Speak briefly with Pothead, then destroy both of the blue and white pots to unlock the door — we’ll be using this mechanic frequently throughout the Urn Witch’s Manor.
Head through the now-open door, and activate the door back to the Hall of Doors. If you have more than 400 Soul Energy, now would be a good time to head back to the Hall and grab some upgrades. Then head up both sets of stairs, ignoring the locked doors for now. Go west at the top of the 2nd set of stairs to grab a Life Seed, then go back down the stairs and through the doorway to the southeast.
The lifeseed
The room with the large chair has a hidden enemy — strike the pot in the corner to wake it up, then kill them to open the gate. In the hallway beyond, you’ll need to kill the other type of pot-enemy; this one is in the green jars that previously only dropped projectiles when struck. Defeat both enemies here and continue southwest to the open gate.
Climb up the ladder in the center of the room and follow the bookshelves around the edge. Don’t miss the Life Seed behind the pot at the southern edge of the room. Shoot an arrow through the firepit at the brazier, then head over to the ladder and climb up to the now-lit brazier. Break the pot, then shoot an arrow through that brazier to the unlit one. Grab the key, then climb up the long ladder.
You’ll need to break 4 pots to progress from the next room. The first one is right in front of you, and the 2nd one is on a nearby table — to break it, you’ll need to shoot it with your bow from the 4th step of the staircase. Continue up the stairs and find the 3rd pot under the 3rd floor balcony. Then go up the last set of stairs, and head to the western side of the balcony to find the final pot. Head through the door you just opened.
The “hidden” pot
Shoot your bow through the fire into the cobwebbed doorway to open it, then go through. In the next room, you’ll need to stand in between the box of stuff on the file cabinets and the firepit, then shoot your bow to light the first unlit firepit. Light the rest of the pits in sequence, and once you’ve got the one on the file cabinet lit, you can stand behind it to clear the cobwebs from the doorway and head through. Note: If you’re low on HP, plant a seed in this room before you continue and heal — there’s a mini-boss coming up.
Clearing the cobwebs
Once you go far enough into the next room, the gate will lock and you’ll fight a freaky, long-tongued fellow. He isn’t too tough if you’re careful, and dodge past him rather than away when he attacks/charges. You can deflect the glowing green projectile he barfs at you with your sword. When he covers up his face, you need to attack him to progress the fight, and you can usually sneak in 3 attacks before having to roll away.
Once he’s defeated, climb up the ladder and free the trapped Crow Soul. Then head out of the mini-boss room and back across the filing cabinets to meet the Urn Witch herself. After a brief conversation, you can head through the now-open, crow-sized passageway (it’s hiding right behind the Urn Witch, you can smack her out of your way if you can’t see it).
The “hidden” passageway
The passageway will drop you back in the main room, but now you’ve got a key! Say hi to Pothead, then unlock the nearby door and head through. Go up the stairs and then walk onto the bookshelves to the south. Break the pot near the southern staircase, then break the green pot (remember to deflect the projectile it drops!) then drop down to the lower level of the bookcase. Fire your bow at the northwestern pot to break it, then go northeast, then northwest on the bookshelf to reach a hidden Large Soul Mass.
Drop down (avoid the Purple pot on the ground) then go up the stairs and then out onto the northern bookshelves. Head northeast across the bridge — or use your bow — to break the pot to the north. Grab the Life Seed to the southeast, then drop down and break the final pot. Head through the newly-opened door when you’re ready.
Head to the northernmost part of this room to find a ladder. Climb up, and follow the path around the edge of the room until you can aim through the firepit at the cobwebbed ladder. Clear the ladder with a fire arrow, then drop down nearby and climb up it. Cross the white bridge, then drop down and stand under it. Shoot at the firepit to the northwest to light the brazier, then drop down and grab the key.
Lighting the brazier
Head back up the western-most ladder, but this time follow the path east to reach the lever on the ledge. Push the lever to unlock a shortcut you’ll only need if you die in the next room, then head on in when you’re ready.
This room can be a bit tough, since the lesser mobs will constantly respawn. Try to kite around the room until you can attack the little potheads without worrying about the big boy hitting you, then face him 1v1, and repeat when the mobs respawn. Once you defeat the last enemy, climb up the ladder and free the soul there.
Leave the way you came in, say hi to the Urn Witch again, and continue south out of this room as well. Go down the stairs heading southwest, then continue south and through the doorway. In the next room, continue southwest down the stairs, and you’ll see the other locked door. You have a key for it now, so head on through.
Defeat all the pot-enemies here (note that you shouldn’t try to use your sword on the spinny-boys until they’re not spinning), then climb up the ladder and follow the bookshelves around to grab a Life Seed, and head through the now-open gate. The next room is simple; just use the firepit to light the first braizer, then use that brazier to light the next, etc, until you can grab the key. Then go up the long ladder.
Break the boxes on the eastern side of this room to find a Life Seed. Then go through the doorway to enter a long hallway.
Head northwest and go through the doorway on the same wall you entered the hallway. You should find yourself in a bathroom. Look at the reflection on the floor to find the pots you need to break (or just look at the image below). Then go through where the reflection of the doorway is to find a shrine and get yourself another Magic Crystal Shard. Then go back the way you came and re-enter the hallway.
Swing your sword while standing in the red circles to open the hidden door, which you can enter by walking into the wall in the southwest corner
Enter the doorway on the northeastern wall of the hallway. Go up the stairs and break the first pot, then climb the ladder and use your bow to break the next (you’ll need to break the pot in front of you, and then the one protecting the pot, so either have 3 charges for your bow, or use your sword on the first grey pot). Then drop down onto the bed so you can use your bow on the pot that sits on the bookshelf. Finally, jump off the bed and break the pot by the door, then go through.
Drop down the ladder, and clear the enemies here, being careful not to blow up any purple pots while you’re near them. Killing the final enemy will drop a ladder; climb up it and continue on. Another mini-boss fight is ahead, so heal with the nearby flower-pot if you need to.
Unlike the last room like this, you should ignore the regular mobs and focus on the mini-boss. The projectiles from the wizards can be dodged or deflected, and shouldn’t cause you too many problems. Finish them off once you take care of the big guy, then climb up the ladder and free another soul.
Head back the way you came, and you’ll chat with the Urn Witch again. Keep going on your return path, through her bedroom and back out into the hallway. Once in the hall, head southeast and through the doorway. Once you enter the dance-hall, don’t go down onto the dance floor, but instead head southwest and push the lever — this will create a convenient shortcut back to the Hallway of Doors door (I recommend going through the shortcut it so you know where it leads).
The shortcut
Continue past the lever to the southwestern edge of the room to find a Life Seed, then head down onto the dance floor. Speak with the large pot to begin another mini-boss battle. This guy can only damage you while he’s spinning, and he’ll spin towards you right when he starts his spin — dodge perpendicular to his angle of attack, and it should be easy to avoid the rest of his spinning. Try to stay close enough to him that when he stops spinning, you can get at least 3 attacks in before he begins spinning again. Once you defeat him, head through the gate he was guarding and climb the ladder.
Run out onto the rafters and destroy the two pots to unlock the door, then hit the chandelier to drop the Large Soul Mass down onto the dance floor. Follow the rafters to the southeastern edge of the broken ceiling, then cross the next set of rafters and grab the collectible Wedding Ring. There is also a life seed up here on the rafters you can grab. Then drop down onto the dance floor and grab the Large Soul Mass, then go right back up the ladder and through the doorway.
The chandelier you need to attack
Be careful about getting attacked by the swarms of enemies here, and light the firepits in sequence towards the northeast of the room. You’ll eventually be able to shoot a flaming arrow at the ladder, clearing the cobwebs and allowing you to climb up it.
If you light all of the firepits in the room, and not just the ones you need to clear the cobwebs off the ladder, a ladder will drop in the southwest corner of the room. Climb up it to find a Large Soul Mass.
Surprisingly, there’s no boss fight once you climb up the ladder. Simply continue through the room and up one more ladder to release the final soul. Then head back the way you came, and jump down the now-opened grate in the room full of firepits. Then head down to the big, crow-faced door, and after a brief convo with Pothead, you’ll be able to head on through.
You’ll find yourself in the Hall of Doors, but not in the place you usually access. Go northwest a little bit and approach the huge chest. It will gobble you up, and you’ll have to fight a few waves of enemies. Once you defeat all the enemies, the chest will spit you back out, and you’ll earn yourself your first new spell — the Flame Spell. Swap to the flame spell with either [2] or the D-Pad, then head south and use your newly acquired fire-skills to light the brazier. If this leaves you out of energy, hit the nearby pot, as you’ll need to cast the Flame Spell once more.
You can try this fight as many times as you need to until you clear it, keep trying!
Continue south, making sure you take a look at the book in the room you pass to your northeast. Continue south, grab the Large Soul Mass, and light the next brazier. Grab the umbrella after you go down the stairs, and chat with Vaga who sits on a bench nearby. Continue east a bit to find one more NPC you can talk to, then go back through the door to the Ceramic Manor (though you can go grab some upgrades first if you have the Soul Energy).
Note: If you want, you can now go and get the upgrade to the Flame Spell (see here for instructions).
There’s lots of little tidbits of lore hidden throughout the Hall of Doors
Once back in the manor, hit the nearby pots if you need energy, then use your Flame Spell to light both braziers by the nearby elevator, then head inside and use your key to open the door to the elevator. Hop on, and head down to the basement!
Unabashed FromSoftware fanboy still learning to take his time with games (and everything else, really). The time he doesn't spend on games is spent on music, books, or occasionally going outside.
