The fight is not too difficult, as your foe is slow, and so are his attacks. Stay close to him and circle either to his right or left. Wait for him to begin any attack, and counter or just cycle around foe and his attacks are slow. Try to get behind his left leg so when he turns around he pushes you with him which enables you to almost constantly attack him without having to dodge.

Players with offensive spells or pyromancies can also elect to stand off and simply kill him with ranged attacks, although you will not obtain the proper catalysts or pyromancy flame until after the first encounter. Do not spend too much time on the balcony ledge above him, as he will bring the fight to you.

DROPS:

- 2000 souls
- 1 Humanity
- Big Pilgrim's Key (Second encounter only. If slain during the first encounter, this key is instead obtained from Oscar of Astora).
- Demon's Great Hammer (only if killed during first encounter). Easy to obtain in New Game Plus.

The tower enter from houses two Hollow Archers, which can be accessed by climbing the ladder to the right, as soon as you come out to the tower wall. They can and should be taken down before engaging the big boss; otherwise, they'll rain bolts above you while fighting the Taurus Demon, which makes it very much harder, especially at the level you are probably fighting him.
Once that's done, climb back down and proceed to the middle, to trigger the boss' entrance.

The best way to approach this is to sprint back and up the ladder once again, and wait for the boss to position himself directly below, for a plunging attack. This will significantly reduce his health.

Repeat this plunge until the Taurus dies. Multiple plunging attacks are often a safer option for starting players, because while the boss can and will make the jump to the tower if you loiter there for too long, he still gives you plenty of time to use your Estus and heal any damage he may have done to you.

If you are confident, you can engage him in melee combat. All his attacks can be dodged but be careful not to get knocked off the thin walkway.

DROPS:


- 3,000 souls
- 1 Humanity
- 1 Homeward Bone
- Demon's Greataxe as a possible drop.

A good shield will block most of the Gargoyle's attacks, but the fire will still deal some damage even when blocked, so try to stay out of its range when the second one joins. Focus all attacks against the first Gargoyle, even after the second one appears. Run away if they start ganging up, to divide and conquer. When one is killed, get in close to the second Gargoyle, and its fire breath will be useless.

Despite breathing it, the Gargoyles are vulnerable to fire, so a few Firebombs will help during this fight.

If you have summoned a helper, it can be useful to split attack duties between the two Gargoyles, as it is far easier to keep from getting ganged up on when each Gargoyle is focusing on a separate target. For example, if an NPC is attacking the first gargoyle (and you have already chopped off its tail), go after the second one and let the NPC keep the first one's attention. Since the second gargoyle is exceptionally fond of using fire breath, you should have plenty of opportunity to assault its flank and take it down quickly - and you won't get a surprise blast of fire on your backside.

At the opposite end of where you start the fight, at the each side of the bell tower there are narrow paths that seemingly make for a good hiding place. Do not go there! The gargoyles can't reach you with their weapons, but their fire breathing will. Additionally, they block you inside making it exceedingly difficult to break out.

A very easy way to beat the Gargoyles is by summoning Lautrec and Solaire. After talking to Solaire and getting the White Soapstone, find the mystery key and free Lautrec in the church. Quit the game, talk to him in Firelink Shrine, and go to the Gargoyles' fog gate. Solaire's sign is right before the door while Lautrec's is on the opposite side of the room, one ladder down. They're both pretty hard to miss and if you use these two phantoms the Gargoyles become very easy to defeat. Lautrec is nearly invincible against them with his heavy armor, and Solaire can dish out a fair amount of damage with his Lightning Spears.

DROPS:


- 10,000 souls
- 1 Twin Humanities
- Gargoyle's Halberd, arguably better than the regular Halberd.
- Gargoyle Shield. Has a chance to drop.
- Gargoyle Helm. Small chance to drop.
- Gargoyle Tail Axe: focus all damage onto the first gargoyle's tail until it's chopped off; pick it up and continue the fight, and there's no need to worry about dying after this as once you pick it up, it's yours.

Target the Butterfly and strafe with it, keeping it as directly in front of you as possible. You've got leeway, but you need to be able to roll to your sides in order to dodge its attacks.

When it starts to charge an attack, roll just before it releases the attack. Roll again immediately, if necessary -I like to roll back toward the direction from which I rolled the first, but it's not terribly important - just keep up with The Butterfly. Repeat.

When the beam attack is used, press up against the wall closest to the Butterfly and roll once the beam nears your position. Timing is key here, and if you get it right, it will go just swimmingly.

When it lands, beat it to a pulp. Avoid it's explosive attack, which should be easy as it charges up for a while. Repeat this every time it lands, obviously.

When it flies over you, hide behind the door you came in.

Dodging is crucial for this fight, so make sure your equip weight allows you to dodge fast.

DROPS:

- Humanity
- Soul of the Moonlight Butterfly
- Blue Titanite Chunk (10% Chance)
- Blue Titanite Chunk x2 (0.3% Chance)
- Blue Titanite Slab (0.2% Chance)

Upon entering, be prepared to be immediately attacked by all three enemies. Circle around to the right (dodge the boss's first big swing) and run up the stairs on the left side of the arena, the dogs should follow you; take your opportunity and kill them to make this battle a lot more bearable. However if they don't follow, try to lure them up - this will most likely lure the boss as well.

Killing the dogs quickly is critical to winning this fight as it is entirely too easy for them to stunlock you until the Capra Demon lands a killing blow. If he follows you up the stairs before the dogs are dead, feel free to drop down and get a bit of distance from him and make another attempt.

Once the dogs are dead, back up along the narrow stone bridge at the top of the stairs. Don't go all the way to the wall, because the boss will crowd you up there. He may not hit you there, but it can be dangerous so remember to guard. If you are not all the way at the wall, he should jump from the stairs and miss entirely. From here, you can perform a plunging attack (RB + above enemy) on him from the stairs to do some very decent damage and make your battle easier.

