Dark Souls Noob Guide for Mages – Section 4

ANOR LONDO

Well, here it is! The halfway point of the game. Sort of. This is the area that most people who start Dark Souls never even see, so if you’re here, congrats. You should see a huge city with a giant castle in the distance. That’s where you must go. There’s a lot to do before we get there, but we will eventually end up in the heart of that beautiful structure, duking it out with some of the toughest enemies.

For now, head down the steps till you come to a huge statue-like guard with a shield. As long as you don’t get too close, you can head into the room to his left to carry on. When you enter you should see two more guards to the left. Let’s ignore them for now and head to the opposite side, out the doorway. Off in the distance you should see another room like the one you’re in now, but let’s skip it and head forward a bit till you see a room on the left with some stairs. Head down to rest at the bonfire and to level up.

From the bonfire, head up the steps and keep going forward till you reach a structure with a round elevator that will take you down. Once you’re downstairs, take the spiral staircase down and you’ll come to a bridge-like path that leads to the castle. You should see a gargoyle ahead. However, there isn’t much we can do at this point, so instead of following the path towards the gargoyle, go down the short set of stairs and head left. Go around the railing and drop down onto the platform below.

If you look left you’ll see a set of stairs that leads back up towards the way you came. Don’t go that way. To the right of the stairs, close to where you dropped down, is a beam that leads into the adjacent building. Drop onto the beam and follow it all the way up. Once you reach a dead end, roll off to the right and you’ll land in front of a broken window.

Enter through broken window and go to the left. Your aim is to climb the ladder on the left and work your way across the rafters. Before you can do that, take out the white hooded guy that drops down as well as his buddy towards the opposite side of the way you came in. When they’re both dead, climb the ladder and look ahead.

Take either the left or right side and work your way to the first enemy. Now, there are a couple ways to handle this section. Either way, make sure you’re careful when you run across the rafters because you might fall. Take it slow and walk. You can play it safe and slowly maneuver across the rafters, using a bow to aggro each enemy and take them out when they’re close; Or you can just sprint through the whole thing and only attack enemies blocking your path. Both work, but for this, I will be slowly taking them out and playing it safe. PRO TIP: make sure the enemy is completely dead before moving on. I once got killed because I tried to move on top of what I thought was a lifeless corpse, but because the enemy hadn’t fully died yet and his animation hadn’t completed, I fell off the narrow rafter. Take it slow and make sure they’re a ragdoll before you move on.

To start, equip a bow and two-hand it. Then press the left weapon attack (L1, LB, L) to go into first-person mode. From here, you can aim at the enemy and hit them once to get them to come towards you. Now, make sure you’re positioned so that when you strike, the lunge won’t send you off the edge. I aligned myself parallel to the rafter, so my stikes would line up with the length of the beam. You can also use magic to take them out when they’re close, but just remember it may not be strong enough to be effective here. There are three enemies to take out, so rinse and repeat.

You’ll see a chandelier in the center of the room, so hit the chain to get it to fall. You’ll be downstairs soon enough. Standing where the chain once was is a great place to attack the next guy so you don’t fall. After he’s dead head forward and you should see the final guy on the right, next to a ladder.

If you go all the way to the left of where the chandelier was, you can hit the last guy with an arrow and aggro him. He will slowly make his way to you and you can go back to where the chain was to finish him off. If you don’t have arrows, you can still aggro the enemies by getting close and then leading them to a position where you can attack. Arrows aren’t necessary for this part, but they do make it easier.

Climb down the ladder at the end and cross the fog gate to get to the next part. Ahead you’ll see a set of stairs with a lever at the top, so push the lever to activate the shortcut. Don’t move from this position and, wait for it to go down one floor and hit the lever again. You’ll want it to go down twice. After you’ve pushed the lever twice, head downstairs and you’ll see a room with a bonfire. Remember this room because we will be coming back to it. Rest at the bonfire and then head back up to the lever at the top of the stairs.

Push the lever up once and you should see a gargoyle on either side of you. The one closest to the castle will be heading towards you, so you should take this time to get rid of him. Magic actually does well against them, so block their attacks and shoot a spell in between animations. As long as you’re blocking properly, you should do fine. You’ve made it this far, so these guys shouldn’t be too difficult.

Start to make your way up the steps leading to the castle and stop at the top of the steps. You should see two huge guards with shields. Unfortunately, you can’t just walk through the front doors, so you’ll have to go around. I’m going to warn you that this is one of the hardest parts of the game.

