Elden Ring: What Seluvis' Potion Does (& Why He's Targeting Nepheli) (2024)

Players who have entered the service of Ranni the Witch in Elden Ring have the opportunity to take on a quest from Preceptor Seluvis , a haughty sorcerer who asks a potion be delivered to Nepheli Loux , another Tarnished. Selvuvis, who believes his own intellect to be far above the player character's, does not elaborate on the potion's purpose, commanding the player to follow his bidding in ignorance. Likewise, the potion is also mysteriously absent of details in its item description, but poking around Seluvis' Rise and talking to some other NPCs can shed some light on the sorcerer's machinations, and why Nepheli may have been chosen as his target.

Seluvis is found in the Three Sisters area, sequestered behind Caria Manor and one of Elden Ring's optional bosses in Liurnia, Royal Knight Loretta . He'll first be encountered in spirit form in Ranni's Rise, but once the player has entered the witch's service, Seluvis invites them for a chat in person. Seluvis' Rise is nearby, and speaking to him reveals he was only extending an invitation out of decorum. Nonetheless, he recruits the player to deliver his potion to Nepheli, who may have been encountered before in Stormveil Castle and subsequently appears in Roundtable Hold. Nepheli is the adoptive daughter of Sir Gideon Ofnir the All-Knowing, the NPC in the Roundtable who tells the player who the Shardbearers are and where they might be found.

Why Seluvis' Potion Was Meant For Nepheli Loux In Elden Ring

Seluvis Is Turning People Into Puppets

Players can simply do Seluvis' bidding and give Nepheli the potion, but this likely isn't in the player's best interest and doesn't fully explain what the potion is for. Speaking with Gideon, who always has his head buried in some books in the Roundtable Hold, reveals that Seluvis may have sinister intentions (if that wasn't already obvious) and offers to dispose of the potion. Players can keep the potion if they want, and returning to Seluvis' Rise and doing a little exploring will show what the sorcerer was hoping to accomplish.

Under an illusory floor outside of his tower, Seluvis has a dungeon filled with puppets, husks of his previous victims who presumably drank a potion similar to the one given to the player. Seluvis is the puppet master, and reluctantly offers the power to control them to the player if he's asked about his experiments.

If players opt to give Nepheli the potion, Seluvis' treachery is confirmed when Nepheli's Spirit Ashes can be purchased from him. This isn't recommended, since it will prematurely end Nepheli's questline, and hers aren't Spirit Ashes worth upgrading in Elden Ring. Giving the potion to Gideon won't affect Seluvis' quest either, since the sorcerer will just think the concoction didn't work. Seluvis' motivation for turning Nepheli into a puppet appears to be a pursuit of more powerful underlings. He doesn't explicitly state this, but continuing his quest eventually reveals his true ambitions.

After purchasing all of his sorceries and one of the puppet Spirit Ashes, Seluvis tells the Tarnished that his ultimate goal is to brew a potion that can turn a demigod into a puppet. His final target will be Ranni, but what Seluvis intends to do with a demigod puppet is never explained, since the potion doesn't work and causes Ranni's questline to fail. Nepheli Loux isn't a demigod, nor is there any indication that she could become one, but she is a sensible candidate for the potion from Seluvis' point of view.

If Nepheli Loux and Kenneth Haight's questlines are seen through to their end, Nepheli will be coronated as Limgrave's new lord, succeeding Elden Ring's Tarnished limb harvester Godrick. Godrick is a demigod and a Shardbearer, and though Haight's judge of character can certainly be called into question, his selection of Nepheli suggests she at least has the potential to reach Godrick's power. If Seluvis has been perfecting his potion with incrementally more robust targets, Nepheli Loux is one that would be far easier to poison than a heavily guarded demigod.

Although Nepheli appears to be just Seluvis' next victim, chosen for the fighting prowess she demonstrates as a summon against Godrick the Grafted, there are a few clues suggesting the potion's recipient was chosen for personal reasons as well. First is Gideon's dialog when discussing the potion, where it's made clear that he knows Seluvis and doesn't think highly of him: "Is that potion what I think it is? Bloody Seluvis. I suppose he's up to something again."

The next hint is in the description of Dolores the Sleeping Arrow Puppet, a Spirit Ash that can be bought from Seluvis. It reads, "Dolores once belonged to the Roundtable Hold, where she was both a critic and a friend of Gideon the All-Knowing. It was because of her that he and Seluvis went their separate ways." This implies Gideon has lost a close companion to Seluvis before (but not long enough ago that the Roundtable Hold was still in Elden Ring's capital), and his fatherly relation to Nepheli may be a contributing factor in her being a puppet candidate - an opportunity for Seluvis to strike another blow in a sort of rivalry between him and Gideon.

