I am trying to do my first run of Dark Souls without looking at any wikis but I seem to be a little bit stuck. I got my last Old Soul in the Iron Keep about 4 sessions ago and since then I can't seem to work out where to go or what to do. I have found the bit in Black Gulch where you drop down to the man who talks to you about Dark and killed those two Giants but there doesn't seem anywhere to go from there.

Can anyone give me a hint? Try and keep it vague as possible if pos, do I need to talk to someone to progress, find somewhere or complete an action?

Btw I haven't killed the Gargoyles or the mid boss in Iron Keep yet-does this matter?

Also I see people talking about getting quests from NPC's - I can't think of a single quest I have received, I'm just ploughing through the game. Am I missing something?

You need to find a huge door that wouldn't previously open to you (it's likely you've been there already). Now that you've killed the bosses, it should open when you get near it. And it's not the doors asking for the "sign of the King". Another hint I'll give you is that it's outdoors, not in a gross cave.

I can see how this would be confusing because it, as far as I remember, is never mentioned by any NPCs. Usually the Emerald Herald is nearby to guide you further, but she's a few minutes past this door.

You don't need to kill the Gargoyles or the Smelter Boss to progress.

If only there were some bonfire near a bunch of branching paths.

Here is what you need to do. Go to Majula and talk to the Emerald Herald and the cat. Whenever you feel that you did something significant go talk to the NPCs in Majula.

Vague answer: Talk to Emerald Herald.

If you're still stuck, read this next tip which will be an area name. You will need to go there to find your path: Shaded Woods.

If you are still stuck, here is the solution: You need to go to Shaded Woods and at the second bonfire, where you have three paths to take with the two stairs leading up to them, take the left. Make your way through it and kill the mini-boss, a Flexile Sentry. Then, proceed to the left. There is a small, somewhat hidden path there you need to take. It will take you to Shrine of Winter. This door will open to you if you either have 1 million souls, or the four great souls. Otherwise it will remain shut. You will need to proceed through it to get to the next area and latter half of the game.

Also, you do not need to kill Smelter Demon in Iron Keep, nor the Gargoyles.

Hmmm I think that might clear things up a little. I'll have another root around this evening when I get back from work. I did talk to Emerald Herald and she said something different but it didn't seem that illuminating and now she is just back to her usual spiel.

Also about NPC side quests. What are these? The only thing I can think off is Pate daring you to get some treasure in Earthen Heights. Sometimes I thinkI don't think I pay enough attention

@leebmx: Lucatiel (you probably talked to her in No Man's Wharf or Lost Bastile) and Benhart (The guy with the blue sword trying to get past that statue) can be summoned for a number of bosses. Those are the major ones.

@mosespippy: Where is Benhart? I don' t remember him?

I summoned Lucatiel (I think) for the horrible 3 person boss fight.

@leebmx: that's the "quest" basically. If you help him he'll move on to another location continuing his "storyline." Just like if you summon Lucatiel for boss fights and keep her alive it will complete her storyline.

@leebmx: The first time you meet Benhart should be very early in the game as he is on a path that is still technically in Majula. He moves on once you unpetrify the pyromancer and doesn't show up again till a point in the game that is after where you are.

@humanity: He died with the very last strike of the battle as I remember. It seemed very heroic at the time but it is a bit of a bummer of it means that I miss out on future questing. Oh well.

Did anybody else find it a complete chore after getting the four souls? Found the game dragged.

@leebmx: lucky for you - you don't need Pate to survive that boss battle to experience his full story, but you need to free and talk to another fella who doesn't like ol' Pate that much.

@humanity: That's the cockney sounding guy in the hut in the forest right? I remember him saying not to trust Pate. So is it Pate who helped me out with the trio of bosses in The Lost Bastile? Not Lucatell?

@leebmx: Pate helps on the Last Giant. Lucatiel helps on The Lost Sinner (and 3 more bosses). Beatrice helps on the 3 man battle in Lost Bastille. Beatrice doesn't appear in game as an NPC. She's just there to help in that unfair fight.

You only need Lucatiel and Benhart to survive 3 of their 4 fights and you can retry fights by respawning the boss with a Bonfire Ascetic if you want. They've both gotten increased defense since the last patch so it should be easier now.

@mosespippy: I didn't get Pate to help on the last giant ( it was very easy, even for me) does that mean I have buggered up the rest of his quest? Also as you seem to know so much, what's with those sleepy white knights? Should I be stabbing them as they rest or do they have something to do later on?

@leebmx: You can still finish Pate's quest line. I kept those White Knights around till after I reached the final boss and they don't seem to do anything so I stabbed them. They all drop a unique weapon in NG and they start to drop armour pieces in NG+. I guess they were there as a difficult fight for a good weapon for people who decide to fight them when they first meet them.

@mosespippy: In that case I have some executions to take care of when I get home.

@mosespippy: it's extremely generous now. I was on NG+ and summoned Lucatiel for Smelter and his hits barely grazed her. Even his AoE blast barely took off like maybe 1/20 of her health bar.

I'm curious if my quest is busted because I summoned her for Lost Sinner but she got stuck on a wall or something and never made it past the boss fog. I could see her lifebar but she didn't enter the boss arena.

Well I got her to live through Smelter and Flexile Sentry so now I just need her alive for err, what's that 4th fight.. Oh yah Rotten, but that should be easy.

@humanity: The same thing happened with me and Benhart against the Prowling Magnus. I was expecting a real boss fight so I summoned someone and he defeated the boss with a flame swath before Benhart could enter the room. I'm not sure if it screwed up the quest because I wasn't looking up anything that first playthrough and missed his other summons.

@leebmx: You can't summon Lucatiel for the Sentinel Ruins. You summoned another NPC for that one. You can summon Lucatiel for:

• Flexile Sentry
• Smelter Demon
• Lost Sinner
• The Rotten

The quest is that you need to talk to her in all the locations she shows up physically and exhaust her dialogue. You also need to summon her and have her survive the boss fight 3 times. It doesn't matter which ones, which order or how many times you did them. For example, you can also use bonfire ascetic in No Man's Warf and kill Flexile Sentry 3 times. That will count.

When you're done, you receive their equipment from them. It works the same for Bernhart but he is in different locations and boss fights.

There are a lot of these types of quests. For instance, getting the Ember for McDuff and spending a certain number of souls in his store. Or the one with the Tankard scorpion.