Should I Kill Patches in Elden Ring and What Happens if I Do?

Did you just stumble into an Elden Ring cave, open a chest, and were immediately attacked by a bald character accusing you of theft and demanding vengeance?

Yep, that’s Patches! He’s here to trick you with empty promises yet again.

If you are wondering at this point: “Should I kill Patches in Elden Ring?”, the short answer is ‘no’, as he will prove much more useful down the road.

Below, we explain why!

Who Is Patches in Elden Ring?

image credit: polygon.com

Patches is a fan-favorite Souls character who makes a return in Elden Ring to yet again trick players into deadly situations with the promise of priceless treasure.

But who is Patches, exactly?

In essence, he is FromSoftware’s (the devs) greatest prank, as they have been steadily implementing him across most titles of their Dark Souls universe (to which Elden Ring belongs) as a much-needed reprieve from the dark and lonely in-game world.

Did you really think they’d forget to include him after working on the game for five years?

Veteran players know not to trust this bald menace as he will ultimately kick them off a ledge, but they still see his schemes to the end as a distraction from the main story.

You can kill or spare him—a choice that will affect your progress to a certain degree.

Should I Kill Patches in Elden Ring?

If you’ve played previous Souls games, you’d know that killing Patches is inadvisable since he repents to help you on your journey going forth as a merchant.

We understand that you might be left incensed after he betrays you, but if you stay your sword, you’ll get access to various weapons and consumables.

Moreover, players that killed Patches in Elden Ring found out they missed out on a thrilling questline that offers his unique crouch gesture as a reward.

What Happens if You Kill Patches in Elden Ring?

If you indeed decide to kill Patches for past grievances, you will get the satisfaction of seeing him die indignantly as he utters a last bit of profanity, as well as drop a few items:

• Patches' Bell Bearing 
• Spear +7
• Leather Armor
• Leather Gloves
• Leather Boots
• 2 x Golden Rune [1]

Note: As a boss fight, Patches offers a rather straightforward challenge, as you can easily dodge his attacks and deal significant damage immediately after that.

What Do You Get if You Spare Patches?

When you face the Elden Ring Patches kill or spare challenge, you will get the option to forgive him after he starts begging for his life at around 40% health. If you stop attacking him and wait for a few seconds, he will surrender and offer several rewards:

• Grovel for Mercy gesture
• 2 x Golden Rune [1]

However, the true reward for sparing him is getting access to his shop, which includes:

• Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot—consumable that boosts rune acquisition by 30%
• Fan Daggers—throwable daggers that inflict damage
• Margit’s Shackle—consumable to help you defeat Margit
• Grace Mimic—consumable that marks directions
• Glass Shard—filthy and worthless glass shard
• Parrying Dagger—a weapon to help you parry attacks
• Missionary's Cookbook—adds new crafting techniques
• Stonesword Key—used to break one imp statue seal
• Festering Bloody Finger—used to invade other players’ worlds
• Furlcalling Finger Remedy—reveals hostile summoning signs
• Great Arrow—ammunition for Greatbows
• Ballista Bolt—ammunition for the Hand Ballista and Jar Cannon
• Horse Crest Wooden Shield—a medium shield for most situations
• Sacrificial Twig—a talisman that prevents rune loss upon death

In addition to helping you with your progress, Patches will also send you on a quest to kill Great Horned Tragoth—a brutal enemy that drops the game’s armor set with the highest poise and physical defense despite being the heaviest (Bull-Goat set).

image credit: gamespot.com | the Bull-Goat set 

Can I Bring Patches Back to Life in Elden Ring?

If you’ve accidentally killed Patches in Elden Ring, there is no way to bring him back to life. Unlike other NPCs in the game, Patches cannot be revived with Celestial Dew.

So, if you are wondering how to revive Patches in Elden Ring, your only option is to start a new game or manually backup or download the specific save files before engaging him (if you are on PC), which you can then copy back to the corresponding folder.

You can learn more about this process in our guide to saving your Elden Ring progress.

However, if your only regret for killing Patches is the loss of his store, no need to worry as you can always gain access to it by bringing his Bell Bearing to the Twin Maiden Husks—a merchant that can expand their inventory with items from dead sellers.

So if that ever happens, simply pause your Elden Ring session and take a breather before logging back in to look for the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold.

And before you go, here's a funny interaction of what can happen if you knock Patches off a ledge before he even gets to kick you off of a cliff.

Bottom Line

If you end up asking yourself: “Should I kill Patches in Elden Ring?”, we recommend leaving him be since you can really use the items he is selling during your playthrough. In any case, you will definitely enjoy seeing him beg for his life for whatever it’s worth.

For other top-notch Elden Ring content, check our guides on sprinting in Elden Ring or upgrading your armor and your weapons.