Forest of Fallen Giants | Dark Souls 2 Wiki

Full Forest of Fallen Giants Walkthrough

Accessing From Majula

Starting at the Majula bonfire, facing the coast, you should notice a crumbled wall separating the hill and a big doorway, on the right; if not, look for the torch sconce marking the entrance. This leads down to an underground stone ramp-way. Continue into the darkness, making a U-turn on the first right of the main path in, you'll find an iron chest (chest is a Mimic in NG+) with a Rusted Coin. Turn around and proceed down the hallway, to find a dead end to the right and to the left a large gated door. Pulling the lever to the right of the gate, opens it.

The path opens up to a cave with a wooden bridge that spans a stream. Past the bridge, going to the right leads to the Forest of Fallen Giants, while to the left you'll find two long planks to a large stone with a chest that contains a Human Effigy. Beyond in the stream is a corpse with a Homeward Bone and Soul of a Lost Undead, if you are confident in your jumping abilities, you can make the jump from the platform holding the chest. If not, simply head back up the wooden planks and drop down from the rocks above. To get to the Forest from here, simply continue forward, and follow the stream left.

Welcome to the Forest

Upon your arrival, two Hollow Infantries wander immediately ahead with an additional two beyond, around the bend of the creek. In the creek, you'll find an Ogre roaming around, which won't aggro until you come within reach. Just ahead of the tree, up a short path on the right is a clearing in which you'll find The Crestfallen's Retreat bonfire, where you will be attacked by another Hollow. Moving ahead across a plank bridge there is an Archer and three more Hollows. Dropping down to the stream below the plank bridge brings you to a corpse with Soul of a Lost Undead. Across the planks and up the hill brings you to a ladder.

Mossy Rotunda

Going up the ladder leads into an open area with a whopping twelve Hollow Infantry playing dead, and a Hollow Royal Soldier throwing firebombs from the walkway above. There are several corpses on the ground holding various items including: a Human Effigy, Green Blossom, 2x Broken Straight Sword, and a Lifegem.

To the right is an opening to a cliff, and to the left a ladder up a moss covered tower. When you get on the ladder a Hollow Infantry will start coming down the ladder ahead of you. Avoid damage by getting on the ladder and immediately getting off.  Cross the planks at the top of the tower and go up to the right to a corpse with a Soul of a Nameless Soldier. Dropping down to the ledge below leads to the Hollow Royal Soldier who was throwing Firebombs. Jumping across the gap to the ledge brings you to a corpse with Shortsword and a Soul of a Lost Undead. Back at the base of the ladder that lead up, to the right you can spot a platform with items on it. Jumping over to it nets you Throwing Knives and a Soul of a Nameless Soldier.

 

Hallways to Cardinal Tower Bonfire

To the left of the clearing is a mist, which leads through a wooded tunnel and into ruins. Before going straight into the broken wall, turn left and kill the ambushing Hollow Infantry around the corner then return to the hole and drop into a room with 3 Hollows (one of them faking death). In the corner behind the shelves -you'll have to break it- find 20x Wood Bolt. Leave the room through the door and head right to enter a room with two Hollow Royal Soldiers; one will ambush you from the right after you pass the boxes, and the other will join after. Continuing down the hallway, you will find a Lifegem x1 on the left, and stairs beyond with a hollow archer at the top who fires down at you. As you ascend another Hollow Royal Soldier from a ledge throws Firebombs at you. A third Hollow Royal Soldier moves to ambush you as you reach the top of the stairs. By the back of the courtyard near the rubble you will find the Buckler.

Along the wall to the left of the staircase is a ladder. At the top, straight ahead is a corpse with 5x Witching Urn and a Hollow Royal Soldier (around the corner to the right). The large pair of closed doors lead to the Cardinal Tower bonfire. Next to it, you meet the Merchant Hag Melentia. After exhausting her dialog, she will move to Majula. Before she leaves, be sure to snag a firebomb or two. You'll also want Lenigrast's Key in the nearish future, but most of the rest of her inventory can wait.

