Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin Boss Guide and Tips

Strategies to beat every boss in Dark Souls 2, from the Last Giant to the Burnt Ivory King.

There are quite a few changes between the original Dark Souls 2 and the recent release of Darks Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin. However, one thing that remained similar are the numerous boss battles featured in the game and the included DLC. With that in mind, we took the liberty of compiling all of the boss battles from Dark Souls 2 so you can find the strategies you need with ease.

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For more strategies, read Prima’s free Dark Souls 2 walkthrough.

How to Beat the Last Giant

  • Reward: Soul of the Last Giant, Soldier Key

The fight against the Last Giant is as simple as you make it. It follows a very basic pattern, and you have plenty of room to run around avoiding its attacks, but if you get impatient, this fight will be over quickly. As with any battle in Dark Souls 2, it doesn’t take many hits for your character to die, so caution is the name of the game against the Last Giant.

The boss uses six main attacks throughout the first phase of the battle. From a distance it falls forward, inflicting massive damage if you happen to be anywhere near it. If you approach the front of the Last Giant, it sweeps its hand horizontally across the ground. If you approach from behind, it jumps back, damaging you if you’re near its feet when it lands. At close range, if you’re in front of the Last Giant, it tries to crush you with its fist. If you’re directly under or slightly behind it, the Giant attempts to crush you with whichever foot you’re closest too, or uses three consecutive stomps.

When the Last Giant falls forward, it’s difficult to evade the attack. If it uses multiple stomps, it’s also difficult to evade if you’re not already moving away from the boss. If you get trapped on either side of the area or in a corner, you’re in trouble. Knowing all of this, patience is the key to victory.

Quickly run toward the Last Giant. You need to move fast enough to make sure it doesn’t fall forward. You want it to use the horizontal sweeping attack with his hand. If you’re moderately close to the front of the Giant, this is exactly what it will try to attack with. Run between its legs to get behind the Giant, then attack its ankles with one or two attacks depending on your weapon and speed of attack. You may be able to pull off three or more attacks, but you want to be done attacking and go back on the move before the Giant begins a stomping attack.

Attack its ankles one, two or three times, then dodge or run away to get a little bit of distance between you and the Last Giant. Once it completes the stomp attack, run back into the range of its horizontal sweep so it attempts to hit you with it again. Run between its legs again and repeat the same strategy until the Giant reaches roughly 50 percent health. If you get greedy or impatient and attack too many times, you risk getting hit by one of the Giants attacks.

At around 50 percent health, the Giant rips off one of its arms and continues with the same attack patterns. The main difference is that it now has more range due to the size of the arm the creature attacks with. Follow the same strategy as before, but move in a little earlier to ensure you have plenty of time to dodge the horizontal attack. Don’t venture too far away from the Giant because all of its arm attacks now have deceptive range.

Continue attacking one, two or three times as you bait the Giant into using its horizontal sweeping attacks until you defeat it.

How to Beat The Pursuer

  • Reward: Soul of the Pursuer, Ring of Blades

Unlike many of the other boss battles in Dark Souls 2, the best tactic against the Pursuer is to stay away from him. Wait until he readies his shield and dashes towards you, then dodge to the right and counter attack with one or two attacks depending on the speed of your weapon. Only counter attack after the dash attack, or after the Pursuer uses a full three hit attack combo, or his glowing blue stab.

All of these attacks are best evaded by moving away from the Pursuer, but if you find yourself too close to effectively move away, dodge the first two attacks of the three hit combo, then move around behind the Pursuer to avoid the third attack. To evade the glowing blue stab, simply dodge to the right or left just before he attacks.

This battle is a bit longer than some of the other boss fights, but that’s mainly because there are few opportunities to safely attack or even heal yourself. If you attack recklessly, the Pursuer will take advantage and you’ll end up dying. Have patience and limit your offense so you’re only attacking after a three hit combo, the glowing blue stab or the dash attack. There is a crossbow (ballista) in the corner, but unless you happen to stand right next to it, with the Pursuer on the opposite side of the area, it’s not worth the effort.

How to Beat the Dragonrider

  • Reward: Dragonrider Soul

The most important aspect of the battle against the Dragonrider boss is the fact that his initial attack can and will knock you off the platform to your death. Anytime the Dragonrider uses his lunging linear spear attack, it knocks you back and will knock you off the platform if you’re too close to the edge. If you’re not around the middle of the area, chances are you will be knocked off if you get hit by this attack.

There are two main attacks the Dragonrider uses. The first is the lunge attack, with the other being one or two horizontal sweeping attacks. The horizontal attacks do not inflict as much damage as the linear attack, but the Dragonrider will use two back to back, in which case the damage adds up.

The best course of action to quickly dispatch of the Dragonrider is to stay glued to his back. No matter which direction the Dragonrider moves, ALWAYS stay on his back. If you’re directly behind the Dragonrider, none of his attacks will make contact. Between attacks and your movement to stay behind the Dragonrider, use between one and four attacks depending on the speed of your weapon.

To inflict the most damage, use magic-based attacks. This includes weapons imbued with magic properties, either temporary or permanent. Normal weapons will work, but it will take longer to bring down the Dragonrider.

How to Beat the Flexile Sentry

  • Reward: Flexile Sentry Soul


There are three keys to defeating the Flexile Sentry. The first is to equip a weapon that can be used at a distance; a lance, spells or anything that doesn’t require you to be right in the face of the enemy. The second key point is to use the mast in the middle of the room to prevent the Flexile Sentry from getting too close with its jumping ranged attacks.

The third and possibly most important key involves taking down the Sentry with moderate speed. As the fight progresses, the water in the room gets higher. The higher the water level, the harder it is to move around. This makes it far more difficult to evade the Sentry’s attacks. If the water level gets too high, the fight is essentially impossible to win.

The Sentry has two attack types depending on which half faces you. One side attacks with two spiked clubs, while the other attacks with dual swords. Both sides have similar attacks, but the side with the clubs is the easier of the two due to the fact that it uses long-range attacks less frequently. If you can maneuver around the room to face the club side as often as possible, it makes this battle a little easier.

Use the mast in the center of the room as a pseudo-shield to stop the Sentry’s long-range attacks. In most cases the Sentry attacks with a single horizontal swiping attack or two vertical attacks. It may end any attack series with an additional double club attack. This attack covers more range than any of the other normal attacks (aside from the long-range jumping attack) and has a considerable amount of recovery. When you see this attack, quickly counter with at least two attacks of your own, or more depending on the type of weapon you’re using.

Move around the mast in the middle of the room, but time is a factor in this battle, so allow the Sentry to get close enough to attack. When this happens, move away to avoid the attack, then counter with your own attacks after the Sentry attacks at least twice. It rarely uses a single attack, so always wait for at least two attacks before you begin attacking. Be cautious of the third attack that will occur if you’re too close to the Sentry. It inflicts a considerable amount of damage, but as previously mentioned, it also has a great deal of recovery.

