The Elden Ring Fia quest doesn't appear properly until a little later in the game but you can meet Fia the Deathbed Companion in the Roundtable Hold fairly early on and decide whether you want a free hug or not. Spoiler: it's not actually free.
Elden Ring guide: Conquer the Lands Between
Elden Ring bosses: How to beat them
Elden Ring map fragments: Reveal the world
Elden Ring weapons: Arm yourself
Elden Ring Smithing Stone: Upgrade your gear
Elden Ring Ashes of War: Where to find them
Elden Ring classes: Which to choose
The actual meat of Fia's questline won't start until you get to the Altus Plateau via the Grand Lift of Dectus or the Ruin-Strewn Precipice, after you've already spent some time wandering around Limgrave and Liurnia.
Fia's quest is up there with the Ranni quest in terms of how it impacts which Elden Ring ending you can get. Her quest also ties into lots of others and goes a long way to expanding the lore around the Night of the Black Knives, and all those undead enemies that keep emerging from the ground.
In this guide, we'll cover how to find Fia and begin her quest, how to progress her storyline, the outcomes of choices you might make along the way, and how it'll affect Elden Ring's ending. As you'd imagine, this will contain some endgame spoilers, so leave now if you want to avoid them.
Elden Ring Fia quest summary
Here are the broad steps that you need to complete Fia's quest:
- Meet Fia in the Roundtable Hold and receive her blessing.
- Once you get to the Altus Plateau, speak to Fia to get the Weathered Dagger.
- Give the dagger to D, Hunter of the Dead in the Roundtable Hold.
- Return to find D murdered by Fia in the room just past Smith Master Hewg.
- Complete the Ranni quest to the point where she gives you the Carian Inverted Statue.
- Use the statue in the Carian Study Hall and make your way through to get the Cursemark of Death.
- Head to the Deeproot Depths then climb the roots in the Nameless Eternal City and fight the Fia's Champion boss.
- Give her the Cursemark of Death then enter the Deathbed Dream to defeat Lichdragon Fortissax.
- Claim the Mending Rune of the Death Prince and her outfit from her body.
Note: If you gave D's armor set to his twin in the Siofra Aqueduct, he'll kill her, but you can receive his sword and get D's armor set back if you reload and return.
Should you let Fia hold you?
Should you let Fia hold you in Elden Ring?
You first encounter Fia in Roundtable Hold, your central hub area where lots of NPCs hang out. From the main room with the Table of Lost Grace, head through the doorway to the right of Diallos, then proceed through the door opposite. Fia is sitting on a bed close to a large open fire.
When you first approach Fia and talk to her, she'll ask to "hold you". It's a bit of an odd request, all things considered, so you're probably wondering what the catch is.
If you agree to let Fia hold you, you'll receive the Baldachin's Blessing item, a consumable that temporarily boosts Poise. The trade-off is that if Fia holds you, you'll have a minor HP debuff until you use Baldachin's Blessing. You can return to her for more Baldachin's Blessings whenever you need. Refusing her offer means you won't get the item or start her quest.
Weathered Dagger
Elden Ring Fia quest: What to do with the Weathered Dagger
Now you'll want to head to Summonwater Village to meet D and defeat the Tibia Mariner boss. You should now be able to find D near the main table of the hold, though you can ignore him for now.
Once you arrive at the Altus Plateau using the Dectus Medallion or the Ruin-Strewn Precipice, go and talk to Fia. She'll hand you the Weathered Dagger, and ask you to find its owner.
Now head back to D in the main room and hand over the dagger. When you return to the Roundtable Hold, you will find that D has been murdered by Fia in the room at the end of the corridor behind Smith Master Hewg.
Fia will disappear after a speech, so make sure you loot the Twinned armor and Bell Bearing from D's corpse if you want his holy incantations.
Cursemark of Death location
Where to find the Cursemark of Death
To complete the next step, you'll need to invert the Carian Study Hall in East Liurnia with an item you receive during the Elden Ring Ranni quest.
Once you have the Carian Inverted Statue, head to the Carian Study Hall and place it on the altar. You'll now be able to make your way through, but you'll still have to fight Proprietor Miriam. The best tactic is to use a spell or bow that might knock her off the bridge. On the approach to the Divine Tower, you also have to face a Godskin Noble who suddenly appears.
Head up to the top of the Divine Tower and loot the Cursemark of Death from the corpse you find.
Twinned armor choice
Siofra Aqueduct Twinned armor choice
The next step of Fia's quest involves heading to the Deeproot Depths through the Siofra Aqueduct near Nokron. You will have unlocked this area after beating Radahn as part of Ranni's quest, since it's separate from the regular Elden Ring Siofra River region.
After the Mimic Tear boss, you'll arrive in a wooded area. Head north-east through the woods and past the jellyfish and you'll find a place to drop down into the Siofra Aqueduct. Make your way through, but be wary of the patrolling Crucible Knights. Just before the door to the Valiant Gargoyle boss, you'll find D's brother slouched on the floor.
If you choose to hand over the Twinned armor set, D's brother will kill Fia. This doesn't happen until much later, so it doesn't appear to affect whether you get Fia's ending to the main story. You'll get the armor back eventually, too, as well as a new Elden Ring weapon. If you don't hand over the armor, nothing will change.
Defeat Fia's Champions
Defeat Fia's Champions in Deeproot Depths
Now, defeat the Valiant Gargoyle boss. Draw the first over to the left side of the arena, and beat it as fast as possible, while watching out for its poison spewing move. Avoid the second while it's using the twinblade until it switches to axe, since the attacks are much slower and easier to dodge. Once defeated, head to the waterfall and climb in the coffin.
Now you're in the Deeproot Depths. Simply keep heading along until you find the Nameless Eternal City, then head up the tree roots to get to the highest point where you'll find a site of grace. Head into the arena to fight the Fia's champions boss. It's relatively easy, since they are all just NPCs, but be wary of getting ganged up on in the last phase. Once done, head over to Fia by the portal.
Talk to her and ask her to hold you when prompted. Keep talking to her and hand over the Cursemark of Death. You should now be able to interact with her to enter the "Deathbed Dream". If this option isn't available, fast travel away from the area, then return via the Across the Roots Site of Grace.
There is an alternate route if you've made your way into Leyndell and the Subterranean-Shunning Grounds as part of the Dung Eater quest. After defeating Mohg in the Forsaken Cathedral, hit the altar, and descend to the Frenzied Flame location. Hit the walls on the right side to uncover a room with a chest, then hit the wall behind that to open a way to the Deeproot Depths.
Also a side note: if you haven't beaten the Draconic Tree Sentinel to enter Leyndell, you can actually skip it by going through the portal located next to Fia. This portal will only unlock once you've beaten two shardbearers, however.
Getting Mending Rune of the Death-Prince
How to get the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince
Once you enter the Deathbed Dream, you'll need to face the dragon boss, Lichdragon Fortissax. Once he's been defeated, you're transported back out of the dream. Fia appears to be asleep, but you can loot her for the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince. This is the key item needed to get Fia's Ending and is used after you've beaten the final boss. You can also now claim Fia's outfit at her bed in the Roundtable Hold.
If D kills Fia
If you handed the Twinned armor to D's brother
Once you've obtained the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince from Fia, you are free to leave the area. But if you chose to hand over the Twinned armor to D's brother earlier on, he'll show up when you next return and will be standing over Fia's body, having killed her.
Rest at the site of grace and he'll disappear, leaving you to claim the Twinned armor and the Inseparable Greatsword he left behind.
