Ranking All 13 Elden Ring DLC Side Quests From Worst to Best...

[@TritonSparrow]

CURRSSSE YOU RUDOOOLLLPHH! I SHALL SHOW THE THE TRUE STRENGTH OF A CHRISTMAS WARRRIORRR! A HAIL OF COAL!

[@JacobCasteel-v5o]

BEHOLD, A TRUE ELF WARRIOR, AND I, IGON CLAUSE!

[@flintlock37]

​@JacobCasteel-v5o YOUR CHRISTMAS SPIRIT MADE FLESH

[@XDivi]

FULL OF CHEER YOU MIGHT BE, WHIMSICAL DEER!

[@bananajoe8412]

BUT I WILL RIDDLE WITH ORNAMENTS YOUR BEAUTIFUL TREE

[@the-core-experience]

@@bananajoe8412 WITH GALE OF CAROL AND TUNES

[@devilishpsycho4717]

nothing is more amusing to me than Thiollier depreciating himself over and over for about 1/3 of the quest but suddenly going all murdering psychopath once you meet Trina, then self depreciating again just to tank 5 fucking people and GOD AND CONSORT IN PERSON

[@Rusty_Spy]

Yet he is literally as weak as a kitten with his weapon of choice and is always the first to die to Radahn

[@devilishpsycho4717]

in his defense, I was always the first to die

[@diamondarmy5546]

"Not the finest blade, nor the mightiest armour... will spare your life. From the poison of Thiollier." Goes pretty damn hard

[@mohammedbaig9569]

@@diamondarmy5546 Love how it starts like he's gonna start self deprecating, only to pivot into one of the hardest sentences in the game

[@victorguapoako]

@@diamondarmy5546 honestly, this is why the gank fight before the final boss will always be one of my most favorite Fromsoft Bossfights of all time. The juxtaposition of the gank fight giving you the only two people in the group with seemingly the least likely chance of putting up a decent fight (a senior citizen and a brittle-boned simp) against a Needle Knight, Brawler Monk, a goddamn fucking Redmane, a brick wall, and a berserker out for revenge, and then having these two give out the uno-reverse-card of the century by not only clapping everyone's cheeks but also giving the coldest lines (Now, my blade. Watch closely) was so unexpected that I found myself nearly tearing up the moment either of them died in the gank fight, and definitely so when Ansbach inevitably dies in the Radahn-Miquella fight.

[@waterbottles393]

I've heard people complain that the DLC was too "handholdy" cuz the npcs leave notes behind and actually tell you where they're going next. And to that I say, when I started playing From games I didn't understand there were even quests because most of the time it didn't feel like a progression of events with an npc. You just happen to run into Jimmy the arms trader 20 hours after the last time and chat with him for five minutes. Maybe you run a favor for him. Then he dies for some reason. Vaguely leading you in the general direction of somewhere isn't hand holding, it's how people who expect things to get done actually do things.

[@botondzoltannagy8849]

Those people need to understand that Elden Ring is OPEN WORLD, the npcs need to give you atleast a bit of a help. And atleast with Leda or Dryleaf Dane, it made sense for them leave letters.

[@matej906]

Zamzibart.... Forgive me

[@geordiejones5618]

Yeah that's where they failed in the main game. At launch you didn't even know WHERE anyone moved to and no one could keep track of where they all are unless you run around checking everywhere. I still messed up some stuff in the DLC but it felt way better than the base game, where I couldn't do a single quest except by total accident until someone made a guide.

[@dekkan_0771]

That’s probably the same people that will tell you that the people shouldn’t complain about the summon system because is been always like that even tho it can be improved To be more accessible (aka seamless co-op) I’m not saying the game should hold your hand but it will be nice to have a reminder like a letter of what Karl told you 15 hours ago😂.

