Elden Ring has around 36 NPC side quests in the base game and more than a dozen in Shadow of the Erdtree. Below is every one, with where you first meet the character, the reward or ending it leads to, and a link to our full walkthrough where we have one.
Before you start: what can lock you out
Most questlines advance quietly in the background, so the safest habit is to talk to everyone until they repeat themselves and to revisit the Roundtable Hold after every major boss. Three moments in particular end or skip steps in several quests at once: killing Rykard, killing Starscourge Radahn, and burning the Erdtree to reach Crumbling Farum Azula. Wrap up what you can before each of them. Our Missable Content guide and Game Progress Route cover the order in more detail.
Four questlines decide endings: Corhyn and Goldmask, Fia, the Dung Eater and Ranni each unlock an alternative ending, and Hyetta leads to the Three Fingers and the Frenzied Flame. See Endings for how they compare.
Base game side quests
| NPC | Where you meet them | Ending or key reward | Our guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander, Warrior Jar | Stuck in a hole in northern Stormhill; do not skip this first meeting | A final duel in Crumbling Farum Azula for the Shard of Alexander | Alexander’s Questline |
| Old Albus | Hiding as a pot in the Village of the Albinaurics | Haligtree Secret Medallion (Right) | Albus’s Questline |
| Knight Bernahl | Warmaster’s Shack in Stormhill | Volcano Manor jobs, then a duel in Farum Azula for the Blasphemous Claw | Bernahl’s Questline |
| Blaidd the Half-Wolf | A howl in Mistwood; learn the Finger Snap from Kalé to call him | Turns on you after Ranni’s quest; drops the Royal Greatsword | Blaidd’s Questline |
| Blackguard Big Boggart | Boilprawn Shack in Liurnia | Endless Boiled Prawns and crabs if he survives the Dung Eater | Boggart’s Questline |
| Boc the Seamster | Disguised as a bush south of Agheel Lake North in Limgrave | Free armor alteration; his last wish involves Rennala | Boc’s Questline |
| Brother Corhyn and Goldmask | Roundtable Hold; Goldmask on a broken bridge in Altus | The Mending Rune of Perfect Order for the Age of Order ending | Corhyn and Goldmask’s Questline |
| D, Hunter of the Dead and his twin | Stormhill past Saintsbridge, or the Roundtable Hold; the twin waits in Nokron | D’s armor and Bell Bearing; the twin’s Inseparable Sword | D’s Questline |
| Knight Diallos | Roundtable Hold | Ends in Jarburg with his mask and Hoslow’s Petal Whip | Diallos’s Questline |
| Dung Eater | Roundtable Hold, once you reach Leyndell | The Mending Rune of the Fell Curse for the Blessing of Despair ending | Dung Eater’s Questline |
| Finger Reader Enia | Roundtable Hold | Remembrance trades and a Talisman Pouch | Enia’s Questline |
| Ensha of the Royal Remains | Roundtable Hold | Invades once you hold the right medallion half; drops the Royal Remains set | No guide yet |
| Fia, Deathbed Companion | Roundtable Hold, after Godrick | The Mending Rune of the Death-Prince for the Age of the Duskborn ending | Fia’s Questline |
| Gatekeeper Gostoc | Outside the gate of Stormveil Castle | A Grace Mimic, and later an Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone in his shop | Gostoc’s Questline |
| Sir Gideon Ofnir | Roundtable Hold | Incantations such as Black Flame’s Protection for news of hidden demigods | Gideon’s Questline |
| Sage Gowry | Gowry’s Shack in Caelid | The Flock’s Canvas Talisman once his true nature is out | Gowry’s Questline |
| Gurranq, Beast Clergyman | Bestial Sanctum, reached through D’s directions | Beast incantations for each Deathroot, ending with an Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone | Gurranq’s Questline |
| Smithing Master Hewg | Roundtable Hold | Weapon upgrades, and his bond with Roderika | Hewg’s Questline |
