Elden Ring: Where To Find The Unalloyed Gold Needle For Millicent
At the beginning of Millicent's questline in Elden Ring, Gowry, Millicent's father, requests Tarnished to find the Unalloyed Gold Needle to cure his daughter of her Scarlet Rot. Gowry claims that this "certain needle" is located somewhere within the Swamp of Aeonia in central Caelid. Yet, the Scarlet Swamp is fairly large, making it tricky to know where the Elden Ring quest item can be found.
Millicent's Unalloyed Gold Needle is not a hidden item stored within a chest or looted from a corpse in Elden Ring. Instead, it is the guaranteed drop from defeating a specific mini-boss within Aeonia known as Commander O'Neil. Tarnished can find him in a small clearing directly to the south of the Inner Aeonia Site of Grace. Alternatively, those starting from Gowry's Shack must pass through the Town of Sorcery and travel southwest from Sellia Under-Stair. However, adventurers who cross the center of Aeonia to reach O'Neil will be invaded by Millicent along the way.
Millicent's invasion will occur in an area full of Scarlet Rot, yet there's an elevated twisted tree branch nearby that spellcasters and archers can sit atop and execute ranged attacks to beat her. Elden Ring melee fighters may have a bit of trouble, as they will not be able to roll in the corrupted swamp due to ailment infliction. During this fight, Tarnished cannot mount Torrent. Therefore, those who do not wish to battle Millicent should travel from the north or east to Commander O'Neil's location.
Commander O'Neil's fight will not be very difficult for those who've reached Levels 80 or higher in Elden Ring. He does not patrol the area and will not automatically aggro if the player is sneaking. As a result, he is a very easy mini-boss to cheese. For instance, Tarnished running the one-shot mage build can sneak behind him and cast Comet Azur to take him down with ease. On the other hand, those who've acquired the Poison Mist Incantation from the Weeping Peninsula in Elden Ring can stealthily approach his back and cast the Incantation continually until he falls.
Another potential technique of defeating Commander O'Neil is luring him out into the Scarlet-ridden Swamp and having him walk over the deadly bursting geysers in the vicinity. However, Tarnished should still be wary of his attacks, especially the whirlwind slash that can inflict Scarlet Rot. Once O'Neil is dead, the protagonist will receive the Commander's Standard Halberd and the Unalloyed Gold Needle. Return to Gowry to have the needle fixed and then head uphill to the Church of Plague to cure Millicent.
Elden Ring is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.