Introduction
Dark Souls II and Scholar of the First Sin are similar games with varying differences. The main difference you will notice is the rearrangement of items, enemies, and certain NPCs. However, the two versions share achievements, meaning if you have completed SOTFS, this will be a familiar experience.
Getting all achievements will require 2 and 1/2 playthroughs without engaging in online play.
The most time-consuming achievement will be acquiring all the spells; it's also why we need multiple playthroughs and quite a bit of farming. Be aware that I am writing this guide based on my experience as I complete the game. As such, if you're using magic or faith, you will likely obtain the spells at a different rate than me.
Note: If you're new to the franchise, defeating a boss gives you their soul as a consumable item, DO NOT CONSUME THESE all of them transform into unique equipment later on, and a good amount of them are used to attain the spells we need.
This guide only covers necessary items and NPCs for achievements; therefore, I do not cover any general equipment locations such as Estus Shards, Bone Dust, weapons, etc.
Lastly, the DLCs are not required for achievements. However, there is one item I mention later on that speeds up farming in the Ivory King DLC.
Making Your CharacterYour starting class/build you want to go for doesn't matter for the achievements. The only thing that changes anything is if you want to play a spell caster. As I previously mentioned, you'll need to track the spells you do and don't have yourself.
I used a STR build with various great axes; if you think you might struggle through the game, I recommend going STR; It's simple but effective.
Self Recollection: You'll get this trophy immediately after making your character.
This is Dark Souls: Another simple one, to get it, you have to die. Unless you're a gaming warlord, you'll get this pretty quickly.
MajulaGesture Maestro 1/12: Sitting next to the large monument in Majula is the NPC Crestfallen Saulden. Speaking with him will give you the Welcome gesture. This is the first of 12 gestures you'll obtain for this achievement.
Covenant of the Meek: Continue to speak with Saulden until he offers to join the Way of the Blue.
Covenant of the Fittest: Towards the back of Majula, walk along the cliff to find a stone monument that will grant access to the Company of Champions. This Covenant will not allow you to summon NPCs, so join the Way of the Blue again before leaving Majula.
Forest Of Giants & The Tower Of Flame
The first area we are going to is the Forest; to get there, take the path behind the bonfire and follow it until you reach the Cardinal Tower bonfire.
Gathering of Exiles 1/7: This achievement requires you to move seven NPCs to Majula, two of which are in this location. To the left of the Cardinal Tower bonfire is Merchant Hag Melentia; exhaust her dialogue, and she will move to Majula.
Gathering of Exiles 2/7: Next is Cale the Cartographer; he is found in a cave near the Cardinal Tower bonfire. After going down the ladder, continue until you reach the outside. Instead of going up the branch, drop off to the right towards a ladder and follow that path until you reach a cave (watch out for the boulder). Cale is at the end of this cave, exhaust his dialogue, and he'll move to the large mansion in Majula.
While progressing through this level, you'll find Mild Mannered Pate sitting next to a door. He isn't required for any achievement, but after going through his trap successfully, he'll reward you with the white soapstone. This item can be used for other players to summon you in their world, which will be helpful for a covenant you'll have to max out later on.
Master of Sorcery: In the room next to Pate with the ballistas is the spell Great Soul Arrow.
Last Giant: Obtained after defeating the giant boss in this area.
After defeating the giant, you'll gain the Soldiers Key, which can open a door leading to a boss fight with The Pursuer. Afterward, head back to Majula and make your way to Heide's Tower of Flame.
Heide's Tower of Flame
Once you're back in Majula, head toward the Covenant of Champions and take the long staircase down.
There are two bosses you'll need to face in this area, Old Dragonslayer and Dragonrider, neither are particularly difficult, but both must be defeated.
The order in which you fight them doesn't matter, but I chose to fight Old Dragonslayer first. After the fight with him, keep going through the room to find the Cathedral of Blue, where Blue Sentinel Targray resides. For now, he won't give you the time of day; but we'll return after we get an item.
Now return to the first bonfire and turn right at the crossroad to fight Dragonrider.
Gathering of Exiles 3/7: After defeating Dragonrider, proceed up the stairs past the boss room to find Licia of Lindeldt. Exhaust her dialogue, and then she will move to Majula.
Proceed past Licia to reach No Man's Wharf.
Path To The Lost Sinner
No Man's WharfLucatiel: Upon arrival, you'll immediately notice the NPC Lucatiel hanging around the bonfire, exhaust her dialogue, and we'll be able to summon her for the boss of this area. This is the first step of a long quest to inherit her equipment.