| Lightseeker Hyetta | Lake-Facing Cliffs in Liurnia, after Irina’s story | The Frenzied Flame Seal and the road to the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending | Hyetta’s Questline |
| Irina of Morne and Castellan Edgar | Bridge of Sacrifice on the Weeping Peninsula | A letter for Castle Morne and a sad ending with Edgar in Liurnia | Irina and Edgar’s Questline |
| Jar-Bairn | Jarburg in Liurnia | The Companion Jar talisman once you bring Alexander’s innards | Jar-Bairn’s Questline |
| Castellan Jerren | Redmane Castle in Caelid | The Radahn Festival, then the choice between him and Sellen | Jerren’s Questline |
| Kenneth Haight | Northern Mistwood | An Erdsteel Dagger for clearing Fort Haight; he later backs Nepheli | No guide yet (see Nepheli’s) |
| Latenna the Albinauric | Slumbering Wolf’s Shack in Liurnia | Her spirit ash, and a Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone at the Apostate Derelict | Latenna’s Questline |
| Melina | Limgrave, early in the game | Torrent and levelling, and her fate at the Forge of the Giants | Melina’s Questline |
| Millicent | Church of the Plague in Caelid, sent there by Gowry | Miquella’s Needle and the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia if you stand by her | Millicent’s Questline |
| Nepheli Loux | Inside Stormveil Castle | An Arsenal Charm, and Nepheli taking Godrick’s throne | Nepheli Loux’s Questline |
| Patches | Murkwater Cave in Limgrave | His shop, and the Magma Whip Candlestick from a Volcano Manor job | Patches’ Questline |
| Ranni the Witch | Church of Elleh at night, then Ranni’s Rise | The Dark Moon Greatsword and the Age of the Stars ending | Ranni’s Questline |
| Roderika | Stormhill Shack | Spirit tuning at the Roundtable Hold and Spirit Jellyfish Ashes | Roderika’s Questline |
| Sorcerer Rogier | By the chapel altar in Stormveil Castle | His Spellblade set and Rogier’s Rapier | Rogier’s Questline |
| Rya the Scout | Liurnia, near the Laskyar Ruins | An invitation to Volcano Manor and Daedicar’s Woe | Rya’s Questline |
| Sorceress Sellen | Waypoint Ruins in Limgrave | A new body for her, then a choice between her and Jerren; the Witch’s Glintstone Crown either way | Sellen’s Questline |
| Preceptor Seluvis | Seluvis’s Rise in Liurnia | Puppet spirit ashes and the Magic Scorpion Charm | Seluvis’s Questline |
| Shabriri | By the Zamor Ruins grace, in Yura’s body | Directions to the Three Fingers, and the Ronin’s set left behind afterwards | No guide yet |
| Sorcerer Thops | Church of Irith in Liurnia | Thops’s Barrier and his staff after he returns to the Academy | Thops’s Questline |
| Tanith (Volcano Manor) | Volcano Manor | Assassination rewards like the Serpentbone Blade and Taker’s Cameo | Volcano Manor Questline |
| White Mask Varré | The First Step, the very first Site of Grace | The Pureblood Knight’s Medal that takes you to Mohgwyn Palace | Varré’s Questline |
| Wandering Artist Spirit | Spirits near each painting’s subject, all over the map | A different reward for each painting you solve, including a Larval Tear | No guide yet |
| Bloody Finger Hunter Yura | Under an overpass by the Limgrave lake | His Nagakiba and Eleonora’s Poleblade | Yura’s Questline |
Shadow of the Erdtree side quests
In the expansion, almost every questline turns on one event: the moment Miquella’s charm over his followers breaks, which happens as you approach Shadow Keep. Talk to everyone before you go in and again afterwards, because Leda, Ansbach, Freyja, the Hornsent, Moore and Thiollier all react to it, and your choices in Shadow Keep decide who stands with you in Enir-Ilim.
Tips for finishing quests
- Reloading an area (fast travel away and back, or quitting to the menu) is often what moves an NPC on to the next step.
- If you accidentally make a friendly NPC hostile, Absolution at the Church of Vows can undo it.
- Several quests share characters. Rya and Boggart, Gowry and Millicent, Diallos and Jar-Bairn, and Sellen and Jerren are best done side by side.