Elden Ring: should you pledge service to Kenneth Haight? Answered

Elden Ring has enough content for several New Game Plus runs. The decisions you make during each run affect your game, so think hard before you hinder or help someone.

One of these encounters happens during the early game while you’re exploring Limgrave. You meet several colorful characters that add context to the seemingly bleak world and its hordes of enemies. The Lands Between doesn’t always have the friendliest people, but one named Kenneth Haight might be one of the most amenable.

Who is Kenneth Haight in Elden Ring?

Kenneth Haight is an NPC in Elden Ring who you first encounter during your travels across eastern Limgrave. As you’re traversing the area, you hear a nobleman’s cry for help in the distance. While it isn’t immediately evident where the sound comes from, if you follow the voice, you eventually meet a well-dressed nobleman standing atop some ruins of a once-prosperous, long-destroyed city.

This nobleman is Kenneth Haight, and he asks you to help reclaim his birthright. While he might seem arrogant at first, just like most noblemen you meet in this game, Kenneth quickly softens his stance toward you once he realizes you’ll help him out. He tasks you with clearing out Fort Haight, his family home, by taking out the Stormveil commander currently occupying the fort.

To find Fort Haight, simply follow the main road south of Mistwood. You should spot the road when you open your map. At the end of the road, you’ll see Fort Haight overlooking the sea. Clearing it out is fairly simple, but beware of the commander because he might be challenging if you’re underleveled.

Should you pledge service to Kenneth Haight in Elden Ring?

You should pledge your service to Kenneth Haight because there’s no downside, and if you do, his questline continues. After you clear out the fort, head back to Kenneth Haight, and he will be impressed by your accomplishment. He gives you the Erdsteel Dagger as a reward and lets you enlist under his retinue of warriors by pledging your service to him.

Kenneth Haight then returns to Fort Haight, and you need to clear it out again to reach him, as it is overrun by Demi-Human enemies. He asks you to find a true lord to watch over Fort Haight. You eventually meet him again in Stormveil Castle later in the game.

At the end of Kenneth Haight’s questline, you get an Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone. However, if you choose not to help him anymore, the questline ends here, and you are free to go on your way.