[@waterbottles393]

@@dekkan_0771 I actually mentioned my idea for a note feature on another video tho I forget which. ER has a notes system but it was hardly utilized until the dlc. There is no reason why your character shouldn't be taking down notes whenever they meet an npc so you get pointers to their future location or smth they want. Morrowind quest log works like this and generally its not too bad

[@isaibnsaleheen]

Sir Ansbach's dialogue in the final fight against Radhan is all the reward you need to complete his quest line xD

[@malcomf7991]

The "drink poison and die 4 times" quest has got to be peak ER quest design. In my first playthrough, I drank and died 3 times and went on to kill other things, but of course when I looked it up it's actually 4 times. Silly me.

[@ghastlyanarchy1720]

Whenever you think you've done enough, do it two - four more times just to be safe.

[@MothmanOfficialWva]

Elden ring hasn’t instilled the “exhaust all options” mindset in you yet?

[@Bromancer]

Yeah... Even as a typical fan of ER world design including obscure quest progression that 4x repeat felt very arbitrary. Wouldn't have "figured it out" without seeing a KZbinr with the pretty flower headgear a few days after walking away from my first potion death tipping me off that I may have missed something.

[@kingofthesun21]

Ranking all sites of grace when?

[@battlericky17]

Top site of grace is the one by YO MOMMAS HOUSE OHHHHHH (merry christmas and i wish your mother well)

[@adolfpotatoler7624]

I see someone has noticed my demands

[@astronomyisamazing6023]

Ranking all stakes of marika as well

[@ゾーラの里]

?????

[@Volti-Vagra]

@@battlericky17 no no, thats the Original Site of Mace given shes used to it now... it worked well enough then

[@tyrant-zero]

Sir Ansbach being so low is criminal 💀

[@ゾーラの里]

I'm a fan of his student Sauguine Noble Nataan. My headcanon is that he was best friend with Millcirnt before her rot worsened (platonic friends not romantic)

[@madkoala2130]

sharpen the pitchforks gentleman.

[@bobbobbobbobb]

Ansbach is great. His quest fucking fucks.

[@Volti-Vagra]

​@@ゾーラの里 "best friend" i dont think you implied romance until specifying "not romantic", least in my general understanding lol

[@malacethmordor5176]

literally my favourite NPC

[@MargeThatch]

Rusty you know what we want. Give us the tree tier list

[@angbald]

Minor erdtree, 23 skidoo tree, Erdtree.

[@FushigiFriend-hz3gh]

Something really funny about the ymir quest line is that if you go to the second finger ruin before the first, ymir basically tells you "hah, you went to the other ruin! Here's the map I would have given you to lead you to that one. Now look at the first map again and go to that ruin you silly head"

[@happysuds1856]

Seriously!! I have to try that 😂

[@icetide9411]

It also has a nice undertone in his voice of "How the FUCK did you even manage to be that wrong???"

[@DataDrain02]

So, this has likely already been said. But, Dryleaf Dane DOES talk when you beat him during the gank fight. His voice isn't very deep. Like, the voice is fitting. But... yeah.

[@waltuh11121]

I thought he was going to be through the "ranking NPCs by smashability" I'm in for Florissax btw

[@Scalesandtails13]

We have our priorities straight.

[@akechijubeimitsuhide]

I'm a lesbian but Igon is Igon

[@JonathanNormandy]

​@@akechijubeimitsuhide holy based

[@horalitoneki9641]

will bang miquella anyday

[@blizzardgaming7070]

​@@akechijubeimitsuhideBased AF

[@MasterofLaziness]

I recall Freyja leaving her shit in the tower if you passed the NPC gankbang without handing her the letter.

[@subject_of_ymir]

Yeah!! She dies off-camera.

[@Urb4nN0rd]

Which is great because I got locked out of her quest by giving Ans the scroll when I found it rather than holding it for some arbitrary amount of time...

[@SorowFame]

@@Urb4nN0rdI think the expectation is that you’ll keep going progressing through the level because Freyja isn’t too far away but they really shouldn’t have put a grace so close if they wanted that.

