Getting to the Untended Graves
To find this secret area, you must defeat Oceiros, the Consumed King in his lair in the Consumed King's Garden. Once he has been defeated, open the door to the large tomb behind the bonfire, filled with the corpses of serpent-men, and a body holding a Path of the Dragon Emote needed to reach another Secret Area. Step onto the dais and look behind for a large wall that you can strike to reveal an illusory wall. This path will lead you to this new and quite surprising area.
Untended Graves
Drop down into the pit and light the Bonfire, and continue up the path to an extremely familiar area, grabbing a Shriving Stone as you proceed. Going left leads to what almost appears to be the very same grave you rose out of at the start of the game. However, there are several Corvians here led by a shaman - so be sure to rush the shaman before he can screech his followers awake. After killing them, look into that very familiar coffin to find an Ashen Estus Ring.
Continuing up the path, grab the Soul of a Crestfallen Knight by the fountain, and beware of Grave Wardens lurking ahead. One lies ahead, and another to the right, where you’ll also encounter two Bone Hounds - and another three in the water just ahead. Going up on the left leads to a Titanite Chunk guarded by a Bone Hound hiding in an alcove. Return to the three Bone Hounds and engage carefully, and grab the other Titanite Chunk before moving down the side path. Instead of just contending with one familiar Giant Crystal Lizard - you’ll find two instead. You can try luring one out, but the long fight may just awaken the other - so you may want to lure them back into the valley where only one can fit at a time. Killing both nets you 2 Titanite Scale apiece.
Leaving the main canyon, you’ll enter back out into what should be a familiar vista - only to be met with pitch black. What’s more, as you ascend the slope, those who are ember’d will be invaded by an NPC: the Daughter of Crystal Kriemhild. She will use her magical staff to great effect - casting spells like Crystal Hail, Homing Crystal Soulmass, and even Crystal Soul Spear at you. Up close, she’s not much, but she does have a rapier, and isn’t afraid to use her weapon arts for quick jabs - just be sure to press the attack and don’t give her time to heal or cast, and you can take her down.
At the top, there is no Bonfire to greet you - only Hollows and the endless dark. The path before you is still filled with Hollows, but the enemies have changed slightly. There’s an archer up ahead, with a Hollow Thief waiting to ambush you to his left. On the right are two more, with more thieves hiding on the right, and a shield and spear user on the left. Another spear wielder is on the path down on the right leading to an archer - but no item this time. Past the two you saw on the left, an item is no longer on the coffin, but behind it, and holds a Hidden Blessing, guarded by a Thief and another Hollow nearby. Down towards the large door are several Hollows hiding, one on the left and one by the door - backed by a shield-and-spear user.
Just by the entrance to where Gundyr was last time is a summon sign for… the crazy Sword Master outside Firelink Shrine? If you’re ready for a rematch, head on in and face Champion Gundyr (and don’t forget to look to the right entering the arena to get a Black Knight Glaive.
Boss: Champion Gundyr
With no coiled sword embedded in Gundyr, and no mutation lurking within, this fight will be both similar and different. He won’t wait for you to approach before getting up - but you can still get a few hits in as he grabs his spear. The first part of this fight will play out much like the first time you fought him - though he does hit a lot harder and have a few tricks up his sleeve. The most notable and infuriating is his counter to your usual tactic of staying behind him - he’ll perform a back kick to catch you square in the face. Like before, he’ll also favor two-hit combos, either with lunging stabs that follow up with shoulder bashes, or large sweeping strikes ending in overhead slams. Some of his longer overhead slams will now pull chunks of stone up as he attacks, which can still damage you. And of course his familiar grab should always be avoided, unless you want to get tossed across the arena like a ragdoll.
Things really get interesting at around half of his health, when his eyes glow red, and instead of mutating, he just gets extremely aggressive. He’ll then charge at you in a damaging lunge before twisting in an arc to throw out his weapon. At this point, he can also throw up the other end of his weapon to catch you up into the air, and smack you with his foot as you fall down. If you avoid this, you’ll also need to be aware of him stomping the earth that can cause a large shockwave you’ll need to dodge over.
