There is a color-coded version of this guide, which is much easier to skim through, in the discord server linked on my Steam profile. Feel free to ask questions and leave feedback there. That guide, and my guides for Elden Ring the other Dark Souls games are also linked separately on my Steam profile.

After new players become accustomed to the mechanics of Dark Souls II, many are still at a massive disadvantage against seasoned players. Experienced players know how to become more powerful much earlier in the game than a novice would typically be. While half of being successful in Dark Souls II is skill based, the other half is building a strong character. In this guide I will share with you my expert knowledge on how to do exactly that. Just a reminder: min-maxing everything to be as strong as possible is not the only way to play the game. The most important thing is to have fun.

This guide assumes you have basic knowledge of the mechanics of Dark Souls II. Once you kill a boss, it is impossible to continue any NPC questlines in that area, so it’s important to complete every questline in an area before killing that area’s boss.

This guide emphasizes becoming as powerful as possible before taking on each boss, and generally recommends taking on weaker bosses first. You can learn strategies for easily defeating bosses in the wiki I link to on the last page of this guide. I recommend soloing most bosses. Multiplayer boss fights are harder unless the average power level of your team is higher than your own due to how boss health scales in multiplayer, +100% base health per phantom, and because bosses are less predictable when fighting multiple players.

The basic strategy detailed in the walkthrough section of the guide is to collect titanite from later-game areas to upgrade your weapon to a high level earlier than intended, then gather spice to reduce the stat requirements of weapon buff spells to boost your damage further. In the walkthrough I use the rapier, as it is a very strong weapon you can get right at the start of the game, but you can use whichever weapon you like as long as you adjust your armor to stay below 70% equip load. Later in the playthrough, I recommend going to the DLC areas early to grab a better rapier and a powerful ring. These steps are optional.

I discuss how to level your stats in more detail in the stats section at the end of the guide, but I’m posting the order up here for ease of use. If you’re a novice player, I highly recommend leveling only the stats listed below in the exact order listed, whenever you have enough souls to do so. If you’re an expert who understands the intricacies and gravity of the stat system, feel free to use your own judgment, and message me if you come up with something better.

1. Level adaptability to 10.
2. Level vitality to 8.
3. Level dexterity to 12.
4. Level vigor to 20.
5. Level endurance to 20.
6. Level adaptability to 17.
7. Level faith to 14.
8. Level intelligence to 10.
9. Level attunement to 10.
10. Level dexterity to 15.
11. Level strength to 13.
12. Level faith to 25.
13. Level attunement to 13.
14. Level vigor to 50.
15. Level faith to 40.
16. Level attunement to 30.

Ok first of all, stay calm. Dark Souls II’s default keybindings are pretty strange, even compared to the other Dark Souls games. To fix the keybindings and make them similar to the other Dark Souls games, make a new character and follow the steps below.

To save your key bindings you must cancel out of the keybindings menu, this means even if you change the cancel button from backspace to Q, you must hit backspace several times to save it in the first place. Lastly, since the game’s release there is a bug where even if you disable double clicking, you must open the key bindings menu each time after launching the game in order for the setting to take effect. Now for the keybindings I recommend changing.

Keyboard:
1. Set confirm to E.
2. Set cancel to Q.
3. Set function 1 to B.
4. Set use item to R.
5. Set interact to E.

Mouse:
6. Set attack (right hand) to left click.
7. Set attack (left hand) to right click.
8. Set strong attack (right hand) to shift+left click.
9. Set strong attack (left hand) to shift+right click.
10. Set use item to double left click.
11. Set interact to double right click.
12. Disable double clicking.

Image credit for all screenshots: Dark Souls Fandom Wiki
Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 Deed.

1. Upon starting a new game, you’ll find yourself in the sparsely populated tutorial area, Things Betwixt. If you enjoy exploring, you can find a gold pine resin, a rusted coin, and a small smooth & silky stone hidden in this area, none of which you really need. There’s an ogre here too that drops a stone ring when you kill it, but you can come back later for it when you’re stronger, it’s not important. When you’re ready, and you’ve gotten your keybindings sorted out, enter the house inhabited by Firekeepers.

2. Speak to the Firekeeper and choose the “knight” class. It’s important to pick this starting class, as it has the most efficient starting stats for the build I recommend. It also has the best starting gear, though that’s not very important. I recommend the life ring as your starting gift, but you can choose whatever you want. Know that small, female characters are preferred by some as they obstruct less of your field of view, though it’s not important. Make sure to hold your broadsword in both hands for increased damage. Manually equip the life ring if that was your starting gift. Before you leave, up the stairs is a chest you can loot to get a valuable human effigy.

3. The back door of the Firekeeper’s house leads to the Fire Keeper’s Dwelling bonfire, and past it, a path through the rest of the tutorial zone. Enter the two fog gates on either side of the path to experience the tutorials. Through each gate is a mini-zone inhabited with a few weak enemies for you to practice against. When you’re done, follow the path up to the game’s central hub: Majula.

4. Once you reach Majula, head through the tunnel off to the left that leads to the Shaded Woods. The way is blocked, but you can talk to Benhardt of Jugo sitting in front of the closed gate. Leave back through the tunnel and you can walk off the cliff onto a hidden path and loot the morning star and binoculars.

5. Follow the cliffside up and you can light the Majula bonfire. You can teleport between bonfires at will. Tending it is the Emerald Herald who you can talk to to receive your estus flask. This is your refillable and upgradable health potion you will use throughout the game. You can now talk to the Emerald Herald to level up your character. I detail the exact order you should level your stats in the stats section near the end of this guide.

6. Up the stairs to the monument next to the bonfire you can find Crestfallen Saulden. Talk to him for a while to join the Way of Blue covenant. He’ll give you the blue seal: a ring that increases your max hp like the life ring. Equip this ring as well. Moving on, also next to the bonfire is a blacksmith shop you can’t yet access. Behind it, in the house with the closed door, you’ll find the merchant Sweet Shalquoir. Talk to her if ever you want to leave your covenant.

7. Just past Shalquior’s house is Majula’s manor, which is locked and can be identified by the well in front of it. Be careful not to fall into the pit that marks the very center of Majula. Attack the stone sitting atop the edge of the well to reveal an estus shard. Talk to the Emerald Herald again to have her upgrade your estus flask with this shard, now you can drink from it more times before it runs out. The last building in Majula, on the other side of the manor from Shalquior’s shop, is Maughlin the armorer’s shop. You can steal a titanite shard from the chest on the second floor of his shop, he won’t notice.

8. Head back to the bonfire. Opposite the direction of the monument is a path leading below the cliffside. This path underground takes you to the first main zone: the Forest of Fallen Giants. Past a large gate you’ll enter a cavern carved out by a river with a wooden bridge spanning it. Halfway across the bridge you can jump to a treasure chest sitting in the middle of the river which contains a human effigy. If your jump is short, you will fall to your death. Past the chest is an open area guarded by hollow soldiers and an ogre. You can run past the ogre if you don’t feel like fighting it.

9. Look for the Crestfallen’s Retreat bonfire along the right riverbank. Resting here will fully heal you, but also respawn enemies you have killed. Across a few wooden planks is a ladder leading to a circular area where a hollow soldier will pelt you with firebombs from above. There’s another ladder to your right that leads to the bomb-throwing hollow. The way forward is the doorway on the other side of the circular area that leads to a tunnel.

10. A set of stairs will take you out of the tunnel where you’ll spot a ladder. This takes you to the door to the Cardinal Tower bonfire and Merchant Hag Melentia. If you’re fast, you can climb the ladder without fighting the enemies who guard it. Buy Leningrast’s key from Melentia for 1000 souls. You can break down the door to the room upstairs by attacking it and loot the chest inside. There is also a crystal lizard in this room. These enemies drop valuable loot, and will run away from you and disappear unless you kill them first. If you miss one, rest at a bonfire and try again.

11. Optionally, if you head back out the tower door you first came in, you can drop down the cliff onto a wooden scaffold and down into a small zone. Here you’ll notice a cave where a fire longsword can be found, a weapon you don’t need.

12. Return to Majula and unlock Leningrast’s blacksmith shop with the key. Talk to him, then rest at the bonfire to get him to start working. Purchase the rapier from him for 1000 souls and equip it in place of your broadsword. Make sure you two-hand it as well for extra damage. Now have Lenigrast upgrade your rapier to +1.

13. Warp back to the Cardinal Tower bonfire and head down the ladder sticking out of the hole in the floor. To the left you’ll find a small room with a locked door, as well as the exit leading outside. Climb the ramp made of tree roots, then run past the enemies until you reach a stack of black barrels. Stand near them and a hollow soldier will detonate them with a firebomb. This will blow a hold in the wall, creating a convenient shortcut to the bonfire. Backtrack a bit, near the top of the roots is a ladder up to a platform where you can find an estus shard. Beware the Pursuer will ambush you here. Ignore him if you want, you will face him again later in a more advantageous location.

14. Head back to the tree root ramp and leap off the edge onto a rooftop. Be wary of archers scattered about and navigate down to the ground to collect a titanite shard. Climb back up to the rooftops, and jump across them in the direction of the top of the tree root ramp until you find a small cave. Enter it and talk to Cale the cartographer until he gives you the manor key.

