To use the torch in Dark Souls 2, light it at a bonfire by switching the prompt from resting to lighting your torch, at any sconce that is already burning, or anywhere with a Flame Butterfly. Your character then carries it in the left hand, and it burns down a single shared timer: every Torch item you pick up adds five minutes to that timer.
The torch does not sit in your inventory like a normal item, which is what confuses most new players. Below we cover how to light it, what puts it out, where more torch time comes from, and the places in both the original game and Scholar of the First Sin where it actually matters.
How to Light the Torch
You have three ways to get it burning:
- At a bonfire. Walk up to a bonfire and switch the on-screen prompt from resting to lighting the torch, then confirm. Players describe the switch as the same button you use to two-hand a weapon: Y on Xbox and Triangle on PlayStation.
- At a lit sconce. Walk up to a burning sconce and choose the option to light your torch.
- With a Flame Butterfly. Using this consumable lights the torch on the spot, which is useful when you are deep in a dark area with no fire nearby.
Once lit, the torch goes into your left hand automatically and replaces whatever you had there, whether a shield, a second weapon or a catalyst. You can also use a lit torch to light unlit sconces along the way, which is how you brighten the darkest areas permanently.
What Puts the Torch Out
The torch goes out, and has to be relit at a fire, when you:
- Switch your left-hand equipment.
- Two-hand the weapon in your right hand.
- Roll in water or walk through a waterfall.
The timer only counts down while the torch is lit, and the time you have left shows on the torch’s icon while it burns and on the equipment screen. It can also block in a pinch, but it only blocks partially and at a high stamina cost, so put it away before a serious fight.
Where Torch Time Comes From
Every Torch you find adds five minutes to the pool. The early sources:
- Things Betwixt: one Torch near the first bonfire, behind a wagon.
- Forest of Fallen Giants: several are scattered through the area, including inside the keep.
- Majula: three in a chest on the upper floor of the mansion, which needs the House Key.
- Enemy drops: enemies carrying torches can drop them, and The Gutter is the best place to farm more.
Players also report that your torch time carries over into New Game Plus.
Where the Torch Actually Matters
Most of the game is lit well enough without it, but a handful of places are much easier, or only possible, with a torch in hand:
- The Gutter: a pitch-dark descent where you light sconces as you go, and the light helps you spot the platforms.
- Earthen Peak: setting fire to the windmill drains many of the poison pools, including the one in the boss room.
- Sinners’ Rise: lighting the oil in the rooms on either side of the Lost Sinner’s arena illuminates the fight, which makes locking on much easier. Those rooms need the Bastille Key.
- No-man’s Wharf: the creatures lurking in the dark there flee from the light. Be careful, though: getting doused in oil by enemies and then holding a lit torch causes an explosion.
- Brightstone Cove Tseldora: the spiders there run from a torch.
- Dark Chasm of Old: you need the torch to light the sconces.
Scholar of the First Sin adds a few more uses. Lighting sconces in Aldia’s Keep is part of getting the Aldia Key, a torch reveals invisible Hollows, and lighting every sconce in Things Betwixt spawns an invader.
There is a downside. Holding a torch makes some enemies notice you from further away, and the Shrine of Amana is the classic trap: its Amana Aberrations can spot the light from a distance.
If you are new to the game, pair this with our Dark Souls 2 level up guide so you know where to spend the souls you collect. Players who remember the first game’s gloomy sewers from our Depths guide will appreciate having a light this time, and the series kept evolving its movement too, as our Dark Souls 3 jump guide shows.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a torch last in Dark Souls 2? Each Torch you find adds five minutes to one shared timer, and the timer only runs while the torch is lit.
Can you use a shield with the torch? No. The torch takes your left hand and replaces whatever was there. Switching back to your shield puts the torch out.
How do you put the torch away? Switch your left-hand equipment, or two-hand your right-hand weapon. Either puts the torch out, and you relight it at a bonfire, a lit sconce or with a Flame Butterfly.
Where do you get more torches? From pickups around the world, such as the chest in the Majula mansion, and from torch-carrying enemies, especially in The Gutter.
Is the torch different in Scholar of the First Sin? The basics are the same, but Scholar of the First Sin gives it extra uses, including the Aldia’s Keep sconces and revealing invisible Hollows.