You'll go mad one day, but not today. Take my advice [...] and leave this place.
You can make the trip to the Undead Settlement incredibly short, if you choose to just pass through. The boss in this area is actually optional.
Exploring the Settlement[edit]
Yoel of Londor[edit]
After getting transportet off the wall, light the Bonfire and turn left to loot the Large Soul of a Deserted Corpse. Then head down the stairs. Don't focus on the hollows and turn about-face. The gate will open to release some undead dogs to take care of the hollows. But for now head for an overturned coach, where two ther dogs are feasting on a corpse. Kill them and loot the 2 Alluring Skulls. Now head for the back with lots of dead pilgrims. In the left corner you can find 2 Homeward Bones.
Now head to the other side, where you start hearing a weeping and one of the pilgrims pleading for his death. Speak to him instead and accept his services. He will leave for the Firelink Shrine and we make a visit shortly. Dealing with him enables you to work for an alternative ending.
Turn back to the village, dispatch the undead dogs and pull the lever left to the gate. Behind it a villager awaits you. He is not different from other hollows, kill him and head for the small hut, where a new Bonfire can be lit.
Head back to Firelink Shrine and walk towards Andre, the Smith. Turn left and meet Greirat, who sells you new items. For now there is nothing of interest. Go further and turn left at the end, where you will meet Yoel of Londor in a corner. He offers you to "draw out your true Strength" giving you free levels.
This also introduces you to the Hollowing mechanic. It is found in your Status screen. Once you reach a hollowing value of 15, your character starts looking more undead. Gameplaywise it won't change anything. Each time you accept Yoel's offer, it gives you a Dark Sigil into the Key Items inventory screen. He will also offer you to draw out more strength, if you are hollowed: 0 for the first, 2 for the second, then 6, 12 and finally 15. You accumulate hollowing by dying. It adds one point for each Dark Sigil in your possession per death.
Reaching the Third Bonfire[edit]
Head back to the last bonfire and follow the path into the next house. You will get attacked by a villager with a sword and lantern and one with a fork. Head inside and turn right. Some corpses with an item are hanging there. Cut them down and loot the Small Leather Shield. Continue downstairs and mind the thrall from the ceiling. Loot the 2 Charcoal Pine Bundles and step out to the balcony. From the hanging corpse is another item. Cut it down and let it fall to the ground and loot it later. Follow the balcony, dispatch the undead and loot the 2 Repair Powders at the end. Then head back inside and go down to ground level. Drop from the stairs and make a plunging attack to kill the thrall waiting instantly. Two more are around clinging from the ceiling to kill. Then leave outside.
Pick up the item you cut free earlier, Loretta's Bone, and start killing the villagers one by one. If you get too close to the Evangelist, it will start notice and attacking. If that happens before you dealt with the others, retreat back inside a house and deal with the enemies one by one. After everyone is dead loot the Estus Shard and Ember around the tree.
Right from the Estus Shard is a wooden bridge, where two undead will patrol, one throwing firebombs. Enter the barn and kill the two pitchfork-undead rising from the stalls. Don't forget the Large Soul of a Deserted Corpse to the left and proceed. A thrall with a Flamberge will drop from the ceiling. It is one of the enemies, that can drop the Flamberge, but chances are as low as 5%. Open the door, head to your right and loot the Caduceus Round Shield. Sometimes a thrall drops from the roof, but sometimes it doesnt. On the bridge three undead will start throwing firebombs at you. Ignore them for now and drop down from the bridge on the narrow ledge. Two undead will wait there to be killed and don't forget the Titanite Shard and head inside the house to find a new Bonfire.