15. From the Cardinal Tower bonfire, run out the hole in the wall and down the stairs this time. Enter the open doorway on the right, path around the ballistae pointed at the doorway, and jump down to the lower floor. There’s a booby-trapped chest containing a titanite shard here. Open it then jump away to avoid the trap. Finally, attack the nearby locked door a few times and it will be opened by the three hollow soldiers on the other side. Loot the chest they guard to get a large titanite shard and a duplicate life ring.

16. Warp back to Majula and use the manor key to enter the previously locked building. Loot a pharros’ lockstone from a corpse and three titanite shards from a chest. In the basement there is a chest containing an estus shard, bring it to the Emerald Herald to upgrade your estus flask. With the titanite shards you can have blacksmith Lenigrast upgrade your rapier to +4. If you have souls leftover from upgrading your weapon, or as soon as you can afford it, purchase the hard leather gauntlets from Maughlin the armorer for 940 souls. Equip these as they’re better than your starting gauntlets. Finally, return to Cale the cartographer in his cave and talk to him to get him to move into the manor.

17. Return to the room with the booby-trapped chest and insert the pharros’ lockstone into the stone face on the wall, which is called a Pharros’ contraption. This will spawn a spectral face on the same wall that you can attack to reveal a secret room. Loot the two chests in this room to get a titanite slab and the chloranthy ring, which you should equip alongside your other two rings.

18. Now leave that building and look to the right, you’ll spot mild-mannered Pate. Talk to Pate and head through the gate past him to meet the ambush. You’ll be funneled into a building. You’ll spot a corpse holding aromatic ooze, just past it at the bottom of the stairs is an illusory wall, a section of wall that looks real, but can be dispelled. To open an illusory wall you must touch it and press the interact button, “enter” by default, but I recommended setting it to “E” at the start of this guide. The wall should open revealing a sorcerer’s staff, which you’ll need later. Return to Pate and he will give you a small soapstone.

19. Head back towards the booby-trapped room and run past the minefield of explosive barrels and through a doorway. To the right is a locked door, so head left and open the gate leading back to the Cardinal Tower ladder. If you want to grab the rest of the loot in this area, head back to the explosive barrels and look for a ladder leading atop the stone wall in the middle of the zone.

20. Near the gate you unlocked below the Cardinal Tower is a lift leading down to the first boss: the Last Giant. Now is a great time to learn that walking behind bosses is a great way to dodge their attacks, and doesn’t cost stamina like dodging. You need all the stamina you can get to poke bosses with your rapier. Once the giant is slain you’ll receive the soldier’s key.

21. With the key in hand, return to the Cardinal Tower bonfire, climb down the ladder, and use the soldier’s key to open the locked door. Through this door is a small area containing the Soldier’s Rest bonfire. Here you can loot the leather gloves and the rest of the leather armor set, the gloves will come in handy later. Finally, return to the Cardinal Tower bonfire and use the soldier’s key to unlock the door past the explosive barrels.

22. Through the door past the explosive barrels you will encounter the second boss: The Pursuer. You can cheese him by baiting him in front of one of the ballistae, then shooting him twice with it. He’ll drop the ring of blades, which you should equip alongside your other three rings. Now head onward past the boss room and you’ll see you can jump down to the right onto a broken stone slab. Here there’s a corpse you can loot for the Drangleic mail and Drangleic leggings, which are both a big upgrade over your current armor. The Drangleic gauntlets are unfortunately too heavy to wear for now. Finally, make your way back to where you jumped off the ledge and you’ll find a crow’s nest. Interact with it to be transported to the Lost Bastille and the Tower Apart bonfire.

23. Grab the dull ember from one of the chests beside you, head out the door, and take an immediate right following the ledge of a building. At the end of the ledge is a large titanite shard. Jump down and loot the covetous silver serpent ring and a fragrant branch of yore from a chest. Beware, the Pursuer will spawn behind you, but will disappear if you leave the immediate area. Swap your blue seal out for the covetous silver serpent ring.

24. Continue along the path, through a barricaded door, and talk to Lucatiel of Mirrah. Exit the side door, then turn around and walk up the stone parapet and up a ladder to reach the second floor of Lucatiel’s building where you can loot a large titanite shard.

25. Now run down the path past a Gaoler, and push the explosive barrel right behind the second Gaoler down the stairs. This will explode the wall at the base of the stairs revealing the McDuff’s Workshop bonfire. Next to the bonfire is the door to blacksmith McDuff’s workshop. Light your torch at the bonfire and use it to light the brazier in McDuff’s workshop. Now loot two large titanite shards from McDuff’s chests. Rest at the bonfire so McDuff gets off the last chest, then purchase a large titanite shard from him for 2500 souls. Now have McDuff upgrade your rapier to +6. Lastly, run back up the stairs to where you met Lucatiel and grab the antiquated key she left in the chest. Now you can warp back to Majula.

26. Leave Majula heading towards Things Betwixt and enter the tunnel to the Shaded Woods where you met Benhardt of Jugo. Use your fragrant branch of yore to unpetrify Rosabeth of Melfia. You need to give her a set of clothes for her to come to Majula. You can give her the imported set if you don’t want to part with anything valuable, or wait until you can give her something more stylish. Now talk to Benhart of Jugo so he knows the path is open.

27. Slay the two enemies hiding behind nearby doors, then pull the lever Rosabeth was blocking. This will cause several more enemies to ambush you. Dispatch them quickly, so when the gate finally opens you can focus on defeating the basilisk behind it. Past the gate, open the door on your left to find the Old Akelarre bonfire. The opposite door contains an estus shard. Take it to the Emerald Herald to upgrade your estus flask before continuing on.

28. At the end of the path you will find the ruined fork road bonfire sitting in front of a three-way fork in the path. The right-hand path takes you to the rest of the Shaded Woods. It’s difficult to see in this misty zone, and you will be stalked by practically invisible enemies. Enemies in the Shaded Woods are a bit over your level, but you can run through without fighting them. Hug the left wall until you climb a hill and come across the head of Vengarl of Forossa in a small clearing. Learn his gesture and talk to him several times and he will reward you with the helm of Vengarl. Put this on, this stylish helmet boasts high defense, and passively increases your vitality by two.

29. Starting again from the entrance to the misty area, if you instead hug the right wall you will find a chest containing the old sun ring, past it is a second chest you can loot the chloranthy ring +1 from. Swap this out for your base level ring.

30. Past the second chest is a hill leading to the Shaded Ruins where you’ll enter a long stone bridge. Turn around, and behind a ramp you can find the Shaded Ruins bonfire. If you jump out a window facing the direction you came from, you can reach a building where a Syan Knight guards a chest containing sublime bone dust. Burn it at Majula’s bonfire to increase the healing power of your estus flask.

31. At the end of the bridge, circle around and jump to the top floor of the bridge to find a chest containing a titanite chunk. Take this back to Majula and have blacksmith Leningrast upgrade your rapier to +7.

32. Warp to the cardinal tower bonfire and purchase a fragrant branch of yore from merchant hag Melentia for 12,000 souls. Talk to her several times and she’ll give you the covetous silver serpent ring +1. Swap it out for the base level version you’re wearing. Exhaust the rest of her dialogue and she’ll move to Majula.

33. Heading right from the end of the bridge, you can spot breakable boards covering a hole in the ground where weaponsmith Ornifex is locked up. Step on the boards to fall through them into the cave below, and beware of basilisks. Exit the cave onto a ledge where you’ll spot a petrified lion warrior. Use the fragrant branch of yore to unpetrify the lion warrior and kill it to get the fang key. Use this key to rescue weaponsmith Ornifex. Exhaust her dialogue and grab a fragrant branch of yore from her cell.

34. Above the ledge where the petrified lion warrior was, past the hole you fell down into Ornifex’s cave, are two towers guarding the road to the fog wall, you can loot a skeptic’s spice from one of the towers. In front of one of the towers is another hole in the ground you can drop down and talk to Darkdiver Grandahl.

35. Return to the bonfire and head left from the end of the stone bridge until you see a small building. Exit out the building’s basement door to find friendly NPC Manscorpion Tark’s area. The crystal lizard hiding here drops a boltstone that you need. The way forward is blocked by a petrified lion warrior. Unpetrify him with your fragrant branch of yore, past him is Vengarl’s body.

36. Vengarl’s body is a very strong enemy, however the rapier’s heavy attack is guaranteed to stagger him. Spam heavy attacks until he’s defeated. He drops the rest of Vengarl’s armor set. Equip Vengarl’s armor and Vengarl’s boots, but not his gloves. Instead you’ll need to equip the leather gloves in order to not be overweight. Finally, warp to McDuff’s workshop and have him infuse your rapier with lightning, which requires a boltstone. This should increase your damage against all but the most lightning-resistant foes.

37. Head through the stone rotunda next to Majula’s manor to reach Heide’s Tower of Flame and the Heide’s Ruin bonfire. This zone is inhabited by large old knights, and smaller Heide knights. Defeat the third old knight you come across to spawn a lever you can pull. Defeating the greatsword-wielding knight in the large room up ahead will spawn a second lever. Once both are pulled take the right exit from the large room and defeat the Heide knight guarding a chest. The chest contains the ring of binding. Swap the life ring for the ring of binding unless you’re a pro and never die.

38. Past this chest is a fog wall, enter it and defeat the Dragonrider. It’s a simple fight, just stay behind him. On the top floor of the bossroom you’ll find the Tower of Flame bonfire and Licia of Lindeldt. Exhaust her dialogue and she’ll move to the stone rotunda in Majula.

