Dark Souls Walkthrough

Undead Burg

As you arrive in the Undead Burg area, you'll see two armed enemies ahead of you. They shouldn't pose much of a threat, so save your magic if you have any left and rely on melee attacks instead. If you take the initiative, you should eliminate the foes without taking any damage.

Beyond where you take down those soldiers, there's a pile of barrels and a path leading left. If you head left, you'll find a store room with nothing in it and two enemies, as well as a door of mist leading to the right (which you should ignore at present).

If you instead approach the barrels, you can smash them and then drop down through an opening behind them to land on a ledge where you can loot a corpse to obtain a Large Soul of a Lost Undead. Then you can drop down from there. Watch out, though; in addition to the two enemies that appear ahead of you, there's one that will come from a dead-end alley behind you. Take care of the enemies in one direction and quickly turn to avoid being slashed in the back by the other enemy or group.

When you have cleared that lower area of enemies, you should head in the direction from which the two enemies came. As you head along that route, you'll cross through an empty room and then come out on another stone balcony area. There's a corpse with a glowing point on it, just ahead of you and to the left. That item is Rubbish. Don't let it distract you. As you near it, several enemies will jump down from a ledge overhead and to the right. Take care of them quickly so they don't slash you to ribbons. Then you can grab the rubbish before heading up the nearby ramp.

At the top of the ramp, you'll find a ladder. Climb the ladder, then head toward the right along the high stone ledge. You'll find Humanity on a corpse against the far wall. Grab that precious item, then backtrack and note the hole in the low wall to the left. You can drop through that opening and then head back to the right along the path you followed a short time previously. This time, you should go ahead and pass through the white door of mist.

Through that wall of mist, you'll find an empty lower room. Look along the left side and there's a corpse that you can investigate to obtain a Soul of a Lost Undead. Along the wall that's ahead of you as you first enter the room, there are stairs leading to the building's higher level. Head up the stairs with your shield ready and start forward along the next balcony that you find. As you do, a dragon will swoop down to startle you. Its claw should just grace the stone ahead of you and then it is gone.

Continue along the walkway but be careful of the area ahead of you. There are enemies that lie in wait. You'll see a few of them, and one will crash out from behind some barrels. Take them out swiftly as you see fit, but note that there's an archer on a tower in the distance. He'll try to pelt you with arrows (and will succeed, if you let yourself be distracted). After you eliminate the enemies, you can head over to the tower, open the door and check inside to find a corpse on which rests a Wooden Shield.

Leave the small room and look along its side wall. There's a staircase that you can climb to reach the roof, where the archer is waiting. Hack him apart, then look off toward the left. In that direction, you can head through an opening and find a bonfire. Use it as you see fit so that you don't have to come all this way again, then consider backtracking to explore an are that you've not yet visited.

Remember the wide, open area that you crossed while avoiding shots from the archer? A ledge in that direction leads to a couple of armored soldiers with shields. You'll have to fight them carefully, as they're every bit as capable of blocking your attacks as you are theirs. Eliminate the two armored soldiers (from a distance with fire magic, if possible) and then look around the area that they were guarding. You can break apart some crates and find a stair that descends to a lower level.

As you arrive on that lower level, keep up your guard. An enemy will burst out from behind some crates, but you can dispatch of him quickly. Head through an opening to the left and you'll find a stone balcony where a merchant has set up shop. He has a lot of merchandise, including the Residence Key (priced at 1000 souls) that you can use to open residences in Undead Burg and a Repairbox (priced at a hefty 3000 souls) that you can use to repair weapons and armor at bonfires. The Short Bow is also available for 1000 souls, a good projectile weapon that could come in handy in certain circumstances to come. Plus there's some other general-purpose gear that can boost your defenses.

Purchase whatever you like from the merchant (you may have to come back a few times as you earn souls) and then return to the adjoining building. Head through the other opening to arrive at the top of some stairs. Descend the stairs to gain entry to a wide alleyway. Ahead, there will be two separate groups of swordsmen waiting. They like to charge as you get within range, so be sure to engage only two at a time or you may become overwhelmed. Past the soldiers, there's a ladder you can climb to reach a rooftop where you can salvage a Throwing Knife from a corpse.

Now you should backtrack. Make your way to the bonfire and now you're ready to proceed past it to see what else lurks in the burg.

Head back out from the bonfire and toward the area where the archer was positioned on top of the tower. Beyond that point and to the left, there's a narrow walkway that leads to an enclosed room. As you head along it, you want to move quick because soldiers will toss firebombs at you if you delay. When you reach the far side, you'll need to clear a room of soldiers. Make sure not to let any circle around behind you and strike from behind.

After you clear the room, head through the opening and along another open balcony area. Here, there's an opening to your right and just past it a stairway leading up to the higher level. Enter the opening first and take care of the waiting soldier. There are two more openings here, one straight ahead and one up some steps to the left. If you go straight ahead first, quickly turn left once you do and block an attack from a waiting soldier and follow that up with a killing blow. When he's gone, return and head through the other opening that was to the left.

In that direction, you'll find the Black Firebomb item in a chest. Then you can head outside of the building and climb the stairs that you previously ignored. As you reach the top of the stairs, you'll find an open area where three guards are waiting. One of them likes to stand back and toss firebombs, so be careful as you tend to him and his two cohorts. Then you have some options about how you proceed.

There's a wall to the right with a ladder. Ahead, there's a locked door that you can open with the Residence Key if you purchased it from the merchant. To the left from there, you'll find a stone walkway leading down to an area with some waiting guards.

Start by opening the locked door, if that's an option. Head carefully through the room along the right side to reach an outside balcony. There's a chest that you can open there to obtain the Gold Pine Resin. Then you can return to the previous area.

Next you should climb the ladder. At the top, walk around on the roof and investigate a corpse to find a Soul of a Lost Undead. Then return down the ladder. You're now ready to head forward to the left of the building (the one that had the locked door) and around the other side.

As you start in that direction, look to your left. There's an opening to a cylindrical tower. Enter and climb the stairs with your shield held at the ready. As you reach the top of the tower, you'll find an archer. Take him out, then descend the tower and resume your trek along the path. There are several armored soldiers waiting. You need to lure one of them toward you at a time, so that they don't overwhelm you. Eliminate each of them until all three are gone, then continue along the path that they were guarding.

That path soon splits. There are stairs leading up and straight ahead, or you can descend some stairs toward the lower right. Start with the lower path. It leads down toward a long hallway. Near the end of that hallway, standing in a doorway, you'll see a knight with his back to you. This fellow is able to hit hard if you attract his attention, so make sure that you do so only when you are dealing a first blow. Sorcery works well to make sure that each hit does some good, especially if you can get him when he doesn't have his shield up. After that initial blow, you'll need to backtrack while making sure to block any blows he sends your way. When he misses on a lunge, that's your chance to hit him with an attack of your own.

Once you defeat the knight, grab the Titanite Chunk he drops and then check the room that he was guarding. You'll find that it's a dead end, but you can obtain the Blue Tearstone Ring from the corpse. Then you should backtrack to the split in the path. This time, you're ready to consider the stairs.

As you look to the stairs, know that they lead to a trap. There's a boulder at the top of the stairs and a soldier will push it down the stairs as you approach. Quickly backstep and dodge to the side to avoid it. Then head up the stairs and kick the soldier's butt. Beyond him, you'll find yourself in the base of a tower. Ahead, there's a locked door. To the side, a spiral staircase ascends a couple of floors to a mist-shrouded door. To open the locked door, you'll need the Watchtower Basement Key, obtained in the Undead Parish area.

If you come back later and open the door, you can head inside and find a ridiculously powerful enemy. Just descend some stairs that circle in a spiral as they descend. At the base of those stairs, you'll see a stone enemy. He'll spot you and give chase. You can get ahead of him and drop down from above to hit him with an attack, but even that doesn't do much damage. The enemy, meanwhile, is capable of hitting through your shield and doing tremendous damage with his stone club. You need to battle him in an open area where you can dodge the club and then counter with a few slashes before retreating and repeating the process. You need to try to hit it in the back if you want to do any real damage, but even that can be tricky.

On your first visit, of course, you won't have that key. Climb the stairs that lead to the upper floors instead. Pass through the mist on the tower's third floor and you'll emerge on a lengthy walkway. The walkway is guarded by some archers who are positioned on the tower that you've mostly just climbed. They'll try to hit you from behind with arrows as you head along the walkway, but you can climb up a ladder on the side of the tower to reach their level. Once you've arrived, block any opening attacks (they'll see you coming up over the ladder) and then take out the two archers.

Now is your chance to catch a breather. Refill your life and steady your nerves, then descend the ladder and start down the walkway. As you near the far end, you'll attract the attention of a powerful new boss monster: the Taurus Demon.

Taurus Demon

The Taurus Demon will charge you on sight. There are a number of strategies that can work against him, but first we'll offer some notes on how things will go if you try to battle the Taurus Demon the “fair” way.

If you fight the Taurus Demon using standard melee attacks (which is not the best way to defeat him), keep in mind that his spiked club isn't the only hazard. He can also knock you around with his feet and legs, which are girded with spiked gauntlets. You need to try to avoid both attacks, of course, but there's limited space. Lock your target onto your foe, roll around (or between) his legs and slash at his feet or tail when you can get in a hit without leaving yourself open to take a possibly-fatal hit from your massive foe. You need to be ready to dodge out of the way if he tries to pounce you, too.

None of your weapons do enough damage to really matter as you battle the demon, and your magic also isn't especially useful, either. Therefore, some cheating is in order. You have two options. The first is to trick him into charging through the hole in the wall partway along the tower. If you can get him to rush through it (without falling yourself), that's an easy kill.

A more consistent method is to hit the demon from the roof where you killed the archers. When the fight begins, as soon as the demon lands, rush back toward the tower and climb up the ladder. If you didn't move quickly enough, he will damage you but you should still be able to get to the top of the tower. Now turn and face the edge of the tower. You'll see the demon standing below you. Quickly step off the edge of the tower and press the required button to use your weapon as you descend. It will strike a fearsome blow to your foe. As you land, gulp down a potion if needed and then roll between his legs. Run away from him and when he follows, you need to lead him toward the other side of the wall. Then roll through his legs and run like crazy back for the tower so that you can repeat the process.