[@ziniUnderhill-co1ql]

Rusty is Ansbach's no1 hater.

[@zombieslayer2016]

i mean his quest is kinda garbage

[@psykodactyle]

I never got the leda vs Ansbach invasion summoning signs but I got him as a summon in the npc gank fight and final battle just fine. Same with Hornsent but ofc I got his "bad"(?) end in which he sides with Leda, which Imo is leagues better than him just being a random silent red Phantom!

[@cacho707]

Indeed

[@theawickward2255]

The Ansbach quest reward is just his bow (you can skip doing Freyja's quest and you'll still get her shield after the Leda battle); he always shows up for the gank fight unless he's dead. Thiollier's the one for whom you have to do his quest to get him as a summon. Hornsent's quest outcome (assuming you don't side with Leda and kill him) depends on whether or not you summon him for Messmer; if you do he decides murder is fun actually and then later tries to murder you to get his murder fix, and if you don't he's sad he didn't get his murder and mopes around until Leda tells him you count as the next Messmer so he tries to murder you with her.

[@shodai2054]

bro blessed the christmas tree with his seeds 💀

[@deltabeee681]

"Fundy's a tree c*mmer"

[@pal1d1nl1ght]

Thiollier is my best bud in the DLC. Dude admits to be weak as hell and yet he doesnt even back down from a 5v2/3 against trained soldiers, or against a fucking god.

[@HeWhoJivesWithChives]

Merry Christmas folks!!!

[@LocalGinger8128]

Merry Christmas 🎄

[@catandmuffins2900]

Crimaz!

[@dontreadmyprofilepicture3635]

Rizzmas

[@Catherine-d5d]

Merry Christmas bro

[@Beanie-Babe]

Thanks bro, merry Christmas, spread the cheer :)

[@yoMoonman]

Woke up Christmas morning to presents under my tree, happy wife, happy cat and Rusty uploads new 🔥 content. Couldn't ask for anything better.

[@SirLexion]

Man absolutely dissed Sir Chadsbach 😭

[@erasmus_locke]

I haven't even seen half of these characters. There's no way I'm finishing their quests without spending more time reading a wiki than actually playing the game.

[@ramen3643]

you're just not exploring enough, I was able to do all the quests completely guideless

[@Rowland4825]

If you do it makes an npc fight that carries emotional weight, it feels more like your fighting actual main characters in a show or book instead if just invaders. But it is 100% as annoying as rusty says.

[@atelheit]

"Hat's off to the simp in the mask I guess" Jokes on you, Varre wasn't even in this episode.

[@jakeclemit1738]

Hey man, thanks for posting on Christmas. You chose to still find space in this busy holiday for all of us, and it's appreciated. Have a happy holiday.

[@MrSharkings]

gonna be honest, my first reaction to this video was "wait, there's that many side quests in the SotE?"

[@zuvoes]

as the number one thiollier fan, this video made me smile

[@sclafantasy]

Ansbach doesn’t give the player the secret rite scroll. You have to find it in an obscure, random room in the shadow keep before giving it to Ansbach but only after talking to Freyja to ensure you don’t botch her quest. So it’s even more convoluted than Rusty describes😅

[@creepingfrost]

It’s a Christmas miracle. Can’t wait for rusty to rank the hollow knight bench’s.

[@Ryan2K900]

Greenpath bench #1

[@chronistderkonigin1116]

Me: (seeing Igon’s Quest isn’t 1. Place) CURSE YOU RUSTY!!!! I HERBY VOW YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY!!! 😂

[@Chalibay415]

The grandma naming bit was great

[@FalloutGuy22]

also to add to the lack of sympathy for hornsent, the fact that he wears that mask heavily implies he directly took part in torturing the shamans

[@BRUXXUS]

I somehow missed Thiollier's whole first half of the quest dealing with Moore; and completely missed the Dragon Priestess. She didn't even spawn in my playthrough 😢 I even did my best to avoid big story beats and bosses before exploring. The map was so confusing that I thought I might have had to beat bosses to unlock certain areas I couldn't figure out how to get to. That'll teach me to play a FromSoft game blind. lol. I did, somehow, get Ansbach and Thiollier to show as summons for the final boss, thought. 😅

[@SorowFame]

Missed Thiolier the first time too, though to be fair he’s off a side path of a side path that you don’t have much reason to go through and no one bothers to tell you he exists, let alone where he is.

