Dark Souls 3 Firelink Shrine – Find the Fire Keeper, Blacksmith Andre

This guide offers a walkthrough of the Firelink Shrine in Dark Souls 3. The Firelink Shrine serves as the main hub for Dark Souls 3. This is where you will level up your character, and any NPCs that you encounter throughout the game that have a use (like the Blacksmith in Dark Souls 2) will move to the Firelink Shrine and reside there in case you need them for anything.

Head down the main stairs, then to the right when the stairs branch off in either direction. Speak with the gentleman at the bottom of this flight of stairs to receive the Collapse gesture. Standing in the middle of the lower floor is the Fire Keeper. Speak with her to level up your character.

Down the hall to the left of the Fire Keeper you’ll find the Shrine Handmaid sitting on the right. If you speak with her you can purchase various items such as weapons, spells and consumables. If you recall the high-level enemy mentioned at the end of the Cemetery of Ash area, he is guarding bottom of the tower behind the Firelink Shrine. The Shrine Handmaid sells the Tower Key which opens the main gate located near the top of the shrine. You don’t need it now, but keep this in mind in case you need it in the future.

If you continue down the hall you encounter the Blacksmith Andre. He can reinforce and infuse weapons to make them stronger and more powerful. He can also repair your equipment and improve your Estus Flasks (with Estus Shards). Speaking with Andre also allows you to change your Estus allotment. At present you can only carry four Estus Flasks in total. The default allotment is three Estus Flasks and one Ashen Estus Flask. Andre can change that allotment for you if need be. When you start using FP frequently you will want to have more Ashen Estus Flasks to replenish it.

Head back to the main area where the Fire Keeper resides and look up to the set of chairs above. In one of the chairs to the left sits Ludleth of Courland. If you head up the stairs and move behind his chair you can speak with him and find out a bit more concerning the lore of Dark Souls 3.

If you head up to the highest level you can go outside to find a large tree. There may be a hidden seed item at the bass of the tree, so make sure to move toward the tree to see if you get any item notifications. This area leads to the roof of the shrine and also the tower that sits behind the shrine, but we’ll get to that a little later on when you’re more prepared to head up there.

When you’re ready to move on to the next area, head back down to the Fire Keeper and interact with the fire pit in the middle of the floor. Light the fire to create a Firelink Shrine bonfire here that allows you to travel to other bonfires you’ve lit, attune spells, organize your storage box or burn an undead bone shard. Access the travel section and make your way to the High Wall of Lothric bonfire to continue your journey. Once you have enough souls you can purchase the Tower Key from the Shrine Handmaid and head into the tower behind the Firelink Shrine for more loot.

At this point you can continue on to our High Wall of Lothric walkthrough, explore the tower behind the Firelink Shrine, or head back to our Dark Souls 3 walkthrough and guide for more tips and tricks!