Master of Miracles: Progress through the level until reaching two Darkstalkers on a narrow pathway. On the edge of this path will be the Emit Force spell
Lucatiel: After ringing the bell bringing the boat closer but before going down the stairs towards another Darkstalker lurking in a broken building, look to your right to see a door. Go through this building to find Lucatiel's summoning sign. Summon her to fight the boss of the area with you. Make certain Lucatiel survives the encounter, or this will not count for the achievement. If she dies before the boss, rest at a bonfire to reset her sign. If she gets killed during the boss, quit out of the game or use a homeward bone if you can.
Gathering of Exiles 4/7: Before going after the boss here, take a detour to the right side of the docks. Carhillion of the Fold will be sitting here, but he won't speak with you unless you have 8+ intelligence; if you don't have enough, then come back later to move him to Majula.
Master of Pyromancy: After defeating the Flexile Sentry with Lucatiel, search the chest in the room past the boss room for the Fireball spell.
Interact with the table in the same room to leave for the Lost Bastille.
Lost BastilleSmith for Life: Progress through the level until you reach a ladder next to a resting Heide Knight. Climb down and take the right pathway through a breakable wooden barricade. Keep going through this path until you reach a drop with an undead jailer slightly out of view to the left. Quickly drop and push the barrel in front of the jailer down the stairs before he can kick it. The barrel explodes, breaking a wall down the stairs and granting access to a bonfire and the NPC Steady Hand McDuff.
Light a torch at the bonfire here, then light the sconce and rest at the bonfire to move McDuff to the anvil. However, he won't speak to us until we give him an ember, so we'll return to him later.
Lucatiel: From the bonfire next to McDuff, go straight ahead to find Lucatiel. Exhaust her dialogue.
Now move on to the Ruin Sentinels boss fight.
Master of Sorcery: After triumphing against the trio in the same room are three illusory walls. To open them, press your interact button while facing the wall. From the fog wall we entered, the wall we are looking for is in the left corner; it has a ladder that leads to the Hush spell.
Clangoruous Covenant: After proceeding to the Servant's Quarters bonfire, you'll need a Pharros Lockstone. Go to Majula and buy one from Malentia, then return here. Go down the ladder in the same room and use the Lockstone to reveal the Bell keepers Covenant.
You can keep going through this area to fight the Gargoyles. They're optional if you have enough attunement to equip one spell. Otherwise, you'll either need to kill them for the Southern Ritual Band past their boss room or invest enough into attunement to be able to equip a spell we'll use later. Your choice.
Now you can move on to Sinners' Rise.
Sinners RiseLucatiel: After taking a long elevator down, you can see Lucatiel's sign in the same room. Lucatiel loves to jump off the map, so be careful with her here.
Sinner's Bonfire: After beating the Lost Sinner, light the bonfire to unlock this achievement.
Make sure to grab the Fragrant Branch of Yore in the chest past the boss room. You may have noticed a petrified man shortly before the Lost Sinner fight; we need to return to him and use our branch to unpetrify him. From the SInners' Rise bonfire, backtrack across the bridge and go up the stairs to find him.
Gesture Maestro 2/12: After freeing him, he will teach you the 'Mock' Gesture.
Master of Sorcery: Straid is an important NPC as he will transform certain boss souls into spells and sells many of his own. You can turn the Ruin Sentinel's soul into Heavy Homing Soul Arrow. We'll return later for the rest of his spells.
For now, we are done in Lost Bastille, return to Majula, and we can get started on the next area.
Poison And Fire
MajulaTo reach the next area, go towards No Man's Wharf. When you see Licia, ask her to move the path, blocking the route to the Wharf but opening up the Copse.
Huntsman's CopseYou'll notice Felkin in this area quickly. Unfortunately, he won't speak with us until we have eight faith AND intelligence, so when you have spare souls, make sure to start investing in those stats.
Master of Sorcery: Proceed for a while in this area until you reach a long bridge that can be lowered. Look to the right near a ledge to see a hut you can drop into; inside will be Soul Spear.
Now cross the stone bridge next to the hut we dropped into. After fighting through the executioners, look close to the start of the bridge to see a platform directly in front of the previous bonfire. Drop onto the part of it that has an item to get the Token of Fidelity; with this, we can join the Blue Sentinels.
Go back to the wooden bridge again, and fight the Executioner's Chariot boss across it. After this fight is a room with the NPC Titchy Gren; same deal here, he won't talk to us until we have an item, so we'll come back later.
