Forest of the Fallen Giants (2)

Cardinal Tower

Light it up and rest as necessary. There's also Merchant Hag Melentia nearby. Among other things, you can purchase Lenigrast's Key from her which can open up the smithy in Majula. You can fast-travel there after getting the key and loot the chest inside to get a Short Bow. The room above the bonfire is locked so ignore it for now. Aside from the common consumables, Melentia also sells x5 Human Effigies for 1500 souls each and a Pharros' Lockstone.

Before going down the ladder beside the bonfire, you can jump off from the ledge of the balcony to reach land on the wooden scaffolding below. Continue following the scaffolding along the wall to reach a hanging corpse containing a Human Effigy. Go down and you'll find another lootable corpse hanging on a fallen tree. Get a Torch and a Soul of the Lost Undead. Be careful not to fall down below since there are a lot of enemies waiting there. Lure them one by one and take them out.

Once clear, enter the smaller tunnel to reach a corpse containing a Hollow Soldier Helm. Next, walk all the way towards the rubble at the end of the courtyard to find a corpse containing Lifegem x3.

Backrack to the burning tunnel and enter it. Be careful since two undead swordsman will attack you from behind. After taking care of them, loot the Soul of a Proud Knight (Soul +2000) from the corpse along the way. There's a chest right behind the door nearby that contains a Fire Longsword. You must open it quickly enough so that when the salamander lobs a fire ball, your opening animation will render you temporarily invulnerable.

Return to the bonfire in the Cardinal Tower using a Homeward Bone so you don't have to walk all the way back. This item however, resets enemies so might as well rest in the bonfire to replenish your HP, spells, Estus Flask and repair your equipment. If you have opened Lenigrast's shop the first time around, you can go back there now and spend some souls in strengthening your equipment.

Climb down the ladder and immediately attack the sitting undead. There's another undead pikeman that will come your way so evade and take it out as well. Cross the bridge and do not loot the corpse immediately. Hit the undead swordsman that's pretending to be dead then loot a Soul of a Lost Undead from the corpse. Both doors on this side and the side where you came from is locked so backtrack to the bridge and enter the only open doorway here.

Hit the undead at the base of the stairs and remove the mist to reach another area of the castle. This is an annoying stage but necessary nonetheless. First, be careful of the archers. There are two on the scaffolding in the middle and one along the walls. Start by dropping off the balcony to the right. Take out the axeman and the archer at ground level then climb the ladder. Head to the middle scaffolding and lure the undead pikeman out. Bring him to the rooftop where you came from and finish him there. Next, defeat the undead longbowman.

Run across the middle platform and make your way to the broken tower to the left. Defeat the undead guard there and loot a Torch from the corpse. Drop off the other end of the tower and climb up the roof again to make your way back to the middle platform.

Now make your way to the rooftop in the middle and drop off from the opening on the roof to the floor below. Drop off once more and find the wooden pathway leading back to ground level. You should find a lootable corpse beside a gate containing a Titanite Shard. Follow the wooden walkway again to reach the ladder you used to climb back up the rooftop.

Head to the rooftop in the middle and do a sprint-jump to reach the other platform. Jump on the lower ledge near the tunnel. Enter the tunnel and carefully walk towards the corpse. Don't run as a boulder will roll down from the slope to the left. Loot the corpse nearby to get a Human Effigy.

Go up the slope and talk to the traveler named Cale. Keep talking to him to retrieve the House Key. This is the very key needed to open the house in Majula. Continue to the end of the tunnel to get an Amber Herb from the corpse. Now leave the tunnel and climb up the ladder to your immediate left. This will take you back to the starting point of the area.

(Optional) Since you have the House Key, you can return to the bonfire in the Cardinal Tower and travel back to Majula to loot the contents of the House. The corpse in the first floor has a Pharros' Lockstone while the chest on the second floor contains x3 Torches and x3 Titanite Shards.

If you head down to the basement of the house, you'll find a fast, green skeleton. The best way to deal with this is to parry its attacks and do an immediate counterattack. It can also drop a Human Effigy. Reach the bottom of the mansion to get an Estus Flask Shard from the skeleton by the wall and a Soul Vessel from the chest. Soul Vessels can be shown to the Fire Keepers and allow you to re-allocate your level and skills.

Return to the Cardinal Tower and make your way to the same area where you accessed the tunnel. This time, follow the root until you reach the other side of the wall. There are enemies waiting ahead so take them out. There's an enemy standing on the edge of the next ledge that can throw fire bombs so climb the first ladder along the way and take it out.

