Is Fume Knight really the hardest boss in Dark Souls?

[Casul Gamer]

Someone told me this recently and I read that he has the lowest completion rate of any boss. However, I suspect the reason he has a low completion rate is partially because of the gimmick where he is able to heal if you don't do something first.

Don't get me wrong - I died plenty of times, but he wasn't rage quit annoying "f*** this bulll****" like some other bosses. Royal rat authority in champions covenant and Najka with an ascetic were more frustrating for me. Also, a certain boss in Dark Souls 1 was incredibly difficult because I was trying for the t*** c** (censored to avoid spoilers for DS1 if anyone here hasn't played it).

Fume Knight just seemed more straightforward in what I had to do so I didn't mind dying as much. Maybe he was just better designed than the other bosses. With Najka and Authority (and Special K) there are certain tricks that work with them, but having manipulate a boss' AI (such as Freja in addition to others I named) isn't really my type of difficulty. It's true that in order to heal with Fume knight I did have to bait out his combo attacks, but overall it felt more fair.

I was also surprised I got the crown from killing him since he's the first boss I found in that DLC. I'm trying to play these DLCs somewhat blind, but I have looked at a few of the items on the wiki. Is the crown pretty good for a caster? I've never timed myself playing so I'm not sure if 2 minutes of gametime is a lot or not.

[Shadowdrake]

eh, not really, solo throne watcher and defender have given me more crap than he has

[LightOfJudgment]

Your experience merely speaks to the fact that Fume Knight is indeed a well-designed boss (as opposed to the likes of Royal Rat Authority).

As for the crown, it's most useful for playing a caster in a no-bonfire run. I generally prefer the King's Crown or the Black Hood, but it's a good option.

[burn1none]

no hes easy compared to trying to fight Ancient Dragon imo (without Gyrm shield)

[Reoden]

Ehhh.. I think he was pretty tough in NG+. Probably my greatest challenge in the game so far, other than those damn double Pursuers (for which in the end I gave up and summoned someone to help me). Fume was alright in NG but nothing too extraordinary. He was about on par with Alonne for me. I had zero trouble with Watcher/Defender or Darklurker but I did them after all the DLC so I was most likely significantly overleveled. (And yes I'm talking about trying to solo any boss I mention.. a co-op win is next to meaningless imo).

As to the hardest boss in "Dark Souls" you're including the original game? Ehh.. I think Kalameet and maybe Manus would edge him out. Though not by too much. I think he's definitey in the top 3 for best/hardest bosses for both games. (O+S are more in the "well designed" camp for me, as I didn't really have as much trouble with them, only some in my SL1 run, but I do recognize them as one of the more iconic and well-designed fights in the series).

I would group fights like the Rat Authority, Chariot, Ancient Dragon, and the like as being more "gimmick" fights, i.e. fights that might be daunting or frustrating if you don't know what's going on, but once you learn/wiki the "strategy" for them they become more tedious than anything else. Bed of Cacks is kind of in it's own category for just being a frustrating mess (which can be cheesed rather efficiently and is I think a rare example of the cheese being easier/faster than the actual "fight").

Tbh I think which boss each person finds most difficult/best designed will naturally vary. Though I think we can generally agree some fights are better designed than others/most. But yeah for me personally fighting Fume Knight without a shield in NG+ was some of the most fun/frustration of the good kind I had with this game in PvE.

If you want to just say just straight up hardest boss in either game, well designed or not, I think I would give that "honor" to the Double Pursuers. And I think Bed of Cacks would have taken it hands down without the checkpoint system they added in. lol

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

This data was announced before 3rd DLC was released. That titles probably belongs to Lud and Zallen now, which are the hardest to get to and the hardest to defeat.

[Dj DNA]

According to the statistics that from software released a while ago, Fume knight is the hardest with a 93% failure rate (those stats were for DS1 AND 2). Now personally I enjoy his fight a lot but I wouldn't consider him the hardest, for me it has always been kalameet to the point that I call him my nemesis.

[Dj DNA]

ThilocMoths eredeti hozzászólása:

This data was announced before 3rd DLC was released. That titles probably belongs to Lud and Zallen now, which are the hardest to get to and the hardest to defeat.

Those are actually pretty easy imo, their hp is so low you can kill one faster than it takes for the other to appear. I had more trouble with aavaa than lud & zallen

[LightOfJudgment]

Speaking of subjective difficulty, the one boss between this and DkS1 that gave me enough trouble to be considered my "nemesis" is the Burnt Ivory King (yes, I did find all of the knights).

I found Fume Knight difficult the first time I fought him, but I enjoyed every second of it because the fight is so well-designed.

[Dj DNA]

LightOfAcumen eredeti hozzászólása:

Speaking of subjective difficulty, the one boss between this and DkS1 that gave me enough trouble to be considered my "nemesis" is the Burnt Ivory King (yes, I did find all of the knights).

I found Fume Knight difficult the first time I fought him, but I enjoyed every second of it because the fight is so well-designed.

I love the burnt Ivory King fight although it did not give me much trouble. The setting shift and his entrance are the best (meaby a tie with manus )

[Hatrix_]

Raime isn't hard by any means, most people just walk in expecting to be able to tank him. You can't. You just can't. Dodging is the most effective way to defeat him.

I'd have to say, both DSs, Manus is the toughest boss. He just keeps coming and coming and coming, he doesn't give you much breathing room.

[Pyramid Bread]

Who is Fume Knight? I'm still stuck on the Last Giant :'(

[JimPappa]

I'd say it's Sir Alonne. Not only he's quite challenging (and so fast) but the horde of enemies you have to go through just to get to the boss room can be quite tedious. Raime on the hand is just next to the bonfire, so you can fight a lot more repeatedly if you die. You can master him much faster.

In DS1 my nemesis was Artorias. Jesus. Died like 20 times before managed to defeat him. Other bosses weren't much trouble at all. And Manus and Kalameet were rather easy for me. Even O+S weren't much trouble. (Actually managed to get them on my first try solo)

However I had finished DS2 (no DLC) before playing DS1 so I was already used to souls games. And I played DS1 as a sorcerer.

[Hatrix_]

Lashan.W eredeti hozzászólása:

In DS1 my nemesis was Artorias. Jesus. Died like 20 times before managed to defeat him.

I hear this a lot, but I really don't understand it. I defeated Artorias walking in blind for the first time, no guides, no idea what was about to happen. I didn't find him too difficult, just a bit tedious when he spammed his jumping-spinny attack four to five times in a row. I mean it's not like I did it perfectly without getting hit, but I did beat him first try.

What's so hard about him? I'm asking legitimately, not condescendingly, I don't understand why people have trouble with Artorias.

[JimPappa]

Hatrix eredeti hozzászólása:

Lashan.W eredeti hozzászólása:

In DS1 my nemesis was Artorias. Jesus. Died like 20 times before managed to defeat him.

What's so hard about him? I'm asking legitimately, not condescendingly, I don't understand why people have trouble with Artorias.

Well back then, I was hiding behind a shield and didn't do much dodging. Maybe that's the reason. When I backed away to cast a spell he would rush and attack and we both would get hit by each other. This was good for him since he had way more HP than me.

[Hexagon]

Nobody here struggles with Darklurker? Or am I just bad?