It's important to note that if you take too long climbing the tower and jumping down (if you stop to enjoy a potion, for instance), there's a chance that the demon will leap up to the tower and join you. Of course you don't want that. So move fast, get in your hits and finish the fight in style.

Once you defeat the demon, head along the walkway he was guarding. You'll soon reach a set of stairs that descend toward a lower floor. At the top of the stairs, there are some crates you can break open to reveal a corpse. Investigate to obtain a Large Soul of a Lost Undead, then descend the stairs.

At the base of the stairs, you can head left (down another wide rampart) or right. Start by heading right. Descend some steps and meet with a knight named Solaire. Talk to him twice and (as prompted) agree to his suggestion that the two of you should work together. You'll receive the White Sign Soapstone for doing so. You can use the item to summon Solaire to assist you.

Head back up the steps to the area at the base of the stairs. Since you can't open the nearby door (it's locked by the Basement Key that you'll find in the Undead Parish area), you'll need to start along the guarded walkway ahead of you. However, there are unexpected complications. Rather than just walking forward, which will attract the attention of archers, you should run forward with your shield held high. Halfway down the corridor, you'll see two stone railings that extend to either side of the main walkway. You want to veer right (ignoring the archers) and head down some stairs that wait there. If you move fast enough, you'll beat the dragon flames that come scorching through the area just behind you.

Descend the stairs now and you'll arrive in a square room with two doors branching off from it in different directions. One door leads to the top of a flight of stairs. The other will take you outside, where you'll see that you're on a high ledge with drop-offs to either side. Start by following the first route, down the stairs. You'll come to the top of a ladder in a room with a bonfire below you. Stand near the ladder and press the button prompted on-screen to kick the ladder. You'll cause it to extend so that you can descend to the bonfire, which is the one that you used prior to your battle with the Taurus Demon. You've just created a helpful shortcut. Now climb back up to the room beneath the dragon and this time head out the door that takes you onto the outside ledge.

Now it's time for a special activity that's completely optional and completely recommended. If you have a bow equipped and you're carrying plenty of Large Arrows (it's not a bad idea to have at least 50, though around 30 or 35 will kill the dragon; remember that you can purchase the large arrows from the merchant not far from the bonfire for 50 souls apiece), you can obtain the Drake Sword.

To claim the sword, head along the right edge of the outside area, just near the door that you use to arrive. Look ahead and you'll see the dragon perched on the tower with his tail handing and swinging back and forth like a cat's tail. You can hit it with an arrow from this distance (a few shots are almost sure to miss, but you should be able to hit it on most attempts). If you hit it enough times, you'll receive the item as a reward. At this stage in the game, there's simply not a better melee weapon, though you'll need a STR attribute of 16 or higher in order to wield it.

When you're ready to actually proceed, you can head along the left or right side of the ledge. There are huge stone columns along the way, so watch them as you proceed. Ahead and along the left side of the outside wall, you'll see an armored soldier waiting. As you approach, keep an eye to your right. Another soldier is waiting there behind the stone column. Round that corner with your shield ready and take care of him, then turn toward the other soldier who likely saw you coming and will by now be approaching to try and kill you.

When the soldiers are slain, continue along the route they were guarding, beneath the dragon's overhead perch. Ahead, you'll spy an opening in the wall. There are several ways to proceed here. You can enter the opening slowly, which will lead to a group of rats rushing you and possibly pushing you back out the opening and to your death (by way of a long fall). You can instead rush the opening yourself, roll into the room and try to slay the rats as a group. Their attacks have a chance of poisoning you, and you're all but guaranteed to get poisoned if they mob you. That's just not good. Therefore, you may prefer a third approach to the chamber.

From where you killed the armored soldiers, you can stand on the edge of the ledge and notch an arrow. Then you can aim in the cave and you should see one of the rats. Release the arrow and if it hits the rat, the critter will rush out and charge you by itself. This allows you to kill it and you can repeat the process for a second rat, as well. Then it's safer to enter the area where the rats were gathered and to kill a third rat that will be waiting for you.

After you kill the rats, you can climb up a ladder and then you have two choices as to how you will proceed. One option is a narrow staircase leading upward, while another option is a wide passageway with a waiting soldier. If you head for that soldier, you'll arrive in the Undead Parish area.

You can proceed however you like, of course. If you decide to climb the stairs, you'll find that they ascend for quite some time before finally arriving at the top of the tower. There, you'll find a heavily armored knight like the one that you may have defeated earlier in the stage in order to reach the Blue Tearstone Ring. You can try your hand at him and perhaps win a Titanite Chunk as a reward for defeating him, or you can go ahead and enter the Undead Parish.

Undead Parish

When you arrive in the Undead Parish, it likely will come as a bit of a relief. However, you're not safe yet. You still haven't found a bonfire, and you won't yet for awhile.

From the entrance to the parish, start forward. There will be an armored soldier or two waiting in plain sight. Take out any of those characters and start into the wider arena ahead. You'll see a giant boar situated on the distant steps. It is surrounded by enemies that you don't want to have to face. You can lure them toward you one at a time by pelting them with arrows and then letting them charge you.

Once you have dealt with those soldiers, start forward through the high archway. Look quickly to your right, as another armored soldier likes to hide in the corner. Deal with him carefully; he has stone columns that make it difficult to approach him, but he's good at spearing you from his point of relative safety. Once you take care of him, head left along the wall where he was positioned and you'll find some steps leading up to a higher floor.

As you arrive on that higher floor, there's a soldier with a shield and lance ahead of you. Beyond him, there also are two archers. You should rush around the armored soldier and take out the archers first, so that they don't pick you apart. Then head back around the armored soldier and look nearby to find another standard soldier who is hiding in the area. Deal with him and then finally the first armored soldier that you found. Then you're free to loot bodies. At the end of the archway where the archers were positioned, you'll find the Alluring Skull lying on a corpse.

Now you're ready to deal with the boar. He's still positioned below. If you made a lot of noise and caught his attention, he may be pacing around the area. Stand near the drop-off area and toss an alluring skull on the ground. The boar should come to investigate and will be standing roughly below you. Quickly drop down from the ledge and use your weapon as you do so to land a fierce blow. With any luck, that will instantly kill the boar. If it doesn't, you'll have to dance around him as he charges and then hit him with your melee weapon to slowly drain his life meter. He's not especially difficult, actually.

When the boar is toast, you can freely investigate the surrounding area. Near the burning corpse, there's a set of steps that descends toward a new chamber. Start down those steps and as you round the corner you'll see an enemy waiting in the hallway. He's likely to run upon spotting you, but don't follow. He is trying to lead you into a trap. Instead, slowly approach with your shield raised. You should see a ledge ahead of you in the room. There's another enemy waiting there. You can hit him with an arrow to draw him toward you. Then, quickly prepare your shield and tend to him as he gets near. The ruckus may draw two more enemies toward you who are waiting in the next room. Deal with them in the usual manner, then head into the room and climb to the level where the one enemy was standing near the tables.

As you climb to that level, note that there's probably a guy still waiting to the right in some barrels, and another may rush you from the left. Work quickly to take care of both of them, then head past the tables and descend to a dead-end corridor where another goon is waiting. Take him out, then investigate the body just beyond him to obtain the Mystery Key. Now return to the upper level with the tables and look along the back wall. You should see a red ladder. You can climb it to an overhead chamber.

At the top of those stairs, two weak enemies are waiting. Take them out, then look to the left. Ceiling beams lead in that direction and you'll spy a corpse with a glowing item. If you head out onto the beam, you can retrieve a Large Soul of a Lost Undead from the remains. Then you should return to the ledge at the top of the ladder and climb a second ladder. It leads to a higher area with more tables. There are no waiting enemies here, just a mist-shrouded doorway. Step through the doorway.

On the other side, you'll come almost immediately to a 'T' in the path. Start by heading left and up some stairs, but move cautiously. As you reach the top of the stairs, look toward the right. There you'll see an area to the left where an armored soldier is waiting. Throw a firebomb at him or hit him with magic to make any conflict easier, since he otherwise can be difficult to fight in the cramped quarters.

Then you're ready to continue down a short hallway to the side. Note that it will come to another 'T' in the path and you don't want to linger long because soldiers will rush you from both sides of that 'T.' If you like, you can attract the attention of the guy to the right and lure him toward you, then kill him before you worry about the guy who waits to the left. The guy on the left is a knight with a cape. He's a new enemy and he packs quite a punch. He also has good armor, the Balder Armor, which you can sometimes obtain for yourself if you defeat him. Your best shot in combat is to wait for him to overexpose himself, then hit him with a flurry of slashes and hope your stamina lasts. Blocking more than one of his blows isn't really an option because he drains your stamina too quickly.

When you defeat the knight, head in the direction where he was positioned and look for a passage leading left. Head along that passage and you'll descend some stairs. At the base of the stairs and to the left, you'll find a more open area. Proceed cautiously and don't head too far forward. Veer left down the steps to find the Basement Key on a corpse in front of a portcullis (you can use it later to unlock the door at the base of the high bridge where you battled the Taurus Demon). Then look to the right and you can activate a lever to raise the portcullis, which creates a shortcut to your location (it's the area that was guarded by the boar).

When you're ready, head up the steps and as you do you'll probably alert another of the caped knights. Defeat him, then check the corpse to the left for the Halberd weapon.

Now it's time to ponder an approach on the area the knight was guarding. While you can head through the opening and almost immediately attract the attention of another caped knight, it's not recommended. Instead, head along the alleyway to the right (which you used a moment ago) and then take a left and continue along it. You'll head along the side of the cathedral area and as you come around the far side, the path widens. There, you can take on a group of weaker soldiers. Hit them from a distance with firebombs or magic if you like, while watching for a distant archer. Melee attacks also work, naturally, but they require you to go up against multiple foes at once and that's always risky. When those enemies are tended to, you can approach the cathedral through an opening along its back side.

Before you do that, though, head to the right. There's a long trail that descends in that direction. You can follow it to finally find a new bonfire in a room. Use it if you like, then note that you can proceed along a path to a locked door or you can descend. If you descend, you'll find a blacksmith who can repair or upgrade your gear. He'll also sell you reasonably-priced items that allow you to do some of your own smithing at bonfires and a less reasonably priced Crest of Artorias that can be used to break a seal in Dark Root Garden (it costs 20,000 souls). The variety of options makes this a wonderful area to farm souls (you can do so by battling the enemies above, just outside and possibly inside the cathedral) so that you can invest in upgrades. As for the path leading out of the room with the bonfire, it only takes you to a portcullis that presently bars entry to Sen's Fortress. Keep the location in mind for later, after you clear Quelaag's Domain, and return to the back entrance to the cathedral. Enter it.

