Iron Keep - the road to the King | Walkthrough Dark Souls II Guide

Flip the lever.

The nearby staircase leads to a group of hanging platforms, with archers and mace-wielding enemies on them. You can get rid of the latter by flipping the lever - the platforms will slip straight to the lava. Flip the switch again to get the platforms back on their place.

Watch out for the switches.

Climb the stairs and go to the other side. Here, there's another staircase leading to an archer - watch out for the nearby switches, as they activate a mechanism which pours lava. Collect a soul and a Radiant Lifegem along the way. If you have a decent protection against fire, you can run all the way through the burning stones.

Watch out for the flames.

Get back on the platforms. The switches located on the joints are used to lower the individual parts of the platform. This way you can easily defeat all the archers. Run to the other side, in the direction of the fire-breathing statues.

Use the flames to defeat the enemy.

You will be attacked by another mace-wielding enemy - you can lock him in place with your shield near one of the statues, which should take a decent chuck of his health. Run to the other side of the pathway and collect a soul and a Monastery Charm from the corpse. Afterwards, go through the mist.

Kill the knight.

Go through the corridor until you reach the staircase. On the left side, on one of its bays, there's a knight. Kill him and run downstairs. You will stumble upon another enemy equipped with a mace in a narrow corridor - kill him and approach the guillotine. Flip the lever to raise it. Wait for a couple of seconds and run to the other side of the corridor. Lure the next enemy and hold him near the guillotine - it should automatically fall down, killing the enemy in the process.

Avoid the flames.

Continue your journey until you reach fire-breathing statues. Avoid them by going to the left side. After passing a single and then a double statue, you should approach a ladder. Get all the way to the top by using yet another ladder. Light a bonfire, go upstairs and flip a switch - it should turn the statues off.

Go through the mist.

Go all the way down and avoid the enemy with a mace. Run across the roof and enter the mist, where the Old Iron King awaits you.