Lothric Castle Dark Souls III Guide
Last update: 01 June 2016
Remember: Once you defeat all the Lords of Cinder (Farron Keep, Anor Londo and Profaned Capital) you will be automatically taken to High Wall of Lothric, to the cathedral with dying Emma. You will receive (conversation) Basin of Vows from her, which will allow you to travel to Lothric Castle. Before you do that, approach the ladder behind her and defeat yet another boss - Dancer of the Boreal Valley.
After the fight with Dancer of the Boreal Valley, approach the statue once again and use the Basin - this will launch another cut scene. Now, you can use the ladder. When you get to the top, you will have two possible options:
- Head left and access an optional location - Consumed King's Garden,
- head straight and explore the castle some more.
Go to the room in front of you, deeper into the castle.
The beginning
Inside, you will find a red-eyed knight and a cleric. First deal with the latter one, otherwise, he will heal and boost the knight. When it comes to the very knight, avoid his blows and try to get behind him as often as possible. There is a Soul of a Crestfallen Knight by the altar.
Use the stairs and move forward. There will be two more patrolling knights and clerics strengthening their attacks (they will join the combat if you get too close). Draw attention of one of the knights or wait for one of them to come near the stairs, and kill him without alerting the clerics.
There is a bonfire in the next room, and on your right a path that will quickly take you back to the place where you fought the Dancer.
Get to the next chamber via stairs, and collect Prayer Set from a chest in another chamber. The body on the balcony has a Titanite Chunk on it. Continue your journey and you will encounter two undead warriors. Be careful, as their strikes are more powerful.
There is one more enemy at the top of the tower, on the left. It is possible that two more undead will come from upstairs, so be prepared for an intensive fight. A little lower, there is another body with a Titanite Chunk - pick it up and walk away from the edge. Now wait for three more opponents that will appear.
Leave the stairs for now and head to the room on your right. Inside you will find a ladder, but don't be too hasty. There is also a powerful opponent that will appear as soon as you approach it. If you are fast enough, you will be able to explore the upper part, as the knight won't follow you. If you decide to fight him, watch out for a double axe strike. The best way to avoid this attack and defeat the knight, is to get behind him.
Deal with the dangerous creature and pick up Twinkling Titanite lying under the ladder. The wall presented in the screenshot is another illusion. Destroy it to unlock a corridor with Winged Knight Set and Sacred Bloom Shield. Get back to the stairs and head up.
You will notice a creature standing on the wall, above the gate. If you come closer, he will try to hit you with a firebomb which will temporarily prevent you from healing. Kill the monster from a distance (bow, crossbow), or run up to the gate, get spotted by another creature with an axe and get away as low as possible. Not only will you solve the healing problem, but you also will eliminate one of your enemies. There are two more crossbowmen under the gate. Slay them and return down to collect items (on the left of the gate).
Beware of the opponent with a halberd (that is, if he has not seen you before). There is a single enemy on each of the towers and they protect Large Soul of a Weary Warrior and two Titanite Chunks.
Get back to the gate and head upstairs, where you will find a bonfire and Ember on the left. Stairs on both sides will lead you to a square with fallen knights. You can spot the dragon from a distance but before you get to the bridge, turn left, and at the end of the path you will find a kneeling knight. Deal with him and collect a Greatlance.
Now the only available path is the bridge. When you get close enough, the second dragon will fly down and the whole area will be set on fire. Jump off the bridge on the right side.
Turn right under the bridge
You will land in a place presented in the screenshot. On the right, there is a Titanite Chunk. Notice the undead lying by the wall. To save yourself some trouble, run up to the creature and slay it before it mutates into a stronger creature. In the middle, there are two more Titanite Chunks, in the corner, one more undead (again: run up to it and kill it) and 2x Twinkling Titanites.
Once you get to the bottom, you should access the building on the right side of the bridge. Inside, by the entrance, on the left side, behind the chests, there are three Lightning Urns. Get outside and follow the lizard quickly. Kill it and collect 2x Twinkling Titanite. At the same time, you will be attacked by two enemies, so as soon as you slay the lizard, turn the other way.
Head to the end and collect a Large Soul of a Seasoned Warrior on your way (be careful, as three more creatures will appear here). At the top of the tower you will face another winged knight. This time; however, instead of a pair of axes, he will have a scythe. This weapon performs incredibly fast strikes so it's best to stay away from it. Defeat the knight to get access to the lower part, and thus kill the last remaining undead warrior. Search his body to find Sniper Crossbow and 10 Sniper Bolts.
Head back to the bridge.
Turn left under the bridge
Remember: Although it is dangerous, it is worth trying to reach the other side of the bridge. If you succeed, you will be able to jump on a dais on the other side. Find Undead Bone Shard (see screenshot). You may also collect the items after you deal with the dragon later on.
Jump off the bridge again and head for the stairs on the left side. Watch out for an ambush - a crossbowman will try to shoot you from a distance, and if you come too close, you will be attacked by two more opponents (one with a halberd and another one with an axe). Furthermore, projectiles of the fourth undead will prevent you from healing. It would be best to run to the middle of the room, draw attention of two of the enemies (they will walk down the stairs), and drag them away.
A little further you will come to a place where you can get inside. You can also check the nearby alley and deal with two knights. You don't have to fight them but now you have a chance to deal with them one by one, and if you decide to collect the item above them, you will have to duel both of them at the same time (that is, if you don't die and knights will respawn). The easiest way to lure them out is to use Throwing Knives. Beware of the knight with a sword: although he is less of a defensive type and easier to hit, he uses thunders to boost his weapon and deal more damage.