Here, you will find a heavily-armored foe waiting just to the right. Approach so that he notices you, then quickly retreat to the area where you just took out the armored soldiers and archer. The knight should follow you and that's good because you need a lot of space in which to fight him and you don't want your battle to alert other enemies to your presence.

To battle this armored guy, draw out his attacks by moving around in front of him until you see him readying himself to swing. He has long range, so quickly roll back and out of the way. He may use a vertical strike that hits directly ahead of him, or he may swing wide. You can block both attacks with your shield, but doing so depletes your stamina and you'll need to quickly back away before any follow-up blows can crush through your defenses. Assuming that you dodge and the knight misses, you can roll forward and hit him a time or two before you retreat and repeat the process. When you have his health low, your foe will try to drink a potion to restore himself. Quickly move in to use another strike or two and finish the job. He'll drop a Titanite Shard.

Now you can enter the cathedral properly, though you should still move cautiously. There are some enemies to worry about and you still don't want to draw them to you until you're ready. Proceed into the building past where the heavily-armored knight was stationed to the right. You'll find a waiting altar with a corpse. Investigate the corpse to obtain the Fire Keeper Soul, an item that will improve the ability of your estus flask. On the wall nearby, you'll also notice a couple of elevators. One is open, so step into it and you can ride it down to Firelink Shrine for a brief but important detour.

Back in Firelink Shrine, head along the route that leads to the lower left. Make sure to use the bonfire so that your recent route doesn't need to be retraced if you fall in battle. You can also visit the man who is waiting in the side corridor. Talk to him and if he hasn't already, he'll give you a Copper Coin (talk to him two or three times if necessary). You can talk to him again after that and he'll offer to enter a Covenant with you, if your Faith is sufficient. This allows you to learn miracles. The man only has a few available, but they're darned useful. There's the Heal ability available for 4000 souls, for instance (it does what you'd expect and has five uses) and the Homeward ability for 8000 souls. The latter will return you to the last bonfire that you used.

Once you have invested in any miracles that interest you, should head down the steps that descend along the side of the area (just to the left of the place where the man is sitting on the short wall, not far from the bonfire). Down those steps, you'll find a lower area where there is a woman resting behind some iron bars in a cave. She's mute, but if you interact with her you'll be provided the opportunity to upgrade your estus flask. To do so, you'll have to use the Fire Keeper Soul that you obtained on the altar in the Undead Parish area, a short time ago. Updating your flask was your primary reason for descending to Firelink Shrine (besides the bonfire), so now you're ready to ride the lift back up to Undead Parish.

As you arrive back in the Undead Parish area, you're now ready to resume your exploration. Step off the elevator and head up the nearby stairs. Deal with the caped knight in the usual manner, then start into the room that he was guarding. Head forward and toward the right, where you'll note that the hallway enters a larger room. You should see windows and there are enemies moving in them.

You definitely don't want to fight all of those enemies at once. There is a whole mob of them. You can lure the first few toward you and fight them more easily, then let more keep coming and take care of them a few at a time. One of the enemies is a tall, cloaked magic user. He'll go down quickly once you're able to get to him and hit him with a few attacks, but rushing into the room doesn't make sense if you can help it. Tend to the enemies carefully and you'll have a better day. Note that fire attacks work well against them if they're stuck in the cramped hallway.

Once the room is cleared, you can explore again. To the left, there's a hallway that leads back in the general direction from which you just came. As you start down it, another caped knight will rush you. You can back out into the large room and deal with him where you have more space. Then head back down the hallway and climb some stairs. There, you'll find an area with a boarded over door to your right. Head beyond it for a moment and break the barrels to find a Humanity item. Then return to the boarded over doorway and break it down with your weapon.

In the hidden chamber, you'll find some stairs. Climb the stairs and at the top, you'll find a cell. There's a prisoner waiting inside. If you have the Mystery Key on you, it's possible to open his cell. Before you do that, though, make sure that you've cleared the area (including the lower cathedral and possibly even the outside areas) of any enemies. Then open the door and attack the prisoner. He'll get up and slowly start toward you, but soon he'll move more quickly You should retreat to an area where you have a lot of room to battle, such as the lowest floor of the cathedral or the area just outside of it.

The prisoner has a few attacks. If you try to attack him when he is guarding, he'll thrust aside your attack and skewer you with a sickle move that does a lot of damage. The best thing you can do is let him swing twice at you and miss. Then you can retaliate with a quick stroke or two of your own before backing swiftly away and repeating the process. Your foe is able to roll around and move quickly to strike you, which is why it's nice to have a lot of room in which to battle him. If you manage to win, you'll be able to pick up some Humanity and also the Ring of Favor and Protection, a powerful item that boosts your stamina and HP while allowing you to carry more items. If you decide to equip it, be sure that you won't want to remove it later; the ring breaks if removed.

Also, the time is right for a word of caution: if you free the prisoner but kill him, you'll miss out on the fantastic item that he carries. He'll eventually extinguish the bonfire in Firelink Shrine, but it is worth getting the reward later in the game. It's best to free him and let him live. If you leave him rotting in his locked cell he'll escape on his own.

When you're ready to proceed after the optional battle with the prisoner (you may wish to visit the local bonfire first), return to the room where you battled the magic user and his minions. Head across that chamber. There are two adjoining rooms on the back side. The one on the left contains a corpse that you can investigate to obtain a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier. The area on the right side is more interesting. A red ladder ascends to another small chamber with a second red ladder. Climb that ladder to reach a mist-shrouded door. When you pass through the door, you'll be in the boss area.

Bell Gargoyle

When you first enter the battle with the gargoyles, there will be only one of them. You want to take advantage of that fact. Quickly get close to the gargoyle's body, near the base of its tail (not the dangerous tip) and start hacking away at the body or at the tail. You should be able to quickly inflict enough damage that the gargoyle collapses, and you shouldn't have to put yourself at terrible risk to do so.

When you kill the first gargoyle, or before you finish doing so if you're not quick about it, a second gargoyle will arrive on the scene. It approaches from the far side of the roof and it will breathe fire in your direction. Face it and use your shield to block it if you must, or roll out of the way as an alternative method if that's doable. Then you can move in close to attack before the gargoyle can try and toast you again.

Note that if you break the second gargoyle's face (risky, since it breathes fire), you can obtain the Gargoyle Helm. Another thing to note is that while both gargoyles are capable of inflicting heavy damage, neither of them have especially good defenses (this despite being made out of stone). If you have a good weapon equipped and your Strength rating is at a decent level, this should prove a decidedly easy battle.

Once the gargoyles are toast, head forward to the bell tower. There, you can climb a high ladder and work your way up the building to a lever at the top, just beneath the huge bell. Pull the lever to ring the bell, then carefully descend the way you came (you don't want to get in a hurry and accidentally jump to your death, after all). At the base of the bell tower, you'll meet with a character who identifies himself as Oswald of Carim. From him, you can purchase an item known as the Purging Stone. It costs 3000 souls and will cure you of the effects of Curse, a debilitating attack that enemies employ later in the game. If you have the funds to spare, you may wish to purchase several of the item and you may want to earn more souls and come back and purchase still more of the stones. You can also pick up Velka's Talisman for 5000 souls, if you're in need of a talisman.

With that done, you have a choice about how to proceed on your quest. You can head down to Darkroot Garden (an excellent option because it includes a sealed area where you easily can grind levels to your heart's content) or you can head back to Undead Burg. There, you'll find that you now have a key to unlock the door at the base of the stairs you descended after battling the Taurus Demon (at the end of the long stone bridge opposite where the red dragon is perched). If you use the Basement Key on the locked door to view a new portion of the burg.

Darkroot Garden

From the blacksmith shop in the Undead Parish, you can head down some stairs and pass through a large chamber with a monster. Note that this can be done just about any time you like, as long as you're feeling hearty enough. You don't have to first clear the Undead Parish.

Keep your distance from the monster as you cross the wide chamber. It throws bolts of lightning at you when you are out of its normal range, but you can easily roll out of their way. If you get closer, it can lash out with a far-reaching melee attack or it may try to pounce you. Roll out of the way of either attack and keep going to the opposite end of the chamber.

Once you move past the beast, who you can kill for 1000 souls and the Demon Titanite if you're feeling gutsy, you'll be able to pass through an archway and into the Darkroot Garden area. It's a grassy area deep within the forest. The main enemy you'll encounter here is a walking monstrosity formed from various roots and leaves. It's actually not all that powerful. Fire attacks work well against it, or even moving in close and blocking its swinging roots before using a quick melee attack. The root creature is surprisingly agile and capable of bending to avoid your attacks, so work swiftly.

Head left through the swamp area and you'll encounter several of the beasts. There are glowing points all throughout, but mostly those are just flowers except one point just behind a large boulder (overlooking a ravine to the left where you can see a higher ledge with a corpse and item waiting). You can check the corpse behind the boulder to find a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier. That's worth snagging.

Near that boulder, there's also a ledge that leads to the right. You'll see an outcropping overlooking a lot of forest. There's a glowing flower near the edge of the ledge. Though it's not easily visible, you can head right from the flower, then circle back left and descend along a path. However, that path leads to a different area known as Darkroot Basin. Keep it in mind but you're not ready to go there just yet.

For now, continue along the main trail past the point where you find the soul of the nameless soldier and you should soon find a glowing point on the wall. It's a moss-covered doorway that you can't pass through unless you have the Crest of Artorias (purchased from the blacksmith in the Undead Parish area for 20,000 souls). Beyond the seal is an extremely lethal area, so you should ignore it for now even if you have the crest. To the left of that sealed doorway, note the brick wall. You can slash at the wall a time or two and destroy it to reveal a hidden ledge with a bonfire waiting. Use that bonfire as you see fit, then turn back the way you came. Near the glowing door, there's a side path.

Follow the side path and you'll find a narrow trail that leads through a defile. Start along it and you'll come to a branch in the path. Along the left route, there's a fog-shrouded door. To the right, you'll see that the trail widens into a clearing. You should approach that clearing cautiously. There's a body with a glowing object waiting for you at the center of the clearing, but it's a trap.

