Volcano Manor can be reached in three different ways. One way to reach this location is by completing the first part of Rya's questline. You'll find her at Liurnia of the Lakes, east of the Scenic Isle Site of Grace [Map Link] where she'll ask you to retrieve a precious necklace. Complete her request and she'll give you a Volcano Manor Invitation, and clue you in on where to find her next. She'll next be found at the top of the Grand Lift of Dectus (if you've found both halves of the Dectus Medallion) or at Lux Ruins (if you've not completed the medallion). If you speak to her, she'll teleport you right into the lobby next to Tanith.

Another way to reach this area is by getting teleported by an enemy. Do note that if you decide to take this route, you will have to fight a difficult boss, the Abductor Virgins, to move forward. If you spare Patches and talk to him at the Scenic Isle, he may mention an Abductor Virgin at Raya Lucaria Academy with teleporting abilities. Make your way over there and find the water wheel elevator, just west of the Schoolhouse Classroom site of grace. Take it to the bottom and get killed by the Abductor Virgin in this area. You must be killed by a specific attack where it traps you in its iron maiden-like body. Using a Sacrificial Twig or Twiggy Cracked Tear effect will prevent you from losing runes while still teleporting you. Doing this successfully takes you to a unique area within the Volcano Manor area. Hop across the lava flows and travel southeast, dropping down a few ledges along a lava waterfall until you reach a stonework structure. Go up the stairs to reach the Subterranean Inquisition Chamber Site of Grace [Map Link]. Be sure to activate this site prior to jumping off as there is no getting back up once you drop down to the fallen pillars in the lava.

Loot the bodies in this area for Smithing Stones [4] & [6] and jump from pillar to pillar until you reach a small cave in the south. It may look like a dead-end, but walk near the back of the cave where there's a crumbling section of ground and you'll fall through the floor into another cavern. The path here is quite linear. You'll want to head south from here, where you'll soon reach a fog door. Through this door are the Abductor Virgins, who drop the Inquisitor's Girandole upon defeat. Their defeat also makes the Abductor Virgin Site of Grace [Map Link] available and allows you to exit the cavern to emerge into Mt. Gelmir. From here, you can drop down to the Seethewater River Site of Grace, from which you can start exploring the rest of Altus Plateau.

To head to Volcano Manor, travel north from the Seethewater River Site of Grace, hitting the Seethewater Terminus Grace. Travel through the Fire Monk camp and around the pool of lava (ignoring the Magma Wyrm nearby), and then follow the path that circumvents clockwise around the mountain, taking you past the Hermit's Shack and to the Craftsman's Shack Site of Grace. Continue northeast through the Hermit Village, ignoring Demi-Human Queen Maggie and reaching the Primeval Sorcerer Azur Grace. Look northeast and walk over the narrow ledge, then drop down onto the plateau below. The door near you leads to the Gelmir Hero's Grave if you need a quick checkpoint. Then, head north until you see a Mad Pumpkin Head, go northeast across the narrow ledge behind it, fight past a Grafted Scion, and ascend the ladder up the mountainside. Take the next ladder you see on your left, fight through a camp of frenzied Soldiers (and Knight), descend north down a ramp, look west, and then cross the bridge to the Ninth Mt. Gelmir Campsite Site of Grace. Jump up the Spiritspring or climb the ladder, ignore the Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast at the top and leap off the narrow ledge extending from the western side of the arena. Continue descending down the ramp past the Marionette Soldiers, making a U-turn and dashing past the Troll guard to enter Volcano Manor.

Alternate route directly into Volcano Manor Hall: Right after you are captured by the Abductor Virgin, look to your right over the waterfall. The drop is non-lethal; it will take about half your health (ignoring lava damage) instead. Go as far southeast along the cliff edge before jumping down into the lava below, then wade southeast down the lava (healing off any damage) until you reach a wooden platform with a cage lift. Ride this lift up, then look to your right to take a second lift up. Travel up the stairs, past the Blackflame Monk, but before you enter the church ahead (contains a boss fight with the Godskin Noble), look to your left for another flight of stairs going down. Descend it, push the lever to raise a metal bridge, then cross it to reach the Prison Town Church Site of Grace to enable fast travel out of this area. You can travel up the hidden back passage from behind the altar and hit an illusory wall at the end of a dead end which leads into a room in the Volcano Manor, but you'll be behind a locked door that can only be opened with the Drawing-Room Key, received on the other side.

