Dark Souls 2 Walkthrough Part 2: Forest of Fallen Giants
In part 2 of our walkthrough we take you through the forest and help you tackle the first boss battle with the Last Giant.
Follow the river downstream where you will another Lifegem on the right. There's also a small alcove on the right with a bonfire. Continue along the river until you reach the end and find another Soul of the Lost Undead.. Carry on up the path until you find a ladder, climb it and fight the enemies. Help yourself to the Lifegem and Broken Straight Sword. Avoid the arrows raining down from the enemy above and go through the opening and the ladder. If you choose to take down the white knight (if you're strong enough) you will get the Heide Knight Sword as a reward.
Climb the ladder and take down the two enemies. There's not a lot of space to move around here so keep walking back towards the ladder if you need to give yourself some space to fight. Once the two enemies are dead move around the stairs and take a right where the path forks. There's a Soul of the Nameless Soldier item for you, then head left and fight the archer who was bothering you earlier.
At the end of the path there's a Shortsword and Soul of a Lost Undead. Now you need to head back down to the area below and head through the mist. Follow the left-hand path and prepare for an attack as soon as you turn the next corner. You'll need to fight another three enemies. In the room to the right there's the Wood Bolt behind some barrels, so help yourself to that.
Now head down the hallway and go up the stairs in front of you. There's an archer and enemy tossing bombs up there so watch yourself. See that ladder? Opposite it there's a Buckler but when you go to take it another enemy will attack so brace yourself.
Once you've dealt with that little problem, head up the ladder and run to the far side where you'll find a Witching Urn and face-off with another enemy. Head to the middle of the area and drop down to where there's a broken wall. Drop down again and take out the two enemies below, then move over to the far side of the area and you'll find another Human Effigy. You'll need to jump across the gap or drop below and head up the ramp to make your way around and grab it.
Use the tree to reach the Soul of a Lost Undead and torch items just below. Get yourself down to ground level and across to pick up three more Lifegems, then go inside the cave and you'll find the Soul of a Proud Knight. As you take that you'll be pounced on by two enemies from behind.
Once the fire has calmed down, open the door on the left and inside the coffer you'll find a Fire Longsword. Now go back up the tree and through the hole in the wall to another stairway that takes you back to the top of the area. Climb the ladder and go through the doorway in the middle of the balcony on the right hand side.
There's another bonfire here so set it alight. In the store to the left you'll find plenty of souls so fill your boots. Go down the ladder on the other side of the bonfire and take on the enemy that attacks when you reach the foot of the ladder. There's a door here but it can't be opened from this side, so walk in the other direction, kill another enemy and head up the stairs to cross over to the other side.
Take down another enemy then grab the Soul of a Lost Undead from the corner of the room. There's another locked door, so head over to the stairs and through the door on the right hand side. Fight the enemy and head through the mist.
Now sprint across the tree to the wall and down to where you'll be standing on a wooden platform. Head into the building, fight the enemies and take the torch. Drop down near the doorway where you entered then up the ladder to another platform, where you can go up a ramp and over the roof, fighting enemies as you go.
Take a jump over to the platform and kill the enemy, then shift right and drop down to another platform. There's an opening at the end of the platform that you need to go into, but move slowly until the giant boulder rolls past. Now head inside and you'll find a Human Effigy. You'll find Cale at the top of the corridor on the right and he'll give you the House Key (which you can use in Majula). On the left is a Amber Herb at the end of the corridor.
Make you way out of the cave the same way you came in and you'll see a ladder on the left. Head down the path and fight the enemy at the end, then drop down on the left and run up the ramp to the roof of the house again. Stay on the left side of the building and drop to the wooden platform.
There's a ramp at the end of the house to the grass below, where you now need to head all the way over to find a Titanite Shard near the gate. To the left there's a small ramp that will take you to a ladder. Climb up the ladder and then climb the tree right to the top. Take down the enemies on the left and then go up the ladder to defeat the enemy above.
Head back down and continue to the left where you'll see some barrels and two enemies. You can use the barrels to kill the enemies by dodging when they attack. This will also open the path to another bonfire.
Fight the next couple of bad guys you encounter and go down the ladder, then down the stairs where you'll find a Green Blossom. See that opening on the wall? Inside is a crossbow trap that will fire shortly after entering, so walk in to trigger them, then quickly back out to avoid the bolts. You'll also be followed by a few more enemies, so give them what for and head inside to take the Great Soul Arrow, a Large Soul of a Lost Undead and a Blue Wooden Shield.
Behind the crossbows there's a ladder. Go down to find a coffer that has a poison cloud trap. Inside you'll find a Titanite Shard. In the corner of this room you'll see a mechanism with a face - you'll need to use the Pharros' Lockstone here later, so remember how you got here.
