Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree - Hornsent Quest Walkthrough

The characters that inhabit the world of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree aren't known for their hospitality, with their typical greeting being to take a swing at you, but Hornsent is one of the few characters that will actually help you out! Hornsent provides you with maps that will help you on your search for Miquella along with some other really helpful pieces of information about the new world you've found yourself in. Despite his helpful nature, you'll still want to be careful about your decision-making as you complete his quest.

Like many of the other NPCs in Shadow of the Erdtree, Hornsent's questline presents you with some decisions that will impact events later in the game. Make sure you think about the choices you make here, as you could come to regret them later. As with any "choices matter" game, you should be aware of how your decisions impact the world around you before rushing headlong into the unknown.

Elden Ring - Malenia in front of the glowing Erdtree

Is Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree too hard?

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is finally here, but there's been a lot of talk about its difficulty. Since enemies scale to meet the player's experience level, those with the most experience are perhaps struggling even more with the new bosses and enemies. Lower-level players are still having issues themselves though. Even the first few bosses - like the already-infamous early-DLC boss Blackgaol Knight - are proving punishingly difficult to defeat. While some think it's a typical FromSoftware launch, others are saying it's just too brutal. Have you been playing Shadow of the Erdtree and have you found it too hard?

Posts

How to Complete Hornsent's Quest in Shadow of the Erdtree

And Get Some Cross Locations Too

Three Cross map screenshot from Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

To begin Hornsent's quest, you'll need to head to Three Path Cross, where you'll find him waiting alongside Freyja. A bit to the west, you can find Ansbach and Moore at the Main Gate Cross. When you talk to Hornsent, he'll give you a map of Miquella's Crosses to find. After you talk to him here, he kind of leaves you alone until after your fight with Rellana in Castle Ensis.

After you beat Rellana, or skip her fight by found through the Fort of Reprimand, you can talk to Hornsent again at Highroad Cross behind Castle Ensis. Here, he'll give you another map of Miquella's Crosses, which you can send off to find or just keep exploring. Head towards Shadow Keep.

As you approach Shadow Keep, you'll get a pair of messages that tell you "Somewhere, a great rune has broken..." along with "And so too has a powerful charm." Once you've got these to pop up, keep going into the Keep until you reach the Shadow Keep Main Gate Site of Grace, but don't continue on from there. Instead, fast travel back to Hornsent and Leda at the Highroad Site of Grace. Speak to them both, exhausting all of their dialogue before moving on.

Fight Alongside Hornsent

And then Kill Him... or Not

Talking to Hornsent in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

After you've spoken to Leda and Hornsent, head back to the Shadow Keep. On the right side of the door leading to the Golden Hippopotamus fight, there should be a gold summon sign waiting that will allow you to summon Hornsent for the fight. Do so, and defeat the Golden Hippopotamus. Keep heading through the Shadow Keep, making sure you stop at or before the Dark Chamber Entrance Site of Grace.

At this point, you need to head back to Hornsent and Leda one more time, talking to them until Leda decides she's ready to start killing. She'll ask what you think, but you don't have to decide if you agree or not right now. Instead, keep talking and resting at the Site of Grace until Freda says something alarming. She's going to kill Hornsent, and she wants your help to do it.

No matter how you feel about this decision, Hornsent will disappear before you can act on it either way. Chat with Leda one final time here, then head back to the Shadow Keep. From the Main Gate Site of Grace, go out the door to the east and up the ramp. As you reach the top, you'll see two summon signs to your right; one is red and one is gold.

Assist Hornsent or Leda

One Must Die!

Hornsent or Leda in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Here, you'll have to choose who to side with. By choosing Leda, you agree to help her try to kill Hornsent, which will end Hornsent's quest. You'll get his drops here if you do defeat him, but will miss out on the rest of his quest line. To continue his quest, you should choose to fight alongside Hornsent; this will send you to another world where you'll fight a spectral form of Leda.

She doesn't die here if you defeat her, so you will see Leda again and get her sword, and you'll get a Swift Slash Ash of War and Leda's Rune (worth 40,000 runes) as a reward.

It makes little sense to side with Leda other than for narrative reasons. You get more rewards from finishing Hornsent's quest than you do by ending it here, so the only reason you might want to side with Leda is if you agree with her that killing Hornsent is a good path forward. If you do choose to kill Leda, you'll see Hornsent a few more times.

Last Encounters with Hornsent

Fight With, then Against, Your New Friend

If you complete everything correctly, you should have the option to summon Hornsent again for the Messmer the Impaler fight back in the Shadow Keep. If you're not sure you have everything right, check out Gamerpillar's video from YouTube to make sure. From the Dark Chamber Entrance Site of Grace, head through the doors and watch the cutscene.

As the fight begins, look around behind you to the right for a gold summon sign that will allow you to call Hornsent to your aid. After winning the fight, rest at the Messmer's Dark Chamber Site of Grace that appears. When you stand up, Hornsent will have some stuff to say, so let him monologue it out and then keep exploring.

The last step in Hornsent's quest comes near the Church of the Bud in Rauh Ruins. As you approach the Church, Hornsent will invade you and begin attacking close to the Church of the Bud Main Entrance. Here is where you should fight him for real.

After defeating him, he'll drop his Caterpillar Mask, Falx curved swords, Braided Cord Robe, Soiled Loincloth, and Braided Arm Wraps. Before moving on to Romina, Saint of the Bud, make sure you wrap up any sidequests you're working on, as this seems to be a soft lock point in Shadow of the Erdtree that you're not warned about.

Source: Gamerpillar/YouTube