This place is absolute hell if you get lost so I'm going to try and help some of you dudes outs. Very minor spoilers about the area follow, more tips than anything.

When you first get to the area and roll onto the wood platform, run to the right avoiding holes, you'll see an item in to your left. Roll onto that platform and turn around, there's a bonfire in that direction. Don't fall off like I did, you'll want to die.

If you haven't been using torches up until this point. Use them. Seriously. Light everything up that you possibly can.

If you make it to a fog door that has a big ant looking thing in it, do a 180 and go into that building behind you, make your way to the back of the room, there's a bonfire behind a destructable wall.

I hope this at least helps one person out because fuck The Gutter.

Somehow or other I made it through the whole zone (and the next one, even) without dying; but made a lot of heart-wrenching jumps successfully. I haven't used torches since the beginning of the game except when you actually "need" it; so have like 2.5 hours of torches stored up. I don't think it's bad on the level of the Great Hollow or World 5 or even Blightown; it's just sort of tense the whole time.

@fredchuckdave: Man you're incredibly lucky because this area has kinda been giving me the business, hardest part in the game for me so far. I'd say it's worse than the Great Hollow by quite a lot for me personally, I agree that it's not Blighttown or Valley of Defilement level.

If I had found that first bonfire right away I doubt it would have given me as much trouble as I would've been on the right path from the get go. Instead I kept respawning near the Rat King and had to do a bunch of long falls to get there.

@fredchuckdave: @novadth: I only pray that you haven't experienced the true hell that lies beyond that place.

Black Gulch Is the truest of hells.

@smokeyd123: The name lies, it's actually Malachor V from KOTOR 2. Also you can break those statues.

I actually just ran through this and am now in black gulch as of 5 minutes ago. It honestly really could have been worst, all things considered. Not looking forward to this next area though.

@fredchuckdave: Yeah you can, but it's such a huge pain in the ass, it's takes forever to get anywhere.

@smokeyd123: You can either run through it and accept the poison or methodically make your way; if you don't die it takes <10 minutes.

I had to jack up the brightness just to see in this hell hole. I'm almost tempted to say The Gutter is worse then Blighttown but at least the Gutter doesn't have infinitely spawning enemies and poisons you every 5 seconds.

POISONED!

It was rough for sure, a couple of semi-blind jumps contributed to some serious tension. That said it wasn't quite as bad as my first blighttown trip, maybe because it seemed a bit shorter than that. It did certainly help that I was stocked up on poison-alleviating consumables though, screw those statues.

While we're discussing that area, does anyone know:

1) If there is a boss in The Gutter? I was expecting it but didn't find one until the next named area.

2) That weird giant ant thing was non hostile towards me, does anyone know what's up with it? I killed it and am curious if I may have missed something by doing so.

Well, at least its aptly named eh?

I loved the sense of dread I had when I reached The Gutter. Just pitch black nothingness and that subtle heartbeat background audio. I immediately fell through the floor boards to my death and thought "yeaaaaa.. this place is going to be great."

But it wasn't too bad. I really liked the use of the torch since I'm a shield user and this took me out of my comfort zone. Plus the lighting and such was cool. And it didn't drop to 5 FPS. Also thought the destruction of the poison shooting statues was a nice change.

I did not run into a boss in here either but I think there was a section/fog door I did not go through? Not sure. Already completed the Black Gulch area.

I don't know what that giant queen bug thing is about but man that creeped/scared the crap outta me. I was sort of fleeing from that ratdog thing there and went in that cave. The way the torch lit up that glossy throbbing giant insect.. I was like OMFG and immediately ran back toward the dog thing lol

So from the sounds of things this is like Blight Town mixed with Tomb of the Giants?... Gee, I can't wait.

This part was excellent :D it gave a lot of valley of defilement vibes and yep the black gutch D: !!!! Cleared the boss of that section as well , really liked this whole part and best thing no fps dips or anything of the sort.

I didn't think the Gutter was bad at all. I mean, I never died. The only thing you have to worry about is falling off a ledge, and with a torch and careful steps you can easily avoid that. The enemies are no real threat. Sure, I felt lost most the time, but I never actually was lost. I didn't know exactly where I was going, I just followed the paths. Black Gulch was creepier and more dangerous. However, patience and careful observation of your surroundings made navigation easy enough. When my room mate described it to me I pictured it being much, much worse than it actually was. Honestly, I have found No-Man's Wharf to be the hardest part of the game.

