Sorcerer Thops is one of the saddest NPCs in Elden Ring. He only sells three spells, none of which are useful past the early game, though Glintstone Arc is a valuable option for PvP. However, completing Thops’ questline rewards a handy spell: Thops’s Barrier, which creates a small shield that deflects incoming sorceries and incantations for a brief period. You can use it multiple times to build the ultimate anti-magic wall before you.
Thops’ questline is relatively simple, but you will need to beat a boss and do some tricky platforming to complete it. This Elden Ring walkthrough guide will tell you how to see his quest through to the end.
How to Complete Thops’s Quest in Elden Ring
To start Thops’s quest, meet him at the Church of Irith near the Lake-Facing Cliffs Site of Grace just north of Stormveil Castle and the Godrick the Grafted boss arena. The church is down to the west of the Grace. Thops sits to the right of the statue of Marika, and after you donate him 10 runes, he’ll open up as a merchant.
He’s also looking for a Glintstone Key to get back into the Raya Lucaria Academy. The one you pick up in Liurnia of the Lakes is immediately bound to your character, and trying to give it to Thops will have him reject the offer, insisting you keep the key for yourself.
You will, therefore, need a fresh, unbound key for Thops. There’s one available in the Raya Lucaria Academy Legacy Dungeon.
Make your way through the Academy until you fight Red Wolf of Radagon. Once the boss is defeated, grab the Site of Grace that appears and head out the doors to the Grace’s left. Pass through the gate that leads into the large courtyard and go up the ruined pathway on your left with the two digging enemies.
Head up the staircase, and take another left. Go past the two mages, and then jump over the railing.
Turn around briefly to open the shortcut, then follow the platform around and again to the left. There will be another Academy mage looking out over the rooftops. Kill him, then jump over this second railing. Follow the rooftops to the south and west.
The path is pretty linear, and though you will see collectible items on higher areas, keep jumping down. Go up the first ladder you come to, and jump down on the left.
You’ll come to an intersection not long after the ladder. Jump down to the left again. You’ll now see several open windows leading to platforms above the Church of the Cuckoo Site of Grace.
Jump through the windows, then down onto the rafters. The second Glintstone Key is the one shiny item on the chandelier hanging above the Church of the Cuckoo.
Grab it, then head to the walkway above the church to kick down a ladder on its western side, just for the sake of it.
Return to Thops and give him the second, unbound Glintstone Key. Thops will thank you tremendously, then return to the Academy.
Fast travel or otherwise make your way to the Schoolhouse Classroom Site of Grace, then head back toward the large elevator. Take a right toward the cliffside edge, then look right again for Thops.
Thops will, unfortunately, be rather dead, but you can loot his Bell Bearing, an Academy Glintstone Staff, and the Thops’s Barrier sorcery from his body.
Another sad story to add to the pile, but that’s how you complete Thops’s questline in Elden Ring. As long as you’re in Raya Lucaria, you might as well beat Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. The Academy is also reasonably close to the Carian Manor, home of Ranni’s questline. Check out our Elden Ring guides hub for even more.
