Leda’s Questline
Needle Knight Leda is the one who waves you into the Realm of Shadow in the first place. She leads the little band of Miquella‘s followers, and as long as his charm holds them together she is warm and welcoming. Once that charm breaks, she decides to weed out the comrades she no longer trusts, and she wants your help doing it.
This is the questline where your choices really bite. Two ambushes in Shadow Keep decide whether Hornsent and Sir Ansbach live or die, and which talismans, weapons and runes you walk away with. Whatever you pick, it all ends with Leda standing between you and Miquella at the top of Enir-Ilim. You cannot get every reward from Leda, Hornsent and Ansbach in one playthrough, so plan ahead.
Rewards
The safest way to collect everything takes two playthroughs: defend Hornsent and finish Ansbach’s quest on one run, then side with Leda in both ambushes on the next.
Walkthrough
- Meet Leda at the cocoon. Defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood (and Starscourge Radahn) in the base game. Leda waits in white robes next to Miquella’s bloody cocoon in Mohgwyn Palace. Talk to her until she runs out of words; she tells you to touch the withered arm, which takes you into the Realm of Shadow and starts the DLC.
- Read her first message (optional). After defeating the Divine Beast Dancing Lion in Belurat, Tower Settlement, ride the lift up and climb the stairs. Leda’s first note, the Tower of Shadow Message, lies to the right at the top.
- Read her second message (optional). Beyond Castle Ensis you find a Miquella’s Cross with Leda’s Castle Cross Message right beside it. You can also summon Leda for the fight against Rellana, Twin Moon Knight inside the castle, but only until Miquella’s charm is broken.
- Talk to her at Highroad Cross. Leda now sits at the Highroad Cross Site of Grace in Scadu Altus, just north of Castle Ensis, with Hornsent nearby. Exhaust both of them; Hornsent hands you a map of more crosses. Resting at the grace a few times can help new dialogue appear. If you have met Dryleaf Dane, Leda will tell you a little about him.
- Break Miquella’s charm. To move things along, approach the front entrance of Shadow Keep through Messmer’s Army Encampment, or go past Bonny Village into eastern Scadu Altus and head north from the Bridge Leading to the Village Site of Grace. A message tells you a great rune has been broken. It does nothing to you, but it wakes up several questlines at once.
- Help Leda choose a target. Go back to Leda at Highroad Cross. She asks who she should hunt. Naming Thiollier convinces her he is harmless; naming Hornsent or nobody ends with her going after Hornsent anyway. Your answer does not change the outcome.
- The first ambush: Hornsent. In Shadow Keep, on the battlements with the burning boats just before the lift up to the Storehouse, First Floor Site of Grace, two summon signs appear near some stairs to the south. The red one lets you join Leda against Hornsent, the gold one lets you defend him. See the warnings below before you pick.
- The second ambush: Ansbach. If you helped Leda kill Hornsent, or walked into Messmer the Impaler‘s arena without touching either sign, talk to Leda at Highroad Cross again and she names Ansbach as her next target. Two new signs appear near Ansbach at the Storehouse, First Floor. They only show up if you already gave Ansbach the Secret Rite Scroll and finished his part in Shadow Keep (see Ansbach’s questline).
- Collect your thanks. Each time you side with Leda, go back to Highroad Cross for a talisman. If you helped her twice, exhaust her dialogue; after you rest or leave she moves on to Enir-Ilim. If you helped Hornsent or Ansbach instead, she goes there on her own.
- Face her in Enir-Ilim. At the top of Enir-Ilim, right after the Cleansing Chamber Anteroom Site of Grace, Leda and Dane block your way with their remaining allies in a big multi-NPC battle. Any surviving friends (Ansbach, Thiollier and others) can be summoned to your side. When it is over, loot Leda’s Armor and Leda’s Sword from her body.
Missable steps & failure conditions
- The Hornsent signs vanish once you enter Messmer’s arena. They disappear as soon as you step into the boss room from the Dark Chamber Entrance Site of Grace. There is no fog wall the first time you reach Messmer, so it is easy to stumble in by accident. Answer the signs first.
- Defending Hornsent locks you out of both Crossed-Tree talismans and Ansbach’s Longbow, since Leda never goes after Ansbach.
- Siding with Leda against Hornsent kills him, ends his story, costs you Ash of War: Swift Slash, and means he cannot help you against Messmer.
- Ignoring both Hornsent signs costs you Lacerating Crossed-Tree and Swift Slash. Both his and Leda’s stories continue after Messmer falls.
- Siding with Leda against Ansbach kills him: no Furious Blade of Ansbach, no Obsidian Lamina, no Leda’s Rune, and no Ansbach summon in Enir-Ilim.
- Defending Ansbach costs you Retaliatory Crossed-Tree. Ignoring his signs costs you both that talisman and the longbow, though he stays alive.
- Attacking Leda at Highroad Cross makes her vanish and jump straight to Enir-Ilim. Burning the Sealing Tree in the Ancient Ruins of Rauh also sends her there early.
- Rellana summon. Leda can no longer be summoned for Rellana once Miquella’s charm is broken.
Endings & consequences
- Hornsent. His fate is settled in the first Shadow Keep ambush. If he lives, he can help you against Messmer the Impaler.
- Sir Ansbach. The second ambush decides whether Sir Ansbach survives to fight beside you in Enir-Ilim and against the final boss. See Ansbach’s questline.
- Thiollier. Leda judges him harmless, so he is never targeted. He can still turn up on your side in the Enir-Ilim battle. See Thiollier’s questline.
- Moore and Dane. Moore and Dryleaf Dane belong to the same band of followers. Dane fights at Leda’s side at the end; Moore’s side of things is covered in Moore’s questline.
- Leda’s fate. She always dies in the Enir-Ilim battle, still convinced she is protecting Miquella.