Go back up the stairs, out of the room and straight ahead. There's an enemy with fire bombs above you so head through the doorway on the right and take out the enemy. There's another doorway - head through and pick up the Large Soul of a Lost Undead behind the tree. To the left is a ladder, climb it, then follow the path to find a Light Crossbow on the right. Head through the door at the end, through the corridor and into the area on the right.
Defeat the three enemies below and help yourself to the coffer at the end where you'll find a Mail Breaker and Infantry Helm. If you drop below you'll now be back in the courtyard.
Head back up the ladder and drop down to the broken path on the left. There's a makeshift ramp that you can climb up and destroy a wooden cart. Climb through the window at the end of the path and take down the three enemies in the hallway.
At the bottom of the stairs you'll need to fight three more enemies but you'll find three Aromatic Ooze items. Keep going down the hall and through the doorway on the right. There are three more enemies to fight in the courtyard, then head back to to the area where you fought the enemy with turtle shell armour.
Head past where you encountered him and into the corridor beyond, up the stairs on the right where you'll encounter two enemies. Once those guys are dead you'll find another one a little further down. Pick up the two Amber Herbs. Up the stairs you'll find a Lifegem and Homeward Bone. Now go up the large stone sword and fight the two enemies, who you can knock off the sword for an easier fight. There's a Halberd and a Soul of a Nameless Soldier here. Pick them up and go back down the stone sword and through the mist.
If you go into the room on the right with a torch lit a bug will scurry off. If you go in without a torch lit you'll be able to kill it and get a Titanite Shard. There's an enemy here too so take him out and you'll find a Large Leather Shield and a Lifegem. Come back out of the room and head down to the far right where you'll find 10 Fire Arrows. Open the door ahead because it leads to the ladder below the bonfire, making things a little easier for access.
Now step into the lift and take it down into a corridor. There's an enemy near the end - now walk through the mist and prepare for a boss fight.
Boss Battle: The Last Giant
Reward: Soul of the Last Giant, Soldier Key
The Last Giant follows a basic attack pattern and there's a lot of room here to move around and avoid attacks. As you've probably learnt by now, you just need to be patient and take your time and chip away health.
There are initially six different attacks from the Last Giant to watch for. He can fall foward and deal out massive damage if you're close by, or if you approach from the front he sweeps his hand horizontally across the floor. Approach him from behind and he'll jump back and stomp on you. Get really close in front of him and he'll try to crush you with his fist. And get too close and he'll stomp down with his feet three times.
Try not to get trapped in any corners or close to walls otherwise it'll be over too quickly. As we said, keep patient and keep moving.
One technique is to run quickly towards him and he'll try to sweep you with his hand. Run between his legs and attack his ankles. Depending on which weapon you have equipped you'll be able to get in one, two or three hits, but make sure you're moving again by the time he starts his feet stomping attacks.
So attack his ankles then dodge out the way and get some distance between you and him, once the stomping has finished, run back to get him to do the sweeping attack again and repeat your attacking. After you knock his health down to about 50 percent he tears his own arm off and uses the same attack patterns with wider range due to using his arm as a weapon. You can use the same strategy as before but get in earlier so you've got more time to dodge the arm sweep. Repeat this technique until you defeat him. Once dead you'll be able to pick up a lot of souls, but don't be tempted to head back to Maluja to level up just yet.
Head back to the bonfire and up the stairs near the entrance. With the Soldier Key you got from beating the giant open the locked door at the end of the hall. Smash the wooden cart on the other side of the room and you'll find a Hand Axe and Radiant Lifegem. In a coffer at the center of the room there's a Small Leather Shield and Repair Powder. Go through the next door and you'll find a coffer with an Estus Flask Shard and a Small White Sign Soapstone.
Now drop down onto the tree branch and pick up the Divine Blessing and drop to the room below. Go out through the hole in the wall, turn left and down the ladder. Follow the path and speak to the chap at the end for a White Soap Stone.
Head back to the merchant near the bonfire and buy Lenigrast's Key (1,000) and Pharros' Lockstone (4,000). You can use the key to unlock the hut in Majula and activate the Blacksmith. The Lockstone is used in face-shaped mechanism near the room with the crossbows.
Climb back down the ladder and go over to the small staircase and head right. Use the Soldier Key to open the door and climb the stairs and go left where a door will ask you to show the symbol of the king. Make a note of this for later and head all the way down the corridor to the coffer at the end to pick up a Ring of Restoration and three more torches.
Go back to the bonfire and through the opening in the wall. Head left, down a ladder and into the room with the crossbows. There's a ladder behind the crossbows - climb down it and examine the face in the corner of the room to use the Pharros' Lockstone. This creates an image of the face to the left.
Hit the image to reveal a room. Inside you will find two coffers with a Titanite Slab and a Chloranthy Ring. You've now done all you can in this area for now.