- Enter from the Firelink Shrine through the sewer tunnel
- At the top of the stairs are two Hollows. After you have dealt with them, look left. There is a Hollow throwing firebombs and another Hollow lurking in the building to your left. Deal with them, prioritizing the firebomber, as the fire will penetrate any shield this early in the game.
- Proceed onward through the building on the right, and up the stairs, across the walkway. This path leads up onto the rampart wall. Ahead of you are three Hollows, and 1 Hollow Crossbowman on the small tower up ahead. Proceed slowly and draw the hollows out individually to avoid being mobbed. Keeps your shield up at all times to avoid taking damage from the crossbow bolts. After handling the 3 Hollows, head up the small staircase straight ahead and dispose of the Crossbowman.
- In the building to the left is your first bonfire. Light the bonfire and rest, kindling it if you like; you will be visiting here frequently as it is a central path early on. Take note of the ladder in the room, as you will find a way to use it later.
- Sidepath 1 Upon exiting the bonfire, the Hollows you just disposed of will have returned. Draw the first one back towards the bonfire and dispose of him, handling the others as you see fit. At this point, head down the stairs and check the room underneath the Crossbowman for some loot. Facing back towards the entrance of the area, you'll notice a walkway leading over to a rooftop with 2 Hollow Spearmen. Here will be your first test in parrying. Be patient, and remember the bonfire is only feet away. Until your weapons are much more powerful, parrying will be the most effective and surefire way of handling spearmen.
- Smash the boxes littering the left side of this rooftop to reveal a set of stairs leading down. At the foot of the stairs is a door which leads to the first Undead Merchant Male of the game. He sells Firebombs and Arrows, both of which will be useful to you later.
- Resuming from the foot of the stairs, head towards the other door slowly, as an enemy lies in wait behind the bookshelves ahead. Dispose of him, and head out the far door and down the path. Head down the walkway slowly, and handle the 2-3 Hollows towards the end. Take the ladder to the top, and after collecting your loot, drop down to return to the bonfire.
- From the bonfire, exit the main door. Block the Hollow coming up the stairs, and deal with the Crossbowman. Down the diagonal path ahead lies a room containing one Hollow Swordsman and three Hollow Axemen. Also, two Hollows on the ramparts above will be throwing firebombs as you cross this bridge, and may even jump down to enter the room and attack. This section is difficult, so approach it with caution. Dash forward to the doorway of the room, and backpedal back to your starting position to draw them out a few at a time. Try and keep track of how many you have left, as the Firebombers can be a bit of a wildcard here. Once you've taken out most of them, head across and make sure the room is clear.
- Directly opposite the walkway is a locked door and to your left an open door which you'll be heading through. Be careful here of one of the firebombers having fallen. Head into the other doorway on the right, and defeat the Hollow inside. Behind him and through the archway, another Hollow lies in wait on your left. Check out the rest of this house for some loot.
- Head back out and head up the stairs. Ahead of you are 2 Hollows and 1 Firebomber. Draw them out slowly and dispose of them on the stairs. Once you're finished, look to your rights and take the short ladder onto the rooftop. There are two firebombers straight ahead if any of them didn't fall earlier. Afterwards, head back down to the ladder.
- Sidepath 2 If you have enough souls to spare, you can backtrack at this point to visit the merchant earlier in Undead Burg to purchase the Residence Key (you can open most of the doors with the Master Key, but will still need this to free Griggs later on). This key will open some doors in Undead Burg. Once you've purchased it, return to the area just past the firebombers. You can now open the door directly ahead of you. Inside this house is a chest with loot. However, do not collect it until you have dealt with the enemies in the section up ahead, as they will notice you and corner you in the house.
You can also get the Blue Tearstone ring easily by attracting the attention of the Black Knight and running up the stairs, back through the house, off of the landing and back down the path to grab the ring. The knight will eventually catch up with you, but you will keep the item if you aren't up for the fight yet.
- From the top of the stairs past the Firebombers, head into the small tower on your left. Stay on the staircase and hit the Crossbowman in the legs while avoiding his bolts easily.
