Skull Lantern

The Skull Lantern is a wieldable item in Dark Souls.

In-Game Description
''Skull Lantern of the Catacombs necromancer. Droops from his long beard locks. ''

''This lantern alights the Tomb of the Giants, Nito's light-devouring domain of death. Also serves as a fire damage strike weapon.''

Availability
Found off a corpse as loot in the pit that Patches kicks the player down in the Tomb of the Giants.

Effect
When used as a shield (left hand), the Skull Lantern greatly increases the player's light radius and his/her ability to see in the dark. However, the Skull Lantern has terrible damage reduction, so players must judge for themselves when visibility or protection is more important.

It will deal fire damage (no physical damage) when used in the right hand as a weapon. Add to the fact that the Skull Lantern cannot be upgraded, and it becomes clear that it is really only good for lighting up dark areas.

The Skull Lantern may be traded to Snuggly the Crow for a Ring of Fog.

Overview
Of the three light sources available to the player (the Skull Lantern, the Sunlight Maggot, and the Cast Light sorcery), the Skull Lantern can easily be considered the worst option due to the effect being active only when the player raises it, and especially because it forces the player to sacrifice his/her shield. However, it has no item requirements to use and is arguably easier to obtain than the Sunlight Maggot, so players may well find it a necessity until they either memorize the layout of the Tomb of the Giants or acquire other means to produce light.