[Major Spoilers] All NPC Quest Guide

[Lightbearer]

This guide only covers their locations (aside from Owl/Levine), but the vast majority of the time the items they are looking for are rare drops from enemies in that zone. When I mention a save point I'm going from left to right unless otherwise noted. A teleporter save shows up as a green save icon on the map.

It's pretty common to run into issues with certain NPCs not moving locations. If you're having any problems, and you likely will at some point, try the following:

- Double-check that your quest log is updated after meeting with them
- Exhaust their dialogue multiple times
- Save/reload or teleport to make sure that they have changed locations
- If they are not appearing at their next location revisit the previous one(s)
- Completely exit the game and restart
- The formatting options on Steam aren't great, so make sure you didn't skip a step

Highly recommend you use this guide in conjunction with @demajen's phenomenal map located at his personal website https://www.demajen.co.uk/ or from the Afterimage Discord pinned comment. There is also an Google (Excel) sheet with every item in the game if you're looking for something specific. The map pretty much renders this guide moot, but I'm going to keep it up in case anyone wants to consult both.

Alice (Quest: Happiness)

Alice is one of the first NPCs you meet in Resting Town and her quests are extremely straightforward. However, there is a very late game quest that requires two rare items: 1) Clovers and 2) Rainbow Eggs. You'll come across a handful throughout your game and I highly recommend you do not sell them as it is one of the few things that will lock you out of a 100% play through. I expect this to be patched in the future.

Nicole (Quest: Persistence)

Resting Town
- To the right of the teleporter save past Alice (cook)
Emerald Falls
- Next to teleporter save
- For most players you can have any cooked meal in your inventory
- If you have cooked meals in your inventory and the quest is not proceeding you can return to Alice, cook all the available dishes, and it will satisfy this step. Whether this is a bug or not remains unclear
Whispering Forest
- From second save point, far NE corner that connects to Albedo Tower
- Interact with teapot to turn on cups
- You need to touch the cups in a specific order to solve the puzzle
- Solution from left-to-right is 21543
Goliath Fall
- Past the boss room of the Occult Prime of Anemo and Geo at the top of the castle
Resting Town
- To the right of the teleporter save she will be collapsed; speak with her

This will conclude Nicole's quest, but there is one more step. Go SE of the teapot puzzle in Whispering Forest and there will be a golden light. It is next to a pit (environmental hazard) filled with thorns and left of the entrance to Albedo Tower. Touch it to get an accessory and key item

Emily (Quest: Tasty Trip)

Forest Foregone
- From the teleporter save point, go left, then go all the way up and into the desert area, and look to the right under a ledge
Whispering Forest
- First save by the Manta dock
The Columns
- Third (far right) save point
Field of Pyro
- Next to teleporter save
Returns to Resting Town

Rosalia (Quest: Faraway)

Town of the Exiled
- After beating Auss, the Lunatic Mastermage she will speak with you. Next, go to her inn, which is directly west of the teleporter save. It's also NW of the woman who is looking for her boyfriend Linke. It has 2 entrances. Talk to her when you arrive
Albedo Tower
- She will be at the bottom-left entrance to Albedo Tower. Specifically, she'll be to the left of the upside-down door that is the "proper" entrance to the tower. If you're looking at the map it's directly below the bottomest area where Whsipering Forest (maroon) and Albedo Tower (blue) connect
Forest Foregone
- She will be to the left of the giant turtle NPC, which is located to the left of the bottom entrance to Silent Coast
Silent Coast
- Go to the beach before the dock to find her remains

Patt (Quest: Gift)

The Columns
- Requires defeating Auss in Town of the Exiled
- From the third (far right) save point go left, up, left, and down
- Examine the book, Patt will give you the Mysterious Rod you can equip
- Equip it and kill enemies until it breaks. Some people have reported that repeatedly using the rod's special attack to kill enemies speeds up the process. The exact number of enemies you need to kill remains unclear, but you will get a text pop-up when it breaks
- Much later in the game when you have the soul invade ability from the Owl/Levine quest line come back and soul invade the book
- Defeat Patt, the Twisted and you will receive the Silent Rod, which is a one-handed sword (not sub-weapon!)

