Elden Ring Thops questline walkthrough

Elden Ring thops questline walkthrough
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

The Elden Ring Thops questline is about you finding a second, spare Glintstone key to allow the idiot sorcerer to reach the Raya Lucaria Academy. A shorter, punchier questline by the standards of Elden Ring, Thops basically offers you a fetch quest, though not necessarily an easy one. Don't worry though, as we've put together a short, easy walkthrough to take you through the Elden Ring Thops' questline, and where to find a spare Raya Lucaria Academy Glintstone Key.

Elden Ring Thops' questline walkthrough

Elden Ring thops questline walkthrough

(Image credit: FromSoftware)

Thops' quest is actually one of the shortest in Elden Ring, with only a few steps to complete before it reaches the end. 

  1. Find Thops in Liurnia
  2. Find and bring him a spare Glintstone Key
  3. Find Thops again in Raya Lucaria

You can click on any of these points for the details, or scroll down for more. It helps that this is also one of the easier quests, but that's a very relative statement considering that most quests in Elden Ring are brutal tests of endurance that last dozens of hours. Thops' quest is more about searching and exploration than combat with powerful bosses, and so might make for a slightly more achievable experience.

Where to find Thops in Liurnia

Elden Ring thops questline walkthrough

(Image credit: FromSoftware)
Elden Ring Red Wolf of Radagon boss fight

Elden Ring red wolf of radagon boss fight guide

(Image credit: FromSoftware)

If you're headed into Raya Lucaria, get ready for a powerful boss by checking out how to beat the Red Wolf of Radagon in Elden Ring!

Thops is found in the Church of Irith, a small building just down the path on the left after leaving Stormveil Castle and entering Liurnia of the Lakes for the first time (you'll have to defeat Godrick the Grafted to do that, and if you're having trouble, we've got a guide on how to beat Godrick in Elden Ring just here).

Thops is simply sitting in the church on the right-hand side. He's a self-deprecating mage who can sell you a few very basic sorceries if you donate him 10 Runes, working as a good starting point for those who want to start diverging into an Intelligence build for the first time. You can also talk to him and he'll explain that he wants to get into Raya Lucaria Academy, Elden Ring's answer to Hogwarts, north of you, but lacks the special Glintstone Key needed to break the magical barrier and get inside. This means you'll need two Glintstone Keys total - one for you that'll get you into the Academy, and then another one for Thops to complete his questline. 

Finding the two keys isn't easy, but we've outlined where to get the first one in our guide on how to get the Elden Ring Raya Lucaria Academy Glintstone Key here. That'll get you into the Academy, but you need a second one for Thops.

Get a second Glintstone Key for Thops

Elden Ring thops questline walkthrough

(Image credit: FromSoftware)

Once you're in the Academy, you'll need to progress quite far before you can get a second Glintstone Key. We've laid out some clear steps though to help you find what you need:

  1. Progress through Raya Lucaria Academy until you reach and beat the Red Wolf of Radagon boss fight and access the Debate Hall Site of Grace.
  2. From the Debate Hall, head North into the open courtyard, and immediately head up the left stairs where there'll be several mages shooting at you.
  3. Head to the left again and jump down off the balcony to the rooftop below.
  4. Follow the rooftops and ladders around and down until you reach the roof of an area called Church of the Cuckoo.
  5. There'll be a broken window you can look through, and see a corpse with an item on top of a chandelier beneath you.
  6. Drop down onto the chandelier and loot the corpse to get the second Glintstone Key.

Once you bring the spare key back to him (he won't accept the first one you need), he'll be very grateful and give you the Erudition gesture as a reward (it's more helpful than you think, as it can be used to complete certain puzzles around Elden Ring). The next time you fast travel, pass time or reload the game, Thops will be gone from the Church of Irith, presumably on his way to Raya Lucaria Academy. This technically ends his questline, but you can find Thops again… sort of.

Finding Thops' body

Elden Ring thops questline walkthrough

(Image credit: FromSoftware)

Thops can be found once more at Raya Lucaria Academy - problem is, he's dead. From the Schoolhouse Classroom Site of Grace, simply go East outside and you'll see his corpse sat up at a desk just behind you. Sadly there's no alternative way this can go - poor, bumbling Thops was always going to die if he ever went inside somewhere as deadly as Raya Lucaria Academy,

Thops' questline rewards

On Thops' body there'll be an Academy Glintstone Staff, used to perform sorceries, the Thops' Barrier spell, as well as Thops' Bell Bearing, which can be brought back to the Twin Maiden Husks at Roundtable Hold, allowing you to buy Thops' stock from them (of course, if you bought all his stock before he died, this doesn't make much of a difference).

Elden Ring Blaidd the Half-Wolf locations and questline | Elden Ring Ranni questline and secret ending | Elden Ring Fia questline and ending | Elden Ring Goldmask questline | Elden Ring Dung Eater questline and Seedbed Curses | Elden Ring Varre questline | Elden Ring Alexander questline | Elden Ring Millicent questline | Elden Ring Irina questline | Elden Ring Sorceress Sellen questline | Elden Ring Nepheli Loux questline | Elden Ring Patches questline 

Joel Franey
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

With contributions from