How to Beat the Ruin Sentinel Alessia, Ruin Sentinel Ricce and Ruin Sentinel Yahim

  • Reward: Ruin Sentinel Soul

As soon as you exit the mist, you drop down onto an elevated platform where Yahim immediately attacks. If you have a proper shield, you can block the first attack with no damage inflicted. Otherwise, you need to dodge when you land on the platform to insure you avoid Yahim’s initial attack.

Stay on the platform while you battle against Yahim. If you fall down to the floor below, Alessia and Ricce will join the battle and it will be much harder to claim victory. If you stay close to Yahim, it only uses one of two attacks. It will either use a linear attack with a moderately lengthy animation (easy to see coming) that’s followed by a circular attack that covers the front of Yahim, or it will use two consecutive circular attacks.

All of the attacks can be blocked with a decent shield. The linear attack is relatively easy to avoid with a well-timed dodge, but the circular attacks are better to block with a shield unless you can get behind Yahim. Even if you’re behind Yahim, the circular attack covers almost a 240 degree radius, so back up a bit to ensure you avoid the attack.

Yahim generally falls down to the lower floor a few times throughout the battle. Stay on the upper platform until it jumps back up. Be careful to avoid Yahim’s attack as it jumps back to the upper platform. If it falls off the longer side of the platform, it generally jumps up around the same area. If it falls of the shorter end of the platform, it jumps up around that area. However, keep a close eye on Yahim to see where it’s moving to determine where it will jump back up.

Once Yahim is down, stay on the upper platform. If you have a ranged attack, run over to the short end of the platform and attack Alessia as it makes its way over to your position. When it gets close, back up to avoid an attack as it jumps up to the platform. Use the pillar on the wall to judge your distance. If you’re behind the pillar, you’re far enough away to stay clear of the attack.

While on the platform, Alessia uses the same attacks as Yahim. However, it will use its shield to block your attacks, so wait until it’s down before attacking Alessia. Immediately attack Alessia after it misses its initial jumping attack. You can usually pull off one or two attacks depending on your weapon speed. Circle around Alessia to avoid the linear attack, followed by a circular attack. Attack Alessia two or three times after evading, then move to the corner of the platform.

At this point, Ricce jumps up to the platform in the same spot where Alessia jumped up. You have two choices in how you wish to continue the battle. If you stay on the platform, it’s a very close proximity battle in which the two Sentinels will use the same attacks as Yahim, only they’ll use shields to block attacks occasionally. Staying on the platform limits your movement, but also limits what attacks the Sentinels can use.

If you drop down to the floor below, you take fall damage as you land. Shortly afterwards, both Sentinels drop down to continue their attacks. If you keep away from the bosses, they use a shield throw that is quick and extremely damaging. However, once their shields have been thrown they lose the ability to block your attacks. It’s easy to determine when a shield is about to be thrown because of the lengthy wind up animation.

With enough room, the Sentinels will jump high into the air, launching a linear attack as they come crashing down on top of you. This attack can be evaded with proper timing, and even blocked with a decent shield. It’s best to evade it so you can counter attack without having to worry about losing stamina due to blocking.

If the Sentinels begin to spin around, back away or guard against the attack. This attack can hit multiple times depending on the distance between you and the Sentinels. However, with a solid shield and enough stamina, all of the attacks can be blocked.

Fighting the Sentinels on the bottom floor requires you to stay moderately close and keep both Sentinels within view at all times. After each blocked or evaded attack, counter with your own attack. You can generally hit the Sentinels once or twice after every attack. Do not get greedy and try to attack more than that or else you risk being hit by their next attack.

Whether you decide to fight on the upper platform or on the floor below, focus on one Sentinel at a time. If the other is wide open to attack, hit it a few times but maintain a focus on one Sentinel. You want to take out one so they can no longer team up to attack you simultaneously or in rapid succession. Once only one Sentinel remains, it becomes a much easier battle.

How to Beat The Lost Sinner

  • Reward: Soul of the Lost Sinner

You won’t get many opportunities to attack the Lost Sinner, and when you can attack, it will only be with one or two hits before you need to block again. Before the fight begins, turn the brightness settings all the way up. Unless you’ve already obtained the Bastille Key, this fight takes place in a very dark area. In fact, the area is so dark that if you get even half way across the room, you will lose your lock on the Lost Sinner.

At the beginning of the fight, the Lost Sinner charges towards you. Block or evade his initial attack, then stick as close to him as possible. He uses two consecutive attacks that cover a circular area in front of him. On occasion this is followed by a heavy but linear attack that’s easily evaded to the left or right. He’ll also use a single forward stab that’s equally linear, and occasionally he’ll jump over you and attack from the opposite side.

Stay close to the Sinner at all times, and make sure you always have at least a little bit of stamina so you can block his attacks without taking damage. Never attack so much that you’re out of stamina, and do not let the Sinner get too far away from you. Just continually circle around the Sinner until it uses the two circular attacks, his jumping attack or his running stab. After any of these attacks you have time for at least one counter attack. The time you have to attack after the running stab is a little shorter compared to the other two attacks, so you must be quick.

How to Beat the Belfry Gargoyle

  • Reward: Belfry Gargoyle Soul

The longer you battle against the Gargoyles, the more difficult the fight becomes. The battle begins with only two Gargoyles attacking. However, as the fight progresses, a total of six Gargoyles join the battle. While the Gargoyles all share a single health bar, if you do not kill any of the Gargoyles individually, you will end up fighting all six at once by the end of the battle.

There are four main attacks the Gargoyles use. They breathe fire on the ground or in the air. In the air the fire breath is always a frontal circular attack, while the ground-based flame can be a linear attack or a circular attack. Avoid these attacks by staying a moderate distance away from the Gargoyles when they prepare to breathe fire (watch their heads pivot to determine when they’re about to use it).

When the Gargoyles jump into the air, in addition to the fire breath, they may dive towards you. This attack doesn’t have a great deal of range, but it has a lot of recovery, meaning you can attack the Gargoyle as soon as it lands. If the Gargoyle jumps over you or to the side, face that Gargoyle immediately to block the attack that follows, or dodge to either side.

At close range, the Gargoyles use two different attacks. They use a frontal circular melee attack that can be followed by an overhead linear melee attack. Neither attack has much range, and the linear attack is easily dodged to the left or right. They also pause for a moment to channel lightning, then use a lightning attack that covers a moderately wide radius around the Gargoyle.

While you will inevitably fight multiple Gargoyles at once, they do not attack as often as other enemies, especially compared to the battle against multiple Sentinels earlier in the game. Use a weapon that inflicts as much damage as possible, even if it attacks slower than some other weapons. Weapons that can hit multiple targets with ease (have a wide swing) are especially effective. However, if you have ranged attacks (either magic, arrows or crossbow bolts), they are extremely helpful in this battle. With ranged attacks, you can stay at a distance and inflict damage most of the battle.

