Dark Souls 2: How to Beat Velstadt, the Royal Aegis

Continue your journey with Prima’s Dark Souls 2 Guide and Walkthrough!

Reward: Soul of Velstadt

Velstadt, the Royal Aegis is one of the slower bosses in Dark Souls 2. If you have a shield that absorbs 100 percent damage and a decent amount of stamina, there isn’t much to this battle. If you don’t have those things available, then one has to question how you made it this far into the game. 

The biggest weakness Velstadt, the Royal Aegis has is that all of his attacks have a great deal of recovery. Most of them are even slow to execute. Make sure you’re as agile as possible during this fight, even stripping down to lighter armor if you have to. If you stay close to Velstadt, he generally uses a single attack or a two-hit combo attack. All of these attacks are relatively slow, only drain about 40 percent of your stamina if you block (and have decent stamina) and once blocked or evaded, you can hit Velstadt at least three times before he recovers. 

If you stand a little bit away from Velstadt, he uses a moderately quick but linear lunging attack. This is a single hit attack, and can be blocked or evaded. If it’s blocked, it drains a bit more stamina than his other attacks, but you still have enough stamina to counter with at least one or two attacks.

When Velstadt takes a knee and summons a dark power, go to town on him. The summoning circle does not inflict damage, and the dark aura doesn’t impact the fight if you follow the previous tactics. While he’s down on one knee, you can drain a good 20 percent of his health with a full stamina bar. Just be careful when you strike, as his attacks have some delay and he may not be done with his current combo. As previously mentioned, most of his attack combos consist of one or two swings, so be ready. 

Defeat Velstadt, then head down the stairs and into the next room, and ignore the giant while you pick up the King’s Ring near the edge of the battlefield. Head back up the stairs and speak with the woman at the top. Now that you have the King’s Ring, you can enter the doors that asked for proof of the king. Your next destination is Aldia’s Keep.