This guide offers a walkthrough of the Irithyll of the Boreal Valley area in Dark Souls 3. This area is filled with Pontiff Knights and other troublesome enemies, as well as plenty of hidden path ways and a lot of loot. You can find Dorhys’ Gnawing miracle spell, the Witchtree Branch staff, Magic Clutch Ring, Yorshka’s Spear, Ring of Sacrifice, Great Heal, Ring of the Sun’s First Born, Smough’s Great Hammer, the Leo Ring and more!
To start thing off, head to the Irithyll of the Boreal Valley bonfire located just past the High Lord Wolnir boss battle in the Catacombs of Carthus area. Continue down the stairs and through the archway to the right. If you have not defeated the Deacons of the Deep in the Cathedral of the Deep area, you cannot proceed. Go back and do that if you haven’t already.
As you approach the mid-point of the bridge, Sulyvahn’s Beast spawns behind you. To avoid being surprised it’s best to move across the bridge with the camera facing behind you. Sulyvahn’s Beast inflicts massive damage and should be treated like a boss battle. It has long reach with its jaws and you must roll to avoid most of the attacks. If you don’t roll you will likely be caught in Sulyvahn’s Beast’s jaws and take significant damage. Try to stay around the back side of the beast when you attack, but be mindful that it will turn quickly. Luckily you shouldn’t take much damage as it turns, allowing you to move right back around behind the beast.
Once the beast is down it drops the Pontiff’s Right Eye ring and will not appear again. On the far side of the bridge collect the Homeward Bone on the corpse to the left, then light the Central Irithyll bonfire ahead. Pick up the Rime-blue Moss Clump (reduces frost build-up, which is great for this area) next to the bonfire and the Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier near the small patch of grass to the right.
If you’ve been following our walkthrough and have spoken to Sirris of the Sunless Realms who occasionally appears at Firelink Shrine, rest at the bonfire, then look around the front of the bridge just beyond the entry archway after the Irithyll of the Boreal Valley bonfire. There is a summon sign on the ground, which is Sirris requesting cooperation. Help her defeat Dark Spirit Creighton the Wanderer to continue her questline and cause Creighton to invade you a bit later in this area (don’t worry you get weapons and armor by defeating him).
The fight is a fairly standard one against an AI invader, and if you’re properly leveled you shouldn’t have much issue here. The important thing is to make sure Sirris doesn’t die. If she does you will return to your world and you’ll have to repeat the fight. Once you have successfully defeated Creighton, you can head back to the Firelink Shrine and speak to Sirris again (on the stairs near the Fire Keeper) to obtain the Blessed Mail Breaker sword and Silvercat Ring. If you go back to the bridge after you defeat Creighton when he invades later on in this area, you will find an item corpse in the middle of the bridge that holds Creighton’s Steel Mask, Mirrah Chain Mail, Mirrah Chain Gloves and Mirrah Chain Leggings.
Head back to the Central Irithyll bonfire and circle around toward the stairs ahead to find another item corpse on the far side the center altar that holds the Soul of a Weary Warrior. Collect the item, then head up the stairs to find two Pontiff Knights patrolling the area directly ahead and to the left and a third up the stairs to the right. These enemies will attack several times in a row and can be troublesome if you get hit. In addition, they inflict frost damage, which adds up, so be careful and make sure you avoid their attacks whenever possible.
Before going too far, circle around to the left at the top of the stairs to find another Soul of a Weary Warrior on the corpse hanging over the ledge above the stairs. The door to the far left cannot be opened from this side, so continue down the main path. Collect the Large Titanite Shard on the corpse up the stairs to the right (behind where the third knight was positioned), then continue down the path.
At the top of the area there are several Irithyllian Slaves directly ahead and a Burning Stake Witch to the left. The slaves are easily dispatched, but there’s a group of three directly ahead and two more groups to the left near the witch. Ideally you want to take down the slaves before you engage the witch, as the witch is a more difficult foe.
When you attack the witch, it’s best to do so at close range. From a distance the witches use a variety of deceptively long-range fire attacks that can cause you trouble if you don’t dodge multiple times. At close range it’s relatively easy to get around behind them, avoiding their attacks and taking them down quickly.
There are two item corpses on the far side of the fountain near the location of the slaves. Collect the Budding Green Blossom and Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier, then continue down the next path to find another item to the left, by the tree. Pick up the two Rime-blue Moss Clumps and head up the next flight of stairs.
On the balcony to the right you’ll find another Burning Stake Witch, which will start attacking as soon as it spots you. Quickly run up the stairs to the right so you can engage the witch at close range. It’s important to do this quickly because there are two more Pontiff Knights patrolling the area ahead and you don’t want them getting in on the fun.
Take out the three enemies and collect the Large Titanite Shard near where the witch was located. Head up the stairs to the left to find a Crystal Lizard in the small area here. Kill the lizard to obtain a Twinkling Titanite, then look to the right (facing the railing) and attack the right-most portion of the railing to reveal a hidden staircase.
