General Tips
- Find the Havel NPC in Archdragon Peak. Kill him and he will drop his weapon and a Greatshield. Now, make your way to the bridge located above Farron Keep. There, you should find a set of armor resting next to the stray demon. The armor only appears in that location if you have first killed Havel at Archdragon Peak.
- If you want the Uchigatana katana, you'll have to defeat the master swordsman who wields it. You'll find him near the top of Firelink Shrine. However, you don't have to fight him fairly. You can ascend carefully to the rooftops and then run along them. You should see the swordsman, running along the base of the wall, hoping to duel. From your vantage point, you can safely take him down with shots from the Soul Arrow spell. Just make sure you don't run out of magic in the process, or you'll have to drop down and finish the job the old-fashioned way.
- Not every treasure chest is as helpful as it seems. Sometimes, you'll get near one and find that it is actually a dangerous Mimic. Your best bet is to hack apart any chest you find, so that you can get a head start if it winds up having a life meter. However, another trick is to stand nearby, outside of potential striking range. Watch the chest closely for several seconds. If you see any movement, such as an opening and closing lid, that's your cue to get offensive.
- Don't just blindly trust that things are as they appear in Dark Souls III. Often, you can find what appears to be a wall and it's actually only an illusion. Make sure that you check walls in suspicious places by slashing at them with a weapon, particularly near archways. Sometimes, you'll find a hidden path that is well worth exploring.
- Ember raises your life maximum, and in the process, it restores your life to the higher total. That's always useful, but it's especially useful when you're in a grueling battle with a powerful opponent, such as a boss. Save Ember until those occasions, and put it to use when you need it most. Not only will you gain a max HP boost, but you'll take advantage of some much-needed healing that would otherwise be wasted.
Firelink Shrine Trades
If you know what items to leave with the crow near Firelink Shrine, you can receive some nice rewards. Just keep track of what you provide as an offering, since you can only leave a particular offering once. The list below lists the items you can leave, along with their corresponding rewards.Alluring Skull - Hello Carving
Shriving Stone - Call Over Emote / I'm Sorry Carving
Hidden Blessing - Thank You Carving
Divine Blessing - Very Good Carving
Saint-tree Bellvine - Help Me Carving
Prism Stone - Twinkling Titanite
Large Leather Shield - Twinkling Titanite
Firebomb / Rope Firebomb - Large Titanite Shard
Black Firebomb / Rope Black Firebomb - Titanite Chunk
Blacksmith Hammer - Titanite Scale
Avelyn - Titanite Scale (x3)
Coiled Sword Fragment - Titanite Slab
Xanthous Crown - Lightning Gem
Moaning Shield - Blessed Gem
Eleonora - Hollow Gem
Loretta's Bone - Ring of Sacrifice
Undead Bone Shard - Porcine Shield
Vertebrae Shackle - Lucatiel's Mask
