Grand Archives

Moving onward across the bridge after defeating that last boss, you'll soon come to a staircase where you can find a body off to the right. Grab the Titanite Chunk off it before going further to the bonfire. Go directly ahead from here and you'll see the remains of Black Hand Gotthard. He has the Grand Archives Key as well as the Gotthard Twinswords. Upon entering the new location, you'll get a warm welcome from a Crystal Sage clone that will harass you while you try to find your way through the maze-like library. He will eventually go away allowing you to use the steps on the right. Kill the two enemies here then collect another Titanite Chunk at the balcony. Head up either one of the stairs that you see to stay out of the Crystal Sage clone's range. Defeat the Crystal Lizard you see here to get a Crystal Gem and also a Twinkling Titanite.

This section has more Thralls alongside some Scholars waiting to be taken down. Go left at the fork first and follow the path around to some souls, then return to the split to go right. Collect the Titanite Chunk on the balcony before facing the Scholars behind you. Once they're gone, check the shelves to your right to spots some steps that you can use to reach the Titanite Scale on top. From here, head left around the shelves until you come across a Lorthic Knight. Defeat him and grab the Titanite Chunk near the balcony.

Enter the tiny room for a Crystal Chime as well. Going back to the spot where you previously encountered the Scholars, push past the door to your right. In here, you'll find a Crystal Lizard and going after it will cause the books on the shelves to have arms that attack you. Killing that lizard gets you a Chaos Gem and Twinkling Titanite. The second lizard drops a couple of Twinkling Titanites when defeated. Next, yank the lever to the left of the shelf with the steps. Collect the Witch's Lock and the Power Within pyromancy spell in the new room that opens.

Climb up the stairs and you'll find a Scholar blocking access to a Titanite Chunk on the left. Another Scholar will show up from the right doorway as you engage the first one. Also try not to set the books off while fighting these two enemies, as they will no doubt complicate things. A Crystal Lizard is roaming the room outside but do keep an eye on the Crystal Sage on the floor above you. Defeat the lizard for a pair of Twinkling Titanites then grab the Titanite Chunk off the body near the door to the right. Bring the ladder down by the spot where you came in from as well. Go to the platform right below where the Crystal Sage is and grab the Homeward Bones at the balcony. However, there is a switch on the ground here that sets off the shelf of booby-trapped books, so look around for a trio of Thralls nearby and kill them so you can gain access to the protective wax they are defending. Pick up the Titanite Chunk here then go pull the lever.

Now to deal with that Crystal Sage, find a ladder on the balcony here and use it to sneak up behind the Sage. You can try to defeat him here before he gets a chance to teleport away elsewhere. Should he manage to get away, you will have to face other enemies before you can get to the Crystal Sage again. These include Thralls with firebombs, Scholars and book traps. Make your way through them while the wax effect is still active then drop down to where the Sage is and defeat him. Grab the Crystal Scroll from his remains. Head a little further down from the balcony and kill the Crystal Lizard you see there to get a pair of Titanite Scales. Next, return to the balcony by the spot of your first meeting with the Scholars and if you had pulled the lever from before, a passage leading to a Titanite Slab should be accessible.

Backtrack to the platform that connects to the second wax pool, and use the stairs by the shelves where Thralls can be seen chilling. Kill the Scholar that you see at the edge of the bookshelf then go collect the Titanite Scale below. From here, drop down one more level onto another shelf (but only if you can reliably withstand damage from falling) and pick up the Avelyn Crossbow. Head back to where you saw some hostile books on the ground, search for a wall next to a ladder and hit the wall across from it to find a hidden room. Defeat the Outrider Knight inside. Watch the walls though as they also have the hand traps. Kill the Outrider Knight to get a full set of Outrider gear. Continue past this room to a passage leading to a body carrying the Soul Stream sorcery spell. Go down the ladder and you'll find a Shriving Stone. Grab that before going to look for a lever to pull. Doing so lets you access another body that carries a Scholar's Ring.

There is a Lorthic Knight patrolling the hallway at the other end of the bridge. Kill him before the climbing up the stairs to use the lift on the right. Once on the bottom floor, pull the lever here to open up a shortcut. Take the elevator back up and cross the bridge to another area within the archives. This room has Scholars wandering close to hostile bookshelves. Defeat them then look behind the shelves for some souls. There is a treasure chest containing some Titanite Scales near the exit. Head up the stairs, kill the Crystal Lizard for its Twinkling Titanite and Refined Gem. To the right, behind more hands is are some remains holding a Fleshbite Ring. Go get waxed up before going in.