[@BRUXXUS]

@@SorowFame Right? I only found out about him when I accidentally saw a friend talk to him while she was streaming. haha.

[@rexesshadow8628]

A dragon's dream is a nice and wholesome story for Florissax that expands on the little lore and interaction we get

[@seekay8079]

Lmfao, it's crazy how a simple haircut change makes Queelign look badass and cool

[@randomdegenerate9180]

Day 41 of asking Rusty to rank every enemy in Elden Ring. After ranking all of the weapons, both main game AND DLC, I am pretty sure you won't have a problem with the enemies. I really hope you get to it before Night Reign comes out, at least. But in the meanwhile, I just wanna wish everyone here a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

[@Nerazmus]

What in the hell are you talking about with Ansbach? You just talk to him. Talk to him again after Rune break. Talk to him again in the Shadowkeep and give him the secret scroll and that's quest done. You don't need to interact with Leda's quest at all. Also, you can summon him for Radahn, not just the Leda boss fight. And his weapons are pretty cool as well.

[@FakeDadRealFriend]

One of the first dialogue lines Ansbach gives you is not to punch Moore's friends, the forager brood. I did reflexively almost do it but I was given enough information to IMMEDIATELY know what I did, stop, and check if I needed a Celestial Dew shower to continue. They're actually very forgiving and just get over it when you reset the area, so I did not.

[@rowleyryan9025]

Merry Christmas Rusty! Thanks for blessing us with another ranking

[@justsomeannoyingredpanda]

The lack of a way to keep track of side quests makes it feel more like a freak accident. Heck, most of the NPC's you meet at the Radahn festival all have their own later appearances, which makes it feel like each of them have their own quests. (Not so smooth transition) Which makes me wonder which NPC summon at the Radahn fight is the best. And I am asking Rusty for the 37th time to rank all Radahn Festival summons. Current streak: 34. Highest streak: 34. Previous highest streak: 3. _new record!_

[@Nerazmus]

If you are doing bleed build, Okina is probably best. But otherwise, Blaid.

[@incendium6615]

13:30 Dryleaf Dane actually does speak! You can hear him say his final words to Miquella when you kill him in the Enir Illim boss fight against Leda!

[@Poetic_Justice92]

New Rusty! On Christmas day nonetheless! Well this Christmas just improved a little bit! Thanks for the gift Rusty!

[@TheSukotu]

omg! rusty!! how did you know that i wanted a Rusty post for christmas!! i love it. thank you. you truly know me 😚

[@jordannoell4222]

9:06 Fun fact there is a lock out for count ymir's questline and it pracfically has zero documentation, depsite actually having recorded dialogue telling you that you fucked up. If you are a dumbass and fall down the ladder (or tp away without killing the boss) Ymir closes the secret entrance and tells you to pound sand.

[@jroden06]

Merry Christmas, Rusty. Your videos got me through some of the worst times of 2024 and brought our family a lot of joy and peace. Yes, your ranking videos. We love you, dude.

[@FluffyBoi-h9w]

Merry Christmas everybody! Rusty thank you for this amazing gift! May your days be many and your Maidens many… wait that’s not the line

[@fjorbak]

Merry Christmas!