DROPS:

- 6,000 souls
- Key to Depths
- 1 Humanity
- 1 Homeward Bone
- Demon Great Machete (possible rare drop)

As a Dragon, it is very susceptible to Lightning. Ranged attacks can prove useful, especially while the boss is performing a forward charge. As long as care is taken with positioning there is no need to block or dodge during the fight, making two-handed weapons an excellent choice for melee attacks.

The Gaping Dragon will become momentarily still after its charge attack; this time can be used to attack it safely. The charge always comes after a stomach slam, so use the slam as a signal to get close to its side/tail.

Hitting its head deals extra damage, but the head is only accessible right after a slam (and before a charge). More experienced players can shorten the fight considerably by hitting the head a couple of times right after the slam, and quickly getting out of the way before the charge starts. A hit to its head does approximately 3x as much damage as a hit to the body.

Below 50% health, the dragon gains a new attack (corroding acid), that can reduce item and weapon durability, and even cause the player's equipment to break if stayed in to long. It's important not to confuse this attack with the stomach slam (their animations start in a similar way).

The Gaping Dragon's tail can be cut off. The Dragon King Greataxe is the reward for doing so(and the tail swipe's range becomes extremely short, making the rest of the fight easier). If you are trying to get the axe, hit the middle (or end) of the tail; if you aim at the base of the tail (i.e., the "buttock" area) it's possible to kill the dragon before the tail itself has taken enough damage.

Locking on can make evading the Gaping Dragon's attacks harder, as it reduces the speed at which the player can move away from the boss. Staying at the Gaping Dragon's side and attacking its legs, moving only when it begins to walk or fly, can result in an easy victory.

It is possible to summon Solaire of Astora and Knight Lautrec of Carim. Only if the player had previously freed him and talked to him at Firelink Shrine. Solaire's summon sign can be found next to the stairs leading to the Fog Door, while Lautrec's can be found just behind the pillar, opposite to Solaire's.

DROPS:


- 25,000 Souls
- Blighttown Key
- 1 Twin Humanities
- 1 Homeward Bone
- Dragon King Greataxe, by cutting off its tail.

The player will first fall through the floor, lose some health from the landing, and end up across the room in front of the Stray Demon. Casting Fall Control before the fight will negate the damage players suffer from falling into the Stray Demon's pit. There is no place to use the White Sign Soapstone in this area so it is not possible to summon others for this fight. The major difference from the Asylum Demon is that the Stray Demon wields a catalyst-type weapon that is capable of creating large Magic explosions in front of it, inflicting serious damage in a wide area.

The Stray Demon possesses two magic area-of-effect attacks, so learning the telegraphs for them is very important. When it prepares to wave its weapon horizontally, from left to right (player's right to left), it will create a large frontal magic explosion that can be very difficult to roll through. Its other area-of-effect attack is telegraphed by pointing its catalyst downward and planting it into the ground, which creates the self-centered explosion that can reach in an area behind it. The Crest Shield, dropped by Oscar of Astora, is highly useful in mitigating the magic damage.

Ideally, much of the fight should be spent attacking the demon from behind, as this leaves it unable to hit the player with its weapon swings. However, caution should be exercised as its downward-stabbing magical explosion can still hit players standing next to its tail. Players can avoid this by retreating a few meters behind it when they see it lift the catalyst up in preparation. In between his explosion attacks, players should pelt his backside with their attack of choice. The Stray Demon will occasionally jump into the air and perform a rear-drop to reorient itself to face the player. When this occurs, this can be avoided by walking about two meters away. Using a shield will deal heavy stamina damage. Sticking to his right may damage and knockdown the player due to the weapon facing in that direction.

The Stray Demon is susceptible to bleed damage and although it can be inflicted with both Toxic and Poison, it is immune to the damage of poison, though toxic will very slowly inflict damage. Like other demons, it also takes bonus damage from Black Knight weaponry. It is also not as susceptible to Black Firebombs as the Asylum Demon.

DROPS

- Titanite Slab
- 20,000 souls
- 1 Humanity
- 1 Homeward Bone

Stay to her front sides, waiting for her to spew lava so that you have time to do some damage. She dramatically telegraphs her moves so after a few attempts, you'll understand and get used to them. It is also important to note that:

- Weak Against Lightning
- Immune to Fire (notably Pyromancies)
- Arrows or other projectiles (such as throwing daggers) to the female body make Quelaag stagger

As soon as you enter the boss arena, move; get out of the entrance area as Quelaag may leap or charge on the character, often resulting in the player becoming pinned near the entrance and leaving them unable to avoid her attacks. It is generally easier to focus on attacking her legs rather than her body, as this allows you to retreat more quickly and also avoid getting trapped between her legs and her body when she starts turning or jumps.

It is also possible to dodge all three of her sword attacks if you time it right. Just make sure to dodge to your right for the first two attacks, otherwise they'll both hit you. Simply walk forward and to the right to avoid the thrust attack; you can take advantage of that moment to clobber her with a strong attack. Typically she'll jump back after that; if she doesn't, there's a good chance she's about to use her Fire Wave attack, so back up quickly and block (which will absorb some of the damage if you don't get clear far enough).

Making her spit lava pools near the sides of the room drastically gives melee players more space in the middle of the room, making it easier to avoid her AoE attacks and block/dodge. Be sure to switch out of targeting her, when appropriate, as her attacks may put you in a tight situation and you may be forced to flee. Also be careful that she doesn't use the Lava Rush attack while getting close to you.

A relatively easy way to beat this boss is to be human and summon Maneater Mildred, whose summon sign is right outside the Fog Door. Let Mildred distract Quelaag and stay away from her lava attack, as this is certain death. When away from her, pick off her health with ranged attacks, while Mildred tanks. This way Quelaag should be dead within a short period of time.

