Where to find the academy Glintstone Key and how to complete Thops questline in Elden Ring

Looking for the Glintstone Key in Elden Ring? To enter the Academy of Raya Lucaria, you must find the Glintstone Key. This allows you to pass through the magical barrier at the South Raya Lucaria Gate Site of Grace and get inside the academy. A nearby map points the way to the academy Glintstone Key location, but this can prove difficult to follow. Fortunately, we're here to help.

In this guide, we'll cover where to get the academy Glintstone Key in Elden Ring and also explain where to find a second Glintstone Key so that you can complete the Thops questline.

Where is the academy Glintstone Key in Elden Ring?

You'll find the first academy Glintstone Key in Elden Ring near the Temple Quarter, West of the Academy of Raya Lucaria. You can find the academy Glintstone Key location with the map below.

When you arrive at the Temple Quarter, continue straight through and use your map to aim for the northwestern outskirts of these ruins. Here, you will find a Site of Grace that you can activate to reset any enemies and rest.

When you’re ready, leave the Site of Grace and head North towards the floating scarabs. Up ahead, you will see a large sleeping dragon. This is the Glintstone Dragon Smarag, which is a very tough boss encounter. While you can fight the dragon, we recommend sneaking past to get the Glintstone Key at this stage in the game.

The academy Glintstone Key is just behind the dragon, on the body of a dead sorcerer. When you have the key, fast travel back to South Raya Lucaria Gate and use it at the barrier to head into the Academy of Raya Lucaria.

Elden Ring Sorcerer Thops: how to complete the Thops questline in Elden Ring

When you first enter Liurnia after defeating Godrick the Grafted, you'll find the Church of Irith (marked on the map above). There, you meet a sorcerer named Thops who asks you to find a Glintstone Key. Fortunately, we're here to help you find a second Glintstone Key so that you can complete the Thops questline.

To find another key for Thops, you need to head into the Academy of Raya Lucaria and continue with your main quest until you reach the Debate Parlor, where you fight the Red Wolf of Radagon. After defeating this boss, rest at the Site of Grace and then head outside into the large courtyard to the North. The video that our guides editor Ollie made below shows where to go next, but we'll also explain it briefly here.

When you get outside, turn left and climb up the rubble and stairs, avoiding any enemies you find. When you reach the top of these stairs, turn left and jump over the ledge. Deal with the nearby Marionette enemies and then climb the ladder.

When you reach the top, go around the right side of the tower at the end. Follow this path around and jump onto the rooftops below. From here, continue hopping along the rooftops back towards the Church of the Cuckoo.

Eventually, you will find the Church of the Cuckoo rooftop. Hop through the open window to get onto the rafters inside. Carefully walk along these and look down onto the chandeliers below. One of them will have a corpse that you can loot to get another academy Glintstone Key, which you can take back to the Church of Irith to complete the Thops questline in Elden Ring.

After giving Thops the academy Glintstone Key, head to the Schoolhouse Classroom Site of Grace and look outside to find Thops slumped over in a chair. Thops is unfortunately dead, but you can loot his body to get a Bell-Bearing, the Thops' Barrier spell, and a Glintstone Staff.

That covers how to get the academy Glintstone Key and how to complete the Thops questline in Elden Ring. If you're struggling with bosses in the Academy of Raya Lucaria, get some more upgrade with our Elden Ring Golden Seeds, Elden Ring Sacred Tears, and Elden Ring Memory Stones locations guides. If you're using one of our best builds in Elden Ring, take a look at our lists of the best weapons and best armor in Elden Ring to boost your character even further.