In this walkthrough, we’ll guide you through the decrepit chapel found on the Ravaged Beach, including how to get there, how to get inside, and what to do once you’re in. This is an important location, as it’s where you meet Withers, an NPC who can revive dead companions and allow you to respec your character.
For details on Withers and his services, check out our Respec Guide.
Preparation
The following items will come in handy in this area, assuming you want to be able to collect all the loot (and enter the crypt any way you choose):
The main reward in the chapel is finding Withers, who is located in the Dank Crypt beneath the Refectory. There are four ways to reach the Dank Crypt:
If you want to avoid combat, you should go through the Ancient Door or the Trap Door.
If you want to collect the maximum amount of XP and loot, you should go through the chapel ruins to the Refectory, which in turn can be accessed in two different ways.
If your goal is to see as much of the game as possible, entering through the ruins makes the most sense, as you can most easily access the rest of the chapel that way.
Regardless of the path you choose, you may also want to scout around the periphery of the chapel, where you’ll find two buried chests — one in the courtyard south of the statue, and one on the path leading to the Trap Door. With enough Survival to detect the chests and a Shovel to dig them up, you’ll gain some random loot — most likely gold, potions, and / or spell scrolls.
The Ancient Door
Fast Travel to the Overgrown Ruins Waypoint, and you’ll be right by the door. It’s a fairly hard check to pick the lock, but if you have a party member with high enough Sleight of Hand and some Thieves’ Tools — or a caster with Knock — you can get in this way. Note that upon entering, you’ll need to lockpick a second door.
Therefore, this route becomes a lot easier if you make sure you first recruit Astarion, whom you can find by heading back towards the Nautiloid ship and out the other side. His high Dexterity will come handy for passing the check.
Astarion’s location
The Trap Door
You can also enter the Dank Crypt via a trap door. It’s further north-northeast, so you’ll need to go through the mind flayer ship to a higher tier of the cliffs (or fast travel to the Roadside Cliffs), then head east and finally north. You’ll reach a drop — rotating your camera will let you climb down the knotted roots, and then its a brief walk over to the trap door. As with the Ancient Door, you’ll need to be able to pick the lock, so make sure you grab Astarion (see above).
The Ruins & Refectory
Finally, you can head into the chapel ruins north of the beach, which are also reached by going through the ship to the upper path (or fast traveling to Roadside Cliffs). Once in the ruins, you’ll encounter a group of would-be grave robbers, who won’t be pleased to see you. If you can pass a DC-10 check for Intimidation or Persuasion, or a DC-12 check for Deception, then the robbers will leave peacefully. Otherwise, you’ll have to fight them.
Where you’ll confront the first group of grave robbers
Then, there are two choices for entering the chapel. The first option is to use a ranged attack to destroy the rope holding up a foundation block — doing so will expose a hole you can jump through, landing you in the Refectory. Rather than actually jumping, simply look down into the hole and click on the ground, and your character(s) will drop down. You’ll be in combat as soon as you land, so heal and otherwise prepare before leaping. This is the more dangerous option.
The second option is to either knock on or pick open the main door to the chapel, found past the robbers’ camp to the north. If you knock on the door, then one of the robbers inside will speak to you. If you can pass a DC-10 check for Deception or Performance, then he’ll unlock the door for you. Otherwise, he’ll warn the other robbers inside that you’re coming — which will make fighting them more difficult — and you’ll only be able to pick open the door. Either way, going through the door will put you in the Refectory.
If you pick the lock or fool the robber at the door, then you’ll surprise him when you enter the chapel, giving you an easy fight against him. You’ll also find another robber patrolling alone in the next room to the south. She’ll try to warn the other four robbers when she spots you — by rushing to their room in the far south — but if you kill her first, then they’ll remain oblivious to your presence, and you’ll break up the robbers into three smaller fights instead of one big one. If you jump into the chapel or fail to fool the robber at the door, then you’ll have to fight all six robbers at once.
The door found in the ruins that you can lockpick or knock on
Inside the Refectory, you’ll discover some containers to loot, including the spoils from the robbers, but you won’t find anything noteworthy. The robbers themselves won’t have much of interest, either, other than some basic equipment that you can sell later.