Ethan (Quest: Belief)

Ashen Canyon
- First meeting on the bridge to the left of the Crystallised Wolf boss where you gain access to the Manta
Town of the Exiled
- Return to his house directly NE of the teleporter save
Silent Coast
- To the far left of the boat that takes you to Field of Hydro
Town of the Exiled
- Return to his house
Heart of Veins
- To the left of the boss arena he'll be near the cliff out of his wheelchair

Karsa (Quest: Legend)

Resting Path
- To the left of the bottom-most save point
Ashen Canyon
- Take the first path down (crouch/jump) from the uppermost Town of the Exiled entrance
- Or, go NW and upward from the first teleporter save
Holy Grounds
- To the right of the Manta dock; or, left of the first save point
- Beneath the teleporter save by the large clock talk to him a second time
Albedo Tower
- Start from the main (upside-down) entrance at the bottom-left of the tower. Go up one level and on the left-hand side you'll see he's being attacked by enemies
- Or, start at the teleporter save, go left, fall down, go right, fall down, go left, and finally go down and you'll end up above him
Heart of Veins
- He's to the left of the teleporter save point on the same island
Emerald Falls
- From the third (bottom) save point go NW. He's in a previous blocked off room on the left-hand side that is now open. It is not the pathway where you need to slide, it's above that one

Mia (Quest: Fresh Scent)

Sky Palace
From the Albedo Tower portal drop down from the bridge. Go left, break the wall, and continue to go left. She will be right next to the save point. Nearly all of the enemies in the area drop ingredients for her dishes.

The one that might be the most challenging to find is the Sky Snail dropped by the Anemoling. They look like tornados with arms and appear exclusively in the upper area close to the Anemo Goliath save point.

Owl/Levine (Quest: Request, Activation, Unseal, Freedom)

Holy Grounds
- Owl's default location is at the top of the Archives (library). From the teleporter save go all the way up and then to the left
- Talk to him after all the plot conversation to accept his quest
- He will give you Note of the Owl for Stanley
Town of the Exiled
- Talk to Stanley in his store. The entrance is through Auss's house (the boss of the area) you unlocked earlier in the game. It's also directly SW from the teleporter save
- Buy the Pure Orb from Stanley's shop for $1,314
- Stanley will give you Note of the Antique Dealer that details the locations of 4 items you need to collect:
1) Binding String (Spider Monkey Pitcher or Warrior drop in Emerald Falls)
2) Ever-burning Crystal (beat Chroma, the Prismatic Flame in Scorchwhere)
3) Firmamental Feather (Anemo Scout and Anemo Rider drop in Sky Palace)
4) Water of Equilibrium (topmost room in Silent Coast on the left-hand side)
Holy Grounds
- Return to Owl with all the items and he will give you the Grey Orb artifact
Town of Exile
- Kill a bunch of enemies until the Grey Orb turns gold. Dialogue will pop-up when you've completed this step
Holy Grounds
- Return to Owl who is not in his regular location. He is below the teleporter save near the bottom of the Archives next to the Candelabra of Desire. You will need to defeat Valos, The First Knight to access that area
- Owl will have you soul invade the Candelabra of Desire. Attack the link (not the owl, not sure what happens if you attack him) until it breaks
- Soul invade the Primeval Orb and the Archive of Soul at the top of the Archive. You have to do it in this order (orb > book). The save point and all 3 artifacts you need to soul invade are in the same vertical line from a map perspective
- Once you've soul invaded all 3 artifacts return to Owl who is now at his normal location at the top of the Archives
- You'll now gain the soul invade ability (Owl's Peeking in your Afterimage tab) which is required for several endings, Patt's quest, and alleviating the nightmares of the Anemo Goliath

Stanley (Quest: Travel)

Finishing Owl's quest line is a prerequisite to beginning this quest line. Out of all the quests this one can be the most headache-inducing since he can show up in a different order than what is listed in the quest log. I recommend you try to do his entire quest line in one sitting to minimize potential problems or bugs.

Holy Grounds
- To the left of the first save point by the Manta dock. He will be speaking with Owl
Town of Exile
- Go to his store and speak with the magic broom that will inform you he left to explore the world and collect new antiques
Goliath Fall
- Go left from the teleporter save and they will be on the stairs before the Reaping Scythe, the Crimson Hollow boss arena
Scorchwhere
- Top left save point, the Solar Birthplace where you get the super jump ability
Emerald Falls
- Go to the final area of Karsa's quest (Legends)
Forest Foregone
- From the teleporter save, go left, and then go up into the desert. Now, go all the way to the far left and he'll be in an alcove
Town of the Exiled
- Return to his store and he'll be back and sell you some very nice new items

Movement Abilities

Since this question gets asked a lot here is the location of the triple jump and super jump. You'll be be visiting these areas if you're doing all the NPC quests so below are more detailed directions.