How to Beat the Executioner’s Chariot

  • Reward: Executioner’s Chariot Soul

The battle against the Executioner’s Chariot is unique in that you don’t immediately fight the chariot. Instead you are presented with a longer, curved corridor. Various Skeleton enemies inhabit the corridor, but they are not the primary concern. The chariot takes up the entire corridor and races through the area in a circular path. It passes your location about every 10-15 seconds. The only way to avoid the chariot is by ducking into one of the small alcoves along either wall.

At the onset of the battle, ignore the enemies and run ahead, keeping a close eye on the alcoves so you always know where to find the closest one. As soon as you see the fire from the chariot, duck into the closest alcove. Continue this process as you make your way down the corridor. If the Skeletons are in the way or become too much of a problem, you can take them out, but always be mindful of the chariot’s location.

When you get close to the end of the corridor (where there’s a large hole in the ground), you will see a door blocked by mist on the left. Just before you reach the door, there’s also a lever on the left. Pull the lever to lower the gate ahead. When the chariot hits the gate, it crashes, killing the Executioner. This leaves you to battle against the horse that pulled the chariot.

Always stay to either side of the horse. Never stand in front of or behind the horse to avoid its main attacks. When the horse stands on its hind legs, dodge to either side to avoid the stomp attack that follows. You also need to dodge to avoid the head butt attack that comes after the horse pauses for a moment. Both of these attacks inflict significant damage even if you’re attempting to block.

Occasionally the horse sprays a dark mist from its mouth. This is the best time to attack it from the side as the horse moves slowly to the left or right in an effort to hit you with the mist. Stay at its side and attack relentlessly to inflict as much damage as possible.

How to Beat The Rotten

  • Reward: Soul of the Rotten

The battle against the Rotten is more about the environment than the enemy. There are several fire pits scattered throughout the battleground. If you touch any of the pits you will take considerable damage. If you continue to linger in the pits you will certainly perish. Most of the battle is spent locked on to the Rotten, which means you may have difficulty determining when a fire pit is behind you. To avoid backing into a fire pit, circle strafe around the fire pit in the center of the battleground. If you stay close to the center pit, you’ll have plenty of room to avoid the other pits.

The Rotten only uses a handful of attacks. If you have a shield that absorbs 100 percent damage, this is a much easier fight. However, even if this is the case, many of the Rotten’s attacks drain your stamina bar completely (or very close to it). Your best course of action is to dodge the attacks with specific timing so you don’t take any damage, then strike once or twice depending on the speed of your weapon. If you wish to take a more careful approach, only dodge the linear attacks and block the horizontal sweeping attacks. It’s much easier to dodge the linear attacks, but you’ll have fewer opportunities to counter attack, which will draw out the fight.

When the Rotten is close to you, it uses a single, horizontal sweeping attack that drains your stamina bar almost completely if it’s blocked. This should be dodged if at all possible. It also uses a single linear chop, and three chops in rapid succession. The single chop is easily dodged to the left or right, while it’s best to block the first two chops, then dodge the third one. You can technically dodge all three, but the timing is fairly strict.

If you back away from the Rotten, it uses a variation of the single linear chop, but it has deceptive range. Also be ready to block or dodge when you see the Rotten pull its weapon back over its head. It’s very difficult to get far enough away to avoid this attack completely. In almost all cases you must either block the attack or dodge it. If you block, it drains your stamina bar almost entirely. If you see the Rotten begin to regurgitate, back away to avoid two dark spits that happen back to back. As soon as the spits conclude, rush back in to counter attack.

Once the Rotten reaches approximately 50 percent health, it adds two attacks to its arsenal. The first is a variation of the long-range chop. This time a dark fog emits from its weapon and extends outward rapidly. This is a linear attack, but it’s difficult to dodge without precise timing. You must dodge to the left or right. If you dodge back, it will still hit. However, if you hug the Rotten, the attack misses completely. This can be risky if your timing is off.

The other new attack the Rotten uses is a burst of dark mist that emits from its body. This happens when the Rotten makes a motion similar to the regurgitation animation. Simply back away from the Rotten to avoid this attack. It does not have much range.

How to Beat the Royal Rat Vanguard

  • Reward: Royal Rat Vanguard Soul, Rat Tail

This boss battle is not just against the Royal Rat Vanguard. You must face off against a horde of rats, as well as the Royal Rat Vanguard. If the rodents attack too many times (even if you’re guarding their attacks), they will petrify you. To avoid this, equip gear that increases petrification resistance, such as the Ash Knuckle Ring found in the Gutter. In addition, then Royal Rat Vanguard poisons you with each attack, so poison prevention gear and items should also be used if available.

Luckily, this is one of the easiest boss battles in the game. While normal rats continue to pile into the area, you only need to defend against them for a short time. Kill any rats within your immediate area, as you move around the room to avoid getting ganged up on. After about a minute has passed, the health bar for the Royal Rat Vanguard appears.

Once the health bar is visible, look for the rat with a lot of fur on its back. It’s the same size as all of the other rodents, so it may be difficult to spot at first, but it’s the only rat with a lot of black fur on its back. As soon as you spot this rodent, lock on to it and don’t change targets.

While this rat has more health than the others, it’s not by much. You should be able to take it down by continuously attacking until your stamina bar is depleted. In the worst case scenario, it should only take two stamina bars worth of attacks. If you need to bars, back away after depleting the first bar. If you move to the opposite side of the room, you’ll have time to use a health item while the rats catch up. Heal up, then go back in for the kill. Once the Vanguard is down, the remaining rats retreat. Kill them as they flee for additional souls.

How to Beat the Scorpioness Najka

  • Reward: Scorpioness Najka Soul

Rush toward the boss and immediately attack her while she’s stuck in the sand. If you linger at a distance, she uses powerful ranged magic attacks, which can be difficult to avoid. Attack her a couple of times, then back away as she bursts out of the sand. If you’re too close you will take damage as she emerges.

Najka uses a few attacks that are relatively easy to evade or block. If you’re good at evading magic attacks, stay at maximum range and evade her magic projectiles. If she gets close, continue to back away. If you’re a melee character, stay just outside of her melee attack range. She uses a three hit combo that starts with two attacks from her mandibles, followed by an attack with her spear. Block the two mandible attacks, then evade her spear and counter with several attacks of your own.

When her tails wiggle, back away to avoid being caught by them. If you’re caught, they drain a significant amount of health. However, while both tails are stuck in the ground, she is vulnerable to multiple attacks.

If she goes underground, stand on any of the stone pieces sticking out of the sand. There is a large piece near the corner, but any of the stone slabs will work. If you remain on the sand, she bursts out of the ground beneath you, inflicting significant damage.

She uses this same attack pattern throughout the battle. However, you can cut off both of her tails. When this happens she uses more magic attacks. If you’re not skilled at dodging these attacks, make sure you aim your attacks at Najka’s body instead of her tails.

How to Beat the Royal Rat Authority

  • Reward: Royal Rat Authority Soul, Rat Tail

When you enter the mist, the boss battle does not begin immediately. Four rats wait on the far left side of the room, with the Royal Rat Authority on the platform just above them. The rats inflict toxic, so be ready to combat that if necessary.