@smokeyd123: You can make it through the Gulch without killing anyone. It's a super tiny area and even if you don't find the second bonfire it's like a 20 second run to the boss if you dodge the worms.

@yummylee: Two of the fans favorite areas from Dark Souls, all merged into one! Thanks, From Software!

@steadyingmeat said:

After playing through it myself I hafta agree with the consensus that it's really not all too hard. So long as you keep your torch lit I'd go as far as to say it's relatively easy even.

Yeah, I'd go so far as to even say I enjoy The Gutter. I mean, I haven't gotten through it yet. I lit the second bonfire in the area and got down to that pit where the toxic pots are, so maybe it gets worse, but The Gutter is by far the best of the Souls game's shitty grimy swamp areas. Framerate-wise and level design wise it's so much better. And unlike Tomb of Giants, in Dark Souls 2, torches actually light up more than just a 3 foot radius around you. Plus you can light up sconces in the area, making going through it much easier. Enemies are easy so far and there's lots of room to maneuver and fight. I've probably lost the most souls in the game in this area, but I never felt frustrated by it cause I've made decent headway into the area each time I died. There have only been 2 times I've died a frustrating death in this area.

1. Had my guard up and was walking onto a platform. Poison statue spits poison at me, breaking my poise. I get sent into that long fucking poise break animation where he backs up with his hands in the air. The amount you move backwards in that animation is really fucking slight to the point of not moving at all, but it was just enough to send me off the edge. It just makes me hat that poise break animation more than the area itself though. Led to me losing 20,000 souls.

2. Got launched off a bridge cause of those exploding mummy fuckers from Lost Bastille. I hate them and how long they leave you lying on the ground after one of their explosions. Again, that makes me hate that enemy more than the area, as I've only found 2 of those mummies in the Gutter.

Woah woah woah! There's worms in this game? Fuck. I was hoping this would be the one Souls game without creepy crawlies. The slugs and rock worms gave me goosebumps in Demon's Souls, the chaos servant maggots, the big rock worms in Lost Izalith, the leeches, and the chaos eaters creeped the fuck out of me. And now there's goddamn worms? FUUUUUUUCK!

@yummylee: I don't think it's hard at all. I just think it's a really, really boring area to play through. Same with Blighttown and Tomb of the Giants (except some parts of TotG were kinda brutal)

Oh ho-ho-ho, in that case you are going to loathe Brightstone Cave, let me tell ya :D

There's some really crazy hidden shit in the Gulch, not as small as you'd think.

Oh no, what's in there? Is that where the spider boss from the trailer is? I actually don't mind spider enemies in games, but worms and slimy things like that I can't stand.

@minipato said:

Yeah, it's the giant 2-head spider boss. Though frankly it's the common spider enemies that really give me the goosebumps.

The basic spider enemies aren't creepy at all; the hollows with spiders on their back are creepy as fuck. Also who knew dudes with pickaxes were such badass motherfuckers.

So uhhh, am I being a total idiot here, or is there no way to actually progress the level from the second bonfire in the Gutter (the bonfire is called Central Gutter) ???

I spent the last hour trying to find a ladder or something that leads back up, but I can't find anything. Is my only option to warp back to the first bonfire, orrr?

@steadyingmeat:
Right next to that bonfire is a room full of ladders going down. There is a destructible wall there that I think the enemies will actually break trying to get to you.

@seikenfreak: Yeah I found that room, but all of those ladders just seem to lead down to the entrance to the Black Gulch unless there's a certain ladder that leads back to the rest of the level?

This is pretty annoying. I found the way to the first fog gate my first time through, but I got summoned to another person's world as a grey phantom and then got killed by them. (my controller died right in the middle of the freaking fight -_-......Though he probably would have beaten me anyway)

@steadyingmeat: Is that not where you want to go? The Gutter leads into Black Gulch. The Gutter doesn't seem to have a boss.

I wish From Software would be more honest when naming levels like The Gutter. Just call it Shithole, or the Crapper, or the Dark Smelly Brown Crap.

I really dislike dark levels, they strain my eyes. No Man's Wharf wasn't bad though, the fact that you can lit it up, there's no swamp bogging you down, and it's not brown, is way better.

@seikenfreak: ...It doesn't? I can't remember where the hell the fog gate I opened was, but I could have sworn it was leading me further into the Gutter......or maybe it was just leading me to where I am now with all the ladders? (I never actually found the bonfire my first time through). I'll give it one more shot later and see if I can find anything, and if I still can't, then I'm getting out of there already.