[@trashfay]

Sir Ansbach being so low costed you some points on my likeable scale

[@entityuntombed]

Bro built a career talking about a game he seemingly loathes. I respect the grind

[@gamegrenade6620]

2 Videos in a week It truly is a Christmas Miracle

[@athing8523]

My thinking is, if the lore is the reason why they're low then I'd love if there were just a brief moment for it to be talked about. But if we're more under the impression people already studied the lore then I guess that's fair too. Game has been out a while after all

[@koal16]

Merry Christmas Rusty!!!

[@Shahzadan]

For new years I NEED the toe ranking rusty

[@Tilespawn]

did queelign's hair change in a patch? i remember him having the bowl cut hairstyle (after checking, the wiki also shows the bowl cut)

[@happysuds1856]

Used iris on him yesterday, still bowl cut. I’m on PS5, maybe that matters…

[@Gojira_uz]

His hair is probably different in the video because Rusty has some hair mod installed replacing the bowl cut slot

[@steevie9423]

I apparently did the Rauh Ruins and messmer fight out of order and just didnt see nor hear of Hornsent ever again. Which is good cause i didn't want to kill him but still strange he didn't even see off messmer when we beat his ass together

[@akechijubeimitsuhide]

This might be the way to keep him alive, then? Romina before Messmer?

[@alliesotherness9456]

Rusty for Christmas? Thank you sir 🎄

[@immaterialsoph]

merry christmas yo

[@dakotahogue]

merry Christmas Rusty! i hope it’s a good one. thanks for the videos!

[@EJaDav]

Dane does speak, just when he dies during the Enir Eilim mosh pit.

[@michaelblevins1651]

Hornsent Granddam’s name being changed is funny asf every time he says it’s 😭😂

[@duphty]

Thanks for the Christmas gift, Rusty!

[@38Jim]

Best gift ever. Thanks, Rusty Claus

[@HydraPrimaris]

I can't wait for the "Ranking all 'Rusty Elden Ring Ranking Videos' from worst to best" video when Rusty finally losses it from releasing Elden Ring Ranking videos.

[@iMightBeCrazy]

I missed some of the beginning of Freyna's quest but still managed to do it because I heard her in the library, never met her before it.

[@drunkkermit1901]

A christmas gift from rusty !

[@ted_the_kazooman]

You can do Ansbach’s fight with Leda after killing Messmer, but only after also killing Hornsent in Rauh. You just gotta talk to Leda after killing him and she’ll say she’s going After Ansbach

[@patrickwjrwhateverclips1329]

Happy holidays Rusty

[@greenpotato4796]

After 3 nectra trips back to the grace i was confused and thought "What's the weirdest quest requirement they could have come up with?... ah yes. Proc sleep on yourself while you are dying from the poison" Imagine my face when the 4th time actually worked. Of course it had nothing to do with the idea but it felt like it

[@fiveforbiting]

All tied for The Worst. Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk.

[@ghastlyanarchy1720]

Why's that exactly?

[@thekatarnalchemist]

CURSE YOU, RUSTY! I HEREBY VOW, YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY! Good vid, for real. And Merry Christmas.

[@InternetPeopleAreNotReal]

If we are factoring in rewards, there is nothing more rewarding that everyone coming together for the Leda fight. That’s why it should be number one

[@Games4Days912]

Next rank all the re used bosses.. The second DLC oops i mean Night rain is going to be edge of your seat shit. Merry Christmas!

[@IdToaster]

Given that Hornsent goes out of his way to wear the mask of the people who slaughtered Marika's people to begin with, yeah I don't think 'innocent' is anywhere in his vocabulary. At _best_ he's not one of them but just wore it to be a dick, at worst he's directly responsible for Marika's genocide.

[@michaelbengochea-rb6yp]

Merry Christmas Rusty

[@CallN0w]

Fascinated at the misunderstanding of Grandam's dialogue

[@tsunderetsunami9111]

Thanks for doing really everything

[@CadavresSansNom]

Merry christmas, Rusty!

[@ridori7376]

Dryleaf Dane actually speaks when you kill him in the big NPC fight. He sounds like the most normal guy ever.

