SPOILERS AHEAD!

These npc quests have never been straightforward. I knew that I was going to miss a lot of this content the first time I played through the game and I was okay with that. I completed the game once unassisted so I went to the wiki and made myself this cheat sheet for my next playthrough.

The first ending I got was the Linking the Fire ending. While compiling this info I learned of the Usurping the Fire ending and this cheat sheet is a means to that ending. The differences stem from the Anri of Astora and Yuria of Londor questlines if you wish to make changes.

I included the npc invasion and summon opportunities as well because I played through most of the game not embered, and any summoning I did was fellow Sunbros.

I can't guarantee this is 100% accurate. I may have misinterpreted the steps, or the wiki could be wrong, or who knows what. The Patches questline seems particularly questionable, so be aware of that. The first time through I never saw him until he appeared as a merchant at Firelink Shrine. None of his dialog made any sense because he never appeared beforehand. I was still able to use him in the Siegward quest though.

Also keep in mind that killing the area boss and moving to the next area are triggers for a lot of events. If you aren't sure if you're where you need to be in these questlines don't kill the boss or move to the next area until you're sure.

Revised: May 18, 2016

holy shit that's a lot

I'm actually going to use this for the platinum. The Souls games are the only series where I have to make notes for a platinum trophy

Now I know what to do, I'm not doing it.

Yeah, I'm not sure what From is thinking when designing these quests. My guess is they try to keep them inline with the "Souls is hard" and obfuscated story/lore thing they've got going on.

Revised: May 5, 2016

• Greirat: split the Loretta's bone and permission to scavenge step into multiple parts, added getting the curl up gesture
• Holy Knight Hodrick: moved his invasion up on the list
• Yoel: moved drawing out true strength up on the list
• Yuria: moved her first encounter up on the list because of moving Yoel

Protip: just kill all of them but the handmaiden and Andre. They just spawn again and charge you more for stuff

Well, I've done three quests due to going for the ending I've missed. You don't have to be human for Anri's last part but you should be. Hopefully some Aldrich gimp (mine was named Dolly Parton) doesn't invade and ruin the moment. And to From's credit, these quests at least give you another reason to replay it. Not that these games needed help with that.

I got invaded by Yellowfinger Heysel in Road of Sacrifices instead, by the two giant crabs. I suppose it's easier at Farron though because you don't have to deal with the Watchdogs invading you.

The quests/NPCs in this are a real mess.

Yup, I got invaded by Yellowfinger near the Road of Sacrifices crabs as well. I was invaded by a Watchdog at the same time, and they ended up fighting each other as much as they fought me. It actually worked out quite well! She didn't invade again in Farron's Keep, which is to be expected, but Londor didn't invade either. Maybe they invade as a pair, and since she had already invaded in Road of Sacrifices he wasn't able to invade Farron's Keep? Londor didn't invade me in Irithyll either, so it would seem if you miss one you miss them all? I don't know how it's supposed to work with him.

I revised the list again today. It should be accurate up to step 95 since that's where I'm at with my second character. I don't recall any major revisions, mostly just reordering the steps so that they flow better with how you'll probably play the game.

I'm about halfway through the game and I've missed most of what I let myself look at from this list. I think at this point I'm not going to worry about any of it and whoever I find, I find. Right now Patches is royally pissing me off. Betrayed TWICE! And I know if I want to buy crap from him I have to forgive him. Man, end of this one, I'm coming back to Firelink to kick his ass just because.

I wish they would streamline the quest system in these games. I get that it's meant to be mysterious but it just means I miss out on content. Why would I ever go back to the well to find Siegward unless I knew he would be there? I feel like it's impossible to complete all the quests without reading what to do which negates any mystery that obfuscating this stuff achieves.

Also, Patches hasn't appeared anywhere for me and I'm already passed Pontiff Sullivan. I've been through the tower multiple times, I walked around Cathedral of the Deep a few times and I've spoken to Siegward in the well and even sent Greirat on another scavenge (which I guess he already died from) but Patches still won't appear.

Luckily, I've done the platinum-related ones. Gerait broke for me and just keeps requesting to pillage without moving his arse. I just need to summon Yellowfinger for the last gesture.

@dudeglove: Yes he does. Well, if you give the shrine handmaiden his ashes she will have the items he would have sold had he survived Lothric Castle. I looked on the wiki and Lothric Castle unlocks three or four new consumables, nothing I thought was worth him dying over.

I completed the game and updated the list. There were only slight revisions to steps 99 - 118, just moving things around I think. That should be it as far as revisions go.

One thing to note: the Londor Pale Shade invasions seems to be linked to Yoel and Yuria. If you don't draw out your true strength, or if you piss off Yuria he will invade you. If you follow the Usurper questline he won't, but he will be available to summon for Soul of Cinder.