Gesture Maestro 3/12: After defeating the Chariot, cross the lowing bridge to find a locked hut with an NPC inside. Continue on the ledge, and you'll find another building with the undead lockaway key inside it, return to the hut and free Creighton. After hearing his warning, he'll teach you the Fist Pump emote.
Master of Pyromancy: Continue toward the waterfall, but instead of going into the fog, stay on the ledge to find a room with a mage and a few skeletons. The right side of this room leads to another ledge with Combustion on it.
Now return to the fog wall and defeat the Skeleton Lords to move on.
Harvest ValleyGathering of Exiles 5/7: The NPC Chloanne is immediately after the first bonfire, exhausting her dialogue moves her to Majula.
In the poison area after Chloanne is a small cave guarded by a Banedigger run in there for another Fragrant Branch of Yore.
Master of Sorcery: After The Mines bonfire, continue until you reach a wooden bridge guarded by a man with a large hammer. Drop to the right off this bridge into the poison to grab Chameleon.
Brilliant Covenant: Return to the bridge and go straight a short way; you'll see a path on the left leading to the Heirs of the Sun covenant.
The Heirs of the Sun is also one of two covenants we will need to max out, so if you're playing online from this point on, I'd recommend placing your sign down for each boss we fight to speed things up.
Now defeat the Covetous Demon to move on.
Earthen PeakLucatiel: After the Covetous Demon, you can find Lucatiel hanging out next to another bonfire, exhaust her dialogue and move on.
When you reach the bonfire next to the windmill that can be burned, go up the stairs and exit through the door on the right. You'll notice a wooden railing with space to walk on the other side; break this railing and walk along to find Laddersmith Gilligan.
Gesture Maestro 5/12: Gilligan will teach you the prostration emote.
Gathering of Exiles 6/7: Exhaust Gilligans dialogue and he will move to Majula.
Master of Sorcery: Go past the room Pate is in and look to your right to see a pyromancer guarding over a jump; you won't need to be where the pyromancer is standing but look to the right to see another platform you can drop to. On this platform is a chest with Great Heavy Soul Arrow.
Master of Miracles: After grabbing the last spell, look to the end of this platform to see another platform you can drop to. On this second platform is a chest containing Lightning Spear.
You can now fight Mytha and move on.
Iron KeepMaster of Sorcery: As you first enter the keep, go right to find Magerfold, and purchase Fall Control from him.
Master of Hexes: Purchase Darkstorm from Magerfold as well.
Smith for Life: When you reach the first large open area of Iron Keep, lower the bridge you immediately see using the levers. Then cross the bridge and look to the right to see an archer firing at you with a broken staircase beneath him. Jump to the stairs and pick up the Dull Ember on it. Give the Ember to McDuff back at the Lost Bastille to gain access to his services.
To get the achievement, you need to spend 14K souls on infusing or reinforcing your weapons. If you don't want to spend all the souls right now, you'll likely get it throughout the game, but this is where I got it. Just be sure to come to McDuff for your upgrades and not Lenigrast in Majula to make progress.
Back to Iron KeepLucatiel: On the walkway guarded by the alonne captain is the Smelter Demon fight; you can summon Lucatiel here, but the fight is optional.
In the section past Smelter Demon is a narrow metal bridge with two Ironclad soldiers; there will be many Alonne soldiers and a few Ironclad soldiers atop a platform that can be lowered. Look towards the lava floor on the left and see a few areas on fire with a chest at the end; this chest contains Chaos Storm. It will be tricky to obtain this now, so take a mental note of it so we can return later.
Iron Keep Bonfire: Unlocks after lighting the primal bonfire past the Old Iron King.
Back To Majula
Before you spend your souls from the Iron King fight, there are a few things we need to buy in Majula. First, visit the cat in the building on the right and purchase the Ring of Whispers and the Silvercat Ring.
Garrulous Miser: Second, talk to Gilligan and purchase his cheapest and most expensive ladder; this will grant access to a few areas. Afterward, talking to him will give you his equipment.
Moonlight Greatsword: From the Majula bonfire, head towards Things Betwixt but stick to the right of the rocks. Speak with Benhart when you see him, and he'll talk about a statue blocking the path. This is the first of a few encounters before we get his equipment.
Change of Clothes: Proceed onward and find Rosabeth turned to stone, free her with one of your branches, then speak with her and give her some armor to wear. The armor you give her does not matter.
Gesture Maestro 6/12: Speak with Benhart again after freeing Rosabeth, and he will give you the Joy emote.
Gathering of Exiles 7/7: Rosabeth will be the final NPC to bring to Majula. After freeing her head back to rest at the bonfire. You may have to rest twice before she appears as I did.
Master of Pyromancy: Before leaving Majula, buy the Flame Quartz ring from Rosabeth and the Flash Sweat pyromancy.
Finally, buy a Bonfire Ascetic from Chloanne, then spend 1000 souls with Maughlin to gain access to boss armor. After all this, buy the Smelter Demon torso, gauntlets, and legs.
Cathedral of the Blue
Protector Covenant: Return to the Cathedral and speak with Targray to join the Blue Sentinels.
Gesture Maestro 7/12: Speaking with Targray after joining teaches you the Duel Bow emote.
At long last, we can now move on to The Grave of Saints.
Grave, Gutter, Gulch
The Grave of SaintsTake the shortest ladder down the hole in Majula, you may want to equip the Silvercat ring, but it isn't necessary if you have enough HP. On the second highest platform is a lockstone, be sure to grab it, then jump to the next spot across and a good way down; then you should see a door slightly lower down; drop to it and walk in to get the Grave of Saint's bonfire.
Master of Hexes: Proceed in this area, and after climbing up a ladder, there is a pharros lock immediately in front of you; use it to lower a drawbridge. Find the hex Whisper of Despair in the room after you cross the bridge.
Gnawing Covenant: Now defeat the rat boss in this area and gain a rat tail after its defeat. Speak with the rat in the next room and gain access to the Rat King Covenant.
After speaking with the Rat King, press onward and drop down some coffins to get on the path leading to The Gutter.
The GutterMaster of Miracles: When you reach the water, you'll be attacked by some exploding enemies. After defeating the enemies, check both paths; one of them will have Great Heal immediately visible.
When you finish climbing down the rafters, there will be a wooden chest containing a Token of Spite, be sure to grab this.
If you can one-hand your weapon, I highly recommend using a torch and lighting the sconces with your offhand.
Thankfully, there is not much we need to grab in this area, so press onward until you reach the spot with various ladders and rafters.
Master of Hexes: When you reach the bottom, you can find Dark Fog on the floor just before going into Black Gulch.
Black GulchLucatiel: Our third encounter with Lucatiel will be close to the starting bonfire. Go down the walkway until the path expands, and look over the ledge to see a place you can drop to. Light a torch if you're having trouble seeing it.
Master of Sorcery: Return to where the path started to expand and on the left side is a chest with Great Magic Weapon.
Master of Hexes: In front of the first Worm that sticks out of the wall is a breakable pot containing Scraps of Life.
Now look for a ledge you can drop to in front of the second worm. On this first ledge is a door we will need to unlock soon, but for now drop again to the next platform and then drop to a third platform. Follow the path and fight the two giants here to get a giant's soul and the forgotten key.
Abysmal Covenant: Now use the elevators on the side of this room and return to the locked door we just saw and speak with Grandahl, but before he allows us in his covenant, we'll need to meet with him two more times.
Lucatiel: Finally, return to the main area and follow the ledge to find a bonfire on the right with Lucatiel's sign in the same room. If she survived the encounters with Flexile Sentry, the Lost Sinner, and you fought Smelter Demon, you don't need to summon her here but can if you want to.
In a breakable pot in the same room is a pharros lockstone, be sure to grab it.
Gulch Bonfire: Defeat The Rotten and light the bonfire to get this achievement.
Belfry SolMaster of Pyromancy: Return to Iron Keep and go past the two Ironclad Soldiers on the narrow metal bridge; there is a door to the left where you can use a Pharros lock stone; this will unlock access to Belfry Sol which is the 2nd area the Bell Keepers PvP in. Run through this area, and at the end will be the Immolation spell.
We'll need to reach rank 2 in the Bell Keeper covenant at some point, so if you're playing online, it might be a good time to try some PvP. Otherwise, we'll return later to farm an NPC invader here.
Master of Pyromancy: Now we can work on getting Chaos Storm. First, equip the flash sweat spell and your pyromancy catalyst. If you do not have the minimum attunement to use spells, then put on the Southern Ritual Band. Return to the area where Chaos Storm is and move the platform down, gaining access to the ladder in the center of the room. Next, you'll want to kill all the enemies in the area; so they don't get in the way. Climb the ladder, and you'll see some pottery next to where the mimic chest is/was; these contain water in them, lowering fire damage. Put on your Smelter armor and Silvercat ring, roll into the pots, cast Flash Sweat, then jump off the platform aligned with the chest, and you should be able to get Chaos Storm.
