Darkroot Garden

Quick Reference

Bosses	NPCs	Notable Loot	Enemies
Moonlight Butterfly Sif, the Great Grey Wolf	Alvina (Head of the Forest Hunter covenant) Shiva of the East (Forest Hunters only)	Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier Elite Knight Armor Set Partizan Wolf Ring Eastern Armor Stone Set Watchtower Basement Key Divine Ember Enchanted Ember	Demonic Foliage Tree Lizard Giant Stone Knight Possessed Tree Frog-Ray Great Feline Mushroom Parent Mushroom Child Clan of Forest Protectors

Description

The Darkroot Garden is one of many interconnected areas in Dark Souls. There are many ways to go through it to get to its neighboring areas. This walkthrough will be starting from the bonfire near Andre of Astora.

Connections

• Undead Parish
• Darkroot Basin

General Notes

• The bonfire is located next to the Crest locked door (hidden behind an illusory wall)
• To the right of the crest-locked door is a path. If you go down that path, you'll see a body with an item on it. Be careful; picking up this item will cause three demonic foliages to spawn and ambush you. The loot in the middle of this ambush is a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier. After you set off the trap, the demonic foliage here will always respawn standing instead of dormant.
• Immediately upon entering the large open area, right after the previously mentioned ambush by three demonic foliages, veer to the right. After following the wall for about 15-20 feet, there will be a large tree against the wall. You can damage this "living" tree to access a secret area with a Wolf Ring at the end of it. Be careful; there are 2 Giant Stone Knights you must fight or run past to get the ring. There are also 4 Frog Rays that will ambush you when you approach the cliff in the open area before the stairs to the ring; they guard a Soul of a Proud Knight.
• If you hug the left wall instead, upon entering the area before the tower that leads to the boss fight, you will eventually find a hard-to-see opening that leads to a pillage-able body, containing a Partizan. Once you approach it, a demonic foliage will spawn behind you.
• If you have the Crest of Artorias, killing the Clan of Forest Protectors in this area is one of the best mid-to-late-game soul farming methods (the 20,000 soul cost of the Crest will be made back many times over!). Check the Soul Farming page for more details.

Important Tips

• Avoid the Giant Stone Knights, they cast Tranquil Walk of Peace, a potentially nasty AoE slow spell which lasts 30 seconds and can lead to an early death, though the time it takes to cast also often gives you time to get several unblocked hits in. If you want to engage them, keeping your shield up and trying to get hits in on their back after they attack is possibly the safest strategy against them. They can be an easy enemy if you step behind them while they stand up - in most cases this will cause them to instantly cast Tranquil Walk of Peace which gives you enough time to get some hits in, leading to some easy souls (600 each).

• About demonic foliages: These guys don't hit too hard, but they hit quickly. Watch out for when they throw their arms back; if they catch you with the following grab, it can be a one-hit kill for lower level characters. One at a time they aren't too tricky, but they can be very challenging in large groups. Block the whip attacks and finish them.

