Ranni's questline is the longest and most beloved NPC chain in Elden Ring — a journey that starts with a cryptic witch at a roadside church and ends with you claiming the Dark Moon Greatsword and steering the entire world toward the Age of the Stars. It is also the questline players break most often, because a single wrong step ordering can lock it behind a festival, a hostile wolf, or a puppet. This walkthrough gives you every step in the correct order, the exact items and locations, the two mandatory bosses, and the traps that softlock the chain — so you finish it clean on one playthrough.
Quick answer: To complete Ranni's questline, meet her as "Renna" at the Church of Elleh, then recruit into her service at Ranni's Rise in Liurnia (reach it by beating Royal Knight Loretta at Caria Manor). Speak to Blaidd, Seluvis and Sellen, defeat Starscourge Radahn to free the stars, and retrieve the Fingerslayer Blade from Nokron. Give it to Ranni for the Carian Inverted Statue, use the waygate at Renna's Rise to reach Ainsel River, talk to the Miniature Ranni doll, beat the Baleful Shadow for the Discarded Palace Key, open the chest by Rennala for the Dark Moon Ring, then beat Astel, Naturalborn of the Void in the Grand Cloister, cross to the Cathedral of Manus Celes, and place the ring on Ranni to receive the Dark Moon Greatsword. After beating the final boss, use the blue summon sign by Marika's remains for the Age of the Stars ending. All steps verified on base game version 1.17.
Who is Ranni and why does her questline matter?
Ranni the Witch is the daughter of Radagon and Rennala, a princess of the Carian Royal Family who was elevated to Empyrean status — a potential successor to Queen Marika — and granted her own shadow, the half-wolf Blaidd (Fextralife, verified 2026-10-05). On the Night of Black Knives she cast away her own flesh, taking refuge as a spirit in an artificial doll body, and now hunts a hidden treasure with the help of her followers: War Counselor Iji, Preceptor Seluvis, Blaidd, and — if you choose — you, the Tarnished.
Mechanically, her questline is the single most rewarding NPC chain in the game. Finishing it grants:
- The Dark Moon Greatsword, one of the best Intelligence-scaling weapons in the game
- Access to two optional endgame regions (Nokron and the Ainsel River / Lake of Rot underground)
- Two unique boss fights (the Baleful Shadow and Astel, Naturalborn of the Void)
- The Age of the Stars ending — one of the six endings and the one most players consider the "good" conclusion
Her chain spans almost the entire game, so you can start it early and finish it just before the final boss. Here is the full route.
Step 1: Meet Ranni as "Renna" at the Church of Elleh
Ranni first appears under the name Renna at the Church of Elleh in Limgrave — but only after you have met Melina and acquired Torrent, your spectral steed. Rest at or fast-travel to the Church of Elleh Site of Grace at night and she will call out to you (Fextralife, verified 2026-10-05).
Answer her in the affirmative and she gifts you the Spirit Calling Bell and the Lone Wolf Ashes — the items that let you summon Spirit Ashes for the rest of the game. She vanishes after you speak to her again or rest.
Missed her? It does not break the quest. If you skipped this encounter, the Spirit Calling Bell and Lone Wolf Ashes can be bought from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold, and you simply pick the quest up at Ranni's Rise instead.
Step 2: Reach Ranni's Rise and enter her service
Ranni's Rise sits in the Three Sisters, a walled sub-region in the far north-west of Liurnia of the Lakes. To get there you must pass through Caria Manor and defeat Royal Knight Loretta — the halberd-wielding boss guarding the manor's gardens. Beyond her lies the Three Sisters and the three towers, including Ranni's.
Speak to Ranni atop her tower. She tasks you with finding the hidden treasure of Nokron and asks you to speak with three people in her service — War Counselor Iji, Blaidd, and Preceptor Seluvis — who appear as spectral projections inside the tower. A fog wall seals you in and fast travel is disabled until you have spoken to all three and exhausted their dialogue; return to Ranni afterward and she tells you she is about to fall into a deep slumber before the barrier lifts.
⚠️ If Ranni refuses you: If she mentions the curse mark on her discarded body and tells you to "begone" without recruiting you, go back to the Roundtable Hold and talk to Rogier. He suggests you join her service to learn where the curse mark lies; return to Ranni and the quest continues normally.
Step 3: Blaidd, Seluvis, Sellen — and the road to Radahn
This is the step where ordering matters most, because it is tied to the Radahn Festival and can soft-break if you rush.
Find Blaidd in the Siofra River underground — travel east from the Siofra River Bank Site of Grace toward the Spirit Spring; he is standing nearby (clear the enemies around him first, or they interrupt the conversation). Blaidd suspects Seluvis knows more than he admits. Speak to Seluvis, who sends you to Sorceress Sellen, giving you Seluvis's Introduction to show her.
