Elden Ring is full of questlines to complete and choices you need to make, but what most people are curious about is if it is bad to pledge yourself to different things. When you have a choice placed in front of you like that, it is difficult to decide if it is worth it or not. The Volcano Manor is a place that gives you one of those choices, but is it worth joining?
Yes, you should absolutely join Volcano Manor. Not only does it allow you to invade a bunch of random NPCs, but it also gives you access to one of the Shardbearer boss fights. It is a very important quest line that can be bypassed, but going through the quest will get you to the boss quicker than if you didn’t do it.
When it comes to joining a group in these games, you might be a little confused about why there are soo many. It isn’t something that you will be stuck with the entire game, rather, it is a choice you have to accept the questline or not. Don’t think of it as a choice that matters. It is really the only way to start each questline.
Should you join Volcano Manor?
When it comes to negative or positive consequences, the positive ones outnumber the negative. There really isn’t a bad reason to start this questline other than the long quest that Tanith has you go on. The questline is not difficult at all, but getting to each part of the quest can take a bit longer if you haven’t gone through the Capital yet.
The questline is actually a pretty fun one because all you have to do is hunt down 3 different people and defeat them. We will get into how to complete each part of the quest later on in this article, but for now, we will focus on the Pros and Cons of starting up this questline.
Here are the Pros and Cons of joining the Volcano Manor:
Pros
There are actually a ton of pros that go along with starting this quest. Not only does it have you go around a defeat a bunch of Tarnished around the world, but it also lets you access the Rykard fight a lot quicker than if you just explored the open area to Volcano Manor. Yes, you can find a way into the open area without starting the quest, but you will miss out on the full questline if you do.
The Rykard fight is definitely worth it in the end. We will go over exactly how you get to the fight through the questline later on, but if you don’t accept the quest, you will have to find the boss arena on your own. It is not easy to find the arena, but going through the questline will teleport you right to the entrance.
Cons
There aren’t really any cons to starting the questline. You have to join Volcano Manor to get the key to the NPC room. Once you join, the only bad thing that happens is Bernahl won’t be happy with you. He won’t like it that you need to hunt down other Tarnished, but there really are no negative consequences with that.
If you found Volcano Manor and you have been putting off joining it, go ahead. There are really no bad reasons to start this questline and you also get easy access to a bunch of really cool fights. Don’t worry about any long-term choices either. Once you beat Rykard, you can get his Great Rune.
How to complete the Volcano Manor questline?
The questline is actually pretty short as long as you have most of the world explored. Before you can start the quest, you will need to find Volcano Manor. Once you do make your way inside. You will then want to talk to Tanith, the lady sitting in the chair. Talk to her and join the Volcano Manor. You will get a key that will open the hallway doors.
Go to the second door on your left and open the door. Go inside and talk to all the NPCs who are inside the room. You are then going to want to grab the Letter from the table. This is your first mission. Look on your map and you will see a marker telling you to go to the North section of Limgrave. This is where the first part of your quest begins.
Here is what you are supposed to do to complete the Volcano Manor questline:
1. Invade Old Knight Istvan
The first target that Volcano Manor has you search out is Old Knight Istvan. He is found by going to the far North of Limgrave and finding his Invasion sign on the ground. If you are having trouble finding the area, look at your map and there will be a red marker in the general area where the marker is. Once you get to the area, go invade his world.
Once you are in his world, you need to defeat him. He is not super difficult because he wields a sword. Keep in mind that his attacks are very quick and sometimes very hard to dodge. Try to stay back and hit him when there is an opening. Overall, he is the easiest person to defeat in this quest. He does give you a very good armor set when you defeat him as well.
2. Invade Rileigh the Idle
Once you have defeated Istvan, head back to the Manor. Go into the NPC room again and grab the second letter. This will give you a new target to locate and defeat. We have no idea why these people need to be defeated, but that is just part of the quest. To find Rileigh, you will need to head to Altus Plateau.
He is in the middle section of the area and his summon sign can be found between 2 cliff faces. Same as before, if you are having trouble finding it, just look at your map. A red marker will show you where you need to go.
Once you find the sign, summon him and defeat him. He is harder than the previous person, but still not too difficult. He wields a Scarlet Rot Dagger and a Crossbow so no matter where you are, he can still do damage to you. Once you defeat him, head back to the Manor for your next target.
3. Invade Juno Hoslow, Knight of Blood
Once you make it back to the Manor, talk to Tanith and she will tell you that you are doing a great job. Head to the NPC room once again and you will find a new letter on the table. It will be the Red Letter and it will be your final challenge before you can face off against Rykard. This person is a lot harder to find because you will need to go to the Mountaintop of the Giants to find them.
