(UPDATE 8/24/2016): Today Bandai Namco officially confirmed Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel. The new Dark Souls III DLC add-on takes place in the frozen land of Ariandel. Players must defeat an evil force in order to discover why the land has become defiled. The expansion will include new enemies and challenges, and will complement the story of Dark Souls III. They also confirmed that Ashes of Ariandel will contain new weapons, armor, and magic spells, as well as additional PVP features. Check out the trailer below:
Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel will arrive Oct. 25 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The expansion is included as part of the $24.99 Dark Souls III Season Pass or will be available for $14.99 on its own. The second expansion is expected to arrive in early 2017.
Check out the first screenshots and concept art released for the game, which provide hints on some key plot points of Ashes of Ariandel.
Original Story:
Dark Souls III will receive its first downloadable content pack, entitled Ashes of Ariandel, on Oct. 25, 2016. Bandai Namco originally planned a big reveal on Aug. 24, but the information leaked prematurely via a post from the official PlayStation Twitter account, which linked to a private video. Shortly after posting, the PlayStation account deleted the tweet.
So far, details have emerged that Ashes of Ariandel will contain new weapons, new magic spells, and at least one new PVP map called “Immortal Competition.” Hopefully, players can also look forward to more new maps, bosses, armor sets, and enemies. The new spells will be of particular interest to PVP players since currently specializing as a spellcaster is a very difficult build to use in PVP. This is due to a combination of slow casting speeds and the high mobility and invincibility offered by rolling. Since Immortal Competition is a PVP map, perhaps the new spells will have more of a PVP focus. This could make a magic build viable for PVP.
The title of this new DLC suggests that the quest for hunting Lords of Cinder might not be over. The main campaign of Dark Souls III followed the Ashen One as they defeated mighty lords and gathered their ashes to place on thrones in Firelink Shrine.
Dark Souls III DLC has been long awaited since the original announcement of the Season Pass back in February. The Season Pass will contain two expansion packs, with the second one coming sometime early next year. We’ll provide an update once Bandai Namco officially announced Ashes of Ariandel later this week. Be sure to visit our expansive Dark Souls wiki for more info on Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel.
