Dark Souls 2 presents players with Pharros’ Contraptions, enigmatic devices crafted by the mysterious Pharros the Vagabond. These devices offer rewards to those who seek them. However, their secrets remain hidden until activated with a special key – Pharros’ Lockstone.
These special keys are cleverly hidden in the game; while some are readily available for purchase or discovery, others demand keen exploration and overcoming difficult challenges.
With lockstones and contraption locations identified, this guide equips you to uncover the Pharros Lockstone locations Dark Souls 2 offers.
Lockstone #1
Location: The first key can be bought from Merchant Hag Melentia at the Cardinal Tower Bonfire for 4,000 souls.
Lockstone #2
Location: This key can be found in the Majula. From the Bridge Approach Bonfire, climb the ladder near the entrance and reach the right ledge. Beware of the enemy standing here. Run over it and drop to the lower level to get Pharros Lockstone for free.
Lockstone #3
Location: For this Dark Souls 2 Pharros Lockstone, you must be at the Central Earthen Peak Bonfire and use the ladder to reach the upper level. Now, you must enter through the small door and smash the wooden railing before you. Use the left ledge to go to NPC Gilligan, and pay him 2,000 souls to use his ladder to go down. Run to the right side on the lower ledge to get the key.
Lockstone #4
Location: In Earthen Peak, go to the high platform, enter the hall, and run up the stairs. You will be in a room with 2 sorceresses and a spinning blade fan. You will find a chest containing the key on your left. Move away immediately after opening the chest, as it will release poison.
Lockstone #5
Location: Get to the middle of Earthen Peak and pay Gilligan 500 souls to set up a short ladder around the well. You must drop down to the plank below to ensure enough health. The Lockstone is on the second plank of this well.
Lockstone #6
Location: After the Royal Rat Vanguard boss fights in the Grave of Saints, talk to the rat king, then enter the door and jump into the circular room. You will find the Lockstone on a skeleton here.
Lockstone #7
Location: Head to Black Gulch and enter the hidden chamber. A key is in a large pot, and a bonfire is there.
Lockstone #8
Location: During your fight with The Rotten, cut off his arm for Lockstone drop.
Lockstone #9
Location: After talking to Magerold of Lanafir in the Iron Keep, head upstairs and turn left. You will get the key from a corpse by the window.
Lockstone #10
Location: Run toward the Ruined Fork Road Bonfire in the Shaded Woods. Take a left turn to go to the upper level; you will find a key near stones in the corner of this area.
Lockstone #11
Location: In the Shaded Woods region, before meeting with Manscorpion Tark, enter the small room with some barrels. Go to the lower level of this room and destroy the barrels to reveal the key.
Lockstone #12
Location: In the Shaded Woods Ruin, kill the giant Basilisk and go upstairs on your left. You will find a lockstone on a corpse on the far end here.
Lockstone #13
Location: While at the upper level of Doors of Pharros, walk to the chamber with steps across the ledge on your left side. You will find this Pharros Lockstone on the left side of these steps near the wall in Dark Souls 2.
Lockstone #14
Location: In Brightstone Cove, Tseldora, before fighting the boss in the large room with webs, breaks the pots on the mid-level to reveal a key. You will find a lot of large spiders here.
Lockstone #15
Location: While near the Brightstone Cove Bonfire, leave the building near the sandpit and take the first left door. Smash the vases inside to get this key.
Lockstone #16
Location: In the Sinner’s Rise, after stepping off the elevator, move to the far end of the flood area. Before opening the gate, turn left into a cell, and you will find a key.
Lockstone #17
Location: In the Drangleic Castle, head to the room with enemies near the King’s Gate bonfire. Once you defeat all the enemies, get the lockstone from the mid-room on your left.
Lockstone #18
Location: While at Aldia’s Keep, enter the large hallway with a caged orge and defeat it. Next, you must enter the first door on your left and smash the shelve to reveal a lockstone.
Lockstone #19
Location: After killing the guardian dragon in Dragon Aerie, drop down from the cliff and, instead of crossing the bridge, take the other path to a ledge. Drop to the ledge beneath that.
Alternate Ways of getting Pharros’ Lockstones
If you’re looking for more keys, head to the Doors of Pharros and kill the rats, as they have a small chance of dropping lockstone. In addition, join the Rat King’s Covenant and kill the intruders, or become the grey phantom to the covenant and defeat the host to get one Lockstone. If you run to the bonfire before killing the host, it will also get you a key.
How to Farm Pharros’ Lockstones?
There are a few ways to farm the lockstones without having to find them every single time. For the first way, you need to go to the Grave of Saints; from there, head to the bonfire before the boss fights, and you need to quit and reload the game here. When the game reloads, step out into the hallway near the bonfire and wait to be summoned, camp the corner where you spawned and wait for the opponent, spam the Mastodon Knight when he arrives, quit, and reload the game. You must continue repeating the process, but don’t move into the doorway.
You can also farm it by taking out small rats inside the Royal Rat Authority boss as they keep respawning until the boss dies or at the beginning of Shaded Woods on the hill.
