Dark Souls: How to Get to Blighttown

Dark Souls, Blighttown. An apt name indeed. It is hell-incarnate. It’s one of the worst places in the entirety of this game, if not the entire Dark Souls trilogy. That said, you’ll have to enter this area to progress the game. Get ready for some swampy fun!

Every Path to Blighttown

Just like there are apparently multiple roads to hell, there are also multiple paths you can take to get to Blighttown.

Firelink Shrine to Blighttown

This is the easiest path to Blighttown. However, you’ll need the Master Key for this to work.

Note

You get the Master Key by choosing it as your starting gift from the Character Creation menu at the beginning of the game.

From the Firelink Shrine bonfire, take the stairs left of where the Crestfallen Warrior is sitting. Continue descending until you arrive at the elevator. Ride it down.

Once you’re at the bottom, exit the room and head downwards until you’re in an open area. You’ll now be in New Londo Ruins. As soon as you’re out in the open, make a right and enter the tower to the right.

Keep going up until you find a locked door. You can open this with the Master Key. At this point, you’ll step foot into the Valley of the Drakes.

Once here, head forward, cross the bridge, make a right, and then enter the cave. This leads to Blighttown.

The Depths to Blighttown

This is the most straightforward and most natural way into Blighttown—way trickier than the previous path, but this is perfect if you didn’t choose the Master Key as your starting gift.

The way to Blighttown in the Depths is through the massive gate next to where Domhnall of Zena is sitting.

To open this gate, however, you’ll first need to defeat the boss of the Depths: the Gaping Dragon.

The Gaping Dragon is found at the very bottom of the Depths. It’s not too tough of an encounter either, thankfully. The best strategy against this boss is to stay close to its back and continue attacking it from there.

Tip

If you can cut off the tip of the Gaping Dragon’s tail, you’ll get the Dragon King Greataxe.

Once you defeat the dragon, return to where Domhnall is located, open the gate next to him, and start descending. This path takes you to Blighttown.

Darkroot Garden to Blighttown

This is by far the most complicated way to Blighttown in Dark Souls. However, this completely negates having to pass through the Depths. If that’s a place you dislike, you can take this route instead.

Start from the area where Andre of Astora is in Undead Parish. From this room, take the stairs down and continue forward. If you haven’t defeated the Titanite Demon yet, you can do so now or you can simply run past it.

Exit this area, then make a left. Continue heading forward. You’ll encounter multiple enemies here. It’s up to you whether you’ll eliminate them or run past them.

Keep going while hugging the right wall. You’ll eventually arrive at a fork where you can make a hard right.

Take this path and press ahead. Descend until you reach the Darkroot Basin.

Continue going deeper and stick to the cliff as you take the sloping path downwards. As you continue descending, you’ll eventually find a cave opening on your left. The cave is guarded by a Black Knight.

You can either fight the Black Knight here and defeat it, or you can find a way to get past this stalwart soldier.

Tip

There’s a bonfire a few steps into the cave, so you can light it first and then return to fight the knight if you want.

Either way, get past the Black Knight and keep going down the linear path. You’ll eventually find an elevator shaft here. Call the elevator by flipping the lever on the right. Ride the elevator down and you’ll find yourself in the Valley of the Drakes.

You already know there’s a path to Blighttown from this area. All you need to do now is to find the cave. As soon as the elevator reaches the bottom, head out and keep marching. You’ll spot a drake here just before the bridge. From this point, run to the path on the left of the drake.

You can either deal with the drakes or run past them. That’s completely your call. Either way, continue running along the ledge and you’ll find the top half of a rotting dragon that’s clinging to a cliff.

Note

This half-dragon will not attack you unless you attack it or loot the items under it.

Press onward until you come across a bridge. Cross it, continue forward, stick to the left wall and you’ll eventually find the cave that leads to Blighttown.

Tips for Blighttown

Blighttown is a harrowing place, and even that is an understatement. Before even venturing to Blighttown in Dark Souls, there are a handful of things you should do to best prepare for this hellhole.

• Stock up on Blooming Purple Moss Clumps. A lot of them. Many enemies in Blighttown deal toxin or poison damage. A Blooming Purple Moss Clump will cure you of either. You can also buy Purple Moss Clumps for poison-only afflictions.

You can also purchase both of these items from the Undead Merchant in the sewer path between Firelink Shrine and Lower Undead Burg.

• The bottom area of Blighttown is a swamp that slows down your movement. You can negate this effect by wearing the Rusted Iron Ring. You can find this in the Northern Undead Asylum.

This ring is only obtainable when you return to the Northern Undead Asylum after arriving at Firelink Shrine.

• Finally, when you’re in Blighttown, mind your footing. As you descend this level, you’ll encounter a handful of swerving walkways and sudden drops. Always watch for where you’re heading.

Aside from that, all you have are your skills and dedication. Keep going until you reach the bottom, defeat the area’s boss, and ring the second bell. Good luck!

Blighttown has been an infamous area since Dark Souls was released. It’s a place you either love or absolutely abhor. Whatever your opinion of the place is, it has become a FromSoftware game staple thanks to its legendary difficulty. Many areas since then have been modeled after it, for better or for worse.