I accidentally killed my favorite NPC in Elden Ring, and my life as I know it is over. Here’s how you can avoid making the same mistake.
[Ed. note: This article contains spoilers for Moore’s storyline in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.]
Early in Shadow of the Erdtree, if you ride toward the legacy dungeon of Belurat, you encounter two NPCs at the Main Gate Cross. One is Ansbach, a retired old warrior. And the other is Moore, a rotund and soft-spoken merchant knight, who will sell you useful consumables, as well as a note about unlocking sealed spiritsprings.
Who is Moore in Shadow of the Erdtree?
Moore is adorable, crouching over his little pot, and he tells you in a halting way that he likes finding things for the rest of Miquella’s followers. I immediately fell in utter love with him. We have so much in common: I also love things, and finding things. And he’s so cute and round. Wow, a beacon of light and hope in the darkness of the shadow realm!
You can ask Ansbach what Moore’s deal is, and he’ll warn you that Moore has been working with the forager brood, and not to harm the brood if you come across them.
What this dialogue doesn’t spell out for you, which I will, is that the forager brood are the Kindred of Rot, centipede-like creatures that you might recognize from the base Elden Ring game as really obnoxious enemies that shoot strings at you.
You see where this is going.
Why does Moore fight you?
It was late at night. I was tired, on autopilot, and I saw a Kindred of Rot just lying on the ground outside the Church of the Crusade, and I thought, What the hey! and gave him a whack with my sword. The poor guy died, and immediately I was invaded by Moore. He told me to stop hurting forager brood. Before I knew it, we were dueling to the death.
Moore is a beefy but honestly pretty tame enemy. He throws big pots that inflict scarlet rot, but they’re easy to dodge. He also crouches behind his shield and rushes you. He’s got a lot of health but, well, I do a lot of damage. I traveled back to the Main Gate Cross after killing him, hoping that it was all just a bad dream, and found his bell bearing in the place he used to sit.
I’m devastated!
Based on a quick poll of my colleagues who are also playing the DLC, we’re not sure if killing this specific Kindred is the only trigger for turning Moore hostile. I heard from some colleagues that they had killed the Kindred and not been invaded — so it’s possible that triggering Moore’s invasion is more complex than smashing one bug. Only time will tell.
Why you shouldn’t kill the Kindred of Rot
But there’s no point in killing the Kindred of Rot anyway! If you see one in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, know that they’re apparently friendly and you can talk to them and they’ll give you foraged items. In fact, healing the Kindred at the Church of the Crusade will give you a Forager Brood cookbook that isn’t available anywhere else in the game.
More importantly, you won’t have to kill sweet, round baby boy Moore, and get his really good verdigris armor. (But at what cost?!?!?!)
What if I’m a sicko and want to kill Moore?
If you are indeed a sick bastard and want Moore dead for whatever reason, make sure you do it after meeting Thiollier at the Pillar Path Cross Grace. Speaking to Moore after meeting Thiollier will give you the option to get Black Syrup from Moore. Giving this to Thiollier will unlock Thiollier’s Concoction, a critical and powerful poison that you can use later in the game.
After this, I guess you’re free to kill Moore if you want. But please, let my baby boy live!
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