[@ar.71944]

The inconsistencies between all these questlines makes me believe that fromsoft appointed a bunch of different people to make their own questline

[@stonalisa3729]

Definetly multiple people working on these

[@HOSSEINR-s2y]

Like your character 1:17 . Please give me the creation guide you use for her.

[@secondsonofkrypton]

quit your gooning boy

[@marlongerke6618]

Dane talks when he dies in the last fight before final boss

[@kentmcelrath1151]

Merry Christmas, brother !

[@RougeMephilesClone]

Woo, Christmas special!

[@ghastlyanarchy1720]

10:27 funny thing is, if an enemy that's usually fight on sight before you even see it yourself is just sitting there not reacting to you whatsoever then maybe, jjjuuuuust maybe don't attack it at all. Just a crumb of self-control, please.

[@nathalos1205]

Thank you for the gift of a video on Christmas! I hope everyone is having fun however you spend it! ❤🎉

[@Seinkal]

Merry Christmas, Rusty❤

[@NotSpoiledMilk]

13:37 Dane does speak, but only in a prayer to Miquella when you kill him in the Leda gank fight

[@dagoth-ursbeekeeper9119]

I love how any time SOTE NPCs are talked about there is an obligatory ritual of glazing (deserved) for Igon that rivals a week's worth of work at Krispy Kreme.

[@aceclop]

I was scrolling through my watch later playlist and I found a video you did like 3 years ago and it made me remember you. Which then made me curious if you were still making videos lol

[@ibrayuri8386]

If you put Sir Ansbach low, I will lose faith in your opinion Edit: 😑 btw Dane have a voice you can hear him in the last npc's fight

[@zombieslayer2016]

to be fair the video is about the questline not the npc

[@franka76]

Merry Ranking Christmas!

[@justsomegamer01]

Another certified rusty tier ranking video to cap off the year with, merry Christmas yall 🎄

[@personguy4994]

it's gonna be a good Christmas

[@cataclysmicacedia824]

Finally someone points out how Hornsents character was kinda fucked over by how Fromsoft choose to characterize him, didn't even bother giving him a name as one of the few interactable representatives of his people. Too many folks celebrate Marika girlbossing her way to genocide vengeance.

[@1Henrink]

I hardly disagree with Thiollier position. Never even found the guy on my first playthrough.Silent with gray clothes in a rock, blends right in.

[@Deathrunner-sr9xe]

it’s always a good day when rusty drops

[@bplatinumpaladin]

"Game considers Dryleaf a boss" yeah. Didn't want to say anything cause people already said during that vid. "He doesn't Talk." Oh Rusty, have I got some bad news for you. Two in a row about the same guy. But yes, he only speaks during the Leda fight, and its when he is killed. He's barely audible above the sound of combat tho.

[@nicholaspelz9422]

Merry Christmas Rusty!

[@icetide9411]

Moore's quest will leave me sad... forever :(

[@dahrkrain]

putting queelign above ansbach is actually a crime

[@happysuds1856]

Beat Queelign with wild strikes on great hammer. The sound is better than Ansbach’s dialogues 🤣

[@BigTastyRed]

I wanted a bush tire list for Christmas.

[@vivianherrmann2946]

Okay hang on. You can't say that this video is ignoring the "Likability of the NPCs" and then immediately turn about and start talking about how much you dislike the hornsent. Giving me bloody whiplash.

[@Volti-Vagra]

3:06 ansbach doesnt end with a hard R?

[@Volti-Vagra]

[DISCLAIMER: Im aware rusty said 2012, prior to the "slip up" as people wanna take it.]

[@Volti-Vagra]

i mean when i screw up, get upset or w/e its usually "aw fuck" or some hellish sound, not a preexisting derogatory term used in some r e a l l y nasty ways/by some really reprehensible people *it was not a slip up.*

[@JustKelso1993]

​@@Volti-VagraOh stfu, nobody cares anymore.