We’ll cover exactly how to carry out both of these methods below.
Offline Farming: Killing The Irithyll Deacons
The fastest way to farm Human Dregs offline is by killing the 9 Deacons that inhabit a walkway in Irithyll of the Boreal Valley. Before you start killing Deacons, though, make sure you have some item discovery-boosting gear equipped. Item discovery is the stat that controls how likely you are to get a drop from an enemy, so it’s vital you raise it as much as possible to speed up farming. For a full rundown on how to raise your item discovery stat and speed up your farming, check out our Dark Souls 3 farming build guide. Once you’ve assembled your farming build, warp to the Pontiff Sulyvahn Bonfire to get started. Walk out of the back of the Bonfire room and into Irithyll. Turn left and follow the path around until you see a large courtyard full of Giants. To the left of the courtyard you’ll see a raised walkway inhabited by Deacons – this is your destination. Head into the area below the walkway, then look to your left to find an archway that leads to a set of stairs. Once at the top of the stairs, you’ll find yourself up on the walkway with the Deacons. Before you start killing them, however, turn around and look back towards the cathedral that holds the Pontiff Sulyvahn Bonfire. You’ll see a set of steps that will lead you back inside. Once inside you’ll be on a balcony above the Bonfire. To your left there’ll be a small outcropping from the main balcony walkway. Step on it to descend down to the Bonfire, opening a shortcut in the process. Now that the shortcut is open, every repeat run of the farming route can be sped up massively by taking the elevator, as you’ll go straight from the Bonfire to the Deacons. With the shortcut opened, you’re free to start killing Deacons. With a decent farming build set-up, each Deacon has around a 3.5% chance to drop a Human Dreg. While this might seem very low, it’s relatively high compared to other Covenant items. After killing all 9 Deacons in this area, you have a 31% chance to get a Human Dreg on each run, a remarkable number for an item this rare. Once all 9 Deacons are dead, simply return to the Bonfire and rest to respawn them and start the farm again.
Online Farming: Aldrich Faithful Covenant Invasions
The less tedious way to collect Human Dregs is taking part in PvP battles as part of the Aldrich Faithful Covenant. Unfortunately, you can’t simply invade another player using the Red Eye Orb. You’ll instead have to equip the Aldrich Faithful pledge and wait for an automatic summoning to take place.
Step 1: Joining the Aldrich Faithful Covenant
To get the pledge, you’ll have to find Archdeacon McDonnell in a secret area in Irithyll of The Boreal Valley. You may already have this area unlocked – check your fast travel menu for the Water Reserve Bonfire. If you don’t yet have the Bonfire unlocked, warp to the Pontiff Sulyvahn Bonfire to start your journey to the Archdeacon. From the Pontiff Sulyvahn Bonfire, walk out the back of the cathedral and turn left. Follow the path round until you reach a courtyard full of Giants. This area is dangerous, but you can get through without fighting any enemies if you’re fast enough. Before setting off from here, notice the tower at the end of the courtyard – this is your goal. Run down the steps and into the courtyard. Don’t stop running until you step inside the tower. Once inside, head to the left corner underneath the staircase and strike the wall to break its illusion and reveal a ladder behind it. Step down the ladder to reach the Water Reserve Bonfire room. Before you can light it though, you’ll have to take out two massive Sulyvahn Beasts. You’ll likely recognize these creatures from the jumpscare and chase on the Irithyll bridge. They’re just as deadly here. The best way to take them out is with ranged magic. But if you don’t have any, you’ll have to resort to baiting them over to the ladder one at a time, then fighting them in a melee battle. Once they’re both dead, light the Water Reserve Bonfire and walk over to the large Deacon in the corner. This is Archdeacon McDonnell – speak to him and choose to join the Aldrich Faithful Covenant. You’ll receive the Covenant’s pledge in the process.
Step 2: Aldrich Faithful PvP
Once you have the Aldrich Faithful pledge, you simply have to equip it while in an online game session to open yourself up to the automatic summoning mechanic. Unfortunately, this can take a long time to take effect due to Dark Souls 3’s increasingly empty servers. To maximize the chances of being summoned for a fight, there’s a few things you can do:
Avoid resting at Bonfires – this will reset your place in the matchmaking queue Avoid changing areas – this will also reset your place in the matchmaking queue Stay in the Irithyll and Anor Londo area – Covenant members in these locations are summoned before members in other areas.
Once you do eventually get summoned, you’ll be tasked with defending the cathedral from invaders. In practice, this involves killing the Host of Embers in this invaded world. These battles will always take place in the later Irithyll area, and winning one will grant you a Human Dreg.