Pest Threads

Type

Incantation

FP cost

19

Memory slots

1

Stamina cost

29

Damage types

physical

Requires

11Fai

Spell school

Servants of Rot incantations

Incantation of the servants of rot.

Secretes countless sticky threads, launching them forwards.

A technique of the pale pests who crawl through the lands afflicted by scarlet rot; the abandoned children of the goddess.

"Do you have an interest in rot incantations?"

Gowry's Shack

Caelid

Starting Site of Grace: Southern Aeonia Swamp Bank

Before you go

• Give Millicent Valkyrie's Prosthesis in Altus Plateau.
• Bring 7,500 runes.

1. From Southern Aeonia Swamp Bank, follow the road north through Sellia Gateway. Watch for the giant throwing rocks above the gateway. Gowry's wooden shack is off the road on the right, before the town.
2. Speak to Gowry and agree to help Millicent. Keep the large dog away from the shack so its attacks do not interrupt the conversation.
3. Go west into the Swamp of Aeonia toward the clearing enclosed by large pale branches. Activate Inner Aeonia nearby and defeat Commander O'Neil in the Heart of Aeonia for the broken Unalloyed Gold Needle.
4. Return the needle to Gowry and finish his dialogue. He gives Sellia's Secret and needs time to repair the needle. Rest or reload, then speak to him again for the repaired version.
5. Continue north into Sellia, Town of Sorcery. Activate Sellia Under-Stair on the southwestern edge and follow the main street north, watching for sorcerers appearing beside the buildings.
6. Climb the stairs at the far end toward the golden sapling and the sealed upper gate. The large roots beside these steps provide the way onto the roofs.
7. Near the sapling, look southwest through the broken railing for a root leading toward the nearest candle tower. Follow it, climb the tower ladder and interact with the flame at the top.
8. Return to the upper steps and use the root again, this time stepping onto the adjoining roofs. Work south and east across the roofs and branches toward the eastern tower. Use Torrent's double jump for the gaps and climb the ladder to light its flame.
9. From that eastern roof route, head back across the connecting roots and roofs toward the southern tower on the western side. The narrow approach has a corpse with a Stonesword Key. Climb the ladder and light the third flame.
10. Take the now-open upper gate beside the golden sapling to Sellia Backstreets grace. Follow the uphill road beyond town, watching for the rolling boulders and the enemies on the bends.
11. At the top, go to Church of the Plague on the eastern cliff. Watch for the two Kindred of Rot outside, enter through the broken wall and activate the grace.
12. Give Millicent the repaired Unalloyed Gold Needle. Rest at Church of the Plague, then speak to her after she recovers and finish her dialogue to receive Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom.
13. Return to Gowry's Shack and speak to Millicent when she visits. Reload and speak to Gowry when he returns; his first three sorceries become available during these early handovers.
14. Reach Altus Plateau through the Grand Lift of Dectus with both medallion halves, or by defeating Magma Wyrm Makar at Ruin-Strewn Precipice. Find Millicent on the hill just north of Erdtree-Gazing Hill grace and finish her conversation.
15. From Erdtree-Gazing Hill in Altus Plateau, ride east down into the valley, then follow it north between the cliffs. Stay on the lower ground rather than climbing toward Mt. Gelmir's campsites.
16. Continue through the narrow gap until the Shaded Castle appears in its poison swamp. Use the rocks beside the broken southern wall to climb inside, then follow the wall right to Shaded Castle Ramparts grace.
17. Drop into the lower courtyard and head toward the center, keeping out of the poison where you can. At the next open area, climb the ladder on the raised platform to the right, beside a Wraith Caller.
18. At the top of the courtyard ladder, follow the rampart left toward the western side of the castle. Continue to the northwestern room guarded by a Cleanrot Knight rather than dropping through the gap toward Inner Gate.
19. Draw the knight out or defeat it, then open the chest in its room for the prosthesis. Elemer is farther inside the castle and does not need to be defeated.
20. Return to Millicent north of Erdtree-Gazing Hill and give her Valkyrie's Prosthesis. It is the quest arm from the chest, rather than either Dexterity talisman.
21. Return to Gowry if you want Pest Threads. Giving Millicent the arm unlocks this later spell; buying it and speaking to Gowry again also opens his related dialogue.
22. Open Gowry's expanded shop and buy Pest Threads for 7,500 runes. Speak to him again afterward for the newly available dialogue and gesture.

Notes

• Requires 11 Faith, one memory slot and a sacred seal. Each cast costs 19 FP and 29 stamina. This is an incantation even though its damage is physical.
• The threads deal Standard physical damage and can pass through a target's body. Large enemies may be hit several times as the threads travel through or curve back, which makes close positioning particularly effective against some large bosses.
• A small enemy does not receive the same number of contacts as a dragon or another enormous target. Range, movement and which part of the body you target change how much of the cast connects; there is no guaranteed maximum damage for every cast.
• Damage uses the casting seal's Incantation Scaling. Faith-only seals use Faith; Clawmark Seal also uses Strength and Dragon Communion Seal also uses Arcane. The spell's low Faith requirement does not prevent improving damage through the chosen seal's scaling.
• Flock's Canvas Talisman and Faithful's Canvas Talisman improve its incantation damage. Physical damage bonuses, including Flame, Grant Me Strength, can help as well. Fire-only or Magic-only bonuses do not strengthen these physical threads.
• Cannot be charged. Godfrey Icon does not improve it, and Shard of Alexander applies to skills rather than this incantation. Pest-Thread Spears is a different spell with a charged cast.
• Despite belonging to the Servants of Rot, the threads do not apply Scarlet Rot or poison. They deal direct damage rather than requiring a status proc, and raising Arcane does not create a rot buildup effect.
• Gowry sells it for 7,500 runes after you give Millicent Valkyrie's Prosthesis. Her Windmill Heights fight and the later Haligtree choice are not required to unlock this purchase.
• After buying it, finish Gowry's new dialogue if you want the Desperate Prayer gesture. A later bell-bearing shop preserves eligible spell stock, but does not reproduce that conversation.