The best strategy against the rats is to use a weapon with a wide attack range that can hit them all if they’re grouped together. It’s very important to kill the four rats as quickly as possible so you can focus on the Royal Rat Authority, but you only have a short time to do this before the Authority begins attacking.

Head toward the rats or use a ranged attack to engage the enemies. Back up until at least three of them are grouped together close enough to hit them all with a single attack. If you’re decently geared, a single attack should take the rats down. Even if you need two attacks, as long as you’re hitting more than one rat at a time, you shouldn’t have trouble taking the rats down before the Authority begins attacking.

Once the rats are down, you can properly deal with the Royal Rat Authority. The best course of action is to run between its legs, stand directly under its body and attack the hind legs aggressively. If you linger in front of the Authority, it uses two horizontal swiping attacks with its front paws. If blocked, the attacks consume a large amount of stamina when combined. However, there’s enough time after the second attack to recover your stamina before the Authority attacks again.

If you get too far away, the Authority charges you, diving head first in your direction. If you block this attack it consumes all of your stamina. However, like the paw attacks, you have time to replenish stamina before the next attack.

All of the Authority’s attacks are difficult to evade, which means your best bet is to block the dive attack and immediately move into place directly under the boss. Stay there as long as possible, attacking the hind legs, then move with the boss if it jumps away. Keep in mind, if it jumps too far away, it may attempt the diving attack again.

When the boss is close to death, it vomits an acidic liquid that must be avoided. It spreads quickly, which means you need to move away, essentially resetting the fight and allowing the boss an opportunity to use the dive attack again. It’s best to finish off the boss as soon as you see the yellow vomit appear. If you can’t finish it off, you’ll need to move away, wait for it to come to you again, then reposition yourself under its legs for another attack.

How to Beat the Prowling Magus and his Congregation

  • Reward: Titanite Slab

This is more of a mini-boss battle than anything else. You face off against Magus, two members of his Congregation and a slew of followers. Both Magus and the Congregation use ranged magic spells. Unless you have a shield that absorbs 100 percent magic attacks, you need to evade at least some of the attacks.

Head to the benches on the far side of the room, taking out any of the followers that get in your way. The followers should all go down in one or two attacks, but the ones crawling on the floor may be a little more difficult to given their low stature. The benches provide protection from any spells cast in your direction. However, you still need to attack the followers, which means you’ll eventually destroy all of the benches, especially if you’re a melee class.

If the benches go down, make sure all of the followers are down soon after. You don’t want to have to deal with followers while taking on the three mages with minimal shielding. Once the followers are taken care of, focus on the two Congregation members first. They don’t have much health and should go down in a few hits depending on your stats. Once the Congregation is down, focus on Magus.

All three mages can be stunned with relative ease, so even if they’re in the middle of casting, continue attacking. Watch out for Magus to begin charging an aura around him. When you see this, back away to avoid the close-range burst attack that covers a short radius around him. Aside from the ranged magic attacks all three mages use, this is the only attack you need to watch out for.

How to Beat The Duke’s Dear Freja

  • Reward: Soul of the Duke’s Dear Freja

At the beginning of the battle, several spiders attack. Unlike most other boss battles that feature ancillary enemies, do not attempt to take out all of the spiders before engaging the boss. Freja doesn’t give you much time to focus on the other spiders before it engages you with attacks that can drain a significant amount of your health bar, if not kill you in one shot. Take out one or two spiders (more if you’re fast enough), then focus on Freja to ensure you’re not about to get hit with an attack.

Freja attacks from the heads on either side of her body. Only one head is active at a time, so the best strategy is to move close to one head, then as soon as it flinches, make a beeline to the other side to attack the dormant head. By repeating this process, you avoid almost all of Freja’s attacks. The only attacks you need to concern yourself with while using this strategy are the beam of light and jumping attacks.

The beam of light covers nearly 180 degrees in front of the head that initiates the attack, so you have to move quickly to the other head to make sure you avoid the attack. It cannot be blocked and it’s difficult to evade, so your best bet is to get behind Freja when it executes. The jumping attack doesn’t happen as often, but it’s also difficult to avoid. Your best bet is to run under Freja and dodge when she’s about to land.

If you see any spiders as you move back and forth between the heads, take them down quickly and continue on to the target head. When Freja is down for good, finish off any remaining spiders.

How to Beat the Skeleton Lords

  • Reward: Skeleton Lord’s Soul

The Skeleton Lords boss battle consists of three main skeletons that go down fairly quickly, then a horde of lesser skeletons that go down even faster, but are much larger in number. As soon as you enter the boss arena, head straight for the first Skeleton Lord and take it down quickly. You should be able to kill it before the other Skeleton Lords give you much trouble. Do the same to the next two Skeleton Lords, but as you attack one, keep the other in sight so you can evade any ranged attacks.

Once all three Skeleton Lords are down, target the lesser skeletons with wheels first. These are the most troublesome enemies in the battle. They race toward you on the wheels and inflict considerable damage. They should be take down as quickly as possible, but stay on the move and keep as many of them as possible within view. If they race towards you, dodge out of the way to avoid taking damage.

Defeat the mobile skeletons, then focus on the remaining enemies. Don’t try to fight them all at once, instead continue moving around so you can do battle in small groups. This makes the last portion of this fight much easier to deal with.

How to Beat the Covetous Demon

  • Reward: Covetous Demon Soul 

This boss battle is one of the easiest in the game so long as you stay to either side, standing just past its arm. Standing in this position means that you automatically move when the Demon moves toward you. It won’t be able to face you because its arm will always be in the way, pushing you back as it continues to move.

Eventually the Demon shifts its weight to the opposite side. When you see this, put up your shield or back away as quickly as possible to avoid the coming attack. The shift in weight signifies that the Demon is about to roll in your direction. If the roll is blocked it consumes all of your stamina. If it’s not blocked, you take heavy damage.

Continue attacking the enemy, but always leave yourself some stamina so you can block the roll attack if it comes. Follow this strategy and the boss goes down with very little fight.

How to Beat Mytha, the Baneful Queen

  • Reward: Mytha, the Baneful Queen Soul

Watch out for the poison the encircles the battlefield. If there’s poison all over, it means you haven’t burned the windmill earlier in the area. If you die, make sure you go back and burn the windmill to remove the poison from everywhere except the outer edge of the battlefield.

Stay close to Mytha unless she backs up to the edge of the battlefield where the poison is found. She uses three-hit combo attacks with her spear, as well as a full body spin at close range. Both of these attacks can be blocked with only moderate stamina loss. However, there isn’t much delay between her attack cycles, so you won’t be able to hit her more than one or two times depending on your weapon of choice.

If she backs away, prepare for one of two attacks. Expect either a dashing spear attack that can be blocked or evaded to the left or right, or a magic attack with her head. If you see the head glow, prepare to move quickly to the left or right, then dodge as the attack approaches. The magic projectiles move quickly, so you won’t have much time to react.

If you stick close to Mytha you avoid many of these attacks. However, she will back away and you also need to be mindful of the poison surrounding the battlefield. Just be prepared to handle her ranged attacks and stick close to her as much as you can, and this battle isn’t too difficult.

