In this guide, we’ll walk 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 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 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 detect a lever on the wall — it only requires a DC-1 Perception check, so you should always find 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 chambers: the sarcophagus room to the north, a vestibule in the center, and the actual crypt to the south. 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 crypt.
If you start out in the sarcophagus room or the vestibule, than you’ll discover that the heavy doors leading to the crypt 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 spear The Watcher’s Guide and the Engraved Key. Inside the other sarcophagi in the room, you’ll find some basic equipment, plus a Soul Coin, which you’ll find 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, 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 “crypt” part of the Dank Crypt
Inside the crypt, loot the corpses first. They’re going to turn into enemies soon, and they’ll be easier to defeat if you disarm them now. You can make this easier by highlighting the corpses as you check each side of the room. You can loot them again after the battle for gold. There is also a door to the west of the large circular design on the high ground here — inside is some useful loot in the chest and sarcophagus, plus the Book of the Dead Gods, which can give inspiration to any party members with the Sage or Acolyte background. To open the book, you’ll need to pass an Ability Check, and then a Religion check to understand what the book’s contents contain.
Head back into the main chamber of the Dank Crypt, and go north down the stairs. Up the stairs, to the left of the statue is a button — it will open a secret door that will lead us right to the sarcophagus holding Withers. Prepare for the corpses to be animated as soon as you press the button (i.e. don’t have your squishiest party members in the rear of the party).
After the battle, open the Richly Adorned Sarcophagus inside the secret room and talk to Withers. You can say whatever you want to him, and even attempt to attack him — no matter what you do, he’ll be at your camp next time you rest.
If you entered the crypt via the Trapdoor or the Ruins, make sure you explore the southern section of the Dank Crypt, as there’s a room with three chests (which you came through if you entered via the Ruins). Through the next set of doors to the south, the room full of sarcophagi (and traps) that also contain loot.
If you entered via the Trapdoor or the Ancient Door, you should instead head up to the Ruins and then enter and explore the Refectory — assuming you don’t mind fighting a few grave robbers, that is. The XP and loot can be a nice boost in the early game, especially if you’re playing on higher difficulties.
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.
