How to Alter Armor in Elden Ring [Regular and Demigod Pieces]

If you were part of the Fashion Souls trend in previous Soulsborne games, you must be wondering how to alter armor in Elden Ring. 

Luckily for the style-conscious Tarnished, Elden Ring – which took developers five years to make– allows players to tweak the aesthetics of their character’s armor.

Here’s what you need to change your armor in Elden Ring and how to do it for free.

How to Get the Sewing Needle and Tailoring Tools

Altering armor in Elden Ring requires two key items: the Sewing Needle and Tailoring Tools. 

You can get both the Tailoring Tools and the Sewing Needle in West Limgrave, after defeating the Demi-Human Chiefs boss in the Coastal Cove dungeon, which unlocks access to the island in the southwest.

Here’s how to get there:

1. Go to the Coastal Cave on the western shores of West Limgrave.

Source: youtube.com/@PS4Trophies

To find it, head west from the First Step, the starting point in the game, and descend to the beach. Then, head south to find the entrance of the cave. Make sure you purchase a torch from Merchant Kalé at the Church of Elleh, as the cave is rather dark. 

2. Enter the cave, activate the Site of Grace, and keep going until you reach the boss area. 
3. Defeat the two Demi-Human Chiefs. This can be tricky as you have to fight the two bosses simultaneously while fending off attacks from the many regular demi-humans lurking in the area. To even the odds, make sure you summon Old Knight Istvan at the entrance, or a Spirit Ash summon.

Tip: The two Demi-Human Chiefs are on opposite sides of the boss area, so if you don’t make too much noise and keep the fight near the entrance, you can defeat one Demi-Human Chief without disturbing the other. This way, you will avoid fighting them at the same time.

4. Once you defeat the two Demi-Human Chiefs, you will be granted the Sewing Needle and the Tailoring Tools, which will allow you to alter armor in Elden Ring.

How to Alter Armor Appearance

To change your armor appearance in Elden Ring:

1. Rest at a Site of Grace.
2. Select Alter Garments from the menu.

Source: diamondlobby.com

3. From there, you can alter most armor sets in your inventory. A single armor alteration in Elden Ring costs 500 Runes. Note that reverting back to the unaltered version of the armor piece will cost you 500 Runes as well.

Source: diamondlobby.com

What Does Altering Armor Do in Elden Ring?

In addition to giving your character a fresh new look, altering armor in Elden Ring typically lowers the weight of your gear– sometimes at the cost of certain perks or lower stats that come with the armor.

This happens because tweaking the armor’s appearance usually involves removing a cape, a cloak, or some other part.

For example, the original Black Knife armor includes a translucent cloak that muffles the sound of footsteps, making the player’s movements inaudible. The altered version comes without the translucent cloak, causing it to lose this advantage. It also slightly lowers the armor’s stats and weight.

Altering your armor's appearance does the opposite of upgrading your armor.

How to Alter Armor for Free

In Elden Ring, you can alter armor for free if you find Boc the Seamster and complete his questline. He will offer to do it for free once you meet him at the Lake-Facing Cliffs Site of Grace.

This NPC is a well-natured demi-human who was expelled from his cave, stripped of all his possessions, and turned into a tree by the other members of his species. 

In exchange for helping him, he will offer you free armor alterations.

Here’s how to find him and complete his questline:

First Meeting: Agheel Lake North Site of Grace

1. To find Boc, go to Agheel Lake North Site of Grace in Limgrave and head southeast towards the Stone Bridge. Take a left turn, right before the bridge and go towards the trees. 

Source: youtube.com/@thegamerpillar

2. If you’re in the right location, Boc – who, at this point, is in shrub form – will start calling out to you. Follow his voice to find him. If you are playing in online mode, you can also use the messages left on the ground by other players to pinpoint Boc’s exact location.

Here’s what the shrub looks like:

Source: youtube.com/@thegamerpillar

3. Once you’re there, hit the shrub to free Boc from the curse and reveal his true form.

Source: youtube.com/@thegamerpillar

4. Select Talk and Boc will tell you about his misfortunes. He explains that he was stripped of all of his possessions when he was expelled from the cave where he previously lived and that he has nothing else to offer you but ten mushrooms. He also notes that if you’re willing to wait, he can repay his debt by bringing back something of “actual value.”

Second Meeting: Coastal Cave

1. Head back to the Coastal Cave, and you will find a hurt Boc lying next to the Site of Grace. Boc explains that he got beaten by the other demi-humans while trying to retrieve the Sewing Needle, his special keepsake left to him by his mother. 
2. If you haven’t defeated the Demi-Human Chiefs yet, continue straight to the end of the cave. Once you get the Sewing Needle, go back to Boc and return it to him.