How to Beat the Smelter Demon

  • Reward: Smelter Demon Soul

The best way to take down the Smelter Demon is to have a shield equipped that absorbs 100 percent damage, and light armor so you can strafe around the Demon quickly. The Demon doesn’t have a wide range of attacks, but you need to be able to either quickly strafe to avoid them, or dodge effectively more often than not. If you can do this, the fight is relatively easy.

When the battle begins, the Smelter Demon’s body is on fire, but the flames are fairly small. If you stand right next to its body you may take minor fire damage, but it’s nothing to really concern yourself with. Once you’ve inflicted enough damage on the Demon, it pauses to increase the flames on its body. At this point you don’t have to stand quite as close to suffer damage, and you take a little more damage compared to the start of the fight. Inflict a bit more damage to get the Demon down to around 50 percent health, and it sticks its sword in its body to engulf the sword in flames.

Throughout the entire fight, the Demon uses a small set of attacks. It has a three hit combo that consists of two horizontal attacks, followed by a vertical attack that can be grounded or follow a jump. The jumping variant is more difficult to avoid, and the Demon may sometimes create a burst of flame following the jumping attack.

The jumping attack can also be used by itself and the flame burst doesn’t always follow the jumping attack in either situation, but you have to always assume it will occur in order to avoid the damage. If you’re close to the Demon during the flame burst you take considerable damage. Once the Demon’s body flame increases, so does the range of the flame burst. At that point, you need to be roughly halfway across the battlefield to avoid it.

If you stand a moderate distance away from the Demon, it uses a linear attack that breaks your guard. However, the Demon doesn’t follow it with anything, so you have time to regain stamina and avoid taking damage. Once the sword is on fire, this attack shoots flames in a linear manner. It can still be avoided by sticking close to the Demon or dodging to the left or right with proper timing.

Your main attack pattern should be to stick close to the Demon, circling it as quickly as possible. If you’re light enough, you move fast enough to block the first horizontal attack of the three hit combo, then the second attack will completely miss and sometimes the third attack won’t happen at all. As soon as you see the Demon pause, hit it with two or three attacks depending on the speed of your weapon.

More than likely you will not inflict significant damage with each attack, and you’ll constantly take damage from its flaming body. This is a battle of attrition. If your health gets low due to the Demon’s flaming body, take the next opening to use a healing item or ability. As long as you’re evading the Demon’s attacks, it will go down before you do.

How to Beat the Old Iron King

  • Reward: Old Iron King Soul

As with most of the recent boss battles, this fight is fairly easy compared to some of the previous engagements. The Old Iron King uses a very limited set of attacks. It almost always attacks twice, so be prepared to dodge two attacks before you attempt to counter attack.

Its combo attacks consist of a vertical fist slam and a horizontal swiping attack. It uses these two attacks in random order, so you might see two vertical attacks, two horizontal attacks or one of each. Dodge to the left or right to avoid both types of attacks. When the second attack is a vertical fist slam, move in to attack the fist as quickly as possible. It remains on the ground long enough to hit it three or more times depending on the speed of your weapon.

If the King lights its fist on fire before using a vertical attack, this generally means there will only be one attack instead of two. However, in addition to dodging the attack, you must wait until the flames go out before you move in for a counter attack. In addition, if the boss leans back, this indicates a horizontal fire attack is coming. Wait near the middle and move to the right as soon as the attack begins to ensure you avoid all of it.

As long as you time your dodges well, you won’t take much damage during this battle. With a decent weapon the Iron King takes fairly decent damage with each attack, meaning this fight won’t last very long.

How to Beat the Dragonrider (x2)

  • Reward: Dragonrider Soul

Fighting the Dragonrider boss is very similar to the first time you fought him in Heide’s Tower. The main difference here is that there are now two of them. One uses a bow and remains in the corner of the room for the most part, while the other is almost identical to the one you fought originally.

The best strategy is to take down the ranged Dragonrider first. However, to do this you need to lure the other one to the far side of the room. When he misses an attack, quickly run over to the ranged fighter and inflict as much damage as possible. If you stay as close to the ranged fighter as possible, its arrows will not hit you.

Keep a close eye on the other Dragonrider and move away when it approaches. Repeat this process until the ranged Dragonrider is down. At this point you can focus exclusively on the melee Dragonrider. Simply strafe around him or dodge to avoid its attacks, then counter with two or three strikes depending on the speed of your weapon. It won’t take long to finish off the remaining Dragonrider.

How to Beat the Looking Glass Knight

  • Reward: Looking Glass Knight Soul

The battle with the Looking Glass Knight is fairly similar to most other boss battles. Start off the battle strafing in circles around it. Most of its melee combos consist of two or three waits. However, occasionally there’s a pause before the third attack, so be weary if you attempt to counter attack after blocking or evading two attacks.

When the Knight holds its sword high into the air to charge it with lightning, back away from it quickly. The following attack is lightning charged and has a very wide, circular attack radius. It can be difficult to avoid if you remain too close to the boss. Luckily there’s enough recovery time after the attack to move back into close range and even hit the boss once or twice.

Once the Knight reaches approximately 50 percent health, the charged lightning attack adds a lightning-based projectile that shoots out straight from the sword. It’s a very linear attack and easily avoided if you’re off to the side or behind the Knight.

When the Knight places its shield on the ground. A guard is about to come out of the shield and attack. The guard doesn’t take many hits to bring down, but the Knight doesn’t stop attacking while you’re engaging the minion. To avoid having to deal with multiple enemies, take down the minion as quickly as possible, while keeping an eye on the Knight so you can avoid its attacks if need be.

How to Beat the Demon of Song

  • Reward: Demon of Song Soul, Key to the Embedded

The Demon of Song is essentially a frog with a demon in its mouth. When its mouth is closed (which is about half the fight), the Demon cannot be damaged. The Demon’s main attacks consist of two-hit combos using its arms, and a jumping attack that looks more like a falling attack.

Unlike most other boss battles, stay back far enough to avoid the Demon’s arm-based attacks. After its various two-hit combos, move in and attack is as much as possible until the mouth closes. Stay close until the Demon appears again, then move back out of range. You need to remain close while its mouth is closed to ensure you have time to run under it if the falling attack begins.

As soon as the Demon stands up on its hind legs, run under it to avoid the falling attack. At the completion of the attack, head back around to its head and continue with the original strategy. It shouldn’t take much to bring the Demon of Song down so long as you’re patient.

How to Beat Velstadt, the Royal Aegis

  • 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, one has to question how you made it this far in 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 attack, as his attacks have some delay and he may not be done with his current combo. As previously mentioned, most of his attack combo consist of one or two swings, so be ready.

How to Beat the Guardian Dragon

  • Reward: Guardian Dragon Soul

There’s one simple strategy that works extremely well against the Guardian Dragon, stay by its hind legs. This avoids the Dragon’s grounded fire breath attacks and the swiping attack from its mouth. If it lifts one leg up, move away slightly to avoid the stomp, then move back in and continue attacking.

