Steady Hand McDuff is a character and blacksmith in Dark Souls II.
He is voiced by Tim Bentinck, who also voiced the Forlorn Corvian Settler in Dark Souls III.
Description[]
Steady Hand McDuff is found in The Lost Bastille, behind a wall that can be destroyed with the use of an explosive barrel at the top of a staircase next to a Undead Jailer. You can also unlock the workshop by using the Lost Bastille Key.
McDuff needs the Dull Ember to begin customizing weapons and armor along specific upgrade paths using stones which can make unique weapons. He also becomes a vendor, selling minor equipment and upgrade resources.
He will give the Bearer of the Curse a Titanite Slab after at least 14,000 souls have been spent by having him reinforce or infuse weapons. It is also possible to get this slab by killing him, but it can only be obtained from one of either method.
Character information[]
Wares[]
Items | Repair Powder |
Large Titanite Shard |
Souls | 2500 | 2500 |
Weapons | Bastard Sword |
Uchigatana |
Greataxe |
Winged Spear |
Souls | 3000 | 5000 | 6200 | 2500 |
Weapons | Scythe |
Long Bow |
Light Crossbow |
Royal Kite Shield |
Souls | 3500 | 2000 | 1500 | 2400 |
Ammunition | Wood Arrow |
Iron Arrow |
Iron Greatarrow |
Wood Bolt |
Heavy Bolt |
Souls | 10 | 30 | 120 | 25 | 50 |
Drops[]
Item | Titanite Slab |
Drop Rate | Guaranteed (only if it has not been given for spending souls on him) |
Health and souls[]
Health | Souls | ||
---|---|---|---|
NG | NG+ | NG | NG+ |
??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |
Lore[]
McDuff is losing his mind, evident by the swinging of his hammer at nothing except open air, and murmurs about a soft, fading ember, revealed to be the Dull Ember when the player next visits his workshop with the item in their inventory.
This also may be a reference to lighting the torch in his room. By doing this he'll get up and move to his anvil, allowing access to the Craftsman's Hammer and a piece of Twinkling Titanite.
The fact that you acquire the Craftsman's Hammer from the chest he is sitting on could mean he is the legendary Blacksmith mentioned in the item's description. Because of this, he could have been locked away in the cell when the Lost Bastille was originally created, as humans feared powerful people.
Why McDuff is in The Lost Bastille is unclear; whether he is an undead inmate, in self-imposed exile or a remnant of the prison staff is unknown, though his situation resembles that of Rickert of Vinheim from Dark Souls.