Dark Souls Walkthrough

October 4, 2011 12:01AM PDT

By Jason Venter, Kurtis Seid

Praise the sun. Our Dark Souls Walkthrough provides tips for surviving the adventure, a guide to the entire world, and hints for slaying bosses.

Firelink Alter

Once you have obtained the Lordvessel after defeating the boss duo in Anor Londo, return to Firelink Shrine. There, you can talk to the huge snake guy that resides in the pit, just uphill from the bonfire.

You'll find the serpent sleeping, but you can hit him once with your weapon to wake him. He'll be grumpy, understandably. Talk to him again and a scene follows. He's elated that you have obtained the Lordvessel and will grab you in his mouth, then take you down to the Firelink Altar area.

When you arrive in the area, you can head up some steps ahead of you and press the button indicated to place the vessel. It's possible to rest at the altar now, or to warp to another location. If you do happen to warp in that manner, you can return to the serpent in Firelink Shrine and select 'Warp' to return to the altar area as needed.

Before you do any of that, note the stone doors behind the altar. They won't open if you try them, so head back down the steps to where the snake is waiting. When you talk to him, he'll give instructions on what you need to do in order to open those doors. You need to hunt down four spectacular souls belonging to the most powerful beings in the realm. When the information is given, the serpent will take you back up to Firelink Shrine. You can return to the altar once you have slain Gravelord Nito, the Witch of Izalith, the four kings of Londo and Seath the Scaleless.

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309 comments

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hipsteromoomo

I have been playing Dark Souls for 60 hours now.I have completed Blightown,The Great Hollow and Ash Lake. I AM CURRENTLY STUCK SITTING AT THE GREAT HOLLOW BONFIRE.How the heck do I get back to the other areas of the game? (i.e. N.Dead Asylum,Undead Burg, undead parrish,,or dark Root Gardens?! ) I have backtracked to Quelaags Domain,and also backtracked through Blightown all the way to the bonfire with no luck. I can go no further with gameplay. The game is too much fun to quit in frustration. Thanks for any help!!

Killa-Gorilla-

@hipsteromoomogo to the water wheel jump on it takes you up to a wooden platform jump onto the the platform then make your way to the via the ladders when you get to the top fight the big fat blocks (don't know what there called) or just run past them you will come out of the cave and into the valley of the drakes there is a small bridge there cross that and on your left there is a gated door. U should be right from there.....you do need to have a master key to open the door though

hipsteromoomo

climb the water wheel.

faceless-mask

Has anyone here gone back to the undead asylum after getting to firelink shrine?

Redley911

@faceless-mask I was asking myself the same question because there was an item that I could not grab on top of broken stairs.

faceless-mask

@Redley911 @faceless-mask I was asking because I was going through a Dark Souls wiki and noticed 2 things:
1. There's a boss called the Stray Demon which gives you a titanite slab and is supposedly located in the Undead Asylum.
2. There are also supposed to be 2 black knights dropping titanite shards or chunks there.
But since neither of these are encountered when you leave the Undead Asylum, I thought you'd have to be able to go back.

gunslinger024

@faceless-mask @gunslinger024 @Redley911 To ascend a weapon using a boss soul it needs to be +10 BUT you can always downgrade that +15 weapon back down to +10.

faceless-mask

@gunslinger024 @faceless-mask @Redley911 Thanks for the video man. Also, is it possible to ascend a +14 or +15 weapon with a boss soul, or does it have to be at +10?

Redley911

@gunslinger024 @faceless-mask @Redley911 Thanks a lot.

gunslinger024

@faceless-mask @Redley911 Yes in fact it is possible, you can go back there to get the puculiar doll and like you said to fight the stray demon and to retreive the items that the two black knights drop. heres a link to how to get there > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx7ICHEu0d0

Evan-0-Matic

Ok... I talked with the big guy and he only offers me two versions of a casting staff. But i have 6 or 8 boss souls that don't seem to be useable? Was i supposed to give him all the special embers i've come across? Because they have all (so far) ended up with Andre. And even that doesn't seem to change any of his forging options. This whole forging thing seems useless... i must be missing something. I have upgraded my armor, sword, shield, and found a bunch of weapons, but none of them (except the lighting spear) can upgraded (ascension) in another way. I'm just about to fight the 4 kings and have been fallowing this guide pretty close.

gunslinger024

@Evan-0-Matic Here a list of all the possible weapons that can be crafted with boss souls > http://darksouls.wikidot.com/boss-soul-items

BeNOwNz

is the chaos ember worth enchanting your weapons to? im very lazy to travel alllll the way to vamos.. is it strong?

gunslinger024

@BeNOwNz IMO, it is not worth using the chaos ember because it can only reinforce your weapons to +5 while other embers like Fire, Magic and Lighting can be reinforced to +10. And it is kinda a pain having to go through all those skeleton wheels just to get to Vamos.

