Lore
With the fire fading, and the spreading pus of man tainting the castle, the Grand Archives closed its doors for good.
Today, only a few of its keys remain.
— Description of the Grand Archives Key
In Lothric, the Scholar has long been considered one of the Three Pillars of the king's rule, and is therefore master of the Grand Archives.
— Description of the Scholar Ring
General Information
One of the main end-game locations, the Grand Archives contain many powerful items and preceed Prince Lothric and Prince Lorian's boss fight.
Treasure
Walkthrough
- Your main focus in the first few runs is probably to get rid of the Crystal Sage who will keep harassing you with magic while you are in the area. He will not respawn once you have killed him.
- The tubs filled with white wax can be interacted with to cover your head in wax. This will protect you from all the ghost hands completely.
- The only bonfire here is the one just outside the Archives. Therefore, you will want to activate all the shortcuts in this area as soon as you reach them.
- Ranged damaging spells or ranged weapons would help greatly in this area.
Entry to the Grand Archives
The Grand Archives are only accessible once you have obtained the Grand Archives Key. The corpse carrying this key will appear outside the main entrance once you have defeated Yhorm the Giant, Aldrich, Devourer of Gods and the Abyss Watchers. Also on the corpse are Gotthard's Twinswords, which suggests this is Gotthard's corpse, yet the equipment on the corpse looks just like that of Black Hand Kamui (with Onikiri and Ubadachi and a Short Bow).
The Archives
As you enter the Archives, a Crystal Sage will appear by the wall opposite to the entrance and start throwing spells at you. Damaging him will force him to teleport to an upper floor. To the right of the entrance are two Hollow Slaves. These enemies are much deadlier than their peers in earlier areas.
Move on to the area behind the Crystal Sage, you will find a group of Archive Scholars. Around one corner, there is a spear-wielding Lothric Knight. Past him around the corner is the Crystal Chime. There are also some Titanite Chunks nearby. Keep an eye out for the Hollow Slaves who stick to the bookshelves and will jump down behind you as you go past them.
The next room is dark and there are no enemies here. However, as you get close to the bookshelves, many ghost hands will spring out at you. They do not inflict heavy damage, but they also build up curse on you. There are two Crystal Lizards to the far end of the room. There is a lever by the wall near the Lizards, which opens a secret room nearby where you will find Power Within, and the Witch's Locks in a chest. Go up the stairs and there is an Archive Scholar just to the left.
Go through the opening to the next area. Get past the Archive Scholar here then make sure to kick the ladder, which leads down to the ground floor, just behind him. Move on toward the balcony. This is arguably the most dangerous section in the entire area, especially when the Crystal Sage is still alive. There are staircases to the left and right, and in the area in between, there is a lever between two bookshelves. This lever opens up a hidden section back where you find the first group of Scholars. The chest there contains a Titanite Slab. The stairs to the right of the balcony leads to more Hollow Slaves and a wax tub. The other staircase leads to the upper floor, and you will see two Hollow Slaves trying to ambush you. At the end of the section in between the flights of stairs is a Scholar and next to him is an opening where you can drop down to find a Titanite Scale. From this spot, you can drop down on some bookshelves further down below to get to the Avelyn. The Crystal Sage should be on the third floor, casting spells at you. Taking the stairs up is fairly dangerous. Instead, head out to the balcony. There is a ladder there which leads up behind the Crystal Sage. This time, if you damage him, he will teleport to the bridge section in the middle of the Archives. Take out the Scholars and the Hollow Slaves, then take the stairs up.
Keep moving and you will see an opening where you can drop down to the bridge below, as well as a ladder that also leads down. In the corner, near the ladder and the opening, is an Illusory Wall. In the hidden room is a Boreal Outrider Knight who will drop the Outrider Knight Armor Set. Go past him and you will find Soul Stream on a corpse. As you drop down to the floor below, there is a lever by this end of the bridge that opens a hidden section containing the Scholar Ring. Now you can fight the Crystal Sage properly, as he will only teleport between several spots on the bridge. Killing him and you will get the Crystal Scroll. On the bridge, there is an opening from which you can drop down and reach a Crystal Lizard. Once you get past the Crystal Sage, head upstairs, then take the lift down to the ground level. You will then find a lever that lowers the bookshelf behind the two Hollow Slaves at the beginning of the area. Pull the lever then take the lift back up and move on.