If the Dragon takes flight but hovers over you, move away to avoid the ground stomp that follows. If the Dragon flies to the side of the area, move as far away from it as possible to avoid the long-range fire breath that follows. While you can remain directly under the Guardian Dragon to avoid the fire, you will still get hit when it lands and stomps the ground. If you stay on the far side of the area, you avoid the fire breath and the ground stomp that follows.

When you move back into close proximity, be mindful of the Dragon’s various close-range attacks. If you approach from a distance, the Dragon may attempt to bite with its mouth or breathe fire straight ahead. If you’re not quick, either attack may occur before you can get under the Dragon to attack its legs. Dodge to the side to avoid the fire breath, and dodge forward or back to avoid the swiping attack depending on your distance from the Dragon. If you’re close enough to dodge under its legs, dodge forward. If not, dodge to the back.

How to Beat the Giant Lord

  • Reward: Giant Lord Soul, Giant’s Kinship

The fight against the Giant Lord is almost identical to the battle against the Last Giant. Stay by its feet, dodge when it attempts to stomp and continue to hack away at its feet until it’s down. This strategy avoids all of the Giant Lord’s attacks aside from the foot stomp. When you see the foot stomp coming, dodge away to avoid taking any damage, then close in again to continue the battle. Repeat this strategy and you’ll have the Giant Lord down in no time!

How to Beat the Throne Watcher and Throne Defender
Reward: Throne Defender Soul, Throne Watcher Soul

Going up against both the Watcher and the Defender can be tough. The Watcher is fairly agile, while the Defender is slower and slightly more powerful. Keep both bosses in view at all times and focus on whichever is closest to you. Although, if you can manage it, take down the Watcher first. It’s important to take them down nearly at the same time. You have a short time before the downed boss stands back up if the other boss isn’t defeated. Focus on the Watcher, but deplete both health bars as evenly as possible.

Both enemies attack with standard two or three hit combos at close range, and lunging attacks from a distance. The key is to get them far enough apart that you have time to attack one without having to worry about avoiding an attack from the other. Fast ranged attacks work very well here. If that’s not an option, make use of a spear or similar weapon that allows you to block with your shield while still attacking.

Continue to strafe in circles around both enemies, keeping them within view at all times. When a brief opening presents itself, attack once or twice depending on the speed of your weapon. You need to be patient during this battle to ensure you do not take unnecessary damage.

How to Beat Nashandra

  • Reward: Soul of Nashandra

At the beginning of the final battle, stay near the entrance and let Nashandra come to you. She summons three objects that create Dark and will curse you if you’re too close to them. If you remain by the entrance, you’ll be far enough away from the first batch of these objects.

Nashandra attacks with two horizontal swipes, or a single vertical attack that’s fairly linear. Block or evade these attacks, then counter with one or two attacks of your own depending on the speed of your weapon. If you back away from Nashandra, she uses a linear projectile-like attack that’s essentially a line of Darkness.

About halfway through the battle, Nashandra’s hand becomes engulfed in Darkness. Back away immediately to avoid the following attack. Shortly afterwards, she summons the objects that emit Darkness and you need to move to the far side of the room. Wait for Nashandra to approach again and repeat the above strategy to finish her off and complete the main game so you can move on to the DLC.

How to Beat Elana, the Squalid Queen

  • Reward: Soul of Elana, Squalid Queen

As soon as you enter the boss battle area, rush toward Elana and inflict as much damage as you can. She takes a moment before her attack begins, and you can inflict a good amount of damage before her health bar even appears. She summons skeleton helpers and uses various flame-like attacks, as well as her spear when you get close to her.

Once the skeletons appear, back away to avoid being ambushed. Unless the skeletons run directly at you, ignore them for the most part. While you attack Elana, you’ll inevitably hit the skeletons as well. Stay on the move to avoid Elana’s ranged spells and make your way toward her. Try to stay behind her while you attack to avoid most of her attacks, as well as the skeletons.

She disappears from time to time, and usually uses another spell when she reappears. Most of her spells take a decent amount of time to cast, which means you can hit her once or twice before moving to avoid the attack. Again, stay behind her to not only avoid her spells, but also her melee attacks. If you focus primarily on Elana and continuously move to avoid her spells, you shouldn’t have much trouble bringing her down.

How to Beat Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon

  • Reward: Soul of Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon

Sinh fights very similar to the other dragon bosses throughout Dark Souls 2. Begin the battle by attacking his feet. When he flies into the air directly above you, watch out for the fire breath that’s likely to follow. It’s best to remain under Sinh or directly behind him to avoid the fire and be ready to attack again as soon as he lands. Keep in mind that if you’re directly underneath him, you need to move away before he hits the ground to avoid taking damage.

If Sinh flies away from you, it’s likely that his dive attack is coming. You need to stay on the move and possibly roll out of the way as soon as you see him dive towards you. If he stands on his hind legs, he’s about to breathe fire directly in front of him. Use this as an opportunity to run toward the dragon and attack his legs or tail.

While you’re attacking Sinh’s legs, it’s important to stay on the move as soon as he’s done with whatever attack he’s currently using. When you’re behind him, he may quickly turn around, inflicting moderate damage if you’re not ready to roll out of the way. The key to this battle is to move in an attack while he’s in the middle of a lengthy attack animation, then quickly move out of harm’s way when the animation is complete.

How to Beat Afflicted Graverobber, Ancient Soldier Varg, Cerah the Old Explorer

  • Reward: Twinkling Titanite (3), Petrified Dragon Bone (3), Titanite Slab

As soon as you enter the boss battle area, Varg rushes you, followed closely by the Graverobber. Varg is equipped with heavy armor and uses a shield and large weapon. This means he’s relatively slow and has plenty of openings after each attack. He should be your first target, but always attack the closest enemy to you if the others are far enough away to allow for a safe attack.

The Graverobber uses dual swords and attacks very quickly. If you have a large weapon that can knock him off his feet, this isn’t a very difficult battle. If not, you’ll need to circle around him, using a shield to defend against his onslaught of attacks. As soon as you see a pause in his attack pattern, use one or two quick attacks. If you’re using a weapon that attacks slowly, you’ll need to back away before you can get a clean hit in, and the battle is a bit more challenging (unless that weapon knocks the Graverobber down).

If you get in a bind and have to fight the Graverobber and Varg at the same time, your best bet is to back away from them and wait for Varg to miss with an attack. As soon as Varg misses, quickly move within striking distance of Varg and inflict as much damage as you can before the Graverobber closes in. If you move quickly you should be able to get in at least two attacks (depending on the speed of your weapon) before you need to guard against the Graverobber.

You have a lot of room to work with, so take your time with the first two enemies. Cerah will stay back and attack with his bow. You don’t have to worry too much about him until you’ve defeated the Graverobber and Varg. Once they’re both down, close in on Cerah.

When you get close to Cerah, she switches from her bow to a longsword. She’s more agile than Varg and attacks quickly with her longsword. However, her lunging strikes have quite a bit of recovery (although not as long as Varg’s recovery time). After a lunging strike you have time to attack her with at least one or two quick strikes.