39. Past the Tower of Flame is the path to No Man’s Wharf. Along this path you can find a metal chest guarded by a Syan Knight that contains a sublime bone dust. Burn this at Majula’s bonfire to increase the healing capacity of your estus flask. Toward the end of the path is a petrified enemy blocking a doorway. After picking up a fragrant branch of yore in the next guide section, you should return here and unpetrify him. Past him is a chest containing an estus shard. After lighting the Unseen Path to Heide bonfire, travel back to Majula.

40. Purchase the silvercat ring from Sweet Shalquoir for 13,400 souls. This enables you to jump down the pit in the middle of Majula onto several wooden beams and reach the Gutter. You equip the silvercat ring in place of the covetous silver serpent ring +1, just remember to swap back once you reach the Gutter. Remember to drink from your estus flask after taking fall damage. The first doorway you’ll see leads to the Grave of Saints and the Harval’s Resting Place bonfire, but you cannot reach the gutter from there. Your goal is the lower, harder to reach door that leads to the Gutter. You must start from the top in Majula to reach it.

41. Enter the doorway to the Gutter and you’ll find a rope bridge with a crystal lizard on it. Drop down and run to the left, then defeat the Syan Soldier guarding a metal chest. The chest contains sublime bone dust. The opposite path to the right leads to the upper gutter bonfire. This path is guarded by mummies that explode if you don’t kill them fast enough. Running away also works. Climb down a wooden structure until you reach the Upper Gutter bonfire.

42. The gutter is a higher level zone like the shaded woods. It’s also quite a maze, so consider consulting the wiki I link at the end of this guide to help navigate it. Run through the gutter with your torch, lightning sconces as you go. Across two rope bridges is a building you can descend to find a fragrant branch of yore on a corpse sitting on a plank. Don’t forget to use this branch in the area past the Tower of Flame bonfire like I mentioned before. Back up top, across a third rope bridge is a small tower with a ladder. Near the base of the ladder is a small outcrop you can walk off of onto a hidden platform below. A nearby jar contains a titanite chunk. Continue down to find an estus shard on a corpse.

43. Eventually you’ll jump to a building with a fog wall you can enter. There’s a spot in the wall on the other side of the building that’s breakable and will reveal the Central Gutter bonfire. There are several ladders leading below the floor of the building, most of them are safe. At the bottom of the gutter are breakable jars hiding the entrance to Black Gulch. Once you drop into Black Gulch you can pick up another fragrant branch of yore before the Black Gulch Mouth bonfire.

44. In Black Gulch, darksuckers hide in pools of oil and will try to ambush you. This area is dangerous, as every statue can spit poison at you. Darksuckers have a 5% base chance to drop titanite chunks and can be farmed for the last four titanite chunks you need. Once that’s done, head back to Majula and upgrade your rapier to +10. You will find more titanite chunks later on if you don’t feel like farming, but a higher level weapon makes everything easier.

45. Head back to Things Betwixt and use a fragrant branch of yore to unpetrify the hollow blocking the third fog wall. Here you can loot an estus shard from the bottom of a pit. A lot of basilisks inhabit this area, and you can farm them to get another boltstone if you don’t feel like buying one later.

46. If you return to the cardinal tower bonfire in the Forest of Fallen Giants, there’s another thing you can use the silvercat ring for. Next to the lift down to the Last Giant’s boss room, you can jump down into the pit full of salamanders. Down a tunnel into a cave you can pick up the heavy iron key off a skeleton. It’s not imperative you do this now though, you can wait until you have more health.

47. Talk to Licia of Lindelt in Majula’s stone rotunda and pay her 2000 souls to rotate the rotunda. This will reveal the path to Huntsman’s Copse and the Undead Refuge bonfire. Near the bonfire you’ll spot Felkin the outcast. You need 8 intelligence and faith for him to sell you spells. I’ll remind you later in the guide, when you should have the necessary stats, to purchase dark weapon from him for 2700 souls. Moving on, you’ll find the Bridge Approach bonfire just past the first big building, in a cavity at the base of the broken bridge. From the bonfire, cross a footbridge and walk up the hill curving around to the right. You can walk off the ledge onto the top of a round, metal building with a hole in the top. Inside this building is a chest containing sublime bone dust.

48. Back to the top of the hill, pull a lever to lower the metal bridge, ignore the cave and locked building for now and instead cross the small bridge and follow the path along the cliffside. Up a path leading to the left you can loot the undead lockaway key, but beware of an invading NPC. Continue along the cliffside and enter the cave from the back. There is a metal gate you can open from this side with a lever. Loot the corpse near the gate for an estus shard, and a nearby crystal lizard drops a titanite chunk if you still need those.

49. Now return to the locked building in front of the cave and use the undead lockaway key to open it and gain access to the Undead Lockaway bonfire. Talk to Creighton the Wanderer who was trapped in here and exhaust his dialogue. Warp back to the shaded ruins and talk to Creighton again atop the right-most tower just before the big fog wall.

50. You should be plenty overgeared to demolish this zone. Head up the stairs, and in a building on the left you’ll find Lucatiel of Mirrah who you can talk to again. Right from the stairs you’ll find a clearing guarded by dogs. Use a pharros’ lockstone in the pharros’ contraption here to illuminate the whole wharf.

51. Up more stairs is a cliff inhabited by several darkdwellers, which leads to a couple buildings overlooking the wharf. The building with a hole in the wall contains a suspicious door. Approaching the door will prompt a darkdweller to bust it down, revealing the other room. Through here is a metal chest containing the greatsword, and a booby-trapped wooden chest.

52. Up a set of stairs is a platform with a lever that will summon the ship containing the area boss. Drop down from here and you’ll find a building containing a fragrant branch of yore. Toward the end of the area is a small building where you can find Lonesome Galvan the merchant.

53. From here you can access the pier where the ship is moored, and can also lower a bridge creating a shortcut to the bonfire. Carhillion of the Fold is sitting on a nearby dock, but you need 8 intelligence to talk to him, so you can ignore him for now. Use a human effigy to reverse your hollowing, this will reveal summon signs to you. Find Lucatiel of Mirrah’s summon sign on the pier and summon her phantom. If you defeat three bosses while Lucatiel’s phantom is alive she will reward you with her gear later. If she dies you can use a homeward bone to try again. Now head to the end of the far pier, board the ship, and defeat the Flexile Sentry. Past the boss room you can use the ship’s navigational contraption to sail the ship to the Lost Bastille.

54. Take the lift up then spot the Exile Holding Cells bonfire in an open jail cell. Deeper into the bastille and down a ladder is a courtyard where the Pursuer will invade you again. Before he gets you, run to the left, grab an estus shard from a chest, then pull the lever next to the metal gate to open it, creating a shortcut to McDuff’s workshop.

55. From McDuff’s workshop, walk up the stairs, and use a fragrant branch of yore to unpetrify the royal swordsman blocking the door. Past this door you’ll encounter the Ruin Sentinels boss fight. It pays to be aggressive here. The Ruin Sentinels don’t all spawn at once and you don’t want to be outnumbered.

56. After dispatching the three sentinels, search their boss room for four different illusory walls hiding loot, then exit the one non-illusory door taking you to the Servant’s Quarters bonfire. Here you’ll find a door leading out to the Bastille wall. Turn left and pick up the Bastille key from a corpse overhanging a broken section of the wall. Now return to the Servant’s Quarters and take the ladder down to the lower floor. Repel the Pursuer who will invade you, and use a pharros’ lockstone to open the way to Belfry Luna. Near the Pursuer you can loot the priest’s chime, which you’ll need later.

57. Upon entering the Belfry Luna you’ll encounter the Bell Keepers covenant leader. Run up to the top of the Belfry Luna, picking up three skeptic’s spices along the way, you will need eleven of these eventually. At the top of the belfry, ring the bell to unlock the Belfry Gargoyles optional boss you can kill for some extra souls. Similar to the Ruin Sentinels, try to be aggressive here.

58. Now return to McDuff’s workshop and either defeat or run past the Pursuer. He guards a doorway room inhabited by explosive mummies. Use the antiquated key you got from Lucatiel’s chest to open the locked door at the far end of the room which leads to a small courtyard. Run past the well, and climb the ladder leading to the window of a large building. Past a pharros’ contraption is a cage lift. Ride up the lift into a room full of explosive mummies and suspicious pottery. You can loot a skeptic’s spice in this area. You’ll see a large gate with a lever to open it. This gate leads to Sinner’s Rise.

59. Up the stairs from the gate is a statue blocking the Straid’s Cell bonfire. Remember the location as you’ll have to come back here later to unpetrify him. Now cross the bridge to Sinner’s Rise. Enter the fog gate, then climb up a ladder to reach the Saltfort bonfire.

60. Ride the lift down and use the Bastille key to unlock all of the locked doors. At the end of the zone you can now use your torch to set the oil alight on either side of the fog wall. This will enable you to lock onto the boss, which is important considering the rapier’s small hitbox. Consume a human effigy and Lucatiel’s summon sign will appear at the base of the lift. With the oil lit and Lucatiel at your side you’re ready to take on the Lost Sinner. Remember if you want Lucatiel’s gear later you need to reset the bossfight with a homeward bone if she dies. Once you beat the Lost Sinner, you can loot a fragrant branch of yore from a chest she guards and light the primal bonfire.