DROPS:

- Soul of Quelaag
- 20,000 souls
- 1 Twin Humanities

He's a passive enemy unless you attack him or loot the Gold-Hemmed Black Set, in which case, he becomes hostile. Taking the Gold-Hemmed Black Set from the dead body will permanently aggro Ceaseless Discharge.
If the player intended to fight Ceaseless Discharge, but fails at killing him, he will be pre-aggroed on the next encounter.

Ceaseless Discharge's attacks all involve its numerous arms. Many attacks are slow and long ranged and cause mostly Fire and Strike damage. Each attack can be dodged at the last second by running or rolling just before it hits the player. Its arm will also rest for a while after every attack, giving the player a chance to attack.

Ceaseless Discharge can be range attacked with a longbow and standard arrows, from the safe corner of the crevice. Once it moves to face its original resting spot, two of its limbs will be visible from the crevice. The upper limb can be shot with the correct timing, without inciting a return attack.

For melee characters it is possible to bait his attacks and avoid them using the stairs. Once the Ceaseless Discharge has become hostile, run back around the L shaped hallway and down the stairs to wait for the boss. When the boss starts walking past the stairs run back up the stairs and wait for him to perform his attack animation. When he starts to attack run down the stairs and wait for the smoke to clear from his arm and then run up and land a few attacks. Rinse and repeat until he is dead.

Similarly to baiting by using the stairs, the pathway to the right of the stairs can also be used. When the Ceaseless Discharge has been provoked, run to the center of the first length of the path nearest the stairs. The boss should then round the corner and begin its slam attack down the path; as it starts its attack, run around the paths corner and stay back as far as possible, just as the arm lands run back around and hit the arm. This can be repeated until he is defeated.

An alternative method is to simply run back towards the fog door. The Ceaseless Discharge will pursue the player while attempting to attack. When the player is at the fog door, the boss will leap and latch onto the nearby cliff, holding with one hand. Attacking his hand will cause him to fall after attacking a few times. However, this exploit does not work if he is aggroed in any way besides picking up the armor set or running back where the set was, as the arm needs to be out of his chest. If the player fails to achieve victory, they must run back to the corpse as if they were picking up the Gold Hemmed Set for the first time and then return to the fog door. Without returning to the corpse, the boss will not grab the cliff edge.

DROPS:

- 20,000 Souls (1.05 patch)
- 1 Humanity
- 1 Homeward Bone
- The Gold-Hemmed Black armor is found at the end of the boss area.

For melee fighters, getting underneath Sif is generally the best strategy, as it makes most attacks miss the player character completely. Care must still be taken to dodge, block or move out of the way of the slam attack, though. Locking on is not always a good idea when doing this, as it can make the camera spin and make it harder to control one's position. Two-handing is more effective, as it will make the fight shorter and reduce the number of slams that need to be dodged.

For ranged characters, players can simply target-lock Sif and kite Sif backwards around the edge of the arena. Staying as far as possible away from Sif will cause most, if not all, of Sif's attacks to miss.

Using miracles, sorcery, or pyromancy to soften Sif up before moving in with melee attacks can also prove to be effective.

Using a summoned phantom as a decoy can make positioning oneself under Sif easier. In a party of two or more players only one should try to get under Sif, otherwise players may bump into each other when trying to dodge Sif's attacks.

Sif's attacks can be blocked, but most of them will cause a significant loss of stamina, even with a good shield. Learning Sif's attack patterns and avoiding them completely, either by dodging or simply walking out of the way, is highly recommended.

Before the player enters through the fog gate, there is a broken piece of bridge to the left that can be jumped onto. This is most easily accomplished by unequipping all gear beforehand. After reaching the bridge there is another pile of rock resting at the top that can easily be reached through jumping. When at the top, Sif will be visible. Sif will be unable to reach the player, but the player will be able to damage Sif with arrows or other ranged attacks.

DROPS:


- Soul of Sif
- 40,000 souls
- Covenant of Artorias
- 1 Humanity
- 1 Homeward Bone

When you start this battle, you will be on the opposite end of the area from the Iron Golem. Take note of where he begins; it is on a narrow path with sheer drops on either side. Hurry over to it, and get ready to attack. You will need all the power you can muster here. Blocking will be challenging as the Golem's swings will eat up large amounts of your stamina.

Consider putting your shield away and going in two-handed. Immediately move through the Iron Golem's legs and start attacking his back heels. You need to be careful of certain attacks while here, in particular the Grab and Sweep, or his stomp (he grabs back through his legs, so don't go thinking you're invincible back there). Getting hit by either of these could result in being knocked off the platform yourself, killing you. Nevertheless, you should stay positioned behind either the Iron Golem's feet. While here, you must attack as often as possible, concentrating attacks on one leg if possible. If you can do enough damage to a foot in a short enough span of time, he will start wobbling. This is the signal for you to keep piling on the hurt; do this enough and the Iron Golem will trip and fall over backwards, for a long enough time for you to deal some serious damage. If you can make this happen on the narrow strip of platform where the Iron Golem first appeared, he will fall backwards off the platform and die instantly.

A higher-leveled hero can weather his blows with a tough shield and slog it out, blow for blow. Someone with good timing and a lighter weight armor could play the maneuverable route and dodge and dive for the victory, as most of his attacks are well-telegraphed.

A spear will probably hinder you here (you might be considering using the lightning spear you just picked up), as many of your attacks may whiff harmlessly at the nothing between his legs.
Easy Melee Strategy

Just lock on him and when he raises his axe to hit you just roll FORWARD between his legs and hit his legs a few times. He will try to turn and hit you again but just keep rolling through his legs. He will fall down when his health is very low and then you can just end his misery.

Watch out his other left foot cause sometimes he tries to crush you with it and forget the shield in this fight. No need to block.

In the tower to the right of the boss fog wall, over a small bridge, you can summon the phantom Iron Tarkus to aid you in the battle against the Iron Golem, assuming you are in human form of course.

DROPS:


- Core of an Iron Golem
- 40,000 Souls
- 1 Humanity
- Additionally unlocks the ability to buy the Iron Golem armor set from Domhnall of Zena.

