Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Ivory King guide

Welcome to Polygon's guide for Crown of the Ivory King, the third downloadable content pack for Dark Souls 2. Just a couple of things before we gets started.

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

We've arranged the guide around the DLC's safest areas: bonfires. The (sometimes branching) paths we lead you through will generally take you from bonfire to bonfire, minimizing risk and maximizing your chances for survival.

They're almost entirely sequential, too. You can't get to the Inner Wall bonfire without getting to the Abandoned Dwelling bonfire. And you can't get to the Abandoned Dwelling bonfire without visiting the Outer Wall bonfire. When the options aren't sequential, we've devised a path that will net you items and equipment you can use in sections that come later.

We've tried to keep each section short and digestible. Many are broken up into subsections, which you can navigate between at the bottom of each page. Each section also includes a video at the top, detailed text beneath and in-line screenshots to let you know what to look for and figure out where you need to read at a glance.

Finally, Crown of the Ivory King unfurls in two parts — before the thaw, and after the thaw — and the areas you visit change depending on when you visit them. Considering that you'll be back to these areas more than once, our naming convention and the index below takes that into account.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

• How to get to Crown of the Ivory King

BEFORE THE THAW

• Outer Wall bonfire 1-1
• Outer Wall bonfire 1-2
• Abandoned Dwelling bonfire 1-1
• Abandoned Dwelling bonfire 1-2
• Inner Wall bonfire 1-1
• Outer Wall bonfire 1-3: Aava, the King's Pet
• Grand Cathedral bonfire 1-1

AFTER THE THAW

• Outer Wall bonfire 2-1
• Outer Wall bonfire 2-2
• Lower Garrison bonfire 1-1
• Lower Garrison bonfire 1-2
• Lower Garrison bonfire 1-3
• Inner Wall bonfire 2-1
• Inner Wall bonfire 2-2
• The Garrison Ward Key cave
• Expulsion Chamber bonfire 1-1
• Expulsion Chamber bonfire 1-2
• Grand Cathedral bonfire 2-1: The Burnt Ivory King

OPTIONAL

• Frigid Outskirts 1-1
• Frigid Outskirts 1-2: Lud and Zallen