Once you’ve made it through the Cemetery of Ash you must face off against the boss, Iudex Gundyr before you can continue. To initiate the battle, walk up to the petrified Iudex Gundyr and remove the Coiled Sword from his chest. You can then attack the boss while he’s standing up to get a few easy hits in. The battle against Iudex Gundyr is fairly straightforward. Stay close to him and circle around until he reels back in preparation for an attack. All of his attacks in this form are considered physical, so if you have a shield that will absorb all physical damage (the shield the Knight class starts with), this battle is significantly easier. If you don’t have the shield you will need to dodge left or right to avoid Gundyr’s attacks.
Most of Gundyr’s attacks consist of two wide swings with a slight pause between the two swings. His weapon is large and gives him ample range to attack, so don’t let your guard down if you back away. It’s also important to continually circle around Gundyr even in the middle of his attacks. This will help you to avoid his grab attack which is slow but can be deadly if you get caught by it. As long as you’re continually on the move you won’t have much to worry about.
If you want to play it safe, do not attack Gundyr until after each of his two-hit combos. You have plenty of time after his combo attacks to lay into the boss while it recovers and prepares to attack again. Be mindful of your Stamina, especially if you’re a Knight using a shield to absorb all of Gundyr’s attacks. Both Gundyr’s attacks and your attacks will consume Stamina. If you don’t have any Stamina when you block an attack from Gundyr, you will take damage.
Once you get Gundyr down to approximately 50 percent health he pauses and changes to his second form. In this phase of the battle Gundyr’s attacks have considerably more range. In addition, the boss will jump into the air and land on top of you, inflicting significant damage.
Continue to circle around him, but this time stay as close as you can. While Gundyr has extended range in this form, he has a harder time attacking if you remain very close to him. You should only back away when Gundyr jumps into the air, then roll away just behind the boss lands to avoid the attack. If you back away from Gundyr you’ll have to deal with his ranged attacks, which can be more difficult to avoid depending on your character class.
Defeat Iudex Gundyr to obtain the Coiled Sword, then light the Iudex Gundyr bonfire that has taken the place of his once petrified body. Open the door on the far side of the courtyard, then grab the Broken Straight Sword on the corpse ahead.
Take the path to the right of the corpse to find two more enemies. Clear them out and proceed to the end of the path to find a Homeward Bone item. Head back around to the door and take the path up the hill to the left. When you reach the top of the first small set of stairs, there’s one enemy off to the right and four more in the grassy area to the left. Take out the enemies to the left first, then move to the enemy on the right gazing out into the abyss.
Continue up the second, longer set of stairs but do not enter the building at the top just yet. Instead, move around the path to the right to find an undead hound around the corner. Just beyond the hound is a corpse holding an Ember. Collect the item, then head back to the main path and more to the opposite side of the hill (left of the entrance).
Move around the corner to the right and head up the first flight of stairs to find two more sets of stairs, one straight ahead and one to the right. Two enemies rest on the stairs to the right. Finish them off and continue up the stairs to the end of the path to find a corpse that holds another Ember. Keep moving to the grassy area ahead and then curve around to the left to find a corpse in the far corner that holds a Homeward Bone.
Head back to the stairs where you fought the last two enemies. Straight ahead there’s another corpse in the tree that holds an East-West Shield. If you continue up the other flight of stairs (to the right now) there is an extremely powerful enemy at the very top. While it’s not impossible to defeat this enemy, it will be very difficult at your present level. It’s recommended to skip this fight for now and head back down to the entrance of the building. However, if you wish to engage the enemy your best bet is to dodge his attacks and counter with a single attack of your own.
He will attack repeatedly, sometimes as many as three or four times depending on his stance, draining all of your Stamina if you’re using a shield to block. In addition, it won’t take much for him to bring you down, but each of your attacks will only inflict a very small amount of damage at your present level. He can also parry your attacks and follow with a counterattack that inflicts a significant amount of damage. However, once you defeat him you can collect the Uchigatana weapon, Master’s Attire and Master’s Gloves from his corpse.
Make your way back to the entrance into the building at the top of the hill and head inside to enter the Firelink Shrine. At this point you can continue on to our Firelink Shrine walkthrough or head back to our Dark Souls 3 walkthrough and guide for more tips and tricks!
Published: Apr 12, 2016 04:00 am