Cornyx of the Great Swamp and Siegward of Catharina[edit]
Head up the other side and shoot down the Partizan from the corpse on the wall. It will fall from the roof, but don't pick it up just yet. Follow the path and kill the three undead. Watch out not to fall down. At the end turn left and you meet Cornyx of the Great Swamp. Accept his offer and he heads for the Firelink Shrine. He is your first pyromancy trainer. Left of him is a Hand Axe to loot. Now turn around and drop from the balcony and kill the large pot wielding hollow. He can't be backstabbed and will mostly slam his pot in front. Pick up the Partizan and turn around. Then head for the execution site and get behind it. You'll see a cowering hollow at the end. Kill him and you loot the item he has been clinging to, the Fire Clutch Ring.
Now get back over the bridge you arrived on. Get back through the barn and kill the respawned thralls and undead, then turn left immediately upon exiting. Get through the barn, killing the thrall and both undead and upon exiting turn left immediately. Consider killing the patrol on the wooden bridge again to get room for a retreat. Destroy the crates and start moving quickly. There will be multiple thralls waiting and two of them have throwing knifes with long reach and heavy damage. Run through them until you hit a ladder at the end and go it up. Head over to the other side of the roof to not get hit by the thrall on the other roof. Kill this thrall, drop down to the other ranged thrall, kill him too and deal with the rest of the thralls next. Don't forget the Fading Soul, Firebomb and Homeward Bone.
Once you are done head down the roof into the direction of the tower. You will meet a giant hollow with a cage on the back. Do not attack him. Instead head to the hanging corpse and shoot it down. It contains the Flame Stoneplate Ring which will drop down out of your reach. Take notice of its position and ignore it for now. Then stay behind the big thrall and interact.
You will brought to an underground area where you find a Wargod Wooden Shield at the end and can meet with Hodric for the first time. Tell him, you are hollow and you get access to the Mound-Maker covenant. Talk to him again and get a Homeward Bone. Use it and return to the last Bonfire.
From here head outside, where the big thrall with a pot waits and go downstairs. Wait at the spot until a rather large patrol comes by and walks towards the big building. Head down to the bridge to your right. Walk slowly onto the bridge and kill the undead. Then loot the Ember and prepare for the two big thralls. If you try to lure them by approaching them, they will come both, so use a bow, even if you can't wield it properly. They will throw their pots at you so prepare to dodge and pull out a giant saw. This saw inflicts bleeding and is more dangerous as they swing it more wildly, than the pot. Then go for the third behind the bridge, but you can try to ignore him by staying close to the house. Behind the house are two undead dogs attacking. There you can find 2 Alluring Skulls. Then turn around and go to the tower. The Flame Stoneplate Ring will land around this area. If you cut it down earlier, it position will have reset, because you reload the area.
Open the door to the tower and head to the elevator. It will move up and a second booth will come up with an NPC in an onion-like armor. This is Siegward of Catharina. Exhaust his dialogue move to the elevator. Step on the switch and quickly roll of the elevator to call the upper booth. Then step on it and go up. Turn to the fenced window and walk up to find a Titanite Shard, turn around and head up the stairs. You will find a giant with a Greatbow. Talk to him for now and make peace with him. He will gift you a Young White Branch, that differs from other Young White Branches, so be sure to not use it. You can also decide to kill the giant for a Hawk Ring, but keep him alive for now.
Head back to the elevator and leave your camera facing the window. On your way down you will hear Siegward thinking loudly. Once you hear it roll of the lift and you should drop onto a wooden construction, that you can follow outside, where Siegward is sitting. Talk to him and drop down the roof. In the distance will be a Fire Demon patrolling the bonfire. As he sees you, he will charge you. Siegward will also join the battle. The demon is resistant to fire so resort to a means without fire. But even if your damage output is low, Siegward will damage him, too. Keep Siegward alive by fighting the demon to start Siegward's questline. After he is dead, he drops a Fire Gem. Talk to Siegward again to receive the Siegbrau - a healing item, that also inflicts frostbite - the Gesture Toast and after talking to him again the Sleep.
