This guide offers a walkthrough of the Cathedral of the Deep area in Dark Souls 3. This is an optional area that you can access after defeating the Crystal Sage boss in the Road to Sacrifices area. In the Cathedral of the Deep you will find the Paladin’s Ashes, Crest Shield, Notched Whip, Curse Ward Greatshield, Saint-tree Bellvine, Astora Greatsword, an Undead Bone Shard, Estus Shard, Maiden, Dung and Thorn armor sets, Aldrich’s Sapphire ring and more. You can also find Unbreakable Patches and join the covenant of Rosaria, Mother of Rebirth where you can reallocate your attributes or alter your appearance.
Head to the Crystal Sage bonfire in the Road of Sacrifices area, and continue through the opening in the corner and up the hill just beyond. There are two large enemies with a cages on their backs patrolling near the top of the hill, with a sorceress at the bottom. Be careful fighting on the narrow pathway as you can easily fall off the cliff in the heat of battle. Your best bet is to draw the larger enemies back to the boss arena and fight it there, but if you’re brave feel free to fight it on the hill.
Kill the enemies, the loot the corpse in the corner near the fire to obtain a Herald Helm, Herald Armor, Herald Gloves and Herald Trousers. Head back up the hill the way you came and look to the right as you reach the peak. You should see a Crystal Lizard on the path below. Drop down and take down the enemy to collect a Twinkling Titanite, then head back to the area where the fire was and continue across the bridge to find the Cathedral of the Deep bonfire. Head up the stairs to enter the Cathedral of the Deep area.
Cathedral of the Deep
From the Cathedral of the Deep bonfire head down the hill before you go up the stairs. The entrance to this path can be hard to spot, but if you look left of the stairs you’ll see a path leading down. At the end of the path is an enemy that fights aggressively, but if you play defensively and wait for him to attack before you dodge (or block) and counter attack, you shouldn’t have issue with him.
Collect the Paladin’s Ashes on the corpse at the end of the path. Give the item to the Shrine Handmaid at Firelink Shrine and more items will become available to you.
About halfway up the stairs there’s a path to the left and right. Head down the left path and circle around to the right to find a corpse in the corner holding a Titanite Shard. Now make your way over to the right path off the stairs and drop down to the lower path at the end. Follow it around to the left and up the long hill to find a Crest Shield at the top.
Drop down to the top of the stairs below to engage in a battle against another solider that will throw daggers at you from a distance and uses an axe and shield at close range. Take him down then head through the large archway. In the next area there are several undead hounds and soldiers with crossbows lining the upper walkway to the right.
Head right to engage the first hound, then move up as you attack the hounds before you engage the ranged enemies. Once the hounds are down head to the far end to take down the two ranged enemies, then circle back along the upper path to reach the ranged enemy closest to the archway you just came through. Sitting next to this enemy is a corpse that holds a Large Soul of an Unknown Traveler.
Continue through the next archway to encounter a suicidal enemy that lights himself on fire and runs toward you before diving to the ground and exploding. If you keep your distance the enemy will die without inflicting any damage to you. There’s another archway directly ahead, with an enemy sitting on the ground to the left.
Go through the archway and light the Cleansing Chapel bonfire ahead. On the right side of the room is a corpse holding a Notched Whip weapon. Collect the weapon then head back outside and attack the enemy to the right. When you attack it will stand up to attack you with the same suicidal attack as the last one. Next to the enemy there’s a well in the corner. Approach the well to find that Siegward of Catarina has fallen to the bottom of the well and requires his armor. You can get it back for him later, but for now just remember where he is. If he’s not here yet, he will be later depending on how you’ve been progressing through the game (and assuming you met Siegward in the Undead Settlement).
Up the hill to the left are four more enemies sitting around an obelisk. There’s an item in front of them, but you can’t reach it without killing the enemies first. They won’t attack until you do, but once they’re up they are all suicidal if you don’t take them down quickly. If you can’t kill them fast enough, retreat and let them suicide to death. Collect the Estus Shard they were protecting, then you have a choice to make. You can continue up the stairs beyond, which is your next proper destination, or you can head to the right of the stairs to find a small opening where you can drop down.
