How do you complete Needle Knight Leda’s questline in Elden Ring? FromSoftware is known for punishing games with deep, esoteric lore; however, they are not known for writing satisfying and easy-to-understand quests. The Land of Shadow from the DLC is filled with quest-giving NPCs known for their love of the demigod Miquella, and they too are no different. One of these is known as Needle Knight Leda. Luckily, we’ve broken down where to find her and how to complete her quest.
Do you have more questions about Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree? We don’t blame you. To complete Leda’s quest, you’ll have to get past some incredibly powerful foes; thus, you better make sure you have one of the best Elden Ring builds. Also, you should double check all Scadutree Fragment locations, as these rare items are the single most important thing for surviving the Land of Shadow.
Where to find Elden Ring Leda
Needle Knight Leda is found in several locations throughout the DLC, though the first time you meet her will be in the base game. Here are her locations:
- Cocoon of the Empyrean Site of Grace. This is the same location where you battle Mohg and enter the DLC. She will be standing next to Miquella’s cocoon.
- Theatre of the Divine Beast Site of Grace. This Grace appears once you defeat Divine Beast Dancing Lion. At the top of the stairs from the eastern door, you’ll find a letter from Leda called the Tower of Shadow Message.
- Castle Ensis Checkpoint Site of Grace. Here, you’ll find the Castle Cross Message from Leda.
- Highroad Cross Site of Grace. She will be standing at this grace north of Castle Ensis.
- Shadow Keep. You will find a summon sigil of hers to battle Hornsent at the top of a massive set of stairs that lead down to a shortcut to the Main Gate Plaza Site of Grace.
- If you choose to aid her against Hornsent, she will return to the Highroad Cross Site of Grace.
- Storehouse, First Floor Site of Grace. There will be another summon sigil here to help Leda or Ansbach in the back room where Ansbach used to be.
- Regardless of whether or not you help Leda, you will find the Message from Leda at the Highroad Cross Site of Grace.
- Cleansing Chamber Anteroom Site of Grace. You will not see Leda again until near the end of the game in Enir-llim.
- If you aided Hornsent or Ansbach instead of Leda, you will still fight her here.
How to complete Elden Ring Leda’s quest
Speak to Leda in the Cocoon of the Empyrean before entering the Land of Shadow DLC area. From there, continue the story through the Belurat, Tower Settlement dungeon and then Castle Ensis. After defeating Rellana, Twin Moon Knight, you will find Leda directly north at the Highroad Cross Site of Grace near Hornsent. Exhaust dialogue with both of them. Alternatively, you can skip Castle Ensis and travel from the Fort of Reprimand in the southeast to reach Highroad Cross.
When you approach the Shadow Keep to the north, you will hear a shattering sound and the message “Somewhere, a great rune has broken…” will appear. Return to the Highroad Cross Site of Grace.
Speak to Leda (and the other NPCs at their various Sites of Graces) and she will ask you which of her fellows are not totally devoted to Miquella. The options are as follows:
- Suggest Thioller
- Suggest the hornsent
- Make no suggestion
No matter what you choose, Leda will decide Hornsent is an enemy of Miquella and dedicate herself to killing him.
Continue on to the Shadow Keep through the Shadow Keep Main Gate Site of Grace. Alternatively, you can enter the Shadow Keep from the east, but the next step of Leda’s quest is closer to the main entrance. Once you defeat the Golden Hippopotamus, exit through the eastern door and climb the stairs until you reach an area with boat-like structures and the small Vulgar Militia guarding them. Near a set of stairs leading down, you will find two summon signs: red to help Leda and gold to help Hornsent. See the below image for their exact location in the Shadow Keep.
If you choose to help Leda, the following occurs:
- You will kill Hornsent and end his questline, earning his items:
- Falx curved sword
- Caterpillar Mask
- Braided Cord Robe
- Braided Arm Wraps
- Soiled Loincloth
- Leda will give you the Lacerating Crossed-Tree talisman at the Highroad Cross Site of Grace. It enhances dash attacks.