Going up the stairs in the room leads to a locked door. Once you obtain the Soldier Key (or break the door down), it opens to a room where you will find the following: a Crystal Lizard, a chest containing a Small Leather Shield and Repair Powder, a Hand Axe and Radiant Lifegem, a Hollow Soldier Helm, and a door that leads to another room with an iron chest holding Radiant Lifegem x2 and a Small White Sign Soapstone. A Hollow Royal Soldier will stand up behind you once you go through the door. You can drop down here and onto the branch to obtain a Divine Blessing, then to the bottom to return to the bonfire. 

 

Scaffolding and Flame Lizard Cave

Outside of the bonfire room you can drop down to wooden planks where there will be two Hollow Infantry Soldiers. Proceeding down the plank, there is a hole in the wall on the left which leads you back to the staircase and bonfire from the previous section. Jumping to the plank ledge brings you to a corpse with a Human Effigy. Drop down to the wooden platform and kill the Hollow. Go down the ramp and walk carefully down the tree trunk, where you come across a corpse with a Soul of a Lost Undead and Torch.

On the ground, expect several Hollows and two Ironclad Soldiers. To the left, a cave opens to a tunnel lined with petrified people. Flames tinge the air while explosions can be heard. A corpse on the floor carries a Soul of a Proud Knight. Deeper into the tunnel, a grated door is on the left where there is a chest with a Fire Longsword. Quickly make a dash for the door and get it open to secure yourself a safe sport from the explosive molten balls that will begin pelting you.

Progressing down the tunnel means confronting the fire-breathing Flame Lizard responsible for the fires. You can kill it if you really want, but it's neither easy (this early in the game) nor especially rewarding. Behind the lizard are three more, a locked door, many corpses to loot, and a chest. (There is another way to reach the treasures, detailed in Flame Lizard Pit).

To the left of the cave with the fire there is another cave with a Foot Soldier Shield, guarded by an Ironclad Soldier. Going back out the tunnel and into the clearing, kill another Ironclad Soldier and there is a ladder near the corpse that had the human effigy. To the left of the ladder is a corpse with a 3x Lifegem. Taking the ladder up brings you back to the plank near the hole in the wall mentioned earlier in this section.

Cardinal Tower Bonfire Ladder

In the bonfire room is a ladder down into a large room with columns. There are two Hollow Royal Soldiers here waiting to attack, one sits feigning death on the left, and one comes from the bridge. Down at the bottom of the room, giant Flame Lizards (See 'Flame Lizard Pit' below) are visible. Facing the bottom of the ladder, to your right is a closed door that does not open from this side (later on, this will become a shortcut).

Going across the bridge leads to a feigning Hollow Royal Soldier, and a locked door on the right. A body at the corner holds a Soul of a Lost Undead. Back across the bridge, jog right through an open archway which leads to a room with a locked door on the right (leads to Soldier's Rest area) and mist straight ahead. Another Hollow Royal Soldier is laying on the ground behind the large pillar on the right.

Rooftops, Cale, and First Shortcut

Going through the mist leads to an area with rooftops, scaffolding, and a large tree branch directly ahead which leads up. As soon as you enter the area, two Hollow Infantry will converge on you from the right, and an archer on a wall far to the right will start shooting -- he will continue to pick at you through this entire section. Running up the tree-root brings you to the top of a wall where an Ironclad Soldier stand near wooden breastworks. Get him out of the way.

Back near the top of the tree-root, you can drop down to a peaked rooftop (the drop will take some health). When you drop down, you'll want to keep moving, but note that just behind you here is another drop to a round room with a Hollow Infantry and a corpse with a Torch, return for it later. There are two Hollow Infantry on the rooftops, plus another Archer to your left. Keep moving, work quickly, and take care not to fall. Once you've killed all the Infantry, head back to where you dropped down from the root. Dash and jump across a small gap to deal with the pesky archer. Then, drop down to another landing with a ladder in front of you, and a cave to your left.

Enter the cave slowly and carefully; as you move forward you'll eventually trigger a boulder trap. After the boulder passes, there's a corpse straight ahead with a Human Effigy on it. Do not go right down around the corner; you'll fall into a hole. Continue up the ramp where the boulder came down, dispatch another Hollow Archer to the Left, and find a corpse with an Amber Herb, you'll also find Cale the Cartographer crawling around back in the cave. Exhaust his dialog, and he will give you the key to the mansion in Majula.

