How to Join the New Covenant in ‘Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City’
Your guide to becoming the 'Dark Souls' boss you always wanted to be.
During your time with the final downloadable expansion for the Dark Souls series, you’ll have the opportunity to go up against some of the best boss encounters available in Dark Souls 3 such as the Darkeater Midir and Slave Knight Gael. While epic, daunting, and extremely difficult for players to successfully beat, these fights don’t hone in on the most unique mechanic available in The Ringed City. That honor lies with Halflight, Spear of the Church, which pulls other players into your game to serve as the boss encounter instead.
Whenever you take on the role of the boss in another player’s game during this encounter, you’ll completely lose the ability to heal in exchange for a few passive advantages to give you an edge against the invading players attempting to kill you. Occasionally, homing knives will appear around you to attack the closest invader while you continuously enjoy a full health pool courtesy of the Painted Guardians casting miracles through the entire fight. Even though it can prove frustrating for the players working to complete the DLC, it’s a great time if you enjoy the concept of player vs. player combat in Dark Souls 3 — it just takes a little bit of work to become a boss yourself.
So, if you’re interested in stepping into the newly added Spears of the Church covenant to defend Filianore’s slumber from those who would disturb her rest, here’s everything you need to know.
Defeat Darkeater Midir
Even though we know it’s easier said than done, you’re going to have to defeat one of the toughest bosses in the Dark Souls series to join the Spears of the Church. The giant dragon Darkeater Midir is easily the most challenging and frustrating encounter present in The Ringed City DLC, as it’s capable of tearing through you in just a few hits (which is why you should come prepared for the fight with an appropriate weapon and shield). Once defeated, however, he drops the Spears of the Church covenant item, which you’ll need to join the boss encounter on the opposing side.
How to Join the Encounter
Once you’ve retrieved the Spears of the Church covenant item, simply equip it on your character while roaming around any area near the Halflight, Spear of the Church encounter to be placed in matchmaking as a defender of the church. With it equipped, you’ll automatically be summoned to defeat any player who’s trying to awaken Filianore from her slumber. Just remember, you won’t be able to heal or leave once the encounter has started. In most cases, you’ll end up facing 1-3 other players, so be sure to keep your distance and deal damage whenever appropriate. You’ll also want to keep the summoned NPC guardians alive as well, since they are the only way to can restore health throughout the encounter while serving as the boss.
Earning Rewards
Like any other covenant present in Dark Souls 3, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts as a member of the Spears of the Church based on the amount of Filianore’s Spear Ornaments you turn into the shrine sitting outside the front of the church. Initially, you won’t receive an award, but you can pick up the Ritual Spear Fragment behind the shrine to use while fighting off invaders. Then, once you’ve collected ten Filianore’s Spear Ornaments from successfully defeating ten players in the encounter, you’ll be awarded the Young Grass Dew which slightly increases absorption and stamina regeneration. At 30 Filianore’s Spear Ornaments, you’ll be given a Divine Spear Fragment, which is an upgraded version of the Ritual Spear Fragment that shares the same cooldown but deals double the damage.
If You Aren’t Being Summoned
If you’ve got the Spears of the Church covenant item equipped on your character but still aren’t being summoned into the encounter to fight off invaders, odds are it’s because you already completed the boss encounter and killed Judicator Argo in the process. If he isn’t alive in your game, you won’t be summoned into other worlds to defend the princess against trespassers, but, thankfully, From Software has implemented a way to get around this without starting a new game or new game plus. Simply head to the Purging Monument using the ladder near the Ringed City Streets bonfire and spend a few thousand souls to revive Judicator Argo in your game.
