Cemetery of Ash

Follow our complete walkthrough for the Cemetery of Ash in Dark Souls III: The Ringed City, including enemy strategies, item locations, and the Iudex Gundyr boss fight.

After being summoned from ash, make your way forward toward the steam while reading the handy messages that act as the tutorial for the Souls games. You'll quickly come up on your first enemy, a Grave Warden, who doesn't pose much of a threat as long as you guard or evade their attacks.

Grave Warden - The most basic enemy in the game, Grave Wardens are not very dangerous unless you find them in groups or underestimate them. Be wary of their chaotic attacks that can tear through your newly ashen skin, as you will likely take significant damage in the early game.

Drops: Cleric's Sacred Chime, Fading Soul

Take the side path to find a dead end with a Soul of a Deserted Corpse, which can be used to obtain additional souls, and then backtrack and continue forward. There is a Grave Warden sitting between you and the glowing item ahead, so take the initiative and attack him before he can stand up and then collect the Ashen Estus Flask.

The path split here, with a Grave Warden on the right being the tutorial for backstabbing and a Grave Warden to the left charging you as the tutorial for parrying. Backstab the Grave Warden and then cross the way and take out the other before you head down the middle to deal with the Grave Warden with a crossbow. There are two more Grave Wardens in the water near a side path, so attack the nearest while it sits and then roll back to avoid the attack of the other.

The side path in the water leads to a Ravenous Crystal Lizard, which is a one-time enemy that drops fixed items, but be wary as they are very difficult. The trick is to learn its attack patterns; the most deceptive of which is when it crawls away from you only to slash across the space in between. Take your time and attack when you have the opportunity, but don't get greedy or you'll find yourself in danger. You'll gain a Titanite Scale when the lizard is dead and can then collect the Soul of an Unknown Traveler before returning to the main path.

Rest at the bonfire when you reach it for the "Rest" gesture and continue down the hill, defeating some Grave Wardens around the corner. There is a path near the cliff's edge that leads to a Grave Warden carrying a shield, as well as one with a crossbow, and then collect the Firebomb x5.

Head back up toward the bonfire, but take the right path instead of the left toward the bonfire to spot a lower section with an item on a stone coffin. You'll need to dash and jump to reach the top of the coffin for the Titanite Shard and then you can plunging attack the Grave Warden below. You can now kill the final Grave Warden with a crossbow before you enter the boss arena and pull the coiled sword from his chest.

Boss: Iudex Gundyr

As soon as you pull the sword from the boss' chest you can attack to inflict damage, even though the health bar is not displayed to reflect this. Iudex's attacks are extremely heavy and will tear through any Stamina you have while blocking, so focus on dodging while your weapon is two-handed for additional damage. Most of his attacks can be avoided by rolling under them, but any that are vertical will result in taking damage from Iudex's body. Keep your stamina topped off and wait for the openings to perform a nice 2-3 hit combo.

At about half health Iudex will begin to transform into a mutated beast of black ooze. In addition to his previous attacks he'll now use his newly grown claw and beastly mouth to attack you, but the majority of his new attacks are medium to long range. Stick close to him and he'll primarily use his Jumping Slash to try and come down on you, which is easy to spot because he'll use his mutated claw to push himself upwards, and the rest of his attacks you should be used to by now.

Iudex Gundyr's Attacks:

Stage 1

• Lunging Attack (Medium): Stabs forward with his halberd, often the start of a combo of 2-3 attacks
• Fast Sweep Attack (Medium): Slashes across the area in front of him, usually performed in a combo
• Backhanded Sweep Attack (Medium): A slower version of the Fast Sweep that is never performed in a combo
• Downward Slice (Medium): Slashes down into the ground, followed by pulling the halberd upward
• Shoulder Plow (Short): Arches back and then rams his shoulder forward, pushing you backwards
• Jumping Slash/Stab (Long): Jumps across the area and slashes or stabs downward into the ground upon landing

Stage 2

• Claw Sweep (Long): Rakes the ground from back to front with his mutated claw
• Claw Punch (Long): Punches the ground in front of him with his mutated claw
• Bite (Medium): Bites across the area in front of him with a sweep of his mutated head

Drops: 3,000 Souls, Coiled Sword

Open the double doors on the other side of Iudex's boss arena and collect the Broken Straight Sword straight ahead. Take the ledge on the left side of the path that leads to two Grave Wardens and a Homeward Bone and then head up the stairs to find two more Grave Wardens sitting in the grass near some tombstones. Be careful when fighting these enemies since there is another Grave Warden nearby with a crossbow.

Backtrack a bit and search the right edge of the cliff to find a Grave Warden looking out on the landscape, allowing you to backstab him and kick him off the ledge, and then continue up the steps. The archway straight ahead leads to Firelink Shrine, but rather than entering you'll want to head down the path to the right to find a Starved Hound and Ember.

Starved Hound - These wild beasts attack quickly and although they are weak on their own they can overwhelm you when encountered in groups. Watch your back as they can easily flank you and keep your shield up, block