Retrace your steps back to the ladder on the same level as the entrance to the boulder-trapped cave. Climb the ladder and run down the battlements to your right, finally dealing with the annoying Archer. Continue down the battlements and drop to your right onto the rooftop, then head back right again up the ramp and towards the "first" rooftop. Drop down to the middle tier of the house, and follow a ramp down the ground; another Archer to your right may start sniping you. Head straight along the water to a corpse next to a gate with a Titanite Shard.

To get back to the main tree-root from the ground at the gate:

• From the gate, head straight back along the water and right to the plank ramp you (probably) came down
• About four strides up, turn a hard left onto a short set of planks which drop you back to the ground below the big tree root
• Go under the tree root, following the water around to your left to a ladder. There may be a Hollow Infantry hiding here.
• Climb the ladder to the roof and turn right to a plank bridge which takes you back to the tree root.

Go back up to the top of the tree root where you killed the Ironclad Soldier. Nearby, a ladder on the right brings you up to a rooftop platform and triggers an appearance of an eagle who drops the Pursuer mini-boss. Probably a good idea to run away here, level-up and face him later. If you really want to take the fight, at least open the nearby shortcut first, lest you die. Defeating him here will skip his  later boss fight, but if you drop off the platform or die, he will disappear from this current location for good.

In the far corner of the platform where the eagle drops the Pursuer is a fire-bombing Hollow Royal Soldier and there is a Hollow Royal Soldier in each corner. There are some bodies in that place, they hold a Human Effigy, Lifegem x2, a Torch, an Estus Flask Shard and a Repair Powder. Back down the short ladder, at the end of the way, past all of the breastworks are a bunch of explosive barrels stacked by the wall. Throw a firebomb (from a distance; purchasable from Merchant Hag Melentia)/bait the firebomb-throwing Hollow Royal Soldier to set off a huge explosion which opens a shortcut back to the Cardinal Tower bonfire.

Ballista Room, Pharros' Lock, and Pate

Coming out of the new shortcut bomb-hole, two Hollow Royal Soldiers await to your left, and straight past is a ladder which leads down to a short stone staircase. In the corner on the left by the stairs is a corpse with Green Blossom. Moving forward, to the right is a destroyed wall which opens to a room with ballistae that fire arrows when triggered by proximity to the room. Inside the room you are swarmed by 4 Hollow Royal Soldiers so it is best to trigger the trap and walk out, letting the arrows kill one of the enemies. If this doesn't work, run in and go to the left before they fire and take them out before they swarm you.

The ballistae can be operated by the player which should lead to some fun PvP moments. There are two corpses on the ground with Great Soul Arrow, a Large Soul of a Lost Undead, and Blue Wooden Shield. Inside this room in the back, there's a ladder. Opening the chest in the lower room triggers a trap (either poison or arrows it is best to roll to the left or right and slightly behind the chest as this will avoid arrows and most of the poison), inside the chest is a Titanite Shard. If you have a Pharros' Lockstone and insert it into the mouth in the wall (if not you can buy it from merchant hag Melentia). A nearby wall will shine, indicating you should attack it. Upon attack, it will reveal a hidden room with two chests containing the Chloranthy Ring and a Titanite Slab. Attacking the closed door down here will cause three enemies inside to open the door, inside you can find a chest containing the Life Ring  and a Large Titanite Shard.

Beyond the ballista room along the same wall, you encounter the NPC Pate who warns you about a trap. Walking through the adjacent archway leads to four Hollow Infantry who swarm you. The gate in the archway is lowered behind you, preventing you from returning back through. Several Hollow Infantry and soldiers attack here. Walking straight on through the open doorway brings you into a hallway, in the corner of which is a corpse with Aromatic Ooze x3. On the Wall past this item there is a hidden wall that contains a Sorcerer's Staff and Amber Herbs x1 . Continue down the hallway and left to the bottom of a staircase.

Once up the stairs, go past the cart which blocks the path, going left takes you to the top of the wall above Pate and the gate that dropped behind you after crossing into the courtyard. You can drop down either side from here. Returning to Pate continues his dialogue tree and earns you White Sign Soapstone.

Hollow Royal Soldiers and Firebombs

Going directly opposite of the ballista room brings you to a courtyard full of exploding barrels, with a doorway ahead and an open archway to the right. There are hollows above with firebombs, so be especially wary of the barrels when passing through here. Going through the right archway brings you to another courtyard with a Hollow Royal Soldier slumped along the wall to the left; he reanimates and attacks. Continuing through another archway into yet another courtyard, you'll find a large tree is on the right and two Hollow Royal Soldiers attacking the tree. Behind that tree is a corpse with a Large Soul of a Lost Undead.