Evan-0-Matic

Hmm... Which Blacksmith can turn boss souls (i have 3 collecting dust) into weapons? I'm just about to fight the double boss in Anor Londo... so maybe i haven't met him/ her yet? Thank ya.

gunslinger024

@Evan-0-Matic That would be the giant blacksmith in Anor Londo, he is the only blacksmith that can make weapons out of boss souls.

Evan-0-Matic

@gunslinger024 @Evan-0-Matic Ok... I talked with the big guy and he only offers me two versions of a casting staff. But i have 6 or 8 boss souls that don't seem to be useable? Was i supposed to give him all the special embers i've come across? Because they have all (so far) ended up with Andre. And even that doesn't seem to change any of his forging options. This whole forging thing seems useless... i must be missing something. I have upgraded my armor, sword, shield, and found a bunch of weapons, but none of them (except the lighting spear) can upgraded (ascension) in another way. I'm just about to fight the 4 kings and have been fallowing this guide pretty close.

Evan-0-Matic

The door that holds the wizard (what's his name?) in the 'Undead Burg Slums' is locked and i can't just 'open it' like you say... Any help? And no, the black knight(s) did not drop a sword when i beat either of them upon my return to the 'Northern Asylum'. What the hell?

Also, you failed to mention that if you join Alvina's little group in the forest, you can no longer farm any points off her other dumb NPC followers without betraying her trust. That would have been a nice warning.

gunslinger024

@Evan-0-Matic

The door is unlocked using the residence key (can be purchased by undead merchant male for 1000 souls) and the name of the wizard is Griggs of Vinheim.

The Black knight sword is not a definate drop in the Northern Undead Asylum.

And after you join alvinas covenant you can simply join another covenant and be able to join the forest covenant later on. therefore you CAN attack/kill the NPC's but only if you are part of another covenant. BUT if you attack/kill a NPC while a part of the forest covenant they wil become hostlie.

Evan-0-Matic

@gunslinger024 Thanks, bud. And i do have the 'Master Key' which i thought would work for that door, but guess not haha. And i've been lucky with other weapon drops from the good 'ol Black Knights so maybe next time.

tightwad34

How come you don't say you need to place the Lordvessel on the Firelink altar in order to be able to access the Duke's archives and the other final locations? That is a pretty important step, no?

Betelgeuse1911

how do you summon people to help you fight because i cant 4 the fucking life of me defeat the four kings? any suggestions would be great

gunslinger024

@Betelgeuse1911

Use your most powerful weapon two-handed (most preferably a Fire weapon) and equip light armour that still lets you dodge at max speed and also use anything that boosts your magic resistance. Its best to have a lot of estus flask's. When dying from them a couple times you will get used to there attacks and you will be able to dodge more comfortably. Finally they key to a victory is speed, try to kill each king as fast as possible to avoid being swarmed by more than one.

Betelgeuse1911

@gunslinger024 @Betelgeuse1911 yeah cheers m8 sounds like a plan. already use light armour but upgraded loads coz i cant be dealin with heavy sluggish armour at any time in the game. iv got the darke sword+4 and the chaos blade+5 but they still kick my arse.. and any chance u know where or if i can upgrade my chaos blade further mate??

gunslinger024

@Betelgeuse1911 As a matter of fact the Chaos Blade is a poor choice of weapon to defeat the four kings because the majority of weapon damage is bleed, and last time i checked ghosts don't bleed. but if you do wanna upgrade it you need Demon Titanite, and if you don't got any, i recommend the lower area of Sens Fotress were you can get 4 Demon Titanite from the dragons down there. BTW Fire weapons are a bit more effective than choas weapons, i would reccommend Queelaags furysword but it sounds like you already used Queelaags soul on the Chaos Blade.

Serron_Rudayus

I... uh... Kinda killed Andre the Blacksmith... I put my controller down and in doing so, I accidentally did a power attack with the Dark Knight Greatsword. As such, he attacked. I had no choice but to terminate his services. How do you get a guy to stop attacking you (besides making him permanently dead). Is there a way to maybe apologize and get him to stop?

gunslinger024

@Serron_Rudayus ask for absolution from the guy in the cathedral (were you fought the gargoyles)

Serron_Rudayus

@gunslinger024 Thanks. Wish I knew that before I... uh... dispatched of Andre... I liked the guy. He was one of the only NPCs (up to the point in the game where I am) who was friendly and didn't cackle like I do at times.

Betelgeuse1911

@Serron_Rudayus yeah you can can u can go and pay one of the merchants to set it all back so if u`v killed someone like the blacksmith or left a covenant and therye angry at u the merchant sets it all back to how it was. not sure wich merchant tho but i think its the one in the tower in sen`s fortress. hope that helps

tightwad34

@Serron_Rudayus

I don't think so. Some NPCs you can attack and they won't fight back, letting you continue to render their services. Others will just try to kill you no matter you trying to load your game and go back to see if they are still pissed off. What's done is done in this game.