If you don’t care about the additional loot, continue up the stairs and skip the next seven paragraphs. However, if you do want some extra loot, drop down into the small ledge below. There are three leech beasts in the stream at the bottom, but if you have ranged attacks (preferably fire-based) you can take down the first one from the safety of the higher ledge. If you have to fight it at close range try not to let it hit you because the leeches will cause bleeding. If you have a Bloodred Moss Clump you can stop the bleeding, otherwise you will likely need to use an Estus Flask.
Kill the first leech beast and watch to see if the second moves around the corner. More often than not it won’t move around the corner and you’re safe to drop down into the water and head to the stairs on the right. Make your way up the stairs and ignore the room to the left for now (there’s nothing there at the moment).
Head right to move into the area near the top of the hill. There are multiple Crystal Lizards in this area, so hunt them down as soon as you see them to earn a Twinkling Titanite from each one. Head up the hill to the right to find a corpse in the window that holds a Titanite Shard. If you drop down here you’ll be back around the area of the Cleansing Chapel bonfire, which is how you’ll get back to the main path when you’re done in this small section.
Move back down to the lower area and toward the crystal formations to the right to find another Crystalline Beast like the one you met in the very first area. Kill the beast to obtain a Titanite Scale, then head up the stairs to the left to find another corpse next to a tree that holds a Titanite Shard. Go back down the stairs and head left as you circle around to another flight of stairs. Before you head down, look into the small area to the left of the stairs to find another corpse that holds a Titanite Shard.
If you continue down the stairs from here, you will loop around to the stream where you started and have to face one or two more leech beasts depending on how many you killed before. Instead, turn around and head back to the area where you fought the crystalline beast. To the right of the enemy’s original location (littered with crystals on the ground), there’s a narrow path that leads into the castle.
In the next room to the left there’s another leech beast. However, to make this battle a little easier you can run back through the narrow hallway. The leech beast is too large to fit through the narrow gap and you can use ranged attacks to take it down with ease. Defeat the beast then look in the room to find a Poisonbite Ring on the corpse near the wall. At this point you’re only missing one item from this small detour, which is located in the middle of the stream where the leech beasts patrol (where you first dropped down). If you kill the enemies that remain you can collect the Saint-tree Bellvine sacred chime weapon (requires 18 Faith to use).
With this you have looted the area and should go back to the Cleansing Chapel bonfire by dropping through the window. If you don’t recall where the window is located, it’s up the hill near the Crystalline Beast you fought. Drop through the window and you’ll be right by the bonfire, then head outside and go up the stairs.
There is a graveyard at the top of the stairs. All of the enemies in the graveyard start off relatively weak, but if you let some of them linger they sprout leech bodies and become much stronger. In addition, none of these enemies stay dead long as they will simply crawl back out of the ground shortly after you dispose of them. It’s best to move through this area quickly so you don’t get overwhelmed.
Start with the upper path to the left. Keep moving left as the path weaves upward until you reach the end of the path and find a corpse holding the Astora Greatsword. Head back down to the middle path and take it to the top, then cross over the bridge and up the stairs ahead. In the area above there are more undead, with a second area to the right.
In the area to the right there’s a very aggressive hunter that will attack. To avoid having to deal with the hunter and the undead, fight the hunter at the bottom of the stairs just after the bridge. From this position you won’t have to worry about the undead. It’s close quarters, but the hunter is easily stunned depending on your weapon of choice. If you’re using a two-handed weapon, you can fight among the undead and simply carve them all up with each swing.
Once you enter the area to the right, more giant spears will rain down from the sky. However, if you befriended the giant in the Undead Settlement side area the spears will not be targeted at you. In this area you will find an Undead Bone Shard, three Repair Powders, two Large Souls of an Unknown Traveler and two Young White Tree Branches.