Because this boss is not incredibly hard, or has a varying arsenal of moves and attacks, these strategies are more of how to deal with her when she's invisible.

Priscilla summons a blizzard that turns her invisible if you attack her, therefore the main way to find her when she is invisible is to keep your shield up or keep moving and watch the snow for her footprints.

Do not spam attacks when you locate her, strike her once or twice and then roll away and block. This should minimize the number of times you are struck by her scythe, and particularly avoid receiving a dangerous bleed effect as a result of repeated hits from her scythe.

If you manage to cut her health enough to reveal herself, she'll start using her blizzard attack. This is easily avoided by running to the side, or staying behind her. Keep your distance to avoid being hit by the scythe, or use Bloodshield or the Bloodbite Ring to reduce the bleed build-up from her attacks. If you manage to chop off her tail - which is what you should aim for - you get the special weapon Priscilla's Dagger. Be sure to only aim for her tail first, to avoid mistiming it and killing her before you can obtain it.

Drops

- Soul of Priscilla
- 30 000 souls (NG) or 60000 souls (NG+1)
- 1 Twin Humanities
- Priscilla's Dagger, when her tail is cut off.

Both characters fight you right from the begining, you must focus in one of them, once defeated the other will absorb the survivor's health and also will get stronger to defeat.

ORNSTEIN:
He is s the faster of the two bosses, but his hitbox is narrower and his attacks are easier to dodge. Ornstein's smaller frame may sometimes be hidden by Smough's large body and he can also attack you through him. Use his Gliding attacks to get some distance between the two, or use the walls.

It is also important to keep your shield, but more importantly, your guard up when entering the arena as Ornstein is known to close the space very quickly at times. He may also send large lightning bolts at the host in a similarly dangerous fashion.

When Smough does a charging attack, make sure a pillar is directly between you, so that he hits it with his hammer. The key to this tactic is that Smough seems to path straight when charging (unlike Ornstein's floating charge that goes around objects). As long as you move around a pillar, so that it is directly between you and Smough, and occasionally bait his hammer blows by moving closer to the pillar, you can effectively separate him from Ornstein, who will walk/float around the pillars to you. Wait for Ornstein to start a combo while Smough is behind the pillar, block or dodge it, hit him a few times, and then check on Smough's position to make sure he is still behind a pillar. If he is walking around to get to you, simply strafe until he is once again on the other side relative to you. This may take a few tries to get the hang of, but the advantage of the tactic is that by separating them you buy yourself a few precious seconds during which you need only worry about Ornstein.

Keep your attention on the other boss while attacking his partner. Move the camera to a position where you can see both of them. Do not let them corner you and try to evade their attacks instead of blocking, as that will drain your stamina and leave you vulnerable to his partner's attack. After he transforms, keep close to him and attack at his legs, but watch out for the Impale, and Crash attacks. Keep up the pressure, read his movements, and he will eventually go down.

Run backwards—with shield ready to block—and wait for Ornstein to attack. Hit him one to three times and back up again. Watch out for Smough's jump attack (just roll this attack). If Ornstein is difficult to hit, due to being constantly close to Smough, the pillars around the room can be used to separate them for some quick hits.

When fighting Super Ornstein, make your way behind a broken pillar (one of them should be broken from the first part of the fight), while keeping him at a range. Stay behind the pillar and wait for him to spam his lightning attack. If he rushes at you, you did it wrong. If he spams his lightning attack, you can simply target him from here, using sorcery/a bow and easily kill him.

You may need to move a bit to the side so your magic will shoot over the pillar, but make sure you don't get hit. Be wary that even if you get him in his lightning bolt attack, he can still stop the attack and resume his usual pattern of attacks, so be ready to pull out your shield when that time comes.

SMOUGH:
He is bigger, stronger, but is a lot slower than Ornstein, however is quite mobile for his size. When fighting Smough, the player must make use of their rolls and the pillars in the room. Adapting to this style of play here will make this fight a lot easier. Make sure you have a decent shield and Quelaag's Furysword or another fire based weapon. A Lightning Spear is helpful but not required for Super Smough (Sen's fortress mimic, the Demon Spear from pink gargoyles or make one). You will want to have below 50% carry weight at the very least; below 25% is better if you think you can do it.

With Super Smough, equip your lightning spear if you have one and position yourself the same way, with Smough on the opposite side of a pillar. Run around the pillar towards him with your shield up to bait his attack. Back up to dodge his sweeps and roll to dodge his forward hammer slam. While he recovers, run around the pillar and stab him a couple times. Rinse and repeat. The advantage of a spear is that you can hit him from further away, making more efficient use of his vulnerable recovery time. The only attack you need to be aware of is his electrified butt slam; when he jumps in the air, roll back twice and you should be fine. Under 25% weight for this will make the butt-slam a joke: you shouldn't be taking hits. By standing behind a broken pillar with enough distance between you and Ornstein, he will keep using the lightning bolt attack and you can shoot at him from a safe distance with no fear of the other attacks.

DROPS:


- Soul of Ornstein/Smough
- Leo Ring (Just Super Ornstein)
- 50,000 Souls
- Ornstein's/Smough's Set can be bought from Domhnall of Zena in Firelink Shrine.

Pinwheel is a very frail boss, with the fifth lowest hit points of any boss in the game. However, he can quickly become dangerous as he can summon an unlimited number of clones, all of whom deal the same amount of damage as he does. Therefore, a good strategy for fighting Pinwheel is to rush at him right when the fight starts and do as much damage as possible. When he teleports after summoning his clones, it's still possible to land some hits on him before he disappears. A simple tactic to identify the clones from the real Pinwheel is to lock on to him when possible.

DROPS:

- 15,000 souls
- Rite of Kindling
- 1 Humanity
- One of its three masks:
Mask of the Father
Mask of the Mother
Mask of the Child

Gwyndolin's boss battle takes place in a seemingly neverending corridor.

