Dark Souls 2 Walkthrough: Forest of Fallen Giants – Part 1

Dark Souls 2 Walkthrough: Forest of Fallen Giants

Welcome to Dark Souls 2, where it is up to you to free the land of Drangleic from an ancient curse. Of course, this isn’t going to be easy so Geek Insider is here to help!

Forest of Fallen Giants

Items:

Life Gem x8

Soul of a Lost Undead x3

Human Effigy x3

Broken Straight Sword x1

Heide Knight Sword x1

Soul of a Nameless Soldier x5

Short Sword x1

Throwing Knives x1

Wooden Bolts x20

Buckler x1

Witching Urn x5 (projectile weapon that damages with magic. Can stun/damage user if detonated too close)

Small Leather Shield x1

Repair Powder x1 (repairs weapons/armor)

Hand Axe x1

Radiant Life Gem x1 (stronger than regular Life Gem)

Estus Flask Shard x1

Small White Sign Soapstone x2 (online play. Use to leave summon sign to be summoned by another player. Effects don’t last as long as regular White Sign Soapstone)

Divine Blessing x1

Torch x6

Soul of a Proud Knight x2

Fire Sword x1

Hollow Royal Soldier Helm x1

Firedrake Stone x1 (can imbue equipment with fire, reduces strength and dexterity)

Hawk Ring x1 (extends arrow range)

Flame Quartz Ring x1 (increases fire defense)

Cracked Red Eye Orb x5

Rebel’s Great Shield x1

Key to Mansion in Majula

Amber Herb x6 (consume to restore spell use)

Venturing into the Forest

As you enter the Forest of Fallen Giants, you’ll see a stream to your right and the path in front of you, leading around a bend in the stream. Two immediately in front of you as you enter the area and two beyond the first bend in the stream. There is a Life gem at the base of a tree to your right, across the stream. If you stay on the right hand side of the stream, you’ll reach a clearing with The Crestfallen’s Retreat bonfire. Go back to the left hand side of the stream. Going on, you’ll find a plank bride. There are two more Hollows and a Hollow archer. Drop down from the bridge and continue up the stream to find a corpse with a Soul of a Lost Undead. Beyond where the Hollow archer is, up the hill, you’ll find a ladder.

Mossy Rotunda

Going up the ladder, you’ll find yourself in a clearing. There are three Hollows here patrolling with a Hollow archer on a catwalk above and one playing dead. The big white Heide Knight at the base of the big tree won’t attack unless you attack him first. If you manage to kill him, he’ll drop a Heide knight sword. There are three corpses in the area holding a human effigy, a life gem, and a broken straight sword.

Once the area is clear, go to the right side of the clearing and you’ll find an opening in the wall. There will be a ladder on your right that leads to a set of stairs where you’ll be attacked by two Hollows. At the top of the stairs, turn right and grab the Soul of a Nameless Soldier. Continue and you can drop down to the catwalk to dispatch the Hollow archer and Hollow. Jump across the gap to a ledge and loot the corpse there of a short sword and a Soul of a Lost Undead. Find the ladder that ascends and before climbing, look right and you’ll see a platform. Jump over and grab the throwing knives.

Getting to the Cardinal Tower Bonfire

Now that you have your items, get back to the clearing where the Heide knight rested by the tree. Go through the mist door. You’ll find yourself in a tunnel, which will lead you to some ruins. The “dead” Hollow by the entrance will rise and attack once your back is turned so beware of that. Going further, there will be a left hand turn. Go straight, through the broken wall, and you’ll drop into a room below. There are two Hollow royal soldiers. Break the bookshelf in the room and get twenty wooden bolts. Exit the room.

Go down the hallway with a Hollow just around the corner. Beyond are stairs with an archer waiting at the top, once past the archer there will be another Hollow standing on a ledge, throwing firebombs at you. At the top of the stairs, you’ll find yourself on a plaza. There is another Hollow waiting for you behind some rubble. Search the rubble for the corpse that has a buckler.

Go back to the staircase. To the left is a ladder. Climb up and you’ll find a corpse with five witching urns. Around the corner to the right, past the door, is another Hollow pretending to be dead. Go back to the door and enter the room. It is here that you’ll find the Cardinal Tower bonfire. You’ll also meet Melentia. Exhaust her conversation and she’ll move to Majula. She sells human effigies, firebombs and other things. Be sure to buy the key to the blacksmith’s shop.

