Grand Archives - rooftops Dark Souls III Guide

Expect a gargoyle after you come close to the edge.

Right after you get to the rooftops, climb down the ladder onto a large yard on the right. At the corpse, there is a Titanite Chunk. Watch out after you come close to the edge, because a gargoyle will arrive flying. Use the tactic of waiting for the enemy to be off his guard and attack. From here, you can also approach the edge on the right, where you can jump down onto a rooftop below. After that, walk over to its end to collect another Titanite Chunk and return to Grand Archives, to the bridge where you have earlier defeated the mage.

Two lizards and two gargoyles around.

A bit ahead, on the rooftop (you have to approach its end first) there is a Soul of an Exhausted Knight guarded by a gargoyle. Defeat the monster and you should be able to spot two twinkling lizards on the left. Kill them quickly because another gargoyle will soon appear. For the lizards you will be rewarded with Heavy Gem and Twinkling Titanite, as well as Sharp Gem and Twinkling Titanite.

It is better not to fight with that many - walk around them or extract them one by one from the group.

Jump down where, around the shaman, you can spot opponents clustered. It is best to get around them or, if you really want to defeat them, to escape to one of the side roofs and hope that you can attract them one-by-one. Also, it is a good idea, still before you jump down, to jump directly onto the shaman and attack him. You can stop the transformation of enemies this way.

Regardless of the tactic, there is Hollow Gem below. At the other end you can jump over to the rooftop below (the screenshot), where you will find 3 Titanite Shards and a balcony straight into the archives.

Note: If you have dispatched Greirat on the third search to Lothric Castle, you will also find his corpse here.

Return to the rooftop, where you have defeated the two gargoyles and two lizards. You can go up a little to the left or jump over onto the balcony on the right. Both ways will take you to the same location.

By going left, you will reach a rooftop where you have to deal with another gargoyle. In the spot shown in the screenshot, you can jump into the room. Kill the single opponent, collect the Ember and Undead Bone Shard. Also, remember to kick the ladder down, which opens up a shortcut for you.

After you jump over onto the balcony from the rooftop, you will enter from the other side.

In the corridor ahead, past the bowl with wax, watch out for the enemies hanging down from the ceiling (it is best to knock them down before you get past). Defeat the knight but watch out for his attacks, because the space is confined here. After you kill him, you can collect the Titanite Chunk from the balcony. It is the same balcony that you could jump down onto from the roof. As a result, you reached this place from the other side.

It is necessary that you drag the enemies away from you. If necessary, kill at least one which is going to make things easier the next time around.

The path ahead leads outside - the exit is near the basin with wax. In the large yard, there are three strong opponents waiting for you. One of them wields an axe, the second one uses a bow, but if you come close, he produces two katana swords. The third one is casting spells. Try to lure the enemy with the axe near the fountain, where you stay outside of the reach of arrows and spells. Then, after you deal with him (do not let him heal), dart up to the mage in the first place (he is not as tough) and then to the enemy with katana swords. If you have any problems, try to kill at least one of them, the first time around, because they disappear permanently after they die.

Note: It is a good idea to unlock a shortcut in the first place, by dashing by the opponents. The elevator will take you straight to the archives entrance, right by the bonfire. If you die in this battle, this will save you a lot of walking.

For defeating the opponents, you receive Onikiri and Ubadachi, Crystal Sage Staff and Golden Wing Shield. Along your path to the room with the elevator, you can also find Soul of a Crestfallen Knight on the stairs.

Right after you gain access to the elevator, you can take the stairs up, towards the final boss of this location. But, before you do that, it is a good idea to go left, over the stairs, right after you leave the room with the elevator. By the first dome, there is a Soul of a Crestfallen Knight. Then, climb up the stairs and walk around the big dome, to the very end, where you find a big square rooftop (the screenshot). The items there is another Estus Shard.

Then, approach the big dome again and climb up the stairs on the right. At the top, there is a ladder. At the very top, there is a corpse and Hunter's Ring.

After you wait for a moment, the knights will walk away.

During your exploration, you must have noticed three winged knights in gold armors that jumped down from above. After they do this, get away from them and let them walk away. Thanks to this, you will be able to attack each and every one of them, one-by-one. Watch out for them, because as slow as they are, they deal lots of damage when they get you. The most dangerous of their attacks are lightning bolts from the ground(a bright halo appears then around the knight), as well as lethal whirls that last several seconds. They have quite a range (it is best to run away a bit, it may be tricky to block the attack or dodge it). Strike the knight each time he flies away or attacks with his weapon, by jabbing it into the ground. Killing all of the knights (you have to do this in a single take - they respawn if you miss one), is rewarded with a Titanite slab.

The tower on the rooftop with three knights takes you here.

After you deal with them, enter the building that they have been guarding. Inside, there is a hole through which you can jump down, onto wooden beams. You will get to the attic of the Grand Archives. Jump down, into the cage with feathers, where there are Pillars of Divine Light. Then, jump down again, onto the structure, and walk to the very end - Consecrated Gem. Finally, locate the larva opponent that keeps shooting projectiles. Approach carefully, make sure you do not fall down and push the opponent into the chasm. Behind the opponent, there is a ladder. Down the ladder, there are two chests. Inside, you find 2x Twinkling Titanite and Divine Blessing. Finally, leave across the window, where there is one exit to the rooftop.

There are opponents hiding behind the barricades.

Go up, from the place where you have opened the elevator to the bonfire in Grand Archives, towards the building atop the stairs.

A bit ahead, you will run into wooden barricades with lots of undead behind them. Try to attack them as quickly as possible. You can destroy the barricades, while doing that, to make your attacks reach the opponent. After you clear this area of, around, a half of the enemies, you have to start to watch out for crossbowmen and a Lothric knight who comes down. Drag him outside of the reach of bolts and deal with him.

It is difficult to separate the knights - wait for them to come down or dash around them and run for the elevator.

After you manage to kill the undead, there will be three more knights coming. These are the last one in your way to unlock the shortcut and reach the arena. So, you can simply try and get around them. Alternatively, drag the knight with axe away from the rest of the group and then, try to do the same in the case of spearmen. Things may get a little bit more difficult here (they are difficult to separate) - wait for them to come down the stairs. One of them will turn back to come up again. With the other one below, use bow or Throwing knives to attract his attention. The distance between the knights should be long enough for only one of them to attack you.

The last Lord of Cinders is waiting. After you defeat, you can take on the final opponent. Still, before you do that, it is a good idea to visit locations that you have missed.

Before you enter the arena to fight Lothric and Lorian, go right, into the elevator. This will open a shortcut near the site of the battle with Dragonslayer Shield. Apart from that, the functioning of this elevator is similar to one in Undead Settlement. While downstairs, walk onto the elevator but do not press the button and stand behind it, instead. Then, roll in such a way that the elevator goes up without you. When another elevator arrives, jump down, where you find a Titanite Slab.

Return up and deal with the princes. Before the battle, you can summon Sirris (if only you have followed her quest) and Orbeck (if you gave him all of the scrolls and bought all of the spells, you can find his summon sign in front of the double doors to the boss arena) After you use them both, it is a good idea to focus on Lothric, while Lorian is attacking your allies, and strive for a quick victory.

Note: At this point, you have already defeated 4 Lords of Cinders. You can return to Firelink Shrine and leave their remains on correct thrones. This way, you start the final battle that ends the game. If you do not want to do that just yet, go to one of the locations that you might have missed, i.e. Consumed King's Gardens, Untended Graves, or Archdragon Peak.