Start into the clearing and when you're ready, loot the corpse to find a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier. As you grab the item, the ground around you comes to life and three of the root creatures attack you at once. Target one and circle around it so that you can see all of your threats. You need to focus on trying to take them out one at a time, perhaps with fire magic or a firebomb to make things go more smoothly.

When you have eliminated all of the root monsters, head back to the bonfire and use it if you like. Note that this is a great place to farm for souls. Every time you use the bonfire, the monsters in the dead-end clearing regenerate and you can take them down again from just outside the clearing with a flurry of fire spells. Just stay away from them when they lunge or one may grab you and suck life out of you. Each of the moss creatures generate 100 souls, so you can see how easy it would be to build up a lot of souls.

Then when you're done with that exercise, you can go ahead and pass through the mist-shrouded opening. As you start through the clearing, you'll wake a slumbering enemy stone knight. You can't attack him until he stands up. Once he does, you'll find that he's a tough fellow who moves very slowly. He carries a huge sword and a powerful stone greatshield that he may drop if you're fortunate, so steer clear of the weapon and try to strike from the flank or behind. Usually, he'll swing two or three times and then you can move in and get two or three hits in before rolling away to avoid his follow-up. Watch out when he casts a spell, though; you won't be able to roll or move quickly after that until its effects wear off. Fortunately, the spell takes time to cast. You can move in and get in a few hits while he's casting it, potentially allowing you to finish him off before you have to worry about its effects.

Take care of that enemy and continue to explore. Along the edge of the area, you'll find a moss-covered tree that you can attack repeatedly. As you do, notice that it has a life meter. Keep attacking until the tree disappears in blinding light, revealing a hidden path behind it. There are other paths nearby, as well. One leads to a Partisan that you can find on a corpse ahead of a tree, but be careful. The tree has limbs that come to life and can inflict poison, plus one of the vine creatures may follow you and try to attack from the rear.

Grab the weapon and head back out into the main clearing. Note that in this general vicinity, there's a second one of the lumbering giants. Deal with it as you did the first one and head around the area. You'll likely come to a point where there are two of the stone knights sleeping. As they awaken, just run past them and look for a corpse. If you can loot the corpse, you'll find the Elite Knight Helm, the Elite Knight Armor, the Elite Knight Gauntlets and the Elite Knight Leggings. They have terrific defensive properties.

When you're done looting, you can continue exploring and you'll likely find a stone archway where it's possible to enter and fight a boss. You're not done exploring and grabbing items yet, though. For now, return to the place where you hacked apart the tree to reveal a secret path. Head along it and you'll find an enemy that skitters along the ground and looks a bit like a red and black manta ray. It's easily hacked apart, but make sure that you're not being chased by root enemies that will try to hit you from behind if you're not paying attention.

Past that monster, you can find another narrow ravine. Proceed along it and you'll find a spinning tree. You can head around it without contact and then continue through the forest to reach a series of stone steps leading up through a cave. This is a dangerous trail, but one that you need to take. Ascend and watch for another of the stone knights at the top. It will fight you on a narrow ledge. Nearby, there's a corpse you can investigate to obtain the Wolf Ring. You're now on a ledge overlooking the starting point of the stage. There's a bottomless gap ahead of you, though you may be able to leap over it and land on the lower ledge ahead of you, then travel left to return to rest at the bonfire.

Now you're ready to look into fighting the area boss. As a reminder, the route to find him from the bonfire is to head through the area where you passed through the mist, past the sleeping stone knights and toward the back side of the open area they guard. A final stone knight is asleep in front of the doorway you need to enter. Roll past him and then you can climb up some steps in a tower and at the top, you'll be able to pass through the mist and into the area where the boss awaits you.

Moonlight Butterfly

This battle is a slow-paced one and you should have only moderate difficulty winning it if you follow a few simple strategies.

When the Moonlight Butterfly first appears, it is floating slowly to the side of the long bridge where the battle takes place. As it floats in the air, you can't reach it except with projectiles or magic. However, it can hit you. Periodically, it charges up a ball of green light and then it fires a homing shot at your current location. You can roll out of the way to easily avoid it if you have enough stamina. This shot can one-hit kill you, so it's the most important attack to avoid. Sometimes, the butterfly also fires a spread shot or it will fire a laser that sweeps back and forth and tries to find you. Make sure that you roll away from that laser as possible, since it inflicts fairly severe damage. The spread shot will only inflict moderate damage if it hits, so you can withstand that. What's most important is that you dodge the spread shot.

After you dodge its attacks for awhile, the Moonlight Butterfly will be tuckered out. It will stupidly descend to the ledge where you are positioned and will rest there. Rush over to it and hit it with your weapon of choice until it starts to glow. That's a sign that it is about to send a shockwave outward from its location. Quickly back away so that you're not hit by the explosive wave.

The butterfly will now take to the air and the whole process will repeat. If you equip your weapon with two hands to increase the damage it inflicts, you can likely take down the butterfly in only a round or two. It's an easy battle if you know what you're doing.

When you win, you'll receive the Soul of the Moonlight Butterfly. Head along the walkway that it was guarding, then ascend the tower. At the top, you'll find a corpse. Loot it to obtain the Watchtower Basement Key and a Divine Ember.

If you're interested in a final detour, now is a time to consider entering the sealed door near the bonfire. If you do enter it, you'll find that the area is populated by fearsome enemies. Many of them are human, but they're wearing cloaking gear that makes them difficult to see (and makes it impossible to lock onto them as a target). Not only that, but they have spectacular defenses and you'll have to hit them quite a few times to drain their life meters.

If you like, you can run from those enemies (along with other more familiar enemies in the area) and make your way toward the eastern slopes, which overlook a distant castle. There, you will find a corpse on the ground that you can loot for the Eastern Helm, Eastern Armor, Eastern Gauntlets and the Eastern Leggings. It's powerful armor.

The area is also a good place to farm for souls, if you're ready to get cheap. When you first enter, you're standing at the top of some stone steps. You can descend the steps and start forward into the trees to lure enemies toward you. Once an enemy or two is rushing you, head back toward the exit. As you're facing the steps that lead up to the exit archway, head around their right side on the lowest level. There's an extremely narrow ledge there, but you can follow it to its end and hug the wall. Any enemies that are chasing you will climb the steps and try to drop down on you from above, killing themselves in the process. You can get around 7000 souls per run in this manner, making it easy to build levels. It's cheap, but it works most of the time. Sometimes enemies will land on the ledge next to you and you'll have to knock them off, or the magic user will follow you around and pelt you with magic from a distance, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

Once your equipment is much better and your levels higher, it's worth coming back to the area to find a special boss, the Great Grey Wolf Sif. To find the wolf's lair, head forward from the entrance to the area. Proceed straight forward through some trees and past where you battled the four tough enemies. You'll come to a walled area. As you first enter, look to the left and there's a cat sitting in a window high on the wall. You can talk to her to join her covenant and receive the Cat Covenant Ring that lets you attack unwelcome players who enter the vicinity. Note that if you join the covenant, you're not to harm any creatures in the area, only unwelcome players who you can battle when you have the ring equipped. The exception is the wolf who lurks at the end of the forest.

There are some ruined stairs ascending ahead of you as you work through the area, but you can veer left and descend some stairs through the area to arrive at another chunk of forest. From there, you can either continue forward to find a rock ledge, or you can head to the right through the forest and find mushroom characters and a dangerous cat-like animal that will attack you even if you're in Alvina's covenant. You should avoid it if you want to remain on good terms with Alvina. If you decide to fight it instead, know that it is capable of taking a tremendous amount of damage, plus you aren't allowed to brush against it (even when it's not charging) because it has quills that will inflict damage on you. Try to take it out from a distance with fire magic, and make sure that you target it so you know where it is positioned and can dodge out of the way of its rolls.

If you go for the rock ledge, you can jump down from the rock ledge and head forward again to reach a mysterious gate. It's easily opened without any special equipment. Through the gate, you'll find a hauntingly quiet area. Ahead of you, near the edge of some water, there's a huge sword. When you approach the sword, a scene is triggered and then the boss wolf attacks.

Before you try to kill Sif, it's not a bad idea to join Alvina's covenant and to kill a few players who venture into the forest. Three or four ought to do the trick, but do yourself a favor and only attempt things when more players are likely to be online than just high-level players (the early AM hours can be brutal, with players that are leveled up to the point where they're essentially impossible to beat). Then you can talk to Alvina again and she'll ask you to hunt down the wolf on her behalf. It's an extra step, but one worth taking if you want a nice reward.

Grey Wolf Sif

Battling Sif can be tricky, as the creature has amazing range with the huge sword that it carries around in its mouth. Mostly, it will prance around the clearing and swing the sword back and forth, but occasionally it will pause and shake it briefly before resuming the swinging efforts.

You need to avoid being struck by the swinging sword at all costs. It can take away a lot of your life and even blocking a hit mostly drains your stamina. Your best bet is to roll out of the way at the right moment and get close to the wolf, at which point you can strike at its flanks.

Darkroot Basin

You'll find the trail that descends into Darkroot Basin along the edge of Darkroot Garden near the blacksmith in Undead Parish. If you start from the smith and head along the trail, there's a sharp right you can take after the first root monster attacks you. There, you'll find a glowing flower. You can head around behind it and descend along a precarious ledge that leads into the basin.

You can descend along the trail for some distance and then ahead of you, you'll see a glowing enemy. It's a rare lizard that drops a valuable item if defeated, so try to take it out swiftly before it has time to run away from you. Then continue your descent. The trail will double back on itself and you'll see two paths descending ahead of you. One descends less steeply than the other. Head along it to a wide ledge, then drop to a lower ledge and check the corpse to obtain the Leather Armor, Leather Gloves, Leather Boots, Longbow and sixteen of the Feather Arrow. Then drop down again and now you're on the trail you saw descending more steeply.

As you continue along the trail from there, you'll reach another split in the path. Here, you can head either left or right along a precipice. Wide trails lead in both directions.

Start with the area to the right. Proceed cautiously, though, because you'll face one of the black knights. Hit him from fire with a distance, if possible. Then when he's defeated, grab the Blue Titanite Chunk that he drops and descend the trail to find a corpse resting at the end. Loot it for the Grass Crest Shield, then start back uphill. As you do, you'll notice an opening where you can head into the cliff. If you head up through that opening, you'll find a bonfire. Beyond that bonfire, there's a lever that you can pull to activate an elevator.

