How to Get the Sword of Light and Sword of Darkness from the Stone-Sheathed Sword in Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree

In the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion for Elden Ring, there are plenty of mysteries and secrets, but one of the most challenging involves uncovering the true power of the Stone-Sheathed Sword. In this guide, we will explain where to find the Stone-Sheathed Sword and how to use it to unlock the Sword of Light or Sword of Darkness at the Altars of Light and Dark.

To fully solve this mystery, you need to find three locations: the location of the Stone-Sheathed Sword, the Altar of Light, and the Altar of Dark.

Important Note. The Stone-Sheathed Sword has a unique property: when you first enter the Realm of Shadows, the Stone-Sheathed Sword can be found at all three altars listed on the map above. This guide will show you how to find the sword as early as possible, but if you find it at one of the other two altars, they will stop becoming Altars of Light or Dark. Instead, the altar will become a transformational altar, and the Stone-Sheathed Sword will no longer be there.

First, you need to find the sword that will start this small quest. It can be found in the Fog Rift Catacombs, in a small valley north of Castle Ensis, but the search can be quite challenging.

You will have to navigate deadly spike traps on the ceiling of the catacombs, enter a room, and move west and down via an elevator.

Soon after, you will reach a very large and long room, at the far end of which the Death Priest will start attacking the hero with spells, while most of the spike-filled ceiling will begin to collapse. Carefully use the niches on the left to reach the altar where the Death Priest is located and defeat him.

Standing on the elevation, look north, where you first entered, and approach the edge. The spike ceiling will collapse, revealing a small niche into which you can jump and climb up the spikes to a platform.

Jump onto the platform, then turn and jump onto the top of the spike trap on the ceiling, which will fall again and lift you to the top of the room. Run along the ceiling trap and find a large niche on the right side of the room.

Here you will find an altar with the legendary weapon: Stone-Sheathed Sword. A significant hint is contained in the description text, which mentions that the sword was used at the altars of Light and Darkness. The goal is to find these altars, of which there are two.

Note. As we mentioned earlier, you can find any altar first. Choosing one does not mean you will miss the other. If you found the Stone-Sheathed Sword at another altar, then the one in the catacombs can now be used to transform the sword.

For the next part, you need to head to the Rauh Ruins, located west of the Shadow Keep, which you can descend into via an elevator by entering the Specimen Storage tower and crossing the large bridge to the ruins.

Make your way through the eastern ruins until you can cross the large broken bridge, then move to the western part of the ruins, dodging the Furnace Golem guarding the other side of the bridge, and proceed through it to find the Site of Grace.

Enter the ruins and climb the stairs where the Shadow Undead casts rot spells, then move past them to the north. Outside, you can find two Horned Warriors guarding the altar with the Revered Spirit Ash.

Head northwest past the altar to another part of the ruins covered in scarlet rot. Turn right past an area full of Kindred of Rot and a large stone bust of a woman.

Here you can find an open ledge, and to the northeast, large round ruins of columns with something in the center, beyond the broken bridge.

However, the bridge is not broken — it is invisible. You can use items like rainbow stones or spells to check or even look for signs from other players. As long as you follow straight from the broken bridge to the round tower, you won't fall down.

Here, you will finally find a glowing altar similar to the one where you found the Stone-Sheathed Sword. Interact with it, and it will ask to Raise the Stone-Sheathed Sword to the light.

Thus, the old weapon will no longer be there, but instead, you will receive the Sword of Light — a true legendary straight sword. The straight sword scales with faith (requires 24 faith) and deals holy damage in addition to physical damage.

Its true weapon skill is called Light — you will have to hold the sword high while it emits a blinding light, with multiple rays spreading across the surrounding area, dealing damage to all and temporarily boosting some of your attacks.

Note. If you found this altar first and took the Stone-Sheathed Sword from this location, then the Altar of Light will instead be located inside the Fog Rift Catacombs, and you can use the path described in the previous section of the guide to reach it.

If instead you want to make the found weapon the Sword of Darkness, you will need to enter the hidden area beneath the Shadow Keep. More details on how to access the Ruins of Unte can be found here.

This can be done through the Main Gate after defeating the Golden Hippopotamus. You will need to reach the area with the drawbridge leading to the Specimen Storage section. Before crossing the drawbridge, find a ladder among the remains of small boats on the right side, leading to the inner moat.

Follow the passage through the underground waterfall into a room with the collectible painting The Domain of Dragons. On the right, attack the illusory wall leading to a stone coffin, which will take you under the fortress.

This will lead you to a pool where you can find the large Ruins of Unte and many broken furnace golems (including one that will rise from the water in the south).

The secret lies in the ruins, but the entrance is blocked by an inactive Golem. You can find several destroyed buildings to the north to climb onto the rooftop balconies and drop a huge fire cauldron onto the golem. Activating it this way, players will gain access to the ruins.

You can hit the golem's legs several times to stagger it and make it fall, then strike its faceplate to deal massive damage. But try not to stray far from the ruins, or another Furnace Golem in the area will also rise!

Inside the ruins, in a large flower field, there will be the Altar of Darkness. If you didn't manage to turn the Stone-Sheathed Sword into the Sword of Light, you can receive the Sword of Darkness as a reward.

Like the Sword of Light, it also deals holy damage, but its special feature releases a cloud of darkness around the hero to reduce enemies' holy damage resistance.

Note. If you first discovered this altar and took the Stone-Sheathed Sword from this location, you can instead find the Altar of Darkness inside the Fog Rift Catacombs and use the previous section to locate it.

Regardless of whether you exchanged the Stone-Sheathed Sword for any other, you can switch between them as many times as you want.

When you take the Sword of Light to the Altar of Darkness in the Ruins of Unte or the Sword of Darkness to the Altar of Light in the Rauh Ruins, you can raise the sword and exchange it for the other version. Moreover, the weapon will retain its current level. For example, if a player upgrades one version to +10, the other will also become +10.

If you took the Stone-Sheathed Sword from any of these locations, you will need to return to the Fog Rift Catacombs to switch the sword from Light to Darkness instead.

The only downside is that you cannot wield both swords at the same time, as the Stone-Sheathed Sword can only be picked up once. The exception is obtaining this weapon in New Game+.