Ansbach’s Questline
Sir Ansbach is a tired old Pureblood Knight who once served Mohg, Lord of Blood and now walks with Miquella‘s followers. He would rather investigate than fight, so he asks you to report the crosses Miquella left behind. When the charm breaks, old guilt comes back, and he heads to Shadow Keep to learn what became of his lord’s body.
Keep him alive through Leda’s questline and he becomes one of the best allies you can call in Enir-Ilim, and leaves you his scythe, his incantation and his armour at the very end. His story is also tangled with Redmane Freyja‘s, so the order you do things in matters.
Rewards
If you side with Leda instead, he dies and drops his longbow and armour set in Shadow Keep, but you lose the scythe and incantation for good on that playthrough.
Walkthrough
- Meet Ansbach at the Main Gate Cross. At the camp just outside Belurat, Tower Settlement in Gravesite Plain, Ansbach sits by the Main Gate Cross Site of Grace with Moore (see Moore’s questline). Exhaust his dialogue; he asks you to tell him about any Miquella’s Cross you find.
- Report the crosses (optional). Find the cross at Belurat, Tower Settlement and tell him about it. Then visit the cross at Scaduview or the one on the Cerulean Coast and report that too. With two of these, he works out what Miquella is after. This is only extra dialogue and does not affect the quest, but you lose it once the charm breaks.
- Break Miquella’s charm. To move on, 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. When the great rune breaks, go back to Ansbach and exhaust his new dialogue. He then leaves for Shadow Keep.
- Talk to Freyja first. In Shadow Keep, work up through the Specimen Storehouse. Ansbach is at the Storehouse, First Floor Site of Grace and Redmane Freyja at the Storehouse, Seventh Floor. Speak to Freyja about her decision before handing anything to Ansbach, then tell Ansbach about it.
- Bring him the Secret Rite Scroll. The Secret Rite Scroll lies on a table behind some tall bookshelves in the keep. Give it to Ansbach, rest at a Site of Grace, then talk to him again to receive the Letter for Freyja. Deliver it, and exhaust both his and Freyja’s dialogue.
- Leda comes for him. If you helped Needle Knight Leda kill Hornsent, or entered Messmer’s arena without answering either Hornsent sign, Leda chooses Ansbach as her next target. Two signs appear near him at the Storehouse, First Floor: gold to defend him, red to help Leda.
- Defend him (recommended). Picking the gold sign keeps Ansbach alive and his story going. You can also ignore both signs and he still lives, but you miss the rewards from this fight.
- Call him in Enir-Ilim. At the battle against Leda and her allies after the Cleansing Chamber Anteroom Site of Grace in Enir-Ilim, Ansbach’s summon sign appears. Summoning him is optional, but if you skip it you also miss his extra dialogue at the top of the lift afterwards, where he talks about Mohg, Miquella and Thiollier.
- Finish the game. If you summoned him against Leda, you can also call him for the final boss, Promised Consort Radahn. Either way, once Radahn falls, Ansbach’s gear is waiting near the entrance of the arena.
Missable steps & failure conditions
- Freyja before the scroll. If you give Ansbach the Secret Rite Scroll before talking to Freyja about her decision, he leaves without giving you the Letter for Freyja, which can lock out her questline. If he later dies to Leda’s ambush after taking the scroll but before you collected the letter, he drops it.
- No scroll, no ending. Without the Secret Rite Scroll he never leaves the storehouse and cannot be summoned in Enir-Ilim or for the final boss. The Leda ambush signs also only appear after you have given it to him.
- Helping Leda kill him ends his questline and costs you Obsidian Lamina, Furious Blade of Ansbach and Leda’s Rune.
- Skipping the ambush keeps him alive, but you lose Ansbach’s Longbow and the Retaliatory Crossed-Tree from Leda.
- Cross dialogue about Miquella’s intentions disappears once the great rune is broken. It is lore only and does not affect any rewards.
- Skipping his summon in Enir-Ilim means he cannot be summoned for the final boss, but he still leaves his items after it.
Endings & consequences
- Leda. Defending Ansbach turns Leda against you; she fights you in Enir-Ilim either way. See Leda’s questline.
- Freyja. The Letter for Freyja carries her story forward. Getting the order wrong can stall it.
- Thiollier. After the Enir-Ilim battle, Ansbach has some kind words about Thiollier if he fought beside you. See Thiollier’s questline.
- Ansbach’s fate. If he survives Leda’s ambush he fights for you to the end, and his equipment is left behind after the final boss.