- Immediately after leaving the Colosseum area where you fought the corrupted Knight Artorias, you'll find paths to the right and left, and a bonfire straight ahead. You may kindle this bonfire, but keep in mind that this bonfire can be warped to, so you can warp at the bonfire which you have kindled the highest, rest there, then warp back here. To the left is Gough, but you need the Crest Key to get in there, so don't worry for now. To the right is the PVP arena.
- Continue past the bonfire, where you'll meet your first Bloatheads. On the left is a large soul of a proud knight, but first, to the right, is a sneaky bloathead who will ambush you; this is a recurring theme for this area, so be prepared to look around every corner.
- After grabbing the soul, turn to your right, where you'll see four more Bloatheads. These guys hit hard, and have one move which can drain stamina quickly when blocked, but you can pull them in pairs if you're feeling cautious.
- Just down from here is a little gazebo which will provide a shortcut later on, but pass it and head to the right for now, where you'll meet two more Bloatheads.
- Continue down the stairs, and pop your head around the corner to pull the next bloathead, then quickly run back, so the Bloathead Sorcerer can't get you while you dispatch the soldier. Once the soldier is down, wait for the Sorcerer to cast, then charge him down. They have very low poise, so once you start hitting, they can't do much.
- Inside a little room, you'll see another soul, but be careful of the Bloathead laying in ambush to your left.
- Drop down a few steps (or walk off the ledge), and before heading down the long stairs, head to the right. Follow this path until you meet another Bloathead whom you can jump attack pretty easily. Continue down until you get to a dead end, with a wooden platform above you containing loot. Walk off and drop down to the stone platform below.
- Walk around to the right, but ignore the little bridge, and stick to the side of the building. There's a crystal lizard ahead you might be able to snipe if you're quick.
- Continue around until you hit the message from the developers, "Let there be light." Use a light source, like the skull lantern or sunlight maggot, to reveal a hidden room behind an illusory wall. It contains the silver pendant which is useful for deflecting attacks from Manus and the Bloathead Sorcerers. Go back out and cross the bridge to enter a room where a Sorcerer is waiting.
- Go down the stairs, where two more Sorcerers await, with two open chests and one closed one, which contains the spell dark orb. At the very bottom, to the left is a dead end/drop, so head back up the stone steps and take the archway which leads you to a platform with a Sorcerer who drops the I'm sorry carving.
- If you don't mind fighting your way back to the fork in paths at Step 6, use a homeward bone now. Alternatively, head back up, out, and left and up again where you'll find a wooden platform with another soul. From here, turn around, and drop down to your right to get back where you did your first jump. Head back up the stairs, right, up more stairs, right again, left, down, left and you're back to where the paths split. If you want to use the bonfire now, do so, then get back here, and head down the stairs.
- If you're human, Marvellous Chester will invade here; he doesn't drop anything. To get his armor, kill him in the Royal Wood by the bridge, but be careful.
- Take out the Bloathead, and advance to a chest (which is a mimic) containing the very good carving. Don't head down yet - this is a great spot to snipe the Sorcerer you'll see down below, making your passage a lot easier. Head down the platform (look for the winding stairs) and continue to take out the Bloatheads, then head left, and watch for the frenzied Bloathead waiting in the dark. Frenzied Bloatheads have glowing red eyes and deal more damage than the previous ones you've encountered, so watch out.
- Through the archway, to the right, is another Bloathead, and some rubbish against the wall ahead; this is another ambush - there's a Bloathead above and behind you, so wait for him to drop, then quickly dispatch of him.
- Down the stairs are two Sorcerers and five regular Bloatheads (one Sorcerer is on a ledge and may not drop down until you proceed a little further, while the other one is hiding with a regular Bloathead behind the stairs). Watch for magic in the back, and try to use the pillars to your advantage. Sniping from the balcony or tagging and pulling one at a time with arrows might be a smart move if you keep dying.
- Go down the stairs, where you have a few options.
- A big archway to the left has a Soul of a Hero immediately outside, but little else.
- A small archway to the right with stairs has a few hidden items, but first, open the shortcut.
- There's a body to shoot down with the dark fog spell at the end of the room, and just beyond a small archway leading to the shortcut, so take that first. Head through the arch, and immediately right again. You'll see the platform. Ride it up, and unless you're low on Estus, ride it straight back down, so you don't have to clear that big room again.
- Head to the small archway mentioned above, and up the stairs. You'll enter a room with more stairs, where you might get ambushed, and there's another Bloathead at the top. Cross the walkway to find yourself on some wooden planks. Head forward into a seemingly dead-end room. Pull out your light source, and poke it at the wall dead ahead to reveal a pathway (or, do some trick jumping to the left from plank to plank if you prefer). Either way, grab the red titanite chunk and head back and to the right, where you can see a room below with a chest. Run/roll down to it, and kill the mimic, to get the Crest Key. There's an archway you can pass through to drop down onto a rooftop and pick up the twin humanities as well.
- Make your way back to the shortcut. (At this point, you might like to head back and top up on Estus Flasks and also spend souls. There's a problematic fight coming up). You'll see 2 Sorcerers ahead, and one regular Bloathead, but there are two more hidden on the side, so sniping is advised. Once you've cleared the enemies, check to the right just down the stairs for another soul.
- Now it's time to fight the Chained Prisoner. This guy hits heavy. If you treat him like the stone guardians in the forest (hit two-handed, dodge late) he shouldn't cause you too much trouble, but be prepared to lose a few lives learning his patterns. He's weak to thrust weapons, Lightning, and Pyromancy. Once you've taken him out, there's a lift down to a bonfire, and it's on to the Chasm of the Abyss.
|