In order to Recruit NPCs in Dark Souls 3, you need to complete NPCs questlines with each NPC having a unique storyline. Throughout a playthrough, you can interact with these NPCs time and time again to learn more about the game, the twisting stories, and more.
NPCs can be tough to find, but in our Dark Souls 3 Side quests guide we have detailed everything you need to know about them, their gifts, and connections among them.
For more help on Dark Souls 3, read out our Dark Souls 3 Rings Locations Guide, Dark Souls 3 NG+ Guide, and Dark Souls 3 Materials Locations Guide.
How to Recruit NPCs in Dark Souls 3
Before you proceed ahead, do note that this Dark Souls 3 NPCs guide contains minor spoilers and should be avoided in case you need to discover everything on your own:
Andre the Blacksmith
This fellow is found in the Firelink Shrine and performs various functions upgrading weapons/shields, infusion, and upgrading Estus Flask.
If you kill Andre the Blacksmith, he will stop providing you his services unless you sacrifice at Altar to Velka inside the sewer area near the Dilapidated Bridge Bonfire in the Undead Settlement – sacrifice requires Souls.
Cornyx the Pyromancer
Cornyx is a mage who sells you different Pyromancy spells. You can bring him Tomes to expand his inventory.
To find Cornyx the Pyromancer, head to the Undead Settlement, and cross a stone bridge until you see Peasant Hollows tossing Firebombs at you. From there, get off the pathway and drop onto a ledge under the village. After you reach a Bonfire, you will find a path leading through a basement towards the rooftop from where you will spot the NPC. After meeting him, he will teleport to the Firelink Shrine.
If you manage to kill Cornyx the Pyromancer, he will drop Ashes of Cornyx and Cornyx’s Armor Set.
You can also summon the White Phantom Great Swamp Cuculus outside the Old Demon King area in the Smouldering Lake to defeat the boss and find the Spotted Whip and Cornyx’s clothes near the cage.
Greirat
This fellow is found inside a cell below the High Wall of Lothric. To find it, head to the bottom of the tower from the Tower on the Wall Bonfire and follow the hallway leading down.
To find the key to his cell, search the building at bottom of a ladder as you head towards the Winged Knight from Tower on the Wall.
After meeting him, he will ask you to find and give a Blue Tearstone Ring to his friend Loretta in the Undead Settlement. You need to agree to do so to become his friend after which he will go to the Firelink Shrine.
You will find Loretta’s bones near the Undead Settlement Bonfire which you can give to Greirat to obtain the Blue Tearstone Ring. After this, you can ask him to stay in the Firelink Shrine or explore the world to expand his inventory.
If you let him pillage Irithyll without Siegward there or telling Unbreakable Patches of Greirat’s location, he will die there with his ashes in the sewers – same goes for pillaging the Lothric Castle, but he will die certainly!
Killing Greirat yourself will net you a Bandit’s knife and Ashes of Greirat.
Hawkwood the Deserter
Hawkwood the Deserter is found inside the Firelink Shrine at the very start of the game.
If you speak with him after defeating the Greatwood or Crystal Sage, you will obtain a Heavy Gem. If you speak with him after defeating the Abyss Watchers, you will obtain the Farron Ring.
After defeating Greatwood, Crystal Sage, the Abyss Watchers, and exhausting his dialogues, he will flee from the area, leaving Hawkwood’s Shield near a grave outside the shrine before appearing again as s White Phantom sign outside the Consumed King’s Garden.
You can also find the sign near the 3rd Bonfire inside the Archdragon Peak.If you obtain the Twinkling Dragon Torso Stone and use the Path of the Dragon gesture at the shrine inside the Archdragon Peak, he will leave a sign with Andre the Blacksmith in the Firelink Shrine.
After seeing the sign, you can travel to the Abyss Watchers room in the Farron Keep and defeat him there to get the Twinkling Dragon Head Stone – if you let him win, you will lose the Twinkling Dragon Torso Stone.
Irina of Carim
Irina of Carim is found behind a locked door at the end of the Undead Settlement which can be opened using the Grave Key that can be purchased from the Shrine Handmaid.
After speaking with her, agree to take her in your services, and she will re-appear in the Firelink Shrine. In the Firelink Shrine, she will teach you Miracles – you can bring her Braille Tomes to expand her inventory.
If you bring her Deep Tomes or Londor Tomes and learn Dark Miracles, she will fall into darkness and Eygon of Carim will kidnap her to protect her. If you learn all the available Dark Miracles from her, she will stop serving you entirely!
