How to complete the Igon quest in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

The Elden Ring Igon quest is one of the best in the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, and that's saying a lot in a DLC with as many characters as this one has. You'll first run into Igon while exploring the Gravesite Plain opening region and he's pretty hard to miss since he's screaming about how a mysterious character called Bayle messed him up and took his legs. 

You might not make much of him at first, especially as you can't really interact with him beyond standing nearby and watching him writhe in agony. But Igon does have a quest that will see you fulfill his mission to get Bayle back. Obviously, this quest guide contains spoilers for Igon and Bayle, so look away now if you don't want that. Otherwise, here's how to help him out and complete the Igon quest.

Elden Ring Igon quest steps

Here's the rundown of steps in the Shadow of the Erdtree Igon quest and what you need to do to get the rewards:

• Find Igon screaming near the Pillar Path Waypoint site of grace in east Gravesite Plains and talk to him
• Follow the road south-west with the headless dragon statues, defeat the Ancient Dragon-Man invader, and continue to reach the Dragon's Pit dungeon
• Complete Dragon's Pit to gain access to the Jagged Peak area
• Defeat the Jagged Peak Drake boss
• Head south from the arena to reach the Grand Altar of Dragon Communion
• Speak to the Dragon Communion Priestess and agree to commune with Bayle
• Take the path leading north-east from the Jagged Peak Drake boss arena up the mountain
• Defeat the duo of Jagged Peak Drakes boss
• Speak to Igon near the exit to the arena and get Igon's Furled Finger
• Defeat Ancient Dragon Sennesax further up the mountain
• Defeat Bayle the Dread, while summoning Drake Warrior Igon using his sign, just inside the entrance to arena
• Go back to Igon and the Dragon Communion Priestess to get your rewards

It's a very boss-heavy quest, and Bayle the Dread is definitely one of the hardest bosses in the DLC, so you might not want to tackle this until later when you've collected more Scadutree Fragments.

Where to find Igon

You'll first encounter Igon lying in the road near the Pillar Path Waypoint grace in east Gravesite Plain. It's quite easy to find if you head over the Ellac Greatbridge and then follow the road east out of the big Messmer soldier camp towards the tall tower in the distance.

Igon will rage about his archenemy, Bayle, and explain how this someone or something took his legs. Follow the road he's lying on south-west—you'll know you're going in the right direction because of the headless dragon statues. Further down the road you'll be invaded by the Ancient Dragon-Man, but simply kick his ass and continue onwards to find the Dragon's Pit dungeon.

Dragon's Pit and The Grand Altar of Dragon Communion

The Dragon's Pit dungeon is pretty straightforward; you'll fight through some undead beast warriors until you reach a room with a big chalice on the other side of a precipice and a note essentially telling you to take a leap of faith. If you backtrack to the room up the slope directly behind you, there's also an optional Magma Wyrm you can fight for a Dragon Heart if you feel tempted.

Otherwise, take the leap of faith down the hole in front of the chalice to find a boss arena containing our favourite invasion pal, Ancient Dragon-Man. He's a fairly easy boss, just watch out for when he jumps into the air and fires Malekith-esque slashes at you. Once he's defeated, you can head out the backdoor to the Dragon's Pit Terminus and the Jagged Peak region. A short way down the path on the right, you'll find a note from Igon talking about Bayle, and at this point he'll disappear from his previous spot. 

Ahead you'll spot a pool with the Jagged Peak Drake boss in it. Kill it if you want for a Dragon Heart and Dragonscale Flesh—it is just your standard dragon with a new roar attack that summons AoE lightning—but otherwise, you're going south from that pool towards the giant dragon corpse. Here, you'll find the Grand Altar of Dragon Communion. Speak to the Dragon Communion Priestess just next to the fire and agree to commune with Bayle. She'll give you the Ancient Dragon's Blessing consumable and bid you to climb the mountain to face the 'Tyrant Drake'. 

Climbing Jagged Peak and fighting the twin drakes

Bad news! It turns out climbing the mountain is actually a bit of a trial. To get on the right path, take the trail east from the Jagged Peak Drake's arena and carry on up to the Jagged Peak Mountainside site of grace. From here, you'll have to face two Jagged Peak Drakes at the same time. It isn't too tricky if you summon to split aggro and burn down the one that's already hurt as fast as possible. 

