Crown of the Sunken King: How to get to the new Dark Souls 2 DLC area

With today's release of Crown of the Sunken King, Dark Souls 2 players have access to a brand new area filled with new challenges, dangerous enemies and, of course, brutal bosses. As if purchasing the DLC wasn't enough to just jump right into death, you must first figure out how to get to the new area. Here's how to do so.

Upon purchasing Crown of the Sunken King, an item called the "Dragon Talon" is added to your inventory. Examine the Talon for the clue:

Legend has it that in the deepest reaches of the Black Gulch, behind a door locked from the inside, is a magnificent city built for a great sleeping dragon.

Using that clue, you should know that you now must travel to the Black Gulch area from the original Dark Souls 2 campaign. You can get to it through the Pit in Majula. If you haven't already done so, defeat The Rotten boss.

Once you defeat The Rotten, you must then visit the Primal Bonfire located in the antechamber off the boss room. In the back of hte chamber is an obelisk. Examine the obelisk and you'll be teleported to a lobby with an imposing locked door. Use the Dragon Talon to open the door and enter Shulva.

Crown of the Sunken King will take you to an entirely different world within the Dark Souls 2 universe, "where stepped pyramids span a vast underground cavern and death lays in wait around every corner." Each chapter of The Lost Crowns is said to be specifically designed to "enhance, challenge, and bring players to their knees." I haven't played Dark Souls 2, so I don't know how true that statement is, but our resident Dark Souls expert, Andrew Clouther, is fist deep in the new DLC and should have a video walkthrough up later today.