Seluvis' Potion Can Be Given To The Dung Eater

A Substitute Puppet In Place Of Nepheli Loux

Nepheli Loux appears to be, at least in part, Seluvis' target because of her potential for great things. If her questline is completed, she will replace Godrick the Grafted as Lord of Stormveil Castle, simultaneously completing Kenneth Haight and Gatekeeper Gostoc's quests. Haight agonized over finding someone who was worthy of sitting on Limgrave's throne, and Nepheli, by all accounts, will rule honorably. At the other end of that spectrum is another possible victim of Seluvis' potion, someone who has already proved himself to be a vile wretch - the Loathsome Dung Eater, Elden Ring's most terrifying character.

There's no prior indication that the Dung Eater can be a recipient of Seluvis' potion, and the opportunity to give it to him comes much later in the game than when players are typically involved in the Seluvis questline. Players will need to reach the Altus Plateau, a region accessed by activating the Grand Lift of Dectus or ascending through the Ravine-Veiled Village, Miner's Cave, and Ruin-Strewn Precipice to the Grand Lift's northwest.

The Dung Eater's red phantom will then appear in the Roundtable Hold, and his quest can be started. Players will eventually find his corporeal form and be tasked with bringing him Seedbed Curses. It is here players can make him drink Seluvis' potion, which will prematurely end his quest just like it does Nepheli's. The reward for doing so, however, is the opportunity to get the Dung Eater Puppet Spirit Ashes from Seluvis, making the notorious murderer and defiler summonable.

Unfortunately, the Loathsome Dung Eater being one who potentially ingests Seluvis' potion doesn't seem to carry as much narrative weight as Nepheli Loux. The Dung Eater's quest is important to one of Elden Ring's alternate endings, but he lacks any significant association with Seluvis. Nevertheless, the Dung Eater is something of a foil to Nepheli, and ends up being a logical candidate to receive the potion from Seluvis. Whereas Nepheli lost the guidance of Grace and chose to live by a moral code, the Dung Eater received a vision which spurred him to commit his reviled actions in an attempt to "defile Order itself."

The Dung Eater can seem like a wretched, lowly character of little importance, but he is a key figure in at least one of the ways that the Golden Order can be overthrown. If his quest is seen through to his desired conclusion, and the Tarnished curses the world in the Blessing of Despair ending, the Dung Eater's station is at least analagous to Nepheli Loux's in the seat of Limgrave. In Elden Ring's odd evaluation of its many characters, Nepheli Loux and the Loathsome Dung Eater are of a similar stature – equally viable test subjects for Seluvis' puppet-creating potion.

Should You Give Seluvis' Potion To Nepheli Loux?

Are Gideon Or The Dung Eater Better Options?

Who to give Seluvis' potion to largely depends on the individual Elden Ring playthrough. The most practical choice is giving Seluvis' potion to Gideon, since this will advance Seluvis' quest with him none the wiser, while simultaneously sparing Nepheli Loux and the Dung Eater so that their questlines can continue as well. For a morally righteous Tarnished, saving the potion and giving it to the Dung Eater is likely a smart route, as it eliminates a truly vile character, and also provides the player with new Spirit Ashes for their arsenal.

A Tarnished opposed to Ranni's ascendancy may opt to continue with Seluvis' quest, but Ranni's is arguably the most rewarding and compelling side plot in Elden Ring. However, if her ending is of little import to the playthrough at hand, and if players are going to choose to remake the world with the Lord of Frenzied Flame or Blessing of Despair endings, then giving Seluvis' potion to Nepheli and its iteration to Ranni is negligible. Regardless of the Tarnished's help, Seluvis ends up dead in his tower, so aiding him ultimately has very little long-term benefit.

Elden Ring's side quests are notoriously obtuse, and the mysterious potion Seluvis gives to the player can have dire consequences in multiple questlines. If Seluvis' arrogance wasn't off-putting enough, his twisted role as a puppet master makes him one of the more repulsive characters in Elden Ring, with his targeting of Nepheli only furthering his status as an unsympathetic character.

Elden Ring

Elden Ring is a popular game released by From Software, creators of games such as Armored Core, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne. Players assume the role of a Tarnished, a being once exiled to the Lands Between and has returned to repair the Elden Ring after the events of "The Shattering." "The Shattering" occurred when the offspring of Queen Marika battled to claim the shards of the Elden Ring, known as Great Runes. Their war has brought lawlessness, destruction, and chaos to the land, and the player will challenge them with the assistance of a Maiden known as Melina as they travel towards the great Erd Tree to face their destiny and to become the one true Elden Lord. Players can tackle the game how they choose and can adventure across realms as they build their character how they want - be it a powerful magic caster or a brutal swordsman - they will have complete control over their build.

Platform(s)

PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC

Released

February 25, 2022

Developer(s)

From Software

Publisher(s)

Bandai Namco Entertainment , From Software

Genre(s)

RPG , Action

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op , Online Multiplayer

Engine

Proprietary

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Platforms That Support Crossplay

PS4 &PS5 and Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S