How to complete Iron Fist Alexander's quest in Elden Ring

If you want to complete the Elden Ring Alexander quest, we can walk you through every fateful meeting with the Iron Fist. He combines the jolly, courageous demeanor of a knight of Catarina with a new (but equally iconic) shape, so his popularity is really no surprise. Sorry boys, this is what peak performance looks like.

Alexander's quest is long and involved, with interactions at almost every stage of the main path of your journey through the Lands Between. You can find a broad overview of each meeting below, with the steps explored in more depth after. Some of these steps, such as the first two, are optional, but will flesh out the questline and add to his overall story. 

If you want to reach the very end of the quest, you'll also need to pursue both the Jar Bairn and Diallos storylines. If you're ready to get started on your pot boy adventure, here's every step in the Elden Ring Alexander questline.

Elden Ring Alexander quest summary

Here we'll run through every possible step in Alexander's quest:

1. Find Alexander in Stormhill and knock him loose.
2. Encounter Alexander at the Gael Tunnel dungeon.
3. Talk to Alexander in the courtyard of Redmane Castle after unlocking the Radahn Festival.
4. Knock Alexander loose above Jarburg in Liurnia (requires Oil Pot from Nomad's Cookbook 17).
5. Talk to Alexander in the lava near Seethewater Terminus in Mt. Gelmir.
6. Summon Alexander for Fire Giant boss in Mountaintops of the Giants.
7. Fight Alexander in Crumbling Farum Azula.
8. Complete Diallos quest so you can give Jar Bairn the Alexander's Innards item in Jarburg.
9. Return to find the Companion Jar talisman.

First Location: Western Stormhill

Alexander is first found in Stormhill, to the east of Stormveil Castle. He's stuck in a ditch near an enemy encampment, and a site of grace leading onto a bridge with a Mad Pumpkin Head. When you're close you'll hear him calling for help. 

Alexander will request that you knock him loose with a charged attack, so simply stand behind him and give him a couple of whacks with whatever you're wielding. Listen to all of Alexander's dialogue regarding who he is and the Radahn Festival, and after resting at a site of grace, he will move to his next location.

Gael Tunnel, Caelid

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The next stop on the Pot Boy World Tour is Gael Tunnel, early on in Caelid. It's also the location of the superb Moonveil Katana, one of the best weapons in Elden Ring. There is a rear entrance to the tunnel in Limgrave that will let you talk to Alexander, but to complete the dungeon and hear everything he has to say at this location, you'll want to enter from the main entrance in Caelid marked above. 

Clear the dungeon, and open the locked door Alexander is standing near from the other side. Exhaust Alexander's dialogue here, and he'll leave for the Radahn Festival.

Redmane Castle and Starscourge Radahn

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Once you unlock Radahn's Festival through Ranni's quest, or by entering the Altus Plateau, you'll be able to find Alexander in the courtyard of Redmane Castle before the boss. If you missed the previous encounters, it is possible that this is the first time you meet him..

Alexander will be summonable in the Starscourge Radahn boss battle, but actually summoning him does not seem to be required to continue his questline. Previous FromSoftware titles, especially Dark Souls 2, had stringent requirements for summoning NPCs in order to see their entire quests. In my experience, I was able to continue Nepheli Loux's questline without summoning her for Godrick, and I only summoned Alexander on my first attempt against Radahn—he was not present when I did my final run on the boss.

After defeating Radahn and resting at his Site of Grace, you can find Alexander nearby. Exhaust his dialogue again and he will move to his next location.

Interlude: Acquiring Oil Pots

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Alexander will need a little lubrication the next time he gets stuck. Vexingly, the only way to acquire the Oil Pot item he needs is by crafting them with the Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook [17] obtained from the Nomadic Merchant in the Siofra River underground region.

From the Siofra River Bank site of grace, go north, avoiding the enemies on your way. There is some scaffolding allowing you to climb the second set of pillars in your path. Get up there, and proceed west on the scaffolding into the cliff face until you reach a point to drop down and talk to the merchant.

