As soon as you get to Roundtable Hold in Elden Ring, you’ll be greeted by a massive cast of characters. Some of them will sell you items, while others are simply there to give you some advice. There’s only one who grants you immediate buffs and debuffs, however, and that’s Fia. Fia is the Deathbed Companion who rests in the room beside Smithing Master Hewg. Talking to her may have her give you a hug as well as a blessing. But, there is a lot more to this character than what first meets the eye. Fia has ambition, and you’ll need to do a few things if you want to help her out. Let’s learn what the Fia questline is, what you’ll need to do to complete it, and whether or not it’s ultimately worth it.
How to Complete the Fia Questline in Elden Ring
The Fia questline in Elden Ring begins at Roundtable Hold, the location that Melina teleports you to after reaching a set number of Sites of Grace. Fia is located in the eastern wing of the Hold, where she is sitting on a bed. You may interact with her to hug her, which grants you the Baldachin’s Blessing, a consumable that provides a massive boost to your Poise – or ability to not flinch when hit – at the cost of a small amount of vigor for as long as you hold it.
For her quest to truly begin, you must have reached the Altus Plateau and rested at a bonfire. At this point, you may embrace her twice in a row. She will give you a new line of dialogue, asking you to bring a Weathered Dagger item to its owner. D, Hunter of the Dead will take the knife off of your hands, triggering the next part of the quest.
The Black Knifeprint
If you’ve defeated a second Shardbearer, you will be given a map showing the location of a Black Knifeprint. This does not have anything to do with Fia’s quest – it is not required for the rest of the quest.
If you want the Black Knifeprint, you can find it behind an invisible wall in the Black Knife Catacombs. To get there, ride the guillotine blade to the top floor and advance through the dungeon. At the end of the hallway, hit the backmost wall to open up the path to the Assassin boss fight.
D Is Dead
After you reload the area, Fia will be in a new room. Take a left into the room with Hewg and keep running down the hallway. The door is now open, and D is dead on the floor. Loot him for his legitimately decent armor, the Twinned set.
Fia will then tell you that she must disappear after a few dialogue boxes. This will send her to the Deeproot Depths. You can access this area by heading north from the Night’s Sacred Ground in Nokron, then following the path down the cliff. This area is dangerous, so if you’re unsure of how to get through it, check out our Deeproot Depths guide.
The Deathbed Companion of the Death-Prince
Head up the branches toward the northern end of Deeproot Depths, just past Godwyn’s Corpse offshoot. Fia will be sitting at the back side of the arena, but you’ll have to enter combat to reach her.
In order to speak with her again, you’ll need to defeat Fia’s Champions, a brutal endurance match against waves of invaders. Use their poise to your advantage, and be very, very careful against the last wave, where three invaders attack at once. Keep healing items ready, and have some ranged weapons to poke at them from afar.
After the boss fight, she will be sitting in the end of the arena. Get a hug, and she’ll start talking with you once again. She’ll ask you to find the Cursemark of Death, which is also part of a completely different questline. Thankfully, both quests are part of Nokron, so they shouldn’t be too hard to complete.
The Cursemark of Death
Before we begin: You can do both the Fia and the Ranni questlines at the same time. Doing one does not prevent you from completing the other.
The Cursemark of Death is found near the end of Ranni’s quest. In simplest terms, you need to clear both the Nokron, Eternal City and the Night’s Sacred Ground locations. Among the treasure you’ll uncover will be the Fingerslayer Blade. Giving this item to Ranni will allow you to trade for the Carian Inverted Statue. Use this at the Carian Study Hall to open a brand new dungeon. “Ascend” the tower by heading downwards to get to an elevator. Afterward, you’ll find the Cursemark on Ranni’s body at the very top of the tower.
Back to the Fia Questline – Lichdragon Fortissax
With the Cursemark in tow, head back to Fia’s chambers. Talking to her will reward you with Radiant Balachin’s Blessing, which is a slightly stronger Poise buff that does not reduce your HP while you hold it. Keep talking with her and then reload the area.
Interact with her sleeping body a few times and you’ll be taken into a battle with Lichdragon Fortissax.
The Lichdragon is a fairly standard dragon fight. Keep attacking its hind legs, but don’t be afraid to strike the wings if they’re your only target. Try to consistently stay under the beast, as he has limited – and slow – melee attacks.
The Lichdragon drops his Remembrance, which offers two different Incantations. Both are strong options, improved by Dragon Cult Incantation buffs.
You may also pick up the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince. This unlocks one of the endings for Elden Ring.
After the Lichdragon
Even if you’ve followed all of these instructions so far, the quest is not done yet. For the story to complete correctly, you need to talk with the man in front of the Valiant Gargoyles’ Site of Grace in the Sofria Aqueduct. You can give this man D’s Twinned armor set. This is required to advance the quest to the game’s “true” ending.
The true ending is, when you return to Fia, you will find her armor set next to her. Reload the area to gain the Twinned Set, as well as the Inseparable Sword. It is implied that D’s twin brother killed Fia in revenge, before leaving behind everything he has.
You may instead kill him yourself. He will drop his weapons and armor if you do this, so it’s completely up to you.
The Inseparable Sword is a Strength, Dexterity, and Faith greatsword with the Sacred Blade Art of War naturally infused into it. It is quite the solid weapon.
