The first expansion for Dark Souls 3, Ashes of Ariandel, is available now. Here's how players can start exploring the Painted World of Ariandel and find out what lies within.
The long-awaited Ashes of Ariandel DLC for FromSoftware's Dark Souls 3 is out now, allowing players to step back into the notoriously difficult title and explore the new Painted World for themselves.
For those who are looking to pick up the new expansion for themselves, Dark Souls 3 doesn't make it immediately obvious as to how the DLC is activated. Don't worry though, as we've got the instructions you need to enter Ariandel in no time at all.
Firstly, make sure you've got a character at around the level75 mark, as the area will be far more challenging without the proper stats required. Also bear in mind that if you're running a New Game+ save, you'll want to be at a higher level, as the game will ramp up all enemy difficulties on multiple playthroughs.
Next, ensure that you've beaten the Deacons of the Deep boss fight and obtained the Strange Doll that will have been in your inventory ever since. Then it's simply a case of travelling to the Cleansing Chapel bonfire where a brand-new NPC will be waiting. Talking to the NPC twice will then teleport the player to the Painted World of Ariandel, the location of the DLC, with a nearby bonfire allowing you to set up a path to and from the new mysterious world for yourself.
The Ashes of Ariandel expansion comes complete with 2 new boss fights, 16 weapons, 4 spells, 5 new sets of armor, and a PvP arena which allows for online versus matches. With that in mind, there's plenty of content to explore, so those fans who purchase the expansion are in for an exciting new chapter in the world of Dark Souls 3.
Alongside the DLC, FromSoftware are also releasing a new balance patch which aims to fix and improve as much of the game as possible so that the first expansion can be a success. One important change that the developer has made is the adjusted values to the poise stat which should now have player stagger rates working as intended.
Ashes of Ariandel is the first of 2 DLC packs which will be coming to Dark Souls 3, the second of which does not yet have a title at this point. After months of waiting, with little in the way of updates, the first expansion has now arrived but we're still no closer to learning when FromSoftware plan on releasing a second pack. Seeing as we're now well into October, it wouldn't be a push to imagine the next DLC coming in early 2017, rather than later this year, but we'll have to wait to find out.
Dark Souls 3 is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The Ashes of Ariandel expansion is now available on all platforms.