Discarded palace key is an item that unlocks a small chest in Raya Lucaria Academy. If you have noticed a locked chest next to the boss-turned-NPC Rennala, that is the one.
The chest contains the Dark Moon Ring, another Key Item required to complete the quest of NPC Ranni the Witch. Read along to know more about Ranni and how to get the discarded palace key from her storyline.
Ranni is one of the first demigods you will meet in the game. She is the daughter of Rennala, Queen of Full Moon and Radagon, a champion of the Golden Order, and the second Elden Lord.
You can meet Ranni right after you obtain Torrent, your mount. Just head to the Church of Elleh at night. Ranni will be waiting for you in her ethereal form. She will give you a brief introduction and vanish along with the night breeze.
Ranni has an extensive questline and is one of the most important NPCs in the game. Her questline spans the length of the whole playthrough and even determines the final ending of the game. You will get numerous items, meet new bosses, and visit multiple locations to fulfill her quests.
Discarded Palace Key is one of those essential steps to progress with Ranni’s questline. Obtaining the key is a doozy in itself. You need to follow several steps to obtain this key. There is also a prerequisite questline you have to have completed to start the hunt for the Discarded Palace Key.
The Pre-requisites
You need to have completed the first part of Ranni’s quest to proceed with the given steps. This entails defeating Radahn the Starscourage to enter Nokron, the Eternal City. There you will find the Fingerslayer Blade. Its description reads as the treasure hidden in Nokron, the Eternal City. This is the item that Ranni wants from you.
The location you have to explore to find the Discarded Palace Key is called Ainsel River Main. The problem is the map to this location is found down another underground location called the Ainsel River. This location is accessible through a lift in Ainsel River Well, from the East of the Liurnia Region.
The map fragment is found at the end of the Ainsel River dungeon. It is located behind the giant magical ant in the chamber with the Nomadic merchant.
How to Get Discarded Palace Key
After you have the Fingerslayer Blade from the previous quest lines and the Map of Ainsel River, you have everything you need to get to hunt for the Discarded Palace Key. You can now follow these steps.
- Start in Liurina, in the Three Sisters sub-region. You can fast-travel to Ranni’s Rise if you have already activated the site of grace there.
- Climb to the top of Ranni’s Rise, to the residence chamber of Ranni the Witch.
- Get Carian Inverted Statue from Ranni after giving her the Fingerslayer Blade. Exhaust her dialogues if she doesn’t give you the statue right away. After giving you the Statue, Ranni will say that she is going to leave.
- Head to Renna’s Rise, a tower located north of Ranni’s Rise. Use the transporter at the top of this tower. Note that access to this teleporter only unlocks after Ranni leaves for the journey after giving you the Carian Inverted Statue.
- You will be transported to Ainsel River Main. Find Miniature Ranni in a coffin. This coffin is located exactly in front of you the first time you are transported to this location.
- Talk to Miniature Ranni in Ainsel River Main Site of Grace. You might need to talk to her multiple times to get her to respond.
- Miniature Ranni will give you a quest to defeat Baleful Shadow. Ranni seems rather spiteful, embarrassed, and angry for talking to her miniature doll form. You can additionally talk to her on some other Sites of Grace in this underground location. Namely, the Nokstella, Eternal City Site of Grace, and Nokstella, Waterfall Basin Site of Grace. She will reveal some of her backstory if you do so.
- Reach the Uhl Palace Ruins. Get behind the huge glowing magical ant that shoots purple balls at you. Get to the cave behind this purple ant and follow the cave.
- Inside the cave, you will reach the Ant Pit. Follow the cave on the right of Ant Pit without disturbing the Ants.
- After the ant pit, you will reach Nokstella city walls. Enter the gate and go down the ladder on the immediate right outside this gate.
- You will reach the Nokstella, the Eternal City Site of Grace. You can take a breather here before you press on.
- Follow the River, along the palace building. You will come across Ant Riders and Metallic Electro Slimes. Best be quick and sprint onwards.
- Keep following the river path till you see a building with statues on its entrance. It should be on your left along the path.
- Take the lift. Enter the chamber, inside is a lift that will take you down.
- You will reach the Nokstella Waterfall basin Site of Grace. The cave you have to follow is directly in front of this Site of Grace.
- Enter the cave. There are classic FromSoftware petrifying lizards inside this cave. Avoid their instant death cloud and keep marching onwards. You will reach a huge scarlet-hued open space.
- Baleful Shadow will automatically appear if you have followed the questline. It is a tough fight. Be prepared to dodge and attack only during openings.
- Defeat the Baleful Shadow and you will be rewarded with the Discarded Palace Key automatically after a short discourse with Ranni’s voice.
Below is some additional help. We have marked the map of the Ainsel River with paths and landmarks you can follow to reach your final destination.