Go back onto the bridge, then carefully hop onto one of the studs on the left side. From that, hop onto the wheel that hoisted up the bridge, and finally make a running (but difficult) jump onto the opposite balcony. You'll pick up a Somber Smithing Stone (7) from the corpse. Run for the door you see, past the Iron Virgin, and from indoors, head down the stairs to a room with a corpse holding a Seedbed Curse. Cross the long large room to pick up an Ash of War: Royal Knight's Resolve, then head up the stairs to open a door that leads into the Volcano Manor main hall.

Starting from the Altus Plateau Site of Grace, travel south to the main road and follow it, taking the northeast branch from the junction. You'll reach the Forest-Spanning Greatbridge Site of Grace with a merchant and Finger Reader Crone. Nearby is a sending gate that sends you to the opposite side of the valley. Follow the main road north and then eastward, ignoring the windmills you see as you go downhill and under the broken great bridge. You should reach the Road of Iniquity Side Path Site of Grace and pass by a Caravan and the Writheblood Ruins. Cross a wooden bridge and hit up the Bridge of Iniquity Site of Grace, then go northeast into an are patrolled by Iron Virgins. The Corpse-Stench Shack at the end has an invasion from Anastasia, Tarnished-Eater that drops the Butchering Knife, and the shack itself holds the Golden Vow incantation.

Near the Corpse-Stench Shack, rather southeast of it, is a ladder which leads up the mountain. Ascend it and turn left to get to the First Mt. Gelmir Campsite Site of Grace. Dash through the camp full of frenzied soldiers, go past the Mad Pumpkin Head and go northwest along the narrow path. (This is where your route will merge with the other route highlighted in green in the diagram further above.)

Jump down to a ruined campsite, fight off a Grafted Scion and ascend the next ladder you see. Take the next ladder on your left which leads you to another merchant, then keep going up the mountain from his location. You'll reach a plateau with several frenzied Soldiers and a Knight. After you fight them off, look for a ramp that lets you descend to the plateau below. Look west for a bridge that leads you to the Ninth Mt. Gelmir Campsite Site of Grace. Take either the ladder or Spiritspring Jump to the Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast, go northwest and jump the gap going downhill, then keep descending downhill, making a U-turn and rushing past the Marionettes and Troll guard to reach Volcano Manor.

There are also two ways to reach to the final boss of this dungeon. One way is to complete various assassination quests for the Volcano Manor. Do note that this requires you to have access to Mountaintop of the Giants. Speak with Tanith, the lady sitting in a chair in the manor's lobby, and pledge your services to the Volcano Manor. She will give you the Drawing-Room Key which allows you to unlock several doors in the manor.

Before following her instructions and heading to the drawing-room, turn left and head up the stairs, where you'll find yourself in a grand dining hall. On your way to the far end of the hall, you'll get invaded by Inquisitor Ghiza. Defeat him for his weapon, Ghiza's Wheel, and collect the Smithing Stone [6] on the corpse where he spawned.

Back downstairs, you'll see a hallway in the western section with a bunch of locked doors, many of which can be unlocked using the Drawing-Room Key. The first door to your right has a corpse with a Perfume Bottle on it and the left is inaccessible for now. Further through the hallway, the next set of doors to your left open up to the drawing-room. You may recognize some familiar faces here as Rya and Knight Bernahl can be found in this room (though Bernahl doesn't open his shop until you've completed the first Volcano Manor assignment). If you've progressed through his quest enough, Diallos will also be found here. Interact with the item on the table to collect a Recusant Finger and the Letter from Volcano Manor.

This first letter instructs you to find and invade Old Knight Istvan at Limgrave and sets a red marker on your map to find the summon sign quickly. You can reach his summon sign by heading north from the Warmaster's Shack [Map Link]. Defeat him to collect several items including his armor set, the Scaled Set, and report back to Tanith to receive the Magma Shot Sorcery spell as a reward. You unlock the NPC quest for Patches, who can be found sitting by the wall at the Volcano Manor's entrance. He asks you to invade Great Horned Tragoth. Keep in mind that this NPC can be summoned to assist with several boss fights unless you assassinate him during Patches' quest. From here, head back to the drawing-room to pick up some interesting dialogue from Rya and speak to Bernahl to gain access to his store. The next Letter from Volcano Manor awaits you at the table as before.

This second letter instructs you to find and invade Rileigh the Idle at Altus Plateau and, like before, sets a red marker on your map. You can reach his summon sign by going up the elevator next to the Old Altus Tunnel Site of Grace [Map Link], then heading northeast. Defeat them to collect several items including a Talisman, Crepus's Vial, and report back to Tanith to receive the Serpentbone Blade as a reward. After this, you unlock NPC quests for Rya and Bernahl.

