Elden Ring has no shortage of NPCs that are weird, scary, or mean. Friendly faces like the porter Gostoc are a pleasant exception – apparently. Because this guy, who seems so helpful, brazenly steals from you after every death. MeinMMO tells you more.
Shortly after the tutorial dungeon, Elden Ring gives you many signals to check out Stormwing Castle. This imposing castle is pretty much the first thing you see in the open world.
Once you’ve made it past the tough boss Margit, the porter Gostoc is your first encounter and like a soothing balm: he’s friendly, warns you of the ambush at the main gate and helps you find a safer way deeper into the castle
But as with Fia and her deceptive “cuddles of death”, Gostoc’s helpful warmth hides a nasty consequence.
Gostoc steals 30% of your runes after each death
The NPC Gostoc is in a room to the left of the main gate of Stormwing Castle, and couldn’t be more inconspicuous. Deathly pale skin, strained voice and clothes that almost completely blend in color with the wall – this porter is the epitome of a wallflower.
Especially after the hard fight against Margit, his friendly and reserved manner is very pleasant. He wishes you luck, compliments you and gives you nice and honest tips, which you can also easily and without bad blood reject. You might get a little grin on your face after talking to him before you lose it with Swordfoot Hawks.
But if you die in Stormwing Castle and then pick up your runes, you might notice something. Because for some reason you’ve collected fewer runes than you’ve lost. This doesn’t happen anywhere else in the game, nor has it ever been a part of the Souls games. Anything you lose you can collect back in the same way.
In fact. Because that’s not true in Stormwing Castle. And you can already guess the reason: the inconspicuous Gostoc brazenly steals from you after every death.
The gatekeeper collects a full 30% of your runes after each of your deaths – without the game ever telling you this explicitly. Maybe you don’t even notice that you’re being deprived of a large part of your expensive wages. Because the inconspicuous Gostoc waits unnoticed for your doom and uses it completely unabashedly.
Gostoc is sneaky, but worth keeping alive
Even when Gostoc lingers in the shadows, observant players can observe his sneaky behavior. If you look closely, you can always see Gostoc behind your character:
- On a ruined watchtower.
- While traversing the side path.
- Inside the watchtower.
- On the roof of the castle chapel.
This video shows all these places:
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But that’s not all: if you enter the dark room with the rusty key, someone behind will also close the door. You hear a nasty laugh while locked in with a heavy enemy. It’s the laughter of Gostoc.
This happens whether you accept his help or not. As long as Gostoc is alive, he will steal from you in Stormwing Castle. But you should not act hastily:
Patch 1.03 added Gostoc to the story. If you do the quests of other NPCs correctly, Gostoc will open his shop again. There he will sell you the rare and insanely valuable Ancient Dragonforge Stone, which you can use to upgrade your weapons to the highest level. This video shows you how Gostoc’s Quest works:
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Even if Gostoc steals from you and thus shamelessly abuses your trust: it might not be worth killing him in cold blood. At least not since the patch.
Should you let the insidious coward Gostoc live to buy his Ancient Dragonforge Stone, you should use this valuable item for the right weapons. In our extensive tier list you can find out which weapons are currently the best in Elden Ring:
Elden Ring Tier List – All 309 weapons ranked after patch 1.03