If you look to the right of the guard on the right, you should see a doorway that leads to a path to the way ahead. What you want to do is run to that doorway and avoid the big guy’s attack. Once you’re through the doorway, take a right, down some steps and you’ll see two demons on the right and one hidden on the left. You’ll also see a beam on the left that leads down to the next section. You can kill the demons one by one, or run past them. Since you’re probably going to be stuck on this part for a bit, you should probably get used to running past them. Take the beam down to the next area where two more demons will be waiting. Go left up another beam and follow it all the way up to the next platform. Here’s where things get hard.

You should stand on either side of the structure you’re on and listen to the sound of giant arrows being shot at you from a distance. If you go around (don’t go yet) this structure, you will find a final beam to cross. The problem is that when trying to do so, TWO Black Knights will be shooting you from either side with arrows that will knock you off if they hit you once. Even worse is that once you get to the end of the beam, you have a small ledge to walk on and you have to either knock the enemy off or parry him to kill him.

Here’s how I do this part:

Run along the right side, up the beam, and when you get to the top, take the right side, and roll through the arrows, towards the Black Knight. I hope you’re brushed up on your parrying, because here is a great time to implement it. To parry, have your shield in your left hand and hit the parry button (L2, LT, LZ) at the peak of the enemy’s attack, just as it’s about to come down on you. Different enemies have different sweet spots for the parry, but the Black Knights are one of the easiest to parry because of the slow movements and large weapons they use. It should take a couple parries to take him out and if you get lucky, you may even knock him off the ledge.

I know this part is hard, but it will force you to learn how to parry, which is a good thing because you’ll need to for the final boss. If you’re really struggling, you can shoot poison arrows at this guy on the right, from afar, but I don’t really recommend doing it like that. Just run up the beam, roll through the arrows towards him, parry him and kill him.

Once he’s dead, follow the ledge around to the left, behind where he stood and drop down to the lower platform. Keep going and take a left through the fog gate and you’ll come to a hall.  Go down the hall and you’ll see a door on each side. If you enter the left door, you’ll get to a much needed and earned bonfire. Rest here and then we can move on.

Talk to Solaire if he’s sitting next to the fire and then head to the room across the hall (the right door when you came in). When you enter, you’ll see a Black Knight on the right, guarding a chest. Here is a perfect time to practice parrying. You can backstab him, too. Either way, kill him, grab the Sunlight Medals from the chest and we can move on. Exit the room and make a right and you’ll see some spiraling steps. Behind them is another Knight, so I’d recommend to take him out (and to practice parrying). I know I keep harping on the parry thing, but you’ll be so glad you learned when you get to the last boss.

Once he’s dead, climb up the spiraling steps. At the top, head forward and open the door on the left. Kill the Knight in here and grab the Soul of a Hero all the way on the right side of this room. Exit the room and head around either the left or right side of the spiraling staircase. You’ll see a chest on either side. DON’T OPEN THEM. As much as I’d love for you to get chomped on by a Mimic, my goal is to keep you alive. Two-hand your weapon and go to town on it, making sure to stay behind and don’t get grabbed from the front. Take out your shield when it stands up so you don’t take damage when it kicks. Magic does okay against them, too. Pick up the item it dropped and go to the other side of the stairs and kill the other one.

When they’re both dead, head down the hall opposite of the one at the top of the stairs. You should see a long hall with a door on either side and a Knight at the far end. Go all the way down and kill the Knight. Be careful because he’s got the same bow as the Knights from outside. Once he’s dead, head back down the hall and take the door on your right. The other door is locked. Follow the room to the right and open the door. Be careful because there is a guy to the right that will surprise you.

Parry him a couple times and kill him. Keep going up the steps and you’ll be led outside. If you look ahead, you’ll see a Black Knight guarding a doorway and the same to the left. Let’s take care of the guy on the left first since he can’t hit you with arrows. After that, go kill the other one and head down the steps he was guarding.

You’ll come to a room with the heavily armored NPC from Sen’s Fortress! His name is Siegmeyer. Talk to him a few times and then open the door in front of him. There’s a guy on the right, so aggro him and lead him back into the room with the NPC. When you’ve killed this Knight, head back in and lock on to the guy on the left and shoot him with magic.

It will aggro him and you can take him out just like the last guy. Now you can take out the last Knight easily. Open the chest to the left of the bed in this room and then go back to talk to Siegmeyer. He’ll give you a ring that gives you a bit of extra health. After that, head back into the room with the bed and open the door to the left for a shortcut. Now, go back the way you came, past Siegmeyer, up the spiral stairs and go to the area the other Knight was guarding with the bow.