Head back to the area up the stairs to find two more flights of stairs, one head down to the right and another going up to the left. Go down the stairs to the left first and take out the undead in your path. Continue up the next flight of stairs and into the building directly ahead. Collect the Curse Ward Greatshield from the corpse, then head down the stairs to the left and kick down the ladder to create a shortcut to the empty room near where you fought the Crystalline Beast if you took the detour by the Cleansing Chapel bonfire. Go back outside and move around the right side of the structure to find another corpse holding a Titanite Shard.
Go back to where you had to choose between staircases and continue up the next flight of stairs to the top of the structure. On the far left side there are some crates blocking the path around the corner. Roll through the crates and collect the two Rusted Coins beyond. Move around to the right side to find a Red Bug Pellet on a corpse.
Collect the loot, then head down the stairs to the right of the corpse to fight the enemy below. There are three more enemies in this area, with one hiding to the right of the stairs and two move in the balcony above that will drop down and again. One of the enemies in the balcony uses a crossbow so be prepared to avoid the ranged attacks. Two of these enemies will ignite and become suicidal so be prepared to dodge if you can’t take them down quickly.
On the left side of this small area you can move down to the path that runs below. When you get to the first corner there’s another suicidal enemy laying in wait. You can use a ranged attack from the corner to take him down before he can suicide. Continue up to the rooftop where several enemies are waiting to ambush you. Attack the enemies you see, but keep a close eye on your surroundings as three more enemies attack, all with ranged attack options.
Clear the first wave of enemies, then approach the item corpse in the alcove to the right to see two more suicidal enemies climb over the ledge. Kill them, then collect the Large Soul of an Unknown Traveler from the corpse and continue down to the area ahead and to the right to find three more ranged enemies and a fourth enemy with a spear.
Take out the enemies, then you can go up the stairs in one direction or down the stairs in another direction. First head down the stairs and engage the enemies below. To make it easier you can use ranged attacks to separate the enemies and fight them one at a time.
When you approach the opening to the left, two imps crawl up from the adjacent ledge while a third attacks from inside the room. In addition there are two more imps on the ceiling of the room. Take down the first three imps that attack, then use ranged attacks to bring down the two on the ceiling. Once they’re all down, collect the Soul of a Nameless Soldier on the corpse, then continue down the path.
Move toward the stairs to the left and kill the enemy sitting down just behind the stairs. Make your way up the stairs to find two more imps at the top, waiting to ambush anyone who took a different path. Kill them both if you can to avoid an ambush later, then head down to the main path and return to the area where you chose between going up the stairs ahead or down the stairs to the right.
This time head up the stairs and collect the three Red Bug Pellets to the right. If you didn’t just kill the two imps waiting in ambush before, be ready for them to attack now. Move in the other direction to find four enemies waiting near the end of the path. Three enemies are suicidal with the fourth being another sorceress. Use ranged attacks to separate the enemies so it’s easier to take them down, then collect the three Undead Hunter Charms from the nearby corpse.
Once again go back down to the area with two staircases and go down the stairs again. This time continue to the end of the path and up the next flight of stairs. In this room there are up to four enemies patrolling here and up the stairs in the far left corner. Two of the enemies are suicidal, while the other two are the same enemy you fought in the graveyard area that was hyper aggressive. Use ranged attacks to pick them off one at a time, then head up the stairs in the corner once they’re all down.
There’s an enemy sitting down to the left of the stairs, and several more on the far side. When you approach the suicidal enemies on the far side, another enemy attacks from the left, so be very careful. It can be easier to run here as most of the enemies are suicidal and moving the other enemies away can make this group of enemies much easier to take down.
Once you’ve taken care of the enemies, collect the Ember they were guarding, then open the large double doors in the middle of the area. There’s a massive enemy in the lower area ahead, but ignore it for now and head down the stairs, then make your way through the hallway to the right. There’s a blob enemy in the hallway that has a high resistance to physical attacks. Use a firebomb or any other fire-based attack to inflict massive damage.
