The Hornsent is one of the many new NPCs you can meet as you explore the Realm of Shadows in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and siding with him lets you complete his unique questline.
We only know one thing: he wants to kill Messmer. That’s his mission. Aid him in his quest for vengeance to ingratiate yourself with him and see the entirety of his questline. As always, though, that’s easier said than done. Elden Ring is known for its obtuse and cryptic quests, after all!
Fret not, though, we’re going to guide you through every step of the way so that you can easily complete the Hornsent’s questline without missing anything.
Hornsent Questline | Elden Ring: Shadow of The Erdtree Complete Guide
Meeting
You can meet the Hornsent right at the start of the DLC by traveling north as soon as you enter the Realm of Shadow. You’ll eventually spot the Three-Path Cross in the northern part of the Gravesite Plain. The Hornsent is straight south from the “Three-Path Cross” Grace, so he’s hard to miss!
Speak to him and he’ll give you a map to find the other Crosses left by Miquella. However, you don’t need to find them to progress the quest at all. You can simply proceed to the next encounter.
Scadu Altus and Reaching the Shadow Keep
As you explore the Scadu Altus, you’ll eventually find a massive black structure in the northern part of the region. That’s the Shadow Keep, one of the main dungeons in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and a crucial part required to complete this questline. Simply approach the Shadow Keep and you’ll get a message relating to a Great Rune, progressing the Hornsent’s quest
After you get the message about the Great Rune, travel south of the Shadow Keep to encounter another one of Miquella’s Crosses at the “Highroad Cross” Grace. Just like before, the Hornsent will be hanging around the Cross. Speak with him and he’ll tell you that he’s seeking revenge and wishes to take down Messmer.
After the conversation, look a bit north of Miquella’s Cross to find another NPC: Needle Knight Leda. Speak with her and she’ll ask you if you think any other NPC is a danger to Miquella. You can suggest the Hornsent directly, but your choices seem to not matter at this point.
Rest at the nearby Grace after you speak with Leda once and suggest a potential traitor, then speak with Leda a second time. She should tell you that she has decided to follow the Hornsent, who will most likely seek Messmer in the Shadow Keep. At this point, all that’s left for you to do is to head inside the Shadow Keep yourself!
Inside the Shadow Keep
As you progress through the Shadow Keep dungeon, you’ll eventually reach an outer area with some burning boats. For reference, this also leads to another area called the Specimen Storage, which is close by.
The important thing to complete the Hornsent questline, though, is a pair of summon signs on the southern part of the area with burning boats.
This works similarly to the Sellen and Jarred questline in the base game; which summon sign you use affects the questline as follows:
- Golden Sign – You’re summoned to assist the Hornsent in fighting against Leda. Defeat Leda before she kills the Hornsent or you, though you can also retry by using the summon sign again in case you fail. This will antagonize Leda and may block her questline, but will progress the Hornsent’s questline.
- Red Sign – You’re summoned to assist Leda in killing the Hornsent. Kill the Hornsent before he defeats you or Leda, but you can retry by using the sign in case you fail. Winning will end the Hornsent’s quest prematurely, preventing you from doing further steps of the questline. However, you get his equipment early as well!
As you might imagine, we recommend using the Golden Sign if you wish to fully complete the Hornsent’s questline in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Of course, feel free to side with Leda if you just want the Hornsent’s equipment earlier or if you just like Leda more!
Revenge at Last | Facing Messmer
After assisting the Hornsent in fending off Leda’s attacks, you simply need to continue through the Shadow Keep as usual until you reach the Dark Chamber Entrance. Rest up and proceed to face off against the Shadow Keep’s main boss: Messmer himself!
While dealing with Messmer, look around the battle arena and you should find another summon sign. Interact with it and you’ll be able to call the Hornsent in the middle of the fight. Help him stay alive during the fight and kill Messmer together with him to continue the questline.
Do be warned, it’s possible but unlike that the Hornsent might die at this point. If he does, we suggest losing the boss fight and retrying. Just try to ensure that you defeat Messmer while the Hornsent is still summoned and the questline will progress properly.
After you defeat Messmer, a new Grace will spawn in the boss arena. Interact with it and rest to make the Hornsent appear in the arena as well. Speak with him and exhaust his dialogue, then rest at the Grace again.
The next step for this quest isn’t available until you’re in the Ancient Ruins of Rauh region, which is considered a late-game area for the DLC. It’s going to be a bit until you see the Hornsent again, depending on your progression.
Invasion
The next and final step in the Hornsent’s questline happens at the tail end of the main quest for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. That means it’s basically unmissable, so you’re free to stop reading now if you’d wish to avoid more spoilers!
Regardless, your goal now is to reach the Church of Bud in the southwestern corner of the Ancient Ruins of Rauh region. There are many ways to get there, thanks to the DLC’s open-ended nature, and all of them are valid. This is also part of the main questline, so it’s technically unmissable.
Once you reach the Church of Bud and make your way to the boss in the area.You’ll be invaded by the Hornsent. Use all of your tricks to take him down and you’ll get the Falx weapon and the Hornsent armor set as you rewards!
This NPC invader can be quite tough, just like most others in the DLC. Make sure you have the best Talismans possible to make things easier for you!
As of this writing, this seems to be the natural conclusion to the Hornsent’s quest. He doesn’t seem to appear in any other area nor do there seem to be any more rewards tied to the quest. So, congratulations, you managed to complete the Hornsent questline in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree!
