Bonfire Ascetic
|
|
In-Game Description
Tossing this into a bonfire strengthens nearby foes.
Once the Bonfire Ascetic is devoured by
the flames, its effects can never be reversed.
Be prepared before using this perilous ember.
Fire exhibits a connection to the curse,
and when the flames grow stronger,
so does the curse.
Use
Burn at a bonfire to strengthen nearby foes.
- Bonfire Intensity, indicated in the area warp menu, permanently increases by 1.
- Most enemies and items respawn, which makes Ascetics valuable for farming.
What the Bonfire Ascetic resets:
- All monsters in the area, including those who spawn only once and scripted NPC invasions. This resets the "15 kills" respawning counter back to zero. Includes Crystal Lizards.
- All items found on corpses.1
- Boss opening cutscenes.
- The bosses themselves. All of them in case of multiples.
- Wooden Chests
What the Bonfire Ascetic doesn't reset:
- All opened shortcuts stay opened.
- Special encounters, like the first one with the Pursuer.
- Doesn't respawn dead NPCs, reset their aggression or their inventory.
- Metal Chests
- Souls of a Giant in memories (to farm them, use the Dragon Shrine bonfire)
Some NG+ exclusive loot appears in the world or is dropped by enemies old and new even when a Bonfire Ascetic is used. For example, Gower's Ring of Protection is available in the Shaded Woods if an Ascetic is used on the Ruined Fork Road bonfire. Many bosses also have additional drops.
Bonfire Ascetics may or may not update merchant inventories to include NG+ or NG++ items. For example, Chancellor Wellager will not sell NG++ items until the player is actually in NG++. However, Maughlin the Armourer will sell his new items.
For a full list of Bonfire Intensity 2+ changes and what bonfire causes the change, see the tables below.
Boss Respawning
| Boss | Area Bonfire | Additional Loot | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Last Giant | Forest of Fallen Giants - Cardinal Tower | None | Also respawns The Pursuer. |
| The Pursuer | Forest of Fallen Giants - Cardinal Tower | None | Also respawns The Last Giant. |
| Dragonrider | Heide's Tower of Flame - Heide's Ruin | None | |
| Old Dragonslayer | Cathedral of Blue - The Blue Cathedral | None | Bonfire located after the boss room. |
| Flexile Sentry | No-man's Wharf - Unseen Path to Heide | Possible Suspicious Shadow drops | Gains two Suspicious Shadows, with unique item drops: Malformed Claws, Shadow Dagger, Shadow Set |
| Ruin Sentinels | The Lost Bastille - McDuff's Workshop | None | Requires Bastille Key or shortcut opened by rolling explosive barrel down stairs. |
| The Lost Sinner | Sinner's Rise - The Saltfort | Old Witch Soul | In NG+, gains two Black Phantom pyromancers at 60% health. These do not appear with use of an Ascetic in NG (but they do in SotFS). |
| Belfry Gargoyles | Belfry Luna - Upper Ramparts | Covetous Gold Serpent Ring +2 | Bonfire located after the boss room. |
| Skeleton Lords | Huntsman's Copse - Undead Lockaway | Clear Bluestone Ring +2 | |
| Executioner's Chariot | Undead Purgatory - Undead Purgatory | Chloranthy Ring +2 | Bonfire located after the boss room. |
| Covetous Demon | Harvest Valley - The Mines | None | |
| Mytha, the Baneful Queen | Earthen Peak - Upper Earthen Peak | Covetous Silver Serpent Ring +2 | Bonfire located behind an illusory wall above the boss room before entering. |
| Smelter Demon | Iron Keep - Threshold Bridge | None | |
| Old Iron King | Iron Keep - Eygil's Idol | Old King Soul | Bonfire located up a ladder in the rooms leading to the boss room. |
| Scorpioness Najka | Shaded Woods - Shaded Ruins | Southern Ritual Band +2 | |
| Royal Rat Authority | Doors of Pharros - Ordeal's End | None | |
| Prowling Magus & Congregation | Brightstone Cove Tseldora - Royal Army Campsite | None | |
| The Duke's Dear Freja | Brightstone Cove Tseldora - Lower Brightstone Cove | Old Paledrake Soul | |
| Royal Rat Vanguard | Grave of Saints - Grave Entrance | None | |
| The Rotten | Black Gulch - Hidden Chamber | Old Dead One Soul | Bonfire located after a pathway along edge of cliff before the boss room. |
| Dragonriders | Drangleic Castle - Forgotten Chamber | None | |
| Looking Glass Knight | Drangleic Castle - Central Castle Drangleic | Ring of Steel Protection +2 | |
