Aldia’s Keep will let you know right away if you are leveled well enough to proceed. You’ll need to be prepared to tackle multiple dragons at this point in the game, and some of the toughest knights that the game has thrown at you up to this point.
You can now access Aldia’s Keep, an area that is absolutely infested with Dragons. Head back to the Forked Path Bonfire, and this time take the middle path. We’ll use King’s Ring to open a new path in the Shadow Forest. The King’s Ring is one piece of the puzzle, but there are a couple more items that you’ll need to reach the final bosses of Dark Souls 2. The King’s Ring is the key to these doors, and require that you are wearing the ring to open them. There is one such door in Forest of Giants that we’ll be heading to shortly. You may have seen doors already in Dark Souls 2 that ask you to produce the sign of the King. In the Undead Crypt is where you’re going to get one of the major items that you need to beat Dark Souls 2. Once you’ve got the elevator activated, you’ll progress to the Shrine of Amana, and then into the Undead Crypt. Taking the path to the left, you’ll now be able to reach Drangleic Castle.ĭuring your initial time in Drangleic Castle you’re primary objectives are activating an elevator and snagging a key (As well as fighting a couple of mini bosses). With the four souls collected and the four primal bonfires lit, you’ll want to head back to The Shaded Woods to the Forked Road Bonfire. Once in The Iron Keep, the path to The Iron King is fairly straight forward, but you will need to fight the Smelter Demon on the way.Īt this point, if you’ve got the four great souls for Dark Souls 2 and lit the four Primal Bonfires, you’ve fought your way through many of the game’s areas. In Harvest Valley you’ll fight a tough minor boss fight, which can be made easier by lighting the windmill on fire on the way to the fight. Progress through Huntsman’s Corpse to Harvest Valley, then into Earthen Peak. The path is at the contraption on the way to Heide’s Tower of Flame, but you must exhaust all talking options with the merchant to make her appear there and offer the path. If you exhaust all talking options with the merchant, she’ll unlock the path to Huntsman’s Corpse for 2000 souls. If you’ve cleared out Heide’s you’ll have met the miracle merchant at the second bonfire. Heading towards Heidi’s Tower of Flame from Majula, you may have run into a contraption in the tunnels on the way there. Though you’ll need to get there, because that’s where The Old Iron King resides. Getting to the Iron Keep is a bit more complicated than other areas, and not necessarily explained in the game. You can beat The Old Sinner without using the Bastille Key, it’s just a lot harder as targeting doesn’t work, and the room is pitch black. Getting the Bastille Key will allow you to light the flames on both sides of The Old Sinner’s Boss Room. They are similar to the Gargoyles from the original Dark Souls. To get the key, you’ll need to beat the Belfry Gargoyles. To make The Old Sinner a little bit easier, you can unlock the doors on the right and left of the mist gate before entering the boss fight, and they’ll give you the opportunity to light the room. The Old Sinner was our first great soul to tackle, and he feels like the most natural character to try first from a difficulty standpoint. You’ll need to fight your way through The Lost Bastille, and fight the Flexile Sentry though. You can also progress through The Lost Bastille by way of the N Man’s Wharf. You don’t have to take the nest route though. From there, it’s a short trip to Sinner’s Rise, where The Old Sinner resides. If you beat the Pursuer, the bird’s nest unlocked after that boss fight will allow you to fly to The Lost Bastille.
There are a couple of ways that you can get to The Old Sinner.