Elden Ring - Should you pledge service to Kenneth?

Kenneth Haight is an eccentric Elden Ring NPC found in Limgrave, who has some serious delusions of grandeur. Kenneth is calling out for assistance in the northeast part of Limgrave and upon speaking to him, he will ask for your assistance in clearing Fort Haight of enemies.

Claiming to be the next rightful ruler of Limgrave, Kenneth’s request will ultimately lead you into a full questline. The Kenneth questline doesn’t have too many requirements, but it may remain active for a long time, as some conditions require significant progress in the game.

At a certain point, Kenneth will ask for a commitment that may cause you to question his motives. Should you pledge service to Kenneth? Here’s everything you need to know about the Kenneth questline in Elden Ring.

How to find and conquer Fort Haight

The first part of Kenneth’s questline will entail traveling to Fort Haight and defeating a knight from Stormveil Castle. If you have already done this before speaking to Kenneth, he will rejoice and the questline will move forwards.

Otherwise, Fort Haight can be found in the eastern part of Limgrave. It’s just southeast of the Mistwood Ruins and Minor Erdtree in Mistwood, right at the end of the path (see the map above). There is a Site of Grace called Fort Haight West, which is on the right-hand side as you look at the fort.

There are quite a few enemies within Fort Haight, ranging from Giant Rats to a Lesser Mad Pumpkin Head. You’ll also have to be careful of the exploding barrels as you scale the fort and reach the top.

On the battlements is a Godrick Knight, who isn’t actually a boss but can be tricky. He has a large shield and can use Bloody Slash on you. Avoid his attacks, bide your time and strike back when he is open, as the shield will easily block frontal assaults. Kill the other enemies before you go up the stairs to face him one-on-one which makes the battle more manageable. You can also summon Spirit Ashes here if you are desperate.

The reward for defeating this Godrick Knight is the Bloody Slash Ash of War. This is a superb Ash of War, particularly if you are still quite early in the game. It can inflict Blood Loss whilst offering a solid skill that has more range than your melee attacks.

There’s also an item in Fort Haight called the Dectus Medallion (Left) which isn’t relevant to this quest but will be useful later.

Should you pledge service to Kenneth in Elden Ring?

Once you have returned to Kenneth after clearing out Ford Haight, he will reward you with an Erdsteel Dagger. Talk to him again and he will ask you to pledge service to him. If you pledge service to him, Kenneth will invite you back to Fort Haight for a knighting ceremony which will continue the Kenneth questline further.

There is no downside to pledging service to Kenneth in Elden Ring. You will not be obliged to complete the quest, and it has no effect on the endings.

Alternatively, you can kill Kenneth, causing him to drop a Golden Seed which is a nice reward in itself. If your conscience gets the better of you, bear in mind there are enough Golden Seeds in Elden Ring to max out your flasks without needing to defeat Kenneth.

Note that he may only ask you to pledge service if you rested at a Site of Grace, so rest at the Fort Haight West Site of Grace during your trip to the fort.

How to complete the Kenneth questline in Elden Ring

After you have pledged service, return to Fort Haight and meet Kenneth there. Ensure you either fast travel there or rest at a Site of Grace to make Kenneth appear at the top, where you defeated the Godrick Knight. You don’t actually need to defeat the demi-humans but it may be easier to climb back to the top by killing them.

Unfortunately, Fort Haight has been overrun with demi-humans and Kenneth will not make you a knight. Instead, he will declare he needs to find “a true and stalwart Lord of the proper lineage”.

From here, you may not be able to progress the Kenneth questline for a while. To complete the Kenneth questline you must satisfy these requirements:

Defeat Morgott the Omen King. This is a mandatory boss fought in Leyndell the Royal Capital. If you accept the Kenneth questline early on, it might be a long time before you face him.
Progress Nepheli Loux’s questline and give her the Stormhawk King item. Nepheli’s questline is covered in more detail below.
Maliketh the Black Blade must still be alive. This is relatively late-game boss who is mandatory but will lock out the remaining steps of the Kenneth quest if you have not completed them.

After these are done, go to Stormveil Castle and rest at the Godrick the Grafted Site of Grace (after beating Godrick, of course). Provided you have completed everything necessary, three people should now appear in the Stormveil Castle throne room: Kenneth, Nepheli Loux and Gatekeeper Gostoc.

NOTE: If the NPCs are not at Stormveil Castle, you may need to update your Elden Ring software, as Kenneth’s appearance at Stormveil Castle was only added in later patches to the game.

How to complete Nepheli Loux’s questline

Nepheli Loux’s full story has many other optional requirements that can provide some further character development, but these are the main things you will need to do within the Kenneth questline.

Defeat Godrick the Grafted at Stormveil Castle, where you can (optionally) speak to Nepheli in a nearby room beforehand and even summon her for the battle
Find Nepheli at the Village of Albinaurics in western Liurnia, where you should speak to her before killing the Omenkiller enemy nearby

Speak to Gideon Ofnir about Nepheli in Roundtable Hold
If you have accepted Preceptor Seluvis’s quest and received a potion from him, do NOT give Nepheli the potion or the Kenneth questline will end. If you are asked, give it to Gideon and he will dispose of it
Go to the Chapel of Anticipation via a Waygate in the Four Belfries, where you can find the Stormhawk King item from a corpse on the roof

Give the Stormhawk King to Nepheli at Roundtable Hold
Rest at Godrick the Grafted Site of Grace and Nepheli, Kenneth and Gostoc should appear in the throne room to complete the quest

This concludes everything you need to do within Nepheli Loux, which provides a much better conclusion for her compared to the Seluvis route!

Rewards for pledging service and completing Kenneth questline

Once you have fully completed the Kenneth questline and all three NPCs are in the throne room, you can obtain the following items:

1 Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone from Nepheli Loux for free – simply speak to her and she will give it to you

You will also have the option of purchasing another Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone from Gostoc for 20,000 runes

Therefore, the Kenneth questline rewards are 2 Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones, with the catch that you have to spend a hefty amount of runes to get the second one.

If you kill Gostoc, his Bell Bearing will not give you the option of purchasing this Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone. The only way to get this particular one is to part with the runes.

It’s quite a lot of hassle to go through for two Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones, but these are rare items in Elden Ring and may be worth the trouble depending on your build.

Is the Kenneth questline even worth it?

There is quite a lot required to complete Kenneth’s questline. However, a few of the requirements are likely to be completed anyway, such as defeating Godrick and Morgott.

Clearing Fort Haight is not a huge undertaking and is probably worth doing as you explore the Lands Between, especially as the Dectus Medallion (Left) is there. However, Nepheli Loux’s questline is a bit more time-consuming and your efforts may be better served elsewhere.

This all depends on whether you really need the Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones. There are only 13 of them in the entire game but they can upgrade your armaments to +25 so they are certainly useful. However, if you have already upgraded your equipment or have enough of these stones to get by, then the Kenneth questline might not be worth it.

That’s everything you need to know about the Kenneth questline. Many wonder if you should pledge service to Kenneth in Elden Ring, and our Kenneth guide will give you the information required to make this choice. Check out some of our other Elden Ring content below: