Altar of Despair

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page revision: 24, last edited: 19 April 2019

Basic Information | Recommended: Player Level 60 - 70 & Weapon Upgrade +8

Timezones	Bosses	Enemies	NPCs	Important Items	Insight
None	► Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos	None	None	None	+ 3 Encounter Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos + 3 Defeat Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos

Description

Hidden below Grand Cathedral, Great One, which possesses Great Isz Chalice, slumbers near the old altar. According to the Choir, the land of Isz lies in contact with the cosmos, which allowed the Great Ones to function on transcendental planes of thought.

Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos. Ebrietas is found in the depths of the Orphanage, described as: "Key to the Orphanage, birthplace of the Choir. The Orphanage, shadowed by the Grand Cathedral, was a place of scholarship and experimentation, where young orphans became potent unseen thinkers for the Healing Church. The Choir, that would later split the Healing Church, was a creation of the Orphanage." We have established previously that it was originally the School of Mensis which performed research for the Church in the secrecy of Yahar’gul, however with the growth of the Church's power after the cleansing of Old Yharnam there was no longer a need for secrecy and a new effort was put forward into spreading the Old Blood. It would be the Choir who would fulfill this need, with the Orphanage as their laboratory.

Note that the Orphanage is located directly behind the Grand Cathedral. We can recall Gilbert mentioning that: "Deep within the Cathedral Ward is the old grand cathedral. ...the birthplace of the Healing Church's special blood." But the Cathedral is not the source of the blood. While it is provided to the public from the Grand Cathedral, it actually originates in the Orphanage. From Ebrietas, and the Celestials. Ebrietas is the left-behind Great One, whatever that means, and communed and worked with the Healing Church in their research. We find multiple references to this.

"One of the secret rites of the Choir, high-ranking members of the Healing Church. Use phantasms, the invertebrates known to be augurs of the Great Ones, to partially summon abandoned Ebrietas. One of the few rites that allow one to directly utilize the power of the Great Ones, and evidence that the Choir had approached the eldritch Truth." - Augur of Ebrietas

"Great chalices unlock deeper reaches of the labyrinth. The Great Isz Chalice became the cornerstone of the Choir, the elite delegation of the Healing Church. It was also the first Great Chalice brought back to the surface since the time of Byrgenwerth, and allowed the Choir to have audience with Ebrietas." - Great Isz Chalice [The Paleblood Hunt by Redgrave]

Connections

Upper Cathedral Ward ► Altar of Despair - (Previous Area)

General Notes

You can find Ebrietas dormant at the far end of the Altar of Despair, and she will remain so until you hit her to begin the fight. While her head may be her weak point, it can be dangerous to stand in front of her. You may want to try standing between her tails, where it's somewhat safer, and attack her from there. Once she's been defeated the Altar of Despair Lamp will appear in the middle of the area.

Revive Annalise: Defeat the Great One to gain access to the altar itself. The altar is occupied by what looks like the body of Rom, the Vacuous Spider. Interact, and you'll be able to use the Queenly Flesh on the altar to revive Annalise.

Elevator Inoperable: Patch 1.03 fixed bug that left elevator from Upper Cathedral Ward to Altar of Despair inoperable.

World Changes

Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos Defeated: Gain access to the Altar of Despair Lamp | Acquire the Great Isz Chalice | The Altar of the Despair becomes accessible

Lamps


Altar of Despair (Boss Area)

Old Hunter Summons

Location	Requirement
Mensis Scholar Damian: In plain view in the hallway connecting the elevator to the Altar of Despair. Kill the Celestial Child first, or they may bite Damian and make him lose A LOT of health from frenzy damage.	None
With patch v1.07 you are able to summon NPCs to come to your aid, just like cooperative play, including inside Chalice Dungeons. To do so, first you will need to acquire the “Old Hunter Bell” from the messengers in the Hunter’s Dream. In some areas you may be able to summon up to two NPC Hunters.

Progression Guide (from Upper Cathedral Ward)

	Area Progression	Important Items		Materials
►	Acquire the Cosmic Eye Watcher Badge from the Storage Hallway.	● Great Lake ● Choir Garb ● Choir Gloves ● Choir Trousers ● Cosmic Eye Watcher Badge	● Ritual Blood (5) ● Blindfold Cap ● Pearl Slug ● Make Contact ● A Call Beyond	Treasure Pickup: Ritual Blood (5): 3 Pearl Slug: 2 Wandering Nightmare: Bloodstone Chunk: 2
►	Defeat the Celestial Emissary so that you can break through the window in the boss room.
►	Pick up A Call Beyond in the Grand Cathedral Walkways.
►	Defeat Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos to obtain the Great Isz Chalice.

+ Walkthrough

Lumenflower Gardens Lamp:
Just behind the Lamp there's a large window, and if you get close to it you'll see an area on the other side that you can reach by either breaking the window with your weapon, or rolling through it. Once you're on the other side, however, you won't be able to leave until you either kill the next boss, or it kills you, so be sure you're prepared.

Grand Cathedral Walkways:
The walkways on the other side of the window are actually high above the Grand Cathedral, where you faced Vicar Amelia, and from the place you start you have a nice view down to the altar at which she was praying. A Celestial Child is also nearby when you first drop down, so don't get too distracted by the view and make sure you kill it quickly before you get hit. The item that's hanging over the banister along the right-hand walkway is A Call Beyond, which is extremely powerful if you have the stats to use it. Two Small Celestial Emissaries are waiting in ambush on the other side of the large archway at the end of the walkways, and one of them is the very deadly Tendril version, so you need to be careful. If you approach the arch along the left-hand side of it, you can spot the normal Celestial Emissary and cause it to come running out to attack you, letting you kill it out of the field of view of the other one Once it's dead, round the corner and quickly kill the Tendril one before it can launch any of its magic attacks.