Go back to the drawing-room to pick up the Red Letter. This final letter instructs you to find and invade Juno Hoslow, Knight of Blood at the Mountaintops of the Giants, and sets a red marker on your map. His summon sign can be found east of the Shack of the Lofty. Upon meeting him for the first time, you will get the "Hoslow's Oath" Gesture, and defeating him gives you access to several items including his weapon, Hoslow's Petal Whip, and his armor set, Hoslow's Set.

Report back to Tanith and she'll reward you with the Talisman Taker's Cameo and ask if you would see her Lord. Accepting her offer teleports you to a Site of Grace right outside the fog door to the God-Devouring Serpent/Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy boss fight. Exhausting Diallos' dialogue multiple times between doing each Volcano Manor quest makes him leave the manor and move to his next location. Make sure you accept and complete any Volcano Manor NPC quests still unattended to before defeating Rykard as they may disappear from the manor after you beat the boss (Rya may wait for you to complete her quest even after defeating the boss, however, this is uncertain).

From here, you can continue reading on to navigate your way through the Volcano Manor's actual dungeon area, but if you'd rather take up Tanith's offer to skip ahead to the boss click here.

There's another way to get to the final boss without having to kill your fellow Tarnished. It should be noted that defeating the boss this way, before completing the letter requests, locks you out of the Volcano Manor assassination quests, as well as parts of Rya, Bernahl, and Patches' quests. This method starts the same way as above; talk to Tanith and pledge your services to the Volcano Manor to get the Drawing-Room Key. Feel free to explore the manor the same way as above, going upstairs to defeat Inquisitor Ghiza, looting the corpses, and speaking to the NPCs, however, don't leave the manor just yet. When you enter the hallway from the lobby, enter the first door to the right, the same one with the corpse with a Perfume Bottle on it as mentioned above. If you attack/jump/walk/roll into the wall just behind that corpse, you'll reveal a secret passageway.

Follow the path through a room full of Serpent Snails and you'll end up with a room with two ways forward - one down a flight of steps, another through an open doorway to your left. Head left first, being wary of Serpent Snails that may ambush you and continue until you reach a dead end. The corpse at the end of this passageway has the Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook (21) on it, and to the left of it, reveal another hidden door that opens up into a room with the Depraved Perfumer Carmaan Ashes. 

Go back to the room where you saw that flight of stairs and descend them to fight a Lesser Bloodhound Knight that drops the Bloodhound Claws. Make sure you pick up the Fireproof Dried Liver here too, it may come in handy. Continue moving forward to get to a church with the Prison Town Church Site of Grace. Exit the church and you'll emerge to see a village submerged in lava. To your left will be an incomplete bridge that you can't cross just yet, so instead turn right and scale the rooftops, following the enemies, until you can safely jump down to the west, onto the stone walkways of the village. Head up the stairs and you'll get to a fog door locked behind an imp statue. Use a Stonesword Key and fight your way up to collect the Crimson Amber Medallion (+1).

Head back out of the building and turn right to cross the bridge where there's a Man-Serpent at the end. The building behind it is inaccessible from the front door, but circle around the left side of the building and do some jumping to find remains with Albinauric Bloodcot x1 an then an open door to the right, allowing you to unlock the front door of this building from inside. Watch for guys up in the ceiling. Inside the rooms are a remains with a Beast Blood and a remains with Golden Rune [9].  Make your way down to the cellar of the building and at the bottom of the stairs go through the doorway to your left. When this opens into a room, make a right and then another right to get to the Guest Hall Site of Grace. 

After interacting with the Site of Grace, head back to the previous room and out the closed-door - it should open up to the sight of buildings almost fully engulfed by the lava. Turn right to find a ladder and descend onto the lowest level and closer to the lava. Head south and circle round to the corner of the building where you'll find a corpse with two Fireproof Dried Liver on it. Continue navigating the cooled lava east, picking up the Golden Rune (9) on the corpse laying on the well to your left. Directly across from the well is a slope behind the building that leads to a corpse on the roof containing Smithing Stone (6). Return to the ground moving east past the well, and head up the stairs to reach an area with a Man-Serpent wielding a whip guarding two cage lifts -- see pictures below. 

Defeat it and take the lift directly to the north up. Turn right to pick up a Somber Smithing Stone [5] from a corpse then turn back around to ascend the flight of stairs. Don't enter the temple just yet! Right before you do, turn left to find the incomplete bridge you saw across the way earlier. On this side, there's a lever you can turn to lift the bridge piece from out of the lava, making a shortcut to this area from the Prison Town Church.