Now go back to Majula, and we can get started on the fourth and final great soul.
Duke's Dear Freja
MajulaMaster of Miracles: After defeating The Rotten go back to Majula and spend some souls buying Licia's spells. We need all of them EXCEPT Lightning Spear, which we picked up back in Earthen Peak.
Master of Miracles & Hexes: We're also going to buy the two spells offered by Chloanne, Soul Appease and Dead Again. You may have gotten Dead Again already as a rare drop from the two worms in Black Gulch. If you did, you don't need to purchase a second one.
Master of Pyromancy: Lastly, we will purchase three spells from Rosabeth, Fire Orb, Poison Mist, and Iron Flesh.
Now go to where we freed Rosabeth to get started on the new area.
Shaded WoodsWhen you reach the Ruined Fork bonfire, take the path on the right.
Gesture Maestro 8/12: Stick to the left side, and you'll come across the head of Vengarl. He will teach you the Decapitate Emote.
Reflections of Disembodiment: Exhausting Vengarls dialogue rewards you with his helmet.
Continue sticking to the left side, and you'll reach the Shaded Ruins bonfire. If you put away your Ring of Whispers, grab it because we need it in this area.
Go left after exiting the crumbling building and go into the next crumbling building. A short way in is Manscorpion Tark; equip your Ring of Whispers and exhaust his dialogue.
Now go to the other side of this area past the giant basilisk and go to the grassy patch; at the end is a spot that will break when you stand on it, dropping you next to Grandahl's 2nd location.
Master of Sorcery: Next to Grandahl is a chest with Homing Soulmass.
Abysmal Covenant: Speak with Grandahl again; we only need to find him one more time.
Defeat Najka and return to Tark.
Gesture Maestro 9/12: Speak with Tark after defeating his better half, and he will give you the Warmup emote. Now you can move on to the next area.
Door of PharrosMaster of Hexes: Proceed through the Rat mouth doorway and continue until you climb a ladder; a short way from the ladder is Twisted Barricade.
Press on to the Ordeal's End bonfire, then fight the Royal Rat Authority boss here.
After defeating the boss, return to the beginning of Door of Pharros and take the other path upward to Brightstone Cove.
Brightstone Cove TseldoraMoonlight Greatsword: When you reach the campsite, check the back left tent for Benhart's sign; he'll need to survive the boss encounter so you can summon him now or play it safe and kill all the enemies then come back for him.
Grab the bonfire ascetic up the ladder next to Cromwell in the same building after beating The Congregation.
Master of Miracles: Buy Heavenly Thunder and Perseverance from Cromwell.
Proceed to fight the Duke's Dear Freja; make sure to grab the red orb in the room after you defeat it.
Brightstone Bonfire: Light the primal bonfire after defeating Dear Freja.
Master of Pyromancy: After getting the key from the hollow Duke, return to the room before the webs with a group of spiders and unlock the door on the right to get Great Fireball.
Moonlight Greatsword: Now return to the Royal Camp bonfire and burn an ascetic. Since the Congregation is by far the easiest boss, we will be fighting it two more times with Benhart to get his summons done all at once.
Pursuing Vendrick
MajulaBefore moving on, we're going to stop by Majula to buy some spells with our newfound souls.
Master of Sorcery: Go to Carhiliion and buy Soul Arrow, Heavy Soul Arrow, Shockwave, Soul Spear Barrage, Magic Weapon, and Yearn.
Huntsman's CopseBy this point, you should have gotten the eight faith and intelligence requirement to speak with Felkin, return to the first bonfire of Huntsman's Copse and buy all his spells except Resonant Soul and Great Resonant Soul, as we can get these for free later.
Shaded WoodsMaster of Sorcery: Return to the Ruined Fork bonfire, but now take the path on the left. Keep going past the Shrine of Winter and take a right. The sorcery Repair is next to some rubble.
Drangleic CastleMaster of Pyromancy: Keep going until you reach the locked castle door; on the right is a chest with Great Combustion inside.
Kill an enemy next to a golem, and the door will unlock.
Gesture Maestro 10/12: Proceed inside the castle and speak with the spectral guy up the stairs; after a LENGTHY talk, he will teach you the This One's On Me emote. This is the same NPC who will sell us the last spells we need when we reach NG++.
Abysmal Covenant: Continue until you reach the room with three doors on each side. You only really need the first door on the right and the third door on the left. After unlocking them, go through the third door on the left and fall through the floor to find Grandahl's last location.