He is not a very difficult boss if the player has decent dodging skills. Of his three attacks, two can be avoided by hiding behind pillars, while the last one is more powerful and fast (he will tend to use the Sphere Shot after Orb Spread if the player is hiding behind pillars). The main issue in this fight is reaching him, as he will teleport away when the player approaches (equipping the Ring of Fog may increase the time available to attack before he teleports), meaning that the best time to run up to him is when he is just finishing off his Arrow Spread, as he takes a few moments to recover. Gwyndolin can still be damaged while he is in his teleporting animation and for a split second after actually moving, so it is possible to deal considerable damage at that moment.

Both the Orb and Arrow Spread attacks are avoidable by hiding behind one of the pillars on either side of the corridor. The Sphere Shot, on the other hand, will go through walls, inflicting full damage if not blocked or avoided. The Orb Spread and Sphere Shot are Magic-based, though, so a shield that can block 100% physical damage and has good Magic resistance, like the Crest Shield, is recommended for this fight.

While devastating, both the Sphere Shot and Arrow Spread attacks have no tracking whatsoever and are easily avoided simply by running diagonally. If a player does not want to risk it too much, a good strategy to catch up to him is by moving from pillar to pillar until they are about two pillars away from Gwyndolin and then wait until he shoots his Arrow Spread. This attack can consist of two-to-four arrow barrages. Wait until he finishes the second one and go for him, if he shoots any subsequent arrows, dodge them by running diagonally.


Alternatively, once Gwyndolin teleports the first time upon entering the tomb, it is possible to move closer to him to a point just outside his aggro range; then, by equipping the Hawk Ring and using the Dragonslayer Greatbow, the player can easily defeat him from range without him retaliating.


DROPS:



- Soul of Gwyndolin
- 40,000 souls
- After Gwyndolin is defeated, proceed to the room at the end of the boss-hallway to find the Brass Armor set, and the Sunlight Blade miracle, in two out of three chests.
- Defeating Gwyndolin will also make his armor available to purchase from Domhnall of Zena.

The Demon Firesage is very similar in terms of moveset and attacks to the Stray Demon, so the same rules apply here: staying behind it and keeping a shield up should damage be unavoidable are good ideas. Be wary of its overhead attacks that are blockable, but deal heavy stamina damage.

Getting too far away from it will cause it to either leap at the player with its hammer, or do a straight down smash, which can take away a large chunk of stamina. Note that both of those attacks do not track, so with proper timing, one can easily roll through their smashes.


The Demon Firesage is highly susceptible to Bleed buildup.


DROPS:


- 20,000 Souls
- Demon's Catalyst
- 1 Humanity

First and Foremost, run over the lava, around the corner on the right. Hidden behind that corner is a large field where you can properly fight him.

One method to make this fight easier is to cut off his tail from the beginning. If you can lure him to stand over you, you can hit him and be relatively safe, keeping up your block when he motions for an attack, just in case. His tail has a mind of its own, and can be like fighting two enemies, so be sure to take care of it early on. The Centipede will become crazy after the tail cutting and will run through walls but you must stay behind his back feet. The tail will grow back so cut it off again.

Dodge his arm extension move once he gets close, and run up to him.


The Centipede Demon will use AoE attack when its health is low, so make sure to pay extra attention to his attacks when his health dips. Using a shield with decent stability will improve your survival odds.


You can summon Solaire of Astoria to make this fight easier, his summon sign is in the center of a root on the left near the fog wall. However, Solaire has a tendency to walk into the lava and die depending on the Centipede Demon's position.


DROPS:



- 40,000 souls
- Orange Charred Ring
- 1 Humanity
- 1 Homeward Bone

This boss, akin to the Dragon God from Demon's Souls, is a puzzle boss. Upon entering the arena you will notice two large, non-respawning orange orbs, one on either side of the boss. These spheres contain one glowing root each, surrounded by normal roots; the glowing roots can be destroyed by normal damage while the regular roots can also be destroyed by rolling into them.

The two glowing roots need to be destroyed to proceed with the fight, but doing so causes a fiery being to emerge from the boss itself, increasing the boss' attack options and severity, and also causes the floor to begin to crumble in specific locations. The main danger of this fight is falling into these bottomless pits. Make sure not to sprint mindlessly as you will fall in the collapsing floor; stay attentive to the floor, more so than the boss.

Once you take both the orbs, carefully proceed down the middle, but expect a mass chunk of the floor to fall through. This will expose a little ledge you can jump off of and onto a thick tree branch. Before you do so, pay attention to the pattern of melee swings of the boss, so that they do not hit you midair and cause you to fail the jump. Run up the branch, rolling through the little branches sticking out of the cave entrance. In here, you'll find a small tunnel with more little branches you need to roll through.


Defeat the Bed of Chaos, by killing the Chaos Bug at the end of the small tunnel; any amount of damage will do the trick.


Since the orbs do not respawn, and going from the starting area of the boss arena to either of the orbs or towards the boss itself is easier than going from orb to orb or from them towards the boss, quitting the game after destroying the glowing roots can be used to great effect. The next time you log the character, you will appear just outside the fog door, and you can instantly enter again and head towards the other orange sphere or attempt to make the jump to the tunnel in an easier fashion.


DROPS:



- Lord's Soul
- 60,000 Souls
- 1 Humanity

When falling into Nito's domain, some damage will be incurred. This can be negated through use of the Fall Control sorcery. If Fall Control is unavailable, make sure to heal once landed, preferably with Estus as the other forms might not be fast enough to avoid Nito's ranged attack.

Nito is a very large, very slow boss with average HP. This makes large weapons and slow spells excellent candidates for dealing damage to him quickly. Nito's attacks often cause toxin and can be quite damaging, but almost all of them have a very long startup time and are easily avoidable. All of the attacks except the sword dance can be blocked.

