Regions

Dark Souls 3's two expansions start from the same church. A stranger at the Cleansing Chapel altar carries you into the painting of Ariandel, and The Ringed City opens onto the Dreg Heap, whose second bonfire, the Earthen Peak Ruins, is the stretch our writers mapped in detail. Both routes below come from our two Dark Souls 3 region pages: how to get in, the bonfire route, what to pick up, and where the boss doors are. The fights themselves are broken down in our bosses guide.

Ashes of Ariandel

Wait for the NPC at the Cleansing Chapel altar to finish speaking, talk to him, and accept. You arrive in a stone corridor with the Snowfield bonfire at its end. Beyond the fog a hill of Followers waits; fight them one at a time. Past a corpse the ground gives way and drops you among wolves and fire-spitting trees, which our page treats as the DLC introducing itself. Take the slope on the left, then the path down and left, pick up the Frozen Weapon sorcery from the giant flies if you want it, and turn right at the bottom for the cave holding the Rope Bridge Cave bonfire.

Across the bridge, climb to the building, speak to the NPC at the door, then light the Ariandel Chapel bonfire and talk to Friede inside. Speak to the NPC again, go back to the bridge and cut the rope on the right; the bonfire returns you to the cave. The severed bridge is now a ladder down. Optional first: from the fallen bridge drop to the snowy roots, follow the curving root and the stone ledge down to the glacier, and keep left for the Depths of the Painting bonfire, which sits above the icy meadow where the arena fight takes place.

For the main route, climb the ladder on the left of the slope past the bridge, follow the narrow ledge to more Followers, and slide down the icy slope into the Corvian approach, collecting Budding Green Blossom on the way to the lowest level. A clawed enemy guards the way to a ladder; through the building and across the stone bridge is the Corvian Settlement, where the route picks up an Ember, the Crow Talons on a roof, a large soul from a rooftop, and a Young White Branch and Rusted Coin inside a porch before a slow, fire-sword knight attacks. Up the Snowy Mountain slope, clear the Followers and wolves, take the narrow left turn to the Quakestone Hammer, and go past the knights into the cliff tunnel. In the crypt of giant flies, the wall the fly is staring at is false; our illusory walls page notes the two walls here hide the Pyromancer's Parting Flame and an NPC invader. Cross the wooden platform, climb the stairs, and you are back at the chapel. Speak to Friede again and the floor opens onto the boss.

Sister Friede's first form uses ground attacks that are easy to read but heavy when they land. When Father Ariandel joins her the two share one health bar. Friede turns invisible to heal, so watch for the glow and hit her before she finishes; Ariandel pauses between attacks, and as long as Friede is not healing he is the smaller problem.

Earthen Peak Ruins

From the Dreg Heap, leave the church of Lothric Knights through the collapsed wall and an Angel opens fire. Kill it or run, cross the fallen tower to meet Lapp, find the bridge and drop off its left side, then drop again past the Harald Soldier and the corpse on the far ledge; the Earthen Peak Ruins bonfire is below the collapsed towers on the right. Lapp waits beside it. Accept his quest, exhaust his dialogue, then reload the bonfire or die three times and he moves to a nearby rock with a Titanite Slab for you. Four Black Firebombs sit north of the bonfire behind poisonous mushroom insects.

The clearing of giant roots belongs to a second Angel, and Angels curse you if you hide from their gaze too long, so keep moving between shelters. From the upper level drop down, cross to the broken shack, and run right to the stone gate for an Ember. Back by the shack at the cliff's end, a hard jump from its left lands you on a giant branch; run right along it to the cliff and kill the summoner, and the Angel vanishes. A Divine Blessing sits on the roof of a corpse on the branch beyond, and a circle drawn on the ground below the broken path marks the Within the Earthen Peak Ruins bonfire.

Zoey herself waits in a cave with two thralls, one of them wielding a dark weapon, behind six Prism Stones. Kill the thralls first. She throws fireballs, conjures a flame sword and whips, and heals twice with Estus, so corner her and keep hitting to burn through those heals. With the Ring of Favor +3 equipped, a drop onto the Harald below the branch kills it in one strike. When you have the three Haralds down for Lapp, return to the Within the Earthen Peak Ruins bonfire, summon Slave Knight Gael or Lapp if you want help, and drop through the gap under the long ledge to reach the Demon Prince. Which demon to kill first, and why, is covered in our bosses guide; beating the Prince pays 100,000 souls plus his soul for transposition, and the Small Envoy Banner lies through the door by his bonfire. Lapp's later stops are on our NPCs guide.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Ashes of Ariandel start?

In the Cathedral of the Deep. Speak to the NPC at the right-hand altar by the Cleansing Chapel bonfire and accept his offer.

Is the Earthen Peak Ruins boss optional?

No. The Demon Prince is the first boss on The Ringed City's path and the area is not optional.

How do I stop the Angels?

Each Angel is projected by a summoner on the ground. Reach the summoner, by the branch jump for the first and across the branches past the mushroom insects for the second, and the Angel disappears. A Purple Moss Clump cures the curse if you linger in hiding.