How to complete the Hornsent quest in Elden Ring? There are many new NPCs in the Land of Shadow, and each of them is as mysterious as they are esoteric. Completing their quests requires a lot of guesswork, and this is also true for Hornsent (or “the hornsent” as some other NPCs call him). Luckily, we’ve gone ahead and compiled everything there is to know about his quest for revenge.
The other major side quest in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree involves Needle Knight Lena with a branching path in the Hornsent quest, so be sure to take a look at Leda’s quest guide. Otherwise, you’ll want to read the Golden Hippopotamus boss guide and the Messmer the Impaler boss guide, as Hornsent can help you with both if you play your cards right.
Where to find Elden Ring Hornsent
Hornsent can be found in a handful of locations throughout the Shadowlands, the area fully defined in the DLC. You’ll encounter Hornsent fairly early on and he’ll make his appearance in front of the final boss – if you haven’t killed him, of course. Here are its locations:
- Three Way Cross Grace Site. This grace site, directly north of that of the first Gravesite Plain, is where you will first find Hornsent.
- Highroad Cross Grace Site. This Grace is located north of Ensis Castle.
- Shadow Keep Main Gate Grace Site. You can summon Hornsent to help you against the Golden Hippo after entering the main entrance of Shadow Dungeon.
- Shadow Dungeon. If you have progressed in his and Leda’s quest, you will find a summon sign near a staircase leading to the Main Gate Plaza grace site.
- Shadow Dungeon. If you sided with her against Leda, you will find a summon panel in the boss room of Messmer the Impaler.
- Messmer Darkroom grace site. After defeating Messmer the Impaler, you will find him standing in front of Messmer’s throne.
- Church of the Bud. Hornsent will invade you before the boss fight Romina, Saint of the Bud.
- If you fail the invasion, Hornsent will invade you in Etir-llim at the end of the game.
How to complete the Elden Ring Hornset quest
You’ll first encounter Hornsent at the Three-Way Cross Grace Site, near a huge stone arch and one of Miquella’s luminous crosses. Redmane Freyja is also nearby. Hornsent will give you a map of the crosses, which reveals the locations of known Miquella crosses in the Gravesite Plains region; however, it is not necessary to find them all to advance your quest.
Once you’ve completed Ensis Castle, which is across the large bridge northeast of Three-Path Cross (or ignored it entirely by going through Rebuke’s Fort at east of it), Hornsent will move to the Highroad Cross grace site. Speak to him here to receive the New Cross Map, which will reveal the locations of three more of Miquella’s crosses.
Approach the Shadow Keep directly north of Grace’s Highroad Cross site. You will hear a crashing noise and the message “Somewhere, a large rune has broken…” will appear. Return to the Highroad Cross Grace Site and speak to Hornsent and Leda. Leda vows to destroy those who oppose Miquella, and her first target is Hornsent, regardless of your choice when she asks who you might suspect.
Continue through the main entrance to Shadow Keep, which is beyond the large Furnace Golem in the distance. There is another way to enter Shadow Keep through Bonny Village to the east; however, this route more accurately reflects Hornsent’s quest. At the Main Gate Grace Site, you’ll find the Redmane and Hornsent summon panels on either side of the huge door leading to the Golden Hippo boss room. It doesn’t matter if you choose it.
Defeat the hippo and head east from the boss room, going up until you reach an area with some boat-shaped structures with small Vulgar Militia enemies guarding them. Near the stairs leading to a shortcut to the Main Gate Grace Site, you’ll find two summon panels: one to help Leda and one to help Hornsent. See the image below for the exact location:
If you choose to help Leda, the following events occur:
- You will kill Hornsent and end his questlinewinning your items:
- Falx Curved Sword
- Caterpillar mask
- Braided cord dress
- Braided Arm Wraps
- Soiled loincloth
- Leda will give you the Lacerating Cross Tree Talisman at the Highroad Cross Grace Site. It improves dash attacks.
If you choose to help Hornsent, the following events occur:
- Leda will disappear until the end of the DLC.
- Hornsent will give you Ash of War: Swift Slash
- Leda will drop the Rune of Leda.
- Hornsent becomes summonable in the boss fight Messmer the Impaler.
- You won’t be able to help Leda kill Ansbach.
Note that if you side with Hornsent, you will be able to obtain Leda’s Armor and Leda’s Sword later. You can also get his armor and sword as he will swarm you as well. However, you cannot obtain the Lacerating Crosstree Talisman and the Retaliation Crosstree Talisman. You won’t get Ash of War: Swift Slash if you side with Leda.
If you help Hornsent, he will become available to summon for the Messmer the Impaler boss fight. His Falx swords can help you improve the bleeding status of this difficult boss. After that, you won’t see him again until you reach the Bud Church. Before the boss fight Romina, Saint of the Bud, Hornsent will invade you. Hornsent is not a formidable enemy; However, he can bleed you pretty quickly if he gets the chance, so do your best to avoid getting hit too much. Once you defeat him, you will get his armor, weapon and his quest will be completed.
However, if you avoid fighting Messmer and head to the Bud Church first, you can avoid fighting Hornsent here. He will instead swarm you during the boss fight against Needle Knight Leda near the end of the game, making this confrontation more difficult.
In our opinion, Leda and Hornsent are not very nice people, but the rewards for keeping him alive are better than killing him. Whichever you choose, you’ll definitely need a lot of help to get through this ultra-difficult DLC. First and foremost, you need to check out all the Scadutree Fragment locations to make sure you’re the best you can be. And if that’s not enough, check out the best Soulslikes on PC for a slightly tamer alternative.