61. From the Saltfort bonfire, head back across the bridge to the Lost Bastille and up the stairs. Use the fragrant branch of yore to unpetrify Straid of Olaphis and unlock the Straid’s Cell bonfire. He will craft boss weapons for you if you have three or higher intelligence. No point now as you haven’t killed many bosses yet. Hang on to your boss souls until you know what to make with them, most souls can be transmuted into two different things you have to choose between. Because these items are hard to come by, boss souls aren’t worth consuming for souls.

62. If you haven’t already unlocked it, jump down the pit in Majula again but this time enter the first doorway leading to the Harval’s Resting Place bonfire. Run to the end of this small area and defeat the Royal Rat Vanguard optional boss. Past the boss room you’ll encounter the Rat King, leader of the Rat King covenant which you can join.

63. Warp to the Heide’s ruin bonfire. Instead of taking the right-hand path out of the large room leading to the Dragonrider you fought, go left and fight your way past all of the knights and defeat the Hellkite Dragon. Upon felling the dragon, a lever will appear that lowers the drawbridge, granting you access to the fog wall. Enter it and defeat the Old Dragonslayer. Against aggressive bosses it’s usually better to play cautiously. Past the boss room is Blue Sentinel Targray, who leads the Blue Sentinels covenant, and the Blue Cathedral bonfire. Targray sells boltstones for 7000 souls each, but you'll need to grab the token of fidelity in Huntsman's Copse for him to talk to you.

64. Return to Majula and purchase the ring of whispers from Sweet Shalquoir for 5800 souls. Warp to the Shaded Woods and run over to Manscorpion Tark. Equip the ring of whispers and exhaust his dialogue. Unequip the ring and head over to the zone’s fog wall. Optionally, consume a human effigy if you are hollowed, and you should see Tark’s summon sign on the ground. Summon him and enter the fog wall. Defeat Scorpioness Najka. Talk to Tark again with the ring of whispers equipped to receive a fragrant branch of yore. Now return to Najka’s boss room and make your way to the Doors of Pharros.

65. In a small cave past a Mastodon Warrior you’ll find the Gyrm’s Respite bonfire. Past it is a large room guarded by another Mastodon Warrior. There is a Pharros’ contraption on the ground next to him. Activating it with a Pharros’ lockstone will open the bottom of the stone door in the wall. This is enough room to squeeze through and fight another mastodon warrior who guards a chest, no need to waste lockstones on the other contraptions. Inside the chest is Santier’s spear, an optional weapon choice.

66. On the other end of the large room is a ladder leading up to a narrow path. Not far along the path is a booby-trapped alcove protecting a chest that contains a titanite chunk. Further along this path is the Ordeal’s End bonfire and the Royal Rat Authority optional boss. I advise bringing some poison moss clumps with you for this fight. The fight is easy if you can dispatch the Royal Rat Authority’s poisonous rat minions and cure yourself of poison before the boss kills you. Return to the Gyrm’s respite bonfire once the boss is slain. Climbing up the staircase will lead you to the next zone: Brightstone Cove Tseldora, and the Royal Army Campsite bonfire.

67. You’ll find yourself in a large field guarded by falconers. There’s a well at the far end of the field you can jump inside. A tunnel will lead you to a building containing a mimic you can fight. If you reverse your hollowing with a human effigy, in a nearby tent you’ll find Benhardt of Jugo’s summon sign.

68. Similar to Lucatiel of Mirrah, if Jugo’s phantom survives three boss fights he’ll give you his gear later on. Head down the road and through the spider cave until you reach a fog wall. Defeat the Prowling Magus and Congregation. Focus on the enemies that can cast spells first in this fight. Leaving the boss room you’ll spot a cave to the right and the Chapel Threshold bonfire inside of it. You can climb a ladder on the outside of the boss room to reach Cromwell the Pardoner’s room. He sells various things, but you’re after the skeptic’s spice you can loot from his room.

69. Head out of the cave with the bonfire and jump off the ledge onto the lower area with a doorway, then run to the right onto a wooden platform. Below the platform is a hollow mage who is probably shooting at you. Drop onto him, dispatch him, and loot an estus shard from the structure beside him. Return to the Chapel Threshold bonfire and you can take the two ziplines down to another cave, drop down, and you’ll find the Lower Brightstone Cove bonfire.

70. Warp back to the Chapel Threshold bonfire once more. After jumping off the first ledge, if you instead go through the doorway, you’ll come outside to another area. Here you can see a long, wooden walkway leading to a large building full of spiders. Inside the building, the lever on the left will reveal a ladder. Climb it and drop down the spider webs until you reach the fog wall. Don’t miss the simpleton’s spice near the fog wall, you’ll need to collect six of these eventually.

71. Enter the fog wall and defeat The Duke’s Dear Freja. Kill its minions first, then you’ll find you can only damage this boss by attacking its two heads. Play cautiously, as the heads are dangerous too. Continue past the boss room where you can dispatch the Duke of Tseldora and steal his fragrant branch of yore, and then light the primal bonfire.

72. Now warp back to the Shaded Woods, and use the ring of whispers to talk to Manscorpion Tark again. He will now give you the second dragon ring. Equip it in place of the ring of binding, and equip the Drangleic gauntlets.

73. Back in everyone’s favorite zone, light a torch at the Black Gulch Mouth bonfire, and just before the first tar pools, drop down to a hidden platform below the ledge where you can talk to Lucatiel of Mirrah. Past the first tar pools is a narrow spot where cragslippers pop out of the wall and try to push you off the cliff. Stand between the two cragslippers and carefully walk off the cliff onto a hidden platform below. You’ll spot a stone door in the cliff face. Facing the door, hug the wall and walk off the right-hand side of the platform onto a narrow ledge below. From this ledge, walk in the opposite direction onto a second platform where there is a cave in the cliffside.

74. Two great giant warriors inhabit this cave and are each formidable foes. Run into the cave to get their attention, then bait them out to the entrance of the cave. They cannot leave the cave, allowing you to employ a hit and run tactic to combat them. Once you defeat the first giant, the second should be easy. Upon defeating both you will receive the forgotten key. There is a lift in the giant’s cave you can use to leave. Now head back to the cragslippers, drop down onto the first ledge, and use the forgotten key to unlock the stone door. Here you can talk to Darkdiver Grandahl again.

75. Make your way back to Majula and decent the pit one last time. Between the doors to the Grave of Saints and the Gutter is a pair of locked stone doors you can unlock with the forgotten key. Inside is the dragon talon, which you need to access the Crown of the Sunken King DLC. There is another locked door near the Upper Gutter bonfire you can open with the forgotten key, but you don’t need any of the loot within.

76. Past the cragslippers, hug the cliff on the right and use a fragrant branch of yore to unlock the Hidden Chamber bonfire. Consume a human effigy and near the bonfire you’ll spot Lucatiel’s summon sign. Now you can enter the fog wall and defeat The Rotten. His arms can be destroyed if you hit them enough, limiting his moveset. Now you can light the primal bonfire.

77. These next two steps are optional, but they offer a permanent damage boost if you’re interested. Return to the primal bonfire and you’ll notice a glowing obelisk you can interact with. This will warp you to the Crown of the Sunken King DLC. You’ll be faced with a huge door you can use the dragon talon to unlock. Past this door is Shulva, Sanctum City, and the Sanctum Walk bonfire. I discuss this area in more detail towards the end of the walkthrough in the Shulva, Sanctum City section. DLC areas are balanced for endgame-level players, so my advice is to run through, climbing down every staircase you can find until you reach a narrow bridge leading to a massive structure. This is the Dragon Sanctum.

78. Make your way through the sanctum, past a circular, revolving, stone door, until you reach a staircase in a narrow, gray, corridor with a high ceiling. There’s a hole in the floor where you can drop down. You’ll fall into a room full of corrosive egg crawlers, fun! There’s a ladder in this room that leads to an iron chest containing Flynn’s ring. This unique ring increases your physical damage by up to 50 if your maximum equipment load is 60 or less. You can swap this out for your ring of blades.

79. From the Bridge Approach bonfire, cross the first footbridge, then make a sharp right and cross a second bridge. Climb the hill past an ambush, until you reach a large rope bridge. You can drop down the right side of the bridge onto a small platform and loot a token of fidelity to show Blue Sentinel Targray. Now cross the rope bridge and enter the Undead Purgatory. Now you must defeat the Executioner’s Chariot. Hide in the inlets in the walls from the chariot and make your way forward until you reach a lever that lowers a gate. The chariot will crash through the gate and you’ll be able to fight it. It’s an easy fight if you stay beside it and not in front. Past the boss is Titchy Gren who leads the Brotherhood of Blood covenant that you can join.

80. Warp to the Undead Lockaway bonfire, pass through the cave, and enter the fog wall. Now it’s time to defeat the Skeleton Lords. You’ll find alluring skulls are useful in this boss fight. Now continue on, across a metal bridge, to Harvest Valley.

81. As you enter Harvest Valley you’ll encounter stone trader Chloanne near the Poison Pool bonfire. Exhaust her dialogue and she’ll move to Majula. In the next area you can loot a fragrant branch of yore in a cave in the first poison pool pit. You can find Galvan in a cave close by. Exhaust his dialogue and he’ll then move to the Doors of Pharros permanently.