Find Sellen at the Waypoint Ruins in eastern Limgrave (beneath the ruins, past the Mad Pumpkin Head boss). Show her the Introduction and she reveals the core problem: Starscourge Radahn has used his gravity magic to halt the movement of the stars, and the only way to open the path into Nokron is to kill Radahn and set the stars moving again.
⚠️ The festival trap. Telling Blaidd what you learned from Sellen triggers the Radahn Festival at Redmane Castle. The festival also triggers on its own if you activate the Grand Lift of Dectus, reach the Altus Plateau by any route, or even in some cases after simply talking to Sellen. If the festival starts before you have recruited Ranni, she will not appear at Ranni's Rise until Radahn is dead, because Blaidd stays at the festival until the fight is over. The clean order is: recruit Ranni first, then trigger the festival (Fextralife, verified 2026-10-05).
Travel to Redmane Castle in south-eastern Caelid, take part in the festival, and defeat Starscourge Radahn. (For a detailed strategy, see our Starscourge Radahn boss guide for the DLC version of the fight, and remember this base-game Radahn is the earlier, optional demigod — not the Shadow of the Erdtree Promised Consort.)
Step 4: Find Nokron and the Fingerslayer Blade
With Radahn dead, a star falls and strikes Limgrave, south of Mistwood, near the ruins where you first met Blaidd. Return to Iji at Ranni's Rise and he confirms the landing site. You cannot miss it: gravity magic from the fallen star has left huge chunks of rock suspended permanently in the air above a gaping hole in the ground.
Carefully drop down the floating rocks into Nokron, Eternal City. Push through the city until you reach the Ancestral Woods Site of Grace, then jump across the nearby ledge and back into the ruins. Continue onward and you will reach a treasure chest holding the Fingerslayer Blade — the secret treasure of Nokron that Ranni wants.
Step 5: Give Ranni the Fingerslayer Blade (watch the Seluvis trap)
Return to Ranni's Rise and give Ranni the Fingerslayer Blade. She rewards you with the Carian Inverted Statue and leaves to continue her quest alone.
⚠️ Do Seluvis's business first. Giving Ranni the Fingerslayer Blade turns Preceptor Seluvis into a lifeless puppet, locking you out of the rest of his questline. If you want the Magic Scorpion Charm (+Sorcery boost) from Seluvis, finish his chain before handing over the blade. And never give Ranni the Amber Draught if Seluvis gave it to you — it does nothing on her, only disappoints her, and halts the quest until you seek Absolution at the Church of Vows (Fextralife, verified 2026-10-05).
Use the Carian Inverted Statue at the pedestal outside the Carian Study Hall (eastern Liurnia). This flips the tower upside-down and opens the path to the top of the Divine Tower of Liurnia, where you will find the Cursemark of Death on the severely burnt remains of Ranni's original body.
Now talk to Iji, who tells you Ranni has gone to Renna's Rise (the tower is now unsealed) and adds the Carian Filigreed Crest to his shop. Climb Renna's Rise: a chest at the top of the ladder holds the Snow Witch Set Ranni wore, and the top of the tower has a waygate to Ainsel River Main.
Step 6: The Miniature Ranni and the Baleful Shadow
At Ainsel River Main, loot the Miniature Ranni doll near the waygate exit, then rest at the Ainsel River Main Site of Grace. A new menu option appears: "Talk to miniature Ranni." Select it three times and Ranni speaks through the doll — annoyed at your meddling, she tasks you with killing the Baleful Shadow.
The Baleful Shadow waits just beyond the Nokstella Waterfall Basin Site of Grace in Nokstella, Eternal City. It is agile and hits hard, mirroring a knight's moveset — stay patient and punish its recovery. Beat it and Ranni rewards you with the Discarded Palace Key before her spirit leaves the doll.
Step 7: The Dark Moon Ring, Astel, and the Cathedral of Manus Celes
Use the Discarded Palace Key to open the chest in the Raya Lucaria Academy Grand Library, next to Rennala. Inside is the Dark Moon Ring — the item that completes the quest.
Now return to the Ainsel River region and push into the Lake of Rot and onward to the Grand Cloister. Interact with the stone coffin there (you can activate it from a distance so you do not have to wade through the Scarlet Rot) to reach the arena of Astel, Naturalborn of the Void — a star-beast boss and the final real fight of the questline. Astel hits with gravity magic, teleports, and has a one-shot grab; keep under its body and punish between casts.
After Astel falls, a path that was sealed by a magic barrier (the Dark Moon Ring is what dispels it) opens into the Moonlight Altar, the southernmost part of Liurnia. Head to the nearby Cathedral of Manus Celes. Collect the Starlight Shards scattered inside, then drop down the hole near the Site of Grace and follow the tunnel to a recent battle site.
