If you’ve been exploring the new Forest of Echoes realm added in the 2026 Nightingale spring update, you’ve probably run into a handful of hidden side quests that feel almost impossible to crack without extra context. One that’s been popping up on every community forum lately is a favor for a favor nightingale, a short but layered quest that locks behind it some of the best early-game crafting rewards available right now. I spent three hours fumbling through its hidden steps last week, missing half the rewards on my first run, so I put together this guide to help you get every bonus on your first try.
What Is the A Favor for a Favor Nightingale Quest, Exactly?
This quest is triggered by the wandering weaver NPC Lira, who only spawns in the western edge of the Forest of Echoes between 6pm and 2am in-game time. Most players miss her entirely because they’re usually rushing back to their base to avoid nighttime spawns of shadow wolves, so it’s worth taking a quick lap around the western tree line after you hit realm level 20. When you first talk to her, she’ll explain that a group of goblins raided her cart earlier that day and stole a locket that belonged to her late mother, and she’ll offer you a small reward if you get it back for her. That’s the surface level of the quest, but there are two additional hidden layers that most players never find, even if they successfully retrieve the locket.
If you’re stuck on a favor for a favor nightingale and can’t find Lira, try adjusting your in-game clock to night time, as she only spawns during dark hours. If she still doesn’t appear, make sure you’ve cleared the three nearby goblin scouting camps first, as the game won’t spawn her until those are complete. I missed that requirement on my first run, and spent 45 minutes running in circles wondering where she was.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough for Full Quest Completion in 2026
Before you even accept the quest, make sure you have all the prerequisites gathered to avoid having to backtrack halfway through. I forgot the lockpick on my first run and had to hike 20 minutes back to my base to grab one, which was a huge waste of time. Here’s everything you need to bring with you:
Once you have all these items, accept the quest from Lira and head to the goblin camp marked on your map, which is about 800 meters east of her spawn point. Don’t turn in the locket immediately after retrieving it – if you stop by the abandoned cottage 100 meters north of the camp first, you can find a letter that reveals the goblins stole the locket to sell for medicine for their sick chief. This unlocks a third dialogue option when you talk to Lira later that lets you get an extra hidden reward.
When you’re playing through a favor for a favor nightingale, you’ll first need to make sure you take out the two archers on the west watchtower first before entering the main camp. They have a 120-meter line of sight, so if you sneak through the thick berry bushes on the west side, you can take them out with a bow without alerting the rest of the camp. Once they’re down, you can either sneak through the back of the camp to grab the locket, or fight the remaining 6 goblins if you’re confident in your combat skills.
Hidden Rewards You Can Unlock for Full Completion
There are three tiers of rewards for this quest, depending on how many of the hidden steps you complete. The basic reward for just retrieving the locket and turning it in immediately is 100 gold, 50 Forest of Echoes reputation, and 10 spools of common thread, which is pretty underwhelming for the effort you put in. If you bring the 5 berry tarts with you when you turn in the locket, Lira will mention that her younger sister is trapped in a nearby thistle maze, and she’ll give you the Weaver's Cloak blueprint as an extra reward if you rescue her. This cloak is one of the best light armor pieces in the early game, giving you a 10% movement speed boost and 15% resistance to poison damage, which is perfect for exploring the swamp biomes added in the 2026 update.
If you found the letter in the abandoned cottage, you’ll get a third dialogue option when you talk to Lira that lets you suggest using part of your reward to buy medicine for the sick goblin chief. If you pick this option, Lira will agree, and you’ll unlock a permanent 5% crafting speed buff for all of your characters on that save file. This buff isn’t listed anywhere in the official quest descriptions, and it’s one of the most useful account-wide bonuses you can get in the early game. You can confirm the buff is active by checking your character status page, and it’s mentioned as an unlisted change in the 2026 official Nightingale spring patch notes if you want to verify it’s not a bug.
The rare buff you get from full completion of a favor for a favor nightingale is one of the most sought-after hidden bonuses in the 2026 game state, and most players don’t even know it exists. It only takes an extra 10 minutes to complete all the hidden steps, so it’s absolutely worth the effort if you plan on doing a lot of crafting in your playthrough.
Common Mistakes to Avoid With This Quest
One of the biggest errors I see new players make with a favor for a favor nightingale is rushing through the quest steps without checking for hidden clues. It’s easy to just grab the locket and turn it in immediately, but you’ll miss out on 90% of the rewards that make the quest worth doing. Take an extra minute to explore the area around the goblin camp, and you’ll walk away with rewards that will make the rest of your playthrough much easier.
Always visit the goblin camp after 10pm in-game time, when half of the goblin guards are asleep in their tents. If you go during the day, there are twice as many guards patrolling the camp, and you’ll have a much harder time sneaking in or fighting your way through. I made this mistake on my first run, and ended up dying three times before I gave up and came back at night.
Another common mistake is killing the goblin chief before you read the letter in the abandoned cottage. If you kill him, you won’t be able to buy the medicine for him later, and you’ll miss out on the permanent crafting speed buff. You don’t have to fight him at all if you sneak into the camp, so it’s best to avoid engaging him entirely unless you have no other option. If you do accidentally kill him, you can abandon the quest and pick it up again after 3 in-game days, but you’ll have to start all over from the beginning.
At the end of the day, a favor for a favor nightingale is one of the most rewarding side quests in the 2026 version of Nightingale if you take the time to explore all its hidden layers. You don’t have to be a high-level player to get all the rewards, and the permanent buff and exclusive armor blueprint will give you a huge leg up as you explore the newer, higher-difficulty realms added this year. If you’ve found any other hidden steps or rewards for this quest, drop them in the comments below so other players can benefit from them too.