Now that you've got this shortcut, you can start exploring for some more collectibles. Make your way back to the Prison Town Church. Scale up the roofs again to the right and instead of turning westward to drop down to where the imp statue is, turn eastward where you'll find a short wooden bridge. Continue following the enemies and the path down to the lower section of the town, collecting valuables such as Golden Runes on the way, and you'll eventually get to the Omenkiller. Defeat him to get his weapon, the Great Omenkiller Cleaver, and head to the building in the northeast to collect the Erdtree Seal.

Scale up the roofs again to drop onto a wooden platform on which a Facing back toward the gate, there is a small courtyard to the left guarded by two dogs that leads to a broken staircase along the outer wall. Get a running start & jump across the broken segment to reach a corpse with a Stonesword Key (trying to drop down from the roof above the item is a fatal fall). After collecting the key, drop down & follow the path around the wall until you get to the place where a bunch of gravestones sit in cooled lava and loot the corpses in this area to collect items such as a Golden Rune [9],  Smithing Stone [6] and the Smoldering Shield. Be careful of the living jars as several of the small jars will explode upon death causing heavy damage.

Teleport back to the Prison Town Church Site of Grace and cross the shortcut bridge. Head back down the stairs and the cage lift you took previously. Turn left and into the other cage lift in the area. This one takes you back down to lava-level and if you walk forward, a Magma Wyrm will pop out of the lava, which when defeated, will drop a Dragon Heart. In the far end of the cave, you'll be able to spot a corpse with a Smithing Stone [7] on it.

Head back off that small island, and enter the small opening in the wall to the west. Continue forward towards the building ruins, following the Burning Slugs along the way, and you'll find yourself back at the stairs that take you to the cage lifts. Take the northern cage lift back up to the temple and now we can head in.

When you get about halfway through the temple, the Godskin Noble spawns. Ranged and magic users will find simply keeping your distance and hitting him from afar to be effective for the first half of the fight, even more so with Spirit Ashes to be able to tank for you. Many of his attacks during this phase, including a backhand slap and rapier attacks, are melee-ranged. He has an attack where he spawns black fire in a circle around him - melee users should dodge away and wait for him to leave the circle of fire before engaging him again. 

After reaching about 50% health, the Godskin Noble rises and explodes in a small area around him. He now has attacks that have wide AoEs and an unpredictable roll attack. His skills are still widely telegraphed, so time your dodges well. Defeat him and you'll be rewarded with his weapon, the Godskin Stitcher, and the Noble Presence Incantation.

The Godskin Noble's defeat opens up the Temple of Eiglay Site of Grace. On the altar where he spawned, you can pick up the Serpent's Amnion. This is Rya's quest item so you can head back to her now and teleport back here whenever you're ready. South of the Site of Grace, is a lift which you should take. Before heading out to the balcony, you can head right and follow the path to grab a Golden Rune [9] from a corpse.

Head back and go to the balcony. If you look down, you'll be able to see a mountain ledge you can safely jump down to. Follow the Burning Slugs northeast until you get to a corpse sitting on the mountain's edge that has a Furlcalling Finger Remedy. Turn left and you'll see another ledge you can safely jump down to. Follow the path until you see a Abductor Virgin in front of a building with an open window. Fight it or run through the window. At the southern side of the room, you'll find a ladder you can descend. There will be a Drawstring Fire Grease on the corpse here. Follow the stairs down and you'll find the Missionary's Cookbook (6). Backtrack back up the stairs and the ladder. There's a door on the west side of this room that opens up to a bridge.

Jump into the left side to get Crimson Tear Scarab. Jump once more and move counter-clockwise to come back where you were before. Go back to the bridge and head up the stairs but before going into the building, turn right and jump off the stairs, where you'll find a Teardrop Scarab that drops a Somber Smithing Stone [5]. If you have been doing doing Rya's quest, look west and you can find a room where she can be found, you can make your decision on whether or not to kill or spare her here, visit her page to read up on her quest line. Back out of the room, hug the wall and follow the cooled lava further to the north (be careful of enemies along the way), you will then encounter a room rife with Basilisks, five to be exact, kill them quickly, and do not stay in one spot as you can be caught in their breaths and be turned to stone. If needed, kill one or two, run out of the room and back south, wait until your petrification buildup goes away, then return and repeat the process until they're all gone. Grab a Somber Smithing Stone [6] and head back south to the entrance to the room where you found Rya. In front of Rya's room, look southeast and you will find an open window next to the lava waterfall, go through it and grab a Stonesword Key. Head through Rya's room to find a ladder that takes you back up to where you're supposed to go. Head right first to activate the elevator to make a shortcut to Temple of Eiglay site of grace.

