Crest of Artorias

In Game Description

This crest opens a door in the Darkroot Garden sealed by ancient magic.

This door leads to the grave of Sir Artorias the Abysswalker. Many adventurers have left for the grave, but none have returned for they make easy prey for local bandits,
With such dangers, the crest can do more harm than good in the hands of the uninitiated.

Availability

• Sold by Andre of Astora for 20,000 souls
• Andre of Astora drop

Use

Opens the large sealed, glowing door in the Darkroot Garden

Notes

• This negates the need to circle around the Darkroot Garden and fight the Hydra in the Darkroot Basin to get access to the ladder, as well as providing very efficient soul farming of the Clan of Forest Protectors. It is not actually required, but is highly recommended; not only does it make the trip to the Sif, the Great Grey Wolf boss fight much easier, the soul farming of the Forest Protectors will make back the 20,000 cost of the Crest in no time. Your first time killing the whole Clan will yield 15,000 souls, of which 7,000 will then continue to re-spawn. A character of mid-level and above can farm 7,000 souls a minute; even quicker when casting Homeward.

• At the very location of the door that requires the Crest of Artorias, there is an illusory wall to the left, beside the locked door, hiding a secret Bonfire.

• The easiest method to buy this key is to kill the Bell Gargoyles and the Moonlight Butterfly. Both will give you 10,000 souls when defeated, resulting in quick 20,000 souls.

• If you want to open the door without killing the gargoyles, you can farm souls with the Hellkite Dragon method. If this technique is optimized, it will grant you 1100 souls ~minute. You only need to kick the ladder to the bonfire in the Undead Burg to do this. It would take around 18 - 20 runs to accumulate 20,000.

• Another helpful soul farming area, conveniently located right next to the Crest and a short run from Andre, is the side-passage to the right of the Crest that leads to the Moonlight Butterfly. The journey from the hidden bonfire mentioned above through, this passage, including the side 'trap' area, provides five Giant Stone Knights and seven Demonic Foliages, a total of 3,700 souls. These can be quickly farmed using the hidden bonfire as a base, and six runs would yield 22,200 souls. See the Darkroot Garden page and walkthrough for more details.