Should I Kill The Dung Eater?

When It Makes Sense

• Good fit: You want his unique equipment early and have no plans to use the Fell Curse ending. In Elden Ring, killing the Dung Eater at Roundtable Hold drops the Omen armor set and the Sword of Milos according to standard community-curated wikis and player testing, allowing you to bypass the multi-step Seedbed Curse collection and invader fight. If you are already committed to another ending—such as the standard Elden Lord ending, the Age of Stars, or another character-specific route—then the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse has little value to you. Early elimination therefore becomes a fast, low-regret way to collect solid equipment and remove one of the most unsettling NPCs from your central hub.
• Good fit: You have already exhausted his questline and collected everything unique. Once you have delivered the Seedbed Curses, obtained the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse, and—if relevant—given him Seluvis’s potion to receive the Dung Eater Puppet, the Dung Eater offers no further exclusive rewards. At that point, killing him is simply cleanup: you remove a hostile presence from the world, tidy up Roundtable Hold, and suffer no meaningful loss before finishing the game or entering New Game Plus.

When You Should Avoid It

• Warning sign: You want the Fell Curse ending or want to keep all ending options available. The Mending Rune of the Fell Curse is the only way to unlock that specific ending variation, and it requires the Dung Eater to stay alive long enough for you to feed him Seedbed Curses and progress through his transformation. Killing him before you receive the rune permanently removes that choice from your current playthrough. If you have not yet decided on an ending, the safest course is to leave him alone until after you secure the rune.
• Warning sign: You are on a first playthrough or trying to see as much content as possible. The Dung Eater’s questline touches on Omen lore, connects to other NPCs, and includes unique dialogue and encounters that are easy to miss if you attack him on sight. Killing him early cuts off the Dung Eater Puppet option for Seluvis’s questline and skips the invader fight and related world-state changes. For a thorough initial experience, it is usually better to delay violence until you have explored his storyline.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Early access to the Omen Set and the Sword of Milos without having to gather Seedbed Curses or defeat him later as an invader.
• Removes a hostile, disturbing NPC from Roundtable Hold and prevents his later invasion event, simplifying your hub and reducing ambient threats.
• Eliminates the risk of accidentally failing or mismanaging his questline if you never intended to complete it anyway.

Cons

• Permanently locks the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse and its associated alternate ending for the rest of the playthrough.
• Removes the option to obtain the Dung Eater Puppet spirit ash through Seluvis’s questline if that summon interests you.
• Cuts off related lore, NPC interactions, and the structured quest progression that explains more about the Omen curse.

Decision Checklist

• Have I decided which ending I want? If the Fell Curse ending is on your list, keep the Dung Eater alive.
• Am I doing Seluvis’s puppet questline? If yes, you will need the Dung Eater alive and cooperative for the potion step.
• Have I already obtained the Mending Rune and any puppet reward I want? If not, it is usually worth waiting before attacking him.

Alternatives to Consider

The lowest-risk alternative is to complete the Dung Eater’s questline first, claim the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse, and then kill him afterward if you still want his gear or simply want him gone. This preserves your ending option while still letting you collect most rewards. Another option is to ignore him entirely: if you never feed him Seedbed Curses or use the Mending Rune, his presence does not change the main story outcome. You can also use a backup save before attacking him so you can test both outcomes without committing. Finally, if you are worried about locking content on your first run, consider saving his full questline for a New Game Plus playthrough, where you already understand the trade-offs.

Final Recommendation

Whether you should kill the Dung Eater comes down to your priorities in this playthrough. If you do not want the Fell Curse ending, do not want the Dung Eater Puppet, and would like his gear early, killing him is a reasonable shortcut. If you are a first-time player, a completionist, or want every ending and spirit ash available, leave him alive until you have finished his questline and secured all linked rewards. Because his death can lock content for the rest of the playthrough, make the choice deliberately—and consider backing up your save if you want to explore both outcomes.