Knight Artorias from the Artorias of the Abyss DLC from Dark Souls.

Dark Souls: How to Access the Artorias of the Abyss DLC

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March 11, 2024 - 3 min read

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Rhett Roxl is a professional writer who has been gaming for as long as he can remember. He merged both passions together to become a writer in the game industry in 2020.

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Reyadh Rahaman

Reyadh is a writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction who loves to play video games full of monsters and magic. When he's not scribing unique and unrelenting speculative fiction or slaying demons in virtual worlds, he is writing strategy guides to help others reach their gaming goals.

Key Takeaway

Here’s a step-by-step process of how to access the Artorias of the Abyss DLC:

Defeat the Hydra in the Darkroot Basin
Enter the cave to the left of the Hydra lake and defeat the Golden Crystal Golem to free the Dusk of Oolacile.
Retrieve the Lordvessel.
Get the Broken Pendant at the Duke’s Archives.
Return to the cave near the Hydra lake and interact with the dark portal you find here to access the DLC.

Dark Souls’ Artorias of the Abyss DLC is an amazing addition to the base game. Here, you’ll find many tough enemies and bosses, new weapons to wield, and mysterious areas to explore. However, before you can access this critically acclaimed DLC, you’ll need to go on a rescue mission.

Step 1: Get Rid of the Hydra in Darkroot Basin

The Chosen Undead facing the Hydra in the Darkroot Basin to begin the quest to access the Artorias of the Abyss DLC in Dark Souls.

The first step to accessing the Artorias of the Abyss DLC in Dark Souls is to kill the Hydra in Darkroot Basin. You can get to this area from three other locations: the Valley of the Drakes, Darkroot Garden, and Undead Burg.

The latter is the easiest way to get to Darkroot Basin in most cases—as long as you don’t mind passing by Havel the Rock, who guards the door leading from Undead Burg to Darkroot Garden. And by “passing by” we mean “get flattened by.”

Anyways, at the bottom of Darkroot Basin, past all the blue Crystal Golems in the woods, there’s a lake with a massive Hydra in it. Make sure you’re not standing too close to the Hydra. Immediately around its body is deep water that will kill you instantly if you step into it.

Warning

As you approach the lake in Darkroot Basin, the Hydra living there constantly fires water projectiles at you, so stay on the move to avoid them!

Once you get to the ideal attacking range, wait for the Hydra to strike you with its heads. Dodge when it does, then hit the head that’s closest to you. Keep repeating this maneuver until its HP drains to zero. While the process is tedious, it’s the only viable method for melee-only builds.

On that note, magic and ranged builds should have a much easier time taking this Hydra down. Simply aim and fire at it until the beast is slain! Make sure to bring enough ammunition, as the Hydra has a lot of health.

Step 2: Destroy the Golden Crystal Golem (Rescue Dusk of Oolacile)

The Chosen Undead standing before Dusk of Oolacile, who is an NPC from the Artorias of the Abyss DLC in Dark Souls.

After defeating the Hydra, make your way to the left side of this lake and you’ll eventually find a cave. There’s a lone Golden Crystal Golem here.

Tip

If you can’t find it, quit the game and reload for it to appear.

Defeat the Golden Crystal Golem and you’ll set Dusk of Oolacile free. Speak to Dusk and answer “Yes” to the question she asks at the end. She’ll vanish after your conversation with her.

Step 3: Retrieve the Lordvessel

The Chosen Undead placing the Lordvessel—a massive stone basin—into the Firelink Altar.

If you haven’t yet, now is the time to retrieve the Lordvessel. You get the Lordvessel by speaking to Princess Gwynevere at the end of Anor Londo. You’ll first have to defeat Ornstein and Smough to get to Princess Gwynevere. Good luck! You’re in for a tough fight.

Step 4: Collect the Broken Pendant

The Chosen Undead facing a Crystal Golem in the Duke's Archives.

Now, make your way to the Duke’s Archives to collect an item called the Broken Pendant. Thankfully, you won’t have to explore the Duke’s Archives all the way through to find this item.

Once you make it to the first bonfire in the Duke’s Archives, take the elevator up and you’ll find a Crystal Golem. The item you’ll want is inside this golem. Defeat it to get the goods.

Step 5: Find the Portal to the DLC Areas

The Chosen Undead running towards a dark portal.

With the Broken Pendant in your inventory, return to the cave in the Darkroot Basin where you rescued the Dusk of Oolacile. In the place of the Golden Crystal Golem, you’ll instead find a dark portal. Examine the portal and you’ll be pulled into it by the hand of something…abysmal.

Congratulations! You’ve now accessed the Artorias of the Abyss DLC! Make sure you’re prepared to power through the coming challenges. Doing so rewards you with lots of Souls, weapons, and more—plus it gives you a great place to farm Humanity. However, it will also throw you toward some of the toughest enemies in the game. Good luck!