Completing Varre’s questline in Elden Ring is valuable for two reasons. First, it grants the Bloody Finger infinite invasion item. Second is the quest’s ultimate reward: the Pureblood Knight’s Medal, granting early access to Mohgwyn Palace. The issue is that you needed to do at least three invasions using the Festering Bloody Finger to progress Varre’s quest, leaving you high and dry if you had no interest in Elden Ring‘s PvP.
Thankfully, patch 1.06 added an invadable NPC, Magnus, the Beast Claw, who you can invade offline and still get both the Bloody Finger and the Medal. This Elden Ring guide tells you where to find him and how to beat him.
Where to Find Magnus the Beast Claw
Don’t use any of the Festering Bloody Fingers Varre gives you when you meet him at the Rose Church. You need them to face Magnus. Instead, hold onto them until you reach the Altus Plateau either through the Ruined Strewn Precipice dungeon or the Grand Lift of Dectus.
To the north of the Lift, on the hill west of the Minor Erdtree, is the Writheblood Ruins. Everything here deals bleed damage, from the dogs to the blobs. There are there dogs and a summon sign in the northeastern-most ruined buildings. When you approach the sign, you’ll be able to interact with it and invade Magnus the Beast Claw’s world.
Once you arrive in Magnus’ world as a red phantom, he’ll immediately rush you and attack. He’s equipped with a spiked great hammer and uses bestial incantations, specifically Bestial Sling and Beast Claws. His weapon and magic deal heavy damage, and he will rarely stop attacking, staying on you until you’re dead.
How to Defeat Magnus the Beast Claw
There are two solid strategies to take this boss down:
- Meet aggression with aggression. Magnus has no poise, so he’s easily stunlocked by any size of weapon. Once you avoid his initial attack, keep the pressure on. He has very little HP for an NPC combatant, so even if you’re only around Level 40 of Level 50, it won’t take much to take him down. Big weapons are better at keeping him locked down, but dual-wielding rapiers, straight swords, or other fast-attacking weapons are also usable.
- Keep him at range with magic. Sorceries and magic are still some of the most powerful combat options in both PvE and PvP. While Stars of Ruin isn’t the monster it once was after Elden Ring patch 1.06, there are so many powerful options, from the Glintstone Comet spells to Dragonbreath and Lightning Bolt, to name just three types. Without poise or other means of mitigating stunlock from spells, Magnus will fall quickly to any magic.
Once Magnus the Beast Claws dies, you’ll receive the Great Stars spiked Mace and a Somber Smithing Stone [6]. You’ll also see a message reading, “Magnus the Beast Claws defeated. Returning to your world.” You’ll then be teleported back to your world, but there won’t be any notification that you’ve done anything additional to progress Varre’s quest. Rest assured that you have.
Return to Varre at the Rose church, and he’ll ask to anoint you as per his quest. He’ll give you the Lord of Blood’s Favor, and you’re off to find a maiden to take blood from.
With that, you’ve found and beat Magnus the Beast Claw and progressed Varre’s questline without invading any real players. We’ve covered tons of other Elden Ring content, including how to beat Mohg, the Lord of Blood, how to complete Ranni’s questline, and where to find Smithing Stone and Somber Stone Bell Bearings, among many others. Our Elden Ring guides hub has it all.