The exit to the Dank Crypt is located behind a locked door on the western side of the main hall in the Refectory. You won’t be allowed to pick the door’s lock, and you won’t find a key for it. To open the door, you’ll have to enter the room at the southern end of the main hall. Behind the statue there, you’ll need to detect a lever on the wall — but it only requires a DC-1 Perception check, so you should always spot it. When you pull the lever, you’ll open the locked door, which will grant you access to the Dank Crypt.
In the Dank Crypt
The Dank Crypt has three main chambers: a room filled with sarcophagi to the south, a vestibule in the center, and room with foliage and a statue to the north. Depending on the route you took to reach the Dank Crypt, you’ll begin in one of these three chambers, and you’ll need to make your way to the statue room, which is where Withers is entombed..
If you start out in the sarcophagus room or the vestibule, then you’ll discover that the heavy doors leading to the statue room are locked. To open these doors, you’ll either need to pick the lock, which requires Thieves’ Tools and passing a DC-10 Sleight of Hand check, or you’ll need to collect the Engraved Key from the sarcophagus room.
However, be aware that the sarcophagus room is heavily trapped, with several floor vents and fireball-shooting gargoyle heads waiting to do you in. The sarcophagus in the center of the room is also trapped. You’ll need to pass a DC-15 Perception check to detect the trap, and you’ll need to pass a DC-10 Sleight of Hand check to disarm it. Inside the sarcophagus, you’ll find the unique spear The Watcher’s Guide plus the Engraved Key. Inside the other sarcophagi in the room, you’ll find some basic equipment, plus a Soul Coin, which will prove useful if you recruit Karlach as a companion later in the game.
Note: You might notice a button on the middle western column in the sarcophagus room. Pressing the button will turn off the traps in the room, if you accidentally trigger them. If you’re quick, this means you can loot the central sarcophagus without disarming it, and then immediately press the button to avoid taking any damage.
The statue room in the Dank Crypt
Inside the statue room, you’ll discover several entombed corpses scattered about. You should loot them right away. They’re going to rise up and turn into enemies soon, and they’ll be much easier to defeat if they don’t have weapons. On one of the corpses, you’ll also find a Heavy Key, which you can use to unlock the Ancient Door. After defeating the corpses in the upcoming battle, you’ll be able to loot them again for gold.
Note: The first time you approach the statue in the room, if anybody in your party can beat a DC-15 Religion check, then you’ll learn that the statue represents Jergal, Scribe of the Dead.
On western side of the statue room, you’ll discover a room with a chest and a sarcophagus, where you’ll find another Soul Gem. You’ll also find the Book of Dead Gods — locked closed. If you pass a DC-15 check for Arcana or Strength, then you’ll break the lock open, and you’ll find a Scroll of Ray of Enfeeblement inside. If you then pass DC-10 checks for Religion and Investigation, you’ll decipher that the book contains a list of dead gods. As long as you’re able to open the book, any companion in your party with the Acolyte background will gain the Divinity Undone inspiration, and any companion with the Sage background with gain the Secrets of the Sundering inspiration.
Back in the statue room, head past the statue to the northwest. You’ll find a button on the wall there. When you press it, you’ll open the secret door leading to Withers’ tomb — and you’ll cause all of the corpses in the room to wake up and attack you. This battle should not be too bad, especially if you looted the corpses first. But if you have trouble, consider retreating into the tomb and forcing the corpses to come to you.
The button that opens Withers’ tomb
After the battle, return to the secret tomb and interact with the richly adorned sarcophagus there. This will cause an undead creature named Withers to emerge from it. He’ll ask you what the value of a single mortal life is. No matter what you say to him — even if you try to attack him — he’ll appear at your camp the next time you go there, where he’ll be able to revive fallen characters, respec characters, and summon hirelings — for a modest price in gold. Before leaving the tomb, don’t forget to loot Withers’ sarcophagus, where you’ll find a third Soul Gem, and also the heavy chest nearby, where you’ll find The Amulet of Lost Voices.
To exit from the chapel, you can just retreat the way you came. But for a quicker route, head east through the broken wall in the statue room, and then follow the river to the south. You’ll find a ladder on the bank there. You might need to press the lever by the ladder to move it down where you can reach it, but when you climb the ladder, you’ll find yourself at the Trap Door to the northeast of the chapel.
Unabashed FromSoftware fanboy still learning to take his time with games (and everything else, really). The time he doesn't spend on games is spent on music, books, or occasionally going outside.
