Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Guide
Mikella’s Crosses are waypoints that will guide you through the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. They serve as markers of where Mikella the Unshadowed has been during his travels through the Shadowfell, and are intended to be the location where you’ll find this owner of the Elden Ring’s Great Rune Shard if you follow the same path. As such, they’re not only an additional reference point in Elden Ring’s typically convoluted narrative, but also an important key to understanding what’s going on in the massive expansion and the game’s lore as a whole.
LOCATION OF ALL MICHELANGELO CROSSES
In fact, having stumbled upon several of these glowing objects on the map and having learned the story of their origin from the followers of Mikella, you will not receive precise directions on where to go next. Therefore, we decided to compile a detailed guide so that you do not inadvertently miss one of the 13 crosses, at least because nearby you can usually also find Fragments of the Tree of Decay, which allow you to further increase the characteristics of your character in the Kingdom of Shadows.
CROSS AT THREE ROADS
The first cross is located near the initial entry point to the DLC.
Simply heading north along the main road you will come across a crossroads where you will find not only another Place of Grace, but also a glowing cross, next to which Freya and Rogovest will be standing.
We recommend talking to them to start the quest for the followers of Mikella and get a map of the locations of the next three crosses. However, it will be difficult to understand anything from it, so we recommend sticking to our guide.
CROSS AT THE MAIN GATE
After the crossroads, follow the road west and pretty quickly you’ll come across another cross and another group of Mikella’s followers in front of the entrance to Belurat Castle .
There you will meet Ansbach and Mur. They also have their own quest lines, and Mur is one of the few merchants in the Shadowfell, so take care of him.
CROSS IN BELURAT
Further search for the Crosses of Michela becomes much more complicated. For example, one of the closest is located inside the fortress, but it is safely hidden.
Before entering the tower with a spiral staircase, where another group of giant scorpions still lives, there will be some inconspicuous ruins.
It turns out that right behind them is the entrance to a small room where there is another cross.
CROSS IN ENSIS CASTLE
The crossroads connects Belurat with another equally protected fortress, which is located to the east.
Once you get inside Ensis Castle, past the soldier garrison, the giant, and other enemies, you will find another cross.
CROSS BY THE ROAD WITH COLUMNS
Before going to see the local royal and moving on, we recommend going back a little and from the bridge in front of Ensis Castle, heading southeast along the leftmost road.
There, at the very edge of the cliff, you will find not only a new Place of Grace and another cross, but also another follower of Michela named Tiolier.
In addition to the fact that he is also a rare merchant in these parts, he has his own quest, to which we have dedicated a separate guide .
CROSS AT THE EXIT OF ENSIS CASTLE
After returning to the castle and defeating the boss there (you can also learn how to do this from our other guide ), you will reach a new location called Shadow Altus.
But the most important thing is that at the exit of the castle you will find another cross, where you will again meet the followers of Mikella, Leda and Rogovest. It also makes sense to talk to them if you are interested in completing their quest.
CROSS IN THE RUINS OF MURTA
If you turn sharply east from the previous point or follow the road to the lower reaches of the valley, you will certainly come across the ruins of the city of Murta.
Right in front of them is a Place of Grace and another cross, next to which stands another, this time not very talkative follower of Mikella named Dane Dryleaf. If you wish, you can challenge him to a duel using the new gesture you learned.
CROSS AT FORT OF REBUKE
To find the next cross, you’ll need to get to a hard-to-reach area called Fort Rebuke.
It’s located on a hill southeast of Murta Ruins, and before heading there, we recommend unsealing the Spirit Source – an air current that will take you straight to the cross.
To do this, simply go around the hill and at the easternmost point you will see a pile of stones. You may encounter more of these further on, and if you break them, you can unblock the air flow. Now, to access the cross, you will not have to clear the entire fort, which we still recommend doing, since there is a lot of interesting loot hidden there.
CROSS IN THE HAVEN OF SHADOWS
You will also find the next Mikella cross inside the fortress, or rather in the ominous black castle with the appropriate name of the Haven of Shadows.
Once inside and defeating the gatekeeper boss at the entrance, you will gain access to a multi-story tower, and when you reach the fourth floor, using one of the hanging statues as a bridge, you will find a new Place of Grace and a new cross.
CROSS ON THE COTE DAZUR
Before moving on, we would recommend checking out one more hard to reach location, which is optional unless you want to find all of Mikella’s crosses and complete Tiolie’s quest.
It is located in the southwest of the map, and we described in detail how to get there in this guide .
Once you reach the Cote d’Azur, head south past where you picked up the map fragment for this location. There, on a hill, there will be another Michella cross.
CROSS INSIDE A CRACK IN A STONE SARCOPHAGUS
As you head to the southernmost point of the peninsula on the Côte d’Azur, you’ll notice a huge crack in the ground.
This is the path to the boss from the above-mentioned guide, and if you can get down without falling into the abyss and dying from the insidious enemies here, you will come across another cross.
CROSS IN THE RUINS OF THE ANCIENT MONASTERY OF RAUCH
Now we return to the Haven of Shadows. If from the place of grace on the first floor of the tower you go down on the elevator on the left and fight your way through several rooms with enemies, you will get to a bridge that leads to another elevator.
Having climbed it, you will find yourself in the Ruins of the ancient monastery of Rauch, and if you go down to the cliff, there you will find another Place of Grace and another cross of Michelle.
CROSS IN ENIR-ILIM
You will find the last cross of Mikella in Enir-Ilim – a majestic castle leading to the divine gates, access to which will open after burning the roots of the Erd tree.
We do not recommend doing this if you have not completed any quests in the expansion, as this is a point of no return.
Like the previous Michelangelo crosses, it will be located next to a Place of Grace, in this case, it will be located before the Winding Ascent.
As you might guess, the final part of Shadow of the Erdtree awaits you next , so to avoid spoilers, we will not describe further developments.