82. Halfway through the valley you’ll come to a narrow cave with the Mines bonfire in it. Past this bonfire are several holes you can drop down, here you can loot a simpleton’s spice. There is another simpleton’s spice in a tunnel in the area up ahead, guarded by sickle-wielding undead huntsmen, as well as a skeptic’s spice. The next zone, the Earthen Peak, is a large windmill with a small bridge leading up to it. At the end of the bridge, take the path to the left which leads to a broken statue. You can interact with the statue to join the Heirs of the Sun covenant.

83. Now pass through the entrance of Earthen Peak and talk to Lucatiel of Mirrah at the base of the building to receive the ring of steel protection +1. There’s a small notch near the stairs guarded by a poisoned beetle. Kill it and loot the skeptic's spice behind it. Now enter the fog wall and defeat the Covetous Demon. This is one of the bosses you stand behind and attack until it dies.

84. Past the demon and across a bridge you’ll find the Central Earthen Peak bonfire. Light your torch at the bonfire and set the windmill alight to rid the upcoming boss room of poison. Up the stairs and outside the building you can find Laddersmith Gilligan on a ledge. Purchase a ladder from him for 2000 souls and exhaust his dialogue so he comes to Majula. You can then purchase three ladders from him in Majula that make traversing the pit easier. Near where you met Gilligan you can loot a simpleton’s spice.

85. Back to Earthen Peak, past Gilligan and a booby-trapped floor you should find Mild-Mannered Pate. Next to his room is a ledge you can jump off onto a platform behind Pate’s door. Open the door from that side and talk to Pate again and exhaust his dialogue. Return to Brightstone Cove Tseldora and jump down the ledge from the Chapel Threshold bonfire. Enter the doorway and you’ll see Mild-Mannered Pate fighting with Creighton of Mirrah. Kill one of them and the other will reward you with a key to a locked door in the area just before the wooden walkway. Now return to the Earthen Peak and climb up to the top to find the fog wall.

86. Reverse your hollowing with a human effigy and summon Jester Thomas, his summon sign is next to the fog wall. Now enter it and defeat Baneful Queen Mytha. Thomas will do a lot of the heavy lifting in this fight.

87. Past Mytha’s boss room is a lift that takes you to the Threshold Bridge bonfire. Cross the bridge into the keep and turn right to find the merchant Magerold of Lanafir. He sells a fragrant branch of yore for 7500 souls. Purchase a repair power too for 2500 souls as if you purchase 10,000 souls worth of goods from him he’ll give you the covetous gold serpent’s ring +1, which is important to have later. Magerold offers a unique service where you can spend spice to lower the stat requirements of a spell.

88. In the next open area past Magerold, make a right turn onto an iron bridge, and left to reach a fog wall. Here you must defeat the Smelter Demon. You should play cautiously against this boss. Lucatiel’s summon sign is near the fog wall if she wasn’t alive when you killed one of the other three bosses you can summon her for. After resting at the Ironhearth Hall bonfire, turn around back to the Smelter Demon’s boss room and fight the Pursuer. This time the Pursuer will drop the ring of blades +1. Once you’ve reached soul level 150, or however high you’d like to be, you can then equip this ring in place of the covetous silver serpent’s ring +1.

89. Past the Ironhearth Hall bonfire and across the iron bridge, you’ll find a door on your right with a Pharros’ contraption behind it. Use a Pharros’ lockstone to spawn a ladder here and climb it to reach the Belfry Sol. You can run through, loot this area for its three simpleton’s spices, and ring the bell. The exit returns you to the Iron Keep.

90. If you’ve been following the stats section of this guide and are at level 67 or above, you should have the 10 attunement, 10 intelligence, and 14 faith required to start casting spells. Warp to No Man’s Wharf and talk to Carhillion of the Fold so he moves to Majula. Next, visit Felkin the Outcast next to the Undead Refuge bonfire in Huntsman’s Copse. Purchase the dark weapon hex from him for 2700 souls.

91. Now return to Magerold of Lanafir in Iron Keep and use 6 simpleton’s spice to reduce dark weapon’s intelligence requirement down to 10. Now swap your Drangleic gauntlets for the hard leather gauntlets, and equip the sorcerer’s staff in your offhand. At a bonfire, attune the dark weapon hex. Now, if you use what should be the “N” key to stop two-handing the rapier, you can right-click to buff it with the dark weapon hex, adding 50 dark damage to every attack. Remember to press “N” again after buffing as rapiers are much stronger when two-handed. With only 10 int, dark weapon will last for around 25 seconds, as opposed to 57 if you had 16 int. This is ok as dark weapon can be cast 4 times before resting at a bonfire, and it’s usually reserved for boss fights.

92. Past the pharros’ contraption is a large iron walkway suspended over lava and a lever that reveals a ladder towards the back of the walkway. You can find a simpleton’s spice if you head up the ladder in case you missed one before. There’s a fog wall at the far end of this room leading to a stairway and a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel is a room full of booby traps and spikes. There’s a ladder in this room, and at the top of the ladder is the Eygil’s Idol bonfire and a lever that shuts off all of the flamethrowers in the Iron Keep.

93. Past the now dormant flamethrowers is a door leading outside. Continue on to the fog wall and defeat the Old Iron King. Play cautiously, this boss will give you dps windows, focus on dodging the rest of the time. Once he’s defeated make sure to light the primal bonfire. Now that you have all four old souls, those being the Lost Sinner, the Rotten, the Duke’s Dear Freja, and the Old Iron King, you can return to the Ruined Fork bonfire in the Shaded Woods.

94. Take the left path from the Ruined Fork this time, which leads to the Shrine of Winter. This small building acts like a gate and will open in the presence of the four old souls. Past the shrine is the road to Drangleic Castle. To enter the castle, you will need to kill an enemy near each of the two golem statues. The golems are powered by the souls of the slain and will open the castle door for you. At this point in the guide, the path forward is pretty linear.

95. Enter the castle and talk to Chancellor Wellager on the staircase. After exhausting his dialogue he will become a merchant. Back up to the door and head left past the staircase. Spot a Syan knight blocking a door and defeat it. Loot the chest behind the door for an undead bone shard. Burn it at Majula’s bonfire and your flask should be +5: healing the maximum amount per use. There’s a ladder at the other end of the hallway leading down to the King’s Gate bonfire.

96. Past the bonfire is a room full of petrified soldiers, with three locked doors each on the right and left walls. Walking near some of the soldiers will unpetrify them. Kill one of them near a locked door to open it, similar to how the golems work. When you first enter the room and turn to the right, the rightmost door is the way forward. Past this door you can loot the frozen flower from a corpse. Most of the other doors hide a Ruin Sentinel and some treasure.

97. On the opposite wall open the rightmost door, furthest from the way forward, to reveal a hole in the floor. Drop down to reach the Under Castle Drangleic bonfire and talk to Darkdiver Grandahl for the third time. He will invite you to join the Pilgrims of the Dark covenant and will open the way to the Dark Chasm of Old. Don’t enter the Chasm yet though, instead warp to the Ruined Fork Road bonfire.

98. These next two steps are optional, but will result in you having an even better weapon than the rapier. From here, return to the Shrine of Winter and interact with it to warp to the Crown of the Ivory King DLC. You’ll notice a locked door that opens in the presence of the frozen flower you picked up, revealing Frozen Eleum Loyce, and the Outer Wall bonfire. Swap your covetous silver serpent ring +1 for your covetous gold serpent’s ring +1 you got from Magerold of Lanafir. Past the Outer Wall bonfire is a fork. Left leads to a boss fight, instead go right. The first few enemies here have a chance to drop the ice rapier that they wield. This weapon is a direct upgrade to the rapier in most circumstances. Once the ice rapier drops, swap back to the covetous silver serpent ring +1.

99. Once you find an ice rapier, warp to McDuff’s workshop and have him infuse the ice rapier with lightning. Purchase a boltstone from Blue Sentinel Targray in the Cathedral of Blue if you don’t have a boltstone. Now upgrade the ice rapier to +5 or as high as you can. You need 15 twinkling titanite in order to level it to the maximum +5. If you don’t have enough twinkling titanite yet that’s just fine, keep using the regular rapier for now. You’ll be able to farm as much titanite as you need very soon. Once your ice rapier is +5, equip it in place of your regular rapier to enjoy a sizable damage in range increase.

100. Now return to the King’s Gate bonfire in Drangleic Castle. Past where you looted the frozen flower, climb the staircase that looks over the poison pool. Towards the top you should spot a ladder you can climb down. Near the base of the ladder is an illusory wall hiding the Forgotten Chamber bonfire. Now climb back up the ladder and continue to the throne room where you can talk to Queen Nashandra. Past Nashandra is a fog wall, enter it and defeat the Dragonrider Duo. The second Dragonrider with a bow has much less health than the main one.

101. Past the boss room is the Central Castle Drangleic bonfire where you can talk to Benhart of Jugo. Further down the corridor is a tall ladder leading to a room with a golem. The next room contains two metal chests and two assassins defending them. Kite the assassins back to the golem and kill them in order to activate it. Now head past the metal chests into the large cathedral. You’ll have to defeat another Executioner’s Chariot before you can leave out the cathedral’s main doors. Walk down the stairs and open the wooden door. Inside this small building is a chest guarded by two desert pyromancers. Defeat them both and loot an estus shard from the chest. You should now have the maximum 12 estus flask charges.