Returning back through the doorway, there is a ladder up the wall to your left. Going up the ladder brings you to the top of the wall above Pate and near trigger-gate. Going to the right leads to a corpse with a Light Crossbow. Through the doorway past the corpse and into the fort leads inside another section of the fort. Inside drop down to the room and defeat the three Hollow Royal Soldiers. Open the iron chest to obtain a Mail Breaker and Infantry Helm. If you go back to the ledge above the three hollows, you can jump across to loot a corpse with a Torch and a Soul of a Nameless Soldier.

Seaside Sword Room and Second Shortcut

You can drop down from here to return to the portion of the courtyard where the two Hollow Royal Soldiers are located. If you haven't already, kill the Hollow Royal Soldiers and go through the doorway into a large room. To the right and up the stairs is a corpse with a Lifegem and Homeward Bone . Back down the stairs and to the right is a locked door (opened with the Soldiers Key). To the left, as you enter, and straight down the room are two Hollow Royal Soldiers. Just past the ruins of the giant sword a Ironclad Soldier waits to ambush you from behind a cart. In the corner nearby is a corpse with 2x Amber Herb. Going up the blade of the stone sword jutting out of the building will trigger a trap: four Hollow Infantry drop down behind you onto the sword. At the end of the sword you will find a Halberd and Soul of a Nameless Soldier.

Once back down the sword, head through the mist and into a large open room with a sconce. to the right is a broken wall which leads into a room with a seated Hollow Royal Soldier. The staircase in the room leads down to a boarded up door. A corpse at the base has a Large Leather Shield and Lifegem. Returning back into the first room you first entered, head straight across and turn right. On the right is a corpse with 10x Fire Arrow. Just beyond and to the right is the elevator to the The Last Giant boss. But, first, open the door just ahead which creates a shortcut to the ladder from the Cardinal Tower bonfire.

When you're ready to try The Last Giant, step on the pressure plate elevator and descend. (If you step on the pressure plate but immediately hop off of the elevator, the other side will bring up a Ironclad Soldier. Descending either elevator goes to the same location.) Go down the hallway where a Hollow Royal Soldier waits in the doorway on the left. The door is locked for the time being. To open it, you need the Iron Key from the Iron Keep. This door leads to the Flame Lizard Pit mentioned earlier. Straight into the tunnel and enter the mist to confront The Last Giant. If you are not hollow, there will be 1-2 NPC summon signs outside the boss fog.

BOSS FIGHT: The Last Giant

After obtaining the Soldier Key, the next stop on the recommended route is Heide's Tower of Flame. Alternatively, you can also open some areas here in Forest of Fallen Giants with the key, including a way to the Pursuer boss and to an early visit to Steady Hand McDuff after the Pursuer boss fight. McDuff will infuse your weapons, unlike Lenigrast.

Ironclad Enclave - Soldier's Rest

After obtaining the Soldier Key, return to the room before the rooftops section, just past the bottom of the Cardinal Tower bonfire ladder, and to the left of the bridge above the Flame Lizard Pit. When entering this room, instead of going straight, where the fog was, turn to the right towards a door, which can now be opened with the Soldier Key. Descending the staircase beyond leads to a fairly dark, long rectangular room. A shade summon sign for Ruined Alfis will be just next to the doorway. Sconces are scattered about the room and, when lit, illuminate the entire area nicely. 6 Skeletons will appear as you move forward. A corpse in the corner near the first Skeleton has a Black Firebomb x3 and a Homeward Bone, the corpse near the end of the dark room has a Torch. A door exits to an outside area where the remnants of several buildings are found. Ironclad Soldiers are the main enemy here, but a hollow archer will immediately become a nuisance. Hollows are present in a small building directly across from where you come into this section. Ladders outside and inside this building lead to the roof where the player will be greeted by the large hammers of three Ironclad Soldiers. On this rooftop is a corpse holding a Soul of a Nameless Soldier, a Whip, a Bastard Sword, a Human Effigy and 3x Cracked Red Eye Orb .

