Dark Souls is not an easy game and it doesn’t hold your hand in any way. The game does not give the player any information on what to do, and it doesn’t make it any easier that you can’t fast travel right away. Some people might be wondering how to access the Artorius of the Abyss DLC because it is not something the game tells you about.
You can access the DLC by collecting the Broken Pendant from a Crystal Golem at the Duke’s Archives, defeating the giant Hydra in the Darkroot Basin, and then defeating the Golden Crystal Golem behind where you defeated the Hydra.
It is pretty confusing if you don’t know what you are doing but in this article, we will give you more detailed information on how to start the DLC in Dark Souls.
Collect the Broken Pendant
The first thing you are going to want to do is to go to the beginning of the Duke’s Archives. Go up the elevator and in the first room, there will be a giant Crystal Golem just standing in the corner. Defeat all the other enemies in the room and then defeat the Golem to get the Broken Pendant.
There have been glitches that don’t allow the Golem to spawn until you reach a certain percentage within the story, but no one really knows exactly where that point is. Some people say you might need to place the Lord Vessel first before it spawns which is probably the time you should go and do the DLC.
Defeat the Hydra
To get to the area with the portal, you need to defeat the massive Hyrda in the Darkroot Basin. If you don’t know where that is, it is the giant green area near where you fight Havel the Rock. There are 4 Crystal Golems around the area, but you don’t necessarily need to defeat them.
To defeat the Hydra, just make sure to dodge its bubble attacks and when each head comes down, focus on one so he has less to attack with. This mini-boss is not that difficult if you know the attacks so just take your time and slowly cut off all the heads to defeat it.
You can even fight it early on to get some decent souls as well. It will make getting to the DLC area a little faster and it will help you, in the beginning, to level up a bit quicker as well.
Defeat the Golden Crystal Golem
There are only 3 Golden Crystal Golems in a single playthrough and you need to defeat one of them to gain access to the DLC. After defeating the Hydra, sit at a bonfire and then make your way to the cave sticking close to the left wall. You will find a Golden Golem in the cave and all you need to do is defeat it.
These Golems are the hardest versions of them and they hit very hard. They also have new moves to use against you so make sure you stay back and watch what it does so you don’t have to make the trek back to it. It is not a super hard fight if you have fought one before, but if it is your first time, it might be a little challenging.
Once you defeat it, if nothing happens, go back and rest at a bonfire again and go back to the area for the next part of the quest.
Talk to the Dusk of Oolacile and enter the portal
Once you make it back to the cave, the Dusk of Oolacile will be waiting for you and you are going to want to talk to her. She will ask you for help and you accept. Once you accept, a portal should be in the cave now. All you have to do to enter the DLC now is to go over to the portal and interact with it.
You will be pulled in and the start of the DLC will begin. Keep in mind that you need to defeat a relatively hard boss to enter the main area, but if you know what you are doing, then you won’t have too much trouble with it.
When should you start the DLC?
Many people might ask the question of when you can start the DLC. You can start it as soon s you have placed the Lord Vessel and unlocked fast traveling. Sorry if that spoiled some of the game for you. The bosses and enemies of the DLC are pretty difficult so you might want to be leveled up to a high level before going.
There is a secret cutscene in the DLC that can only be seen if you don’t defeat Sif before doing the DLC. Another good time to do it is right before you fight Gwyn because once you defeat him, the game starts a new NG cycle without letting you choose, so make sure you do everything before defeating the final boss.
Is the DLC worth playing?
The DLC is absolutely worth playing. It adds a whole new area and 4 new bosses. One of the bosses is the most memorable from the game so if you are playing Dark Souls, make sure to check out the DLC. It also gives you all-new weapons and armor to use so there is no downside to playing it.
It is more difficult than a lot of the base game so as we said before, try to wait a bit and get yourself leveled up so you can be ready for the fights. The final boss of the DLC is considered to be one of the hardest in the series along with the Nameless King from Dark Souls 3. Just getting to him is a feat in and of itself.
If you do play the DLC, good luck on getting through it because it is challenging, but in a good way. If you don’t make it all the way through, at least defeat Artorius of the Abyss, it is an insanely cool fight and super satisfying when you finally defeat him.