After the boss, you'll hear Igon shouting about how you're an inspiring drake slayer. Head over to the exit to the arena to find him on the ground. He'll ask you to summon him to fight against Bayle and will give you Igon's Furled Finger to do it with. That's the first stage of the mountain complete.

How to beat Ancient Dragon Sennessax

Traveling further up the mountain, you'll come to a cave with a pool and a sleeping dragon. This is Ancient Dragon Sennessax and though he's very similar to the ancient dragon bosses from the base game—he uses lots of red lightning attacks—the added difficulty is that the arena is flooded and so his lightning attacks travel further. 

Here's what I recommend to help:

• Get some lightning resistance by eating Lightning Proof Dried Liver or the new Lightning Proof Pickled Liver item if you've found any. Also equip the Boltdrake Talisman if possible. If you're a little later in the DLC you could grab the Boltdrake Talisman +3 from near the Storehouse, Back Section grace in the Shadow Keep. Just head into the previous room from the grace and drop off the ledge to find it.
• Summon and use ranged attacks where possible. For me, this was stacking bleed with Swarm of Flies and wearing him down. You can close into melee, but the issue is that his lightning attacks shockwave across the water, making it dangerous to stay near to him for prolonged lengths of time.
• Jump the lightning on the water. It sounds silly, but as long as the attack isn't directly hitting you, it's possible to evade the lightning across the water by timing a jump.

Beat the ancient dragon and you'll get a tasty Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone and Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone for your trouble. Now you just need to follow the path up, dodging the lightning as you go, and you'll reach the Jagged Peak Summit site of grace. Time to fight Bayle. 

How to defeat Bayle the Dread

No doubt about it, Bayle is an absolute jerk of a boss. He's the optional very hard DLC dragon that FromSoftware loves to include, like Kalameet in Dark Souls, or Darkeater Midir in Dark Souls 3. As you enter the arena, you'll see Drake Warrior Igon's sign on your left, so you should summon him when you're not getting smacked around by Bayle.

Here are some tips for how I beat Bayle:

• Summon Igon for the first phase and a Spirit Ash when Bayle is charging up to start the second. Since Igon usually dies midway through the second phase, this will ensure you have support and aggro splitting throughout.
• Switch all your flasks to healing. It's a long-ish fight and he does so much damage. Unless you're a spellcaster, I'd suggest going all in on healing.
• Bayle seems to have two damageable spots; his head and the area around where he's missing a leg and his tail meets his torso. For the first phase you'll want to smack his face when the opportunity arises in the hopes of getting a stagger. The best opportunities to do this are when he raises his claw and slams it down for a lightning AoE, and when lightning sparks in his mouth and he jumps to grab you. Take every opportunity you can to boop his snoot and you should manage a stagger. 
• Bayle usually tips into second phase at two-thirds health, but if you can stagger him around that time, you can get a couple of charged attacks in and a crit on his glowing eye after, which will eat into his second phase health and make your next job easier.
• Switch from damaging his face to his tail area in the second phase. Since this phase is just a nightmare of AoE lightning and fire, plus he moves a lot, it's very tough to reach his head without getting hit by follow up lightning. His tail/missing leg area is a safer spot to be. You'll still get hit by some AoEs if not careful, but provided your Spirit Ash or Igon are getting his attention, it shouldn't be as hard to deal damage there.

If you're struggling, it also might be worth returning later after you've powered up more, since this is one of the hardest bosses in the expansion.

Completing Igon's quest

If you did manage to defeat Bayle, firstly, congratulations! Now you can get your rewards for the quest. Go back to where you last spoke to Igon in the twin Jagged Peak Drake boss arena and interact with his corpse to get Igon's Armor, Igon's Greatbow with the removable Igon's Drake Hunt ash of war, and his bell bearing. 

Don't forget to also go see the Dragon Communion Priestess to get the Priestess Heart—which lets you transform into a dragon when naked—and the special Flowerstone Gavel weapon that's effective against dragons. Lastly, you can commune with the fire and choose one of two spells to spend your Heart of Bayle on. Well done. Surely there can't be anything harder than that, right?