Developer FromSoftware’s Elden Ring is finally available! Set in a gorgeously haunting setting, this dark fantasy blends together the backbreaking brutality the studio is known for with the open-world freedom of titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Players are free to explore dungeons, battle bosses, complete side quests, or just roam the countryside on their trusty steed.
Unsurprisingly, one of the most popular builds in Elden Ring is a mix of Intellect and Dexterity. This gives players the ability to freely cast powerful spells with the flexibility to dice up any enemy that gets too close. For many, you’ll often rely on the Moonveil due to its high damage output and potent weapon ability. However, if you’ve gotten sick of the katana (like me), I recommend trying out the Wing of Astel. A short sword made out of an insect wing, this blade not only deals solid damage but can also hurl an arc of explosive magic mist at foes! See, now you’re interested, right?
How to Get the Wing of Astel
In order to get the Wing of Astel, you need to progress through the Ranni sidequest until you can use the teleporter in Renna’s Rise. If you’re unfamiliar with this quest, here’s how to complete the first half to unlock her armor and get to the point where you can access this blade.
Assuming you have at least reached the final step in the linked guide above, fast travel to Ranni’s Rise. From there, head north towards the Renna’s Rise tower that’s a few hundred feet from where you arrived. Go into the tower and head up to the very top. Approach the teleporter and use this to transport underground to the Ainsel River Main.
Ignite the Site of Grace and then head down the tunnel where the river opens up into a ruined area. You will see a massive magical centipede monster hanging from the ceiling. I recommend killing this enemy with either a bow or ranged magic since getting close can be difficult. If you defeat this enemy, it will never respawn regardless of if you die or rest at a Site of Grace, so it’s absolutely worth taking down. Once the monster is slain, head into the large doorway between the two statues and descend into the caverns.
Of course the tunnel is filled with giant ants. Why wouldn’t it be filled with giant ants?! As you make your way down the tunnel, kill the two ants hanging on the ceiling before dealing with the winged variants climbing over the mountains of half-eaten bodies. Yum.
Try to isolate these bugs in one-on-one fights; otherwise, you can get easily cornered due to the confined space. Once the winged ants are dead, climb onto the mountain of dead and face the large ant with an armored face. This enemy is extremely weak anywhere besides the head, so use ranged abilities to pick it off or try to circle behind it.
After this enemy is killed, head into the cave it was guarding until you see an enemy asserting his dominance by T-posing on you. Slay him and the foe on the right before following the cliffs (shown above) until you reach the top of the archway. There will be another giant centipede guarding this area, so either fight it from range or wait to run for the chest between its attacks. Regardless of what you choose, you will find the Wing of Astel in the chest above the arch. You can also snag a Somber Smithing Stone 6 by climbing up the other cliffs by the arch towards the dead body.
The Wing of Astel scales with both Dexterity and Intellect, requiring 7 Strength, 17 Dexterity, and 20 Intellect to use. I definitely recommend picking it up, as the ability to just spam magic bombs at enemies is great for both groups or larger bosses who will get hit by every explosion! Plus, it’s just nice to use a different magical weapon that isn’t the damn Moonveil.