The elevator leads to an area known as the Valley of the Drakes. You can head there, of course, but you still have business in Darkroot Basin that you may wish to tend to first.

Return to the overhead ledge where you had gone right at the fork in the trail. This time, you'll want to proceed along the left route, which is straight ahead of you as you approach it now after ascending from the bonfire. Along that route, you'll reach a much wider area. As you look ahead, you'll see white giants made out of crystal. There are around four of them, positioned along the sloping hills ahead of a large body of water.

Manage your approach by heading forward along the left side of the area, along the higher ledge. Move forward and you can likely throw firebombs or use fire magic from that vantage point to take down the nearest of the crystal giants. Then you can lure another one toward you. Target them and back up the slope, hitting them with your attacks to easily eliminate each one. Then you should continue forward and lure any others down toward you, one at a time.

After those crystal giants are out of the way, you can head right to find the Large Soul of an Undead Soldier on a corpse, and past that an area where there's a locked door. Use the Watchtower Basement Key on it and you can unlock it, providing a shortcut to Undead Berg (though it's guarded by a fierce warrior).

Spare yourself a moment for that detour and possibly kill the fellow on the stairs (use attacks from behind, and you probably shouldn't risk magic unless it's really powerful). You'll receive Havel's Ring as a reward. When worn, the ring increases the amount of heavy equipment you can easily carry around with you.

Return to where you fought the crystal enemies and proceed toward a shallow lake shore. Near the right side of that lake, you can check a corpse to find the Knight Helm, the Knight Armor, the Knight Gauntlets and the Knight Leggings. The loot is guarded by a hydra, which packs quite a punch unless you have really good defenses. It will try pelting you with projectile attacks and it will sometimes send its heads to the shoreline, which is the place from which you should mount your attack. Let any heads crash down on the shore beside you and hack them off, one at a time. Otherwise, face out to the water and either dodge magical projectiles that the beast fires or block them if you have a capable shield.

When you defeat the monster, you will receive the Dragon Scale and the Dusk Crown Ring. Then you can head left along the shallow lakeshore edge (if you venture too far into the center, the water gets deeper and you'll plunge to your death) and find a ladder. Climb the ladder if you want to reach Darkroot Garden, in the area beyond the sealed gate.

Alternatively, you can exit the area and then return. Proceed to the area where you fought the hydra and advance beyond it to find another of the crystal giants. It is a tougher one than the others, but still shouldn't pose any real problem. Defeat it to free Dusk of Oolacile. Answer “Yes” to her question and you'll be able to summon her when needed. Now you're definitely done in this area and should head elsewhere, perhaps to the Valley of the Drakes.

Undead Burg Slums

When you clear the Undead Parish, you'll need to return to the Undead Burg. Make your way to the area where you battled the Taurus Demon, then descend some steps in the tower that he was guarding. You'll come to the area ahead of the long stone bridge, where the dragon breathes fire from its perch on the distant roof. Ahead of you as you stand at the base of the stairs that you just descended, there's a door. You can use the Basement Key (obtained partway through the Undead Parish) to open it.

Past the door, stairs descend to the top of a ladder. You can descend that ladder and then a series of steps to arrive in an open area. There are some stairs that climb to the upper right. Ascend those stairs and then follow them back to the left to reach a locked door. There are enemies waiting behind the door. Open the door and then roll into the room. Take out the enemies quickly and head toward the far door. You'll see a familiar walkway that leads to a similarly familiar bonfire that you've likely used many times before. Take advantage of it, then return to the door that you just opened.

Descend the stairs that you climbed a short time ago and at the branch in the path, look down along some steps that descend past a massive blaze. You can start down those steps, but only advance to the first landing and then wait. You'll likely attract the attention of one of the hounds that roam this area. They move quickly and are capable of poisoning you, so you don't want to have to deal with more than one at once if you can help it. Stand on the landing and let them approach you. Block their leap with your shield, then counter with a sword swipe.

There are three hounds, so take them out as you see fit and then advance toward where a cart is waiting in the street. You can break it apart or leave it where it is, though presently you may wish to use it for cover. Just past the cart and to the left, there's a doorway. It's locked, and so is one to the right. If you advance along the alley, though, the doors will fling open and three assassins will rush you. They carry poison-tipped daggers. In a group, they're fearsome opponents. Don't let them get behind you or they'll try to slit your throat (perhaps successfully). Be careful to keep your shield up to deflect any daggers they might try to throw, as well. If you didn't break the cart, you can use it for shelter to make it easier to battle only one or two assassins at once.

When you have killed the assassins, you can check the buildings from which they emerged. In the first recently opened building to the right, you can find the Mail Breaker weapon on a corpse. You can also head back toward the blaze but watch to the left. A path in that direction leads past some buildings. You can open the door on one of those buildings to find Griggs of Vinheim, a sorcerer. Talk to him and he'll announce his plans to head back to Firelink Shrine, which is convenient. You can roll through the barrels to the right, as well, to obtain a bunch of loot from a corpse that falls out of one: the Sorcerer Hat, the Sorcerer Cloak, the Sorcerer Gauntlets, the Sorcerer Boots and the Sorcerer's Catalyst. If you head further down that side alley, you can beat a bunch of torch-wielding enemies and investigate a corpse they were guarding to obtain a Twin Humanities item, as well. Then it's time to return to the main path.

Continue along that main path through the burg and you'll find yourself approaching a grassy basin. That grassy area should not be approached too quickly because as you start down the steps, a hound will rush you. Block its attack, then hit back. Slowly start forward again. Check to the left to find a small recess in the wall where a corpse stands upright in a barrel. Break the barrel apart to obtain a Large Soul of a Lost Undead and then return your attention to the area not far ahead.

You'll notice there are huts on either side of the grassy walkway. As you get near enough, enemies will emerge from the huts. Again, let them come to you and hit them with whatever attacks you like. Then investigate the corpse in the second building on the right to find the Thief Mask, the Black Leather Armor, the Black Leather Gloves, the Black Leather Boots and the Target Shield. Note that heading forward may call another of the poisonous hounds to attack, so be ready for that.

Proceeding forward, you'll notice a mist-shrouded archway ahead of you. Through that archway there is a boss encounter, but you're not ready for that just yet. First, you should continue exploring.

To the right of the mist-shrouded door, you'll see stairs that descend in that direction. Head down those and to the first landing, then look ahead of you at the steps that continue their descent. Ahead of you, in plain sight, there waits an enemy. From the landing where you're currently positioned, you can fire an arrow to snipe him. Draw him to you in that manner and take him out, then start forward again but keep an eye on the left wall. As you are most of the way down the stairs, an assassin will attack from a recess there. Be ready for him and hit him with whatever attack you like. Then continue forward toward where you shot the poor fellow near the base of the stairs.

After his corpse, there's a wide alleyway ahead of you. Stairs lead up to a door to the left. You can climb those stairs and then enter a tower with a spiral staircase. Put up your shield and head up the stairs. An archer on an upper platform will try to kill you, but he's easily defeated. Keep climbing from there to the next floor and you'll see an opening ahead of you. Stairs continue to ascend to your left, but permit yourself a detour to the opening and talk to the person behind the bars to the right after passing through that opening. He is a merchant. You can purchase a variety of items from him, including the Purging Stone (his price is steep, though) and precious Humanity. The moss items that he sells can easily be obtained for free by defeating enemies in the Darkroot Garden area, so there's no point in buying them here.

If you head left from where you meet the merchant, down the long tunnel, you can find and open a door. It doesn't require any special key. Opening the door activates a shortcut to Firelink Shrine for possible future use (it's handy if you want an easy route to the nearby boss from a convenient bonfire without having to travel through most of the burg, for instance). Then you should return to exploring Undead Burg.

Continue along the alley and at the end, you'll find a corpse that you can pillage to obtain a Large Soul of a Lost Undead. Just ahead of that, there's a doorway that leads into a room to the right. When you first find that door, it's likely locked, meaning that you've presently explored as much of the area as possible until you defeat the boss. Head back up the stairs to face him now.

Capra Demon

You'll find a relatively easy boss waiting in this chamber, along with two of the poisonous hounds. While it's true that the demon is capable of dealing the most damage with his massive swords, you actually have more to fear from the hounds (particularly if two of them corner you at once while you're trying to take down their master). Do yourself a favor and tend to the four-legged critters first before you focus on the main target.

Once it's down to just you and the demon, you'll find that he's not a huge threat. You can block his swings and the worst you'll suffer is some stamina loss. You can get in close and hit him a few times after he misses with a series of swipes. Then you can back away and give yourself some distance if you need to gulp down an estus potion.

There are some high stairs along one side of the room, which is another thing to keep in mind. You can jump from the top of the stairs and slash down on your foe if you get the positioning right, though you may have a simpler time just going up against him the old-fashioned way. Still, the stairs are obviously there for your benefit. Use them as needed and soon you should turn your worthy foe into a less worthy corpse.

When you defeat the Capra Demon, you'll receive the Key to Depths. There's nothing more to do in the chamber where you fought the Capra Demon, so exit and take a sharp left turn to follow some stairs down into the alley that you explored a short time previously. Remember the locked door? You can open it now to reach the next area: Depths.

Depths

When you arrive in Depths, you'll descend some stairs and then arrive at a large balcony area. There are some obvious enemies ahead of you, as well as one that may try to ambush you from behind. Block their attacks and then easily counter with some blows of your own. Once the ledge is cleared, check back behind the stairs you just descended to find a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier.

Once you've gathered that loot, it's time to head to the far end of the ledge. There, some stairs descend back toward the right and toward some waiting enemies brandishing torches. Take them out as you see fit. You can retreat up the stairs to force them to come at you single-file, if you like. Be careful, though, because they'll come at you from basically all sides of the staircase and it's easy to forget to look behind you.

After you clear the area of those enemies, you can descend toward the left where it looks like a blacksmith is pounding on a forge. That's actually an enemy pounding a slab of meat with a cleaver, not a friendly blacksmith. As you approach, some of the poisonous hounds will rush to meet you. Block their attacks and pet them with your favorite melee weapon. Then you have to deal with the ogre. He swings a huge cleaver. It does a lot of damage if it connects, but the ogre is slow and you should be able to easily dance out of the way before moving in and hitting him with your sword a few times. Then you should back away again and repeat as needed.