102. Return to the base of the tall ladder and take the now activated lift up to Milfaneto. Loot the key to King’s Passage from one of the chests in her room and use it to open the locked door at the base of the lift. Head through that door, and if you reverse your hollowing with a human effigy, you’ll spot Benhardt of Jugo’s summon sign next to a fog wall. Now enter the fog wall and defeat the Looking Glass Knight. Strafe around the knight’s right side so he doesn’t block your attacks. You want to be aggressive and kill the knight quickly. With the knight out of the way you can take the lift down to the Shrine of Amana and the Tower of Prayer bonfire.

103. Near the bonfire is a short path covered in breakable tree branches where you can loot a twinkling titanite and a skeptic’s spice. Step out into the shrine and you’ll see a path leading to a small hut. Talk to the Mifanito in the hut and pick up another skeptic’s spice next to her. Continue down the path, through a cave to find the Crumbled Ruins bonfire in a ruined building.

104. The Archdrake Pilgrims and Amana Priestesses in this area can all drop twinkling titanite. By the time you clear this zone, if you don’t have enough already, farm twinkling titanite from them until you have the 15 needed to fully upgrade your ice rapier to +5 so you can finally equip it, and then farm the 36 needed to upgrade your Vengarl’s armor, Vengarl’s helmet, and Vengarl’s leggings to, and Drangleic gauntlets +5. Remember to equip the covetous gold serpent’s ring +1 in place of the covetous silver serpent’s ring +1 until you’re done farming. If you don’t feel like farming much, it’s fine to leave the armor at +4 for now.

105. The path continues past the bonfire and you’ll notice a bridge on your left guarded by a dragonrider. Remember this spot as you’ll need to return here much later. Opposite the bridge is a narrow platform obscured by water and guarded by an ogre. At the end of this path is an estus flask shard in case you missed one, and a chest containing the sunlight blade miracle. If you return to the main path and follow it to another small hut, off the path to the right of the hut is a chest containing the fire tempest pyromancy, similarly obscured by water. Past the hut, the main path leads to another cave, this time containing the Rhoy’s resting place bonfire. Past the bonfire is a circular area where you can loot one last skeptic’s spice in the water.

106. If your faith is at least level 25, warp to Magerold of Lanafir in Iron Keep and use 11 skeptic’s spice to lower the faith requirement of the sunlight blade miracle from 36 down to 25. You’ll need to equip the priest’s chime in place of the sorcerer’s staff in order to cast it, which will free up enough equip load to equip the Drangleic gauntlets. Sunlight blade is a better damage buff than dark weapon, as each type of damage is reduced by an enemy’s defenses separately, and you already deal lightning damage anyway. The downside of sunlight blade is it can only be cast once as opposed to four times. Feel free to swap between them based on your needs.

107. This next part of the shrine is heavily guarded, but is also a short distance from a fog wall. Here you must enter the fog wall and defeat the Demon of Song. You can only damage the demon’s face, use the time when its face is covered to heal. Defeating the demon will open the path to the lift that takes you to the Undead Crypt, and the Rise of the Dead bonfire in the tower next to the lift.

108. The Demon of Song also drops the key to the embedded when killed. Return to the Central Castle Drangleic bonfire and take the lift up to Milfanito. Use the key to the embedded to rescue her from her cage. You can go back and talk to the Milfanito in the hut past the Tower of Prayer bonfire if you want a divine blessing, and the Milfanito past the Rise of the Dead bonfire will give you a fire seed. Now take the nearby lift to the Undead Crypt Entrance bonfire.

109. Don’t light a torch in this area or Grave Warden Agdayne will become hostile. Before crossing the bridge, jump down to the left and climb a ladder. At the top is a chest containing the crushed eye orb. You can use this to invade Licia of Lindelt in Majula’s stone rotunda.

110. Across the bridge, through the doorway is a room full of gravestones. To the left you can find the Undead Ditch bonfire in the corner of the room. Through the doorway at the other end of this room is the path to the end of the crypt, where you can find a lever that creates a shortcut to the boss. In one room, several tombstones will spawn Leydia Pyromancers until the tombstone is destroyed. Don’t let them outnumber you too much.

111. From the Undead Ditch bonfire, you can now access the massive room leading to a fog wall. Below the stairs in the front of this room three hollows are waiting to ring the alarm bell. Kill them without hitting the bell. Now if you can defeat the rest of the enemies in this room you can safely loot all of the chests. Once you’re ready, enter the fog wall and defeat Velstadt, the Royal Aegis. Play cautiously against him, at half health he will buff himself and become much more dangerous. Velstadt is extremely resistant to dark damage, so you should use sunlight blade against him if you haven’t been using it already. Past him you’ll find King Vendrick and acquire the King’s ring in the back of Vendrick’s room.

112. Now warp to the Straid’s Cell bonfire in the Lost Bastille and purchase a second copy of the sunlight blade miracle from Straid of Olaphis for 12,400 souls. With 13 attunement you can attune both copies of this spell, letting you cast it twice before resting at a bonfire. For 3000 souls he’ll transmute the Soul of Velstadt into the sacred oath miracle. This spell increases your weapon’s physical damage by 50 points, and your physical defenses by 75 points, and lasts around 65 seconds. Frustratingly, this spell requires 4 whole spell slots to attune, so you won’t realistically be able to use it until you have 30 attunement.

113. Head back to the Ruined Fork bonfire in the Shaded Woods one last time and take the center path. Equip the king’s ring to open the gate to Aldia’s Keep. Next to the Foregarden bonfire you should find Lucatiel of Mirrah if you kept her alive in three different boss fights. On the ground floor of the keep you’ll come across royal sorcerer Navlaan trapped behind a barrier. Don’t pull the lever to release him if you want to complete his questline. You can buy items from him if you reverse your hollowing with a human effigy. Otherwise ignore Navlaan for now, you need to be further through the game to complete his questline which I’ll explain then.

114. As you climb the stairs you’ll notice a petrified ogre blocking your way. You don’t need to waste a fragrant branch of yore as the path on the left will bypass the ogre. At the top of the stairs, pull the lever on the dragon statue to reach the last section of the keep. Enter the first door on the left, where an illusory wall in the stairwell hides the Ritual Site bonfire. To unlock the doors on the right side of the main hallway, you can receive Aldia’s key by lighting all four sconces in the keep and returning to the dragon skeleton at the base of the stairs.

115. Keep moving forward, even if it looks like the path is blocked. Walls are merely a suggestion for an ogre. To escape the keep you must defeat the Guardian Dragon. This fight can be annoying for melee builds, just be patient. With the dragon gone, ride the lift up to the Dragon’s Aerie bonfire.

116. Talk to the Emerald Herald at the Aerie’s entrance to receive the aged feather: essentially a homeward bone with infinite uses. This is convenient to have on your item wheel with your estus flask.

117. The nearby zipline lets you skip the area. It takes you to an unstable rope bridge that leads to the dragon shrine and the Shrine Entrance bonfire. If you stay and explore the Aerie, several crystal lizards and the first of the three Hellkite Wyverns in this area drop twinkling titanite if you still need some.

118. The Dragon Shrine is inhabited by massive Drakekeepers, and smaller Dragon Knights. The dragon knights will turn hostile if you flee from a battle with a Drakekeeper. Past the Shrine Entrance bonfire are several staircases that eventually lead to a small door guarded by a greatsword-wielding Drakekeeper. Instead of going through the door, turn around and jump from the stairs onto a lower courtyard. Pass through a double door guarded by another Drakekeeper and climb the spiral staircase to a large room. The third dragon ring can be looted from a chest in this room. Equip it in place of your second dragon ring. Just past the chest is a petrified dragon egg you can loot. Show it to Magerold of Lanafir in Iron Keep if you want to join the dragon remnants covenant.

119. Return to the small door guarded by the greatsword-wielding Drakekeeper. Through it is a massive staircase that leads to a fog wall. This area is very dangerous if the Dragon Knights are hostile. Enter the fog wall and talk to the Ancient Dragon to receive the ashen mist heart.

120. Return to the Cardinal Tower bonfire in the Forest of Fallen Giants. With the ashen mist heart you can enter the memories of three giant corpses found in this area. There are a lot of high-level consumable souls to be found in these memories. The memory of Vammar can be accessed from the corpse near where you first met Mild-Mannered Pate. Hollow soldiers are attacking it. Inside the memory, talk to Captain Drummond, then run all the way to the end of the map and up a staircase where a great giant warrior is guarding a giant’s corpse. Interacting with the corpse will net you a giant’s soul.

121. The memory of Orro can be accessed from the giant corpse past the Pursuer’s boss room, near the crow’s nest that took you to the Lost Bastille. Talk to Benhart of Jugo near the corpse before entering the memory, and again after you enter the memory. Similar to the first memory, a giant’s corpse can be found at the end of the map here.

122. The memory of Jeigh is below the Cardinal tower bonfire, behind a door you need to the king’s ring to unlock. Equip the ring and the door will open revealing the Place Unbeknownst bonfire, and the last giant corpse. Enter the memory and reverse your hollowing with a human effigy. You should see Benhardt of Jugo’s summon sign on the ground. Dodge the fireballs as you run through the area, then defeat the Giant Lord and acquire the giant’s kinship. Like most giants I recommend staying behind him during the fight. Just past the Giant Lord is a corpse you can get a giant’s soul from. After defeating the Giant Lord you can return to the memory of Vammar and talk to Captain Drummond to receive the Drangleic helm.