If your health gets low, there are plenty of rock formations and walls to hide behind while you use a health item. Additionally, if you’re having trouble with this boss battle, ignore Varg and the Graverobber and focus solely on Cerah at first. She doesn’t move much, and because there’s so much room to maneuver you can run around the area, getting a decent distance away from the Graverobber and Varg, then attack Cerah while the others catch up. When they reach you again, repeat this process until Cerah is down.

Fighting just Varg and the Graverobber, if you continue running around they will naturally separate themselves. This allows you to attack them one at a time while the other catches up. If you’re having trouble with Varg’s shield, continue moving around and he will eventually switch to wielding his weapon with two hands, placing his shield behind him. This makes it much easier to attack him.

How to Beat the Fume Knight

  • Reward: Soul of the Fume Knight

Approach the sword in the ground near the middle of the area to begin the boss battle. During the first phase of this fight, the Fume Knight uses a light rapier-like sword and an ultra greatsword. Stay close to the Fume Knight and strafe around him to the right to avoid a good number of his greatsword attacks. These require considerably more stamina to block compared to the rapier attacks. Usually the Fume Knight will attack twice with the rapier, then once or twice with the greatsword. He has considerable windup before he swings the greatsword, so if you watch carefully you’ll know when he’s about to swing it.

There are times when he’ll just swing the greatsword. This attacks comes from the opposite side and can hit even if you’re strafing to the right. This attack consumes a large amount of stamina if you block it, and the Fume Knight will not hesitate to do it two or even three times in a row. It’s best to roll to avoid it if possible.

If you back away the Fume Knight will use a lunging attack with the rapier or a huge swing with the greatsword. Both attacks have considerable reach so don’t relax just because you’ve created some distance between you. If any of the Ashen Idols were left untouched, do not let the Fume Knight near them or he will be healed.

After a short time the Fume Knight powers up. When this happens the rapier disappears and his ultra greatsword becomes engulfed in magic. From this point until the end of the fight, all of his sword attacks inflict magic damage.

Continue to stay close to the Fume Knight and strafe around him to the right. However, if you were blocking his attacks before, it’s far more important to dodge them now. All of his attacks have a lengthy startup animation and are easy to see coming, so rolling to avoid them should not be overly difficult.

If the Fume Knight plunges his sword into the ground, you have two options. The following attack is a 360 degree spell that sends a bevy of fireballs along the ground in every direction. If you opt to stay close to the Fume Knight, you must roll with extremely precise timing to avoid the fireballs. If you decide to back away, you have a little bit more room to avoid them, but it can still be difficult if you aren’t paying attention. If you’re hit with a single fireball it inflicts tremendous damage.

Between fireball attacks, continue to strafe around the boss attacking when you can. He takes decent damage if you’re geared well enough, and shouldn’t take too many attacks to go down. This battle is about avoiding his magic greatsword attacks. If you can do that, there isn’t much else to worry about.

How to Beat the Smelter Demon

  • Reward: Smelter Demon Soul


This isn’t the first time you’ve fought against the Smelter Demon. When you played through the Iron Keep originally, you faced off against the Smelter Demon there as well. Since the new DLC extends from the Iron Keep, it makes sense that you would run into this guy again.

Luckily, the Smelter Demon fights exactly the same way he did during the original encounter. The main difference is that he’s covered in magic instead of flames, and has considerably more health. It’s a good idea to equip armor and a shield (if you’re using one) that have high magic defense. Magic damage is unavoidable throughout this fight, even if you plan on attacking from a distance, so a shield with 100 percent physical damage reduction isn’t going to protect you taking damage when you block some of the Demon’s attacks.

If you summoned your two helpers just after the bonfire, they can essentially tank the Demon while you attack from behind or with ranged attacks. As you probably already know, the helpers in this game aren’t super useful. They will almost certainly die before you can kill the Smelter Demon, even if they both enter the boss battle with full health.

Early on in the battle, the boss stops attacking and bends over slightly. When this happens, move away as he’s powering up the magic in his torso. When the power up is complete, a burst of magic damages everything within a short radius of the boss. Make sure you’re clear of this or at least have a shield up that absorbs a good amount of magic damage.

After his initial power up, anytime you’re close to the Smelter Demon you will take magic damage in moderately small doses. Shortly after the power up, the Smelter Demon plunges his sword into his torso and gives it the effect of magic damage as well. At this point, anytime you block an attack from the sword, it will deal magic damage. Once again, if you don’t have a shield that absorbs magic damage, you will still take some damage even if you block.

The difficulty in this battle lies solely in the amount of health the upgraded Smelter Demon has. It will take some time to chip away at his health bar, and with his powered up magic abilities, you’ll almost certainly take damage throughout the fight. The key is to inflict as much damage as possible while your two helpers keep him occupied.

If you’re using ranged attacks that inflict less than 200 damage, when one of the helpers goes down, move in for close-range melee attacks. If you can’t inflict at least 200 damage per hit, more than likely the boss will have at least 40 percent of his health left by the time both helpers die. At this point you need to dodge his attacks as often as possible so you have time to get in as many hits as you can before he readies another attack.

The Smelter Demon fights with a standard two swing combo that ends with a more powerful third attack in the form of a grounded or jumping strike. Occasionally, after the jumping strike the Demon will pause in a kneeling animation. This indicates another magic burst is about to occur, which means you should move away. Once the Demon is powered up, the magic burst has significantly more range, so keep this in mind.

Using a standard melee attack build with a Greatbow and Greatarrows, we attacked from a distance until the first helper was down. At this point we moved in and used two-handed attacks (inflicting a little over 200 points of damage with each swing). By the time the second helper was down the Smelter Demon only had roughly 10 percent of his health remaining. A few dodged attacks later and the battle was over.

How to Beat Sir Alonne

  • Reward: Soul of Sir Alonne

There are two ways you can engage Sir Alonne. You can fight him up close with continuous strafing, or you can fight from a distance and dodge his ranged attacks. If you fight him at close-range, you can strafe to either direction to avoid most of his attacks. However, sometimes he’ll use a single lunging attack, and other times he’ll use a combo consisting of two or three attacks. Pay close attention to his attack animations to determine what he’s doing, then attack him during the brief pause between his attacks.

Sir Alonne doesn’t like to fight at close range, so he will jump back through the battle. When this happens, be prepared for a long-range lunging attack. This can be dodged with good timing, and you generally have enough time after rolling to land an attack or two (depending on the speed of your weapon).

You can use a shield and block Sir Alonne’s attacks, but it’s not recommended. All of his attacks inflict bleeding damage, so if you block too many in rapid succession, you’ll take damage. Blocking his attacks also takes considerable stamina unless it’s one of his combo attacks. Even when blocking his combo attacks, if you block all three you won’t have much stamina remaining to counterattack.