Triple Jump

The progression path is Albedo Tower > Sky Palace > Heart of Veins. Once you're in Sky Palace open your map. See that big chunk on the upper left-hand side? That's the part that connects to Heart of Veins. From the Sky Palace teleporter save head left over the bridge. In that open area take the NE path upward. It will snake around upward and to the left and you'll be able to reach Heart of Veins.

From there just follow the currents until you hit the next teleporter save. Continue to go left and you'll eventually reach the boss (Loss, the Broken Wings) and be rewarded the triple jump afterimage (Right Wing-Feather of Windwalker).

Super Jump

You need two key items to proceed:
1) The Sorrow glyph from Sunken Sanctum, which is located in an area directly below the first save point, and
2) The Eye of Gongor afterimage that cures petrification. Defeat Gongor, the Eldricht Fusion in Whispering Forest

Directions:
- Go to to the far right in Field of Hydro. The Sorrow glyph opens the gate
- Before interacting with the rock pick up the Frozen Scythe to the far right
- Interact with the rock (Phoenix NPC) and agree to have him take you to Solar Birthplace, which is a previously blocked off area in NW Scorchwhere
- You will be reward the super jump afterimage (Reminiscence of the Sun)

If you don't want to permanently lock yourself out of this area and accidentally miss key items be sure to 1) touch the save point and 2) knock down all the 1-way barriers.

If any of the directions are unclear let me know and I'll provide more detail. And, if anything is patently incorrect please comment so I can edit the guide.

[Sailanarmo]

Where is the owl at holy grounds?

[Lightbearer]

He's at the very top of the Archives (library) to the far left. From the teleporter save point just keep going up.

[Teraman]

My last update for Karsa's quest says he found a clue at the Holy Grounds, but I can't for the life of me find him in Albedo Tower. Can someone be more specific about his location?

[Lightbearer]

Did you find him in Holy Grounds by the Manta dock? If not, you need to do that first.

If you already found him at Holy Grounds, then from the Albedo Tower teleporter save, go left, fall down, go to the right, fall down, go to the left, and go down again and you'll end up above him.

The directions I gave are starting from the entrance to the tower and going up, but I'll add these directions so people have options.

[Teraman]

I found the issue. After you talk to him by the dock, you actually have to find him in the library a bit below the main save point. Might want to add that part to the guide.

[Lightbearer]

Thanks for letting me know, I had in my notes he was in the Archives, but now realizing you speak with him twice in Holy Grounds. Guide has been updated.

[Xodar]

Hi guys, where do you find owl after charging the orb? He dissapeared from library.

[Kiena]

Originally posted by Xodar:

Hi guys, where do you find owl after charging the orb? He dissapeared from library.

He is at the lower area, below the save point. The game tries to show that, but you'd have to remember which item is where. I went around the whole place looking for him, too.

[Xodar]

Originally posted by Kiena:

Originally posted by Xodar:

Hi guys, where do you find owl after charging the orb? He dissapeared from library.

He is at the lower area, below the save point. The game tries to show that, but you'd have to remember which item is where. I went around the whole place looking for him, too.

Thank you, the game did a bad job with showing you where to go

[Nitzan213]

is it possible to fall in love with a topic? this and the map is a godsend. i was honestly losing my mind in regards to some of the treasure locations and quest requirements

[Lightbearer]

@Kiena, thank you for that correction. Guide has been updated.
@Nitzan213, this all started with my attempting to piece together all the different fragments from folks on the Discord and whatever I had found. I'm loving this game, but there does come a point of frustration when you have to hunt through a bunch of giant maps to find these NPCs once they start moving to old areas. Glad you're finding it helpful!

[Dephase]

For Travel quest, I can confirm Stanley and Owl were on at the manta dock (for me). Last 2 quests i did before were Freedom and Gift

[Lightbearer]

@Rdx did you find Stanley in the order listed?

[Dr.Duffenstein]

how do you feed the hungry girl in the waterfall, I have food items in my inventory but it does nothing, and if i quick slot it will I use it my self or whats the deal here?

[Yugol]

Originally posted by Mr.Execution-Dono:

how do you feed the hungry girl in the waterfall, I have food items in my inventory but it does nothing, and if i quick slot it will I use it my self or whats the deal here?

You have to feed her a specific item, which should be automatic after you have the item in your inventory.