Why is Patches not at the first bonfire of Catacombs sometimes?

Sometimes I go into the Catacombs, and Patches isn't waiting at that lever by the first bonfire. Is there something that has to happen for him to appear there?

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First bonfire lever?



You must be mistaken. He is at the Lever for the second bridge, never at the first bonfire.

I know what you mean op. On some playthroughs I don't see patches until I reach the tomb of giants. I'm guessing it has something to do with skipping parts in the catacombs by jumping of ledges etc.

No... he only shows I think, before a certain part of the game. If you go there early enough, he will be. If you go there later, he will not.

I don't remember exactly, but it will either have to do with Rhea or the progression of the Lordvessel. It is either or.

Sorry Acidic, I should have been clearer. I never think of that first one as a regular bonfire, but you're right, I meant the second one. It's interesting about the timeline...I wish I knew for sure whether there was a specific event. When I went there I had rung both bells, and beaten Ceaseless. But Sens was not finished.

I have never seen patches until ToG... didn't even know he was around in the catacombs...

I've never tested this nor do I know for sure, but I always assumed it corresponded with Rhea's departure.

At least that'd make sense, because Patches tricks Rhea and her company into the pit in TotG. So when they've left the Firelink shrine, they should all be down there already.

I would think so too, retro... but I have seen him when Rhea had departed, so.. I guess it has to do with the main quest.

Either way... the meeting early on only grants either a large soul of soldier (i think it is soldier) or humanity if you do it right... or none if wrong.

Besides, the main reward is when you talk to him... after he pushes you. I usually go into the Catacombs as the first area, if not New Londo, so... ya. Been there a lot... always good to have the morning star, or a club/axe at hand. Not hand axe, battleaxe.

I think if you talk to rhea before you to the catacombs patches will move to TOG. Not sure though.

Acidic_Cook wrote:
Besides, the main reward is when you talk to him... after he pushes you. I usually go into the Catacombs as the first area, if not New Londo, so... ya. Been there a lot... always good to have the morning star, or a club/axe at hand. Not hand axe, battleaxe.

I had always taken a divine battleaxe in the past, but recently tried a morning star (divine) and loved it. Acidic, did you go in with a divine weapon, or did you just go after all the necros as you went? I've never dared go down there without divine weps.

When I leave the asylum, the first place I go to is the Catacombs, or if Not New Londo, then Catacombs.

There is no room for divine. Really, I don't run threw it. I take my time, and fight the skeletons. I give you a hint: Skeletons can't do much when they fall. There are other points, such as the two skeletons that guard the door that requires the first lever pushed, and you can sprint downstairs without them coming after you. Takes a lot of smacks, when weapons are not upgraded. Which is why I go to New Londo for a jagged blade for the necromancers.

I am not much of a fan of Divine. I used it very recently for my knight, when I was cosplaying the Knight of Astora. The divine sword is becoming less viable, for sure.

I find that if I don't talk to the clerics at all and just head into the Catacombs, Patches will be there. Only happened to me once, though.

I think you have to go down before talking with Reah and her Crew, like everyone else has said. I already made it to Anor Londo and realized I didn't have a tear stone ring and figured I'd upgrade some fire weapons on my detour, he was there. As soon as I got to Firelink Reah was standing next to Petrus.

Along the lines of what acidic is saying as well, you can poison necromancers, so if you just go grab some poison arrows and pick them off from a distance with the longbow you'll get through pretty early in the game, not the start per-say, but close enough.

Is it possible that he appears in the Catacombs if you haven't placed the Lordvessel yet? Because that's what it seemed to me, but I'm not sure.

Patches goes to the ToG when Reah &co enters the Catacombs, this info should be somewhere on the wiki (probably on patches' page). He will also go there after you kill Pinwheel.

They changed Reah's quest in a patch, which also affected Patches' movements. She used to appear in Firelink after ringing the first bell (or killing Capra), or she would magically appear in ToG after you killed Pinwheel. After the patch you must kill Capra to make her appear. After the patch it's also possible to make Patches a merchant in Firelink (after you kill Nito), and if you then send Reah down there Patches will also reapper in ToG.

On a recent playthrough, Patches might have left after I triggered his trap in Catacombs, but I could also have killed Pinwheel inbetween, can't quite remember.

I don't know about patch changes to this, but from my experience it always worked like this:

After killing Capra Demon, Rhea and company appears in Firelink Shrine.
After you talk to them enough times, they will tell you they're leaving.

If you go to the Catacombs before they leave, or at least tell you they are going to, you can meet Patches by the bridge, near the bonfire.

This means that to meet Patches in Catacombs, you must venture there rather early, which will very difficult for most players, Faith guys aside.

If they leave Firelink Shrine, Patches will already be in Tomb of the Giants. So will Rhea (even if Petrus didn't appear in Firelink to tell you about the events).

Rhea & co. will also leave automatically should you kill Pinwheel, or if you obtain Lordvessel (maybe ring the second bell, I'm not sure atm).

If you kill Pinwheel, Rhea will already be in Tomb of the Giants. with the rest of the previous events skipped.

I always use this methond with my Faith builds. I go pick up Astora's Straight Sword, to get rid of any pesky skeletons, rush through Catacombs, deal with Pinwheel (you can summon Leeroy if you're afraid to face him with low SL, Leeory can handle him alone), rush to rescue Rhea and Homeward out. I'd recommend activating Firelink elevator first, as Petrus will probably kill the girl before you can get to her the normal way.

Post-Patch: It's better to forge onward to the first bonfire in the Tomb of the Giants so you can warp back there at any time.

If you have a weak divine weapon, choose a weapon that takes most of the skeletons health, then finish them off with the divine weapon. It would be better if you have a light source when you head through the Catacombs so you can reach the bonfire after the boss fight eaiser.

I'd recommend using a mace type weapon, because they shatter skeletons with R1 hit and R2 hit sends them flying and they will be grounded for some time, leaving them open to other attacks, or making it easy to throw them off ledges.