Dark Souls Remastered: Complete Walkthrough & Boss Guide
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🗺️ Main Story Walkthrough
Tick off each step as you go — your progress saves locally, no account needed.
You begin the game as an Undead prisoner in the Northern Undead Asylum. Fight or flee past the Asylum Demon on your first encounter — you are not yet equipped to kill it. Retrieve the Straight Sword from the corpse in the side corridor, then loop back via the roof to get the proper key that opens the main door. Return to the Asylum Demon arena fully armed for a fair fight; using a Plunging Attack from the ledge above deals massive opening damage. After defeating it, pick up the Big Pilgrim's Key and use the crow nest to be transported to Firelink Shrine.
From Firelink Shrine, ascend to the Undead Burg and work through its narrow streets toward the Taurus Demon, which guards the bridge above. Kill it with two Plunging Attacks from the fog-gate archway. Cross the bridge past the Red Drake to reach the Undead Parish, where you must kill the Bell Gargoyles atop the church to ring the first Bell of Awakening. Equip the Heater Shield found on a corpse behind the merchant in the Burg for near-100% physical block and buy the Repairbox from the merchant before proceeding. Ring the bell to unlock access to Sen's Fortress later.
Drop into the Depths via the locked door in the Undead Parish lower section. Navigate the sewer-like area, defeat the Gaping Dragon, and grab the Blighttown Key from the depths. Blighttown is a two-level poison swamp notorious for its sluggish framerate in the original; the Remastered version runs cleanly. Equip the Rusted Iron Ring found on a corpse in the Undead Asylum revisit to move freely in the poison swamp at the bottom. Defeat Chaos Witch Quelaag at the swamp base to ring the second Bell of Awakening, which causes Sen's Fortress gates to open.
Sen's Fortress is a deadly gauntlet of boulder traps, swinging blade pendulums, and Serpent Soldiers. Move carefully, use the elevated catwalks to avoid boulder rolls, and find the caged man Griggs's colleague Big Hat Logan to rescue him. The Iron Golem boss at the top falls quickly if you stagger it repeatedly on the windy platform — a +5 Raw or Lightning weapon makes short work of it. After defeating the Golem, gargoyles carry you to Anor Londo; stockpile Humanity and summon Solaire of Astora near the foggate before fighting Ornstein and Smough, the game's pivotal dual-boss fight.
After Anor Londo, four areas each contain a Lord Soul required to open the Kiln of the First Flame. In the Catacombs and Tomb of the Giants, use a Divine weapon to permanently kill skeletons before facing Gravelord Nito deep below. In New Londo Ruins, drain the floodgates with the Key to the Seal, then equip the Covenant of Artorias ring from Great Grey Wolf Sif in Darkroot Garden to survive the Abyss and fight the Four Kings. In the Duke's Archives and Crystal Cave, fight Seath the Scaleless. In Demon Ruins and Lost Izalith, defeat the Bed of Chaos. Manage your Humanity carefully, as the Kindled bonfire effect greatly increases Estus charge count.
Darkroot Garden is an optional but highly rewarding area accessible from Undead Parish via a locked door (requires the Crest of Artorias for 20,000 Souls) or the Titanite Demon fog-gate shortcut. Defeating Great Grey Wolf Sif here is mandatory for the Four Kings fight and drops the Covenant of Artorias ring. The forest is also home to the Stone Knights, who drop the Stone Armor set — one of the best early physical-absorption sets in the game. The Moonlight Butterfly and Hydra in the basin are optional; defeating the Hydra and rescuing Dusk unlocks the Oolacile Ivory Catalyst for Faith or Intelligence builds.
After defeating Ornstein and Smough, warp back to Anor Londo to access the spiral staircase behind the bonfire leading to Dark Sun Gwyndolin, an optional boss in the Darkmoon covenant tunnel. More importantly, the portrait in Anor Londo's cathedral allows you to enter the Painted World of Ariamis, an optional self-contained area with unique loot including the Bloodshield and Priscilla's Dagger. The boss, Crossbreed Priscilla, can be spoken to and left alive — you do not need to fight her. The Painted World is also the only place to farm Phalanx enemies for Phalanx drops and contains a Ring of the Evil Eye useful for Pyromancer builds.
