Secrets | Dark Souls 2 Wiki

Pharros' Lockstone and Pharros' Contraptions are items and devices that can be used to reveal more secrets, passages, locations and effects. They can be encountered in different locations. Pharros' Lockstone is the required key to activate the effects of the Pharros' Contraptions which are usually found embedded onto walls. Locate and collect Lockstones and take them to any Contraption you find to be prompted to use the Lockstone. These can only be used once per contraption. 

 

Pharros Lockstone and Contraptions Guide

Pharros' Lockstone Locations

• Starting Item for the Explorer
• Sold by Merchant Hag Melentia (Only 1)
• In Majula, once you have access to the Mansion, in a corpse in the Library behind the bookcases.
• In Majula, found inside the hole in the middle of town. The Silvercat Ring is required to survive the fall.
• Before opening the last gate before the boss in Sinners' Rise. When facing the gate, in room on your left. (last door on the left)
• Huntsman's Copse, if you drop down from wooden bridge to isolated pillar. Or alternatively, jump from the top of the tower above the Bridge Approach bonfire.
• In the middle section of Earthen Peak, there's one outside if you pay Laddersmith Gilligan 2000 souls for a ladder to reach it.
• In a crossbow-trapped chest around middle of Earthen Peak.
• Near the beginning of the Shaded Woods on a hill.
• In the Shaded Ruins, on a corpse on the second story of a ruined building behind the Great Basilisk.
• Black Gulch, Hidden Room Bonfire, a corpse in a pot.
• Aldia's Keep: Behind one of the wooden shelves in the room filled with bright green glass containers. The room before the hidden bonfire.
• Dragons Aerie, between the second and the third guardian dragon, drop down the ledge, a corpse holds the stone.
• The Rotten: Cutting off one of its arms. (Both arms can be cut off)
• Drangleic Castle: after the first bonfire, in the room to the right, in the second left sentinel closet.
• (Farmable) small rats inside of "Royal Rat Authority" boss in the doors of Pharros. Kill the small rats and then either die or use a homeward bone / feather to port back to the bonfire to reset the fight. upon resetting the fight, the small rats respawn.

Drops

• Rats in the water in Doors of Pharros. (Rare drop)

Covenants

• Joining the Rat King Covenant and killing intruders, or being summoned as a grey phantom as an intruder to the Rat King Covenant and beating the host grants you one lockstone or running to the bonfire before the host kills you also gets you one.

 

Pharros' Contraptions Locations

Forest of Fallen Giants:

• Shows fake wall in room under ballista trap near Mild-mannered Pate in the Forest of Fallen Giants - Cardinal Tower bonfire. Has Titanite Slab and Chloranthy Ring.

No-Man's Wharf:

• On the second level area, in front of the house. Creates bright light that scares Darkdwellers away in No-Man's Wharf.

Lost Bastille:

• Opens passage to Belfry Luna, accessed by the Servant's Quarters bonfire in the Lost Bastille, go down a ladder and hit the revealed wall upon placement.
• One in the room with the twinblade chest, reveals room with a Soul Vessel, and another room which is already accessible via an elevator (the elevator room is revealed by default in SotFS).

Earthen Peak:

• In Earthen Peak before first boss, at the very bottom in a room off a poison mist floor - Has Poisonbite Ring and Soul of a Proud Knight.
• Spill out poison to a small pool in Earthen Peak (area near 2nd boss, with a lot's of mushrooms and mimic chest). Becomes water that cures poison and gradually heals after burning the windmill.

Iron Keep:

• Three in Iron Keep. Two spill out water to a small pool and lets player get wet and survive the lava to get the items and chests. The two that add water will also heal slowly over time if the player stands in the water. Third opens Belfry Sol and bonfire.

Doors of Pharros:

• There are several (10-20) doors that can be opened in Doors of Pharros. Most of these lockstones will activate various traps, and unleash more enemies. The doors containing Mastodon Guards require 3 lockstones to fully open and let them out, it also has Santier's Spear behind it. The underwater middle lockstone will effectively open the passage by itself without letting out the guard.

Grave of Saints:

• Lowers two different bridges in Grave of Saints that lead to the same room. Across the bridge there is Poison Moss x2 and a skeleton with Whisper of Despair and a Torch. If you put them in the sockets by the rat statues while part of the Rat King Covenant, you will unleash a pool of corrosive acid that lingers indefinitely and breaks down equipment within seconds.  If you put a lockstone in the contraption to your left as soon as you come up the first set of stairs at the beginning, it will turn out all the torches down the hall. Putting a lockstone in the contraption that is on the wall, it will start pouring water everywhere that will put out your torch.