Thanks for your help!

@steadyingmeat: Ah yea that fog gate leads you to the room with all the ladders.

@steadyingmeat: There's not a boss in the Gutter, but there is some giant cockroach thing residing behind a fog gate, though it won't attack you. It does expulse some sort of gas, but I was never touched by it so I don't know what it does.

@yummylee: Yeah, I killed that thing. Hopefully that won't bite me in the ass later...

Is there anything worth getting there? I got all the way through the area (in a dire situation, with my weapon close to breaking, no estus, and few life gems) without even finding a bonfire. Would there be any reason to go back and comb through the area more thoroughly?

you can also roll through the whole zone. If you are holding a torch, you can roll right over those asshole hand pools and burn it alive (you can also set it on fire with fire arrow or pyromancy). You can sprint/roll/burn through the whole level in about 1-2 minute. Also, watch for bonfire to the right!

There's a ledge you can fall off of to join the Pilgrims of Dark. Probably the coolest covenant in the game, I think.

that's news to me! thanks for the tip.

Here's a better one; make sure your torch is lit so you can see the ledge to fall on. Torches are your friend in Dark Souls 2. :)

@oldirtybearon: Nah wtf torches are useless I wanted to play the whole game in pitch black and never be able to use a shield the entire time; total bullshit! Let's complain about it! /reviewer logic

Having gone through the gutter again I can say that it is 100% skill based; it's not like the Valley of Defilement or Blighttown where they restrict your movement and almost certainly poison you; you have freedom of movement, the ability to see where the poison is coming from, and the game doesn't really do anything cheap in this area save for the acid urns near the exit; but you can just toss a firebomb at them, problem solved. The Suicide Bombers that everyone hates are probably the best new design in the game; they make you play differently but they are not inherently unfair; you might take time or fail entirely at adjusting to them, but rest assured there's nothing random about them either.

I actually made it through The Gutter on my first try. Getting to that first bonfire was different story though. As for Black Gulch, I'm Faith-based so I had that Miracle that cleanses you on Poison. That definitely came in handy.

besides, that other area is tiny and you get a secret bonfire right at the boss gate. It's only fucked if you miss the first bonfire and instantly get killed by one of the hand monsters like I did.

besides, that other area is tiny and you get a secret bonfire right at the boss gate. It's only fucked if you miss the first bonfire and instantly get killed by one of the hand monsters like I did.

Protip for Black Gulch: throw a firebomb at the tar pools.

Definitely my initial reaction upon entering the black gulch was something along the lines of "Fuck this shit". Mostly because of how tedious it is to navigate. But once I realized the area was tiny and found the bonfire at the end which made boss attempts so easy (not that he was hard in the first place) I didn't mind it. Just take your time, stick to the right side, kill statues and you'll be fine.

Okay, yeah... I got some strong opinions about these two zones.

Firstly, I feel like those people who managed to get through the Gutter in a very short period of time without using any sort of guides or video walkthrough are either fibbing or got really lucky and found the correct path right out the gate. The way to the first fog gate requires a somewhat carefully timed jump in a very strange spot. I'm totally calling bullshit here. THREE HOURS IT TOOK ME!!! *stabs From*

Secondly, the Black Gulch was a piece of cake. Carefully take out the poison statues, read the signs on the ground, enter caves, profit. Those tar pit hand things were really easy to take out with one lightning spear and one smack to follow it up. Not to mention, the Rotten was yet another pushover.

*grumble*

@bnutz2k: There's more than one path? I just went slow and moved to whatever platform I could see...the part by the bridges and the dumb not-suiciding splodey guys I did get a tad turned around on, but a bit of backtracking and going across the other way worked fine.

No idea wtf this 'cockroach' thing people are talking about is. I missed a lot of stuff there, it seems.

I really enjoyed exploring this zone. Setting lights where I've already been helped a lot. And there is a really nice callback to the first two games when you're getting invaded by a certain black phantom.

@shiro2809: Seeing as how I'm ridiculously familiar with this zone now, it's not a stretch to me that people may approach this zone differently, but I don't feel like the path through is painfully obvious or anything. I do think I got caught up on exploring it in the wrong direction(s). It was very disorienting for me.

I actually quite enjoyed it as I like when Dark Souls challenges me with its level design, but I don't think it's reasonable to say that this zone is a cakewalk.