peddler’s Bell Bearing. You can give this Bell Bearing to the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold that’ll let you gain access to and purchase the following items:

  • A sliver of Meat for 1000 Runes
  • Turtle Neck Meat for 1200 Runes
  • Lump of Flesh for 1500 Runes
Meat Peddler Bell Bearing to Twin Maiden Husks at Roundtable Hold
Giving the Meat Peddler’s Bell Bearing to the Twin Maiden Husks (Image taken by eXputer)

The Church serves as a great way to transition from the previous gameplay-focused theme to an engaging narrative alongside it. So visit Miriel whenever you can once you step into Liurnia!

For exploring more lore-heavy locations besides the Church of Vows in Elden Ring, here’s a guide on How To Reach The Moonlight Altar. Besides that, there are several other important areas you can visit in Liurnia, such as The Village Of The Albinaurics. And if you simply want to partake in even more secret boss encounters, check out our guide on the Night’s Cavalry in the game.

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Haddi is a Senior Writer & Editor at eXputer who loves to play games and talk about them like a fanatic. Hadi's years of experience in this industry let him provide a unique and critical perspective on games to share with his audience. His work is also featured on several other websites. You can hit him up on his gaming profile at Steam!

Experience: 5+ years || Previously Worked At Gamepur, Gear Siege, GearNuke

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