How to open the Raya Lucaria Academy seal.
The Elden Ring Glintstone Key is an item you need to find as part of the game’s critical path.
Also known as the academy key, it opens the way to the second significant dungeon in the game, the Raya Lucaria Academy.
You’ll first hear of the Glintstone Key from Sorcerer Thops when you first arrive at the Lakes, and both the key – and the Academy seal it unlocks – are found within the same region.
Returning to him later with a second Glintstone Key also concludes the Thops quest.
To help you navigate, we recommend you find all Liurnia of the lakes Map Fragments first.
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Looking for direction? Our what to do first in Elden Ring page can help.
19 Elden Ring tips
Elden Ring Glintstone Key location
If you head to the Raya Lucaria Academy south gates, you can find a Meeting Place Map next to the seal, which gives us a clue of where to find the Glintstone Key.
Whether you grab that first or not, you can find the Glintstone Key location behind the Glintstone Dragon Smarag just west of the Academy.
If you have explored the region a little, this is just north of the Temple Quarter Site of Grace.
Approaching from the south, the dragon will be sleeping in an alcove that blocks the way to the items.
However, if you sneak and flank from either side, it’s possible to squeeze past and reach them.
The dragon might still wake, but you will have more than enough time to grab the Glintstone Key before a boss battle initiates – it’s resting on the corpse at the very back.
If you can, there are other items here – Kikri blades and Dragonwould Grease – otherwise it’s time to hop on Torrent and make a quick getaway.
Where to use the Glintstone Key
Once you have the Glintstone Key, you can find the seal to the south of the Academy. To reach it, you must visit Academy Gate Town in the south-west, then approach the stairs going west, past the enemies and then up towards the gate. Use your horse or sprint to bypass as much as possible without fighting, and rest at the Site of Grace.
With the Glintstone Key in your inventory, approach the seal to be teleported to the Academy dungeon area, where there’s the Main Academy Gate Site of Grace you can use to return to later.
While you are here, approach the seal to the north to reach the Bellum Highway area and find another Site of Grace to help for exploring that region when you are ready.
Once you have settled on a starting class and starting Keepsake item, you should first work out how to level up, how to respec, how to unlock the horse, Ashes of War, crafting and multiplayer. Need some direction from there? Try finding map fragments, flask upgrades, the best weapons and a staff location. If you want to improve your prowess, then we recommend rune farming, finding smithing stone locations and Stonesword Keys – especially against the likes of Magrit, Godrick the Grafted, the Tree Sentinel, Leonine Misbegotten, Royal Knight Loretta, Starscourge Radahn (required as part of the Ranni quest, Red Wolf of Radagon and Renalla Queen of the Full Moon after you have found the Glintstone Key location.
Where to find a second Glintstone Key for the Throps quest
If you spoke to Sorcerer Thops at the Church of Irith about the Glintstone Key, he asks that he would be interested in an additional Glintstone Key if you can find one.
The second Glintstone Key location is found inside the Raya Lucaria Academy dungeon. The route there is long winded – it involves dashes past mages, scaling multiple roofs before dropping down from ceiling beams onto a chandelier – with Games from Mars on YouTube showing the route clearly from the Debate Parlour Site of Grace at the 4 minute mark:
Once done, return to Throps at the Church, and hand over the key. He will then move location to the Academy, specifically the Schoolhouse Classroom. Head down the steps from the Site of Grace and turn the right corner to find him.
You’ll then receive Thop’s Bell Bearing, the Academy Glintstone Staff and Thop’s Barrier. The Bell Bearing can then be taken to the Roundtable Hold’s Twin Maiden Husks to purchase the Glintstone Pebble, Glintstone Arc and Starlight spells.