| Demon of Song | Shrine of Amana - Rhoy's Resting Place | None | |
| Velstadt, the Royal Aegis | Undead Crypt - Undead Ditch | Royal Soldier's Ring +2 | Also respawns Vendrick. |
| Vendrick | Undead Crypt - Undead Ditch | None | Also respawns Velstadt, the Royal Aegis. |
| Guardian Dragon | Aldia's Keep - Ritual Site | None | |
| Ancient Dragon | Dragon Shrine - Shrine Entrance | None | |
| Giant Lord | Forest of Fallen Giants - The Place Unbeknownst | Ring of Giants +2 | Respawns all of the Memories of the Ancients. |
| Throne Defender & Throne Watcher | Drangleic Castle - King's Gate | Ring of the Evil Eye +2 | Also respawns Nashandra and Twin Pursuers. |
| Nashandra | Drangleic Castle - King's Gate | None | Also respawns Throne Defender & Throne Watcher and Twin Pursuers. |
| Darklurker | Drangleic Castle - Under Drangleic Castle | None | |
| Elana, the Squalid Queen | Dragon's Sanctum - Sanctum Interior | None | ? |
| Sinh the Slumbering Dragon | Dragon's Rest - Sanctum Nadir | None | ? |
| Graverobber, Varg and Cerah | Shulva, Sanctum City - Priestess' Chamber | None | ? |
| Fume Knight | Brume Tower - Lowermost Floor | None | ? |
| Sir Alonne | Brume Tower - The Smelter Throne | None | ? |
| Smelter Demon (Iron King DLC) | Iron Passage - Iron Hallway Entrance | None | ? |
| Aava, the King's Pet | Frozen Eleum Loyce - Outer Wall | None | ? |
| Burnt Ivory King | Grand Cathedral - Grand Cathedral | None | ? |
| Lud, the King's Pet & Zallen, the King's Pet | Frozen Eleum Loyce - Expulsion Chamber | None | ? |
Items of Interest at Bonfire Intensity 2+
| Item | Area Bonfire | Additional Loot | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moon Butterfly Set | Majula - The Far Fire | None | Sold by Maughlin the Armourer. Also have to spend 16.000 souls in his shop before he sells the set. Hat is sold at Bonfire Intensity 3+. |
| Moon Butterfly Shield | Majula - The Far Fire | None | Up the ladder in Maughlin the Armourer's house, inside a chest. Bonfire Intensity 3+ only. |
| Catarina Set | Forest of Fallen Giants - Soldier's Rest | 3x Cracked Red Eye Orb | Kill the Catarina Knight for a chance to get his set. |
| Shadow Set Malformed Claws Shadow Dagger |
No-man's Wharf - Unseen Path to Heide | Titanite Chunk Ring of Life Protection (Dark Souls II only) |
Kill the Suspicious Shadows for a chance to get their equipment. Do not kill the boss or they will not respawn. |
| Gower's Ring of Protection | Shaded Woods - Ruined Fork Road | Heide Knight near Shrine of Winter has a chance to drop parts of the Heide Knight Set; this is the only Heide Knight you can get the Heide Greatlance from. |
Replaces an item on a corpse, follow the right wall. |
| Dragonrider Set | Iron Keep - Threshold Bridge | Bonfire Ascetic on the lava rocks | The set is sold by Magerold of Lanafir. The Dragonriders have to be dead. |
| Black Witch Veil | Belfry Sol - Belfry Sol Approach | 3x Skeptic's Spice | Kill the Bell Keeper Mage for a chance to get the rare Black Witch Veil. |
| Black Witch Domino Mask | Belfry Sol - Belfry Sol Approach | 3x Skeptic's Spice | Kill the Dual Avelyn Bell Keeper for a chance to get the rare Black Witch Domino Mask. |
| Ring of Blades +2 | Drangleic Castle - King's Gate | 1x Twinkling Titanite Washing Pole (Bonfire Intensity 3+) |
Kill the left Pursuer for the ring. |
| Durgo's Hat | Drangleic Castle - King's Gate | Ring of Blades +2 | Rare drop from the Greatbow Phantom. |
| Monastery Set Monastery Scimitar |
Aldia's Keep - Ritual Site | Soul Geyser Soul of a Hero |
Kill the Painting Guardian Phantom for a chance to get her equipment. |
| Aurous Set | No-man's Wharf - Unseen Path to Heide | - | Kill the Aurous Knight for a chance to get his set. |
Bonfire Intensity
Using a Bonfire Ascetic will irreversibly change the corresponding area's difficulty into the same as the next New Game Plus cycle2. All bonfires in the first playthrough start with the intensity of "1". Entering NG+ increases all bonfires by an additional point (all become "2" if no Ascetics were used), however using one Ascetic during the first playthrough will change that one specific bonfire to "2". Upon entering NG+, while normally all bonfires would change to "2" that bonfire will now change to "3".