Nito is aided by some minor Skeletons initially, and Giant Skeletons if the player ventures too far from the place they fell down from. Both types of Skeletons resurrect after being killed, unless they are killed with a Divine weapon (even with a Divine weapon a Phantom can't kill the skeletons, only the Host can). They are no tougher than the Skeletons found throughout The Catacombs and the Tomb of the Giants, but may prove to be a fatal distraction to fighting Nito himself. Because Nito is so slow, it is a good idea to kill all of his minions with a Divine weapon before engaging with him, so the skeletons will not get in the way. As long as you are not close to him, the only attack you have to watch out for is his Gravelord Greatsword (listen for the scream and start running). Wearing the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring will help in avoiding confrontation with the Giant Skeletons at the back of the cavern.


He can easily be strafed behind for free hits, resulting in large amounts of damage – especially if attacking him with fire weapons or pyromancies (as he is weak to fire).


DROPS:



- Lord Soul (Soul of Gravelord Nito)
- 60,000 souls
- 1 Humanity

Meet Seath for the first time after taking the second elevator in the Archives and continuing up an increasingly-crystalized corridor, that ultimately leads up to Seath's fog gate. This is where your 0 deaths attempt comes to an end, as to progress, Seath needs to kill the player. Souls and Humanity will be lost upon death, unless a Ring of Sacrifice/Rare Ring of Sacrifice is worn - we highly recommend to equip one as this next section presents you a couple of challenges that may result in your death.



The second time allows you to enact your revenge on Seath, for the injustice of the first. To do this, you must venture through the Crystal Cave, and find him at the end of the area, past an abundance of invisible walkways, Man-Eater Shells, and Crystal Golems. Unlike most other boss areas, Seath's area will lack a fog gate, the first time you enter from the Crystal Cave which allows the Man-Eater Shells to enter the area making it a tougher fight; however they can be damaged by Seath, and in the event that you do die, the next time you enter the area and every subsequent attempt, a fog gate will be present to block Man-Eater Shells from entering the boss' arena. Past the Man-Eater Shell area, you'll find another spacey area with a number of statues of cursed players standing in low, glowing mist.


Make your way across the area to trigger the cinematic that will show Seath the Scaleless make his grand entrance, but not before emphasizing the crystal at the end of the room; this is the Primordial Crystal, his immortality. Destroy it, destroy his immortality. Alternately, if you are entering a second time, you'll be required to run around Seath to reach it, but don't be too worried as it will break on one hit.

Unless you have already been defeated by Seath before, do not break the Primordial Crystal immediately. If he is entering for the first time, wait for him to move forward into the middle of the room, first. If you break it too early, he will spend most of the battle right at the area's entrance, and his tail will clip through the walls. This makes it extremely difficult to acquire the Moonlight Greatsword, and exposes you to much greater risk from his physical or breath attacks when trying to get behind him in close quarters.

It is possible to kill Seath without destroying the crystal yourself. If you would like to add insult to injury, wait for Seath to reach you, then circle around to his tail. He'll most likely attempt an attack on you but will destroy his crystal, reversing his immortality and becoming momentarily stunned, which gives you a small window to get free hits on his tail.

Numerous strategies will be effective against Seath, as he moves slowly and can be target locked from very far away. Ranged weapons, spells, pyromancies, and miracles are all effective, as are melee attacks on his appendages. During your first battle with Seath, it is recommended that you do not rush him, but instead observe him to get a sense of his attack patterns and vulnerabilities. The boss area is quite large and it is usually trivial to stay out of range of his breath attacks until you decide to commit.

Specifically, staying off to either the left or right of Seath will allow the player to take him on quite easily. Just continue to hit his side tails until he lunges down to hit, then roll or block to get away and face his front. When Seath goes for a frontal attack, move to his side again and attack. Repeat these patterns until he is dead.


DROPS:



- 60,000 Souls
- Bequeathed Lord Soul Shard
- 1 Humanity
- Moonlight Greatsword: Attacking the tip of Seath's larger rear tail (not the smaller side ones) will eventually cut it off, giving the host the sword automatically. Players must attack the tip of the tail and not the base.

The Abyss can be a confusing place to those entering it for the first time. By its nature, there are few visual cues as to the direction the player is moving, and it is easy to get disoriented. The first King will not appear instantly, so it is important to continue rotating the camera, as the King may appear from any direction in this shapeless void. It will first appear at a distance, so try to spot it as quickly as you can. If you're not a mage, it's recommended to have good poise and just charge the first King to reduce the likelihood it starts using ranged spells.

Strafing to one side as close to the King as much as possible possible, will allow you to repeatedly land your stronger melee attacks. It is generally better to attack rather than to try block, so two handed weapons often work better. Leave yourself just enough stamina to block or roll if you get into trouble, and make sure to top off your life bar whenever it drops below 50 percent. Having 15-20 Estus +5 or higher, can make a big difference. You may also have time to use Humanity items during the fight or if you kill each King before the next appears.


Quickly try to defeat each King as soon as it spawns, because the constant spawning is on a timer and you can give yourself breathing room between each spawn, if you kill them quickly.


DROP:



- Bequeathed Lord Soul Shard
- 60,000 souls
- 4 Humanity

A Lightweight Shield with high stability, decent lightning resist and 100% Physical resist is recommended, such as Dark Knight Shield or Silver Knight Shield. (both 65% Lightning resist) Eagle Shield is also a viable option with it's 95% Phys resist. Combined with a light armor set with high lightning resistance, like Xanthous' yellow set. As for the weapon, a strong weapon with decent recovery speed is a good option to cut off the tail in one or two hit while 2H wielding. (ex: Axes, Greatswords, Halberds)
The fight is relatively easy if you have fast reaction skills. When you enter it will most likely let out a roar and use Lightning Barrage against you. Just sprint/roll to the right to avoid this. Walking with low Burden is a much more effective way to avoid since it's fast enough to evade the barrage without expanding stamina.

