What to equip when you're equipping

With a bit of planning, your journey through Crown of the Sunken King can be much less brutal. Here's a suggested list of items to bring with you into this new world.

• Ranged weapons. Bows and arrows, crossbows, hexes, miracles and spells are some of the best items you can bring with you. Your enemies tend to travel in packs, and a one-versus-many battle is never ideal. The ability to thin herds of enemies from a distance or convince a single undead to break ranks and charge you can turn overwhelming group battles into far more manageable, one-on-one fights.
• Weapon repairing equipment. You're going to spend a lot of time away from bonfires, and your weapons will degrade. A quick sprinkle of Repair Powder or a cast of the Repair sorcery during a lengthy excursion will save you from equipping fallback weapons or spending your precious souls to get the back to working condition.
• Poison buffing items. Crown of the Sunken King is poisonous. Some enemies even exude a green clouds of toxic gas. Equipping items like the Poisonbite Ring will increase your resistance and Poison Moss will reduce build-up and cure you if you become afflicted.
• Curiosity. Unlike any other stage in Dark Souls 2, Crown of the Sunken King requires you not just to learn the landscape but to change it. Hit things. Listen and watch. Learn how the shifting architecture doesn't just create new paths but how it often creates tactical advantages.

Proceed to How to get to Crown of the Sunken King.