Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree: Hornsent NPC quest walkthrough

Hornsent has one of the most complex NPC quests in Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion - especially as it involves multiple quest-ending choices. Check out the complete walkthrough of the quest below to miss a single step.

Where to find Hornsent

Hornsent is first found at the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace, which is to the north of the first Site of Grace in Gravesite Plain and the Scorched Ruins.

This is where you'll also find and start Freyja's NPC quest, so it's definitely worth visiting for more reasons than just Hornsent!

It's in the intersection between Belurat and Castle Ensis, so you'll likely come across it naturally as you progress through the first area of the DLC. There's also a Scadutree Fragment to be found here, which you can find among the rest to increase your Blessing in our complete locations walkthrough:

Quest walkthrough

Meeting Hornsent… Twice

While it isn't necessary for progression, meeting and exhausting Hornsent's dialogue in his first two locations gives you a much stronger sense of his character and background.

As mentioned, he can be first found at the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace with Freyja, but he will shortly move to a new location. I couldn't quite pin down what makes him move in my playthrough, but he was gone after I defeated Divine Beast Dancing Lion.

After this, he'll move to the Highroad Cross Site of Grace, which is found in Scadu Altus just after you beat Rellana.

This is where you'll also meet Needle Knight Leda for the first time, who plays a pivotal role in Hornsent's quest and the wider narrative of the DLC. You can also pick up the Monk's Missive and May the Best Win gesture, which are essential to complete Dryleaf Dane's quest.

Make sure that you've exhausted all of his dialogue in both locations, then you'll be ready to move on to the next step.

Breaking the charm

You'll now need to reach the point where Miquella discards his great rune and breaks the charm laid upon his followers. This can happen at different points, but the most common and consistent trigger occurs just before you enter the Shadow Keep in Scadu Altus.

Head through the soldier camp and just before you head through the big main door a shattering sound should occur, and a message will appear stating "Somewhere a Great Rune has broken, and so too a powerful charm."

Once that has occurred, make sure to head back to Highroad Cross and speak to Hornsent, exhausting his dialogue. Once you've finished that, speak to Leda again and she will ask you to suggest a target. You can choose between Thiollier, Hornsent, or no suggestion. Make sure to suggest Hornsent or no suggestion, as either will lead to the same result.

Fight at the Shadow Keep

Once you're inside the Shadow Keep, look out for two summon signs halfway down the walkway with the burning boats. This is just before you take the elevator up to the Storehouse, and can be found to the east of the big set of stairs.

There is a red summon sign and a golden one. The red will summon you to assist Leda in her hunt for Hornsent, whereas the gold will summon you to assist Hornsent in his fight against Leda.

Ignoring these summon signs and summoning Hornsent in the upcoming Messmer boss fight will allow you to progress both quests to completion, so you can choose to do that, or be summoned to assist Hornsent if you want to gain specific rewards.

Assisting Hornsent will put you in the fight against Leda, who upon completion will give you Leda's Rune and the Swift Slash Ash of War.

Fighting Messmer

Regardless of whether you assist Hornsent or leave the summon signs, you'll want to make sure to summon him for the fight against Messmer. It doesn't seem to matter whether he survives the whole fight or not, just that you summoned him in the first place.

Once you've defeated Messmer, rest at the Site of Grace within the arena and Hornsent should appear by the altar. It is essential that you talk to him straight away, as resting again or using fast travel will cause him to disappear - prematurely ending his questline.

Exhaust his dialogue as usual, and then move on to the Ancient Ruins of Rauh.

Invasion in Rauh

The final step of Hornsent's quest occurs as an invasion in the Ancient Ruins of Rauh, outside of the Church of the Bud. This is where you'll fight Romina, Saint of the Bud, and she's a mandatory boss so you don't have to worry about missing this step.

However, this won't happen if you assisted Leda, reached this point before defeating Messmer, or didn't speak to Hornsent after defeating Messmer.

Defeating Horsent in his invasion will grant you his armour and weapon, ending this questline in a rather tragic fashion. Alternatively, if you don't encounter this invasion Hornsent will be an ally of Leda during her boss fight in Enir-Ilim, and you'll receive his armour and weapon after that instead.