Make sure to check your map for the new marker, and this one is a bit more confusing to find than the other 2. You will need to go to the giant ice canyon in the middle of the Mountain top area and head West. Follow the walls until you reach a small cabin at the edge of the cliff. You will then see the invasion sign on the ground.
This enemy is by far the hardest one to fight because he has a whip. It has some serious speed and damage, and it also has insane reach as well. It is fast and hard to dodge. There have been a lot of people complaining about how hard he is, but for most people, it is not too difficult. You get a good armor set and the whip once you defeat him as well.
4. Defeat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
Once you defeated all 3 of the people for Tanith, you can now talk to her about seeing Rykard. She will then ask you if you are ready to meet him and you will be teleported to a small room with a golden Mist door in front of you. This is Rykard’s arena. Once you walk in, make sure to grab the Serpent Hunter weapon on your left.
Equip the weapon and use it to defeat the giant Serpent in the middle of the massive boss arena. After you drain the health bar of the Serpent, the real boss fight shows its ugly head. You will then have to go through another health bar, but this time, it is Rykard himself. He was the Serpent this whole time.
Once you defeat his second phase, you then will receive his Great Rune and you will get a bunch of Runes to upgrade yourself. Once you activate the Site of Grace, make sure to rest at it and see Tanith eating from the head of Rykard. Talk to her and the quest is fully completed. It is a very odd quest, but it leads to a dramatic ending boss fight.
What NPCs are found at Volcano Manor?
There are actually a ton of NPCs to talk to at the Volcano Manor. That room with the NPCs we talked about before has a ton of people to talk to. Keep in mind that some of these NPCs might not be here in your playthrough because you might have defeated some of them earlier or you made a bad choice that lead to some of them not being there.
There are all the NPCs you can find, so don’t be worried too much if you don’t see one of them there for you. It can be a bit annoying, but if they aren’t there, you might have done something wrong earlier in your playthrough. You can always go through the game again later and finally talk to each one.
Here are all the NPCs found in Volcano Manor:
Tanith
She is the head of Volcano Manor and the main lady you need to talk to start the Volcano Manor questline. If you don’t join the Manor, you can’t get into the NPC room. This means you miss out on the NPCs in the room and the full questline. It is possible to go and defeat Rykard without doing the quest, but you will miss out on the quest entirely.
You only ever see her in 2 places. Sitting in her chair guarded by the knight next to her and eating from Rykard’s head after you complete the questline. She is a very interesting character and is definitely worth talking to. Make sure to talk to her and join the Manor when you first get there so you get access to the other NPCs in the area.
Patches
Most people who are familiar with the Dark Souls series know who this guy is. He is not only a backstabber, but he is extremely selfish. He only does what he does to help himself and no matter what you do, besides defeating him the first time you see him, will stop him. You can only find him in the Manor if you didn’t defeat him in Murkwater Cave.
You also would have had to get pushed off the cliff by him right before the entrance of the Manor. As we said before, he is a really annoying person. He does have a shop and meeting him here is the next part of his weird quest. If you are fortunate enough to keep him alive up until this point, good for you.
Knight Bernahl
Bernahl can actually be found very early on just like Patches. He is found at a random shack pretty close to where the first of your targets are located. He can be found at a random shack North of Limgrave and he holds one of the weapons that you need to get the Legendary Armament achievement. He sells you Ashes of War and can be found in the NPC room at the Manor.
He doesn’t like the fact that you joined the Manor and is telling you that he will get revenge on you later on. Later on in your playthrough, he does eventually invade you in Farum Azula and you can defeat him for his weapon. He is a very interesting character and is definitely worth checking out his shop before you defeat him for good.
Rya
Rya seems to be the least interesting of the NPCs in the Manor, but she actually has a massive questline. If it is the first time meeting her at the Manor, then you missed out on a few things. You can still complete the quest though. Her questline involves defeating a bunch of bosses and exploring the rest of Volcano Manor.
As we said before, in the first room on your right in the hallway, there is a secret wall that you can go through. You can then explore the rest of the Manor. It is a pretty difficult area so come back later if you aren’t ready for it at that time. Her questline gives some pretty good items so make sure to follow it.
Diallos
Diallos is a very odd NPC. His questline is not super long, but it eventually takes you to Jarburg. Jarburg is a small little village of peaceful Jar people. You actually meet this guy in the Roundtable Hold and that is when you first start his quest. You can find him later on in the NPC room at the Manor and you can speak to him.
He doesn’t really say much here other than where he is heading off to, but it is necessary if you want to go on with his questline. We don’t think you have to talk to him here, but he does give you some necessary information that you don’t really need to complete his quest. Overall, he is a pretty interesting character.