Walkthrough

Darkroot Garden Map

Starting from the bonfire, head down the stairs, and past Andrei. Head down the next set of stairs, into a large chamber with a Prowling Demon. You may try and fight this Demon a few times, but if you're not ready yet, go ahead and run as quickly as possible to his left. He turns slowly and should not be able to track you fast enough to harm you. Exit out the bottom of the room to enter the Darkroot Garden proper. Take note of the glowing flower, as you will encounter many others like it along the way, usually indicating the general paths you can take. The forest, particularly past the sealed door, is a difficult area to navigate, and as such, you should be careful on your way. Head to your left and walk down the path to encounter your first demonic foliage. Head down the path towards the next bit of light. On your right will be a fork, leading down the cliff face to Darkroot Basin. You may proceed this way if you choose. (This route through to the Basin will allow you to gain access to the area behind the Crest-locked door, thus saving you 20,000 souls. However, you will need to defeat the Hydra to do so) Continuing from the fork, head forward slowly, ahead of you is another demonic foliage on the edge of a cliff. You can block him and force him over the ledge, but watch out for its grab. Head forward around the corner, and you'll come upon an open area up ahead. There's another demonic foliage in the distance, but look closely, and you'll see another one resting in the ground on the right. Proceed forward slowly, and you won't trigger him until you're ready. Once these two are out of the way, look around and take note of the loot on the ledge across the chasm, and another piece behind a rock in this area. Head forward down the path towards the glowing door. If you purchase the Crest of Artorias from Andre of Astora, you can open it, but the enemies beyond are relatively high-level (the Clan of Forest Protectors). Explore the wall to the left of this door, and you'll find an illusory wall with a bonfire behind it. Light the bonfire and rest here. If you wish to Kindle it, do so, as you will be revisiting this location frequently in the future for multiple bosses and possibly soul farming (the respawning Clan of Forest Protectors give 7,000 souls per trip, which can equate to repeatedly farming 7,000 souls in less than a minute a time for mid-late characters.) Head down the path to the right of the locked door. As you head down, there will be a small cave on your right; this is a trap, with three demonic foliages laying in ambush around a Soul. If you're early in the game, the soul may not be worth the trouble of fighting three Foliages at once, though even weak characters shouldn't have too much trouble taking them down one at a time. Take the soul or leave it, then continue down the path. The next area introduces another new foe, the Giant Stone Knight. These Knights are slow but powerful and have a spell that will slow your movement to a crawl. At the bottom of the path, you will have a clearing in front of you. There are 5 Giant Stone Knights laying in wait here, all of which you should be able to challenge one at a time easily (though note that Demon Foliage will accompany them; it's usually best to try and kite the foliage away from the Knight and dispatch them first, leaving the Knight to be dealt with on its own.). To go straight to the boss, skip to step 7, or continue for something interesting in this area: On the far right, you will notice a glow from a corpse. There is a complete set of Elite Knight Set resting behind two Giant Stone Knights and four demonic foliages, as mentioned above. From the path, follow along the left wall, and you'll see a path leading to some loot. Walk down it slowly, and turn to find a demonic foliage has popped up behind you. Once he's down, turn back to the path, and you'll see the loot resting at the foot of a not-so-peaceful tree. Lash out and kill the tree lizard on the trunk and collect the Partizan. Starting again from the bottom of the path, look to your immediate right to see a tree breathing. Behind the "tree" is also another creature. Strike out and kill the tree and the creature behind it, opening up another detour. Head down the path here to encounter 1-2 more stone knights, and if you move closer to the cliff, several Frog Rays will jump on you. After defeating those enemies collect a soul that is on the left side of the cliff. Then find a set of stairs near the stone knights. Dash up the stairs, and you'll be able to collect the loot, a Wolf Ring, you observed from across the chasm earlier. Once you've done this head back to the main path, and we'll head towards the boss. From the main path, follow the glowing flowers along the left of the area, being careful to keep your distance from the Giant Stone Knights littering the forest on your right. You should see some crumbling ruins and a doorway behind one of the soldiers. Dash past the soldiers and head into this tower, climbing the flights of stairs to race the fog gate. If you run, you can reach this gate without fighting any of the soldiers along the way. Enter to fight the Moonlight Butterfly. After you've finished off the Moonlight Butterfly, head across the top of the wall here and climb the stairs in the tower. There are no enemies to speak of, but at the top, you will find Divine Ember along with the Watchtower Basement Key and a sadly deceased Blacksmith. Once you've collected this, you can proceed to whichever area you like. You can revisit Undead Burg to explore the lower levels, head to the Darkroot Basin, The Catacombs, and New Londo Ruins.

Darkroot Garden via the Basin

From the lake go towards the waterfall, which partly obscures a ladder. Climb up the ladder and cross the wooden bridge at the top. Walk towards the base of a stone bridge, collect some notable loot there and ascend another ladder to enter Darkroot Garden. To your left is a stone bridge, to your right is a small path which you should proceed. At the end of the path, there are several demonic foliages which can be dispatched with fire. Continue this path skirting the cliff face to your left you should encounter more demonic foliages. These are somewhat more powerful then ones met earlier on in the Garden. They guard the Eastern Armour Set. More demonic foliages await. Finally, you should come upon the area where the NPCs reside. After dispatching them, enter the small building which the Bandit NPC was guarding. In this building, there is Alvina the head of the Forest Hunter covenant. You can join this covenant if you want. If you do join this covenant, Shiva of the East and his guard will appear. He will sell you weapons the next time you meet him (as long as you are a member of the covenant). Since you are already there, you should look for the Stone Set that is behind the ruins past the small stone bridge. If you wander through the forest, you should chance upon the Mushroom Children. You can follow them to a small lake containing a chest with the Enchanted Ember, guarded by two Mushroom Parents. These larger kind have a right hook that will wipe away your stamina and their follow through left jab is no joke either. However, like most things in the Garden, they are susceptible to fire. In the distance, there are two lights, the one on the left would take to yet another stone bridge and the boss fight with the Grey Wolf Sif. The light on the right leads to a small glen, beyond which you should find three Great Felines. They have a powerful roll attack, but they can be lured towards the glen. The most effective way to combat these enemies is hiding behind the trees and lure them. That way, you cannot be hit by their rolls, and you can hit them safely. Another way is by using poison arrows. It takes three arrows to set off the poison effect, and then it is a matter of waiting out until they die. Continuing through this area brings you back to the small stone bridge next to the ladder that would take you back to the Basin.