Exploring the Rest[edit]
To the last bonfire[edit]
look around the place to find a Large Club, 2 Red Bug Pellets and hanging from two corpses a Pale Tongue and the Northern Set - the Warrior's starting equipment. From there keep left and enter the structure in the back. Head upstairs. Keep to your left and you will find a small room with a chest. Before entering, hit lock-on and you will notice two cages hanging from the ceiling. Throw a knife at them to get them down and dispatch them. and loot the 2 Alluring Skulls. Turn back and head over the walkway, where two undead dogs will ambush you. Walking up to the next chest, containing 4 Human Pine Resins will trigger four caged hollows, that can also be dispatched earlier. Then walk up and deal with the two Evangelists. It is also possible to ignore them and run past them, but they can hit you through the wall and make you drop to your death.
After then you are ontop the roofs again, head left to find Flynn's Ring, then get to the small tower ahead and loot the 2 Homeward Bones. In the tower you'll see a large drop, that will kill you and a small wooden ledge you can fall onto. Either roll from the right position or make a running jump to hit the ledge. From there you can drop safely and find the Mirrah Set and the Cloranthy Ring. The set's hat can be traded with the crow at Firelink Shrine and is called Lucatiel's Mask. You'll need to drop a Vertebra Shackle - an item dropped by invading as a Mound-Maker.
Head outside and you are in front of a church. Fight your way past the Evangelist, two hollows downstairs, head left where you can find an Ember near an undead dog and follow the path all the way to the bridge. Head right instead of left this time, where another dog is waiting. Drop down into the sewers and kill the three approaching rats. Follow the path, pick up the Caestus and walk up to the mist, that obscures two rats and a giant one. Killing the giant rat will get you the Bloodbite Ring. Now head up the ladder and open the gate.
The Warriors of Sunlight[edit]
If you are still embered up, you will trigger your first NPC invasion, so head for the bonfire quickly and light it. Then turn right and head up the house, where you can kill a Crystal Lizard. Try to shoo it into the wall or off the ledge to deal with it. After that go into the house. and walk up the stairs. Kill the hammer wiedling hollow and go up the ladder. Ontop is an Evangelist to kill. It might be a good idea to lure it down by hiding under the balcony, don't forget the Titanite Shard. After that follow the path up and prepare for an ambush by two hollows. Inside the house two more thralls await you. After killing them, loot the Whip. Folllow the path near the end is an alley blocked by some crates. Get behind the house and pick up the Soul of an Unknown Traveler. Head back and you see a hollow with red glowing eyes. If you walk up to him from this side, he will not start attacking. Use this for a backstab and kill him. Now head inside, beware the two caged hollows and the two thralls coming from the ceiling.
Follow the path upstairs, loot the 2 Charcoal Pine Resins next to the caged hollow and drop down the hole. Loot the Warriors of Sunlight covenant and drink some Estus Soup, that restores your HP. Open the door and head back up outside the house. The last item to loot is a Titanite Shard nearby. After that return to the last bonfire.
Your Friend, the Giant[edit]
Now follow into the direction with all the spikes and the birch tree. Kill the giant hollow with a saw and get to the spiked area. The White Birch branch you received earlier as a token of friendship will protect you from the giant arrows. Use this to get all the undead around killed and loot everything. Jump over to the Undead Bone Shard and loot it. Then turn to the graveyard, walk up to the mausoleum, where you can fight a thrall and pick up the Blue Wooden Shield and Cleric Set. Look a bit more around to find the Mortician's Ashes.
Now head back to the open area and enter the house. Dispatch both undead - you can lure them outside - and walk upstairs and make a jump to reach the Great Scythe, a good weapon for a luck based character. Follow the path into the church and turn right. Open the door, that can only be opened by this side. After that you are almost done.
Back at Firelink Shrine[edit]
Return to the Dilapidated Bridge Bonfire. Check your Hollowing status. If it is lower, than 15, jump to your death, until you reach the value. You are done, once your character looks more corpselike. Then return to Firelink Shrine.