Once inside the building, collect Large Soul of a Seasoned Warrior, and a Refined Gem on the right. If you go downstairs, you will reach valuable items but be aware of their protector. Watch out for the creature's charges and bursts of cold steam that can cause freezing effect. It might be easier to fight the beast on the stairs. Although you won't have much space to dodge your opponent, the beast won't be able to do much.
Slay this powerful foe and obtain Irithyll Rapier, and search the room for 4 chests that contain: 2x Twinkling Titanite, 1x Twinkling Titanite, 1x Titanite Scale and Spirit Tree Crest Shield.
A challenge awaits you - run to the building presented in the screenshot. The key problem is a fire breathing dragon that will stand in your way. You need to wait out its attack (move away from the balcony and wait for it to halt the devastating fire attack), and run as fast as you can. Don't even bother to collect items scattered around the floor. If you get hit by fire, you won't die right away, but the whole area will be set on fire. Thus, you will be constantly receiving damage. Dodge to get to your objective quicker.
Watch out for undead opponents with Firebombs. Due to explosive barrels scattered all around, their projectiles are even more dangerous. It would be best to get to the top first (two enemies), and only then deal with other opponents that will probably follow you upstairs.
Kill all the enemies and explore the location carefully. There are 3x Black Firebombs at the bottom. Once you get to the top, remain cautious. As soon as you exit the building, slay the opponent with a lamp. Otherwise, he will wake up the rest of the undead warriors. You can pick up Titanite Scale from the balcony, but two more foes will appear right after you do that. Finally, kill the remaining creatures inside, to collect Pale Pine Resin located in the corner. The chest is really a shapeshifter and if you kill it, you will receive 3x Titanite Scale.
Get to the other side. By the ladder, there is a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier and two opponents. Two more foes will run into the building in a moment. However, the key target is the dragon's leg. Strike it and you will reveal mutation. Fight this "opponent" to slay the dragon and gain access to the location at the gate. The mutation is immobilized but as dangerous as any other infected creature. Luckily, it is also vulnerable to fire, and using spells based on pyromancy and fire projectiles will be very effective. Use them to deal damage from a safe distance and when your enemy is on fire, run up to it and strike as hard as you can. Defeat the abomination and receive 2x Titanite Chunk and 2x Ember.
Once the dragon is dead, you can safely collect all the scattered items. Use the passage opposite the location of the infected leg and go to the gate. Pick up Titanite Chunk and Titanite Scale on your way. At the square, in front of the gate, there are also 2x Ember, 6x Lightning Urn and Refined Gem.
Get back to the dark room and open the gate. In order to do that, reach the top and take the passage on your left. Find the right switch and a Large Soul of a Weary Warrior.
Behind the gate
When you open the gate, get back by the main entrance, because it will be easier to kill the clerics and one of the knights there. Another knight will be waiting at the bottom, on the right side of the stairs (deal with them one by one). Pick up Ember (at the bottom, on the right side), and get to the very top.
You will end up in the place presented in the screenshot. You have a number of options: you can go right, left to the other dragon, or via ladder to the boss, or directly to the boss. You should unlock the shortcut first, which you can find on the left (the lift will take you to the very bottom to the first chamber of the castle, near a bonfire that you come across, after your duel with the Dancer). In front of the lift, there is a Sunlight Medal.
Head to the roof, the ladder is on the left.
While on the roof, carefully get to the other side. It would be best to let crossbowmen and one more enemy with an axe spot you (he will come out from a chamber behind them). Drag him towards a steep roof, away from the crossbowmen. Kill him and collect Titanite Chunk. Run to the other side, to a room behind the sharpshooters.
Get down the ladder and pick up Knight's Ring. At the end of the corridor, you will find a hostile knight. If you want, you can try to unlock the door behind him. This way if you fail, you won't have to go through the roof again.
Deal with your foe and pray at Altar of Sunlight to obtain Praise the Sun gesture. Exit through the door and you will end up at a square that leads to the arena. Head to a small, dark building on the right side of the stairs.
There is an inactive lift inside. You can collect 2x Rusted Coins and Titanite Scale, located on the right. Get to the balcony and collect Red Tearstone Ring. You can jump down in the place presented in the screenshot (heal yourself before you do that), and collect Caitha's Chime. If you have already defeat the two knights, you will have a clear way to the arena.
The last possible option is to deal with the second dragon and its mutation. Approach the ladder and locate a hole in the wall (see screenshot). You can jump down from here. Once you do that, jump to the building on your left. This way you will avoid venomous attack of your enemy (it can cause curse). Use the same method: piromancy and spells based on fire. Perform direct blows when mutation is on fire.
As a reward, you will receive 2x Titanite Chunk and 2x Ember. Furthermore, search the balcony to collect Soul of a Crestfallen Knight. Kill another shapeshifter (Sunlight Straight Sword) and pick up Sacred Braille Tome of Lothric situated above.
You explored the entire area, so now you have to defeat the boss: Dragonslayer Armour. Eygon and Sirris can help you during the fight (he can be called in a dark building, on the right side of the stairs, while she can be called in front of the stairs leading to the arena).
In order to access Grand Archives, you have to slay the boss.
Remember: whether you called for Eygon or not, once the fight is over, you will find his remains in a cell in The Undead Settlement, where you first met Irina. You can collect Morne's Great Hammer and Moaning Shield. You can also purchase Morne's Set at Shrine Handmaid.