123. Return to the Shaded Woods and talk to Darkdiver Grandahl to enter the Dark Chasm of Old. Your goal in this zone is to use a flame butterfly to light the large sconce partway through the map, and defeat all of the enemies to despawn the fog wall at the end of the zone. The fog wall blocks the hole in the ground that serves as the exit. Each attempt after the first costs a human effigy.

124. Talk to Darkdiver Grandahl in Black Gulch and enter the Dark Chasm of Old again. Each location corresponds to a different region of the Chasm. After clearing this region of the chasm, head to the under Castle Drangleic bonfire and clear the third region. After you do this you will be transported to the Darklurker’s boss arena. Defeat the Darklurker, then talk to Darkdiver Grandahl, who will reward you. This boss is aggressive, so it pays to be aggressive back.

125. Return to the Dragon Shrine and defeat the Ancient Dragon to get another soul of a giant. Focus on attacking the dragon’s back legs. When it flies into the air to breathe fire, run towards its tail. Never exhaust your stamina bar all the way, as you won’t be able to sprint until it refills completely.

126. Return to the Undead Crypt and put King Vendrick to rest now that his health is permanently reduced by the giant souls in your inventory. Now make sure you are in human form and travel back to the Shrine of Amana. Past the bridge guarded by the dragonrider is a door you can now open. Inside you can loot the King’s soul, King’s armor set, and the King’s crown.

127. With the giant’s kinship and the king’s ring you are qualified to enter the sealed door next to the King’s Gate bonfire in Drangleic Castle. Enter it and defeat the Throne Watcher and Defender. Use the aged feather if you’re not ready to immediately take on another boss. If you return to the manor in Majula, Cale the cartographer will award you with his armor set.

128. If you head back to the Throne of Want you’ll have to defeat Nashandra. The ring of binding may be useful in this fight, as she will continuously curse you, lowering your maximum health.

129. As soon as you defeat Nashandra you’ll meet Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin. This fight’s easy, if there’s fire under him stay away. When there’s no fire, attack him. Enjoy the several minutes of unskippable credits when you win. That’s the end of the base game, but there are three DLC areas to explore, so don’t start journey 2 yet. You can access the DLC much earlier in your playthrough than this, but they are all endgame content, and no DLC items are necessary for this build, so I put them last in this guide.

130. Remember your friend Navlaan back in Aldia’s Keep? It’s finally time to complete his questline. Talk to Navlaan while hollowed and he’ll request you assassinate four different NPCs and bring him proof. Instead, you can trick him and acquire all four required items without killing important NPCs. Laddersmith Gilligan is first on his list, but all you need to do is purchase the ladder miniature from him for 8000 souls and bring it to Navlaan. Next he’s after Cale the cartographer and wants to see Cale’s helmet, which you should have after defeating the Throne Watcher and Defender.

131. Felkin the outcast is next. You know, the rude guy next to the Undead Refuge bonfire in the Huntsman’s Copse? Nalvaan wants to see his staff, but Felkin will happily give you the sunset staff if you have 20 intelligence and 20 faith. If you have two soul vessels, you can talk to the Firekeeper in Things Betwixt and reallocate your stats so you meet the int and faith requirements. This will also let you purchase Felkin’s spells. Once you have his spells and staff, make sure to allocate your points back the way they were. Once you show Nalvaan Falkin’s staff, he’ll ask to see the aged feather, which the Emerald Herald should have given you in the Dragon Aerie. Now that you have completed his questline he’ll give you the chaos armor set, and you can now only access Nalvaan’s shop while hollowed.

132. To enter the Crown of the Ivory King DLC, if you haven’t already, head to the Shrine of Winter, down the center path from the Ruined Fork Road bonfire in the Shaded Woods. Interact with its obelisk to warp to a sealed room, then use the frozen flower you picked up in Drangleic Castle to open the door to Frozen Eleum Loyce and the Outer Wall bonfire. This area is huge and you may want to consult the wiki linked at the end of this guide to help navigate it.

133. When you enter Eleum Loyce, there are two paths, left to the boss room, or right to the rest of the zone. Head right and explore first, there’s an item you need to make the boss fight easier. The map starts out pretty linear, since many side paths are blocked by walls of ice. You’ll descend a large staircase and pass through a frozen village. Up a small staircase and through a building you’ll eventually come to a three-way fork, with a path ahead of you and two open doors on either side. The path ahead leads to an icy area with four sconces you can’t light yet in front of a sealed door, while past the open door to the right is a broken floor you can jump through to reach the Abandoned Dwelling bonfire.

134. You unfortunately cannot backtrack from this bonfire. You can head forward up a hill and through a series of stone walkways. You will eventually come to a lone, lit structure, and can pick up the eye of the priestess from the skeleton laying on the altar. Having the eye in your inventory makes invisible enemies visible, including in areas outside of the DLC like the Shaded Woods. Eventually the path will bring you back to the boss room. Keep going forward and you’ll find the Inner Wall bonfire. I recommend clearing the rest of this area now, but know you’ll have to come back later as well.

135. Warp back to the Outer Wall bonfire and enter the fog wall to defeat Aava, the King’s Pet. If you continue past the boss room you’ll be granted an audience with Alsanna, the silent oracle, who will remove the walls of ice that previously blocked your path.

136. You can take on the next boss now, but it’s easier if you loop back through the City and rescue the three knights of Eleum Loyce who will fight alongside you during the boss fight. Warp to the Outer Wall bonfire, head down to the frozen village, and next to the large bridge a lift down to the Lower Garrison bonfire. Past the bonfire you’ll find a lift leading up to a knight of Eleum Loyce you can rescue.

137. Past the Abandoned Dwelling bonfire is a staircase that used to be frozen over that leads to an area with several balconies where you can loot a priest’s chime +8. You can upgrade this to +10 and infuse it with lightning if you want, it doesn’t affect buff spells like sunlight blade but will make offensive spells deal decent damage. At the end of this area is a second knight of Eleum Loyce you can rescue. The third knight is past the Inner Wall bonfire, near the group of three golems.

138. With your knights by your side, leap into the old chaos and put the Ivory King to rest. When the fight starts, charred Loyce knights will spawn from three mirrors and attack you. Defeat them as they spawn and your knights will sacrifice themselves to destroy the mirrors. Be quick about it, you don’t want to be outnumbered when the Ivory King arrives. Once the Ivory king is defeated don’t forget to recover his crown off the floor.

139. From the Outer Wall bonfire, return to the icy area with four sconces in front of a sealed door just before the Abandoned Dwelling bonfire. Now that Alsanna has calmed the winds blowing through Eleum Loyce, you can use a flame butterfly to light the four torches and unlock the door. Through the door, watch out for two flexile sentries and pick up the garrison ward key at the end of the cave. You can also loot the unique bone fist weapon here. From the Abandoned Dwelling bonfire, you can reach the door to the Expulsion Chamber bonfire that you need the garrison ward key to unlock.

140. Next to the bonfire is a coffin you can ride to the frigid outskirts zone. In this zone the winds will periodically die down for a few seconds allowing you to see. You can spot a building in the distance, and past it two more buildings. Past the third building is a bridge made of ice leading to a fog wall. Here you can fight Lud and Zallen, the King’s pets. These two are aggressive. Consuming green blossoms that increase your stamina regeneration will give enough stamina to land attacks whilst dodging frequently.

141. To enter the Crown of the Sunken King DLC, if you haven’t already, head to the Rotten’s boss room in Black Gulch and interact with the obelisk next to the primal bonfire to warp to a sealed room. Use the dragon talon you picked up from the chest in Majula’s pit to open the door to Shulva, Sanctum City, and the Sanctum Walk bonfire.

142. Many structures in the city can be moved by attacking the corresponding obelisk. You must abuse this system if you want to loot all of the city’s treasure. Towards the far end of the city are several movable towers in a line. Activate their corresponding obelisks so they create a path to the Tower of Prayer bonfire. Some of the obelisks can only be activated with a bow or spell. From the bonfire you can see the staircase and bridge leading to the Dragon’s Sanctum.

143. Inside the sanctum, doors can be opened or rotated by attacking the corresponding stone button, similar to the obelisks. A bow will come in handy here. In the first room of the sanctum you’ll encounter spectral sanctum knight enemies you can’t damage. Their physical bodies are nearby and destroying them will make their specters damageable. You’ll come across a room with three of these enemies where you can pick up the eternal sanctum key.

144. In another room with spikes on the floor you can loot the dragon stone from a chest. Head down the stairs from this room and turn around, you should spot a button on the wall you can shoot with a bow. This opens a stone door right above you and reveals the Hidden Sanctum bonfire.

145. Descending the stairs all the way down you’ll find the Lair of the Imperfect bonfire. At the end of this area you can use the dragon stone to unlock the path to Dragon’s Rest and the Sanctum Interior bonfire. At the bottom of Dragon’s Rest you’ll have to fight Elana, the squalid queen. This fight’s easy if you play aggressively and kill her before she can summon too many minions.

146. With Elana dead, the door behind her will open revealing the final boss room. This is where you fight Sinh, the slumbering dragon. Like all dragon fights, stay behind it and pay attention to what it’s doing whilst airborne. With the dragon slain, recover the crown of the sunken king.