Bonfire Intensity can be increased to 99, though enemy stat increases max out at 8 (NG+7).
You can still burn Bonfire Ascetics after you reached Bonfire Intensity 99, everything will respawn as normal. Just the number won't go up anymore.
Scaling
Enemy Souls Dropped
| Bonfire Intensity | Souls |
|---|---|
| 1 | x * 1 |
| 2 | x * 2 |
| 3 | x * 2.5 |
| 4 | x * 2.75 |
| 5 | x * 3 |
| 6 | x * 3.25 |
| 7 | x * 3.5 |
| 8 | x * 4 |
Example: if an enemy drops 100 souls at Bonfire Intensity 1, they will drop 200 souls at 2 and 400 souls at 8.
Enemy HP
Early testing indicates that it will differ from enemy to enemy. Though the values found so far have either been equal to (or less than) the souls dropped multiplier.
Availability
Where to Buy
| Merchant Sold By | Price | Stock |
|---|---|---|
| Stone Trader Chloanne | 7,500 souls | 1 |
| Royal Sorcerer Navlaan | 7,500 souls | 10 |
| Darkdiver Grandahl | 7,500 souls | 10 |
Chest and Corpse Locations
- One in the last tower in the Lost Bastille before Sinner's Rise, there is a door to your right as you go up the steps to enter. Open this and enter the room with the cage lifts, and roll onto the ledge below.
- One at the end of a path of lava rocks near the first bonfire of Iron Keep. (Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin: three Bonfire Ascetics instead of one, along with a Simpleton's Spice)
- Exit the Prowling Magus boss room in Brightstone Cove Tseldora and turn around to face the building, look for a ladder which leads to the attic with various items, including a Bonfire Ascetic.
- Three in a chest after the Looking Glass Knight in King's Passage.
- Found in a chest at the bottom of the shrine after the Demon of Song.
- In a chest up the stairs from the second bonfire of Undead Crypt, near the Leydia Witch.
- Two in a chest on top of the main stairs of Aldia's Keep, to the right.
- Three in a metal chest in Dragon Shrine. First door to the right of the first knight.
- Memory of Jeigh, first platform to the left after entering the fog gate. (Have a very rare chance to pick up 2 Bonfire Ascetic (for me it happend ones on 113th walkthrough from about 400)).
- Memory of Orro, three in a metal chest found by knocking down a wooden platform and jumping into the hole in the wall.
- Memory of Vammar, behind the two giants on the roof.
- One inside a trapped wooden chest in the hallway full of ambushing Sanctum Soldiers early in Dragon's Sanctum.
- Three inside a metal chest in Cave of the Dead.
- Two inside a metal chest on the roof of the tower where Maldron the Assassin invades in Brume Tower.
Enemy Drops
- Dropped by all enemies in Dark Chasms of Old. (uncommon)
- Dropped by Scorchers in the Brume Tower. (very rare)
Other Sources
- Take one as a starting gift.
- Reward if you invade in Dark Chasms of Old and personally kill the host player or another invader.
- Also rewarded if the host kills an invader personally.
Most Reliable Source
Using a Fragrant Yore Branch on the leftmost Petrified Hollow facing the Giant Basilisk in Aldia's Keep (SotFS Only) will yield 2 Bonfire Ascetics on kill.
By using 1 of the two on the outside bonfire, you can respawn this Hollow (already unpetrified) for an additional 2 Bonfire Ascetics, repeatable ad-infinitum.
Notes
- Be warned, as any area you enhance with a Bonfire Ascetic WILL carry over to NG+. This means an area that you have made NG+ level on regular playthrough will then be NG++ on your NG+ playthrough and so on and so forth. Exercise caution when using Ascetics due to this reason, especially in areas you find particularly difficult for yourself.
- No loot is accumulated upon burning an ascetic; it is all replaced. Because of this, it is recommended you get all the loot from the area which you may want in the future before burning an ascetic.
- Using a total of 8 Bonfire Ascetics on each of these bonfires will turn their flame on the map in the Majula Mansion to blue.
- Forest of Fallen Giants - Cardinal Tower
- Sinner's Rise - The Saltfort
- Iron Keep - Eygil's Idol
- Black Gulch - Hidden Chamber
- Brightstone Cove Tseldora - Lower Brightstone Cove
- Drangleic Castle - King's Gate
- Undead Crypt - Undead Ditch
- Dragon Shrine - Shrine Entrance