If you’re an overeager (or overly violent) Elden Ring player, then you might have killed a few NPCs here and there without realizing that they were actually crucial to a quest, or that they were holding on to an important item.
But you may be in luck: A fair few slain NPCs are not permanently dead, or even permanently mad at you post-revival. To attempt to wipe the slate clean, all you have to do is pay a visit to the Church of Vows and say “sorry, my bad” for killing them.
Okay, it’s slightly more complicated than that. But not that much more.
Just head to the crumbled church in Eastern Liurnia, just west of the Ainsel River Well (or slightly south of the Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel). You’ll be greeted by the giant tortoise Miriel, who is identifiable by her adorable pope hat. But you don’t actually need to talk to her. What you’re really looking for is the statue of Lady Rennala in the back. Offering a consumable called the “Celestial Dew” to the statue of the fair lady will result in revivals for a number of the game’s NPCs, and revived NPCs will also forget any hostility they might’ve held for you.
The only problem is that not all NPCs can be resurrected this way. With the game so new, many discoveries are still being made, knowledge is in a state of flux, and it’s not yet clear why some NPCs can be revived while others cannot. Until the community compiles more definitive info, you’ll just have to hope for the best when it comes to resurrecting someone. (That said, performing the offering does seem to nullify all living NPCs’ anger toward you, even if they’re not on the “resurrectible” list.)
In any case, the Celestial Dew you need to perform the ritual is available through several methods. There’s a merchant who sells it near the Ainsel River, or Pidia at the Caria Manor in northern Liurnia. You can also get the dew the old-fashioned RPG way: by looting it off corpses. You’ll find a few if you start trawling through specific corpses in the Uhl Palace Ruins, Nokron, Night’s Sacred Ground, Nokstella, and Raya Lucaria Academy. Hey, it’s the least penance you can do for taking a demihuman life, right? You monster.
Speaking of NPCs, they’re a little easier to find now as the latest Elden Ring update also added handy NPC icons to the map. So, if you’re in a murderous mood and seeking potential victims, have a gander at your map. (Again, you really are a monster.)
Not all NPCs are restorable, note. So think very, very carefully before attempting to kill any of them.
Update 03/18/2022 6:15 p.m. ET: Added text to further clarify that not all NPCs can be resurrected, and that it is not yet clear which ones can be.