When you defeat the ogre, check the treasure chest against the wall, next to the barrels. You'll find a Large Ember to reward you for your troubles. Breaking the barrels also reveals a hidden opening. You can drop through that opening in a moment, but for now you have other things to do. Since you have the ember, you should head back the way you came, keeping to the lower level.

As you proceed through the fetid water, watch for more of the hounds and more of the torch-carrying goons. It can be difficult to see, since the wooden planking overhead gets in the way of the camera, so make sure to lock onto a target and circle around with your shield raised so that you don't lose track of a threat.

When you near the edge of the area, another of the goblins with a set of cleavers will surprise you. This one drops from the rafters to attack. If you haven't cleared out the other enemies, this can make for a hectic fight. Even still, the goblin has a way of bringing a nasty surprise to the occasion. Move carefully around him and make sure that you avoid his cleaver. Dance out of his way until he slams the ground in front of him with the cleaver, which leaves him briefly stunned and lets you attack safely. Don't lose your cool and you should come through the scrape in relatively good shape.

After clearing out the enemies, head toward the back wall and up some steps. You'll come to a split in the path. If you head left, you'll find a store room full of barrels. A man in the back corner is asking for your help. You can roll through the barrels (there's no need to use a weapon) and free him. Talk to him and he'll reveal that his name is Laurentius, of the Great Swamp. He now is in your debt.

Return to the branch in the path and this time follow the other route. You have a few points of danger along this route, but it's an important one to follow if you want to reach the bonfire. As you head along it, you won't have anything to worry about first. Proceed along a stone corridor until you descend some stairs to a small, square room. To the left, there's a corpse resting on a ledge. Resting on the corpse is a Soul of a Nameless Soldier, but it's a trap. If you approach, slime will drop from the ceiling and try to absorb you. An enemy will also attack, so it's easy to take a lot of damage here if you fall for the trap.

Head along the passage until it takes a right turn that fines you looking down another long passageway with a skeleton near the end. This is a treacherous area because there are more of the slime blobs on the ceiling. They'll drop to hit you if you move slowly, so you need to either rush past them in a dash or you need to lure them down. A dash is risky but can definitely work if you head along the middle of the path to avoid the first two slimes and then dodge left or right to avoid the third one. Then you can roll forward take out the enemy at the far end of the passage before turning around and pelting the enemies with firebombs or magic. Fire works really well on the moving slime and it will occasionally drop the Large Titanite Shard that you need for upgrades.

The door at the end of the passage is locked (and leads eventually to a bonfire), but you can turn left from there and descend more steps to reach a grated area. Here, there are some crates you can destroy to reveal a ladder, but if you descend the ladder you'll only find a door that must be opened from the other side later in the stage. For now, ignore this lower route and remain along the higher rout to reach a tunnel that leads to a dangerous 'T' in the path. Here, you can either head right toward a swarm of waiting rats or left and take your chances with more of the poisonous gelatin. Neither route is likely to end well for you unless you prepare yourself and fill your health. You can help yourself with the rats by luring them toward you with arrows, though. It's best not to rush them all at once if you have a choice.

Once the rats are cleared out, check the nearby corpse for a Greataxe. Then turn and head back toward the left. You can actually run past the oozing slime, since it's on the floor and only moves slowly. Past the slime, though, you'll find crates. A rat bursts out of one of them, so hack it apart quickly and round the bend. There, another rat appears and runs from you. Watch where it goes, down some steps to a fetid pool of water. You can fire arrows at the rats from your vantage point to force them back up the steps, enabling you to destroy them one at a time while they pose a smaller threat.

After clearing the lower area of rats, descend the steps and look to the left. There's some grating positioned there, with a corpse lying on the other side. Make sure you kill any rats that might have survived your arrow attacks, then check the corpse to obtain the Sewer Gate Key.

Backtrack the short distance to the locked door. The key that you just found will work on that door. Use it to open the door, then head down the waiting corridor. At the end of said corridor, you'll find a bonfire waiting for you to use it. This is terrific because you're in an area where it's easy to farm the Large Titanite Shards (by killing the slime that appears on the ceiling in the corridor near where you find the bonfire) that you can use to continue upgrading armor. Depths is good for something after all!

Now that you've lit the bonfire, it's time to resume your exploration. While it's easy to feel good about your progress, though, you're coming up on an area of the game that can really try your patience. It's important to be extremely careful as you continue exploring.

Start by backtracking to the area where you fought the first goblin with the meat cleaver. If you've killed him once, he's no longer there. You'll still have to deal with the dogs and other enemies, however. When you reach the area, break the barrels to the right of the treasure chest that you emptied, revealing the secret passage again. Now drop through the passage to land on a high ledge along one edge of the room.

Ahead of you, the ledge drops to lower ground. Don't drop down just yet, though. Instead, look around. Ahead of you, there will be a giant rat roaming around on the lower level. You can fire arrows at him from your vantage point on the high ledge and inflict damage. It's possible to kill the rat without ever needing to drop down to his level. Then you should head around, still on the upper level, and check a glowing point on a corpse to obtain the Spider Shield. After you have that item, go ahead and drop down to where you killed the giant rat.

On that lower level, collect the Humanity that the giant rat will have dropped. You can also find a Soul of a Nameless Soldier near one corner of the chamber, not far from the top of a waterfall. Keep that waterfall in mind as you will be returning later, but for now you should look along the opposite side of the room and there's a narrow passageway. Start down it and grab the Soul of a Nameless Soldier from a corpse. From there, you have a choice. You can either head left, where a rat wants you to follow it to your possible doom, or you can continue straight ahead and fall down a shaft.

You do not want to fall down the shaft, especially not just yet, so begin by heading along the left route. The rat will lead you to a 'T' in the path where a second rat waits. At that intersection, you can choose to head either left or right. Start by going to the right to find another intersection. To the left, there are some rats waiting along with a magic user. If you're ready for a group of rats, you can head in that direction. Or you can lure the rats toward you and eliminate them, then start forward again.

There are a lot of rats along that route, around four or so in the nearest area. There's also a spellcaster who hangs back and will try to pelt you with magic. As you follow him, note that more rats will break out of the crates to attack. Be ready for that and deal with them while you avoid the much more lethal magic from the magic user. Then tend to him (he won't come back after you take him out now, thankfully) and investigate the area beyond him for the Large Titanite Shard on a corpse in the corner of the high ledge where you're now positioned.

Note that along the left side of this ledge, you can also find a glowing, mist-shrouded doorway. It doesn't lead anywhere that you haven't already been at this point, but go ahead and pass through it so that it's not a distraction later. Then head back the way you just came and return to the area where you fought the giant rat. Along the edge of that chamber, there's a steep slope where water rushes down into a gap in the floor. To the left of that is a stone surface that also descends in that direction. You can slide down that stone slope and if you perform it properly and veer left, you should drop safely to a lower area.

This area is the same general area where you would have appeared if you dropped through an opening that we suggested you avoid earlier, but you've entered it by a safer route. Now you can find out what to expect from the area.

Begin by heading around carefully and watching for what looks like a large frog. The frogs seem like no big deal, but be careful because they can inflict you with Curse. If you are cursed, bad things happen. Your health is halved and that remains the case even if you die and return to a bonfire. You'll have to use an expensive Purging Stone to cure yourself, if you even brought one (you should have a few in your possession if you've been following this walkthrough from the start, but it's still no fun to have to use them). To fight the frog, either hit it with fire magic from a distance or let it get close. Then dodge back out of the way, wait for it to breathe noxious fumes, then hit it as it starts forward again. Avoid standing in the vapors or you will likely be cursed. Your likelihood of being cursed increases if you are not in human form, as well.

Head forward along the main corridor after you take care of the frog (don't head along the left corridor or you'll find a bunch more cursed frogs). Watch out for a number of rats that are in the area along the main route, as well as slimy blogs that drop from the ceiling to try and surprise you. Remember that you can take them out with fire attacks. They'll go down quickly to that particular element.

Continue around the passage and you'll find grating through which you can pass. There's a hole in it. On the other side of that grating, you'll find a merchant who you can talk with to purchase items such as the Bottomless Box (for inventory management at bonfires) and the Crystal Straight Sword and Crystal Shield. He also offers the Crystal Greatsword and the Armor of the Glorious. The armor is the most expensive item, with a cost of 15,000 souls. It's clear that this merchant is after some real riches.

Purchase what you like, then turn around and pass back through the grating. To the left just after the grating, there are some stairs you can climb to an area outside the castle that you're exploring at present. If you head up those stairs (which you shouldn't do just yet), you'll find the route that leads to the area boss. Before you do that, though, it's time for a little bit more backtracking.

Head back to the lower chamber where you fought the frog. Continue left and you'll find another set of stairs that leads upstairs. Follow those steps to find a doorway. You can open the door to create an important shortcut. Head through the door, climb a ladder and you'll appear in an area that should be familiar to you. It's the grating area that overlooked the large rat that you killed previously.

Now you can simply turn around, head back down the hall, kill the waiting skeleton, take a sharp right and head down to the room with the grating, descend the ladder and then head down the steps through the door that you recently opened. If you killed the frog already, it'll be gone. Remember to watch for the rats and slime, though. Take the next opening to the right and climb the stairs to reach the outside area again.

You're now ready to proceed to the right, through that area. Fortunately, there are no waiting enemies. Just head around the castle tower until you find some stairs that descend one level. Head down those stairs and then to the right. There are more stairs there. At the top of the staircase, you'll see a patch on the ground where you can summon Soltaire if you like. You can head left around the corner from there to find a Heavy Crossbow and a Heavy Bolt waiting on a corpse, if needed. Then you can return and descend the stairs to reach a mist-shrouded doorway. If you pass through that doorway, you'll find a boss battle.

Gaping Dragon

This battle should go fairly easily for you. The monster that you'll fight, though huge, moves slowly and doesn't have any projectile attacks. You can avoid taking damage almost entirely just by staying at a distance, but the best way to kill the dragon (naturally) is to get in close and hack at it a few times, then retreat to avoid taking damage.

When the dragon first appears, it doesn't look like much of a threat at all. Then you see its full size emerge from the water and it becomes much more imposing. Your first order of business should be to hack of its tail, which should only take a few hits if you have a good weapon equipped. The first time you do that, the dragon will drop the Dragon King Greataxe. Be sure to pick it up and then return your attention to the battle at hand.