Follow these stairs all the way down and you’ll end up on a floor you haven’t been on yet. Head down this hall and go into the right room. Upon entering, look left and you’ll see some steps that will take you downstairs. Beware of the two Knights, though. Take them out one by one. I had good luck getting a few magic shots off so their health was lower when I faced them.

Once they’re dead, head to the chests on the bottom floor and grab some pretty good armor. Now, open the door by the chests to unlock a shortcut that leads to the last bonfire. When you exit the room with the chests, head to the door directly across from you. There will be pillar ahead, but go around it (watch out, as there might be a Knight there). To the right is a fireplace that contains an illusory wall. Hit it and it will take you down to a secret area.

Take the steps down to a dark room and go all the way to the left side where you will find five chests. The one on the far left is a Mimic. The rest are safe. Open them all to get Havel’s armor and weapons. Kill the Mimic for the Occult Club. There’s nothing else in here, so head all the way back up and go right out the door, all the way down the hall, around the stairs, back to the bonfire. It will be the door on your right.

It may be a good idea to reverse hollow and kindle the bonfire to have 10 Estus Flasks. Either way, head back to the room with the two chests containing the Silver Knight armor (the room across from the room with the illusory wall). Take out the Knights, go up the stairs and make a right out of this room. Head down the hall and up a bigger set of stairs that lead to the main area of the castle. From here, make a left and go up the steps. At the top you should see some windows, with the third from the right being broken.

Drop down, and go down the huge steps. When you get to the edge, go right and follow the narrow ledge and roll off to the left onto the platform with the item Grab it to get the Dragonslayer Greatbow. From the item you just picked up, look right and you should see a gap in the fence that you can pass through. Before doing that, look down and get ready to do a plunge attack on the enemy below.

After you land on him with a two-handed attack, it should only take one more strike to take him out. Kill the other demon and then open the gate that leads to the shortcut to the front of the castle. It will be to the left of where you dropped down. This is very important. After that, go over to where the second demon was sitting and you’ll come across the next merchant who can upgrade! I just call him the giant guy in Anor Londo, but his actual name is Giant Blacksmith.

At this point, you can talk to him, but unfortunately, he doesn’t upgrade weapons past +5 or past +10. Once it’s at +6, or +11 he can keep upgrading. In other words, if you have a weapon at +5 he can’t get it to +6 unless you ascend it with Andre. You must go all the way back to Undead Parish to Andre to do so. Once a weapon is at +6, the giant guy in Anor Londo CAN upgrade all the way to +10. I hope that makes sense. Basically, every time you have an Ember to give Andre, HE will have to get you past each +5.

Now, I’m not saying you HAVE to go all the way back to Undead Parish, but it is a good idea to have an upgraded weapon for the fight ahead. Whichever you choose, you’ll have to head up the stairs next to the giant blacksmith. This will lead you back to the big main room. Your goal is to head to the bottom of this room and push the lever on the left side (left if you’re facing the big doors that lead outside) to open the doors. From where you are, either side will lead you down, but the left side has a Knight with a bow, just so you know.

Also, there are two huge guards with shields in the big room as well, but they’re easy to dodge. Now, because the upcoming boss fight sucks so much, I’m going to go all the way back to the demon that carried us up here from Sen’s Fortress, and I’m going to head all the way down Sen’s Fortress, back to Andre in Undead Parish to upgrade. I know that sounds crazy, but the next boss fight is one of the hardest in the game. If you think you can handle the next boss fight with the current weapon setup you have, be my guest. Also, if you’re going back down through Sen’s, you might wanna save up some souls to spend at the blacksmith’s and merchant’s. If you’re going to go back, I recommend saving up around 40,000 souls which can easily be grinded from the knights in Anor Londo.

In the interest of playing it safe, head out the doors you just opened and backtrack to the demon at the very beginning of Anor Londo. As a reminder, head across the long walkway to the spiraling stairs (you may or may not have killed the gargoyle here) and up the elevator. At the top, make a left and follow this path past the three large guards, back to the demon at the top of the steps. Talk to it and you’ll be back at Sen’s Fortress. Remember, you don’t have to do this, but I highly suggest it. If it helps, there’s a nifty shortcut that you can use to pass through most of Sen’s Fortress, so there’s that.