Heading back down you'll find a small clearing and a corpse by a gate (the other side is the area in which the ambush Pate warns about is found). The corpse holds an Amber Herb and Green Blossom. A broken down building creates a path over a chasm leading to the rest of the area. To the right are some steps leading up to a wooden chest containing the Hunters set and a Large Soul of a Proud Knight. Once in this area the NPC invader Armorer Dennis will appear. At the bottom of the stairs to the right will be two openings in the building. The first on will lead to the Soldier's Rest bonfire and the second opening will lead to a room containing a Giant Tree which may be holding a Seed of a Tree of Giants.

To the Pursuer

A second door can be open from down the Cardinal Tower bonfire ladder. Go through the bridge and get rid of the three hollow on the way. To the right of the bridge is a door you can now open. Walking in front of you, you will find a chest with 3x Torch and a Ring of Restoration. Back on, you can go to a courtyard through the right, and pick up a Grand Lance. Be careful of the Syan Soldier, as he can be tough at this stage of the game, though he also will not attack if you stay away from his door (you can't open it anyways). There is also a chest containing some Amber Herbs here. Now go back to the room, where you walked up a giant stone sword. On the right end of the room, there is a staircase and a door which previously couldn't be opened, it is now possible with the Soldier Key. Beat the two Royal Swordsmen up the stairs. At the top, you will be in an area with a mist wall and a third Royal Swordsman together with a bow-wielding Hollow Royal Soldier. Be careful, as this Swordsman might jump-attack you while you go up the stairs. Before getting through the mist wall, climb the stairs on the right to find a body and a Soul of a Nameless Soldier, and 3x Lifegem. Now, get ready to fight the area's boss and traverse the mist! NOTE: when you are not hollow, you can go back to the dark room with the skeletons to summon Ruined Alfis to help you in the fight.

BOSS FIGHT: The Pursuer

After defeating the Pursuer, continue forward through the gap in the stone head. Through the hole in the floor immediately ahead, if you drop down, you will find the Drangleic Set, Drangleic Shield, and Drangleic Sword. Continue one more drop and you will be near the beginning of your ascent towards the Pursuer. If you head all the way back up to the room past the boss, past the gap in the floor you see two Hollow Royal Soldiers attacking another Giant Tree. When you go up the stairs to the right you will see a nest which you can "examine." Doing so will prompt an eagle to take you to The Tower Apart bonfire in the Lost Bastille.

Flame Lizard Pit

Note: this area is relatively high-level compared to the rest of Forest of Fallen Giants; probably one to come back to later. 
If you decide to jump in the Flame Lizard Pit, use the Silver Cat Ring and try to drop down onto the junk at the end of the left side. The Flame Lizards are quite durable and cause a lot of damage with attacks (4 poison arrows to start the process, will eat about 3/4 of their hp). A high fire defense is recommended, however they have a lunge attack which is unblockable and will knock you down. This is in addition to breathing fire.

There are a total of four Flame Lizards below, one of which is readily visible and can be taken out with a bow and patience. If you switch the elevator to the Last Giant fight so the side closer to the pit is up, it can be used as a sniper spot for a second Flame Lizard who can only be seen from certain angles (that's one of them). An archer Hollow Royal Soldier will raise with this side of the elevator so watch out. After the second Flame Lizard is killed, a small tunnel leads down that he was blocking. Another one is to the right in a large chamber and the last is to the left in a smaller (but still big) side chamber. A locked door (opened using Iron Key) leads to the Last Giant fight (tunnel right before it).

The two Flame Lizards in the pit can be taken out with a bow by drawing them up partially and taking a few shots. They will retreat at some point and this will need to be repeated. Avoid the flames near the Flame Lizards, as they can burn your character, but only if you get very close(The flames will disappear, when you kill the 4 lizards, leaving holes, which are instant death if you jump into them. The flames will be there again, after reloading the level.). In the first section you can find a corpse with a Firedrake Stone, a skull holding a Soul of a Proud Knight, a skeleton with the Hawk Ring and a chest carrying a Flame Quartz Ring +1. In the lower area, a corpse holds Cracked Red Eye Orb x2. In the area with the last Flame Lizard (who tend to drop Cracked Red Eye Orbs as well) there is a skeleton carrying the Rebel's Greatshield and the Heavy Iron Key.