Elden Ring: Where to get your first lantern so you never need a torch again
What if you could move up from pitiful torches in Elden Ring, and enter the modern world of portable lanterns?
The lantern in Elden Ring lets you ditch the torch and frees up your hand for another weapon or a shield. Elden Ring is the first FromSoftware game to have a day-and-night cycle, and if you spend long enough in the open world, you’ll see the day transition to noon, and later to night.
In some parts of the world, things could get really dark. This is even more true of the game's caves and dungeons, many of which have no light source – perfect for ambushes. The few light sources you come across, such as campfires, can be destroyed, which could leave you feeling your way through the dark.
You could always pull out a torch, of course, though that requires freeing up one hand where you’d otherwise want a shield/weapon. But there’s a more elegant, maintenance-free solution to this darkness: a lantern.
How do you get the lantern in Elden Ring?
FromSoftware has taken pity on us, offering a way to illuminate the many shockingly dark interiors of those caves and dungeons. Elden Ring has a lantern that you can attach to your Pouch. The lantern can be turned on/off with the push of a button, and it will illuminate your surroundings about as well as a torch, with the added benefit of keeping your hands free to hold a weapon/shield.
The lantern is sold by a nomadic merchant for 1,800 Runes. The merchant can be found right next to the Liurnia Lake Shore Site of Grace in Liurnia East. This region is north of Limgrave, and is usually accessible after defeating Godrick and getting on the other side of Stormveil Castle.
However, you can skirt the castle entirely and still arrive at Liurnia. To do this, start at the Stormhill Shack Site of Grace and follow the road north. Ignore the fork in the road that'll come up and keep heading north, following the dirt trail under the big bridge. Eventually, you'll reach a destroyed bridge, where the old finger reader is.
Once you reach the edge, look left, you'll find a path to drop down, and then climb up on the other site. Then, it's just a matter of travelling a long trail on the side of the mountain. At the end of it, you'll reach the Lake-Facing Cliffs Site of Grace. From there, head north-west and you'll arrive at Liurnia Lake Shore Site of Grace, and the merchant.
If you can't reach it for any reason, some of the other merchants you come across will also sell the same lantern. For the one near Liurnia Lake Shore, check our map above with the detailed path.
Once you acquire the lantern, simply slot it into your Pouch, and it will sit on your waist until it’s removed. When you enter a dark area, bring up the pause menu and turn it on. It doesn’t consume any resource, so feel free to keep it on if you want to – just be aware that it will turn off when you die and must be turned back on.
While you’re browsing, you could also pick up the Kite Shield for 1,000 Runes, which is yet another 100% damage block shield – in case you don’t already have one.
Looking for more help in the unforgiving world of The Lands Between? Why not bookmark our Elden Ring guide and start from there?