Side Quests & NPC Guide
Six quests are confirmed to exist, and we know that because each one owns a trophy. None of them are on the main path. In a game with no map screen, that combination is a recipe for a second playthrough, so read this before you leave a region.
Why this page is short on walkthrough steps
The publisher has not released a quest list, and the game is not out. The six entries below are the only named quests in the public record, and what is known about each one is its name, its trophy and what that implies. Step-by-step routes will be added once they can be confirmed in the retail build. We are not going to invent an NPC location to fill the page.
Confirmed chapter structure
Chapter I — Revival
ConfirmedThe demo's opening chapter. Introduces the world, the plague, the lantern loop and the combat system, and ends with General Lothaire.
Demo content, also the retail opening.
Chapter VII — Witch Hunt
ConfirmedThe demo's second chapter, handed to players with a full kit they did not earn. Plague-hardened streets that hands-on coverage compared to a maze, closing on High Justicar Aurelius.
Demo content. The difficulty jump between Chapter I and Chapter VII was the single loudest piece of feedback the studio acknowledged.
A September 2026 final preview reported playing the first four chapters of the retail build, which is the only published indication of how many chapters exist before the endgame.
The six named side quests
Oathbound
ReportedMissableTrophy: We Wear the Same Colours
Complete the Oathbound quest.
An oath is a thing you swear. In a game where the central branch is loyalty to the Emperor versus following The Shrike, a quest called Oathbound is almost certainly about someone who has already chosen.
- How to start
- Unknown. NPC quests in this genre usually begin with a second conversation rather than a first one, so talk to every survivor twice.
- Prep
- Before you commit to the loyalty branch at the end of a chapter, check whether you still have unfinished conversation threads. Once a chapter closes you may not come back.
Laudanum
ReportedMissableTrophy: A Bitter Cure
Complete the Laudanum quest.
Laudanum is the nineteenth-century opium tincture, sold as medicine and quietly ruinous. The trophy calls it a bitter cure, which frames this as a story about relief that costs more than the illness.
- How to start
- Unknown. Look for a medical or civilian NPC rather than a soldier.
- Prep
- Nothing mechanical. This is a conversation quest; bring attention, not a build.
The Curious Case of Seamus Diggory
ReportedMissableTrophy: Blood and Wine
Complete the Curious Case of Seamus Diggory quest.
A 'curious case' with a full name in the title reads like an investigation. Blood and Wine is either the evidence or the motive.
- How to start
- Unknown. Investigation quests usually start from a body, a note or a witness, so search battlefields rather than towns.
- Prep
- Fire reveals hidden passages, per demo coverage. If a lead dead-ends, burn the scenery.
The Deserter
ReportedMissableTrophy: Hand in the Jar
Complete the Deserter quest.
A deserter is a soldier who walked away. In a game whose protagonist volunteered, this quest is the thematic mirror, and the trophy name suggests it does not end well for someone.
- How to start
- Unknown. Deserters hide, so check the edges of a region rather than its roads.
- Prep
- Expect a choice. If the ending branches on loyalty to the Emperor, a deserter quest is a very plausible place for it to register.
The Unheard Farewell
ReportedMissableTrophy: Aggressive Reconnaissance
Complete the Unheard Farewell quest.
A message that never reached anyone. The trophy name is oddly tactical for that, which hints the quest is delivered through battlefield documents rather than a conversation.
- How to start
- Unknown. Check corpses, packs and ruined positions for notes.
- Prep
- None. Read everything you pick up.
Monster Hunt
ReportedMissableTrophy: The Book of Beasts
Complete the Monster Hunt quest.
The only quest name that implies a kill list, and the only trophy named after a document rather than an act. 'The Book of Beasts' suggests an in-world bestiary that fills in as you hunt.
- How to start
- Unknown. A hunt quest usually starts from a board, a hunter NPC or a bounty.
- Prep
- This is the one side quest that will probably ask for a specific build. Bring a spread of damage types: blades for soldiers, Fire for Carrion, ranged for anything that flies or climbs.
How to avoid losing a quest
- 01
All six side quests have a trophy, and none of them are main-path. That is the definition of missable content.
- 02
Valor Mortis has no in-game map, per hands-on coverage. Quest tracking therefore depends on memory and notes. If you find an NPC who gives you something to do, write it down or finish it before you leave the region.
- 03
Chapters are numbered. If the demo pairing Chapter I with Chapter VII is representative, chapters may unlock or be revisited out of order, which means a closed chapter is not automatically a locked one.
The practical routine
Talk to every survivor twice. Walk the edges of a region before you take the obvious road, because deserters and isolated NPCs live away from main paths. Read every note you pick up, since at least one quest appears to be delivered through battlefield documents rather than dialogue. And before you close a chapter, check whether you still have an open conversation thread.
Named enemies have windows too
Sergeant Gaspard ‘Cannonhand’ Dubois has a trophy that requires holding him in Stasis rather than killing him outright. That is a named elite, not a story boss, which means the principle extends further than the quest list: check whether a fight has a trophy attached before you simply win it.