At the end of the hallway is an item corpse. However, acid rains down from the statue just above. As soon as you collect the Duel Charm dodge back quickly to avoid the poison. In the room to the right are three undead pyromancer enemies. They go down quickly but if left alone they will shoot fire blasts toward you.
Continue down the next hallway and take the lift to the left. When you reach the bottom move down the hallway and open the gate at the end. Head up the stairs at the end of the next area, to the right, and open the door to create a shortcut back to the Cleansing Chapel bonfire.
Go back up the lift and move into the previous hallway, then down the stairs to the right, just before the next archway directly ahead. Kill the sorceress in the room at the end of the stairs, then collect the Deep Gem on the body just beyond. Now head back up the stairs, but just before you reach the top watch out for another blob-like enemy to drop down from the ceiling above. Kill it with fire, then head through the archway to the right.
This is the large room where you saw giant from before. You will have to attack the titan to move to the far side, at which point you need to pay close attention to the titan to dodge its attacks while you quickly head to the opening on the far side. Along the way the item corpses hold six Exploding Bolts, Lloyd’s Sword Ring and the Soul of a Nameless Soldier. There are also several ranged and suicidal enemies on the far side, but keep your attention on the big guy to dodge his attacks.
When you reach the far side, head down the first flight of stairs until you hit the statue, then turn left. In the next room head over to the bridge but before you cross look on either side of the bridge and directly above the bridge to see three enemies waiting in ambush. Take them out with ranged attacks, then move toward the item corpse on the far side of the room to find another blob on the ceiling just above. Take it down, then collect the Seek Guidance miracle spell and head up the ladder near the bridge.
Kill the sorceress at the top of the ladder, then collect the Ember on the balcony to the left and head back down the ladder. Now go back to the statue you just passed and head down the stairs to the left to reach the room below. There’s a chest on the far side of the room, but this is no ordinary chest, this is a Mimic. Attack the chest to reveal the Mimic, then defeat it to find a Deep Braille Divine Tome that you can give to Irina or Carim back at the Firelink Shrine to get new items in her store.
Going down the next flight of stairs leads you to the large room with the ambushing enemies you just left, but this time you’re on the lower floor. If you did not kill the ambushing enemies before, they will still be there now, ready to ambush you. On the far side of the room is a knight with a mace that he will empower with magic. Once empowered stay away from any glowing spots the mace leaves behind as these will explode after a short time.
Defeat the knight then you can either continue through the archway at the far end of the room, or head up the stairs near the far left corner. For now head through the archway, but as soon as you pass into the next room, move back into the previous room. Waiting right above the archway in the next room is a giant spider-like beast that will drop down and immediately attack. However, due to its size it cannot pass between the two rooms. You can stay in the first room and attack from the hallway or use ranged attacks from even further away to fight the creature safely.
Take the beast down to find an Aldrich’s Sapphire Ring, then loot the corpse on the far side of the room to find an Ember. You can now head back into the previous room and move toward the stairs in the corner. When you head up the stairs you’ll be invaded by Rosaria’s Fingers Longfinger Kirk. This invader is similar to most others you’ve fought up to this point, except that the armor the invader is wearing will damage you if they roll in close proximity to your character. As long as you have a decent amount of health you don’t need to worry about this small amount of damage. However, if your health is very low, this damage can kill you so be careful.
Kill the invader to obtain a Barbed Straight Sword and a Spiked Shield. There are two enemies to the left, one hanging on the first pillar and another patrolling the area. Use a ranged attack on the hanging enemy, then deal with the other one. A third enemy hangs from the far left pillar, but be careful near the statues here as they will spew acid if you’re near them.
At this point you’re on the lower floor of the large room where you continue to see the titan. What you didn’t know is that there’s a second titan and your current location puts you between the two titans. Luckily these titans go down pretty easily from the bottom floor, but first you should clear away some of the nearby enemies so they don’t get involved in the battle.
Head across the water to the far side to find two more enemies patrolling the hallway ready to ambush, as well as a third enemy hanging on the pillar to the far right and a knight with a mace patrolling the middle of the hallway. Clear the lesser enemies before you engage the knight. On the far left side there’s an item corpse holding a Large Soul of an Unknown Traveler, and in the middle there’s a lever. Pull the lever to raise a barrier providing a walkway on the upper floor.