Source: youtube.com/@thegamerpillar

This gesture will inspire him to leave the cave behind and become a seamster, following in the footsteps of his mother. 

Third Meeting: Liurnia of the Lakes

The next time you see Boc is at Liurnia of the Lakes, at the Lake-Facing Cliffs Site of Grace which is right after the Godrick the Grafted Site of Grace. 

Talk to him, and he will offer to be your personal seamster and make alterations to your armor for free. 

Source: youtube.com/@thegamerpillar

Boc the Seamster’s story doesn’t end there. You’ll also see him at other locations throughout the game, including:

• East Raya Lucaria Gate Site of Grace.
• Altus Highway Junction Site of Grace.
• East Capital Rampant Site of Grace.

What Happens if You Give Boc a Larval Tear?

If you open the Erdtree dialogue option when you meet him at the East Capital Rampant Site of Grace, Boc will tell you that he is unsatisfied with his looks and that he wishes to be rebirthed by Rennala.

This will allow you to choose between two options that will ultimately decide Boc’s fate:

Either give him a Larval Tear to change into a human form, which leads to his eventual death, or you can tell Boc he is beautiful as he is with the Prattling Prate "You're Beautiful" item which will change his mind on being rebirthed.

You can find this item in Hermit Village, Mt. Gelmir, on a corpse on the side of a house in the south part of the village.

How to Get the Golden Needle

To further advance Boc’s storyline, you will need to find the Golden Needle. This is a special item that will give Boc the ability to alter demigod armor pieces. 

To find the Golden Needle:

1. Go to the Church of Vows, located on the eastern side of Liurnia of the Lakes.

Source: youtube.com/@thegamerpillar

2. Open the chest by the altar to obtain the Golden Needle.
3. You will also get the Golden Tailoring Tools here which lets you alter demigod armor on your own in a Site of Grace menu.
4. Buy a piece of alterable demigod armor of a boss you defeated (some of them drop Great Runes and/or Remembrances as well) from Finger Reader Enia at Roundtable Hold.
5. Meet Boc at Leyndell, talk to him, and give him the Golden Needle.

Source: youtube.com/@thegamerpillar

Alterable demigod armor pieces include:

• Radahn's Lion Armor
• Malenia's Armor
• Maliketh's Armor
• Lord of Blood's Robe

10 Armor Pieces That Can Be Altered in Elden Ring

Here are ten examples of altered armor in Elden Ring, their main differences in weight and appearance compared to their original counterparts, and the altered versions’ resistance stats.

1. Maliketh's Armor

Source: eip.gg

Once altered, Maliketh's Armor loses the cloth.

Weight: Lowers from 12.8 to 11.8.

2. Raging Wolf Armor

Source: eip.gg

Once altered, the Raging Wolf armor loses the cape.

Weight: Lowers from 10.1 to 9.

3. Blaidd’s Armor

Source: eip.gg

Once altered, the Blaidd’s Armor loses the cape.

Weight: Lowers from 13.7 to 12.5.

4. Cleanrot Armor

Source: gamerguides.com

Once altered, the Cleanrot Armor loses the white and red drape around the waist.

Weight: Lowers from 15 to 13.7.

5. Drake Knight Armor

Source: eip.gg

Once altered, the Drake Knight armor loses the dragon parts - the cloak and front feathers.

Weight: Lowers from 9.2 to 8.3.

6. Malenia’s Armor

Source: eip.gg

Once altered, Malenia’s armor loses the cape.

Weight: Lowers from 7.7 to 6.8.

7. Errant Sorcerer Robe

Source: eip.gg

Once altered, the Errant Sorcerer Robe loses the cloak.

Weight: Lowers from 4.1 to 3.2.

8. Prophet Robe

Source: eip.gg

Once altered, the Prophet Robe loses the shackles.

Weight: Lowers from 6.3 to 5.1.

9. Crucible Tree Armor

Source: eip.gg

Once altered, the Crucible Tree armor loses the cloak.

Weight: Lowers from 15.5 to 14.9.

10. Black Knife Armor

Source: eip.gg

Once altered, the Black Knife armor loses the cloak.

Weight: Lowers from 9.2 to 9.

Bottom Line

If you’re wondering how to alter armor in Elden Ring, you can do that at any Site of Grace after you obtain Sewing Needle and Tailoring Tools from the Demi-Human Chiefs boss fight. Armor alterations in Elden Ring will cost you runes – unless you help Boc, who, in return will alter your armor for free.