Head down the stairs and kill the knight waiting to ambush you below (to the left of the stairs). Collect the Large Titanite Shard from the nearby corpse, then continue down the next flight of stairs. Kill the spell caster in the area below to obtain a Dorhys’ Gnawing miracle spell, then collect the Witchtree Branch staff on the nearby corpse. Open the gate to create a shortcut back to the Central Irithyll bonfire.
Make your way back to where you encounter the Crystal Lizard and continue down the path. Pick up the Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier near the statue on the left. There are three enemies and the boss battle directly ahead (that you can’t access yet), with a bonfire nearby. Before going through the archway, head left at the top of the stairs to find another flight of stairs. To the right of the stairs there’s an item corpse in the snow that holds a Large Titanite Shard. Collect the loot, then head up the stairs.
To the right of the stairs you can loop around the area near the boss, but once again, you can’t reach it from here until you open a shortcut later on. Continue straight ahead and light the Church of Yorshka bonfire. To the right you’ll find Anri if you’ve been keeping up with her story line. Speak with her to obtain a Ring of the Evil Eye and the Quiet Resolve gesture.
Collect the Proof of a Concord Kept on the item corpse near the end of the room, then look in the corner (near the entrance) to see a group of statues. Attack the center statue to reveal a Pilgrim NPC. If you’re aiming for the best ending, you will need help from this NPC at a later time.
Head back out the way you came in and move down the path to the left of the stairs that you passed earlier. Collect the Soul of a Weary Warrior from the corpse hanging over the ledge, then you can drop down to fight the witch below and collect the second Soul of a Weary Warrior on the corpse on the ground. Be careful how far you move as you fight the witch because another witch and three knights are off to the right.
If you wait a moment three of the other enemies will start walking down the path, leaving only one knight. You can engage them all or let them go and just engage the single knight. Either way, collect the Lightning Gem in front of the altar (there’s another item above that can’t be reached yet), then look to the right of the altar to see a wall that just begs to be attacked. Attack the wall to reveal an item corpse beyond that holds a Magic Clutch Ring.
Head back to the Church of Yorshka bonfire and continue through the archway and down the stairs on the side of the room. When you reach the bottom of the stairs, circle around to the right to find a small alcove with an item corpse that holds a Roster of Knights.
Head out through the archway and into the graveyard. In this area there are quite a few slaves, but they are very difficult to see. Look for the glowing white eyes before their bodies appear and be ready to attack or block their surprise attacks at any time.
Directly ahead there are two slaves that are waiting behind a grave and behind a tree. They will attack as soon as you reach the item corpse on the edge of the cliff if you don’t take them out first. Kill the enemies and collect the Fading Soul, then head up the hill to the right.
As you move up the hill dark spirit Creighton the Wanderer will attack. Kill him to obtain a Dragonslayer’s Axe, then continue up the hill to find another item corpse behind a tree. Pick up the Fading Soul, then kill the winged knight by the large grave and collect the three Homeward Bones in front of the grave and the Undead Bone Shard behind the grave.
Head back toward the bonfire and down the path to the right just before you get to the archway that leads into the building. Go down the stairs and to the left to find another hidden slave and three Hounds. Kill the enemies and collect the eight Kukri and Rusted Gold Coin on the item corpses.
Go back and continue down the path ahead and into the basement. Once again you face more nearly hidden slaves so be ready for their surprise attacks. The basement area is littered with them, but if you have a decent ranged attack you can take most of them out from the upper area. While you can see most of the eyes, there are still some hidden in the rafters above that you will almost certainly miss. These slaves drop to the ground and crawl, making them difficult to spot. Have a shield out and at the ready or prepare to dodge as soon as you spot them.
When you’re ready head down the dark stairs and into the lower area where the slaves roam. Collect the two Blue Bug Pellets to the left at the bottom of the stairs, then head to the far right and up the ladder. When you reach the top, there’s a doorway to the right and a corpse along the rafters to the left that holds a Shriving Stone.
There isn’t anything of interest through the doorway, but in the far right corner there are two more slaves. Kill them, then move to the end and look down to see a chest below. Drop down and open the chest to obtain a Yorshka’s Spear.
Head back down to the ground floor and out through the far side. Down the stairs to the left are two more slaves. When you reach the bottom of the stairs, look right to see several more Irithyllian Slaves along the path, with a magic-using Irithyllian Slave at the end. Use ranged attacks to separate the enemies so you don’t have to deal with all of them at once.
With the enemies down, move into the first archway on the right. If you attack the wall at the end of the small alcove, it disappears to reveal a Crystal Lizard just beyond. Kill the lizard to obtain a Twinkling Titanite, then continue on to the end of the path to find a Blood Gem on the corpse at the end.
The watery area below is filled with Sewer Centipedes that lay low in the water and can be difficult to spot. The easiest way to take care of the first one is to stand on the ledge near where you just fought the Irithyllian Slaves and use ranged attacks to clear the centipede by the item corpse. Once that enemy is down, head down the stairs to collect the three Green Blossoms, then to the right to pick up the Ring of Sacrifice.
