Hewg’s Questline
Smithing Master Hewg is the grumpy, chained blacksmith of the Roundtable Hold, the one who upgrades your weapons and applies your Ashes of War. Long ago Queen Marika bound him to the Hold with an impossible task: to forge a weapon that can kill a god.
He never leaves his anvil, so his story is told entirely through conversations. Bring Roderika to him and he becomes her teacher, and as the game moves on you learn what he really thinks of his work, his queen and the Tarnished he smiths for. There are no big rewards here, but it is one of the most touching small stories in the game, and it unlocks spirit tuning.
Rewards
- Hewg’s smithing services for the whole game: strengthening armaments, applying Ashes of War and affinities, duplicating Ashes of War with Lost Ashes of War, and buying unwanted items
- Roderika’s spirit tuning, unlocked by convincing Hewg to teach her
- No items: this questline is all about the story
Walkthrough
- Talk to Hewg. Hewg stays in the same spot at the Roundtable Hold for the whole game. Speak to him to start his story. He handles your weapon upgrades from here on.
- Ask him about Roderika. Once Roderika has arrived at the Hold, ask Hewg about her. Go back and tell her what he said.
- Persuade him to teach her. Return to Hewg, ask about Roderika again, ask him to watch over her and tell him it is what she wants. Reload the area and Roderika sits across from him, ready to upgrade your Spirit Ashes. See Roderika’s Questline for her side.
- Ask for advice at the Forge. After you have reached the Forge of the Giants, return to the Hold and talk to him for his advice.
- After the Erdtree burns. Once you have burned the Erdtree, go back to the Hold, choose to talk a while and ask him why he is still making weapons. Then speak to Roderika and ask about Hewg, and go back to Hewg to ask what happened to her.
- Ask about the god-slaying weapon. After you defeat the Godskin Duo, return to the Hold and ask Hewg about the god-slaying weapon.
- The last talk. After defeating Maliketh, the Black Blade, ask Hewg about himself.
Missable steps & failure conditions
- No known lock-outs. Hewg never moves, and there is no known way to miss his conversations. Just remember to come back to the Hold after each milestone (Roderika’s arrival, the Forge of the Giants, the Godskin Duo and Maliketh) to hear what he has to say.
- Spirit tuning depends on him. Roderika only becomes a spirit tuner after you go back and forth between her and Hewg and talk him into teaching her.
Endings & consequences
- Roderika. Hewg takes Roderika under his wing. He sees in her the same eyes as a spirit tuner who once helped him, long before, and whom he never got to repay.
- The burning Hold. When the Erdtree burns, the Roundtable Hold burns with it and Hewg’s chains break. He refuses to leave and keeps smithing his god-slaying weapon, even as his mind slips and he forgets both Roderika and you. Roderika stays with him to the end.
- Marika. His whole story is shaped by his fear of Queen Marika, who cursed him with his task. Roderika’s final wish is for you to use his weapons against her.