You'll come across a Man-Serpent with a fiery whip. Before fighting it, don't forget to get a Commoner's Headband lying on one of protruding stones on your right. Head through the door behind him and then through another set of closed doors on your right. On the altar protected by some enemies is the Man-Serpent Ashes. Head up the first set of stairs and before going up the second set, turn around to go up the flight of stairs behind you.

Through the doorway found on this floor is an imp statue that has to be unlocked with two Stonesword Keys. You'll find cages here you can jump down to, but before doing that, turn right and drop down to the platform below. Follow the path, head up the stairs, and in the next room, you'll find the Dagger Talisman. You will see some cages which you can jump atop, do so and drop further down onto the wooden platform, kill the enemy here, and look down to the northeast to find more cages to drop onto. After dropping down a few cages, you'll be on stable grounds again, look southwest for a room full weak enemies and a Seedbed Curse on a corpse, be careful as they can overwhelm you. After grabbing the item, turn left to ascend a flight of stairs and after defeating the Abductor Virgin here, you can collect a Somber Smithing Stone [7] off of a corpse draped over the broken part of the banister. Head back into the building and continue north-east where you'll a corpse with the Ash of War: Royal Knight's Resolve.

If you continue on this path, you'll eventually make it back to the entrance of the Volcano Manor, unlocking the door in front of Patches. Teleport back to the Temple of Eiglay Site of Grace and retrace your steps back to the room with the Man-Serpent Ashes. Climb up both flights of stairs and you'll find a waygate. This takes you to the Site of Grace right outside the fog door to the God-Devouring Serpent/Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy boss fight, the same place Tanith teleports you to if you complete all three assassination requests. Rest at the Site of Grace and when you're ready, head through the fog door.

Immediately when you enter the boss arena, pick up and equip the Serpent-Hunter on your left. If you read it's description, it says that it reveals its true power when used against giant serpents. Well, what do you know, Rykard's boss fight starts with the God-Devouring Serpent. When using the spear against the boss, the weapon shoots out powerful gusts of wind that increase its range massively. That being said, the weapon doesn't completely trivialize this first phase. The God-Devouring Serpent has many quick attacks with long-range, but its most dangerous ones are heavily telegraphed, so keep an eye out for them and time your dodges well. Don't get greedy and start spamming attacks with the Serpent-Hunter, you may get animation locked. Instead time your attacks between his, and eventually you'll stagger him and be able to get some free hits in.

After the God-Devouring Serpent's health reaches 0, a cutscene plays and Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy reveals himself to the player. Do note that you will have to repeat the fight with the God-Devouring Serpent if you die at any point during this second phase. The Serpent-Hunter retains its special abilities during this second phase, so keep it equipped. Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy loses the quick attacks of his first phase but instead has access to deadly moves that have massive areas of effect. The same strategy applies here, time your attacks in between his (should be easier here as he has slower attacks) and wail on him whenever he gets staggered. At 50% health, the fight gets a bit more hectic as he spawns homing skulls to attack you. It may take a couple of tries before you get dodge timing right, but as soon as you get the hang of his attacks (and maybe with a bit of help from some Mimic Tear cheese and upgrading the Serpent-Hunter), the fight becomes easier.

Upon Rykard's defeat, you will receive the Remembrance of the Blasphemous and Rykard's Great Rune. The Eye Surcoat can also be picked up from the right side of the arena and the Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy Site of Grace will be accessible.

After defeating Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, you can return to the main chambers of Volcano Manor and speak to the NPCs. They harbor no ill-will against you but will talk about the dissolution of the Volcano Manor. After a time-skip or reloading the area, the NPCs will leave the area, with Bernahl leaving a sword at his seat that you can continue buying his wares off of. 

At this point, if you teleport back to Rykard's boss arena, you'll find Tanith feasting upon his remains. You can choose to attack her, and if you do so her knight, Tanith's Knight, will invade you. Upon his defeat, he will drop the Aspect of the Crucible: Breath Incantation, and Tanith's clothing set consisting of the Consort's Mask, Consort's Robe, and Consort's Trousers. Doing this too early prevents you from completing Patches' quest however. With this, the Volcano Manor Legacy Dungeon is complete.