If you choose to aid Hornsent, the following occurs:
- Leda will disappear until near the end of the DLC.
- Hornsent will gift you Ash of War: Swift Slash
- Leda will drop Leda’s Rune.
- Hornsent becomes summonable in the Messmer the Impaler boss fight.
Do note that if you side with Hornsent, you can obtain Leda’s Armor and Leda’s Sword later. You can also obtain his armor and sword as he will invade you as well. However, you cannot get the Lacerating Crossed-Tree Talisman and the Retaliatory Crossed-Tree talisman. You will not get the Ash of War: Swift Slash if you side with Leda.
If you didn’t side with Hornsent, head back to the Highroad Cross Site of Grace to obtain the Lacerating Crossed-Tree talisman. She will also name Sir Ansbach the next traitor to Miquella. To help Leda further, travel to the Storehouse, First Floor Site of Grace in the Shadow Keep. Before this point, you can find him reading in the very back of the room reading ancient texts. Once siding with Leda, you’ll once again find two summoning signs instead: one to assist Leda and one to assist Ansbach. See the below image to find the summon signs on the first floor of the Storehouse.
If you choose to help Leda, the following occurs:
- You kill Ansbach and end his questline, earning his items:
- Ansbach’s Longbow
- Wise Man’s Mask
- Ansbach’s Attire
- Ansbach’s Manchettes
- Ansbach’s Boots
- Later in the game, Ansbach will not be summonable for an ally but a generic NPC will be summonable in his place.
- You may receive a letter to Redmane Freyja to continue her quest.
- Leda will give you the Retaliatory Crossed-Tree talisman at the Highroad Cross Site of Grace, which enhances rolling and backstepping attacks.
If you choose to aid Ansbach, the following occurs:
- Leda will disappear until near the end of the DLC.
- Ansbach will give you Ansbach’s Longbow.
- Ansbach is summonable later in the game.
- If you continue his quest, you can obtain the Furious Blade of Ansbach Ash of War.
Once again, if you side with Ansbach you can obtain Leda’s Armor and Leda’s Sword later. Once you clear the DLC, you can also loot Ansbach’s armor and weapon. However, you cannot get the Retaliatory Crossed-Tree talisman. If you kill Ansbach, you cannot get the Furious Blade of Ansbach Ash of War.
After all this, continue onward until the end of the DLC which takes place in Enir-llim. After the Cleansing Room Chamber Site of Grace, you will face Leda yourself for the final time. Here, you can summon several allies, and depending on whether you killed Ansbach or not, him as well. Once defeated, you will receive Leda’s Sword and you can loot her body for Leda’s Armor.
How to defeat Elden Ring Leda
While not a typical boss fight in its own right, Needle Knight Leda and her allies put up a challenge. After resting at the Cleansing Room Site of Grace, you will find Leda standing in the center of a large arena. After she finishes her monologue, you will have access to the following summon signs:
- Thiollier will assist you if you finished his questline.
- Pureblood Knight Ansbach will assist you if you finished his questline (and didn’t side with Leda).
- If Ansbach is dead, you can summon Sanguine Noble Nataan in his place.
You will then face up to four of Leda’s allies depending on your choices throughout various NPC quests. Dryleaf Dane and Redman Freyja will always challenge you if they’re alive; however, Moore will not appear if you previously told him to ‘Remain sad forever’ doing a dialogue sequence. At this point, Hornsent will also invade if he’s alive, bringing the total number of possible enemies to five – though you do not face all of them at once.
The best way to navigate this boss fight is to back off and let your allies draw aggression from one or both of your foes before engaging. Redmane Freyja and Moore hit hard but are slower and more easily avoidable, while Dryleaf Dane and Leda are quite fast, making them a priority.
With Needle Knight Leda defeated, this ends her questline. Whether or not you side with her is up to you, but we think her devotion to Miquella is pretty fishy and the rewards for not helping her much better. Now that you’re near the end of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, you may have a craving for more Soulslike gameplay. If so, we’ve got a handy guide of the best Soulslike games on PC.