SEN’S FORTRESS

Okay, if you’re here it means you’re taking the long, but safe way, which I recommend. Right now may be a good time to stop at Firelink to buy some more sorceries, too. You should have a good chunk of souls by now, so stock up. From the spawn point, head straight and go down the way you came up. Take a right and kill the crossbow guy. Take another right and go down the steps and then take a left to follow the walkway around. At this corner here, you can roll off the right side and it will get us to our destination faster. Once you’ve rolled down, take a right up the steps and follow the path till you see an area with a broken chunk missing out of the walkway on the left.

Our aim is to JUMP this gap. You should unequip everything, including shield and clothing. If you miss the jump, you shouldn’t die. Just find your way back up and try again. This section is much easier without the firebomb guy. Also, if you’re scared, you can run down and rest at the bonfire. Once you’re across, enter the room and go down the several flights of steps. At the bottom, you’ll see a snake guy. Kill him and pick up the item behind him. It’s the Cage Key (Master Key didn’t seem to work for me) that will unlock the shortcut. Go back up, jump the gap, and then continue straight along the walkway. Enter the structure, turn right and continue till you get to a room with two cages. Open the left one with the key and you can climb in and take it down, like an elevator.

Hang a right from here and you should know where you are. You’re at the bottom floor of Sen’s Fortress, with the four pendulums. Go past the pendulums, take a left and go down the steps, back to the bonfire with Andre.

UNDEAD PARISH

Once you’re talking to Andre, go to Modify Equipment and ascend your weapon past +5 to +6. Then go to Reinforce Weapon to upgrade it past +6. Do what you can here, and head back to Firelink to get some magic. Head into the church and down the elevator.

FIRELINK SHRINE

From the bonfire, head to the tree and then look left to see the two merchants. I’d recommend getting the Homing Soulmass and the Great Heavy Soul Arrow spells, as well as the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring. You’ll need them for the fight ahead. Get what you can and then head back to the bonfire. Run over to the well and then look left. You should see a path that leads to the middle of Firelink. Go through the archway and look left again. You’ll see an NPC that sells Pyromancy. This part is optional, but if you want to experiment with pyromancies, you should talk to this guy. Answer NO to his question and he’ll give you the Pyromancy Flame. Buy Fire Orb from him and anything else you can afford. You can also level up your Pyromancy Flame with him like I did. I got mine to +5. If you’re running low on funds you can consume some souls. Just make sure you save the boss souls.

Now, let’s go back to Undead Parish via the elevator at the back.

UNDEAD PARISH

Now head back to Sen’s Fortress.

SEN’S FORTRESS

If you’re going on foot it means you rested at a bonfire, which is okay (If you’re crazy, you can avoid bonfires and then just warp all the way back to Anor Londo with a Homeward Bone). Just head back inside, cross the walkway with the four pendulums and hop in the cage elevator on the left. You may have to go around the snake guy to do so. Exit the elevator and go around to the right, up the stairs and back to the floating ring of light.

ANOR LONDO

Yay, we’re back. That didn’t take so long, right? From the demon that dropped you off, head down the steps and rest at the next bonfire (it’s to the left after the room with the giant guards) to get 10 Estus Flasks. Now head straight out, down the elevator, down the steps, and across the long bridge to the castle. If you haven’t gotten your weapon to +10, head to the giant and buy some Large Titanite to get to +10. Then, head up the stairs next to him to get to the main room. You may want to go to the bonfire that’s close to the illusory wall that contained Havel’s armor (the one after the archers on the beam), because it’s closer, but it’s up to you which bonfire you want. Either way, let’s prepare for the fight in the main room.

ORNSTEIN AND SMOUGH

Opposite the front doors, that lead to the castle, at the far back of the room is a fog wall that leads to…

Ornstein and Smough. Man, these guys are tough. Remember, you can leave your White Sign Soapstone to get summoned so you can practice (highly recommend doing this because it will teach you how the fight works, grant you souls and Humanity). This fight is hard because not only will you have to fight two bosses at once, but they complement one another, perfectly. My recommendation is to take out Ornstein first because he makes a habit of always being close to you. Once you kill one, the other one will consume the energy of the dead one and become tougher. But let’s get into how to kill Ornstein first. He’s definitely the tougher of the two, but we can use his speed to our advantage.

If you use magic like I did, the first part is substantially easier. My intelligence was at 25 at the time.  All I did was bait Ornstein around the pillars and shoot him with magic from a distance. I made sure I separated myself from Smough as much as possible and just unloaded all my magic on Ornstein. You’ll want to rotate around the room while you do this. Try to save some of your more powerful magic for Smough, but otherwise, unleash most of your Great Heavy Soul Arrows onto Ornstein. The hardest part is making sure you’re far away enough to avoid any attacks. Lock on, back away and blast him with magic.