First walk up to the Shrine Handmaiden and give her the Mortician's Ashes. With them the handmaiden's stock has expanded. Buy the Grave Key for 1,500 souls. Then go towards Andre and turn right first. There you can find Cornyx who sells pyromancies and and can upgrade your Pyromancy Flame. If you are no pyromancer, he will gift you a Pyromancy Flame. Turn around and head for Greirat. Give him Loretta's Bone and head for Yoel next.
With 15 points in hollowing you can get your strength four more times. Once you got five Dark Sigils he will tell you, that you became very powerful. Reload the area by exiting to the main menu and loading the safe file again and you will notice, that Yoel has died. You can also kill him yourself, after receiving all five sigils to get some interesting line of dialogue. Instead of Yoel you will have Yuria standing in his place teaching you the Dignified Bow gesture, by talking to her. She will sell everything, Yoel sold you and some more stuff.
If you cure the Dark Sigil at any point, her questline will fail immediately. If you are too appalled by the hollow appearance, you can buy the Untrue Dark Ring from her, that reverts your appearance back to normal. You will not show any signs embering, and will always appear as "Host of Embers" for other players.
Get back to Greirat and see him cowering on the ground mourning for Loretta. This will net you with the Curl Up gesture. Leave him and head for Leonhard near Lothric's Throne. Once you got the Pale Tongue where you killed the Fire Demon, he will give you the Lift Chamber Key. The fitting gate is in the basement of the Tower on the Wall Bonfire and leads you all the way down. The enemy waiting for you is very powerful. If you are prepared, you can do it immediately. Otherwise do it later.
Holy Knight Hodrick[edit]
Get to the Dilapidated Bridge Bonfire and use an Ember. Shortly after you'll get a message, that Holy Knight Hodrick invaded. He spawns nearby and will slowly get to your location. Wait for him at the fire or kill the giant hollow before embering up.
Hodrick is a tough challenge. He uses a Flamberge, a Sunset Shield and a Pyromancy Flame. He is prone to parry the player frequently, but can only do so when holding up his shield. Use throwing items when he holds his shield and only attack in melee when he twohands his sword or holds his Pyromancy Flame. He casts two pyromancies: the first is "Power Within", which boosts his attack, but gradually reduces his HP, the other, Warmth, creates an area, that heals everyone staying in it - you included. Other things to consider is, that he is a Mad Phantom and is attacked by the environment the same way, as you. Luring him towards enemies is also an option.
If he kills you, you can try again later, but it will cost you an Ember with every try. If you succeed he drops you a Vertebra Shackle - the item to increase your allegiance with the Mound-Makers.
Darkwraith[edit]
The second challenge is back at the Tower on the Wall Bonfire. Head down and dispatch the hollows on the way, including the one with a halberd. Then turn around and open the gate, that has been previously locked. Use the elevator down and meet a Darkwraith in a room full of corpses. He carries a sword and a Dark Hand. The dark hand is a shieldlike object, that can block and use a life draining grapple. Dodge, once his left hand starts glowing white. Unlike the Lothric Knights, these are much more aggressive. On death it will drop a Red Eye Orb, that has infinite uses for invasions.
Return to Leonhard at Firelink Shrine to get the Applause Gesture.
Irina of Carim[edit]
With the Grave Key in your pocket, head to the Dilapidated Bridge Bonfire. Go over the wooden bridge into the sewers. Kill the three rats and head for the locked gate. With the key it can be opened. Turn right at the crossing and pick up the Loincloth. The statue can be used to absolve for sins (e.g. if you attacked the Shrine Handmaiden) or revert the hollowing points back to zero.
Turn around and follow the path. Pick up the Red Hilted Halberd. Proceed into the next room and some skeletons will animate. Proceed slowly and don't trigger too many skeletons at the same time. In the next narrow room two skeletons will animate, one of them behind you. Don't forget the Soul of an Unknown Traveler and leave to the open. Go right and deal with the Crystal Lizard. Push him into the right wall to have an easier time. As you approach the two items, one giant hollow will drop down and ambush you. Kill him, pick up the two seperate Titanite Shards. Get back and proceed into the direction of the tower. There will be an entrance to your left and a corpse hanging from a beam. Shoot it down with an arrow to aquire the Blessed Red and White Shield +1. Equipping this shield will give you a small HP regeneration.
