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Crown of the Ivory King - Frigid Outskirts, Lud, Zallen, Blackweed Balm, Pharros' Lockstone

We'll walk you all the way through the Frigid Outskirts section of Dark Souls 2's final DLC episode, The Crown of the Ivory King.

This section of the guide complements the overall Eleum Loyce guide.

The storm is in full force in this area, but it will die down for a bit every 30 seconds, making it easier to look around. Make your way over to the statues that resemble those found at the very start of the Ivory King zone. You can summon more spirits to assist you here.

Head right until you come to a bridge which leads to a new boss fight. You'll have to kill an invader, as well as a pack of Phantom Horses on the way there. Try to attack the horses from range, and kill the lot of them as fast as you can.

[60fps] Dark Souls 2 PS4 vs Xbox One Gameplay Frame-Rate TestWatch on YouTube

There are two structures in the middle of this area, one of which contains a number of Prisoners and has a device for one of your Pharros' Lockstones. If you activate it, you'll be rewarded with a pool which can top up the health of you and your allies. If you look inside the other structure you'll find a Rampart Golem.

Once over the bridge, walk through the foggy door to begin the next boss battle.

Lud and Zallen, the King's Pets

Both Lud and Zallen fight very much like Aava who featured earlier on in the DLC. The only difference really is that there's now two of the beasts to contend with, which makes finishing the fight a good deal trickier.

Try to get as much damage on Lud as you can before Zallen shows up, so as to shorten the duration of the fight as much as possible. You should be wearing all of the magical reduction equipment you own as well, to ensure you survive long enough to see the fight through to its conclusion.

The good news is that the allies you summoned will take some of the enemies' attention away from you, giving you time to fire away from a safer distance, or dish out melee damage from the rear of each creature.

It makes sense to concentrate all of your firepower on one enemy until its dead, but don't let your concentration lapse when there's just one creature remaining. If you got some good damage in on Lud at the very start of the fight, keep whacking away before tackling Zallen.

If you're choosing to fight up-close, always stay behind each enemy and keep one eye on its friend. It's quite easy to lose track a bit, and only realise where the other one is when it's charging into your face. You should absolutely aim to have one of these creatures down before your allies have expired.

When the fight's over, make your way towards the light and get back to the Expulsion Chamber bonfire.

Struggling to track down all of the Eleum Loyce Knights? Check the index page of this article.