Master of Sorcery & Hexes: Speaking with Grandahl after joining allows us to buy some spells. Purchase Cast Light, Profound Still, and Dark Hail.
Selfless Giver: Then, proceed to do the first level of the Pilgrims covenant by entering the portal next to Grandahl; the first attempt is free, but each subsequent attempt will cost 1 Human Effigy. To complete one of the Pilgrim dungeons, you must kill all the enemies in the area, which is usually not many. Then light a large bowl using one of your Flame Butterflies to make a torch. Afterward, jump into the darkness at the end of the dungeon.
Master of Hexes: Grandahl gives you Resonant Soul when you reach rank 2 in the covenant.
Moonlight Greatsword: After beating the Dragonrider Duo, Benhart will be next to the bonfire. Since we already did his three summons speaking with him will inherit his equipment.
Master of Sorcery: Past the golem that lowers the elevator is a chest containing Soul Greatsword.
Master of Pyromancy: In the next room is a metal chest guarded by two archers containing Firestorm.
Master of Sorcery: After taking the long elevator up to the room with the caged woman, there is a chest with Strong Magic Shield.
Looking Glass Knight: Defeat the Looking Glass Knight.
Master of Sorcery: After defeating the Glass Knight, there is a chest before you activate the elevator on the left containing Soul Bolt.
Shrine of AmanaMaster of Miracles: In the second area of the Shrine of Amana is an Ogre guarding a narrow walkway close to the start. Follow this path carefully while dodging the spell casters and grab Sunlight Blade from a metal chest at the end.
Master of Pyromancy: Walk into the hut past the ogre and go to the right upon exiting. Carefully look at the ground and continue through a path almost adjacent to the Sunlight Blade spell. At the end of this path is Fire Tempest.
Master of Sorcery: From the third bonfire, you'll fight a slew of spell casters and an invader in this area; there is a corpse in the back laying on a knocked-down pillar, on this corpse is Homing Crystal Soulmass.
Undead CryptGesture Maestro 11/12: Proceed a short while in the undead crypt until you hear a voice telling you not to produce light. Talk with Agdayne, the NPC who warns you about light, and learn the Have Mercy emote.
Master of Pyromancy: Purchase Warmth from Agdayne. You may have gotten this already from the rats inside the Grave of Saints like I did; if so, then no need to purchase a second one.
As you walk out of the room with Agdayne, drop off the left side and climb up the ladder to get the Crushed Eye Orb from the metal chest.
Kings Ring: Afterward, make your way through the level to fight Velstadt and grab the King's Ring behind the hollow Vendrick.
Majula:Master of Sorcery: Return to Majula and climb the long ladder down the pit, take the other ladder on this same platform back up and loot the left chest for Soul Vortex.
Master of Miracles: Loot the chest on the right for Great Lightning Spear.
Master of Miracles: Now use the Crushed Eye Orb in the room with Licia to invade her. Killing Licia gives you the Soothing Sunlight miracle. Try your best to interrupt her spells because she will heal a lot.
Pilgrims of the Dark: Take some time to finish the remaining two dungeons of this covenant and kill the Darklurker boss.
Master of Hexes: Great Resonant Soul and Climax are acquired after reaching rank 2 and 3 with the Pilgrims.
Selfless Giver: Unlocked after reaching max rank with a covenant, in this case, after defeating Darklurker.
Far Too Many Dragons
Return to the Forked Road bonfire in the Shaded Woods, and this time take the path forward. Equipping your King's Ring will open up the door here.
Aldia's Keep
Lucatiel: At long last, we have concluded Lucatiel's questline; at the first bonfire you get in this area, the best NPC in the game will be here to give you her equipment.
After the dragon skeleton lunges at you, go under the staircase; to the left is a lever, DO NOT PULL IT, instead go right and speak with NPC Navlaan while hollow to start his questline. Navlaan will give us four assassination missions, but we will do it later.
Master of Miracles: Go up the stairs now and go right, then take another right to find a chest containing Great Magic Barrier past an exploding lizard.
Master of Sorcery: Proceed into the large hall in this area and take the door on the left side to find a corrosive pool with Soul Geyser; make sure to remove your equipment.
Now move on to fight the Guardian Dragon fight.
Dragon AerieUpon entering this area, you'll see the Emerald Herald; speak with her to get the Aged Feather; we'll need it for Navlaan's quest later.