Shrine of Amana:

• Just after the second bonfire, Crumbled Ruins. In the water near the ramp structure just past the first Amana priestess. Standing at the base of the ramp and facing the dragonrider in the distance, it's just to your left. Reveals a hidden cave in the cliffside with a chest containing the Helix Halberd.

Undead Crypt:

• Behind an Illusory Wall down the dark hole in the Undead Crypt (right after the two double shield guards). Best to clear the area of the respawning ghosts first. Opens a wall with a chest containing Olenford's Staff and Great Lightning Spear.

Aldia's Keep:

• Creates light in long hall of Aldia's Keep.

Dragon Shrine:

• In the first area of the Dragon Shrine, on the floor under some boxes, behind the first knight. Reveals a hidden wall with the Judgement set and staff.

Memory of Orro:

• There are two in one of the Giant Memories (Memory of Orro - located after the pursuer fight). The first shows an illusory wall you can attack to get through. The second, located past this illusory wall, is pointless and activates a trap. The true entrance to the treasure room is a regular illusory wall next to it. This room contains the Steel Armour Set and a Fire Seed.

Frozen Elyum Loyce (Crown of the Ivory King DLC):

• On the bridge with the ballistas on the far end, leads to Durgo's Hat.

 

Crystal Lizards are non-respawning that drop valuable Upgrade Materials. They are non-hostile enemies which flee when approached by players. When a lizard is nearby, players can hear a distinct jingle sound that resembles shaking a bag full of gems or coins. When killed, lizards drop weapon upgrade items such as Titanite and stones for weapon reinforcement and infusion.

If approached, the lizard will scurry away and disappear after about 6 seconds if no damage is taken. If the lizard escapes, resting at a bonfire will respawn it. Lizards do not respawn if killed. If a player kills a lizard but dies without collecting the dropped items, they will disappear. 

 

Crystal Lizard Location and Drop Guide

Rare Items that have lower or rarer drop rates have been sorted into rare items for the collector's convenience. These are usually obtained as loot drops from enemies but may have low drop rate percentages or are hard to come by when traversing the Locations. Here, they are sorted into Treasure and Enemy Drops, Non-invading Red Phantom Gear, Invading Red Phantom Gear, and Rewards for Feats of Skill.

 

Dark Souls 2 Rare Drops Guide

Treasure and Enemy Drops

General treasure obtained in a variety of ways as well as drops from in game non-human (non-player character model) enemies

• Engraved Gauntlets
  Obtained from a chest in lower Brightstone Cove Tseldora, the door way leading to said chest is locked and requires a key obtained by completing Pate/Creighton's story line (regardless of who you assist). These gauntlets add an approximately 5% chance of a critical damage bonus to any(?) attack made by the wearer.

• Invisible Aurous Set
  This transparent armor set can be obtained by talking to Maughlin the Armourer in Majula once you have spent 16000+ souls in his shop (he will gain a cocky attitude once this requisite has been met) and then talk to him with 0 souls in your possession for him to give you the set out of pity. Each piece of this set increases the characters maximum equipment burden. Also can drop from invading phantom Rhoy the Explorer in the Grave of Saints. Rhoy will ONLY invade if you are OFFLINE.

• Pickaxe
  A unique Greatclub class weapon that is low weight and packs a punch though many of the mechanics required to optimize its damage (Leo Ring compatibility, optimal damage hitbox, etc.) are still under study. This item is found in lower Brightstone Cove Tseldora in the chamber past the bridge over the damaging crystal pit. Specifically it is found beneath a small patch of brown/black mushrooms on the floor of said chamber, these mushrooms can only be removed by a "pig" type enemy lured from the peasant camp in upper Brightstone Cove Tseldora. This is considered a "less rare item" because it is a guaranteed drop as long as you can get the pig down to the proper spot.

• Shadow Set, Malformed Claws, Shadow Dagger
  An armor set and weapons belonging to King Vendrick's hired shadow men, These items can be obtained as a drop from the two "Suspicious Shadows" that assist the Flexile Sentry in its NG+ boss fight in No-Man's Wharf. The items have a low drop rate and are obtained piece by piece but the enemies will respawn infinitely as long as the boss isn't killed. To effectively farm these items wear all item discovery boosting items and enter the boss room, kill the two shadows while avoiding the boss and after collecting any items from the shadows quickly go into your menu and quit the game. Once you reload the game you will be outside the boss room and re-entry will spawn the shadows again, repeat as needed. If avoiding the boss during farming proves difficult you can summon Lucatiel of Mirrah to act as a meat shield though this lengthens the time for each farming run as you have to dismiss her before you quit the game and have to go back and get her for each run. 