- Head back down and approach the top of the staircase. Ahead of you are 3 Hollow Swordsmen and 1 Hollow Spearman. Two swordsmen are straight ahead, while one is at the top of the stairs in the distance. On your first attempt, he will be there until you approach. On all subsequent attempts, he will be the first to see you and immediately begin heading your way once you reach these stairs. With this in mind, step down the stairs slowly, drawing out one Swordsman at a time and dealing with them at the top of the stairs. The Spearmen are much slower, and you have time to lure out and deal with all 3 Swordsmen first. If this is not your first attempt, keep an eye out for the Swordsman from the far staircase closing in on you. Deal with these enemies cautiously, and then return to collect the loot in Sidepath 2 if you have not already.
- From the bottom of the stairs, you will see a large staircase leading up into a tower and a longer set of stairs leading down. A Black Knight awaits at the bottom of these stairs, and unless you are ungodly accurate on parrying, save him for much later. Head up the far staircase into the tower. Notice the locked door ahead of you, and head up the stairs to the second landing, and then the third.
- On the third landing will be a Fog Gate leading to your first real Boss Fight. On this landing, a Crystal Lizard sometimes spawns as well, so smash the barrels and be sure to collect if he is there. When ready, proceed through the Fog for your battle with the Taurus Demon
- After dealing with the Taurus Demon, head across the walkway to the other tower. Smash the boxes at the end of this narrow room for some loot and head down the staircase to arrive at the main bridge leading towards Undead Parish. But you are not there yet! At the foot of the stairs, look right and head down to the lookout to meet Solaire of Astora. If you choose to accept his offer, he will give you the White Sign Soapstone and offer to let you summon him at a later date. If you miss this encounter, do not worry, as you can still summon him when possible regardless, and can return here at any time to hear his offer.
- After you're finished speaking with Solaire, head back to the bridge and get prepared for some hurt. If you have no Estus Flasks now may be the time to backtrack, as you need some healing. Run down the bridge as quickly as you can. After a few meters, the Hellkite Dragon will let out a breath of flame across the bridge. If you are lucky, you may be able to reach the middle of the bridge in time. Likely, however, this first massive blast will catch you. After the first blast, however, the dragon will not fire again until you are at about the halfway point. Run towards the middle of the bridge, and head down the stairs on the right to avoid the next burst of flame. (Unverified, happened at least twice: if you successfully lure the non-crossbow hollow soldiers to your side of the bridge and kill them the Hellkite will give you a noticeable headstart when you go for it).
- From his landing, look for the door in the corner and head down carefully. Remember that ladder? Kick it down and head back to the bonfire to heal. At this point, you can now challenge the Hellkite Dragon using a Bow and Wooden Arrows if you so choose thanks to the helpful merchant. Don't rush, however, as he's hardly going anywhere.
Tip - This is a great place to do some early soul farming (see soul farming method 6). Leave the dragon alive; you can rest at the bonfire below and climb the ladder/stairs to trigger the dragon, killing the undead on the bridge for 550 souls each time.
- If the dragon is still alive - from the bonfire, climb the ladder and head up the stairs onto the landing. Exit out the door onto the underside of the bridge. Mind your footing here! You will need to shimmy along the edges of the supports to reach the doorway on the distant left.
- From the starting doorway, head left quickly and shimmy over to the next section. Directly ahead of you is a Spearman, while immediately to your right in this next section will be a Swordsman. The Spearman will wait, Block and deal with the Swordsman before being pushed over the edge. Once he is dealt with, very patiently wait for the Spearman to approach and parry him, being mindful of your distance from the edge.
- After they are dealt with, move forward to the left of the last support. In the doorway ahead are 3 Poisoned Rats waiting for you to approach. If you have a weapon with a vertical of Thrust attack, now is the time to use it. If you do, head forward and into the doorway until they pay attention. Immediately head back the way you came, and stop at just before the open section with the Swordsman. From here, wait and block the first attack, and then thrust/slice into the group. This technique should keep you from being surrounded and make the rats easier to dispose of. If you do not have any thrusting or vertically slashing weapon, you should draw them back to the middle of the support, and handle them as quickly as possible as they arrive. Once the rats are dead, head through the far door and up the ladder. At the top of the ladder, you will see stairs leading upward. At the top waits a Black Knight, who will destroy you. Ignore him for now, and step forward, entering the Undead Parish.
If you defeated the Hellkite Dragon - head down the bridge and deal with the 3 Spearmen and 2 Crossbowmen carefully. Walk to the far end to light the last bonfire and permanently open the gate on your left, leading into the Undead Parish.
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