There’s a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier on the small land mass on the far side of the watery area. Collect that then look to the right to see two more Sewer Centipedes. Clear them out then collect the Great Heal miracle spell on the corpse behind them.
On the other side of the watery area there’s a greenish glow emitting from an archway entrance. That’s where you need to go, but there’s a bonfire nearby first. Collect the three Green Blossoms from the corpse to the left of the green glowing archway and the single Green Blossom to the right of the archway, then continue forward into the tall archway ahead.
Inside the castle-like structure, head down the stairs to find the Distant Manor bonfire. From here, if you proceed down the next flight of stairs you’ll find several Irithyllian Slaves around the corner at the bottom. There’s also an item corpse if you drop off right at the corner, but clear the upcoming enemies before you collect that.
At the bottom of the stairs there’s a Pontiff Knights to the left and a witch down the stairs to the right. Kill both enemies, then clear the Irithyllian Slaves in the dark area to the right of the witch (one of which is a sorcerer). Look in the dark area to find a corpse holding a Large Titanite Shard, then head back up the stairs to the corner and drop down to collect the Rusted Gold Coin. You will take a bit of damage from the fall here and the fall down to the lower area.
Head out the door to the left of where the witch was standing. As you move down the stairs, the dark spirit Alva, Seeker of the Spurned attacks and your path back to the bonfire is obscured. Take down the AI invader to collect the Murakumo blade, then head through the archway down the stairs to the left. Light the Irithyll Dungeon bonfire at the bottom as you enter Irithyll Dungeon. This is the next area you’ll be exploring, but feel free to jump ahead if you’d like. For now, head back to the Distant Manor bonfire. Go up the stairs and into the water ahead, then move through the green glowing archway.
There are a good number of Sewer Centipedes scattered throughout the area. Look for their heads sticking up out of the water and try to use ranged attacks so you fight them one at a time. There are three Dung Pies to the right and three more Dung Pies to the left. On the far side of the shallow water is an open gate with an item corpse just beyond that holds Excrement-covered Ashes for the Shrine Handmaid.
Head up the stairs opposite the gate to find an Estus Soup on the counter to the right. Continue up the stairs to the left and through the next room. In the large hallway beyond there’s a knight along the upper balcony with a bow. He can be a problem, so it’s recommended that you run across so you can use the pillars as cover and then head left.
When you reach the end, get the attention of the knight there and pull him into the room just ahead where you’re safe from the ranged attacker. Kill the knight but watch out for the urns in this area. If you break them they unleash frost, so stay clear.
From this small room you can leave the castle and continue on, or you c an circle around to the other opening to kill a few more enemies and collect some loot. Head up the stairs to the right being mindful of the ranged enemy. When you reach the top of the stairs use ranged attacks to draw in the knight at the end of the hallway.
Finish off the enemy leaving only the ranged attacker waiting around the next corner. He’s surrounded by two urns, so be mindful of them as you fight. With all of the enemies down, circle around the balcony to reach three chests on the far side. Open the chests to obtain a Divine Blessing, Smough’s Great Hammer and the Leo Ring.
Head back down to the lower floor and continue through the opening and out into the snow again. As you head up the stairs to the left two Hounds run down to attack while two sorcerer slaves wait near the top of the stairs. Halfway up the stairs there’s a corpse by the tree to the left holding a Large Soul of a Nameless Soldier. At the top of the stairs there are several more sorcerer slaves and Hounds, including one Hound that waits behind the large altar.
Clear the enemies, along with the sorcerer slaves up the next staircase. Before you go up the next flight of stairs to the upper area, collect the Large Titanite Shard in the corner, then step onto the lift to the left of the item corpse. When you reach the top, open the gate to create a shortcut back to the Church of Yorshka bonfire.
Go back down the lift and head up the next flight of stairs. When you reach the top, there are a number of Irithyllian Slaves hidden throughout the room and on the stairs and balcony with a corpse holding two Blue Bug Pellets in the corner of the lower floor. You can avoid many of them by heading left just before the entrance to the room, dropping down to the area below, collecting the Large Titanite Shard from the corpse, and climbing up the ladder.
At the top of the ladder you will face a few sorcerer slaves. Head out the doorway and collect the Soul of a Weary Warrior to the left of the stairs. At the top of the stairs two knights wait for you. To the right is the boss battle entrance, with two NPC summons to the left, but if you go down the stairs directly ahead there are two more Irithyllian Slaves and an Ember. Open the gate here to create a more direct shortcut between the bonfire and the boss.
Go back up to the top of the stairs and drop down to the altar below to collect the Ring of the Sun’s First Born from the top of the altar. Now all that’s left is to head back up (you can use the shortcut you just created) and engage in a boss battle against Pontiff Sulyvahn.
Continue on to the Pontiff Sulyvahn boss battle or head back to our Dark Souls 3 walkthrough and guide!
Published: Apr 20, 2016 09:54 pm