You’re standing on a massive, rusted chain suspended over a sea of clouds and ash. The wind whistles. Somewhere in the distance, a giant possessed suit of armor is waiting to ruin your afternoon. This is Crown of the Old Iron King, the second chapter in the Lost Crowns trilogy for Dark Souls 2, and honestly, it’s probably the best thing FromSoftware did with the entire Drangleic saga.
It’s mean. It’s vertical. Brume Tower is a sprawling, soot-covered nightmare that forces you to rethink how you move through a 3D space. While the base game of Dark Souls 2 gets a lot of flak for being "clunky" or having weird hitboxes, this DLC feels like the developers finally found their footing. They stopped trying to make things hard just for the sake of it and started designing levels that tell a story through architecture.
If you’ve played it, you know the feeling of descending into the belly of the forge. If you haven’t, well, prepare to die. A lot. But it’s the good kind of dying—the kind that teaches you something about greed and gravity.
Brume Tower and the Vertical Nightmare
Most Souls levels are horizontal. You walk from Point A to Point B. Sure, there’s some climbing, but Crown of the Old Iron King flips the script by making the entire DLC one giant descent. You start at the top of Brume Tower and work your way down into the heat.
It’s intimidating. You look down from the first bonfire and see layers upon layers of walkways, elevators, and distant platforms. The scale is massive. Hidetaka Miyazaki wasn't the lead director for DS2—that was Yui Tanamura—and you can really see Tanamura's style here. He loves these intricate, mechanical puzzles where the world itself is a machine.
The main gimmick here involves the Smelter Wedges. You get a handful of them at the start. You use them to silence the Ashen Idols, these creepy statues that buff enemies or heal bosses. If you run out of wedges before you reach the bottom, you’re basically screwed when you fight the Fume Knight. It’s a resource management meta-game that most players totally ignore until it’s too late.
The enemies aren't just dudes in armor, either. You’ve got these crawling, headless things that leak lava. You have the Iron Warriors—massive giants with clubs that can't be backstabbed easily. Everything in Brume Tower is designed to punish the habits you picked up in the Forest of Fallen Giants. You can't just circle-strafe your way to victory here.
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Raime and Sir Alonne: The Gold Standard of Bosses
Let’s talk about the Fume Knight. His real name is Raime, and for years, FromSoftware's internal telemetry data showed he had the highest win rate against players. Like, 93% of attempts ended in player death.
He’s a beast. He wields a straight sword in one hand and an ultra-greatsword in the other. He’s the ultimate "git gud" check. What makes Raime special in Crown of the Old Iron King isn't just his damage output; it's his delay. He’ll start an overhead swing and hold it just a fraction of a second longer than you expect. If you panic roll, you’re dead.
Then there’s Sir Alonne. To even find him, you need the Ashen Mist Heart from the base game so you can enter the memory of the Old Iron King. The fight takes place on a floor so polished you can see your own character’s reflection. It’s beautiful. It’s also incredibly fast. Alonne moves like a character from Sekiro trapped in a Dark Souls game.
- Pro Tip: If you beat Sir Alonne without taking a single hit, he performs seppuku (ritual suicide) instead of a standard death animation. It’s one of the coolest Easter eggs in the franchise.
These bosses aren't just obstacles. They are lore-heavy figures. Raime was a traitor to King Vendrick. Alonne was the man who basically built the Old Iron King's empire before leaving because his boss became a tyrant. You aren't just killing monsters; you’re cleaning up the wreckage of a failed kingdom.
Why the Level Design Works (And Why It Frustrates)
Look, we have to address the "Iron Passage." It sucks.
Every DLC in Dark Souls 2 has a "co-op challenge" area. In Crown of the Old Iron King, it’s a gauntlet of mages, heavy knights, and tight corridors that lead to a reskinned Smelter Demon. This time, he deals magic damage instead of fire. It’s widely considered one of the worst run-ups in the series.
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But if you look past that one optional area, the rest of Brume Tower is a masterpiece of shortcuts. You’ll find a door that doesn't open from one side, wander for forty minutes, and suddenly pop out right next to a bonfire you haven't seen in two hours. That "Aha!" moment is what makes Souls games addictive.
The environmental storytelling is peak. You see the Scorching Iron Scepter, which powers the elevators. You see the piles of ash everywhere—which aren't just decorative. They are the remains of people. The Old Iron King wasn't a good guy. He was obsessed with production and power, and Brume Tower is his legacy: a hollowed-out factory of death.
The Lore of Nadalia and the Iron King
Who is the "Bride of Ash"? That’s Nadalia. She came to this land looking for the King, but she arrived too late. He was already a sunken, ichor-filled demon in the lava.
Instead of leaving, she dissipated her soul across the tower, inhabiting the Ashen Idols. She’s the one screaming when you get close to them. She’s the one buffing the enemies. It’s a tragic story about devotion gone wrong. When you fight the Fume Knight, you’re actually fighting the man who chose to protect her. He didn't fall to darkness; he chose it because he had nowhere else to go.
This depth is why Crown of the Old Iron King resonates. It’s not just a gauntlet of fights. It’s a funeral for a civilization.
Practical Steps for Your Next Run
If you’re hopping back into Scholar of the First Sin to tackle this area, don't go in blind. You'll regret it.
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First, get your Agility (ADP) up. You need those I-frames for Raime. If your Agility is below 100, his hitboxes will feel "broken" even though they aren't.
Second, don't use all your Smelter Wedges on the first Idols you see. Save at least four. If you don't have four wedges when you reach the Fume Knight's arena, the statues on the perimeter will heal him throughout the fight. It makes the encounter nearly impossible for a standard build.
Third, wear fire-resistant gear. Seems obvious, right? But the Pharros Mask or the Flame Quartz Ring +3 (found in the DLC itself) can be the difference between getting one-shot and surviving with a sliver of health.
Finally, explore the side towers. There are hidden walls that only open if you lead an enemy to explode near them. There’s a lot of loot—like the Simpleton’s Ring—that makes you invisible while rolling. It’s flashy, it’s fun, and it’s buried deep in the soot.
Crown of the Old Iron King remains the high-water mark for Dark Souls 2. It takes the mechanics of the base game and refines them into a sharp, punishing, and ultimately rewarding experience. It’s the closest the second game ever got to the lightning-in-a-bottle feel of the original Dark Souls world design.
Go get the scepter. Ride the elevators. Try not to fall off the chains. And when you see Raime, tell him I said good luck. You’re going to need it.