Shortly after, a large knight called The Pursuer will drop from the sky. This is an optional encounter so I suggest don't fight him for now. After escaping him by leaving the platform, he will leave and you're free to continue exploring the area as necessary.

Continue to the corner and climb down the ladder. Check the corpse beside the stairs to find a Green Blossom. There's also an opening on the wall to the right. Don't enter it yet since the ballistas will trigger and fire. Wait for the enemies to chase after you and destroy them outside. Be careful though since these undead guards are quite dangerous with their lunge attack. Once done, loot the corpses in front of the ballista to get a Great Soul Arrow, Blue Wooden Shield and Large Soul of a Lost Undead.

In the same room, climb down the ladder and defeat the undead inside. Open the chest and immediately roll out to avoid getting caught in the poison gas. Obtain a Titanite Shard from there. There's also a Pharros Contraption here that will require a Pharros Lockstone to activate it. If you have one, you can destroy the wall where the face appears and it will reveal two chests inside containing a Chloranthy Ring and a Titanite Slab.

Climb back up. There are several smaller areas you can explore here. There's a pikeman sitting near a gate ahead named Pate. If you enter the the gate next to him, it will shut behind you, trapping you inside. Take out the enemies in the small courtyard and more enemies inside the hallway. Before you go to loot the corpse, a couple of undead pikemen will attack you. Take them out and get the Aromatic Ooze x3 from the corpse.

More enemies are waiting upstairs. The dangerous of them are the shielded undead spearmen. They'll deflect your attacks and counterattack with their long spears. After clearing the hallway, you'll reach another section of the wall. You can now go around the locked gate and continue exploring.

The heavy, maul-wielding knight guarding the gate can be lured towards you. It's intimidating and can deal heavy damage but it can killed quite easily as well. Just don't fight it on the same area since there are enemies throwing fire-bombs at you.

After defeating the heavy knight, enter the small area to the right to find a giant's remains (creepy-looking tree). Before going there, make sure to hit and defeat the undead guard sitting on the wall. Behind the tree is a corpse that has a Large Soul of the Lost Undead.

Climb the ladder nearby and loot the Light Crossbow from the corpse along the way. Enter the room and sprint-jump on the ledge across to loot another corpse containing a Soul of a Nameless Soldier and a Torch.

Be careful when falling below as there are three undead guards below. If you have a ranged weapon or a thrown projectile you looted from enemies, this is a good time to use them. Kill all enemies below then open the chest to get a Mail Breaker and an Infrantry Helm.

Get past the heavy guard and take the stairs to the right to loot a Lifegem and a Homeward Bone from the corpse. There are a couple of shielded spearmen ahead so be careful when taking them out. Continue to the end of the corridor to find another corpse. The nearby undead will rise so attack it before it fully stands up. Loot a couple of Amber Herbs from the nearby corpse.

Carefully climb up the sword statue and lure the spearman there. There is also another undead swordsman that will attack you from behind so be careful. Once they're taken care of, loot the Halberd and a Soul of a Nameless Soldier from the corpse.

Go back down and enter the misty door. Head to the right first and kill the enemy sitting on the wall along the way. Search the room to find a corpse at the bottom of the stairs. Obtain a Lifegem and Large Leather Shield from it. Head to the left this time and loot the corpse to get Fire Arrow x10. Open the door that leads as a shortcut to the Cardinal Tower bonfire. Use it and do what you need like reinforcing your equipment, leveling up or restocking healing items.

When ready, step on the lift. Once done, walk along the corridor and take out the undead guard standing in front of the door to the left. Go through the misty path and fight the boss.

Boss: The Last Giant

The Last Giant isn't a hard boss, as long as you know his attacks. His basic attack include swiping the ground using his arm. The best move to counter this is by rolling towards him and delivering at least two strikes on his legs. Make sure you have enough stamina to roll away when he starts to stomp. Sometimes, the boss will fall down. You have to clear out of the way otherwise you'll get instantly killed. If you managed to get out of the way in time, you should get free hits at the boss while it's down. Keep doing this until he goes down to 50% HP.

At that level, he break off his left arm and use it as a club. His swiping attacks have much longer range now so just rull towards him and avoid his stomp. After the battle, you'll get the Soul of The Last Giant and Soldier Key. Melentia will also move to Maluja after the battle.

Destroying the last giant