DARK SOULS 3 Fire Fades Edition: DLC & Buying Guide

What Does the Fire Fades Edition Include?

Dark Souls 3 Fire Fades Edition packages the full game with Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City, giving you the main adventure and both expansions in one purchase. That matters because a standard copy of Dark Souls III does not include those DLC chapters. Before buying, compare the bundle with what you already own.

Released on April 21, 2017, this edition includes:

• Dark Souls III: The complete base game, including its optional areas, bosses, character quests, and endings.
• Ashes of Ariandel: An expansion set in the Painted World of Ariandel, with additional enemies, equipment, spells, and bosses.
• The Ringed City: The final expansion, taking you through the Dreg Heap and into an ancient city tied to humanity’s history.

The physical console release contains the base game and both expansions on one disc. You do not need to buy the Season Pass separately to get those two chapters.

The extra equipment expands your character options, but you still have the same underlying combat systems: stamina governs attacks, blocking, and dodging, while spells and equipment Skills consume FP.

Fire Fades Edition vs. the Standard Game

The difference is the included content. The compilation preserves the original game’s campaign and adds both DLC expansions.

Image: Steam / FromSoftware, Inc.

Content	Standard Game Alone	Fire Fades Edition	Base Game + Season Pass
Dark Souls III campaign	Included	Included	Included
Ashes of Ariandel	Separate purchase	Included	Included
The Ringed City	Separate purchase	Included	Included

Owning the base game and Season Pass gives you the same campaign and expansion content as this collection. If you already have both expansions, buying the compilation adds no new DLC chapter.

Is It a Remaster?

The Fire Fades Edition is a compilation, rather than a remaster. It does not introduce a separate visual overhaul or a redesigned campaign.

Keep that distinction in mind if you are returning after an earlier playthrough. The reason to choose this release is to get the complete content package or own its physical edition.

Ashes of Ariandel: What You Get and How to Enter

Ashes of Ariandel takes you into a painted world where snow hides a landscape in decay. Its story centers on a conflict over whether that world should be preserved or burned so something new can take its place.

The expansion adds snowy wilderness, the Corvian Settlement, new weapons and spells, and boss encounters involving Sister Friede and the Champion’s Gravetender. It also introduces a dedicated PvP arena.

This is the more compact of the two expansions. Its appeal comes from the setting, equipment, and demanding encounters rather than a sprawling additional campaign.

How to Start Ashes of Ariandel

1. Reach the Cathedral of the Deep.
2. Travel to the Cleansing Chapel bonfire.
3. Speak with Gael inside the chapel to enter the Painted World of Ariandel.

You can reach this entrance well before finishing the base game. Save the expansion for late in your playthrough if you are still struggling with the main campaign; its availability comes earlier than its difficulty would suggest.

The Ringed City: What You Get and How to Enter

The Ringed City begins in the Dreg Heap, a collapsed landscape where remnants of different kingdoms have converged. From there, the journey continues into the Ringed City itself.

This expansion follows Gael’s trail and develops the connection between the Dark Soul, humanity, and the painter introduced in Ariandel. Playing the expansions in release order gives those connections room to build without jumping ahead.

Alongside its areas and bosses, the expansion adds weapons, armor, spells, and upgraded rings. One useful example is the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring +3, which can help with item farming.

How to Start The Ringed City

You have two entrances:

• Through Ashes of Ariandel: Use the travel bonfire in Sister Friede’s boss room after defeating her.
• Through the base game: Use the additional travel bonfire near the final boss approach at the Kiln of the First Flame.

Finishing Ariandel is therefore one route into the final expansion. Reaching the Kiln provides another.

DLC Order and Preparation

For a playthrough that follows the expansions’ story connections, use this order:

1. Progress through the base game until your character is ready for its final areas.
2. Complete Ashes of Ariandel.
3. Continue into The Ringed City.
4. Finish any remaining base-game encounters before starting New Game Plus.

You can also defeat the base game’s final boss and complete an ending before tackling the DLC. Decline the immediate New Game Plus option to keep exploring your current playthrough; you can begin the next journey later from Firelink Shrine.

Before entering either expansion, use the main campaign’s upgrades:

• Bring Estus Shards to Andre to increase your total flask uses.
• Burn Undead Bone Shards at Firelink Shrine to improve flask effectiveness.
• Upgrade the weapon you actually use before spending materials across several alternatives.
• Adjust your Estus allocation if your build relies heavily on FP for spells or Skills.

The base game contains 11 Estus Shards and 10 Undead Bone Shards, allowing a total of 15 flask uses and a +10 flask upgrade. Collect missed upgrades before committing to another difficult DLC boss attempt.

What to Check Before Buying

Physical copies are available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Check the platform printed on the case and disc, especially when shopping for a used copy.

For the disc release, confirm that you are receiving the actual Fire Fades disc. Its included expansions are part of the disc package, so identifying the correct edition matters more than finding an unused Season Pass voucher.

On PC, compare the base game and Season Pass options on the Dark Souls III Steam store page. Check that your purchase includes both named expansions.

If you already own the standard game, compare the cost of adding the Season Pass with buying the collection. If you own one expansion, compare the missing chapter’s individual price before paying for overlapping content.

Achievement hunters have a separate consideration: neither expansion is required for the game’s 43 Steam achievements. DLC rings and spells are excluded from the corresponding collection requirements, so buying the expansions does not add extra items to those achievement checklists.