147. Return to the entrance to the Dragon Sanctum and use the eternal sanctum key to reach the top of the Priestess’ Chamber bonfire. Here you’ll see a path which leads to the Cave of the Dead. The traps in here will fill up your curse meter. If it fills up all the way you will die, so run fast. At the end of the cave is the Graverobber, Varg, and Cerah boss fight. This infamous fight is a three on one gank. My advice to you is that the guy with the bow has the least health.

148. To enter the Crown of the Old Iron King DLC, head to the Old Iron King’s boss room and interact with the obelisk next to the primal bonfire to warp to a sealed room. Use the heavy iron key you found in the salamander pit in the Forest of Fallen Giants to open the door to Brume Tower. Don’t forget to pick up smelter wedges before the big iron chain, you’ll need them to destroy the ashen idols found through the tower that can buff nearby enemies. You can then collect fragments of Nadalia, bride of ash’s soul where the idols stood. Scale the chain and you’ll reach the Throne Floor bonfire.

149. The first section of Brume Tower is fairly linear, even if it may not look it. As you descend the tower and its various ladders, you should find the Upper Floor bonfire. Past a fog gate, down another ladder, across a field of ash and down some stairs you’ll eventually find the Foyer bonfire. Past the Foyer bonfire, across a chain into another tower, you can retrieve the scorching iron scepter. Bring the scepter back to the Foyer bonfire and use it to activate Brume Tower’s giant lift mechanism.

150. Take the lift down one level, enter a stone passage, and pick up the tower key sitting on a ledge outside the tower guarded by three iron warriors. The key opens a nearby gate leading to the Iron Hallway Entrance bonfire. Through this area is the fog wall for the Aged Smelter Demon boss fight. It’s a stronger version of the boss you’ve beaten before. Now walk back up to the lifts and ride down another level until you reach the Lowermost Floor bonfire.

151. Before you enter the fog wall here, use your smelter wedges to destroy the four ashen idols ringing the boss room. They will constantly heal the boss if they aren’t destroyed. Once you are ready, take on the Fume Knight. Hopefully you’ve been collecting brightbugs along your journey. They are rare and should only be used when facing the absolute toughest bosses. Their damage stacks with the damage gold pine resin grants. Once you’re victorious, you can pick up the crown of the Old Iron King behind him.

152. Warp back to the Foyer bonfire and take the two lifts up. You’ll spot a gate you can unlock with the tower key. Beyond it is the Smelter Throne bonfire and a suit of samurai armor you can interact with to enter the memory of the Old Iron King. Make your way through the memory until you reach a fog wall. It’s time to fight the last boss, Sir Alonne. This is probably the hardest boss in the game, but only if you get psyched out when someone tells you something’s the hardest boss in the game. Avoid his grab attack where his sword has a gray aura. Once he grabs you he will deal extra damage for the rest of the fight.

153. You can grab one last smelter wedge from the chair in the small room past Alonne’s boss room. Return to the Foyer bonfire and use the tower key to unlock the door behind the tower mechanism. Through this door should be the last ashen idol. With all of the pieces of Nadalia’s soul together, they will fuse into her true soul, which can be transmuted.

154. With the king’s crown from the Shrine of Amana, and the three DLC crowns, return to the Undead Crypt and enter the memory of the king by interacting with King Vendrick’s discarded clothes in Vendrick’s boss room. Speak to King Vendrick inside his memory and he will consolidate the crowns’ power into the king’s crown. Now, wearing the king’s crown will prevent you from hollowing, allowing you to escape the curse of the undead, which was the whole point of the game if you weren’t paying attention. I wasn’t really paying attention either.

155. There are higher level versions of your rings that can be obtained by entering new game+, where you keep your character but start the game over again with stronger enemies. You can enter NG+ from Majula’s bonfire menu after beating the game. The chloranthy ring +2 drops from the Executioner’s Chariot in NG+. If you’re impatient and don’t want to have to beat the game again, you can burn a bonfire ascetic at the Undead Purgatory bonfire to respawn the boss. Beware that this will permanently scale that area to one new game level above the rest of the game.

156. New game+ features unique encounters that don’t occur during your first playthrough. The ring of blades +2 drops from one of the Two Pursuers that spawn in the throne room up the stairs from the entrance of Drangleic Castle in NG+, specifically the Pursuer on the left. Alternatively, burn a bonfire ascetic in the king’s gate bonfire to scale the zone up to NG+.

157. The dragonrider gauntlets can be purchased from Magerold of Lanafir in Iron Keep after defeating the Dragonrider Duo in Drangleic Castle in NG+. These are an upgrade to the Drangleic gauntlets. You’d have to burn a bonfire ascetic in the central castle Drangleic bonfire to spawn the NG+ version of the Dragonrider Duo, but I highly recommend just going through new game+ if you’ve been enjoying Dark Souls II so far. Dark Souls II has the most feature-rich NG+ experience out of the Souls trilogy.

Before farming for souls, equip all of the soul absorption-boosting gear you have like the covetous silver serpent ring. Soul-boosting gear stacks multiplicatively. Most enemies in Dark Souls II stop respawning after being killed 15 times. Joining the company of champions covenant makes killing enemies not count toward the 15 kill limit, but makes enemies stronger. This is still worth it if you plan to farm a large amount of souls for some reason. You can easily reach soul level 150 before beating the game without doing any soul farming though.

A good early game farming spot is Heide’s Tower of Flame. Iron Keep is a decent mid-game spot, and the best location to farm souls in the endgame is probably the Dragon Shrine. Technically, if you have a bunch of bonfire ascetics, the fastest way to gain souls is by repeatedly burning a bonfire ascetic at the Place Unbeknownst bonfire to respawn the Giant Lord boss and killing him again. The Giant Lord is a fairly easy boss to defeat and drops a massive number of souls. As I’ve said before, I don’t really care for bonfire ascetics, you get tons of souls by going to NG+ and beyond.

Starting as a knight, I recommend leveling your stats in the order detailed below. If you level the wrong stat, you can give a soul vessel, a very rare item, to the firekeeper in Things Betwixt in order to reallocate your stats.

1. Level adaptability to 10.
2. Level vitality to 8.
3. Level dexterity to 12.
4. Level vigor to 20.
5. Level endurance to 20.
6. Level adaptability to 17.
7. Level faith to 14.
8. Level intelligence to 10.
9. Level attunement to 10.
10. Level dexterity to 15.
11. Level strength to 13.
12. Level faith to 25.
13. Level attunement to 13.
14. Level vigor to 50.
15. Level faith to 40.
16. Level attunement to 30.

Vigor and endurance both have a softcap, a point where there are diminishing returns after going past it, at 20 points, and vigor’s final softcap is at 50. Leveling vigor from 20 to 50 is around a 43.5% increase in max health. With the third dragon ring equipped, you need 10 total vitality to reach the 60 max equip load needed to get the full benefit from Flynn’s ring, but since Vengarl’s helmet gives you 2 vitality, you must only level it to 8.

16 adaptability, combined with 30 attunement increases the agility substat up to 99, which is a breakpoint that increases the number of invincibility frames you get during dodge rolls. Having 17 adaptability raises your agility to 100, which causes your backsteps to have an additional invincibility frame. Additionally, if you have 13 attunement, you need 17 adaptability to reach the 96 agility breakpoint, which is important as you won’t have 30 attunement until very late in the game.

Equip the chloranthy ring +2 for 25% increased stamina regeneration, the ring of blades +2 for +50 weapon damage, Flynn’s ring for an additional 50 weapon damage, and the third dragon ring for 7.5% increased max hp and 12.5% increased max stamina and equipment load.

Vengarl’s helm, chest, and leggings combined with the dragonrider gauntlets offer best-in-weight class defense when wearing Flynn’s ring, which requires you to stay near 60 max equip load. Physical damage is by far the most common damage time enemies inflict.

The rapier is lightweight, has low stat requirements, and can be found at the start of the game. It conveniently performs better two-handed than dual wielded, so you don’t have to upgrade a second one. It has very low stamina consumption, and its high attack speed synergises really well with flat damage buffs like Flynn's ring, the ring of blades, and weapon buff spells. The rapier also has a high critical damage multiplier. Many enemies are naturally weak to thrust damage, and the counterattack mechanic causes both enemies and players to take bonus thrusting damage while they’re attacking.

A lot of the best armor and weapons in the game require rare, twinkling titanite to upgrade them, but the rapier can be upgraded with regular titanite, so you won’t hurt yourself in the long run by upgrading the rapier even if you swap to a different weapon later. The rapier’s weakness is that it lacks any horizontal slashing moves to offend multiple opponents, and has a hard time hitting enemies low to the ground as well. This weakness is somewhat mitigated by the rapier’s fast attack speed.

The ice rapier is the rapier’s big brother and is considered by many to be the highest dps weapon in the game, not counting powerstancing. The ice rapier is longer than the regular rapier, it causes bleed buildup, and most importantly it doesn’t lose as much physical damage when infused with another element. Uninfused, the regular rapier deals slightly more damage than the ice rapier, but when lightning infused for example, the ice rapier deals significantly more damage. Lightning infused rapiers deal more damage against most enemies anyway, so a lightning ice rapier is stronger in all cases as far as I can tell. The ice rapier boasts a unique heavy attack that fires a projectile. If you hit an enemy with both the projectile and the sword itself they will take massive damage, but this ability consumes a huge portion of the weapon’s durability so it should be reserved for emergencies. It only takes a few casts to break the ice rapier, leaving you defenseless.