Demon’s Souls’ Botetaria features many fearsome enemies that players must fight their way through to vanquish the Fog that smothers the land and ensnares lost souls. To save the world from the all-consuming Old One, the Slayer of Demons must make use of every tool available to them in Demon’s Souls, including the Soul Arts from which the Old One derives its colossal power.
One Soul Art that’s utility cannot be overstated is the Poison Cloud sorcery, which is invaluable to players facing high HP enemies. Perfect for dispatching Demon's Souls' high-level Black Phantoms, Poison Cloud lets players kill enemies without them noticing, making it a cheesy, but altogether justifiable, way of killing. For players looking to attain this special spell, this guide will show them all of the steps they need, beginning with releasing a certain NPC from a grim fate.
How to Save Sage Freke, the Visionary
In order to get their hands on the Poison Cloud spell, players must first free Sage Freke, the Visionary, from his cell in the Prison of Hope. As such, they will need to travel there via Archtone of the Tower Queen in the Nexus. Players can find this up the stairs, next to the shattered archtone leading to a mysterious land of cut content.
Following their arrival at the Prison of Hope, players will need to head left along the narrow pathway flanked by cells. It's worth noting though that when playing Fractured Mode, the world is mirrored, so all directions are their opposite. On the balcony at the end, players should be sure to grab the West 3F key from the wall on the other side, taking care to avoid the Mind Flayer to its right.
After grabbing the key and killing the Prison's gruesome Mind Flayer, players should head down the narrow corridor on this side and take a left at the open hallway with the incense burner. Another Mind Flayer stalks the corridor at the end of this hallway, so players should exercise caution. After killing the Mind Flayer, they'll need to head left down the corridor, avoiding the prisoner who will attempt to push players off the edge. At the end of this corridor, they can pick up the East 3F Key from the same wall as the last one. The rest of this floor leads only to dead ends, so players should head all the way back to the archstone where they first spawned in.
From this first location, players should take a right and open up the gate with the 3F Key. Next, they'll need to go right through a famous FromSoftware fog door and then take another right up the stairs. This leads to another identical level where players can see a loose prisoner up ahead. Upon dealing with him, as with the floor below, players should follow the path around the cells until coming upon an open cell with a broken wall. They can then head through and deal with the Mind Flayer patrolling the corridor beyond before taking a right and getting the East 4F keys from the wall.
After getting these keys, it's time to head back through the cell with the hanging bodies and go right. At the end of this corridor is another gate that can be opened with these keys leading to a veranda with another Soul Ray spell-wielding Mind Flayer. From here, players should head right along the veranda and open the gate at the other side. After killing yet another Mind Flayer, they should take the left side corridor to the end and open the gate. If they then head down one flight of stairs, players will come across a short corridor where they can find Sage Freke’s cell. They should ignore this for now, however, and keep heading downward.
Players will soon need to open another gate and then pass by two more on the right, picking up the B9 keys opposite the incense burner between them. Next, they should open the gate at the far end of this corridor and head further down, beyond the fog door. There’s another floor here patrolled by Mind Flayers that players can ignore. Instead of taking them on, players should keep heading down to the very bottom of the Prison and open the gate.
On the right is a great ball of flesh that will fire powerful spells at the player, remade lovingly by Bluepoint Games in all its grotesque detail, though it is quite slow-moving and easy to avoid. Players should run along the arched hallway to the left of the creature and keep heading forward through a hallway behind it. Here, a cutscene will play showing a mechanical ballista emerging from a statue. Once it finishes, players will need to go left, then right, along a short walkway leading to a long bridge scattered with arrows and dead bodies. Here, players will want to grab the item nearest to them without getting hit by the arrows.
With the Warden’s Key now in hand, players have almost full access to the terrifying Tower of Latria. Therefore, it's time to head back through the hallway with the flesh monster and up the stairs to the narrow hallway where they found the B9 keys. Now, players can unlock both doors leading to opposing hallways, each guarded by their own Mind Flayer. Upon dealing with one, or both, they should head into the room at the end and open another gate onto a balcony overlooking some stairs. From here, players should head down and through the door on the right, leading to a spiral staircase. Behind the spiral staircase is a fog door that takes players behind the ballista shooting statue. They can now deactivate it via the lever on the back and then head through the door on the right behind it.
In the next area, players should take the spiral staircase all the way up and run down the long balcony flanked by winged gargoyles. Behind a door at the end is a prisoner casting an incantation; despite his insistence that he “won’t cause trouble,” players should kill him to avoid an impossible fight with the Fool's Idol later. After he’s dealt with, they can get the Special Key from the wall behind him.
Now, finally, players can return to Sage Freke’s cell on the floor above the B9 keys and the two opposing corridors. Simply speaking to him will result in him being freed, and he will appear on the right side of the Nexus, behind the archstones, next to his apprentice and another spellcasting NPC.
How to Get Poison Cloud
As with many other spells in the game, Poison Cloud can only be purchased with a particular boss soul. In this case, the spell requires the Writing Demon Soul of the Leechmonger. Leechmonger is the first boss that players will encounter in the Valley of Defilement, which is accessed via the Archstone of the Chieftain in the Nexus.
After following the twisted path along the Depraved Chasm, players will come across a fog door leading to a large boss arena. From here, Leechmonger can fire powerful shots of leeches at the player which sap away at health points. The easiest way to cheese Leechmonger is by heading all the way down, getting close to him, and hitting him with firebombs or spells. Once he is defeated and his soul is obtained, players can head to Freke to buy Poison Cloud from him.
Demon’s Souls is currently available for PS3. Demon’s Souls Remake is currently exclusive to the PS5.