From the start, you’ll want to pay attention to Ornstein’s movements. He likes to dart towards you right as soon as the fight starts. That’s why I recommend dodging out of the way as soon as you go through the fog gate. If he’s about to lunge towards you, get far enough away or hide behind a pillar to avoid damage. Don’t try to shoot him with magic when he’s about to lunge at you.

After you roll out of the way of his lunge attack, you can shoot him with some magic before he starts to attack again. If you get close, you can get him to attack, giving you an opportunity to dodge and then take advantage of the vulnerable state.

After Ornstein is dead, you can use the same tactic with Smough. He likes to do a couple of jumping attacks, so when you see him in the air, just back away and shoot more magic at him. There isn’t much else to say because using long ranged attacks makes it so that you don’t have to deal with the technicalities of each fight. Just make sure you have the spells and the right Intelligence level and you’ll be golden. I used Homing Soulmass, Great Soul Arrow, and Great Heavy Soul Arrow. You should have enough spells to take them out.

After they’re dead, head to the back of the room and take the elevator in the corner to the top floor. There are two elevators you can take; one on each side. They both lead you to the same place. At the top, you’ll want to go to the back of this room. If you took the right elevator (if your back is at the entrance) then go right. If you took the left elevator, go left. You should see a bonfire. Rest at it, level up, and then open the two doors behind it. You should see a giant woman.

Go up to her and kneel. She will give you the Lordvessle, an item used to teleport between bonfires! YAY! After that, you can join her covenant if you’d like. Head back to the bonfire and rest. You should see an option to warp now. Warp to Firelink Shrine and rejoice.

FIRELINK SHRINE

Wow, so you’ve made it past Anor Londo and are now ready to take on the four main bosses, right? Well, not quite. These areas are extremely tough and we should prepare a bit beforehand. Rest at the bonfire to get 10 Estus and we can move on. To start, let’s warp to The Depths to finish that area since it’s the next easiest. If you want, talk to the pyromancy guy and upgrade your Pyromancy. Once you’re ready, we can warp to the Depths.

THE DEPTHS

Hopefully you have a warp point here. You should if you previously rested at the bonfire in the Depths. From the bonfire, head out the doorway and to the right, down the steps. Continue along this path, past some boxes and you’ll come to a fork. You’ll see several rats to the right. I recommend killing them for a chance at getting some Humanity. They have a moderately high chance of dropping some. Once they’re all dead, go the opposite way (left from the fork) and you’ll come to a box on your right. A rat is hiding inside.

Don’t let him (or her) scare you. By now your weapon should take care of them in one hit. Continue along and you’ll see another rat and some stairs. Go down the stairs and you’ll see a few more rats. Kill them all and then head through the path beneath the steps you just went down. It’s to the right if you’re facing the stairs.

Head down this path and you’ll come to an item. Follow the path along to the right till you get to a fog door. Go through it and if you move up ahead a little, you’ll see three bigger rats and a Channeler. Use magic to take them all out from afar. My fire orb killed the Channeler in one hit. Once you go down the steps take the right path. There is a Large Titanite shard if you take the left path but I didn’t bother with it on my run. Keep going, kill the rat on the right and enter a new hall, covered in swampy water.

Now, this area can be confusing but it’s not too hard to navigate. Take the first right, then left. You should come to a long hall with a rat at the end and an item. Go all the way down the hall and then make a right. If you make a left, you’ll fall down a hole, so don’t do that. After making a right, you should see an open area. Be ready for a mini-boss fight here: A giant rat. You’ll do fine. Your weapon and magic should be strong enough to do this easily. Just remember to block and hit it from behind.

It took me two Homing Soulmass spells and he went down like a piece of cake. Pick up the Humanity he dropped and go to the far end of the room that leads downward like a slide. Take the slide down. Upon landing, be ready for three enemies. A Basilisk down the left hall and two rats up ahead. You may have to move forward a bit to aggro. Let’s follow the path ahead first. It will wrap around to the right and you’ll see two more rats. Waste them and then go up the steps.

When you come to a more open area with a body of water in the middle, cross the water and go to the other side. You should see some stairs up the right that lead up to a door. Open it and then head to the ladder. Climb up and then go up the stairs ahead of you and to the right. This will take you back to the bonfire. Rest and then head back out, to the right, down the ladder, down the stairs, and back to the body of water. Ahead is where you originally came from, but if you turn right and follow the body of water, it will lead you to another set of steps on the right. Watch out for the rats here.

