npc quests questions

[Inflated_chair]

are there any clear indicators as to where they went i missed 90% of the quests in the main game because i just never was able to find the person afterward. I really want to do these quests but i dont like looking up guides so is there an easy way to know where they went?

[scambammer]

I think that if you are truly going to blind play this game and try and figure out the cryptic assed quests with no guides, vids or maps then you should really try and get good at deciphering messages helpful people are trying to leave on the ground.
It's kinda sad that 'try finger, but hole' gets 9999 upvotes but 'visions of church therefore north' get zero and likely shortly there after erased by a discouraged message writer who thinks his lack of message appreciation mean everyone has the game mapped and figured by this point.

[IchigoMait]

just use the mapgenie and hide everything and then unhide what you want to see
or use the fextralife elden ring map to do the same
Npc locations are hard to find mostly because if you go too far somewhere or kill a main boss somewhere, some npcs will move from their locations, plus quitting game and resting also can do that if you've exhausted their dialogue once, depends on the npc.
It's a community effort to get every little info about the game, don't bother doing everything yourself, you will be bored before you're able to find everything about the game on your own without any input from other players (guides).
I used for the base game 90 icons to map out every spot where npcs pop up, plus some secret teleportation spots and remembrance "turtles".