50 Fun Facts About Dark Souls III

Which first boss of Dark Souls III kneels motionless until the player pulls the Coiled Sword out of his chest?

Iudex Gundyr sprouts a black, serpent-like mass once his health drops below half, which greatly extends his reach. He is weak to fire throughout, so the firebombs found nearby shorten the fight.

Which series creator returned to direct Dark Souls III after only supervising the development of Dark Souls II?

Hidetaka Miyazaki called the game both a turning point and a big closure for the series, saying his studio wanted to make new things rather than keep producing Souls games.

Which PlayStation 4 exclusive was developed in parallel with Dark Souls III and shares its director?

Bloodborne was built by a mostly separate team, and critics linked the quicker pace of the newer game to the studio's work on it.

Which city of the gods from the first Dark Souls returns in Dark Souls III as a cold, night-bound ruin above Irithyll?

Anor Londo stood in bright daylight in the original game. Many years later it has become a realm of night and cold, and a Lord of Cinder waits inside its old cathedral.

Which recurring Souls trickster calls himself Unbreakable in Dark Souls III and wears a stolen suit of armour?

Patches was left out of Dark Souls II because the series creator was not directing it, and a similar corpse robber took his place there.

Which cheerful knight arrives unsummoned in Dark Souls III to help fight his old friend Yhorm the Giant?

Siegward of Catarina walks in during the opening cutscene, and because the game counts him as a story event rather than a summon, the boss gains no extra health.

Which weapon, found beside the throne in Yhorm the Giant's arena, can bring him down in a handful of charged strikes?

Storm Ruler keeps its charge once the blade glows, so a player can drop the stance, dodge several attacks and still release the stored blast later.

In Dark Souls III, what does a player receive whenever another player rates a message they left on the ground?

Restored health is the reward for a rated message, so a well-placed hint can top up its author in the middle of a fight somewhere else entirely.

Which Lord of Cinder in Dark Souls III is a whole legion of swordsmen first found fighting among themselves?

Abyss Watchers share a single soul that passes from one body to the next, and a red-eyed corpse that rises mid-fight attacks its comrades as readily as the player.

Which Dark Souls III starting class begins at Soul Level 1 with every attribute set to 10?

Deprived begins with only a club, a plank shield and a loincloth, yet its flat stats make it a favourite for challenge runs that never level up.

Which Japanese studio, later the maker of Sekiro and Elden Ring, developed Dark Souls III?

FromSoftware began the project in mid-2013, before Dark Souls II had even been released, and built it as the third and final entry in the trilogy.

Which publisher's American arm called Dark Souls III its fastest-selling title after the game launched in 2016?

Bandai Namco shipped three million copies within weeks, half of them in North America, and the game was the best-selling title in the United States in April 2016.

Which blind maiden in Dark Souls III, her eyes hidden by a white crown, lets players spend souls to level up?

Fire Keeper cannot be lost for good: if a player kills her she reappears when the area reloads, and she goes on levelling them up without turning hostile.

Which Dark Souls III consumable raises maximum health by 30 percent and must be active before a player can summon help?

Ember also refills health when used and lasts until the player dies, and the same boosted state returns for free every time a boss is beaten.

Which Lord of Cinder in Dark Souls III is a former cleric who fights wearing the god he is slowly consuming?

Aldrich fights with his victim's own bow and catalyst, and once his health falls far enough the catalyst is wreathed in fire.

Which optional Dark Souls III boss spends the first phase of his fight riding a winged blue beast?

Nameless King is called by ringing a bell, which plunges the whole area into foul weather that lifts only once he has been beaten.

Which Dark Souls III boss can be triggered early by killing the priestess Emma?

Dancer of the Boreal Valley guards the only way into Lothric Castle, so killing Emma lets a bold player reach the late game long before the story expects it.

Which blacksmith from the first Dark Souls returns in Dark Souls III to upgrade weapons at Firelink Shrine?

Andre also turns the Estus Shards scattered around Lothric into extra flask charges, up to fifteen in all, and sets how they are split between the two flasks.

In Dark Souls III, what are undead warriors called who once failed to link the fire and are later resurrected?

Unkindled such as the player's Ashen One are raised to hunt down the Lords of Cinder who abandoned their thrones and to bring them back.

Which resource, restored by the Ashen Estus Flask, do spells and weapon Skills consume in Dark Souls III?

Focus points replaced the fixed number of casts that spells had in the earlier games, and players choose how many flask charges go to refilling them.

Which Dark Souls III boss fights with two greatswords, one aflame, and conjures a phantom copy of himself mid-fight?

Pontiff Sulyvahn's clone always moves first, so every swing it makes is a warning that the real sorcerer is about to repeat the same attack.

Which optional Dark Souls III boss, worshipped by villagers, takes damage only when the sacs on its body are burst?

Curse-rotted Greatwood drops the Transposing Kiln, the tool that turns boss souls into weapons and spells, so skipping this optional fight means giving those up.

Which colossal skeleton boss in Dark Souls III takes damage only when players smash the bracelets he wears?

High Lord Wolnir leaks a cloud of darkness from his ribcage that kills almost instantly, and he creeps forward until slow players are pinned against the wall.

Which optional Dark Souls III boss dies instantly to a single plunging attack on its head, whatever weapon is used?

Ancient Wyvern need not be fought head on at all: players run past it, climb the ruins through ordinary enemies and drop onto its skull from a ledge above.

Which Lord of Cinder stays on his throne at Firelink Shrine and turns boss souls into weapons for the player?

Ludleth of Courland was the only Lord who stayed when the others abandoned their thrones, and even after he dies his empty seat still performs the service.

