Heide's Tower of Flame

Start from the Far Fire bonfire at Majula. To your left should be Melentia. Lenigrast's workshop should be to your right. Looking ahead you should see the building where Sweet Shalquoir is located. To the right of that building is a hallway that leads downward to a handle. Descend the hallway, pull the handle to open a gate, and make your way to Heide's Tower of Flame.

8. Heide's Tower of Flame, Dark Souls II: SotFS

Near the entrance of Heide's Tower of Flame is a Heide Knight. Run past the Heide Knight, and the Old Knight who wields a sword and shield, and immediately light the Heide's Ruin bonfire. The Heide Knight, and three more on the way to the Dragonrider, are passive and non-hostile towards you as long as the Dragonrider is alive. The Heide Knights and Old Knights can be difficult to fight melee. The Old Knights who wield a sword and shield, not the one two-handing an ultra great sword, are easy to handle. Run behind them, wait for them to finish their combo, and move in for one or two hits.

The third Old Knight you encounter wields a sword and shield, and is guarding a lever. Currently, the arena of the Dragonrider has a wide gap that your character can fall over and die. Pulling the lever would extend the arena and narrow the gap, but there's still room for your character to fall into the water below. To completely remove the possibility of falling over an edge while you fight the Dragonrider, you need to pull a second lever. The second lever is found within a room guarded by three Old Knights: one is two-handing an ultra great sword and the other two use swords and shields. Defeat the Old Knight who wields an ultra great sword and you would have access to the second lever. After pulling both levers, the arena of the Dragonrider should be completely safe for combat. Note that it is not necessary to pull any of the above two levers.

Notable loot:

• Ring of Binding. When hollowed, equipping the ring would limit your HP reduction. Normally after dying several times your character's HP bar would be reduced by 50%. Equipping the Ring of Binding would only reduce your HP bar by at most 25%.

Dragonrider

This boss is weak against weapons that have a strike attack such as the Mace. A thrusting weapon such as the Rapier is also effective. Buff your weapon with any elemental Pine Resin you have. Prior to entering the boss arena, you might choose to pull two levers in order to make the arena safe for combat, but this is not necessary. The Dragonrider is easy to fight as long as you constantly position your character behind the boss, get in one or two hits, and strafe to your right. You will encounter this boss a few more times later in the game.

Defeat the Dragonrider and light the Tower of Flame bonfire. Licia of Lindeldt is found kneeling nearby. She is a merchant for miracles. Exhaust her dialogue, rest at the bonfire, and Licia should relocate to the Rotunda at Majula. Later in the game, you will require her services to open a passage to some late-game areas.

Guardian Dragon

This mini-boss guards the passage to the Cathedral of Blue. You must defeat this enemy in order to fight the Old Dragonslayer. The Guardian Dragon is weak against magic and dark. Ensure you first clear all enemies on the path leading to the Dragon. Defeating the Guardian Dragon would reward you with the Watchdragon Parma, a shield that increases your item discovery as long as you equip it. The Watchdragon Parma is indispensable whenever you want to farm rare items. You will encounter this mini-boss at various places later in the game.

Defeat the Guardian Dragon, grab the Watchdragon Parma, and pull a lever to lower a bridge to the Cathedral of Blue.

Old Dragonslayer

9. Old Dragonslayer, Dark Souls II: SotFS

This boss is weak against magic, fire, and lightning. Use a fast weapon that has a thrust attack, e.g. the Rapier. Defeating the Old Dragonslayer would reward you with the Old Leo Ring, an item that boosts the counterattacks of thrust weapons. As we will be using the Rapier against a number of bosses, the Old Leo Ring would be useful for dealing some extra damage to bosses.

Defeat the Old Dragonslayer and exit the boss arena to find Blue Sentinel Targray. Exhaust his dialogue, but don't join his covenant at the moment. One of the two treasure chests nearby contains the Tower Shield, one of the best great shields with 100% physical block. Collect all treasures and light the Blue Cathedral bonfire.