The dragon likes to lift its torso back, then slam down on the ground and spread out a yellow mist that you definitely want to avoid. When it finishes doing that, you have a brief moment and then the dragon will charge you. Definitely get out of the way. Try to stay on dry ground rather than wading through water, since you'll be able to move better. Note that sometimes the dragon will lift up from the ground and fly a short distance. When you see that starting to happen, roll like crazy to get out of the way. If the dragon lands on you, the damage it will inflict is significant. If it manages to grab you with a swipe of its paw (which shouldn't happen unless you get especially careless), it can swallow you and inflict severe damage, but that attack is easy to avoid as long as you don't get greedy about hitting the dragon too many times in a row.

For the most part, it's a pretty easy fight that ranks among the easiest in the game. Just move in and hit the dragon in the flank two or three times with a quick weapon such as the Drake Sword, then back quickly away as the dragon retaliates (it can bend over backward to hit you if you just remain in one place and keep hacking). It's an easy process to perform and to repeat throughout the fight until you win.

Once you defeat the dragon, you'll receive the Blighttown Key. It's also safe to check the corpse that you've likely noticed in the area, from which you can pillage the useless Standard Helm, Hard Leather Armor, Hard Leather Gauntlets and Hard Leather Boots gear (no wonder the poor sap died!). Then you can head back through the dungeon to the area where you found the merchant. Nearby, there's a locked gate that the key will open. It leads to a new area: Blighttown.

Blighttown

When you arrive in Blighttown after using the key that you obtained by defeating the Gaping Dragon, the first thing you should do is equip the Spider Shield that you obtained in the Depths area. It provides powerful protection from poison attacks, which are common in the coming dungeon.

From the entrance, head left along the stone rim and you'll reach the top of a red ladder. Descend it. From the base of the ladder, start forward and look for the top of a wooden ladder to your left. Descend along that to a lower platform and then start forward to where an enemy will be waiting. It is a powerful enemy, but slow.

For this particular enemy, your best strategy is to let it attack. It will typically use a heavy vertical strike and follow it up with a swing or two. Block or dodge the initial strikes, then get around behind your adversary and stab him in the back a time or two, or just hit him quickly with your weapon a few times. Then repeat the dance. It's possible also to easily lure him to the side of the wooden planking and then let himself rush to his doom by way of a fatal fall. Just make sure that you don't make the fall yourself. Note that sometimes the monster will stop to bellow and you can get in a few easy hits, but you should be ready to back away when he finishes his bellow or he'll possibly hit you with a melee attack. He can also break your stamina down pretty easily if you take too many hits, so try not to let the monster hit you too many times in close succession. He often drops the Dung Pie when defeated, and less often the Large Club. Sadly, he will reappear in the area if you use a bonfire.

Continuing down the planking, you'll soon encounter a second of those same monsters. Don't push too far forward as you fight him, though; enemies below may notice your fight. You might not see them, but they can run around, find a ladder and climb up to give you trouble. You really only want to fight one enemy at a time, where possible. There's a third of the huge monsters after you defeat the second, as well.

After you've taken out the third of the goblins, you'll meet a new type of enemy. This one is faster and lizard-like. You have to treat it with more caution, but it's not a real threat if you're careful to block and counter. Keep your distance and let it swing its weapon at you, then move in for a killing series of blows to make the job easy.

Past the first of those more agile enemies, you'll soon find a more dangerous threat. There are some enemies nearby that are obvious, and there's one that will throw poison-tipped daggers. If these hit you, Toxic effect will take place. Your life meter quickly drains unless you use the Blooming Purple Moss Clump, found in Darkroot Garden when you defeat the walking tree roots. You can also buy it from the merchant near Firelink Shrine (up the tunnel that you explore on your way to Undead Burg). Make taking out any dagger-tossing enemies your priority so that you have to worry less about the toxicity.

When that's tended to, resume your trek forward. You can head right here, or left. If you head left, some enemies will rush you. Defeat them, then look down over the edge of the ledge that you have reached. You'll see a lower platform with a skeleton lying on it. The only way to reach that platform is to make a running jump from the corner of the higher ledge to the beam that extends from the lower ledge. Then you can walk along it and investigate the corpse to obtain the Iaito blade. Note that it's a tricky leap to make and you'll likely die if you fail, so keep that in mind and decide just how badly you want the sword.

Drop down from the right side of the platform next and you can head a few steps in that direction to find something wonderful: a bonfire. Naturally, this is a terrific base of operations as you consider your journey through the remainder of the area.

There are two direction you can follow from the fire. One is to head away from the fire, with the ledge where you found the Iaito blade to your back. That route actually leads to some ladders (positioned just to the right along some wooden planking) that you can climb to reach the overhead series of planks where you first started the level. It's the route you would have taken down to the bonfire if not leaping to the platform for the weapon. Along that route, keeping to the high road, you can find the Large Soul of an Unknown Soldier. The way to proceed through Blighttown can also be found if you head in this direction from the bonfire and just keep to the low road along the stone bridge (where some dogs are standing guard), but before you continue your descent you might want to explore in the area to the other side of the bonfire.

Your other option from the bonfire is to head back in the general direction of the high ledge where you found the Iaito blade. Head around the base of that ledge and you'll find the top of a ladder. You can peer over the edge to possibly attract the attention of some enemies lingering below. Let them climb up to you and then hack them apart, or drop down with your weapon ready to manage a damaging surprise attack (though you'll take some damage yourself because of the height involved). Descend the ladder and walk along the ledge they were guarding. On a beam that extends from it, you can investigate a corprse to obtain three of the Blooming Purple Moss Clump. Then you can return to the base of the ladder.

Now from the base of that same ladder, head up a small ramp and to the right to find yourself at the start of some rickety footing. Before you start across that, you should know that it will sway gradually when you put weight on it, swinging left or right like a wooden arm. Don't let that freak you out as you head slowly across the shaky footing, and don't let an agile red hound startle you as you reach the halfway point.

A word about the hounds here: they're smaller and faster than the ones you may have already encountered elsewhere in the game. Red in color, they can sprint fairly quickly and as they get near they may also try to roast you with fire. You're better off not facing them directly but (when the level architecture permits it) approaching them from the side instead. You may also try picking them off with projectile weapons.

When you reach the far side of that rickety ledge, you can drop off the left side and double back a short distance to grab Humanity from the corpse that you might have noticed lying off to the side. Then you're done in this direction and you should return to the bonfire.

Back at the bonfire, head in the direction where the ladders lead up to the area entrance from the Depths. If you haven't found it in this direction, note that you can climb a ladder and work your way past where an enemy is trapped in a stone vase. Kill the enemies there, then look to the right. You can drop from your current position to a lower ledge in that direction, then climb up another nearby ladder (after defeating more enemies) to find some excellent gear with terrific resistance to poison-based attacks: the Shadow Mask, the Shadow Garb, the Shadow Gauntlets and the Shadow Leggings. Drop down from that ledge, kill an enemy and check around the wooden walls to find two Soul of a Proud Knight items resting on corpses spread around the same general vicinity.

Once you have that gear and those items, you're going to want to stick to the lower route that leads across more of the stone bridge (no ladder climbing necessary). In that direction, you'll find more of the fiery hounds like those you fought a moment ago. Tend to them and to a guy who tries to attack from the left from the sharply angled corner, but a bigger threat comes in the form of an enemy ahead of you and to the right who will try to fire poisoned darts at you to inflict Toxic. Block those attacks at all costs as you deal with goons, and get behind some wood when you can to eliminate yourself as a target.

Continue onward from there but watch the area ahead of you and below you. It's possible to drop down along the planking toward a monster that looks like a slug with tentacles. You can shoot at it from a distance with arrows if you have them. The beast won't chase you, so it's easy to destroy him from afar. Then you can head forward to find a ladder to a lower ledge. Drop down along those ledges to the area that the slug was guarding to find the Pyromancy: Power Within on the corprse.

In the same general area, you'll also find a number of enemies that will climb around the platforms trying to hurt you. It's worth waiting around for a bit just to let them come to you. You can check corpses for soul-generating items. Near where you killed the slug, the path descends to an area where another of the large goblins with a long club is waiting (like the ones you fought at the entrance to the area from the Depths). You can hit him in the face as he tries to ascend toward you, so it's an easy fight with the advantage definitely in your favor.

Descend along the planking that he was guarding, which itself is positioned against a stone wall, and you'll find the entrance to a cave. It is guarded by another of the faster enemies, but you can easily block its rush and then eliminate it with a few melee attacks. Head into the cave that it was guarding to find another circular chamber like the one that served as the entrance to the area. To the left, you can descend a platform that leads to a lower ledge ahead of a mist-shrouded opening.

Before you pass through the mist-shrouded opening, it's a good idea to equip the Shadow equipment that you found higher in the stage. Its protection against poison will come in handy now, as you're about to venture to an area where you must battle enemies that can inflict poison while you also spend time rolling around in fetid standing water. You should already have the Spider Shield equipped, as well. The combination of all of that will make things go much easier for you.

When you step through the opening, you'll find yourself on some wooden platforms. On a ledge ahead of you, one of the enemies that throws the poisonous daggers is waiting. Hold up your shield and start toward that enemy, though it is in the distance. Don't walk over a platform yourself, but if you move closer the enemy may rush you and fall to his death. Then you can look left, where a torch is burning. You'll find that such torches often serve the purpose of guiding you through a level. Where there is light, you'll usually find other things of interest (as is the case here).

Descend the ladder and a second one just after it, then start forward. A sluggish monster will rush you. Quickly head forward and get to its side, as this monster is capable of breathing fire. A few hacks from the side will disable it. Then you can continue descending and take out another of the monsters before you find yourself looking down a series of wooden platforms. Ahead of you and below, there's another of the dagger-tossing enemies. Be careful to block its attacks. You can possibly take it out with well-aimed arrow shots, or just quickly drop down along the platforms and then head forward to eliminate it.

Once that dagger-tosser is toast, grab the loot from the nearby corpse (you'll find the Wanderer Hood, the Wanderer Coat, the Wanderer Manchette, the Wanderer Boots and the Falchion) and then head back the way you came along the wooden platform. You should find yourself starting to be pestered by insects in this area. Don't try to slash them if you'll have to risk stepping toward the edge of a platform. You may fall off and plunge to your death. A better strategy is to use magic or arrows from a distance.