⚠️ Watch for Adula. Glintstone Dragon Adula materializes near the Cathedral of Manus Celes whether or not you drove it off earlier at the Three Sisters. Expect the ambush.
Interact with Ranni's doll body to place the Dark Moon Ring on her finger. Ranni, restored to her life-sized doll form, thanks you, confirms you as her consort, and promises to meet again. Where she stood, loot the Dark Moon Greatsword — a colossal sword with the Moonlight Greatsword skill that coats the blade in frost-magic and fires a ranged wave.
Step 8: Claim the Age of the Stars ending
With the questline complete, the ending is almost automatic. After you defeat the Elden Beast — the final boss — a blue summon sign appears on the ground near Marika's broken remains. Interact with that sign instead of touching Marika's remains to trigger the Age of the Stars ending, in which Ranni takes the Elden Ring away from the Lands Between to begin an age of the moon and the stars, ruled from afar (Fextralife, verified 2026-10-05). This also unlocks the related achievement/trophy.
Because endings are chosen at that final moment, you can hold several options open: completing Ranni's quest only adds the blue summon sign; it does not force the ending until you interact with it.
Ranni questline order at a glance
| # | Step | Location | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meet "Renna" | Church of Elleh (Limgrave) | Spirit Calling Bell, Lone Wolf Ashes |
| 2 | Enter her service | Ranni's Rise (Three Sisters, Liurnia) | Quest begins |
| 3 | Blaidd → Seluvis → Sellen → kill Radahn | Siofra / Waypoint Ruins / Redmane Castle | Stars freed |
| 4 | Fingerslayer Blade | Nokron, Eternal City | Fingerslayer Blade |
| 5 | Give the blade; use the statue | Ranni's Rise / Carian Study Hall | Carian Inverted Statue, Cursemark of Death, Snow Witch Set |
| 6 | Miniature Ranni; Baleful Shadow | Ainsel River / Nokstella | Discarded Palace Key |
| 7 | Dark Moon Ring; Astel; place ring | Raya Lucaria / Grand Cloister / Manus Celes | Dark Moon Greatsword |
| 8 | Age of the Stars | Final boss arena | Age of the Stars ending |
FAQ
Can you do Ranni's questline after beating the game? No — the questline must be completed in the same playthrough before you interact with Marika's remains at the end. Once you choose an ending, that run is over. Start Ranni's chain early and leave the final step (placing the Dark Moon Ring) until you are ready to approach the final boss.
What level should you be for Ranni's questline? There is no official requirement, but the two gated bosses are the benchmarks. Starscourge Radahn is community-recommended around level 70, and Astel, Naturalborn of the Void is an endgame-tier fight most players take on around level 90–120. The questline itself spans most of the game, so by the time you reach Astel you will usually be leveled enough — the rest is mechanical ordering, not raw stats. (Level advice here is community consensus, not an official figure.)
Does killing Seluvis break Ranni's questline? It can. If you kill Preceptor Seluvis, Blaidd turns hostile and the questline halts until you seek Absolution at the Church of Vows. Separately, giving Ranni the Fingerslayer Blade turns Seluvis into a puppet and ends his own questline — so collect the Magic Scorpion Charm from him first if you want it.
Why won't Ranni appear at Ranni's Rise? The most common cause is that the Radahn Festival has already started — from activating the Grand Lift of Dectus, reaching the Altus Plateau, or progressing far enough in related dialogue. Blaidd stays at the festival until Radahn is dead, so Ranni will not advance until you defeat Starscourge Radahn; after that she reappears and the quest continues.
Is the Dark Moon Greatsword worth it? For an Intelligence build, yes. It is a colossal sword that scales with Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence, and its Moonlight Greatsword skill enchants the blade with frost and fires a magic wave — strong single-target and ranged pressure, and it cannot be re-infused, which keeps its unique skill intact. It is one of the standout rewards for finishing the whole chain.
Do I have to fight Astel to complete the quest? Yes. Astel, Naturalborn of the Void in the Grand Cloister is mandatory — defeating it opens the sealed path to the Moonlight Altar and the Cathedral of Manus Celes, where you place the Dark Moon Ring on Ranni.
More Elden Ring guides
Ranni's chain crosses paths with several of the game's biggest fights. If you are leveling toward the questline's bosses, these guides cover the fights you will run into along the way:
- How to beat Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon — the Raya Lucaria boss whose Grand Library holds the Dark Moon Ring chest
- How to beat Starscourge Radahn (and the DLC Promised Consort)
- How to beat the Elden Beast — the final boss you clear before triggering the ending
- Best Great Runes in Elden Ring
Ranni's questline is long, but every step above is checkpointed by an item or a boss, so you always know where you stand. Keep the ordering clean — recruit Ranni before the festival, finish Seluvis before the Fingerslayer Blade — and the Dark Moon Greatsword and the Age of the Stars ending are yours on a single run.