Supreme Weapon: It's likely you have gotten this trophy by now, but if you haven't, there are a TON of Twinkling Titanite and Petrified Dragon Bones you can get in this area by killing the blue lizards.
You can get Titanite, Large Titanite, and Titanite Chunks from Chloanne, and we received a few Titanite Slabs from the Congregation. Pick a weapon and max it out.
Dragon ShrineCovenant of the Ancients: Continue until you see two drake keeper knights guarding a door; look to the left and cross the bridge. Follow this path to defeat an NPC invader. After defeating the invader, grab the petrified egg item in the same room.
Grab the Watchdog Parma shield located to the right of the egg
Master of Sorcery: Drop onto the ledge after grabbing the shield, then open the chest on this ledge to get Crystal Magic Weapon.
Ancient Dragon: After getting through this level, speak with the dragon at the end to get the Ashen Mist Heart.
You can attempt to fight the Ancient Dragon to obtain a 2nd giant's soul, which makes the Vendrick fight easier. We're getting three more anyway so killing the dragon isn't mandatory.
Ashen Mist Memories
Forest of Fallen GiantsYou may remember seeing three dead giants during our first venture in this area; we need to return to them to grab the remaining three giant's souls.
Memory of VanmarThe first giant corpse is shortly past the Cardinal Tower bonfire, past where pate used to be to the right.
Gesture Maestro 12/12: Speak with Captain Drummond upon entering this area, and he will teach you the last emote we need.
We will return to this memory shortly to inherit his equipment.
Memory of OrroThis memory is past the arena we fought The Pursuer. Nothing we need to grab here; get the giant's soul and move on.
Memory of JeighFor the final memory, go down the ladder at Cardinal Tower and cross the stone bridge in this room, then keep going and use the King's Ring to open the door on the left.
Holder of the Fort: After defeating the Giant Lord, we can now return to the Memory of Vanmar, and Drummond will give us his helmet.
Now it's time to fight Vendrick.
Undead Crypt
Vendrick: Defeat Vendrick in the Undead Crypt. He will have slightly more health if you didn't kill the Ancient Dragon, but he isn't difficult anyway.
Drangleic Castle
The Heir: Go to the Throne Room bonfire and go left to face three back-to-back bosses. After beating them and seeing the incredibly long credits, you'll get the trophy. Now it's time to backtrack a bit and wrap up our NG.
Post Game Cleanup & Farming
Lost BastilleMaster of Sorcery & Miracles & Pyromancy & Hexes:
After defeating Giant Lord, we now have all the NG boss souls that Straid can transform; visit him in Lost Bastille and get Soul Shower, Sacred Oath, Toxic Mist, Acid Surge, Repel, and Lifedrain Patch. Afterward, buy Homing Soul Arrow, Unveil, Lingering Flame, Flame Swathe, and Affinity.
Undead Purgatory
Sanguinary Covenant: Speak with Gren and join his covenant for this achievement.
Master of Pyromancy: After joining buy Fire Whip from Gren.
MajulaFirst, Speak with Gilligan and buy his mini ladder item.
Curious Map: Now speak with Cale inside the large mansion to inherit his equipment.
Huntsman's CopseWe need to get Felkin's staff; if you have 20 intelligence and faith, you can speak with him to get his staff. Otherwise, you need to kill him.
Iron Keep
Covenant of the Ancients: Speak with Magerfold here and give him the egg we picked up at Dragon Shrine to join the Dragon Covenant.
Aldia's Keep
Speak with Navlaan and claim your rewards for the assassinations. Remember to come to him hollow.
Master of Pyromancy: 3rd assassination reward is Forbidden Sun.
Master of Sorcery: 4th assassination reward is Unleash Magic.
Before we move to NG+, we need to spend some time farming for covenant items. The two we'll need are rank 3 in Heirs of the Sun for Sunlight Spear and rank 2 in the Bell Keepers for Hidden Weapon.
Bell KeepersThe goal here is to farm a randomly spawning NPC invader in Belfry Sol; to do this, you have three options.
1. Brute Force Method. Go to Belfry Sol, join the covenant, and manually check to see if the Mad Warrior spawned in, then kill him if he does. This method works, but it is the most basic of the three and not efficient.
2. The Unveil Method. First, kill every enemy in Belfry Sol and the surrounding Iron Keep until they despawn (12 times). After all the enemies stop spawning, you can go to the Belfry Sol bonfire and cast the miracle Unveil; if it goes straight up, then Mad Warrior isn't here, but if it goes horizontal, he spawned. Some people like this method, but I think it's unreliable and takes too much time.