Lock on to the Guardian and keep your shield up when you move forward, as it may start bashing immediately. Try to keep to the side of the monster and just wail at it with a relatively strong weapon. Be wary of its' poisonous tail if you don't want to destroy it to get the drop. Pay attention to its' leaps, as it's easy to lose your Lock-On when he does so.



DROPS:



- Guardian Tail (Cut off tail)
- Guardian Soul
- 1 Humanity

While this boss is really difficult to predict, he does have a few tells for his attacks and a quick roll is very important. Place yourself away from him by about twice his reach at all times (even for melee).

Aerial Attacks

When he uses his Somersault slam attack you will want to roll to the right as the camera tilts upward while locked onto him. You want to do this three times and then get in 1 or 2 attacks (based on your weapon) after the third attack lands. Avoid attacking after his Steadfast Leap. Instead use that opportunity to heal or get some distance from him.

Standing Attacks

When he uses his Overhand Smash, roll to the right. While he leaves himself open for a frames, he will usually follow up with his Spinning Slash attack. Therefore it is best to get some distance from him instead as the Spinning Slash attack is difficult to get away from when it begins.

Charging Attacks

With his Charging Slash move you will always want to roll backwards from where he intends to land the attack. After successfully dodging this attack, you will be able to get 1 or 2 hits on him.
His Heavy Thrust attack will need to be side dodged. Depending on which way he turns during the charge, you will need to dodge the opposite way. After you dodge he has a long recovery time and you should be able to get 2 or 3 hits in.

Other Attacks

When you are behind Artorias he may use his Abyss Sludge attack. This move does little damage but can stun you. If timed right, you can roll forward through the attack and get a hit on him then immediately retreat.

After Artorias has lost 1/3 of his health he will start to use his Wrath of the Abyss power up. If left alone, he will do much more damage after he completes the power up for a limited time, potentially one shotting you. If you can get close fast enough, you can stun him out of his power up before it's completed by hitting him repeatedly. If you don't do enough damage fast enough then he will hit you with an AOE blast attack that will knock you on your back. Your best bet is to use a heavy, high damage, weapon and stop him from gaining his attack buff, or to quickly whip out a bow and shoot him in the face.


DROPS:



- 25,000 souls if fought with a sunlight warrior or 50.000 souls without (100.000 in NG)
- Soul of Artorias

Kalameet can be very aggressive and also chain or spam charges or AoE attacks, so it pays to be patient and look for opportunities rather than try to pummel him as quickly as possible. Blocking with a good shield while strafing tends to be more effective than trying to roll out of the way of his attacks, as many of them have large and unpredictable hit boxes that are hard to evade. Many of his attacks will, if successful, also knock you down in addition to dealing high damage, so a mistimed roll can result in extreme punishment or what amounts to a OHKO when he uses another AoE attack while you are trying to get back to your feet after being knocked down by the prior attack.


Kalameet's black flame attacks deals mostly physical and magic damage, so high magic resist shields such as the Crest Shield or even the Dark Hand are better choices than fire resistant shields like the Black Knight or Dragon Crest shields. Armor that protects against magic damage is similarly more effective than high fire resist armor.


Cutting off Kalameet's tail will automatically give the host player the Obsidian Greatsword, and also briefly knock Kalameet to the ground. Kalameet's tail can be difficult to sever, as he moves about fairly quickly, and does not often lower it to the ground. Weapons with vertical overhead swings such as various greatswords (including the obsidian greatsword), scythes, pole arms, and axes tend to be the most effective. As discussed above, his Tail Smash, Mark of Calamity, and Slithering Flames attacks are good opportunities to get behind him and attack his tail. It is also possible to cut his tail off with spells or ranged attacks, but this is usually a matter of blind luck. Thankfully, the tail has surprisingly low hp compared to Kalameet's overall life bar, and can be severed by as few as 4-5 hits with a sufficiently upgraded melee weapon. The tail should be hit as close to the tip as possible since hitting too close to the body - even though technically still hitting the tail - will not register as 'tail damage'.


Player summons are particularly helpful in this boss battle, as one or more players can more easily get behind Kalameet to attack his tail if he is focused on someone else. Once Kalameet has been shot down into the valley arena by Gough, he is considered the "new" boss of the area even with Artorias dead, so players may once again be summoned in the area (and the host may once again be invaded while in human form). Although it is possible to find summon signs right outside Kalameet's fog gate on the valley floor, it is usually much easier to summon players near Artorias's arena up above the valley, and then lead them back down to Kalameet.


It is strongly recommended that the player bring a full complement of 20 Estus flasks to the fight (ideally upgraded to +6/+7), as it can be a long and brutal battle. Summoned players should also try to bring their own forms of healing items and miracles, as even 20 upgraded Estus flasks is often not enough.


Crossbows are very effective against Kalameet. Kalameet can be target locked with a ranged weapon from very far away, and a crossbow permits the user to also hold a shield in their off hand, enabling the player to block Kalameet's various charges and fire breath and then immediately shoot him with the crossbow during his recoveries. For example, a heavy crossbow +15 and heavy bolts safely deal on the order of 150 hp damage per shot even at long range, and heavy bolts may be purchased from nearby vendor Marvelous Chester.


There is a crystal lizard that appears on one of the waterfall's rock platforms or falls to base of the waterfall to the left of the ladder. Players descending the ladder can usually sprint over and kill the lizard before Kalameet arrives in the area.


A chest containing a Titanite Slab lies near one of the waterfalls. Defeating Kalameet is not necessary to loot it (you can pick it in the middle of the fight, but it's not recommended), although it may be troublesome to reach it if Hawkeye Gough hasn't shot him down.


Kalameet has a critical point vulnerable to projectiles. As you may suspect, it is his red nose. While it is a small target, hitting it with an arrow or bolt will cause a significant stagger, and deal Triple damage. It is quite hard to hit with crossbows, the easiest time being during the Mark of Calamity attack, or Slithering Flames. It is much easier to hit with a bow, as many of his magical attacks leave his head still or slow-moving.


You can be damaged after almost any aerial attack if Kalameet lands on you, as with most other bosses.