• Ruin Set
  The armor set of the Ruin Sentinel bosses/enemies. This set is only known to drop from the 5 Ruin sentinels found in Drangleic Castle behind golem doors near the first bonfire. The drop rate on these is low and so item discovery boosts are recommended. One successful strategy for farming the sentinels is to open one Golem door with a sentinel behind it and then farm that particular sentinel till it despawns and then open another Golem door and repeat the process, this helps prevent other sentinels from sneaking up on you which happens often if you open all the Golem doors at once. You get a total of 75 (15 x5) chances to get the armor set before needing to ascetic the nearest bonfire, also the sentinels can drop duplicates of armor pieces which can slow the process of getting the full set.

• Heide Knight Set
  The armor worn by the three knights of Heide found throughout Drangleic, this armor is only dropped in NG+ and beyond and is not a guaranteed drop. While any of the three Heide knights can drop pieces of the armor they tend to drop their weapons more often than not, on a positive note the knights will always drop something so you don't need to worry about completely fruitless runs. The Heide knight each only spawn once per new game cycle, thus ascetic use is required to farm the set, making the sword knight in the forest of fallen giants and the spear knight in the lost Bastille the preferable targets for farming being close to bonfires without an area boss. The Heide Knight Set also drop on NG in SOTFS.

• Black Witch Domino Mask
  Drops from the dual Avelyn wielding phantoms in Belfry Sol. This helm gives a slight bonus to spell damage done when equipped.

• Black Witch Veil
  Drops from the Witch phantom in Belfry Sol. This is the female version of the Black Witch Hat Navlaan sells.

• Dragon Sage Hood
  Rare drop from the Large Basilisk in Aldia's Keep. 

• Black Hollow Mage Set, Lizard Staff
  Rare drops from the necromancers in Huntsman's Copse, in the cave right before the Skeleton Lords. These two NPCs do not respawn unless an ascetic is used, however the necromancers in the Executioner's Chariot fight can also drop these pieces. The necromancers in the Executioner's Chariot fight will respawn for each attempt at the boss, until the boss is killed. 

• Red Lion Warrior Cape, Lion Warrior Helm
  Rare drops from the golden lion warrior in the room connecting to Manscorpion Tark's arena near the Shaded Ruins bonfire. This NPC follows normal mob despawning mechanics.

• Manikin Claws
  Semi-rare drop from the three manikin soldiers before the Covetous Demon's boss arena in Harvest Valley. These enemies are found by walking off the stairs and landing on a platform that juts out of the wall. 

• Chaos Rapier, Chaos Shield
  Rare drops from the single Enhanced Undead before the Guardian Dragon fight in Aldia's Manor. In SOTFS, these can be bought from Felkin.

• Gyrm Warrior Greathelm
  Rare drop from Gyrm Warriors in Doors of Pharros.

 

Non-invading Red Phantom Gear

The following entries are rare/unique weapons and armor obtained from killing non-invading red phantom enemies, other red phantoms that drop items that can be obtained by other methods will not be listed.

• Dingy Set
  Obtained from a miracle casting red phantom found on the players way to the Gutter in NG+, 100% guaranteed drop and is pre upgraded to +5 out of 10, be wary though, this phantom has a friend in Faraam armor (drops a great hero soul) and a number of exploding mummies nearby to help it. This is the only set in the game where you have to be in true NG+ and bonfire ascetics will not work.

• Mad Warrior Set, Berserker Blade
  This armor set and katana drops from a red phantom enemy randomly found in Belfry Sol if you are a member of the Bellkeeper Covenant. The Mad warrior spawns an infinite number of times but does so at random so even if you don't see him after 20 runs it just means your having some bad luck, do not use an ascetic. This phantom also will drop duplicates, though while seen to dual wield the Berserker Blade it will only drop one at a time (confirmed it drops duplicates ver.1.09 cal 1.12). You do NOT need to ascetic to reset drops for duplicates.

• Durgo's Hat
  Obtained from the red phantom found near the Kings Gate leading to the Throne of Want. Drop rate uncertain. This stylish hat boosts the effective range of arrows. Can also be obtained from a chest in Eleum Loyce behind the Pharros Door after the two ballistae.

• Catarina Set
  The good ol' onion bro armor from Dark Souls I is obtained from a red phantom found wearing it in NG+ in the Forest of Fallen Giants, specifically the area with all the old iron clad soldiers near the Soldier's Rest bonfire. This red phantom only spawns once per new game cycle and has a low/medium drop rate, due to its location close to a bonfire without an area boss it is possible to farm the armor set via bonfire ascetic use after each kill. This can take a while though due to the increasing strength of the phantom and low drop rate, as many as 24 ascetics have been required to obtain the full armor set. Edit: As of the start of the Lost Crown trilogy the Catarina set is made available in chests in each dlc as a piece, the Onion helm in the Sunken Crown dlc and Onion gauntlets and leggings in the Old Iron Crown dlc, and the Onion armor in the Ivory Crown dlc. 

