No-man's Wharf

Start from the Tower of Flame bonfire at Heide's Tower of Flame. Make your way to the Unseen Path to Heide bonfire. On your way, you will meet a Royal Guard who protects a treasure chest containing a Sublime Bone Dust. Burn the Dust at the Far Fire bonfire at Majula to grant you more heal with each drink of the Estus Flask. Five Sublime Bone Dusts are scattered throughout the game, allowing you to upgrade your Estus Flask to +5. Further down you will traverse a flooded hallway. Beware of ambush by Hollow Soldiers who lie underneath the water surface. Within an alcove of the flooded hallway is a Basilisk that stands waiting in front of a petrified enemy, who blocks the path to an Estus Flask Shard. Most likely you don't have a Fragrant Branch of Yore to unpetrify the enemy so be sure to revisit this area later in the game when you have a spare Fragrant Branch. In case you have only one Fragrant Branch, save it for when you visit Shaded Woods because you require one Fragrant Branch to progress in the game.

10. No-man's Wharf, Dark Souls II: SotFS

Your goal at No-man's Wharf is to proceed to the highest elevated platform, where you ring a bell that opens the passage to the area boss. Have at least 10,000 souls to be spent at the shop of Gavlan, one of three NPCs you will meet at No-man's Wharf. First, locate Lucatiel of Mirrah who is propping her back against a wall inside one of the dwellings. Exhaust her dialogue to initiate her quest line. A Pharros contraption is found on the floor of an elevated platform. Don't insert a Pharros Lockstone inside this contraption, otherwise the giant oil lamp overhead would light up the whole area, allowing most enemies to see you. Use the darkness to your advantage. Save the Lockstone for a contraption in another area. Above the room filled with Dark Stalkers are two treasure chests, one of which contains the Greatsword. This weapon is one of the best melee weapons in the game and it should allow you to deal with most enemies. Grab the weapon and consider farming souls to level up to 28 Strength and 10 Dexterity in order to properly wield it. Find Lonesome Gavlan chugging his large mug of beer. He is the only merchant to whom you can sell items. Exhaust his dialogue and purchase all his Poison Arrows, Poison Throwing Knives, and as many Poison Mosses as you can. Save the Poison Arrows and Poison Throwing Knives for the fight against two Elite Giants at the Black Gulch. Now proceed to ring the bell that allows you to access the area boss. Carhillion of the Fold sits on a dock, near the ship that you activated by ringing the bell. He refuses to speak to you unless you have at least 8 Intelligence. Later on in the game when you have levelled up to at least 8 Intelligence (and the Flexile Sentry is defeated), exhaust Carhillion's dialogue and he would relocate to Majula.

Notable loots:

• Fragrant Branch of Yore. You might already have at least one Fragrant Branch in your inventory, in which case use the extra branch to unpetrify the enemy (who is guarded by a Basilisk) underneath Heide's Tower of Flame. Defeat all nearby enemies and proceed up a staircase to collect an Estus Flask Shard.
• Fire Arrow x 10. At the moment, you don't have access to a merchant who sells Fire Arrows. You need Fire Arrows at various areas to start a blaze. While Firebombs and Black Firebombs can start a blaze, using a bow and Fire Arrows would allow for more precise aiming.
• Dark Pine Resin x 3. Some bosses are weak against dark.
• Royal Soldier's Ring. Equip the ring to raise your maximum equipment load by 10 points. The ring is useful for a character that uses a Strength weapon and wears a heavy armour set. Your maximum equipment load can be increased by levelling up Vitality.
• Titanite Shard x 4 and Large Titanite Shard x 2. Some are found inside treasure chests while others are dropped by a Crystal Lizard hidden behind a breakable wall.
• Greatsword. A Strength weapon that is effective at handling most enemies in the game.

Flexile Sentry

11. Flexile Sentry, Dark Souls II: SotFS

This boss is weak against fire. Buff your weapon with Aromatic Ooze or Dark Pine Resin in case you don't have Charcoal Pine Resin. Use any weapon you are comfortable with, preferably a fast weapon such as the Rapier. To advance Lucatiel's quest line, summon her to help you and ensure that she survives the fight. This should be the first time that Lucatiel helps you against a boss. You will encounter the Flexile Sentry at various other areas in the game.

Defeat the Flexile Sentry, sail the ship to The Lost Bastille, and light the Exile Holding Cells bonfire. Before proceeding any further, you should farm enough souls to level up to 30 Strength and 12 Dexterity. These stats would allow you to properly wield three weapons: (1) the Greatsword even when one-handed; (2) the Short Bow; and (3) the Tower Shield. We will use the Greatsword for the remainder of the walkthrough for dealing with most enemies, including some bosses and mini-bosses. If you have any upgrade materials, consider using the services of Lenigrast to upgrade the Greatsword as high as possible. The Short Bow will be used to pull enemies one at a time away from mobs. We will shortly obtain the Dragonrider Bow, so don't waste upgrade materials on the Short Bow. The Tower Shield is useful for blocking physical attacks from strong enemies and some bosses. Consider upgrading the shield as high as possible.