The Moonveil katana can turn Elden Ring’s oldest, frailest wizard into a deadly ninja if players happen to build for it and track down its location.
Elden Ring offers players a lot of flexibility in terms of building out their characters, but arguably the most impactful item in the game is the Moonveil. While there are loads of weapons that scale off each stat, the Moonveil is unique among intelligence-scaling weapon options. Its combination of poise damage, bleed buildup, and high DPS makes it transformative in terms of how players approach the game.
That said, getting the item is a bit of a to-do. The Moonveil is found in an out-of-the-way area in one of the game’s most hated areas. Here’s how to get the Moonveil in Elden Ring, and the best build for using it.
The location of the Moonveil in Elden Ring
The Moonveil can be found in the Gael Tunnel by defeating its boss; the Magma Wyrm. Caelid is a horrible place to be in the early game of Elden Ring, but players don’t have to venture too far to find the Moonveil.
The Gael Tunnel is marked on the Elden Ring map with one of the ominous flaming portal icons. Though Elden Ring players can instantly spot the location of the Moonveil, actually reaching the entrance to the tunnel is another matter.
In order to get to the Gael Tunnel, players need to follow the road out of Limgrave into Caelid. As the path bends, players should head south to reach the Shack of the Rotting. From there, head south on Torrent.
The Gael Tunnel’s entrance is located on a ledge on a mountain. As such, players will need to drop down to its location. This can be done using their map and is most easily done at night, as there are torches outside the fog gate that are more visible at night.
After dropping down, players can head through the Gael Tunnel and face the Magma Wyrm. Depending on how players have progressed and whether they did something like rush to start the Radahn Festival, this might be the first Magma Wyrm players face. Regardless, it won’t be the last.
Best Moonveil katana build
The best Moonveil katana build is one that heavily emphasizes quickly blowing through high-FP spells and then switching to katanas.
Naturally, there’s some flexibility here. Whether it’s the Moonveil or any other weapon, player preference, the enemies involved, and the type of location are all factors in deciding a singular “best build.” With all that said, the Moonveil is at its best with a high-intelligence build; and one of the best and most fun high-intelligence builds is the Comet Azur one-shot build. Here are the key items for it:
- Moonveil
- Lusat’s Glintstone Staff
- Azur’s Glintstone Crown
- Mimic Tear summon
- Comet Azur spell
- Terra Magica spell
- Wondrous Physick with Intelligence-Knot Crystal Tear and Cerulean Hidden Tear
The general idea with this strategy is to summon the Mimic Tear to distract the boss, then place a Terra Magica sigil on the ground. Use the Flask of Wondrous Physick, then cast Comet Azur while standing in the sigil.
The physick both boosts intelligence and pauses all FP consumption. This means the player can simply stand in place, firing their Comet Azur laser for much longer than they should. Lusat’s Glintstone Staff, Azur’s Glintstone Crown, and the Terra Magica Seal all boost the damage of Comet Azur further.
Under ideal circumstances, this build can let players kill almost any Elden Ring boss in one cast, but the Moonveil is there in less-than-ideal circumstances.
Players can two-hand the Moonveil after burning through all their mana, or they can add another katana like the Nagakiba or the Uchigatana. Unlike the Moonveil, these katanas can be infused to fit into almost any build.
