How to clear the Rivermouth Cave in Elden Ring

The Rivermouth Cave in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a great place to stock up for your DLC adventure. You can get to the cave almost as soon as you arrive in the Land of Shadow, and it has a new Ash of War and nearby there’s a fantastic Stamina-boosting talisman for you to pick up.

The easiest way to reach the Rivermouth Cave is to start at the Ellac River Site of Grace. From there you can simply head north along the river until you see the cave entrance on your left. If you’re up above on the Gravesite Plains, there are some helpful tombstones that you can jump down with Torrent. The stones will deposit you right in front of the cave entrance, as long as you can manage the platforming.

Getting through the Rivermouth Cave

The Rivermouth Cave gave me big Groveside Cave flashbacks. Groveside was the first cave I ever explored in Elden Ring, and just like it, Rivermouth Cave is filled with wolves. The very first room pits you against a pack of them, so don’t just run into the center of the room or they’ll overwhelm you. 

After dispatching the wolves, you’ll head into a forked hallway. Going right will take you to two more wolves and a body carrying Hefty Beast Bones. Going left will take you further into the cave, and into another room where a few wolves are waiting. The only way out of this room is to climb some rocks at the east end, which will lead you to a small open space where you can jump down a hole to a lower level. 

Follow the ominous river of blood until you reach a massive cavern where some Bloodfiends are worshiping at an altar. Immediately to your right is a room with a Bloodfiend and an entrance to a winding path that leads back up to the top part of the cave. You can follow it if you want, but to keep going you’ll need to head into that lake of blood. 

The Bloodfiends aren’t especially tough, but there’s so many of them here that you’re going to need to be very careful as you fight your way through the space – or you can just run right past them. Either way, grab some Sacred Flesh that’s sitting on the altar, and then take the path to the right of the altar to reach the boss room.

How to beat the Chief Bloodfiend

 Beating the Chief Bloodfiend is a pretty straightforward task. Actually, if you play Elden Ring the way I tend to, then you already have something in common with the boss. He’s about as unga bunga as the game gets, which means you’re going to want to avoid those massive weapon swings but beyond that, there isn’t much to worry about here. 

The Chief Bloodfiend will charge at you swinging his giant blade and occasionally he’ll raise his weapon with both arms to smash it down on your head. Both of those attacks are easy enough to roll through. His other move is to spit blood at you, but as long as you circle strafe around him, he won’t be able to get a good shot in. The only other thing he does is a flame claw spell that should look familiar after fighting Mohg. Luckily, the Chief Bloodfiend’s spell isn’t as fast or as strong as Mohg’s. When you see him swipe the air with his hand and a fiery claw appears, just move backwards or roll toward the right of the spell, and you’ll be in the clear. Once he’s defeated, he drops the Bloodfiend Hexer’s Ashes. 

How to get the Two-Headed Turtle Talisman

One final note, after you go back to the cave entrance, leave and turn left. Continue following the river north until you see a waterfall. Run right through it and straight to the back of the small cavern hidden behind it to loot the Two-Headed Turtle Talisman to massively boost your Stamina recovery speed.