3. Task Manager Method. The third and last method is, in my opinion, the best. To start, put DS2 in windowed mode and open up your task manager, pay attention to the memory and rest at the bonfire. Keep resting at your bonfire until you see a 10-20 MB jump in memory usage; this means the Mad Warrior has spawned.
Killing him 30 times will grant you the spell Hidden Weapon upon speaking with the dwarf. Using the task manager method, I did this in around an hour. Be sure you keep count of how many times you killed him; so you don't accidentally go over what you need.
Master of Sorcery: Rank 2 reward Hidden Weapon.
Heirs of the SunAs for the Sunlight medals, hopefully, you got summoned throughout NG and claimed a few this way, but if you still need to farm some, there are two options.
1. Farm the Banediggers next to The Mines bonfire in Harvest Valley.
2. Enter NG+ and farm the four falconers that spawn in the Things Betwixt starting location.
You can do either farm, but before you start, there are a few items that boost discovery we can get first to speed up the process.
We'll need the Jesters Cap sold by Magerfold, the Prisoner's Tatters dropped by the hollows in Huntsman's Copse and Harvest Valley, the Watchdog Parma shield we found in a chest to the right of the petrified egg we grabbed, and the Gold Serpent Ring+2 gained by defeating the Gargoyles on NG+. You can use an ascetic at the Upper Ramparts bonfire to fight the Gargoyles at this difficulty.
If you don't have the Prisoner's Tatters, I believe it's worth farming the Banediggers since they have a group of hollows with them, but once you get them, the Falconers are much easier to kill and have better drop rates.
Alternatively, you can get the Symbol of Avarice helmet close to the third bonfire in the Ivory King DLC. The Symbol of Avarice provides double the item discovery boost of the Jester's Cap; to get it, you need to defeat the Aava and speak will Alsanna to turn off the winds. Afterward, kill the previously frozen mimic chest near the third bonfire.
After Obtaining all the equipment we need, you need to join the Company of Champions to turn off enemy despawning. We need thirty medals before we can turn them in. Lastly, if you have any rusted coins, you can use them now.
Master of Miracles: Rank 3 reward Sunlight Spear.
Now we can finally get to NG+.
NG+
We only have five objectives in this playthrough: the four primal boss souls and freeing Straid. In NG+, the major bosses will grant an additional soul, which can be turned into a spell.
Lost BastilleStart by making your way to the Lost Sinner. Two pyromancers will join the fight this time, so be prepared. After defeating the boss again, don't forget the branch after the boss's room. Defeating the Lost Sinner grants the Old Witch Soul.
Free Straid and grab the nearby bonfire so we can return later.
Iron KeepDefeat the Iron King claiming the Old King's Soul
Black GulchDefeat the Rotten claiming the Old Dead One Soul.
Brightstone Cave TseldoraDefeat Duke's Dear Freja, claiming the Old Paledrake Soul.
Lost Bastille
Master of Sorcery: Return to Straid and trade the Old Paledrake Soul for Crystal Soul Spear, the last sorcery we need.
Master of Miracles: Trade the Old King Soul for Blinding Bolt.
Master of Pyromancy: Trade the Old Witch Soul for Flame Weapon.
Master of Hexes: Trade the Old Dead One's Soul for Numbness, the last hex we need.
We can now proceed to NG++, continue to fight Nashandra, and complete this cycle.
NG++
Our last objective is to reach Drangleic Castle and buy a few spells from Wellager. We have two options for getting to the castle.
1. Progress as normal and defeat the four primal bosses again to gain access to the castle.
2. Attain 3 Million souls in this cycle.
Speeding through the bosses would probably be faster, but you might be sick of the game at this point, making the 2nd option valid as well.
Drangleic Castle
Master of Miracles: Speak will Wellager and buy Bountiful Sunlight and Wrath of the Gods.
Master of Pyromancy: Afterward buy Great Chaos Fireball.
The Dark Soul: After successfully following this guide, you'll unlock this achievement.
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2912362931
More DARK SOULS II guilds
- All Guilds
- DARK SOULS II Guide 372
- Dark Souls 2.
- Dark Souls 2 FPS default controls/input lag FIX
- DARK SOULS 2
- Dark Souls 2 GeDoSaTo Mod
- DLC-? (Crown of the Old Iron King)
- DARK SOULS II Guide 328
- Ultimate Pure Caster/Hexxer Guide
- Dark Souls II - Chameleon Spell Location
- Demon Of Song 101 (Simple guide)