Now you’re ready to take on the first titan. Your best and easiest option is to run to his ankle and just start hacking away. There’s sludge that slows your movements, so as you approach the titan you may need to dodge as he slings the sludge in your direction. When you’re basically underneath the titan attacking his ankle, the only way it can damage you is by stomping with either foot. If you see the titan raise one leg, get ready to roll out of the way as it comes crashing back down to the ground.
Once the titan is down, collect the Large Titanite Shard, four Dung Pies, Maiden Hood, Maiden Robe, Maiden Gloves and Maiden Skirt, and the Soul of a Nameless Soldier, then open the double doors behind the titan. Head outside to find a Saint Bident spear directly ahead and two Homeward Bones to the far right.
When you head over to kill the other titan, try to clear the blobs surrounding it first (use ranged attacks to draw them in), as well as the enemy hanging on the wall behind the titan. Once the area is clear take down the second titan, then collect the Large Titanite Shard, four Dung Pies, Drang Shoes, Drang Gauntlets, Drang Armor, Large Soul of an Unknown Traveler, Drang Hammers (hard to see under the stairs), and Pale Tongue.
The boss is close by if you go up the stairs here, but there’s still quite a bit of loot to be had in the area. If you want to skip the loot and head for the boss, kill the enemies up the stairs and head directly for the boss chamber beyond. Otherwise keep reading to find a new NPC, head to another bonfire, and collect some gear and items. First let’s find the NPC Unbreakable Patches. Go up the stairs and in the area to the left there are two knights and two pyromancers. Use ranged attacks to draw in the pyromancers first, then take down the knights one at a time. When all four are down clear the three enemies sitting on the benches, then collect the Ember on the corpse to the far left.
There are two more pyromancers by the crumbling altar ahead, but first make your way to the far side (opposite the stairs you just came up) to find a lift that leads back to the first set of double doors in the area that you couldn’t open. Open the doors from this side, then head down the stairs on the far side to find three Duel Charms on the corpse at the end of the room. This is the room where Unbreakable Patches will appear if you leave, rest at a bonfire and come back. You must do this before you meet Rosaria, Mother of Rebirth later on in this area, so it’s recommended to rest at a bonfire and come back now.
When you come back Patches is dressed like Siegward of Catarina. Speak with him, then walk across the newly made bridge. Patches will double cross you, but since you’ve already killed the titans there isn’t much to fear here. Head back up to where you met Patches and pull the lever to raise the bridge again. Make your way across and speak with Patches again, forgiving his actions. He will open his store for you where you can buy Siegward’s armor set. You can do this now or wait until you encounter Patches in the tower behind the Firelink Shrine when you can deal with him again and he’ll eventually appear back at the Firelink Shrine as another merchant. Either way, once you have the armor set, head back to the well just outside the Cleansing Chapel bonfire and give Siegward his armor.
There are several enemies in the area around Patches. Take them down and head up the stairs and through the doorway to find Rosaria’s Bed Chamber bonfire ahead. Collect the Helm of Thorns, Armor of Thorns, Gauntlets of Thorns and Leggings of Thorns from the nearby corpse, then speak with Rosaria, Mother of Rebirth if you wish to join her covenant. She will give you Rosaria’s Fingers if you join. Once you are a member you can reallocate your attributes or alter your appearance here by giving her Pale Tongues.
If you don’t find Patches, he will appear later so don’t worry. Either way head back down to the ground floor where you fought the two titans. Continue through the archway on the far side (near where the knight was patrolling), then head down the stairs and through the gate at the end. Go down the next flight of stairs to the left. Circle around to the far side, and pass the double doors to the right to go through the other set of doors directly ahead. This opens a shortcut back to the Cleansing Chapel bonfire.