Which elder brother of Prince Lothric fights beside him in Dark Souls III and is revived each time he falls?

Lorian can be brought back again and again, so the battle ends only when the younger prince himself is killed, however much health his brother has left.

In which crumbling Dark Souls III location, entered from Irithyll Dungeon, is Yhorm the Giant fought?

Profaned Capital has a reclusive master: he was the descendant of a conqueror of old, asked to lead by the very people his forebear had once subjugated.

Which first Lord of Cinder from the original Dark Souls lends his moveset to the Soul of Cinder's second phase?

Gwyn's style appears only after the final boss has cycled through stances that copy player builds, a nod to everyone who linked the fire in the earlier games.

Which Dark Souls III enemy can drop the Symbol of Avarice helm and is knocked out by throwing an Undead Hunter Charm?

Mimic chests give themselves away by the chain at their side, which lies straight and points toward the player, while the chain on a real chest curls inward.

Which katana do Dark Souls III players win by defeating the Sword Master outside Firelink Shrine?

Uchigatana builds up bleeding with every hit, and a Mercenary can swing it two-handed straight away without spending a single level.

Which scythe-wielding boss ends the Dark Souls III expansion Ashes of Ariandel with a fight in three separate phases?

Sister Friede fights alone, then beside the hulking Father Ariandel with a single shared health bar, then rises a third time wreathed in black flame.

Which red-caped wanderer, who first leads players into the Painted World, is the final boss of The Ringed City?

Slave Knight Gael is fought in an ashen wasteland at the end of the world, where he has gone seeking the blood of the Dark Soul as pigment for a new painting.

Which optional boss of The Ringed City is a descendant of the Archdragons whom the gods raised to fight an endless war?

Darkeater Midir was handed the task because he is immortal, and he kept to it even after the gods who set it had perished.

In which opening area of The Ringed City have ruined kingdoms from different eras converged at the end of the world?

The Dreg Heap is the road down to a far older place, a city tied to the Pygmies, the ancestors of humanity.

Which musician, later a composer on Sekiro and Elden Ring, replaced Motoi Sakuraba as lead composer on Dark Souls III?

Yuka Kitamura had joined the studio only in 2011, and her predecessor stayed on to write additional music for the game.

Which ceremony named Dark Souls III its Ultimate Game of the Year in the year the game was released?

Golden Joystick Awards success was followed by a second major prize, role-playing game of the year at the D.I.C.E. Awards.

Which compilation release bundles Dark Souls III with both Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City?

The Fire Fades Edition arrived in April 2017, a month after the final expansion, and its copies counted toward the ten million sales the game had passed by 2020.

Which poisonous swamp in Dark Souls III was once the headquarters of an undead legion before it became a rotting wood?

Farron Keep slows every step in its knee-deep sludge, though poison builds only while a player stands in the muck and stops rising at once on dry ground.

Which optional Dark Souls III area is raked by a giant ballista until players find the path to switch it off?

Smouldering Lake's ballista can be turned against the huge worm that lives there, and a bolt striking one patch of exposed stonework opens a permanent shortcut.

Which pyromancy teacher in Dark Souls III is found in a cage in the Undead Settlement before moving to Firelink Shrine?

Cornyx hands over a Pyromancy Flame once he settles in at the shrine, unless the player began as a Pyromancer, and he is the one who upgrades it afterwards.

Which item is burned in the Firelink Shrine bonfire to make every sip from the Estus Flask restore more?

Undead Bone Shard follows the logic of the bonfire itself, whose cinders are said to be the bones of the undead, and it strengthens the Ashen flask as well.

Which upgrade material, said to have belonged to the gods, takes a Dark Souls III weapon to its highest level?

Titanite Slab can be had by leaving a Coiled Sword Fragment for the crow at Firelink Shrine, and another goes on sale once every Lord's cinders are enthroned.

Which Dark Souls III covenant, joined through Holy Knight Hodrick, turns its followers into mad phantoms?

Mound-makers collect Vertebra Shackles from their victims, and handing in the first ten of them earns the katana Bloodlust.

Which co-operative Dark Souls III covenant gives its followers gold summon signs and rewards them with medals?

Warrior of Sunlight helpers and their host each receive a medal when the summons succeeds, and thirty medals buy the Great Lightning Spear miracle.

Which recurring blade of the Souls games is made in Dark Souls III from the soul of Oceiros, the Consumed King?

Moonlight Greatsword is a fitting prize from that mad king, who spent his life searching for moonlight and never once found it.

Which item lets Dark Souls III players invade other worlds at will and is earned by following Leonhard's questline?

Red Eye Orb can be used again and again, while a Cracked Red Eye Orb shatters after a single invasion.

Which optional Dark Souls III area can be reached only by performing a gesture beside a statue in Irithyll Dungeon?

Archdragon Peak's key is the Path of the Dragon gesture, which must first be collected in the Consumed King's Garden before the statue will respond.

Which key item, dropped by the Deacons of the Deep, lets players pass the barrier on the bridge to Irithyll?

Small Doll was handed to favoured subjects by the city's master, so that they could cross the barrier whenever they returned home.

Which Dark Souls III merchant stocks more goods when given Umbral Ash and raises her prices if she is killed?

Shrine Handmaid returns when the area reloads, but everything she sells then costs a fifth more until the player buys absolution at Velka's altar.

Which title does the player claim in the Dark Souls III ending reached through Yuria of Londor's questline?

Lord of Hollows is the reward for a long questline that includes a wedding rite in a hidden tomb and the gathering of eight marks of the curse.