DROPS:



60000 Souls
Calamity Ring
Obsidian Greatsword (if tail is severed)

If you saved Sif in the area before the boss room*, it's possible to summon him to assist you during the battle. There will be a White Summon Sign near the middle of the room (behind and to the left of where you start) that will summon Sif to aid you in his puppy form, although the summon sign can be a little difficult to reach due to the boss's quick attack rates. The summon sign can also be tricky to spot at first, given that your attention will be on avoiding Manus' attacks from the moment you enter the arena. Sif attacks rather slowly for approximately 100 damage on NG but it is extremely difficult for Manus to kill him, and he is thus a suitable distraction for solo players, or for those who cannot find summon signs for Manus in their level range. As opposed to other summons signs, all you need to do is interact with this one to summon Sif, there is no confirmation dialog.

(*From Oolacile Dungeon Bonfire, head down to the first mass of humanity spirits, then turn left and take the small fall off the small ledge onto an illusory floor rather than turn right to fight them. Then follow the ghostly Alvina through the caves until she disappears next to the shortcut to the surface; The last time Alvina disappears, there will be an illusory wall directly behind that you can strike or roll through to open, head in and kill the spirits to save Sif).

Use a Green Blossom or equip a stamina recharge piece( Cloranthy Ring, Grass Crest Shield or Mask of the Child), before entering the boss room. The best way to defeat him is just to stay close enough and block his attacks with Greatshield of Artorias or a high stability 100% physical shield(+15 Heater Shield, +5 Black Knight Shield, etc. If you have enough endurance after his attacks, you can hit him once immediately after with a medium speed or faster weapon(No Zweihanders or other UltraGreatswords/etc), or just wait until he does one of the more powerful attacks, as he will have a one to two second delay afterwards.
You must watch your stamina, because if you will fail to block one of his hits in a combo, you will be unable to block the rest of his attack due to the speed. He will also Leap occasionally (even in melee range), this is difficult to dodge and near impossible to block it in melee range (because his hand will land behind your character, and thus your shield will not mitigate it), but it is easily avoidable from a distance.
It is a good idea to watch him carefully, as when the area around him starts glow he will cast one of his Dark energy spells. When he casts, you can see what he casts by his animation, and decide where you will run (Right or Left from Dark Wave, Backwards from Dark Rain or Closer to him if he cast Dark Circle).
Another method to defeat him is just running far from him and waiting, when he will leap, then counter attack. But you will be almost unable to dodge Dark Circle attack. It is recommended that you lift your shield only before a hit, and recover right after. If a low stability shield user constantly block when Manus uses his hand smacking combo (you can predict this move when Manus screams), the player might find himself vulnerable as the damage done can easily eat up a whole stamina bar. Don't be scared to recover stamina between hits since there is decent pause between each hit.

Light weight characters can dodge nearly every attack with their invincibility frames, although some of the attacks such as his frenzy are impossible to dodge due to the incredible attack speed and the massive area that some of the attacks hit, necessitating a hasty retreat when he winds up.


DROPS



- 60000 souls
- Soul of Manus
- 10 Humanity

Health and Stamina management are a must in this fight, as Gwyn will rarely give the player any chances to heal. It is heavily advisable to use a fast weapon to attack with, preferably one that drains little stamina. Heavy weapons are not recommended for this fight. It may be hard for the player to find a proper opening to fight back or heal as a result of Gwyn actively seeking the player. His attacks deal a great amount of damage if they connect. If blocked, his attacks will still deal considerable damage to the player as a result of the flame damage his sword deals. A good way to reduce the damage to a slight margin is by using shields with high fire defense, such as the Black Iron Greatshield or the Black Knight Shield, which can be dropped by the nearby Black Knights; however, care should still be taken as blocking a full attack chain will cost a lot of stamina and may eventually result in losing health or dying. The Gold-Hemmed Black Set can further negate the fire damage at the cost of less physical defense against his attacks.

The pillars in the arena can be used to block his attacks, however, Gwyn will easily move around them and continue attacking. It is possible for him to keep attacking a pillar that is blocking his path, giving the player a chance to heal, however, he may simply go around it.

Parrying is a high-risk, but incredibly efficient strategy. All of Gwyn's attacks, minus the kick and grab, can be parried. Using the Hornet Ring, a single riposte can erase a large fraction of Gwyn's health. However, any mistakes can end up badly for the player. Therefore, it may be preferable to opt for heavier armor for this strategy, as dodging is not the main tactic, and the additional poise and defense leaves some margin for error. It is ideal to block the first hit of his combo, and parry the telegraphed second hit. After performing a riposte, the player will have just enough time to Estus heal.

Summoning Solaire or other players can help ease the battle, giving a chance to heal or apply buffs. For Solaire, he may be able to land several hits before dying. By using the Black Knight Halberd or a spear type weapon you can hit Gwyn through the pillars and take little damage from his attacks.

While Gwyn does not provide for a lot of openings, especially if wielding a slow weapon like the Zweihander, it is possible, through using a shield with enough stability and having enough fire resistance, to use a circling strategy.

Keeping very close to Gwyn and keeping a shield up, the player can be dealt very little damage by the flaming sword by constantly strafing to the player's left. When Gwyn attempts to grab the player or kick them, the slower animation should enable the player to get behind Gwyn's back, thus making the attack miss. At that point, there's a small window to get an attack in. With a weapon with a strong enough attack to break Gwyn's poise, the player then has a full second to finish the attack animation and get the shield back up, effectively never breaking their guard.

Use of this strategy requires the player to keep a close look on their stamina bar.


Regularly, though, the player will have to heal themselves, unless the fire damage is completely negated. Using the pillar strategy outlined above is quite efficient. It is a good idea to keep one's health high enough to that a grab attack can't kill with one hit. Therefore, having 20 estus flasks is recommended.



DROPS:



- 70,000 souls
- Soul of Gwyn, Lord of Cinder