Head back and go through the double doors you just passed to find a lift just beyond. Take the lift to the next floor and kill the ranged enemy in the room. Head through the opening and use the narrow ledge to move left. When you reach the far side, take the ladder up to the bell and kill the monk inside to obtain a Deep Ring.
Leave the room through the broken wall in the corner and drop down onto the rooftop below. Continue to the right but be wary of an enemy hiding below the bridge that will try to ambush you as you cross (if you didn’t kill him before). Take out the axe-wielding enemy in the far left corner and the second one patrolling the path, but be careful because in the narrow parts of the path you don’t have a lot of room to maneuver without falling off.
You’ll pass two hallways to the left that aren’t walled in. You’ll be going back to the very first one, but grab some loot before you do. Kill the enemies and continue down the path. An enemy crawls up from below just before you hit the hallway to the left. Take out the enemy and continue toward the end of the path. Take the last bridge on the right to find an Arbalest crossbow on the corpse at the end, then keep moving to the far end of the path, take out the enemy in the open and the enemy that climbs over the ledge to attack, and collect the Pale Tongue.
Go back to the first open hallway you passed and head through it. There’s an imp on the first rafter to the right and a knight with a great sword directly ahead. To the far right are two more imps along the rafters and a another knight with a great sword on very end. To the left there’s a knight with a crossbow. Kill the imp to the immediate right first, then the knight directly ahead. You want to fight the knight on solid ground, not along the rafters. The knight to the left with the crossbow will attack if you move too far forward so keep that in mind when attacking these first two enemies.
Once those two are down, focus on the knight with the crossbow before you move to the enemies to the right. When you make it all the way to the right you’ll find an item corpse that holds a Blessed Gem. Move back to the center of the area, across from where you entered. If you look down you’ll see a balcony that sits higher than the other platforms below you. If you haven’t already made it to Rosaria, Mother of Rebirth, dropping down to this area will take you there. If you did the Unbreakable Patches portion of this walkthrough you have already visited Rosaria and can head directly to the section, “Onward to the Deacons of the Deep Boss Battle” instead of dropping down.
If you’re dropping down to the area below, make sure you have a decent amount of health and drop down to the balcony. You’re going to take some damage, but it won’t be too bad. Drop down to the stairs on the left side of the balcony (taking a bit more damage), but do not move from that point. Look up to see four enemies hanging onto the ceiling. Use ranged attacks to bring them down one at a time, then attack the remaining enemy on the far side of this balcony area. This one is a holy mage so be careful of its ranged attacks.
Clear the enemies then pull the lever on the far left corner to raise the second gate and create another walkway. Continue through the archway in the right corner to find another enemy hanging on the wall ahead and a second mage up the stairs ahead. With ranged attacks and some patience you can take out the mage without every going through the archway.
Once the initial batch of enemies are down, look toward the ceiling to see several more. In addition, there’s another mage on the far side of the upper floor. This mage won’t attack unless you attack first (and even then it often times won’t attack), but if you kill the mage you obtain a Red Sign Soapstone.
With the enemies down open the double doors in the far right corner and light the Rosaria’s Bed Chamber bonfire ahead. Collect the Helm of Thorns, Armor of Thorns, Gauntlets of Thorns and Leggings of Thorns from the nearby corpse, then speak with Rosaria, Mother of Rebirth if you wish to join her covenant. She will give you Rosaria’s Fingers if you join. Once you are a member you can reallocate your attributes or alter your appearance here at the cost of Pale Tongues.
Onward to the Deacons of the Deep Boss Battle
Head back to the area where you fought the second titan and continue up the stairs. If you haven’t already been through here, there are two knights and two pyromancers to the left, as well as an Ember on the corpse to the far left. Two more pyromancers wait by the crumbling altar ahead. Move around to the back side of the crumbling altar to find summon points for Horace the Hushed and Anri of Astora if you’ve started their quest line and have an active Ember. Continue down the path to engage in a boss battle against the Deacons of the Deep.
Continue on to the boss battle against the Deacons of the Deep or head back to our Dark Souls 3 walkthrough and guide!
Published: Apr 12, 2016 06:28 pm