Occasionally Sir Alonne will use a projectile attack from a distance. This attack travels at a decent speed, but he does charge up before using it. If you’re ready for it you can dodge to the left or right to avoid it. It’s easier if you start moving left or right as soon as Sir Alonne starts charging, then roll in the direction you’re moving as soon as you see the projectile attack.

From a distance you simply have to worry about the projectile attacks and Sir Alonne’s various lunging attacks. Wait for the dash that precedes the lunging attacks and roll to the right or left of Sir Alonne just as he’s about to reach you. Do not roll directly right or left, you want to aim your roll so you’re moving toward Sir Alonne. This will keep you close enough to attack him while he’s recovering from his lunge. It’s also possible to roll backward, but the timing is a bit more strict.

Sir Alonne may also use a jumping attack, which is a bit faster and harder to dodge. As soon as you see him jump into the air, dodge to the right or left. Do not hesitate or you will take damage from the attack.

How to Beat Aava, the King’s Pet

  • Reward: Soul of Aava, the King’s Pet

There are a few different ways you can approach this boss battle. Aava has several long-range attacks, as well as a few close range attacks. All are magic based, even Aava’s basic claw attacks. While your allies will help during the battle, they may not be able to draw Aava’s attention away from you. If you battle at close range, watch out for Aava to pause briefly and enter an almost prone-like stance. This is your only warning that Aava is about to emit a burst of magic that will damage anyone in close proximity. If you see this, move away quickly.

Aava uses two different magic projectile attacks. From a moderate distance Aava will summon a series of floating crystals. Once all crystals are visible, they fire magic bolts at Aava’s current target. If you get hit by the first bolt, it will knock you down and the rest will miss. You can also block all of the bolts if you have a good magic absorbing shield. While it’s possible to dodge the bolts, this is not recommended unless you’re extremely agile and skilled at dodging. Even if this is the case, it’s very difficult to avoid all of the bolts. Shortly after the bolts have been shot, small flame pillars erupt.

The second projectile attack places several magic points on the ground surrounding Aava. Once all of the points are in place, they erupt with flame pillars similar to the other magic projectile attack. Keep your distance until the flame pillars die down (which doesn’t take long).

From a distance, Aava will charge toward you, then jump with a biting attack that cannot be shielded against. If you see Aava running toward you, be prepared to dodge to the left or right. If you’re caught by the biting attack, it will inflict significant damage and almost assuredly be fatal if you’re not at full health.

Attacking Aava from close range is your best bet, unless your allies can get Aava’s attention. If this is the case, use ranged attacks from as far away as you can. From this distance you should have plenty of time to put up a shield or be ready to evade any of Aava’s attacks, should her focus of interest shift to you.

At close range, get behind Aava and attack its hind legs. Do not perform more than one or two attacks at a time, depending on the speed of your weapon. Aava will not hesitate to quickly turn around and use a claw attack against you. This happens very quickly, so you will not have time to react to it. Attack once or twice from behind Aava, then be ready to dodge. If Aava doesn’t turn around and attack, continue to target its back legs.

Aava runs around quite a bit, so you’ll have to decide if you want to stay as close as possible, or alternate between ranged attacks and melee attacks. Aava doesn’t have a ton of health, so this should be a difficult battle so long as you have solid magic defense and can evade or shield Aava’s attacks. If your allies can grab Aava’s attention for most of the battle, things become even easier as you can focus more on attacking and less on evasion.

How to Beat the Burnt Ivory King

  • Reward: Soul of the Ivory King

The battle against the Burnt Ivory King is fairly straightforward. At first he attacks with a basic sword. If you stay away from him, he lunges forward with a charging attack that should be dodged to either direction. Angle your dodge diagonally forward to stay close to the boss so you can easily attack after dodging.

After a few attacks, the Ivory King imbues his sword with magic. At this point equip any magic defensive items you have to lower the damage inflicted by the weapon. In most cases it’s relatively easy to evade all of the bosses attacks, but it’s still good to have increased magic defense just in case.

If you stay away from the boss, he still uses a lunging attack that can be dodged, but all of his attacks have increased range now, so you need to dodge a little earlier than before. When the Ivory King pauses and begins to glow, move away as quickly as possible. A magic-based spike attack erupts from the ground in a circular formation around the boss.

At close range, simply circle around the boss until he attacks. He generally attacks with a two or three hit combo. Dodge all of the attacks, then counter with at least two of your own attacks. Depending on the speed of your weapon, you may be able to get more attacks off, but don’t get greedy. If you have armor with good magic defense, you won’t take huge damage from the initial attacks, but the last attack will usually remove at least 40 percent of your health bar.

If your allies have the King’s attention, back away to maximum ranged attack distance. While the boss may redirect his attention toward you, from this distance you have plenty of time to react accordingly.

How to Beat Lud, the King’s Pet and Zallen, the King’s Pet

  • Reward: Soul of Lud, the King’s Pet and Soud of Zallen, the King’s Pet

If Lud seems familiar, that’s because it fights very similar to Aava, the King’s Pet who you was the first boss you fought in the DLC area. The main difference here is that shortly after the battle begins, Zallen appears. Like Lud, Zallen is essentially identical to Aava, which means you’re basically playing the same boss fight again, only with two bosses instead of one.

Like the fight against Aava, you can approach this battle multiple ways. Deal as much damage to Lud as possible before Zallen appears. Both enemies have several long-range attacks, and a few close range attacks as well. All of their attacks magic based, so make sure you have defensive gear that reduces magic damage.

Your allies will help to distract both bosses during the battle. This gives you time to attack from behind them or use ranged attacks from a distance. It’s a bit harder to use ranged attacks here because there are two enemies and the area you’re fighting in is smaller. However, if you can separate yourself from the bosses while they’re occupied with your summoned allies, use ranged attacks to inflict as much damage as possible.

Try to focus on one boss more so than the other. This fight become much easier when it’s down to only one boss instead of two. The battle begins with only Lud, which means it should have the lowest health when Zallen appears. Continue to focus on Lud until you’ve defeated it, then shift your attention over to Zallen.

If you battle at close range, attack from behind and always keep an eye on the other boss. They can attack from quite a distance away, and their lunging attacks inflict significant damage, just like Aava’s. You do not want to get caught by ranged attacks or the lunging attack while you’re busy trying to defeat the other boss. It’s very easy to lose track of the second boss, so always make sure it’s in visual range.

Any allies you have with you will go down quickly, so make sure every attack counts. This battle isn’t all that difficult by yourself so long as one of the bosses has been defeated. This is essentially the same fight as before, so you’ve already defeated the boss. What makes this encounter difficult is that you’re facing off against two of them simultaneously. It is imperative you take out at least one before your helpers die or else you’re going to need expert evasion ability to dodge attacks from two bosses at once.


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Author
Bryan Dawson
Bryan Dawson has an extensive background in the gaming industry, having worked as a journalist for various publications for nearly 20 years and participating in a multitude of competitive fighting game events. He has authored over a dozen strategy guides for Prima Games, worked as a consultant on numerous gaming-related TV and web shows and was the Operations Manager for the fighting game division of the IGN Pro League.