Quick answer: Complete the Putrid Paradise myth in Heian, find Tatsumaro in the Eternal Rift beneath the Blacksmith, and give him a total of 30 Dung Balls (Noble Dung Balls count as two each) to unlock the hidden Dung Ball Roller trophy.
Putrid Paradise — The Required Side Quest
Before Tatsumaro appears in the Eternal Rift, you need to finish the Putrid Paradise myth. This side quest becomes available after completing The Age of Clans Begins main mission in the Heian era. Head to the Hachijo region and look for a man standing on the roof of a partially submerged house in the flooded swamp area near Rajomon. Talk to him to start the quest.
The objectives are straightforward. You'll sit in a hot spring with Tatsumaro, then escort and protect him as he walks home. All objective markers appear on the map, so nothing is hidden or easy to miss.
Finding Tatsumaro in the Eternal Rift
Once Putrid Paradise is done, Tatsumaro relocates to an underground cave beneath the Blacksmith in the Eternal Rift. To reach him, go to the Blacksmith and drop down the ladder in the corner to the right of the Fox-eyed Blacksmith. Destroy the boulder Spirit Vein using the Kongojishi Guardian Spirit, then drop through the hole that opens up.
Keep moving forward and drop off the edge all the way to the bottom. There is no fall damage in this area, so you won't die. Tatsumaro will be waiting down there. To leave after talking to him, turn around and climb the ladder next to the standing torch.
Dung Ball Roller Trophy Requirements
The Dung Ball Roller is a hidden trophy tied to giving Tatsumaro a cumulative total of 30 Dung Balls. Regular Dung Balls count as one point each. Noble Dung Balls are rarer but count as two points each, so they speed up the process considerably.
Tatsumaro hands out Smithing Text rewards at specific milestones along the way:
| Dung Balls Given | Reward |
|---|---|
| 10 | Horned Turban Helmet (Smithing Text) |
| 20 | Coiled Snake Helmet (Smithing Text) |
| 30 | Conch Eboshi (Smithing Text) + Blackened Key + Trophy |
The Blackened Key is particularly valuable. It opens the locked door on the second floor of the Blacksmith's building, where a chest containing rare loot is waiting.
Best Dung Ball Farming Spot
Dung Balls are random drops from standard enemies, and the drop rate is low. Many players finish an entire playthrough with only a fraction of the 30 needed, so dedicated farming is almost always required.
The most reliable farming location is in Warring States → Tokaido → Shrine: Cape Cavern, the southernmost shrine in the south-east region of Warring States. From the shrine, turn around, and you'll find two wasps on the left and two wasps on the right. Kill all four, fast travel back to the shrine to respawn them, and repeat.
On average, wasps drop a Dung Ball roughly once every 30 kills, which works out to about one Dung Ball every eight runs of this loop. The wasps die in a single hit, and throwing Shuriken or Kunai in Ninja style makes the process even faster. Dung Ball pickups appear as white text on the right side of the screen.
Other enemies that can drop Dung Balls include Gaki chiefs and various human enemies. You can also farm them through the Crucible Tours battle scroll after completing the Kiyomizu Defiled mission, though the wasp spot tends to be quicker for most players.
Improving Your Drop Rate
The single most important stat for Dung Ball farming is Item Drop Rate, not Luck. Players who stacked Item Drop Rate on all available gear slots reported collecting the remaining Dung Balls in a single session, while those focusing only on Luck often struggled to see any drops at all.
A few ways to boost your odds:
- Reforge or equip gear with Item Drop Rate bonuses on every piece you can.
- Join a clan that raises your Luck stat. While Luck alone isn't as impactful as Item Drop Rate for these specific drops, it doesn't hurt to stack both.
- Play co-op missions if you want variety. Some players have had success picking up Dung Balls during Expedition runs, since you're killing a high volume of enemies quickly.
How You Know It Worked
Each time you hand Dung Balls to Tatsumaro, he'll acknowledge the gift, and his dialogue will change. At the 10 and 20 milestones, he gives you a Smithing Text. When you hit 30, the Dung Ball Roller trophy notification pops immediately, and Tatsumaro hands over both the Conch Eboshi Smithing Text and the Blackened Key. If he's still saying "how about a dip in my spring" and won't accept more, you likely haven't collected enough Dung Balls yet — check your inventory and keep farming.
The trophy is not missable. You can return to Tatsumaro at any point after completing Putrid Paradise, even in New Game Plus, and continue giving him Dung Balls until you reach the total. It's tedious, but it's one of the last obstacles standing between many players and the platinum.