Sir Ansbach is one of many NPCs in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. You’ll meet him early on in your adventure — in Gravesite Plain — and if you follow his quest, he’ll be with you through the entire expansion.
In this Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree guide, I’ll walk you through how to complete Sir Ansbach’s quest in the Shadow Realm of the Lands Between.
Here’s a list of all the steps you need to go through in order to complete Sir Ansbach’s quest:
What follows is a breakdown of all the above, step-by-step.
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Sir Ansbach is pretty tough to miss, as he’s standing by the giant Miquella Cross outside of Belurat, the first major dungeon you’re likely to encounter in Shadow of the Erdtree.
As you’re riding up to the castle gates, keep left and look for a little bluff. Here you can formally meet Sir Ansbach — former servant to Lord Mohg — and Moore, the shopkeep at the Main Gate Cross Site of Grace. Talk to Ansbach to learn a bit more about him and his interests. He’ll tell you he’s researching Miquella’s Crosses, and ask you to visit them and report back any secret ones you find.
This is an optional part of Sir Ansbach’s quest, and plays a bit into the quest of another NPC, Hornsent. During the first half of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Hornsent will give you a map showing you the locations of a few hidden Miquella Crosses. If you find them, interact with them, and then speak to Sir Ansbach to get some additional lore.
Whether you get the extra lore or not, once you’ve introduced yourself to Sir Ansbach you can progress through the main story until the great rune breaks outside of Shadow Keep.
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When you get close to the Shadow Keep dungeon in Scadu Altus, you’ll get a notification that the great rune has broken. This is supposed to happen — you didn’t do anything wrong — and will progress all the various NPC quests throughout the world, including Ansbach’s.
Return to Ansbach and talk to him until he starts repeating himself. If you rest, he’ll disappear. You’ll bump into Sir Ansbach again in Shadow Keep, on the first floor of the Specimen Storehouse area.
To reach Ansbach’s research nook, head forward from the Storehouse, First Floor Site of Grace, past the great beast, up the stairs on your left, and then hang right past the first bookshelf. You’ll find him reading in the corner of a small room. Exhaust his dialogue once again before continuing your journey through the storehouse.
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To progress Sir Ansbach’s quest further, you’ll first need to find the Secret Rite Scroll. Thankfully, you’re already in the right spot to locate it: the Shadow Keep Specimen Storehouse. Make your way to the Storehouse, Fourth Floor Site of Grace.
From the site of grace, turn left and follow the path past the burning boats and enemies. Take the next stairs up and move forward. To your left, you’ll find a staircase leading down, away from the main path. Take these stairs and take out the enemies on the landing below. Go inside the nearby doorway to find a small research library.
Head toward the edge, but be careful not to fall. To your right, on a table, you’ll see a purple pillar of light. Interact with it to get the Secret Rite Scroll.
With the Secret Rite Scroll in hand, head back to Sir Ansbach on the first floor. When you talk to him, you’ll get the option to hand it over. Give Sir Ansbach the scroll and he’ll learn that Lord Mohg’s body has been stolen and Miquella has plans for it.
Exhaust Ansbach’s dialogue before you continue to the next step.
Now it’s time to help Redmane Freyja, another NPC who has her own quest.
After the great rune breaks, you can talk to Freyja at the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace back in Gravesite Plain to send her to Shadow Keep. You’ll meet Freyja on the seventh floor of the Specimen Storehouse, just behind the site of grace. She’ll be ducked down by the fireplace looking through some objects and loudly grumbling to herself.
If you talk to her, she’ll tell you she’s busy and then complain about not talking to Ansbach when she had the chance. Travel down to the first floor again and tell Ansbach about Freyja’s frustrations. Exhaust his dialogue and then go rest again. Return to Ansbach and he’ll hand you a letter meant for Freyja.
If he doesn’t give you the letter after you rest, talk to Freyja again before talking to Ansbach.
Bring the letter to Freyja to progress her quest, then talk to her until you exhaust her dialogue. She’ll give you the Golden Lion Shield for your trouble. You should then return to Ansbach to tell him about Freyja’s reaction to his letter.
Once you’ve done all of Ansbach’s quests in Shadow Keep, go visit Leda at the Highroad Cross Site of Grace, outside Castle Ensis. Speak to her a few times and she’ll eventually reveal that it’s time to hunt down our buddy Ansbach. Once she asks for your help, the quest will be in motion, so head back to Ansbach’s hideaway in Shadow Keep.
When you arrive, Ansbach won’t be there. Instead, you’ll find a red summon marker and a gold summon marker.
If you want to see the end of Ansbach’s quest, move past the red summon maker and interact with the gold one — “assist Sir Ansbach.” This will teleport you to an arena inside the Specimen Storehouse. Ansbach will be there with you, and Leda will appear as an Invader. Work together with Ansbach to defeat her.
Once you return to your own world, Sir Ansbach will still be missing, but you’ll receive Ansbach’s Longbow and Leda’s Rune (worth 40,000 Runes).
With Leda defeated and Ansbach defended, you’ve completed most of the missable steps in the Ansbach quest.
Now you just need to progress the story to the end (our Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree walkthrough can help with the critical path) where you’ll meet up with many of the game’s NPCs — including Ansbach — before Shadow of the Erdtree’s final boss.
If you’re looking for more NPC quests, we have guides for Needle Knight Leda, Count Ymir, Hornsent, Moore, Dryleaf Dane, Hornsent Grandam, Fire Knight Queelign, Thiollier and St. Trina, Igon, and Redmane Freyja. You can see their starting locations, and more, with our Elden Ring DLC map.
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