Nectarofthbass

ppl ad me i needz sum sunlight medals.

xbl gt Hallelujhnegro

thomasnichols89

Where you investigate the corpse to get the Pyromancy Flame, you won't get that unless you are a caster. If for exam ple, you are a hunter, you will get a bow and some arrows. Might want to revise that a bit. Cheers

wildbill999

Question: I am a new player with the default PC K/M and cannot see which keys "read" the words on the floors.

I tried the Q and the E and a bunch of others how can this be done?

Also, when I use the Space key I only go backwards. How do you roll and dash??

Thanks,

Bill

RAX24

@wildbill999 dude for dis u need controller

wildbill999

@RAX24 Hello. I have been able to figure out reading the messages with the PC keyboard and will work on the roll and dash next. The camera control is too shaky yet but will try the mouse fix next.

I am in the Undead Parish and like this game better than Oblivion.

Thanks RAX24 but I am trying to avoid using a controller.

Serron_Rudayus

Just a quick question: I've killed the Moonlight Butterfly (easily, I might add) and I'm camping in the Darkroot Garden. I possess both the Dark Knight Sword + 1 and Dark Knight Greatsword. I am only capable of using the Black Knight Sword. The Greatsword is too heavy to use one-handed. My strength is sitting at 25, I think. I'm looking for a good spot to farm for a bit. In Darkroot Garden, in the area before you go up to kill the Moonlight Butterfly, I get just over 3000 souls a run. I kill the Stone Knights in three hits with the Dark Knight Sword held in two hands. I'm looking for a good area to farm that gets me as many, or more, souls than I currently am getting. I'm getting bored of doing all the same things over and over again.

Also those bramble bush thingies are annoying. Any way to prevent them from hugging you? Aside from killing them, of course.

captnslo85

@Serron_Rudayus Don't get too close. Even if you are using your sheild, they go around it. let them whip at you from a little distance, and then run in for the kill.

BeNOwNz

guys any tips in tombs of giants? Im up around the middle where i pass the first fog wall, the stone lizards and knight just keeps owning me or making me fall off =[

gunslinger024

@BeNOwNz Equip light armour for maximum mobility,equip the skull lantern in your left hand and either use your pyromancer flame or a fire based weapon like quelaags furysword in your right, from the bonfire go up the ladder and to the first skeleton canine and piss him off with a fireball or a arrow, then turn around and run towards the bonfire and stop half way down the ladder. wait 30 seconds and you should see your soul count go up which means it bit the dust. do this for the next 3 canines and the same for the knight (the knight doesnt respawn) and ignore the archer only because you can easily dodge the arrows.when following the main path, the next enemies my best advice would be to ignore them and just roll past them and keep on the main path, after going down a ladder and getting to the area where you dont need light anymore, i would switch back to your sheild and from here on you should be able to go on by yourself. good luck

canuckbiker

1 Like

I can't get past the first dark knight in the undead burg, he haunts my dreams now. I refuse to even attempt going further until I beat him. I will grind my way up levels until I persevere, and piss on his corpse.

Betelgeuse1911

@canuckbiker do a bit or farming mate or if u dont already know it iv got a cheeky tip 2 get a sick drake sword early in the game. go to where that massive fire blasting dragon is at the end of the bridge then find a spot where u can hit its tale with arrows and do that 4 a while till it falls off then u get the almighty drake sword

BeNOwNz

@canuckbiker when i started that guy owned me all day but yea either lvl up and fight him again or just lure him to a open area and try to backstab him or chip him down with firebombs

Serron_Rudayus

@canuckbiker Another thing; I also had Astora's Straight Sword when I faced him. It's only possible to obtain that weapon, a good shield, and 5000+ souls straight after the Northern Undead Asylum if you start the game with the Master Key. Behind the tree by the bonfire, go all the way down to the bottom of the stairs, and down the elevator. When you exit the elevator, you will be in an area who name eludes me right now. Get the stuff down there, but do NOT go across the bridge. I know there is a Fire Keeper Soul across there somewhere, but the ghosts do tend to kill me every time before I can even locate it. Anyway, I digress. There is another tower like building right by the elevator. Go through there. Unlock the gate with the Master Key, go through into Valley of Drakes, turn around. Collect the item there. Then turn around again with the door behind you, and go across the bridge a little way further down. Then cross the second bridge. When you see the large zombie dragon, carefully go around it and take the Soul of a Proud Knight. Then get ready to die. Go between the dragon's front legs, take the sword and shield as quickly as possible, because the dragon wakes up and swipes at you. One swipe will kill you at that level. If you're really lucky, you may survive by some miracle. If you do, sprint back to the bonfire.

If you can't use the sword, don't fret: the souls you get down there will cover you enough to enable you to use it.

hatespark1234

@canuckbiker always stand behind him , easy kill . his attacks are slow ... but watch out when he attacks twice in a row .

abbood87

hey guys, i killed the choas princess by mistak, can i undo that, i really want her back, i was with her convenet

Succumbus

1 Like

I can't f*cking beat the stupid gargoyles. If you don't kill the first damn gargoyle in time it's fucking impossible to kill the second one along with the first. It's so annoying.