There are several Scholars on the next floor. There is a chest by the wall near the exit containing 3 Titanite Scales. Take the stairs up, you will find another Crystal Lizard. After this is the roof section outside the Archives. Keep moving until you reach the corner where a spear-wielding Gargoyle is waiting for you. To the right is a spot to drop down and progress forward. To the left, you will see two more Crystal Lizards. Watch out, however, as you explore the roof area more Gargoyles will fly down one or two at a time to attack you. From the roof, there are several paths: you can progress forward, or drop down to the section below where there are several Corvians, or keep following the roofs.
- If you keep exploring further on the roofs, you will eventually come to a spot where you can drop down to the roof outside the floor below. You will see a broken windowpane here. Once you get here, kill the Scholar then kick the ladder that takes you back down. You can move forward from here, through the door past the wax container.
- If you drop down to where the Corvians are, you can get back inside by two ways. At one end of this area, you will see a Lothric Knight, and this way leads back to the bridge inside the Archives. At the other end, go to the edge of the roof and you will see a roof section below. You will have to jump to get down there. There are 3 Titanite Scales here, and you will get back to the second floor this way.
Moving on from the roof area. There is a greatsword-wielding Lothric Knight with his back turned to you as you approach. Keep a distance and you can simply ignore him and continue. A few steps ahead, you will see two Hollow Slaves waiting to jump down on you. Once you get past them, you will see the broken windowpane ahead. Make sure you have kicked the ladder before moving on. Beyond this point is a big opening, which serves as an arena of sort where you will face three human opponents: Lion Knight Albert, Daughter of Crystal Kriemhild, and Black Hand Kamui. Each of them will drop one unique item upon death. You can face all three of them if you so choose. Or, by approaching slowly, you can let only Albert see you. You can then lure him back into the Archives, and try to take him out before the other two become aware of you and catch up. If you can use Rapport, you can lure them back to where the Lothric Knight is, then convert him to your side and let him help you with the fight. Be careful, however, since if the spell expires during the fight, you will have one extra deadly enemy to deal with.
Once you go past this area, you will find a lift that takes you all the way back down to the bonfire outside the Archives. Beyond this point, you can go further up to the rooftop of the Archives, or move on straight ahead to The Twin Princes' location.
The Rooftops
As you go up the rooftops, you can see the three Gertrude's Knights on the very top of the Archives. They will fly down once you get close. There is an Estus Shard in the outer roof area. Killing all three Knights for the first time will net you a Titanite Slab. Rapport is really useful against these three. If you plan to fight them one by one, then you might want to take out the axe-wielding Knight first, since he patrols the area, while the other two stay in their spot. Once you have taken them out, look for a ladder up the stairs, which will take you to the Hunter's Ring. Next, head back down the ladder, go through the opening nearby, and you can drop down into a cage. Inside this cage is Divine Pillars of Light. From here, you can drop down to the rafters below. There is a Man-grub who will shoot magic at you. Just behind it is a ladder that takes you down to two chests containing treasure, including three Twinkling Titanites. From here, go through the broken panel to get back inside the Archives.
The Prince's Approach
The stairs leading to the Twin Princes are littered with enemies. The Hollow Soldiers are dangerous enough, but a far greater threat is the group of patrolling elite Lothric Knights in blue capes. There are four of them here. A safer approach is to simply run past them, and when you reach the top of the staircase, turn right, then enter the lift which will take you down to just outside the Dragonslayer Armour's boss area. There is a second lift beneath this lift which leads down to a Titanite Slab.
Prince Lothric, and Prince Lorian
Once you take the lift down and get back to the Dragonslayer Armour bonfire, you can rest here, then take the lift back up. As you exit the lift, you will be behind all the Lothric Knights, and ready to face the Twin Princes.
Notes
Messages
Seek Guidance? | Message | Location |
---|---|---|
Yes | Wear wax before nearing the tome | By the entrance |
Yes | Wear wax before nearing the tome | Before the ladder by Crystal Sage |
Yes | Try jumping off | Before the bridge with Crystal Sage |
Images
External Links
- Japanese map: http://www.kouryakubo.com/darksouls3/C2E7BDF1B8CB.html
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