Lords of the Fallen guide: Where to find the Blacksmith

Lords of the Fallen takes a ton of inspiration from FormSoftware's souls-like action role-playing games. Much like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, CI Games' latest souls-like RPG features obscure optional questlines that eventually lead you to unlock some of the most essential aspects of the game's progression system.

One such optional NPC questline concerns the Blacksmith in Lords of the Fallen, who you will need to rescue if you plan to upgrade your weapons early in the game. However, if you skip out on properly exploring the interconnected levels and biomes, you can totally miss out on unlocking the Blacksmith during your journey through Mournstead.

Fortunately, the Blacksmith is quite hard to miss and can be unlocked pretty early. Here's a comprehensive on getting access to the Blacksmith and weapon upgrading early in Lords of the Fallen.

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How to locate the Blacksmith in Lords of the Fallen

Upgrading your weapons is something that you really don't want to miss out on, especially before you go up against some of the toughest early-game bosses in Lords of the Fallen. However, you won't be able to get access to the Blacksmith and subsequently, the ability to upgrade your weapons until you defeat the first few bosses in the game.

Once you reach the Skyview Bridge after defeating Pieta She of Blessed Renewal, you will find yourself next at the Pilgrim's Perch, which is the area where you'll eventually come across the Blacksmith. After defeating Scourged Sister Delyth, you will be able to make for the upper section of Pilgrim's Perch.

Here's how you can easily unlock the Blacksmith in Lords of the Fallen:

• As you make your way across the area, you'll eventually come across the Vestige of Blind Agatha/Pilgrim's Perch Ballroom.
• Reaching this Vestige will require you to switch between Axiom and Umbral a few times, as such be prepared to face some resistance as you navigate the wooden ledges and platforms of Pilgrim's Perch.
• Once you make it to the Vestige of Blind Agatha, you will need to head east, which will take you to an area that will have multiple ladders going downwards. Here, you will need to enter Umbral to reveal a platform at the bottom of the final ladder.
• After descending the ladder, you will face a huge number of Umbral enemies, which you can choose to kill or avoid.
• Towards the north, you will find a series of platforms, which can be interacted with via Soul-Flaying in order to progress to the next section.
• Before proceeding ahead, make sure you knock down the wooden plank to make a quick shortcut. After reaching the adjacent platform, you will need to once again descend to a lower level.
• However, before descending down, make sure to dispatch the mob enemies from the upper ledge, since they can easily overwhelm you, especially with the two elite enemies guarding the area.
• After you reach the lowest section, you will need to deal with two elite enemies. You can easily defeat these enemies by Soul-Flaying them and yanking them off the edge of the platform.
• After defeating the elite enemies, you will need to clear the Umbral parasite blocking the path to the next section. Once you reach the next area, you will find a lift in front of you, which takes you back to the Vestige of Blind Agatha.
• After resting at the Visage (optional), take the lift to get back to the lower area, where you can find the Blacksmith. It's quite hard to miss the Blacksmith due to her rambling and hammering noises.
• The Blacksmith is locked inside a prison, the key to which can be found in possession of a nearby mod enemy.

After rescuing the Blacksmith - Gerlinde, you can find her at Skyview Bridge in the section opposite the Visage. It is recommended to get your weapon(s) of choice upgraded to at least +3 before you head to the next area. Upgrading weapons in Lords of the Fallen is quite straightforward and simple.

If you've been exploring every nook and cranny of the Pilgrim's Perch and the surrounding areas, you will have plenty of resources to upgrade at least two of your weapons to +3. This should easily carry you to some of the toughest boss fights in the early-game sections of CI Games' latest souls-like RPG.