You will need to complete the Hornsent questline in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree if you are looking to get your hands on the Falx set of curved swords. The pair is one of the best weapons that was introduced with the DLC and comes with great scaling with both strength and dexterity.
However, completing the questline and getting your hands on the weapon is easier said than done. There are a lot of steps that go into completing the side mission and you will have to do them in a particular order to round it out.
Here is a guide that will go over everything that you need to do to complete the Hornsent questline and obtain the Falx curved swords in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.
How to find Hornsent and start his quest in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
You will be able to locate Hornsent in the Gravesite Plain. Just head over to the Three-Path Cross Site of Grace and you will be able to find him standing next to a big Miquella Cross with Redmane Freyja.
Interacting with him will help you get the Cross Map which will highlight the areas of the hidden Miquella Crosses. This map is very important for furthering Sir Ansbach’s questline.
Upon further interacting with Hornsent you will learn that he hates the Tarnished and all those who are for the Golden Order of the Erdtree. However, he is willing to help you as long as you aid him in taking revenge on those who inflicted suffering on his people.
How to complete Hornsent’s questline in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
Here are a few steps that you will need to take to complete the Hornsent’s questline:
1) Speak to Hornsent at Highroad Cross
You will meet Hornsent again at Highroad Cross. You will be able to reach this location after beating the Divine Beast Dancing Lion boss in Belura and then entering Scadu Altus. The new region is accessible through either Castle Ensis after beating Rellana or by jumping up behind the Fort of Reprimand.
Once you reach the Highroad Cross Site of Grace, you will be able to interact with Hornsent again. He will tell you more about Michelle, and give you another Cross Map which reveals more secret Miquella Cross locations.
2) Break Miquella’s Charm
Miquella’s Charm will break as you make your way to Rauh Base, approach the Shadow Keep, or simply move past Bonny Village in Scadu Altus. As you head to these areas you will hear a loud shattering sound and the following message:
“Somewhere, a great rune has broken… And so too has a powerful charm.”
Once this happens make your way back to Hornsent. He will now have new dialogs and will tell you that Miquella’s charm breaking doesn’t make much of a difference. He is set on killing Messmer in order to get his revenge.
3) Speak to Leda
You can speak to Leda in the Highroad Cross Site of Grace, however, it’s optional. Talk to her only if you need to learn more lore.
Leda will tell you that she is looking to purge those she suspects of betraying Miquella. You will get an option to pick between Hornsent and Thiollier. Your choice here will not matter much. If you pick Hornsent, Leda will state that he escaped, but she will be hunting her down in Shadow Keep.
4) Talk to Hornsent in th Shadow Keep
Make your way to the main entrance of the Shadow Keep where a Golden Hippo will be waiting. Beat it and then head down the main path till you come across an area where there are a lot of flaming boats.
Here you will find a gold as well as a red summon sign. If you interact with the golden one, you help Hornsent beat Leda, while the red one will make you side with Leda.
After beating Leda (though she doesn’t die and you face her again later) you will get Ash of War: Swift Slash for backhand blades along with Leda’s Rune that gives 40,00 Runes.
If you side with Leda and beat Hornsent, you get his Falx curved swords and armor set. We suggest that you help Hornsent as you will get to fight Leda later anyway.
5) Take out Messmer, the Impaler
As you make your way to the end of the Shadow Keep, you will finally get to face Messmer, the Impaler. You can summon Horsent for the mission, and after beating him you will have helped him successfully carry out his revenge.
After beating Messmer, reset the area while resting at the Messmer’s Dark Chamber Site of Grace. You will then see that Hornsent is standing in front of the chair that Messmer was sitting on.
Interact with him and he will thank you for helping him. However, Hornsent then vows to kill every single Edtree worshipper that he finds.
6) Defeat Hornsent in the Ancient Ruins of Rauh and obtain the Falx curved swords
Ancient Ruins of Rauh is the next major location that you will be able to unlock after defeating Messmer. So head to the Rauh Ancient Ruins, West Site of Grace and you will come across a scarlet rot infested area.
Head deep into the region and you will find that Hornsent has invaded you. He won’t be too difficult of an encounter, and once you have taken him down you will obtain the Falx curved sword and the Braided armor set.
Additionally, do keep in mind that you can complete the Hornsent questline in parallel to his mother, Hornsent Grandam’s questline in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. These two quests will not affect each other progression in any way in FromSoftware‘s latest DLC.