Access the DLC by defeating the Hydra in Darkroot Basin, rescuing Dusk of Oolacile from a golden chest, then resting and speaking with her phantom near the Darkroot Basin bonfire until the time-portal boulder appears. The DLC spans Sanctuary Garden, Royal Wood, Oolacile Township, and Chasm of the Abyss. The bosses here — Sanctuary Guardian, Knight Artorias, Black Dragon Kalameet, and Manus, Father of the Abyss — are substantially harder than the main-game late bosses. Upgrade a weapon to at least +10 standard or +5 special (Lightning or Fire) before attempting Kalameet. The DLC drops some of the game's most powerful weapons including the Abyss Greatsword and the Great Club variant.
Once all four Lord Souls are deposited at Firelink Altar, warp to the Kiln of the First Flame. The approach is lined with Black Knights wielding powerful weapons — these are farmable for Black Knight Sword and Black Knight Halberd drops if you need a final upgrade before Gwyn. The final boss, Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, is entirely parriable; land a parry with a medium or small shield and riposte for roughly 700 – 1,000 damage per cycle to end the fight in under a minute. If you cannot parry reliably, use a Lightning weapon and circle-strafe his overhead attacks. Defeating Gwyn ends the game and triggers New Game Plus.
⚔️ Boss Guides
Taurus Demon
Attack Patterns
The Taurus Demon wields a massive stone club with two main attacks: a wide overhead slam and a running shoulder charge. At range it can perform a jumping leap to your position dealing heavy damage. It does not have a phase transition but speeds up slightly below half health. The narrow Undead Burg bridge limits your movement options significantly.
Strategy
Run past the fog gate and climb the ladder on the right immediately to reach the battlements above. Bait the Taurus Demon to the base of the ladder, then drop down for a Plunging Attack — this alone removes roughly 40% of its health. Repeat the process twice more or finish it off at ground level with a Fire weapon or Firebombs. Using a +3 Reinforced Club two-handed makes the fight trivially short even without Plunging Attacks.
Bell Gargoyles
Attack Patterns
The first Gargoyle uses a halberd with wide sweeping combos and a fire breath AoE. At roughly 50% health, a second Gargoyle joins the fight with an axe and its own fire breath. Both can fly and reposition suddenly. The tail of each Gargoyle can be cut off — severing the first one drops the Gargoyle Tail Axe, a unique curved weapon.
Strategy
Summon Solaire of Astora using his summon sign near the church entrance — he is invaluable as a tank for the second Gargoyle. Focus exclusively on the first Gargoyle until it dies, ignoring the second completely. Two-hand your weapon and use fire-buffed attacks (Gold Pine Resin or a Fire-upgraded weapon) to delete the first Gargoyle before the second becomes active and dangerous. Once it is down, the second Gargoyle alone is manageable even without a summon.
Chaos Witch Quelaag
Attack Patterns
Quelaag is a centaur-type boss — the upper body is a woman merged with a giant spider. Her attacks include a sweeping lava slash with her sword, a lava spill that creates persistent fire pools across the arena floor, and a screech explosion that erupts lava from the ground in a wide radius. The lava pools linger and deal heavy damage over time, steadily shrinking your safe maneuvering space.
Strategy
Equip high fire resistance (Crimson Robes plus a Fire Shield if available) before entering. Stay directly below Quelaag, hugging the spider belly — most of her attacks will miss completely from this position. Bait the overhead sword slam, step to the side, and punish with two or three hits to the spider abdomen. Avoid the lava pools by memorizing which floor sections she has contaminated. A Lightning +1 Spear from Sen's Fortress Andre upgrade makes this fight last under 90 seconds.
Ornstein & Smough
Attack Patterns
Dragonslayer Ornstein is fast, aggressive, and uses a lightning-infused spear with long-range thrusts and a leaping overhead slam. Executioner Smough is slow but covers huge area with his hammer, charges across the room, and uses a butt-stomp AoE. If Smough is killed first, Super-Ornstein grows enormous and gains constant lightning sparks, a new thunder slam, and dramatically increased health. If Ornstein is killed first, Super-Smough absorbs his power and gains a lightning butt stomp but moves at Smough's original slow pace.
