Grave of Saints

Visit Melentia and purchase all three Brightbugs from her. Next, visit Sweet Shalquoir and purchase some Lloyd's Talismans and the Silvercat Ring. You will need the ring to help you survive the descent down the Pit. Since Gilligan has relocated to Majula, you might also want to purchase the most expensive, longest ladder from him to help you descend the Pit. Consider investing some time in farming souls to finance your spending spree.

23. Grave of Saints, Dark Souls II: SotFS

Descend the Pit, light the Harval's Resting Place bonfire, but don't explore the area yet. Drop further down to grab the Ash Knuckle Ring. You will need this item in the upcoming boss fight and in a DLC area to help you mitigate petrification. Defeat a Royal Guard, grab a Sublime Bone Dust, and proceed to the Gutter to light the Upper Gutter bonfire.

Warp back to Harval's Resting Place bonfire and explore the Grave of Saints. This area is not ideal for farming souls. Most of the enemies are rats that yield very little souls and can cause your petrify metre to build up. The rats are only good for farming Rat Tails, covenant items used to level up in the Rat King covenant. Many of the Pharros contraptions in the area activate traps. Only two Pharros contraptions should be activated, each of these being located directly underneath a drawbridge. Light the Grave Entrance bonfire.

Notable loots:

• Whisper of Despair. A hex that lowers the physical defense of an enemy. Useful against any boss. Accessible after you use a Pharros' Lockstone to lower a bridge.
• Awestone. Guaranteed drop from the NPC invader Rhoy the Explorer provided you are a member of the Company of Champions. Rhoy only spawns provided these conditions are met: (1) you're playing offline; and (2) you're not a member of the Rat King covenant. After killing Rhoy the first time, defeat the area boss, return to the Harval's Resting Place bonfire, and burn a Bonfire Ascetic. From bonfire intensity 2 onward, Rhoy would invade you infinitely many times without having to defeat the area boss again. However, you must be a member of the Company of Champions. Use this method to farm Awestones to rank up in the Company of Champions covenant.
• Way of Blue. Rhoy can also be farmed to help you rank up in the Way of Blue covenant. Ranking up in the covenant requires you to kill a fixed number of invaders. Ensure you are playing offline. Exhaust the dialogue of Saulden at Majula and join the Way of Blue covenant. Suppose that the area boss at the Grave of Saints has already been defeated at least once. If the bonfire intensity is at least 2 at the Harval's Resting Place bonfire, then Rhoy should invade you multiple times at the Grave of Saints. In case you can't seem to trigger Rhoy to invade you, burn a Bonfire Ascetic at the Harval's Resting Place bonfire and try again.

Royal Rat Vanguard

This is a gank boss. Except for the boss, the rats can build up your petrify metre. Equip the Ash Knuckle Ring to boost your petrification resistance. You must kill at least 10 rats for the boss to spawn. The boss looks similar to the other rats, but can be distinguished by the mane on its back. Be careful not to get hit by the boss as it can build up your poison metre. The boss is weak against fire, but Aromatic Ooze or Dark Pine Resin are also effective. Use a fast weapon to allow you enough time to dodge the other rats. If you have a weapon or spell that has an area-of-effect, use it to quickly dispatch of 10 rats. Otherwise use a weapon that has a horizontal swing to help you target multiple rats at once, but beware that your weapon can bounce off the various statues in the arena. You might find the thrust attack of the Rapier to be more effective than the horizontal swing of any other weapon.

Defeat the boss, find the Rat King, and exhaust his dialogue. Join his covenant so enemies won't harass you while you explore a later area of the game, i.e. Doors of Pharros.