Go up the steps and you’ll reach a huge open area. This is the next boss. Turn right from the steps and follow the path till you come to another set of steps on the right that lead down. At the bottom of these steps take a right and you’ll see another set of steps. Take these down and you’ll come to a fog door.

GAPING DRAGON

Now, this boss is supposed to be fought earlier on, but since we saved him for now he should be easier. The dragon has various moves, but I found that if you just stay back and shoot magic at him, you shouldn’t have a hard time. I used my Homing Soulmass and then quickly switched to my Great Heavy Soul Arrow to deal a ton of damage at once.

As soon as you pass the fog door, use a Homing Soulmass and then approach the beast. Switch to your Great Heavy Soul Arrow and hit him again. He will probably try to lunge towards you but just back away. At this point, move along to either side of him and keep doing the same tactic: Homing Soulmass, then Great Heavy Soul Arrow.  Alternatively, you can attack him from the sides with your melee weapon since it should be powerful enough to actually deal substantial damage. My best advice is to stay away from his front since he can slam down on top of you. If you just spam heavy magic at him, he’ll be dead in no time, especially at this point in the game. Don’t forget to cut off his tail to get the Dragon King Greataxe. It’s a slow but powerful weapon. After he’s dead, warp (or walk) back to the bonfire and then back to Undead Parish.

UNDEAD PARISH

You should have enough to level up once and save the rest to buy the Crest of Artorias from Andre downstairs. Keep in mind it costs 20,000 souls, so make sure you have enough. The last boss should have earned you enough to buy the crest. After you have purchased it, go down the stairs next to Andre and through the room with the huge demon guy. You can kill him if you want, but I always just run around him on the far right side. Take a left out the doorway and follow the path.

DARKROOT GARDEN

After you move forward a tad, a tree enemy will strike. The strategy is easy: Wait for them to strike, block it and then hit him once with your halberd. They should go down instantly. Once you reach the third tree guy, watch out, because a fourth one will surprise you from behind. Keep following till you get to an interesting looking door with a glowing orb in the center. To the left of the door you should see a brick wall that can be rolled through to reveal a bonfire.

Rest here and then look to the right of the weird door. Follow this path that leads to a fog gate. Pass through the gate and stick to the left wall, following the path, clockwise. When you come to a path on the left that splits off, quit out of the game and reload it. This will reset the enemies that were probably chasing you. Don’t take the left path, but instead keep going forward, sticking to the left wall, wrapping around, clockwise. You should see a tree with snake-like branches on them. These are enemies so kill them or run past.

Eventually, you’ll see some rubble and ruins on your right. Go this way and to the left you will see a doorway and probably a giant guard, getting ready to stand up. A few magic shots should kill him, or you can just run around him, through the doorway he’s guarding. Enter here and follow the steps all the way up to a fog gate.

MOONLIGHT BUTTERFLY

What a pathetic excuse for a boss. Again, this is supposed to be done earlier, but now that we are so powerful, this boss will be simple. After passing the gate, turn right and head down the walkway a bit. The butterfly will fly down and attack from the air. Shoot magic at the creature and watch out for the green beams it shoots. When you see one coming, roll to the side to avoid it. Keep spamming magic and eventually it will land on the bridge. From here, just pummel it with your strongest melee attacks and watch out for the big AOE bomb. You’ll see it charge up, so back away when this happens. There isn’t a whole lot to say with this one. It can be summed up in three steps. Use long range attacks, dodge through green beams, and smash the creature with melee when it lands.

After it’s dead, keep going down the far end of the bridge and use the stairs to get to the top. Grab the Watchtower Basement Key, Divine Ember, and the Homeward Bone, and then warp back to the bonfire to level up if you can.

From the bonfire, open the fancy door using the Crest of Artorias to reveal a new area. Head down the steps and then stop at the bottom of them so we can plan our route. Your goal here is to head left, sticking to the left side and following the path to a little building. There should be a cliff to our left side. Unfortunately, a few human enemies will attack you during this but if you get to the building and then quit out, you’ll be okay. Alternatively, you can fight them, but I don’t recommend it, especially since the cat NPC in this building won’t be happy with you.  

One thing that isn’t immediately apparent is that you can run while in the in-game system menu. My recommendation is to get ready to pull up the quit out menu and as soon as you’re about to enter the building and then  quit the game to reset the enemies right as you enter. Remember, to get here, follow the path to the left of the steps from the bonfire and quit the game as soon as you enter the building ahead.