As you descend through the area from there, the main thing to keep in mind is that there are a lot of the sluggish creatures to deal with. Don't try to rush on your way down. Instead, take your time and look ahead at each ladder. Kill any circling insects, then descend a ladder and take out a slug. Repeat as necessary until you arrive along the bottom of the area.

Now you've found the swamp water. Wading through it saps your defenses and can eventually lead to your character being poisoned. You should leap into the water when you first enter it, then roll and keep moving quickly to minimize the amount of time you have to spend in it. Try to fight any enemies (including more of the slug creatures) on land when possible. You should also be looking toward the right for an archway in the stone. Through that archway, you'll find the region's second bonfire at the base of a stone walkway that ascends toward a tunnel.

Climb that walkway and at the end you'll find a basin. Descend into the basin and open the chest to obtain a precious Dragon Scale. Then backtrack to the area with the standing water and look around for a bit. You can find corpses with items, including the Large Soul of a Proud Knight. There are all kinds of items along this murky bottom.

Straight ahead of the exit to the cave where you found the bonfire, you can roll straight through murky water and work your way around a stone structure to find a waiting corprse. Check there to obtain the Pyromancy: Poison Mist ability. Elsewhere in the vicinity, as you check corpses along the edges of the region and throughout the soupy center, you'll find a couple of the Large Titanite Shard, a Large Soul of a Proud Knight and a bunch of treasure on a corpse guarded by enemies that appear to be giant leeches. In that area, you can find the Tattered Cloth Hood, the Tattered Cloth Robe, the Tattered Cloth Manchette and the Heavy Boots.

Another area of interest, along one edge of the region, is guarded by two of the huge goblins. These fellows carry boulders instead of clubs. They're able to slam down the boulders to inflict severe damage, or to roll them toward you to the same effect. You'll be fighting two at once and there's a lot of swamp water nearby, so you might want to weaken them with some magic or projectiles before you move in to finish off the two goblins. Moving quickly and getting behind them for back stab moves will make the fight go much better. When you defeat them, you will obtain the Great Club, a powerful weapon if you have the strength to carry it.

When you have looted the vicinity, which may require several runs, you can return to the bonfire and to recover and to prepare yourself. Then you should head back into the swamp area and head toward the right.

You'll have to defeat more of the slug enemies if you rested at the bonfire, or if you haven't yet tended to them for some reason. Proceed in that direction, keeping near the wall, and you'll soon reach a waterwheel. You can continue a short distance beyond it to find an area where there is webbing on the side of a hill, with rocks protruding from it like spikes. If you climb up this hill, you'll find the entrance to a new area: Quelaag's Domain.

Quelaag's Domain

When you enter Quelaag's Domain, you'll find that it's a long tunnel descending into the heart of the webbed hill that you just climbed along the edge of the lower Blighttown swamp. There are webbed cocoons overhead.

As you descend along the shaft, you will eventually come to some strange objects in the corridor. These are actually enemies. You can pick at them from a distance with arrows or fire attacks and you'll break apart what looks like an egg. That turns out to be an assortment of bloody worms. They move quickly and several of them will come toward you now that you've broken them apart. They're actually able of causing some serious harm, so you may find it better to simply run past them. If you do deal with them, fire attacks continue to work well.

Past that threat, the trail continues its descent and stops finally ahead of a mist-shrouded opening. When you step through that opening, you'll reach the area boss.

Chaos Witch Quelaag

Quelaag is a fearsome foe, the most difficult boss that you've yet encountered. She is half giant armored spider, quarter woman. However, her fighting tactics resemble those that you might expect to encounter from a dragon.

When the battle starts, let Quelaag skitter toward you. She will rely heavily on fire attacks, so make sure that you've equipped fire-resistant gear if you have any. If you are standing in front of the spider, it will likely try to hit you with flame attacks. It's better if you can move in close before that happens and stand to either side of its mouth, between the first and second legs on either side of the mouth. From there, you can hack away at the spider and do some pretty good damage, maybe even use two-handed attacks.

Once you have done enough damage from there, the spider will shift away. Keep in mind that if you remain at too great a distance, Quelaag will try to use a luminescent blade to swipe at you. Though you can block part of the damage with your shield, you're still likely to take damage and suffer from stamina loss. You're better off if you for the most part stay close to your foe throughout the fight. Then you only have to worry about the occasional noxious fumes that the spider will send out (watch for her lovely upper body to drape forward if you want to know when the noxious explosion is about to happen), or a lava flow that it sends out to either side of its body. Except when you're rolling to escape a lava flow or the fumes, you're always safer right up against the critter than you are trying to stay at a distance.

Besides having a few powerful attacks, Quelaag also has a larger life meter than other bosses up to this point. You'll have to hack away at her for quite some time to do any real damage. It's a battle of endurance, but staying close should be enough to give you the upper hand and it should allow you to eke out a victory.

When you defeat the boss, you will receive the Soul of Queelag item. You can head up the stairs beyond where the battle took place and when you do, you'll reach a room with a lever that you can pull. Do so and you'll ring the second bell, which triggers a scene showing a giant beast raising the portcullis that you may remember finding at the the end of a forest path near the blacksmith at the Undead Parish. That opening now leads to a new area known as Sen's Fortress, though you probably shouldn't head there just yet.

Once that scene showing the rising portcullis ends, head around behind where you pulled the lever and you can descend a staircase if you like. That will take you toward a new area known as the Demon Ruins, but you're not necessarily ready to venture there just yet. However, along the way you'll find a room with a large circular plate on the floor.

Near the plate, look at the path descending ahead of you. Then roll against the wall to the right. Part of it will dissolve to reveal a wide, hidden path. You can head along that path to meet with a character. Talk to him and answer “Yes” to his question to be allowed through into the next chamber. There, you can rest at a bonfire and talk to a woman who extends partially from the wall to the right. You can join her covenant (Chaos) if you like.

If you join the Chaos covenant, you'll receive the Pyromancy: Great Chaos Fireball item but abandon your former covenant. By joining the new covenant, you'll be able to then talk to the nearby character and improve your Pyromancy Flame (at the cost of souls for each improvement) so that your magic of that sort does more damage. It's in your best interests to join this particular covenant if you are a character of that class, though you won't have that option otherwise.

When you're done there, you can leave and resume your adventure. You have a number of good options for how you wish to proceed, but perhaps your best bet is to head to the Catacombs area next. You may also have luck in Darkroot Garden, if you haven't already cleared that area and want to try switching up the order of things, or in The Great Hollow.

The Great Hollow

At the bottom of Blighttown, there's a bonfire in a stone passage built into the side of a mountain. Head out of that area and toward the edge of the swamp water, then hang a left. Proceed past the are that leads up to Blighttown's higher level and keep going, then cross through some swamp water to a low point where a huge tree limb allows you to ascend toward a tree.

Climb the bark trail and you'll reach a small cave that contains the Plank Shield. You'll find it on a corpse. Look left to the wall and you can hit it with your sword to make it dissolve. Head along the trail that you reveal to find a treasure chest that you can open for the Twin Humanities item. Grab it, then hit the wall behind the chest with your weapon to make it dissolve.

Head along that trail and you'll see the name of The Great Hollow flash on the screen as you descend a barren trail that leads to the top of a ladder.

Climb down the ladder and continue along the path. As the path widens and you see huge tree roots ahead of you, there's a bonfire that you can light. Then it's time to see about descending through the area along the huge roots.

Head slightly left and start down the trail. You can descend for a long way without encountering anything, save an empty room along the right side of the path. Continue past that chamber and you can drop down to a lower branch and head forward. There, you'll find a corpse. Investigate to obtain a Titanite Chunk. If you look down from there, you'll see another corpse and (to its left) an room with a gray floor. Sitting in that room is one of the chameleon creatures with buggy eyes that inhabits this area (they look like the cursed frogs in the Depths).

If you wait for a bit, the creature may spy you. It will head up along the branches, which is what you want. Watch carefully, as it is capable of climbing to a higher ledge and then dropping down behind you. Hit it with a fire attack if you have one to keep a safe distance. When you're ready, you can drop down to the lower ledge but know that there are two more of the same creature waiting behind the wooden wall where they're harder to see. They will rush you if they spot you and you need to tend to them quickly without getting caught up in their cursing mist attack. If you're playing through this portion of the stage online, note that you'll sometimes see strange images appear for a moment, like petrified statues. Those images let you know that other players are trying to proceed through the same area and are dying after being cursed. This is a very dangerous portion of the stage.

After defeating the creatures, investigate the corpse lying along the outer side of that lower room to find a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier. Then head out along the nearby limb and look down to where more limbs crisscross on the way down. You can worry about grabbing items along those limbs if you like. You'll find the Red Titanite Chunk along one branch and the White Titanite Chunk along another. Lower down, there's also a Blue Titanite Chunk.

Keep descending by carefully dropping down along branches. As you head down through the tree, look around for another gray ledge extending from the side of the tree. It has a ladder descending from its side. You can drop down to that ledge from a higher branch nearby, then descend the ladder to reach another ledge with the gray, thatched surface. Look from there and you'll see another ladder descending to a wide area. If you start down the ladder, though, you'll attract the attention of a chameleon. You may prefer to drop down from a higher ledge with your weapon drawn and kill the chameleon upon arriving on the lower level. There are others in the same vicinity, though, so be ready to hit them from a distance to avoid being cursed.

Circle around the area and look for a hole in the floor, near the trunk. There's a ladder along the side of one such hole, but that's not the one for which you are searching. The one you want to find provides a view of a corpse resting on a limb. You can drop down on that corprse from above and investigate to find the Blue Titanite Chunk. However, there are more of the cursed critters nearby and they'll probably notice you and attack. Make sure that you avoid them.

Continuing down the tree, you'll soon find an area of red fungus platforms that extend from the tree. These are past the last of the cursed frogs, and they are inhabited by shroom enemies. The shroom enemies have good defense but you can easily block their attacks and let the fight drag on as long as it needs to. Just be careful that you don't let them mob you. Often, you can run past the shrooms as you drop along the final few ledges and reach the bottom of the tree. There, you'll find an opening that branches off to the side and reaches a mist-shrouded door. When you pass through that door, you'll start along a l