That is, unless, you don’t even go to Castle Morne until you’re approaching endgame, which I foolishly did. I was incredibly over levelled, and Leonine Misbegotten simply didn’t know what had hit them. Rock Sling for the win. Whether you’ve come across Castle Morne naturally, or have forgotten about it like I did, here’s everything you need to know about getting around, what loot there is to discover, and how to defeat Leonine Misbegotten.
Everything you need to know about Castle Morne
You can make your way to Castle Morne by going south of Limgrave and into the deep south of Weeping Peninsula, as shown on the map below.
Irina’s quest
You will visit Castle Morne as a part of Irina’s quest line, in which she asks you to deliver a letter to her father. Once you deliver the letter to Edgar in Castle Morne, he will explain he must commit to his duties at the castle, and he cannot allow Leonine Misbegotten to steal the Grafted Blade Greatsword - one of Elden Ring’s best weapons. You can return to Irina and retrieve an Iron Cleaver in the ground beside her, and then you can face Leonine Misbegotten. After defeating them, Edgar will thank you and he will then meet with Irina. Obviously, you can also go about already killing Leonine Misbegotten without speaking to Irina or Edgar.
Items of interest and where to grab them
Across Castle Morne, you can find the following: 3x Smithing Stone (1), 2x Smithing Stone (2), Claymore, Whip, Stonesword Key, Sacrificial Twig, and Twinblade Talisman After taking the elevator and going up to Castle Morne, take a hard left to a bonfire with two dogs. Take the dogs out and collect Smithing Stone (2). Ahead of the lift, you can sneak past the enemies on the mound to fight with a Pumpkin Helm. Defeat them and there will be a Sanctuary Stone beneath them. There will also be 3x Smithing Stone (1) around the tree beside them. Now, go up the mound and take out the enemies to get onto the ruins just behind it. There’ll be a door here, on the right. Go through the door and open the chest to the left to receive a Claymore. Go down the stairs and out the door, then up the ladder. Clear out the enemies, and to the left, you can pick up a Steel-Wire Torch protected by two enemies. Advance ahead until you can drop down, and the Behind Castle Morne Site of Grace will be here. Rest, and continue to traverse down, and to your right. As you hop down, you can jump down into a small gap. There will be enemies down here to take out, but also a prison cell with a spectral figure inside. Beside the NPC is a corpse that you can loot Pickled Turtle Foot from. Leave the cell and head down the runway. The enemies here won’t bother you unless you approach them first, except the large misbegotten creature at the end, where there is a ladder. Defeat them and go up the ladder. Open the chest here to collect the Twinblade Talisman. Go back down, and a little along the runway, you’ll see a roof that you can jump onto. Continue along until you reach a platform and a hole. You’ll need to carefully get down here by jumping on the beams. At the bottom, you’ll need to clear out some rats, and there will also be a Whip to pick up. You can also loot Smithing Stone (2) from the corpse on the first beam. Go along the bridge, deal with the enemies, and then jump down to the watery ground below. You’ll see the yellow misted gate from a mile off. Now, it’s time to face Leonine Misbegotten.
How to beat Leonine Misbegotten
If you’re running an Intelligence build, defeating Leonine Misbegotten shouldn’t be much of an issue. They’re weak to magic damage, and they’re incredibly easy to pick away at from range. As for preparation for the fight, try to equip armour or Talismans that’ll boost your physical damage negation. Leonine, when they hit, will hit you hard using their Greatsword. They will one-hand the weapon, using the claws of their other hand to regularly swipe at you. Leonine’s attack pattern is quite simple. Normally, they’ll swipe at you before starting a chain of sword attacks. They’ll perform two or three attacks in quick succession. Like I said, if you’re taking on this battle using magic at range, you’re going to have no issue as long as you outrun Leonine’s attacks. For melee users, things are a little more troublesome. That being said, do take caution of their four-hit combo attack, as this can catch you off guard if Leonine has been using their other attacks primarily. This is a case of simply memorising attacks and knowing when to dodge, or you can attempt to stagger them so you can go in for some real damage. Another thing to take note of is Leonine’s jump attack; they will grab their sword in both hands and attempt to pounce on you, launching a large shockwave around them that will deal damage and stagger you. You can attempt to run away, but the best thing to do here is dodge through their attack, and then backstab them repeatedly. Don’t forget that if you’re struggling, there’s an NPC summon just outside the arena too. That’s everything you need to know about Castle Morne and facing off with Leonine Misbegotten. For more on The Lands Between, check out our Elden Ring walkthrough.
