How To Beat Every Boss In DKS2 Scholar of The First Sin

A general guide with tips and tricks on how to handle all the bosses in the game. Includes summon sign locations, boss weaknesses and resistances and most importantly, how to deal with the mechanics of the bosses themselves.

Guide To The Guide.

The bosses have been organized by area. The areas are presented based on conventional progression of the game (e.g Heide's Tower of Flame > Cathedral of Blue/No Man's Wharf, Huntsman's Copse > Undead Purgatory/Harvest Valley).

THE GUIDE IS COMPLETE!

This guide will not be complete at the time of publishing

Don't worry, I will continually add bosses over the coming days until all 41 are covered. If I don't, feel free to harass me in the comments until I do. I am currently doing a full playthrough that I'm nearly done with to better gauge how good strats and fight mechanics work.

Small sidenote related to NPC summoning. Each Phantom summoned will reduce the amount of souls you get from the boss (they have families to feed!) and will also increase the boss's defense. In order to summon anyone, NPC or not, you must be in human form. Please note that many of the Phantoms mentioned in the guide are only available in the SotFS edition and not in the standard version of the game.

This guide is more or less intended for newcommers but feel free to add anything you think should be included if you are a veteran of the game. It's never late to learn! The harder the boss, the more info I will try to include.

Forest of The Fallen Giants

The Last Giant

• Sellsword Luet can be summoned for this fight. His summon sign can be found just outside the fog gate
  
• Mild-Manndered Pate can also be summoned for this fight, but only if he was found earlier in the area and his dialouge exhausted. He can be found outside the room with all the ballistae.
  
• The general strategy to defeat the giant is to get under him and slash at his ankles. He will occasionally jump away to reposition. This jump away will cause damage if you're behind him so be careful.
  
• If you use a shield, it's a good idea to ditch it in this fight as the giant's attacks are strong enough to stagger you and drain all your stamina.
  
• A fantastic weapon for this fight is the Halberd dropped by some of the Hollows in the area. One can also be found on a corpse at the end of a collapsed pillar in the same area. Two-hand it and go to town on the giant's ankles.
  
• After a certain point, the giant will tear off his arm to use a weapon. He is vulnerable while doing this, so go as agreessive as possible during the animation. Afterwards, his moveset doesn't change too much so just keep slashing at those ankles.

The Pursuer

• No NPC summons available for this fight. However, Ruined Alfis can be brought here if you're quick enough. His sign is located before the hallway with skeletons. Thanks to lordbyron for bringing this up.
  
• Pursuer is weak to Lightning damage. Gold Pine Resin, Lightning Urns and Lightning magic are all useful.
  
• He is somewhat weak to standard Magic. He will not take as much damage as he does from lightning, but Aromaric Ooze, Witching Urns, etc. are worth a shot if Lightning is not available to you.
  
• Pursuer's combos mainly come in the way of three heavily telegraphed attacks. These attacks are fairly easy to parry. If you do manage to parry him, he will be stunned for a few seconds. Go to either of the ballistae near the middle of the arena and fire at him. Try to align him in front of the ballista you intend to shoot him with as you can't really adjust the aim.
  
• If you summoned a player or players to help with the fight and plan to use the parry-ballista strategy, for Gwyn's sake try not to hit the other players as one shot is enough to kill them.
  
• If you're having trouble parrying, try to distance yourself from him. This will prompt him to charge at you. Dodge his slash to the left immediately before it hits you. Dodging earlier in the animation will result in a hit.
  
• As FakeKraid pointed out, it is possible to strafe this attack to the right. Just be careful to not fall off the cliff if you're close to it.
  
• If using a shield, dodge his shield bash as it's a guaranteed guard breaker and stamina drainer.
  
• If his sword starts glowing blue, immediately get ready to dodge. This attack cannot be blocked or parried and if hit you will be cursed, reducing your max health. If dodged, he takes a while to recover, so use this time to get hits in or heal.
  
• If you need to heal, do so only after dodging a combo or his charge attack.
  
• Make sure to pick up the Drangleic armor set in a collapsed area after the boss. The shield is great for early game and will be very useful for other bosses.

Heide's Tower of Flame

Dragonrider

• Masterless Glencour's summon sign is right outside the fog gate.
  
• Dragonrider is incredibly weak to Strike damage. Any blunt weapons such as the Morningstar found in Majula or Club in Forest of The Fallen Giants will be useful here.
  
• He is also weak to Lightning damage and Poisoning.
  
• There are two ways to approach this boss. The first is just to straight up fight him. This can be a little difficult because the arena is quite small and he can knock you off it.
  
• To enlarge the arena, find the first lever on the path shortly after the first bonfire. It's guarded by an Old Knight with a sword and shield. The second lever is located in the room with three Old Knights guarding it. Killing them is not required but you're less likely to die if you kill them first.
  
• For hand-to-hand, you want to strafe to the right, roll when necessary, and attack or heal during the Dragonrider's long recovery times. Fairly easy if you enlarged the arena.
  
• The second way is pretty cheesy, but ever so funny. To make it easy, do not pull either of the levers to enlarge the arena. If you pull both, this method becomes impossible. If you pull one it's still possible but not consistent.
  
• The basic gist is to enter the arena, wait for him to come to you, and then jump from the walkway unto the arena itself. If done correctly he whiffs his attack so hard trying to hit you that he will fall off the arena.
  
• I will include a video on the second method. THIS IS NOT MY VIDEO. All credit goes to Silver Mont.
  

Cathedral of Blue

Old Dragonslayer

• No summon available for this fight specifically, but Masterless Glencour near the Dragonrider's arena can be brought here and he'll help you out.
  
