How to finish the Varre questline and rush Mohg in Elden Ring

The first NPC that new Elden Ring players meet is White-Faced Varre, a man waiting for new Tarnished right near the aptly named “First Step” Site of Grace. As with most Elden Ring NPCs, Varre has a questline and ties to a major boss in Mohg, Lord of Blood. 

While covenants were a staple part of the Dark Souls series and Bloodborne, they don’t really exist in Elden Ring. That said, it certainly feels like FromSoftware was looking to incorporate this in the game at some point.

White-Faced Varre serves the exact same role in Elden Ring as Dark Souls 3’s Ringfinger Leonhard. The NPC is mysterious, dismissive of the player’s initial goal, and introduces the game’s PvP mechanics to establish the canonical reason for invasions. Also like Leonhard, players have the chance to kill Varre and steal his dapper equipment.

Here’s how to handle White-Faced Varre, finish his questline, and get his armor set. It is worth noting ahead of time is that this questline will become locked if Elden Ring players defeat Mohg. It is vitally important to put that boss to the side until then.

Find Varre at the Rose Church in Liurnia of the Lakes

The White-Faced Varre questline starts when players find him at the Rose Church in Liurnia, which can be found directly west of the Academy Gate Town Site of Grace.

Players first meet Varre right at the start of the game, with the NPC greeting them right near the first Site of Grace. That said, his questline doesn’t really begin in earnest until players find him at the Rose Church.

Varre moves from the First Step Site of Grace to the Rose Church after defeating Godrick the Grafted. He is found outside the church offering five Festering Bloody Fingers to the player. These items are used to invade other players with the goal of killing them.

After using three of them, the player can speak with Varre once again. He will ask the player to join his cause and if they agree, he will give them a cloth which they need to soak with a Finger Maiden’s blood.

The player can do this by killing certain NPCs, but the easiest and fastest way to approach this is seeking out one of two dead Finger Maidens in Liurnia of the Lakes. 

Far beyond the Rose Church, in the northeastern corner of Liurnia of the Lakes, is the Church of Inhibition. A dead Finger Maiden can be found there, and the player can interact with her corpse to seal the pact with Varre. Alternatively, the player can head to the western side of Liurnia to the Four Belfries. The second belfry will warp the player to Elden Ring’s start point, where they can find another dead Finger Maiden.

After sealing the pact, return to the Rose Church and speak with Varre. He will then slice off the player’s finger and then give it to them, allowing free invasions with the Bloody Finger item. They will also receive the Pureblood Knight’s Medal which offers early access to Mohg. Players can use the medal, sprint their way through a cave, and face the boss in short order.

How to get Varre’s white mask in Elden Ring

Players can get Varre’s white mask by killing a series of invaders after using Pureblood Knight’s Medal but before challenging Mohg, Lord of Blood.

Technically, the mask doesn’t actually belong to Varre. It’s shown that there are a group of people wearing identical outifts to Varre that work for Mohg. Though their armor doesn’t stand out, the iconic mask is very useful as a complement to any bleed builds.

After using the Pureblood Knight’s Medal, players should head into the swampy area behind them. Three NPC invaders named “Nameless White Mask” are in the area. After killing all of them, the player receives the armor.

Players can complete the Varre cosplay build by heading through the Dynasty Mausoleum cave and finding an invasion sign for Varre. After killing him, he’ll drop his weapon to the player.

Wait to take on Elden Ring boss Mohg, Lord of Blood

While players can actually get access to Mohg very early on in Elden Ring through Varre, they ought to hold off.

Mohg is very powerful, but defeating him will cut Elden Ring players off from Varre’s weapon and the War Surgeon set that includes the white mask. Mohg can be found by running through the Dynasty Mausoleum, a short cave that is made awkward by a few blood priest enemies.

Make sure to collect all possible rewards before taking him on. If the player defeats the boss before collecting them, they’ll have no chance of getting them during the playthrough.