However, if you learn all of the Holy Miracles from her, she will become a Fire Keeper and will go to bottom of the tower outside the Firelink Shrine.
Finally, if you give her Deep Tomes or Londor Tomes, but do not learn any Dark Miracles, she will throw them at her side for you to pick up.
Eygon of Carim
Eygon of Carim is a guardian who is tasked to protect Irina of Carim and will turn hostile if you harm her.
As mentioned earlier, if you bring Irina of Carim Deep Tomes or Londor Tome and learn Dark Miracles, she will fall into darkness and Eygon of Carim will kidnap her to protect her. During this time, you will be able to meet him near the Iudex Gundyr Bonfire.
In case you do not ager him, he will appear as a White Phantom outside the Dragonslayer Armour battle after which you will be able to find his corpse in Irina’s cell in the Undead Settlement.
Karla the Witch
You can find Karla the Witch in Irithyll Dungeon, near the Profaned City. You can free her and agree to take her in your services in order to send her to the Firelink Shrine.
Unlike Irina of Carim, Karla the Witch can teach your dark magic if you provide her with Deep Tomes or Londor Tome, she will expand her inventory. Other than this, there are no consequences for learning dark magic from her.
If you decide to kill her, you will obtain Ashes of Karla and Karla’s Armor Set.
Leonhard, the Ringfinger
Once you light the Tower on the Wall Bonfire or defeat Vordt, you will be able to meet Leonhard, the Ringfinger in the Firelink Shrine who will get you 5x Cracked Red-Eye Orbs.
After lighting the Cliff Underside Bonfire in the Undead Settlement or defeating the Curse-Rotted Greatwood along with a Pale Tongue at your disposal, you will see him in the Firelink Shrine once again and obtain the Lift-Chamber Key.
You need to use the Lift-Chamber Key to find a Darkwraith behind a locked door beneath the Tower on the Wall Bonfire in the High Wall of Lothric. If you manage to defeat the Darkwraith, you will get a Red Eye Orb and see Leohard once more in the Firelink Shrine.
If you join Rosaria’s Fingers Covenant in the Cathedral of the Deep and use a Pale Tongue, you will see him outside Rosaria’s chamber.
Once you have defeated Yhorm the Giant or reached Profaned Capital Bonfire, Leohard will kill Rosaria. At this point, reach her corpse to retrieve the Black Eye Orb and carry it to the highest room in Anor Londo to invade him. After invading, kill him to recover Rosaria’s Soul, the Crescent Moon Sword, and the Silver Mask as well as Leohard’s Armor Set from the Shrine Handmaid.
Ludleth of Courtland
This fellow is found inside the Firelink Shrine. After killing the Curse-Rotted Greatwood, get this NPC the Transposition Kiln and he will transform Special Souls into various items such as weapons, spells, and rings.
You can also kill him in order to obtain the Skull Ring. Aside from this, if you proceed with Anri’s questline, he will leave Anri’s Straight Sword with Ludleth of Courtland.
Holy Knight Hodrick
This fellow resides in the Pit of Hollows beneath the Curse-Rotted Greatwood area. If you manage to kill the boss, the floor will collapse and Holy Knight Hodrick will die.
If you wish to meet him, you need to head over to the Undead Settlement and find a Hollow Manservent with a cage on his back. You must approach the cage quietly and interact with it to get teleported to the Pit of Hollows.
Orbeck of Vinheim
You find this NPC near the Crystal Sage in the Road to Sacrifices and he will head to the Firelink Shrine if you have at least +10 Intelligence. In order to keep him by your side, you need to provide him with at least 4 scrolls or he will leave forever.
If you purchase Aural Decoy, Farron Flashsword, and Pestilent Mercury; you will get the Slumbering Dragon Ring from him. If you get him one scroll, buy at least 3x sorceries, and play with any non-sorcerer class, he will get you Young Dragon Ring.
If you provide him with all the scrolls and buy all sorceries from him, he will depart after speaking with you and you will find his White Phantom sign near the Twin Princes battle in the Grand Archive. After the battle, you will find his ashes in the Grand Archives.
Shrine Handmaid
This NPC is found in the Firelink Shrine and is one of the major vendors in the game. If you kill her, she will return to the Firelink Shrine and will charge you 20% more for each item. As in the case of Andre the Blacksmith, if you sacrifice at Altar to Velka inside the sewer area near the Dilapidated Bridge Bonfire in the Undead Settlement, her prices will return to normal.