You can purchase the cookbook for 1,000 runes, and craft the pots with one Cracked Pot and one Melted Mushroom apiece.

Stuck again: Alexander and Jarburg in Liurnia

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Alexander can next be found in east-central Liurnia of the Lakes, just south of the Artist's Shack site of grace and the Caria Study Hall.

He returned to get a good look at his home town of Jarburg (also important to his questline) and has once again found his girthy form stuck in the ground. Throw a few of the Oil Pots you crafted at him to grease him up, and smack him with some charged attacks from a heavy weapon again. 

After exhausting his dialogue, it's a good idea to descend into his hometown of Jarburg to talk to the Jar Bairn. You can get there by descending with the giant gravestones that are sticking out of the cliff near where Alexander was. Jarburg and Jar Bairn feature prominently in the final stages of Alexander's quest, add some context to his journey, and also feature in the NPC questline for Diallos Hoslow of all people. 

Alexander at Mt. Gelmir

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Alexander has now gone north to Mt. Gelmir to "strengthen himself." He's a little more literal-minded than you might think: he wants to bake his clay exterior stronger in the heat of the volcano!

Alexander can be found southwest of the Seethewater Terminus Site of Grace. Maps can be a little unclear—this zone is reached by following the canyon from the Seethewater River Site of Grace in the western Altus Plateau. It is not reachable from the Volcano Manor, though Patches can kick you down here if you follow his Rainbow Stones near where Anastasia, Tarnished Eater invades.

In between the Seethewater Terminus and Alexander's location, you'll have to deal with a Magma Wyrm boss battle. Its moveset is identical to the one you fought in Gael Tunnel, but it has been scaled up for this stage of the game, so keep that in mind for the fight. When you get near to Alexander, you'll hear him calling. 

You can walk on the lava and it will only slow you and cause minimal damage. There is a large island in the lava near Alexander's location from which you can talk to him and accept his gift, a spiffy and lovingly-crafted jar helmet. Alexander will remain at this point even after you've exhausted his dialogue until after the Fire Giant.

If you head north from here, you can also fight another Demi-Human Queen and get the powerful Comet Azur sorcery from Sorcerer Azur, which is part of Sellen's Questline. Most importantly, you can get the Prattling Pate that says "You're beautiful!" which is needed for the good ending of Boc the Seamster's questline. Use the rocky outcrop to jump across to the next mountain and you'll also find the Gelmir Hero's Grave dungeon

Summon Alexander for the Fire Giant Boss Fight

Alexander will be available to summon again for this Elden Ring boss. As with Radahn, you don't have to summon him to progress his quest. He is not available for conversation anywhere in the Mountaintops, and you can next speak to him in one of the game's final levels.

The duel at Crumbling Farum Azula

Alexander will appear in the above marked location in Crumbling Farum Azula. You'll need a Stonesword Key to unlock the lift to the Dragon Temple Lift Site of Grace to reach him and you'll be fighting—or running from—a lot of undead beastmen.

In classic Souls series fashion, the story has a melancholy end with Alexander requesting a duel to the death. He has a lot of mixups compared to the standard Living Jars, but if he defeats you, you are able to challenge him again. Beware, that progressing Alexander's quest will also remove the dragon that is usually on this platform, implying Alexander gave it a good thumping.

After defeating him, talk to Alexander one last time, and through the tears you will see that he has bequeathed you a Warrior Jar Shard, a potent talisman which strengthens Ashes of War, as well as Alexander's Innards.

Return to Jarburg

If you haven't pursued the Jar Bairn or Diallos questline, now's the time to do it. Basically, you need to progress to the point where Diallos is gone, and Jar Bairn is talking about going on a journey. You should now be able to hand over Alexander's Innards. In return, you'll receive the Companion Jar talisman from Jar Bairn's location after you reload the area. This talisman raises the potency of throwing pots so you can finally live out your dream pot-only build.

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