When you load back in, talk to the cat on the left up in the window. Join her cult to get the bad guys behind you to stop attacking. Once you’re finished, continue down the path till you get to some steps that lead to a narrow area. Exit to the left and then wrap around the left along the cliffside to get to a  chest. Open it for some heavy armor. Head back and now your goal is to go through the thickness of the forest to the other side. It’s just a straight path and you’ll see the giant door in the distance. If you put your back to the steps you just came down and face towards the forest, your destination is diagonally to the left. It’s not exactly to the left, but it’s not straight, either.

Head through till you see a small drop down and a bridge with a giant door and a foggy light in the middle. This is where you want to be. Roll off the dropdown and open the door to enter. Upon entering, head straight ahead to a giant grave with a huge sword in front. Head to the back of the grave to get the super important Hornet’s Ring.

GREAT GREY WOLF SIF

Sif is not easy by any stretch, but there are a few tactics that make him more tolerable. For one, make sure you STAY UNDER HIM AT ALL TIMES. That’s the biggest thing. You are 100% invulnerable here. Now, he is fast and you will have to keep up with him to stay under his belly. Another thing is that he likes to separate himself from you and charge at you with his sword. Keep your shield handy for this. I also don’t recommend you rely on magic too much with him since he’s so fast and magic takes time. If you get far enough away from Sif, feel free to cast a Homing Soulmass, but other than that you should stick to melee under his legs.

To start the battle, approach the sword in front of the grave. A cutscene will commence and the fight will begin. If you’re like me, you’re bad at this fight and you may even die a few times! My recommendation is to quit out as soon as the fight starts so you can restart the fight closer to the fog gate, which is the best place to fight Sif. If you can get him to jump back and forth between the right corner and to the left of the fog door, you won’t have much distance between you two. You can then easily stay under him. Sometimes he will even jump upon the hill to the right of the fog door and you can avoid his attacks completely.

While under him, two-hand your weapon and get a couple attacks in before switching back to your shield while he jumps around. DO NOT GET GREEDY HERE. Running out of stamina can be the difference between victory and death so take a couple hits and then block with your shield.

If you have to heal, do it when you’re under him, or when he’s really far away. Although, ideally, he shouldn’t be too far from you if you keep him in that corner. An issue I ran into was that I kept getting hit with his 360 degree sword spin. I had the stats to block it once, but on the second hit, my stamina was low enough for him to deal massive damage. To avoid this, get super close to Sif when he’s about to use his 360 degree sword spin attack; Or you can back away and wait for another opportunity to get beneath him. Use your Homing Soulmass when you can, and be patient. Sif can be frustrating, but if you watch his movements and are generous with your blocking, you will defeat him.

If you’re having trouble, experiment with different armor sets. You may want no armor so you can run faster, or heavy armor so you can take more damage; it’s up to you. I used no armor so I could stay under him at all times. The hardest part is getting back under him when he jumps away. Try to roll through his attacks to get back beneath him and deal a few hits at a time to preserve stamina. I know you can do this!

After he’s dead you will have be awarded the Covenant of Artorias ring, which we will need for an upcoming boss. For now, warp back to the bonfire and then back to Firelink.

FIRELINK SHRINE

Okay, level up a bit and save some souls (4,000) for the merchant lady in the dark tunnel next to Undead Burg. Head up the hill that leads to Undead Burg, go through the tunnel and purchase one Transient Curse from the merchant behind the gate. This will allow you to cause damage to ghosts for a short time. You might want to buy more than one if you can afford it.  Now go back to the bonfire in Firelink and we will tackle the first part of New Londo Ruins. Head down the spiraling steps next to the bonfire. Go down to the elevator and take it down and head down the stairs.

NEW LONDO RUINS

This is one of my least favorite areas in the game because there is no bonfire here so if you die, you must go back to Firelink. Also, the ghosts can only be attacked if you are using a Transient Curse or if you are cursed. I don’t recommend being cursed because it reduces your health by half.

After you step out from the two sets of stairs take a left and follow the path that leads to the structure ahead. You’ll come across a couple Undead and an item in a big vase. It’s right next to a short set of steps leading towards the wooden walkways. Pick it up to get two more Transient Curses. Continue along the two narrow walkways and just after the second one go ahead and use a Transient Curse. You’ll come across two ghosts that you can now attack. Head up the stairs behind them and follow the path to the second floor. Once there, a ghost will spawn in front of you and another to your right. Kill them both and continue along the pathway into the building ahead.