Go outside and down the ladder, go right when you can at the bottom. Jump across the gap to the other side to get a Titanite Chunk. Back onto the rooftop, head for the edge to score one more Titanite Chunk after you defeat the Gargoyle that flies down as you approach. Once that enemy is dealt with, continue left along the rooftops and you should spot more enemies including another Gargoyle above as well as a Corvian Shaman and his lackeys below. Around the corner is another Gargoyle defending some souls while another Gargoyle can be seen protecting two Crystal Lizards.

The loot from the lizards should you manage to kill them, are some Twinkling Titanite, a Sharp Gem and a Heavy Gem. Now return to the spot where you spotted the Corvians below and drop down. There is a room that next to the horde that has a Hollow Gem so be sure to get that. Clear away the enemies then step onto the small bit of roofing past them. Take a running leap from here onto the opposite rooftop to find a body with three Titanite Scales.

At the location where you've defeated a pair of Crystal Lizards, is a fork that splits in two directions. Both paths lead to the same place however so go left first to grab the Titanitte Chunk after killing a couple of Gargoyles. The path going right takes you to a balcony below where two Titanite Chunks can be found. Waiting indoors is a Lorthic Knight and further down the corridor are some Thralls dangling from the beams above. Defeat the things so you can safely collect the Undead Bone Shard and Ember at the end. Do kick down the ladder that you see here as well. Heading outside, you'll come to a courtyard with three enemies behind the statue.

The key here is to get the melee enemy away from his companions and kill him quickly, before turning your attention to the ranged targets. Once dead, the warrior drops a Golden Wing Crest, the thief has an Onikiri and Ubadachi, and the mage has a Sage Crystal Staff. Climb the stairs into a room with an elevator, which in turn takes you to the bonfire.

Following the path around the first dome, grab the the soul and start heading up. A trio of Winged Knights will come down so run back away from them, then defeat them one at a time when they move along their patrol route. Defeating the three knights gets you a Titanite Slab. A corpse with an Estus Shard is also tucked away behind the tower. On the spire, go to the upper level and climb up the ladder to grab a Hunter's Ring from the body. Drop back down to the bottom level of the spire, go into the building from the rear and go through the trapdoor. This bit connects to the rafters of the Grand Archives, drop onto the beam here then step on the cage to reach another trapdoor.

The body inside carries the Divine Pillars miracle. Next head for the support beams after having passed through a cage opening. Drop down here and kill the enemy so you can snag the Blessed Gem from the remains. The next enemy you need to worry about is the Lorthic Knight below. Go right, head down the middle to a ladder and go down. Grab the Divine Blessing and Twinkling Titanites from the two treasure chests.

Leave through the broken window out toward one of the exits on the rooftops. Use the stairs from the shortcut elevator and cross the bridge to the throne. You will encounter fierce resistance while crossing the bridge though so be prepared for a big fight. Once the opposition has been thoroughly silenced, you'll find the boss chamber for this level directly ahead.

Boss Battle - Twin Princes Lorian and Lorthic

This boss encounter has two phases where Lorian will be fightng alone in the first phase. For the most part, Lorian fights on his knees using sword slashes that is either a single strike or an occasional combo. While you might think that Lorian is not very mobile, do keep in mind that he can teleport anywhere and will sometimes appear above you for a downward strike. Getting hit with this will do a lot of damage. He is also capable of standing up to perform a single overhead strike so be ready to roll away when he gets to his feet. Now for his most dangerous attack, he will stand at the far end of the arena and unleash a wave of holy attack that travels along the ground towards you. It is easy to avoid however as long as you're paying attention.

Once Lorian falls, Lorthic will join the battle and revive his brother. From here on out the younger twin will be staying on the elder's back. You only need to kill Lorthic for the battle to end, whereas if you kill Lorian, his brother will just keep resurrecting him. Also, you'll want to make sure that you are able to hit both princes whenever you attack. This way, when Lorian dies it won't take long for Lorthic to follow. As for their arsenal, Lorthic can use a multiple holy soul mass attack as well as a holy spear that usually happens as a follow through for the holy wave attack. Don't forget to buff your weapon something by the way, preferably dark element. Otherwise magic from Pale Pine Resin also works.