Strategy
Summon Solaire near the fog gate and assign him to distract Smough while you focus on Ornstein. Use the pillars constantly to break line of sight on both. Ornstein is weak to fire — a Fire+5 Longsword or Chaos Blade with Gold Pine Resin will destroy his health quickly. Once Ornstein dies, Super-Smough is slow and predictable; bait his hammer slam, dodge sideways, and punish the recovery. The Lordvessel and Leo Ring (dropped by Ornstein) are the primary rewards — Leo Ring dramatically boosts counter-attack damage with thrusting weapons.
Great Grey Wolf Sif
Attack Patterns
Sif is a giant wolf wielding Artorias's greatsword in its mouth. Attacks include a wide spinning slice, a three-hit combo with the sword dragged along the ground, and a leaping overhead plunge. At roughly 30% health, Sif begins limping visibly and its attacks change to slower, more desperate swings. This phase transition is emotionally significant — the fight slows down and Sif fights with one wounded leg.
Strategy
Run under Sif immediately at the start of the fight and attack the hind legs and belly. From underneath, nearly all sword attacks sail overhead. The only dangerous move from below is the downward slam — step to the side when Sif rears back. Two-hand your weapon and use strong attacks (R2) to maximize stagger accumulation. The fight becomes significantly easier if you completed Artorias's DLC questline beforehand, as Sif shows a brief recognition animation and hesitates before attacking — use this opening for free damage.
The Four Kings
Attack Patterns
The Four Kings spawn sequentially in the Abyss — a new King appears roughly every 60 seconds regardless of current fight state. Each King uses dark magic projectiles that home slightly, a close-range grab that drains Humanity, and a sweeping arm slash. They have no second phase but become overwhelmingly dangerous if two or more are active simultaneously due to stacked damage and aggro splits.
Strategy
Stay as close as possible to each King — their projectile attacks deal far less damage at melee range and their arm sweeps become easier to dodge. Two-hand your Lightning or Fire weapon and attack aggressively with the goal of killing each King before the next one spawns. Equip the Grass Crest Shield on your back (not in hand) while two-handing for passive stamina regeneration. Use the Cloranthy Ring and eat Green Blossoms for stamina uptime. The Mask of the Child from the Duke's Archives also boosts stamina regeneration and stacks with the other sources.
Gravelord Nito
Attack Patterns
Nito commands a horde of skeletons that fight alongside him throughout the entire arena. His personal attacks include a death wave AoE that deals heavy dark damage to all nearby targets, a sword swing, and a Gravelord Sword Dance — swords erupting from the ground across a wide radius. Giant skeletons in the room move slowly but hit extremely hard and can chain-stagger players without high poise.
Strategy
Enter the arena and immediately aggro the two large skeletons by running to the far wall to separate them from Nito. Kill them with a Divine weapon to prevent respawning — critical step before engaging the boss. Then circle-strafe Nito and attack his coffin-body with fire spells or a fire weapon. The death wave AoE has a very long wind-up; sprint away when you see Nito raise his arms. The smaller skeleton minions can be ignored if you have enough poise to take their hits without staggering.
Gwyn, Lord of Cinder
Attack Patterns
Gwyn is an aggressive, fast humanoid who relentlessly closes distance and chains three to five sword attacks in quick succession. His attacks include a leaping overhead slash, a kick that deals stagger damage, and a running grab. There is no second phase, but his attack speed and aggression exceed every earlier humanoid boss in the game. He has no projectile attacks and stays in melee range the entire fight.
Strategy
Parrying is the intended and most efficient method — equip the Black Knight Shield or any medium shield with above 60 stability and parry his first attack in each combo chain. A successful parry followed by a riposte deals 700–1,000 damage depending on your Strength scaling weapon. Two or three ripostes end the fight. If parrying is unreliable, use a fully upgraded Pyromancy Flame with Great Combustion and circle-strafe his sword swings. The sunlight maggot or fully kindled bonfire beforehand ensures maximum Estus charges. Defeat Gwyn to link the Fire and trigger the primary ending.