Go inside and prepare for a rat ambush. After the one visible, many more will crawl of that hole, which is quite dangerous. Loot the Saint's Talisman and head up the other ladder. To your left will be Irina of Carim. Exhaust her dialogue, choose "Touch" and accept her offer and she will head out for Firelink Shrine. She will be your merchant for miracles.
Go into the other direction and open the gate. Talk to him and he agrees to join your cause.
Boss: Curse-Rotted Greatwood[edit]
This boss is optional, but must be killed, if you want to transpose Boss Souls into weapons. Sorcerers might want to skip the boss and return later, once they have aquired the Pestilent Mercury sorcery.
The fastest way to the Boss is from the Cliff Underside Bonfire. Head up and drop down behind the giant hollow with the pot. Run upstairs and go into the arena. The boss is on the far left side and has a lot of undead villagers around. Once you get too close or attack the red-eyed undead on the right side, you trigger the bossfight.
Attacks[edit]
While you stand in front of the boss, he will occationally swipe with an arm and kill every undead standing there. It won't kill you outright, but deals much damage. Alternatively he can stomp or slamming both fists into the ground. All those are very well telegraphed and can be easily dodged. If you stand next to, or behind the enemy he will start shaking and dropping hurting spores. It's hard to avoid them, but its easier to stay away from him during this phase. He can also stand up and slam his bottom into the ground, which creates many yellow puddles, that hurt to stand in. Once they disappear, they change the pattern before they disappear. If you stand behind him, he might also lean back and squash everything under him.
During Phase 2 of the fight he will grow an additional hand. It has some quick swipes and a really painful grapple attack. It acts quicker, than the rest of the Greatwood.
Killing the Greatwood[edit]
The only way to hurt him is to destroy the white egg sacks in his crotch area. Those are also suspectible to fire damage. Once the sack is destroyed the Greatwood will slam again into the ground and destroy the arena. The drop is harmless to you but will kill the surrounding undead. It will then spawn another hand and several more egg sacks show up.
One is at his right leg, one at the left hand and back of the left leg, one at the back and a large one near the hand above the crotch. The one in the back can only be destroyed by ranged weapons or when it leans back a bit to bring it closer for melee characters. Destroying all sacks is enough to kill it off completly. Alternatively you can attack the second hand to deplete his HP.
If you are a sorcerer and have the Pestilent Mist from a later area, this fight becomes laughably easy. Simply cast the mist and stay away for as long as it lasts. This will damage the Greatwood without triggering Phase 2 of the fight.
Victory[edit]
Once it is dead, light the bonfire and head back to the Cliff Underside Bonfire. It drops the Transposing Kiln, that you can give to Ludleth back at Firelink Shrine. He is sitting on his throne.
Wrapping up and Leaving[edit]
If you haven't looted the Flame Stoneplate Ring yet, you can do it now. Remember, that you can't reload the area before picking it up. After that, head for the tower, where you met Siegward. Use the elevator to get down to the basement.
The Outrider Knight[edit]
Send the elevator back up without going up yourself and follow the path. In the next room a tough enemy awaits you. Leave the item be for now and focus on the fight. You can run past him to the door and open it. Head through and light the Bonfire. You don't need to kill the Outrider Knight, but he drops a good weapon. His attacks inflict frostbite and are in a rhythm quite similar to those of Vordt.
You can also lure him back to the elevator and have him charge into the elevator shaft. Or you can stand outside the door (he won't follow through) and attack him with ranged weapons, wearing him down. Don't forget to loot the Ember next to him and leave for the Road of Sacrifice Bonfire.