Dark Souls 2 Walkthrough Part 10: The Gutter
Work through The Gutter to find another Fragrant Branch of Yore and enter the Black Gulch.
Head back to Majula and get ready to drop down into the well. Make sure you avoid the thin platforms as these will crack and you’ll fall to your doom. If you work your way down carefully, only landing on the thicker platforms, you’ll be able to grab a Radiant Lifegem, Pharros' Lockstone, Poison Moss (x3) and the Ring of the Evil Eye.
In the cave below is a bonfire which you can use to go back to Majula, but also note this is the way to the Grave of Saints for later.
Go back to Majula and head to the platform above the cave entrance. On the opposite side of the cave entrance drop to the platform below. Ignore the ladder for now and make your way down the platforms until you arrive at an entrance to a corridor. Fight the bug-like creature on the bridge and you’ll get a Titanite Shard, Large Titanite Shards (x3), and a Darknight Stone. If you jump over the gamp as the end of the bridge you’ll find a Ash Knuckle Ring.
As you drop into the next area you’ll be pounced on by zombies. Use a weapon with a wide arc to hit them and watch them explode. Go down the corridor on the right for a Great Heal miracle, then head back and go down the other corridor towards a ladder.
Keep going down the ladders ignoring the ramp and pick up the Human Effigy. Now go back across the ramp to the ladder and down again picking up a Radiant Lifegem on the way. When you finally hit the ground there’s a Token of Spite inside a coffer. You are now about to enter The Gutter. Drop down the platforms - one will collapse - and you’l l find another bonfire. Light it, and light a torch as well, because The Gutter is very dark. You’ll find a vase which can be broken for a Dung Pie (ewww!) and a pedestal - light it.
We recommend taking a torch with you through The Gutter. Go back to the bonfire and go left. Kill the enemy and move to the left before the floor breaks. Down here you’ll be attacked by more enemies, then jump down below to fight another two bad guys. Climb the ladder and light the pedestal. Don’t worry about the entrance here as you won’t be able to open the door yet.
Go back down the ladder you just climbed and go to the left. Be careful of the white stone statues that you see here as they will spit poison. It’s best to destroy them as you go and then drop down through the middle of the platform then over to the room to fight three enemies. Climb the ladder, then up the next ladder in the room.
Once you’ve killed the enemy up here, smash the vase for a Soul of a Nameless Soldier and jump down to the adjacent platform. There are a couple of zombies to kill, then go across the bridge to fight the dog-like enemy and another zombie. Up the ladder you’ll find Black Firebombs in a chest.
Now go across the wooden bridge and up a ladder but once again look out for the spitting statues. Across the next bridge you’ll have to fight another enemy, then you can drop down through the hole for more vases with Black Firebombs in them.
Jump across to the next platform and you’ll find a bonfire on the right. Once lit, break the wall to the right, head through the opening and smash the vases for Dung Pies.
There are a lot of ladders here and the majority of them lead to the floor below and the area known as Black Gulch. Before you go down there, go straight ahead into the mist, kill the dog and smash the vases for 20 Poison Arrows. Keep going across the far side, light the pedestal on the way and kill those weird mushroom-looking enemies. Take you time in this cave and arm yourself with a ranged weapon. Kill the creature here from a distance if possible - if not, get in close and attack its head from the side, avoiding the gas. There are vases full of Poison Moss here.
Now it’s time to go down the ladders to the Black Gulch and confront The Rotten. On you way down the ladders look for a vase that contains three Rotten Pine Resin. You’ll also fight one more enemy on your descent.
At the bottom you’ll face a number of enemies, but once they are dealt with there’s a vase behind the ladder that contains 20 Lifegems. There’s also a chest with a Great Club in it and vases on the opposite side of the room with Dark Fog and a Torch, and another with a Fragrant Branch of Yore.
Now it’s time to walk through the mist to the Black Gulch.