• Visible Aurous Set
  This armor set is the opaque twin to the transparent set given to the player by Maughlin the Armourer. Its stats and weight are higher than the transparent set but it does not boost equipment load. It is a rare-ish drop from the red phantom wearing it on the ng+ No-Man's Wharf ship. This phantom does not respawn after death, so bonfire ascetics are needed to respawn him. Due to the wharf only having one bonfire you'll also have to kill the boss every time you want to use an ascetic making this a rather long run. In the SOTFS remake, this set can be found in a metal chest in the Gutter, where the Ring of the Evil Eye +1 used to be.

• Monastery Set, Monastery Scimitar
  This equipment set is a remake of the Painting Guardian set and sword from Dark Souls I. The red phantom who drops this is found behind a painting in Aldia's Keep. This is yet another red phantom that requires bonfire ascetics to farm, the bonfire in question is the "Ritual site" bonfire found behind an illusory wall halfway down the stairs to the acid pit in Aldia's keep. Each time you kill the phantom you will also need to kill the area boss in order to allow ascetic use making this one quite a pain.

 

Invading Red Phantom Gear

These items are obtained from red phantom enemies that invade a players world in mimicry of online play. These kinds of enemies can only be respawned via bonfire ascetic use.

• Old Mirrah Greatsword
  This sword is a very rare drop from the invading NPC "Aslatiel Of Mirrah" in the front hallway of Aldia's Keep. This is a fairly painless weapon to farm as the bonfire that you must ascetic has no area boss tied to it allowing for free and easy ascetic use, however, the drop rate for the item is abysmally low. This weapon used to be identical in every way to the normal Mirrah Greatsword, but it has since been nerfed and is now worse in every way.

• Priestess Set
  This armor set can be obtained from two invading NPCs; Merciless Roenna near the Skeleton Lords boss fog in Huntsman Copse and Peculiar Kindular who invades in the section just before the Demon of Song boss fog in Shrine of Amana, sadly either one of these requires a boss fight for continued ascetic use thus it is recommended to heavily farm Kindular as she is the only one of the two who can drop the head piece of the set despite the boss required for farming being "harder". This armor set can also drop from the Priestess in the Dragon Shrine. In Scholar of the First Sin, the set can be obtained from a corpse inside the illusion wall that precedes the Prowling Magus and Congregation boss fight.

• Warlock Mask, Cursed Bone shield
  It is recommended that one farms the Aldia Warlock that spawns near the fourth bonfire in the Shrine of Amana to obtain these items. Merciless Roenna, who invades just before the Skeleton Lord boss fog in Huntsman Copse, can also be farmed for them, but this requires defeating the sickle wielding red phantoms and Skeleton Lords every time an ascetic is used, making it difficult to pull off depending on your luck.

 

Rewards for Feats of Skill

These items are given to the player upon completion of some great task or challenge.

• Lingering Dragoncrest Ring+2
  To obtain this ring you must defeat 1000 dark spirits, whether solely as the host or as a summoned phantom is unknown. It is hypothesized that red phantom enemies such as the Mad Warrior may count toward this goal as they count for ranking up in the Bellkeeper Covenant. 

• Ring of Thorns+2
  To obtain this ring you must Slay 1000 hosts as a dark spirit, unknown if arbiter spirit invasions count or if killing summoned phantoms counts toward this goal.

• Illusory Ring of a Conqueror
  To obtain this ring the player must clear a game cycle (NG, NG+ etc) without dying even once, deaths as a summoned phantom do count as do deaths as an invader. This ring turns your left hand weapon/shield invisible.

• Illusory Ring of the Exalted
  To obtain this ring the player must clear the game without resting at a bonfire. Dying and then respawning at a bonfire that the player has lit does not break this requirement nor does using a Homeward Bone, Aged Feather or the Darksign to warp to a bonfire. Using a Primal Bonfire to warp back to Majula also does not count. This ring turns your right hand weapon invisible.

 

Traps are elements, rigged items or environmental hazards that can be encountered in the game unexpectedly, causing negative effects on the player. They can pose  or be disguised as different regular items that can normally be activated in the game, which makes them dangerous if unaware. Their effects can be triggered or activated by entering specific areas as you explore each of the Locations, but are mostly activated by interacting with an object whilst unknowingly knowing that it is a trap. Below lists information on the types of traps and objects that can be encountered while playing DS2 along with their effects and what to watch out for. 

 

Dark Souls 2 Traps