Be careful, though. There will be a ghost to the left, so maybe bait her out and kill her. After that, enter the building and several ghosts will spawn. You should try to get out of this small area if you can and pick them off one at a time. You can also use magic if you’re having a hard time. Keep in mind once you run into this room, a ghost will spawn behind you. You might want to turn around as soon as that happens and retreat to take them out with magic. Do your best to get into the next area just ahead and down the steps.

One thing you absolutely need to watch out for is the long range grab attacks from the ghosts. If you aren’t paying attention you will get grabbed and it does devastating damage. Head out the hall at the bottom of the steps and make a right and then a left. You’ll see a fog gate on your right but move past it for now. A ghost will probably spawn right in front of the fog gate. Follow the path along to the right and kill the ghost in the corner. Grab two more Transient Curses behind her and now head through the fog gate.

Go up the steps ahead and right after them you’ll see a ladder you can kick down. Use this to unlock a shortcut that will help immensely. If you die, you can use this ladder to get back to where you are now. (From the area where you encounter the first two ghosts, head up the steps behind them and when you get to the area with the two ghosts that come up from the ground, kill them. Roll off the side behind the ghost on the right and you’ll land on a platform that you can follow to the left and you’ll end up at the ladder.)

After kicking down the ladder continue to the left (left if the steps you just came from are behind you) and follow the path all the way ahead. Eventually, you’ll come to some steps that lead down on the left. Once you get here, quit out and load the game to reset the enemies behind you. Head down the steps now and at the bottom of them, use a Transient Curse if you need to. This is probably the hardest part of this area.

What you’ll want to do is run into the area on your right and then head right again into a square room. Now, head back the way you came and back up the narrow steps you used to get down here. You can now pick some of the ghosts off with magic. Get as many as you can and then heal up and run in and do it again. Once you’ve killed a handful of them, head back into the little room and then take a left into the bigger room with a ghost holding a baby. Again, run back the way you came and pick them off with magic. If you couldn’t get them all on the first try, do it again. Once they’re all dead, head back into the bigger room and you’ll see a ladder at the back.

Climb it to get to an NPC who will give you the Key to the Seal. You can buy more Transient Curses from him if you need to. Now, head back down the ladder and back into the smaller room in front of the big room. Now take a right and then another right, down the steps. Take the first left that leads you outside and then take a right. Follow the path and it will lead you upstairs and around to the left. Take this path and head through a doorway that leads downstairs. Keep going down till you reach a gate. Open it and then push the lever ahead to lower the water. Almost finished!!

Go back up the steps a bit and you’ll see a circular area where it looks like an elevator could be. Hit the lever on the right to call it up and then take it down. Once you get down, head straight, use a Homing Soulmass and an enemy will charge you. Backstab him and watch out for his charge-up grab move. It will one hit kill you, unfortunately. After he’s dead there will be a small archway on the right with steps leading up. Take them and then make a left at the top of the steps. You’ll see more steps, so follow them up and enter a wooden area and make a right. Follow this area and you’ll see an exit to the left with another enemy in the way.

You can bait him out into a more open area or take him out in here. It’s hard to backstab in such a narrow corridor, so leading him out may be best. After this, head through the fog gate to proceed. Upon entering, you should use a Homing Soulmass to help with the next section because an enemy will charge you. Take him out like normal and then look to the right. You’ll see a giant blob and possibly another one of the tough enemies you’ve been dealing with. Take him out and then focus on the blob. It’s weak to magic, so don’t get close. After it’s dead, head over to where the blob originally was and one more tough enemy will come out of a small room on the right. Use a Homing Soulmass before to help.

After this you should see two archways with a path on the left and right. First, take the left path and you’ll see an elevator. Take it up to see where it goes (it will take you back to the beginning of the area) and use this as a shortcut if you die. Beware of the ghost at the top – you might want to hold up your shield. Take the elevator back down and go back to the archways to take the other path. Grab the Humanity in between. The path is to the left of the Humanity. Taking this path will lead us upstairs. This is the whole reason why we’re here so early. I normally save this entire area for last, but there’s an item we need.

At the top of the steps, the way we want to go is to the right, but grab the item ahead first. Now, take the right path (with your back to the stairs we just came up). Follow it around to the right and back to the left till you get to another set of stairs. Follow them up and at the top of the stairs, take the left path and you’ll see a chest. Open it for the Very Large Ember. Now, warp back to Firelink and then back to Andre in Undead Parish to upgrade our weapon past +10.