Thiollier, which was added to Elden Ring in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, has a fairly long and complicated questline. This requires a lot of work and spans most of the timeline covered by the DLC, so don’t worry about rushing it. While you’ll want to complete the following steps before you get to Enir-IIlim, that seems to be the only time constraint.
Thiollier’s questline in the Elden Ring
Step 1 – Find Thiollier at the Pillar Path Cross
First, you must find Thiollier. He is located at the Pillar Path Cross, southeast of Castle Ensis. Speak to him
Step 2 – Go and talk to Moore
You can find Moore at the Castle Gate Cross, where you can speak to him. If you have already spoken to Thiollier, he will give you an item called Black Syrup. Moore is something of a wheeler-dealer and is always tasked with tracking things down for other NPCs.
Step 3 – Back to Thiollier at the Pillar Path Cross
Return to Thiollier and give him the black syrup. He will be very grateful to you and praise Moore’s ability to find obscure things. After giving him the black syrup, be sure to ask him a question about it and then choose the dialogue option “I’m tired of life.” When you do, he will give you a potion.
Step 4 – Continue playing the game
Continue exploring the game until you break the spell Miquella put on everyone. When this happens, you will see a message on the screen. This should happen when you approach the Shadow Keep or other areas. When the message “A large rune has broken somewhere, and with it a powerful spell” appears on your screen, it’s time to go back to the Pillar Path Cross and speak to Thiollier again. He will tell you that he plans to head south. He will talk about St. Trina (a well-known character from the main game).
Step 5 – Head south to the Cerulean Coast
From Thiollier, you’ll need to continue southeast to get to the Dragon Pit. It’s a dangerous place with some fun fights, and you’ll need to survive it all to come out the other side in the Jagged Peaks. Once you’re there, all kinds of scary fights await, but you can also just head south to the Dragon Communion Altar and continue south from there to get to the Cerulean Coast.
Step 6 – Down into the column
Now it’s time to descend into the Stone Coffin Rift. Anyone who was here before breaking the Great Rune couldn’t get in, but it’s now accessible since Miquella no longer has the power to seal it. You can get in by jumping from ledge to ledge on the south side. Take it slowly so you don’t fall to your death. Once you descend into the Rift itself, it’s a fairly straightforward journey with only one main path forward.
Enemies are swarming here. Big guys with clubs, the armored birds that I really hate, skeletons that will put themselves back together if you don’t smash them after they break apart, and more worms than you’ve ever seen in your life. Be patient and advance by following the logical path.
Eventually, you’ll come to a strange Place of Mercy with lots of animals gathered around it. Go up the nearby steps and jump off the statue’s head to get to a very beautiful but dangerous place. You’ll come down to a large area where you’ll have the option to summon Thiollier. I haven’t been able to figure out if you need to summon him for his quest yet, but I did it just to be safe. You’ll now have to fight the Purtrescent Knight, a powerful enemy that will probably give you convulsions. For some reason, if you’re imagining the Orphan of Kos on a horse, you’re right. Once you’ve taken him out, move on and grab the new Place of Mercy. This place is called the Garden of Deep Purple.
Step 7 – Continue to Thiollier
Go down the tunnel with the purple glow and you’ll find Thiollier. He’s not exactly having his best moments and is a bit overwhelmed by Saint Trina’s presence. He’s drunk some of her poison and claims he’s about to fall into a deep sleep. He also says this poison is just for him and you can’t have any of it – greedy guy. Reload the area and make sure you fully exhaust all of his dialogue options both times.
Step 8 – Nectar time
Now you must interact with St. Trina and choose the option to drink the nectar. You must drink a lot of it and consume it up to four times. Each time you will die, but that is no problem for the Tainted! Just go back each time and drink again. The second time you come back, Thiollier will beg St. Trina for more poison and tell you to leave him alone. The fourth time you drink, St. Trina will speak to you and ask you not to let poor Miquella turn into a god.
Tell this to Thiollier, who will be a little annoyed because you heard the voice of Saint Trina before him. He won’t really believe you, so tell him again, and he will get really angry with you.
Step 9 – Thiollier gets angry
Thiollier didn’t really like that you could talk to St. Trina, but he didn’t. He decides it’s time to throw in the hands, which is a big move for a boy who just cried in a cave. As he said himself, he’s not much of a fighter, but he has some interesting poison attacks. Simple dodging gets the job done and you can deal with him easily enough. It does put him in a bit of a rut, though, and he goes back to his crying spot in the cave again.
Step 10 – Pass the words on to Thiollier
Go back into the cave and speak to Thiollier again. You’ll find that he’s a bit more receptive to things this time. However, you won’t get a dialogue option and will need to drink the nectar two more times to get more dialogue with St. Trina. She’ll tell you that divinity isn’t really right for Miquella and that she’ll be more of a prison than anything else. She’ll then ask you to kill him and grant him forgiveness.
Speak to Thiollier again, pass on the message and ignore his certainty as best you can. From this point on, all you will hear is him snoring and there is little point in drinking any more nectar.
Big spoilers ahead
You can now summon Thiollier for two important battles.
- Against Leda and her minions at Enir-IIIm. This fight is pretty wild and involves a lot of NPCs figuring out her attitude towards Miquella.
- In the very last boss fight, you can call on Thiollier for help and have the chance to loot his Hidden Needle and armor from him.
- Afterwards you can return to St. Trina for a little follow-up.
