Dark Souls 3: Path of the Dragon
Matthew Perez The last crawl of Dark Souls 3. You can do it.
First things first: you do not have to do this, and can proceed right to the boss if you prefer. However, you'll be missing out on one of the most sought-after items in the whole game, and if you manage it, you will have completed the last dungeon crawl available. Let's have a go, shall we?
Take the doorway out of the great Belfry bonfire room leading away from the tempting bell (later, we promise). In this courtyard there’s a patrolling dragon hybrid and a sniping dragon hybrid. Cross to the other side and go in the door that’s a mirror to the one leading to the bonfire. A rock lizard attacks from your left. The chest here is safe and contains Twinkling Titanite. There’s also… a ladder.
At the top of the ladder is an NPC in Havel's armour, who will try to kill you, as is right and proper. He’s not a terribly difficult duel - although he has very good defence - but he’s as thick as bricks so you can cheese the heck out of him. Spook, backstab, sprint back to ladder, descend, wait, rinse, repeat. Cheeseburger Assassin! On those rare occasions in which he fails to turn his back, or if you run out of FP for Spook and backstabs, just headshot him instead. He drops Havel’s Greatshield and Dragon Tooth, and when he’s gone you can safely collect the Titanite Slab (aww yiss) from near the dead dragon.
Head back to the courtyard between the two doors. There’s a gate in the middle which leads to a dead end (for now), but you can collect an Ember here.
Our goal is in the opposite direction, on the uphill path. Grab the Large Soul of a Crestfallen Knight and move forward. There’s a shielded dragon hybrid ahead but things get... so much worse than that. As soon as you approach or lob an arrow into this guy, four giant dragon hybrids and at least three dragon hybrids patrol forwards. Ah ha ha ha. Run.
This battle is probably the toughest non-boss encounter in the game, besides the two crocodile wolf beasts on the way to the Aldrich Faithful covenant. Luckily, you do not have to do it. Simply run back through the bonfire room and stand on the bridge between the bonfire and the room with the summoner (you might want to kill him to be safe) and snipe at will from the right side of the bridge (facing up the hill). The enemies won’t figure out how to get to you – but try not to aggro a pack of them at once, just in case. Do not be tempted to try sniping from near the ladder; this is a death warrant.
There is one complicating factor: one of the giant dragon hybrids is a little different to the others. Instead of patrolling up and down the path (did you notice they all get stuck at the gate?) it tends to stand still when it forgets about you. After a few shots, it may well end up at the door to the bonfire room and eventually figure out how to get inside. The best way to deal with this is to clear out all the other baddies first, and then when the giant comes lumbering into the bonfire room, lure it closer to the bell before rolling around it and sprinting for the uphill path. It should stop on the bridge, with any luck.
Anyway, when all the dragon hybrids are dead (look carefully! They camouflage really well) proceed up the path. You’ll hear a rock lizard on your right but can safely ignore it if you give it a wide berth. Go right up the end of the path, stand before the altar and use the Path of the Dragon emote for the Twinkling Dragon Stone. This is all part of your quest to become a dragon and finish Hawkwood's side quest.
Holy heck, we are finally done here. Before you proceed you may want to do a bit of travelling around for some extra goodies. Visit the area where you fought the Stray Demon near the Old Wolf of Farron bonfire to grab Havel's set, and check out the path between Oceiros, The Consumed King and Untended Graves to grab the Drakeblood set.
Rest up at the bonfire, and prepare for the toughest boss fight in the game.