If you continue to kill bosses, bring her ashes, and kill different NPCs, she will continue to expand her inventory. You will also find another Shrine Handmaid in the Untended Graves who will sell you some unique items.
The Fire Keeper
This NPC is found inside the Firelink Shrine and is one of the most important NPCs in the game. The reason for this is that she is the one who will level up your character throughout the game. If you kill her, she will simply return to her original place.
Rosaria
This NPC is found in the Cathedral of the Deep. In order to access her location, you need climb over the rafters above the cathedral floor.
She is the leader of Rosaria’s Fingers and allows you to redistribute your points and change your appearance in the game. For more information on her, you can read Leonhard, the Ringfinger section of this guide.
One important thing that you need to note here is that you cannot join Rosaria’s Fingers and be friendly with Sirris’ of the Sunless Realms at the same time.
Siegward of Catarina
You find this NPC for the first time in the Undead Settlement as you leave for the Road to Sacrifices. It is a good idea to exhaust the dialogue here.
In order to have him as an ally, you need to help him fight a large demon in the area nearby. This will also net you Siegbrau, Toast gesture, and Sleep gesture.
Next up, you need to head over to the Cathedral of the Deep and find him near the Cleansing Chapel Bonfire where you will get him Catarina armor from Patches. Once done, you will meet him in Irithyll Dungeon inside the kitchen above the sewers.
Finally, you will meet him as a White Phantom during the Yhorm the Giant boss battle at the end of Profaned Capital.
Sirris of the Sunless Realms
After reaching the Farron Keep, you will see her in the Firelink Shrine. Once done, find the Dreamchaser’s Ashes and deliver them to the Shrine Handmaid. After this, you will see her sign in the Farron Keep and Cathedral of the Deep.
Once you have beaten the Sulyvahn’s Beast, you will be able to enter her world and assist her in defeating Creighton the Wanderer. Once done, defeat Curse-Rotted Greatwood and Aldrich and you will see her sign in front of Greatwood’s area.
A little later in the game, she will ask you to join her knighthood. If you accept, she will join you in a couple of boss fights and if you refuse, she will appear as Hollow in the Pit of Hollow.
The Giant of the Undead Settlement
This giant tosses spears at you and enemies in the Undead Settlement. In order to meet him, you need to head over to the fort and take a lift that goes to the top of the building.
Once you meet the giant, you will have the option of either killing him or befriending him by giving him a branch of the white birch. Once you are friends with him, he will not target you and will help you clear out enemies. If you manage to find of the white branches and get to him, you will find him dead leaving you the Hawk Ring.
Snuggly
Snuggly the Crow lives on top of the Firelink Shrine, but to access him you will need a key leading to the bridge from the Shrine Handmaid.
You need to jump off the bridge, on the roof, and find Snuggly’s nest. Once you are there, you can choose to leave an item and get an item in return:
Key: Leave Item – Get Item
- Alluring Skull – Hello Carving
- Hidden Blessing – Thank You Carving
- Divine Blessing – Very good! Carving
- Shriving Stone – I’m sorry Carving
- Yorshka’s Chime – Help Me! Carving
- Cleric’s Sacred Chime – Help Me! Carving
- Priest’s Chime – Help Me! Carving
- Saint-Tree Bellvine – Help Me! Carving
- Caitha’s Chime – Help Me! Carving
- Crystal Chime – Help Me! Carving
- Lightning Urn – Iron Helm
- Siegbräu – Armor of the Sun
- Homeward Bone – Iron Bracelets
- Seed of a Giant Tree – Iron Leggings
- Firebomb – Large Titanite Shard
- Rope Firebomb – Large Titanite Shard
- Black Firebomb – Titanite Chunk
- Rope Black Firebomb – Titanite Chunk
- Undead Bone Shard – Porcine Shield
- Blacksmith Hammer – Titanite Scale
- Avelyn – Titanite Scale
- Prism Stone – Twinkling Titanite
- Large Leather Shield – Twinkling Titanite
- Xanthous Crown – Lightning Gem
- Moaning Shield – Blessed Gem
- Eleonora – Hollow Gem
- Vertebra Shackle – Lucatiel’s Mask
- Loretta’s Bone – Ring of Sacrifice
- Coiled Sword Fragment – Titanite Slab
- Mendicant’s Staff – Sunlight Shield