Ignore the ladder for now, leave the room and go up the stairs. There will be a locked door at the top, which can be opened with the soldier key or by breaking it down. It leads to a room with a chest that has a small leather shield and one unit of repair powder. Make sure to break the cart and barrels to find the corpse with a hand axe and a radiant life gem. The door in this room will lead to another room. The iron chest in there has an Estus flask shard and a small white sign soapstone. The “dead” Hollow will stand up and attack once you’ve gone through the door. Make sure to get the divine blessing on the tree branch.

Exploring a Little More

Use the bonfire room as your starting point. Find the broken wall with the drop off point and drop down to the wooden planks below. There’ll be two Hollows there. Walk down the planks and find a hole in the wall on the left. This will lead you back to the staircase and bonfire. Jump to the other plank ledge and pillage the corpse there for a human effigy. Drop down to the wooden platform. There’s a Hollow there.

Go down the ramp you’ll find there. You’ll find a tree trunk, walk down it and you’ll find a corpse with a soul of a lost undead and a torch. Continue down. There are several Hollows. Search the area for the three life gems. To the left of this area is a tunnel full of petrified people. You will hear explosions. Go down the tunnel, you’ll encounter a flame lizard. On the floor is a corpse with a soul of a proud knight. As you approach the corpse, two Hollows will attack you from behind.

Go deeper into the tunnel. There will be a grated door on the left. Pay attention to the timing of the explosions to get across. Go through the door and open the chest to get the fire long sword.

You can try to kill the flame lizard and you can access the hole behind it. Be aware that this area is high level.

Visiting The Flame Lizard Pit

Jump down (make sure your silvercat ring is equipped) and there are three more flame lizards (you can also reach this area from the balcony by the bonfire. To survive the fall, have your silvercat ring equipped and aim for the pile of junk to the left). Having high fire defense is key because of their flame attacks; they also have an unblockable lunge attack so make sure to roll away from that. There is also a Hollow archer. Be careful of the fire around the area. These will disappear once the lizards are dead. The holes left in their place are instant death if you jump into them. Make sure to get all the treasure from the corpses and chest, you’ll get a firedrake stone, a soul of a proud knight, a hawk ring, and a flame quartz ring +1. The lower pit with two flame lizards is a corpse with two cracked red eye orbs. The area with the last flame lizard, there is a skeleton with a rebel’s great shield. Here you’ll find a locked door (you need the iron key) that leads to the Last Giant boss fight. On the left hand side is another cave with a hollow royal soldier helm. Go back out the tunnel and into the clearing. You’ll find a ladder. There is a corpse nearby with a human effigy and another with a life gem. Take the ladder up and get back to the plank near the hole in the wall where you were before.

Going Down The Ladder

The ladder in the bonfire room leads to a room with columns. There are two Hollows here. One is pretending to be dead; the other comes from the bridge. At the edge of the room, you’ll see giant flame lizards (see section below). To the left of the ladder (if you’re facing away from it) is a closed door. You cannot open it from this side. Later on, you’ll find it and be able to open it then as a shortcut to the bonfire. Go across the bridge to your right. There is another “dead” Hollow and a locked door on the right. Go back to the room of columns and go through the open archway. You’ll enter a room with another locked door and a mist door. Beware of the “dead” Hollow on the ground behind the large pillar.

Meeting Cale

Go through the mist door and you’ll find be in a rooftop area, scaffolding, and a large tree branch. Two Hollows will attack you and there is an archer on the wall to your right. Go up the tree to get to the top of the wall. There are two Hollows here. Get to the top of the tree branch and drop down to the roof there. Behind you, when you land, is another drop leading to a room with a Hollow and a corpse with a torch. You can come back to this later. On the rooftops, there will e more Hollows and another archer. Kill the Hollows and head back to where you dropped from the branch. Dash and jump the gap and kill the archer. Look for the other landing with the ladder, drop down. There will be a cave to your left. Be careful as you enter because you will trigger a boulder trap. Past the trap is a corpse with a human effigy. Around the right hand corner is a hole that means instant death.

Go up the ramp where the boulder came down. There is another Hollow. This is also where you’ll meet Cale the cartographer. Go through his conversation and you’ll get the key to the Mansion in Majula. Go past Cale and find the corpse at the end of the tunnel with an amber herb.

The walk through for the Forest of Fallen Giants continues in Part Two