• He is weak to Magic and Lightning, but resistant to Dark damage.
  
• Discount Ornstein will use Dark damage so equipping any Dark resistant clothing, shield or consumable will be helpful.
  
• The general strategy here is to strafe to the right as he's attacking with his spear whilst sticking close to him. If you stay mobile, his attacks will likely not hit you and rolling may be completely unnecessary to avoid these simple attacks.
  
• His flying charge attack is unblockable and unparryable and must be dodged or strafed. This attack will deal massive damage so be careful. It has a long recovery time so heal or get hits in.
  
• Eventually he will use a ranged attack where he fires three dark orbs at you. Get ready to run to the left or right to avoid them. They may be blocked with a decent shield but will drain stamina quite a bit.
  
• You can use a bow or crossbow to continually headshot him. This will stunlock him and let you fire arrows or bolts with relative ease. Hitting his head may be a bit difficult so keep that in mind if you go into it with this strat.

No Man's Wharf

Flexile Sentry

• Two summons are available for this fight. Bradley of The Old Guard will be located on one of the boardwalks near the entrance to the area. Lucatiel of Mirrah's summon sign is located on the boardwalk you lower near the ship. Please note that Lucatiel's sign will only appear if you found her in one of the houses near the entrance of the area. All of her dialouge must be exhausted.
  
• Lucatiel is involved in a questline that requires you to defeat three bosses with her summoned. She must also survive all three fights in order to get the "proper" ending to it. This boss is a must for her quest. Like all bosses, it can be respawned by burning a bonfire asctetic at the No Man's Wharf bonfire. If you respawn it twice after the first fight and defeat it with her, it will count as the three bosses. I recommend doing this is you absolutely want to get the "good" ending to her quest. Remember, SHE MUST SURVIVE ALL FIGHTS.
  
• The Flexile Sentry has a fast side wielding swords that deal less damage and a stonger, but slower side that wields maces. The sword side is easier to block with minimal stamina drain while the mace side will drain more stamina.
  
• All of the Sentry's attack cause Bleed build up, wearing bleed resistant clothing or using bleed resistant consumables is recommended.
  
• Your best bet is to stick to either it's left or right side and get hits in while you can.
  
• His most deadly attacks have a long windup where he raises both weapons (either the swords or maces, not all four) and strikes you with both. Dodging is crucial as even a sturdy shield will likely result in massive stamina drain if it hits.
  
• If dodged, these attacks have a large recovery window so go full out aggressive or heal if you have to.
  
• You must be very aggressive whenever you can during this fight. The longer it goes on, the more the water in the arena will build up, making it harder for you and your phantom buddies to move around.

The Lost Bastille (My favorite location).

Ruin Sentinels

• LET THE GANKS BEGIN
  
• If you don't know, a gank fight is any fight where you happen to be outnumbered. In this case it's a three versus one gank-o-rama (but it doesn't have to be).
  
• Piligrim Bellclaire's sign may be found in a open cell to the right in the hallway leading up to the fight. Felicia the Brave's sign may be found in the room with two Royal Guardsmen. The sign is near a switch. This room must be accessed before you reach the hallway to the boss. After depetrifying the hollow blocking the door, take a left to find the room.
  
• All three Ruin Sentinels are weak to Strike damage (from any blunt weapon) and any lightning damage.
  
• After crossing the fog gate, you will immediately drop into a ledge with Ruin Sentinel Yahim on it. DO NOT drop off this ledge. As long as you stay on it, Ricce and Alessia (the other two sentinels) will not help Yahim, letting you 1v1 him.
  
• All of the Ruin Sentinels have the same moveset. All their attacks are blockable if you have a good shield (Drangleic shield obtainable after The Pursuer is invaluable here). However, they are not parryable.
  
• It is possible for Yahim to accidently fall off the ledge. Don't go after him. It will take a few seconds for him to get back up there. Use this time to heal.
  
• When he does come back, he will jump up and perform a sweeping attack. Move to the left side of the ledge to avoid it completely.
  
• Once Yahim is dealt with, Ricce and Alessia will start moving towards the ledge. Stay on it and use this time to heal, use Gold Pine Resin, restore spell use, etc. When Ricce jumps on the ledge, he will perform a sweeping attack as he lands. Be ready for it.
  
• Alessia will come up a few seconds after Ricce. Use this chance to go super aggressive against Ricce. Right before she shows up, get off the ledge, you should survive the fall as long as you aren't super low.
  
• Now it becomes a juggling act. Try to keep both of them in your view. They usually stick together and attack together so circle around and stay mobile. The one move to look out for is their shield throw. Avoid it. They will be shieldless after this.
  
• If they use the same attack at the same time and are close to each other, get some hits in and it will hopefully damage both.
  
• The very best time to heal is immediately after dodging an overhead attack.

Belfry Luna

Belfry Gargoyles

• Let the reskinned ganks begin
  
• Like the previous boss, this is a gank fight. Except it's 1v5 this time (yes really)
  
• HOWEVER, the most gargoyles you will face at any given time is 3,

  UNLESS

  you accidently hit an inactive gargoyle. If you do, it can potentially become a real 1v5. Mind your surroundings.
  
• Masterless Glencour can be summoned for this fight. His sign is near the second staircase in one of the towers.
  
• The Drangleic shield is invaluable here as it will block the gargoyle's melee attacks completely and is fairly resistant against their fire breath too.
  
• Lightning and fire resistance are recommended for this fight.
  
• Poison is very effective to dispatch a gargoyle quickly. Poison Mist spell can hit multiple of them if they're grouped up. They are also weak to lightning damage.
  
• Immediately after entering the arena, run to the left and start hitting the gargoyle that is woke. The second one will shortly make his way up to help his friend so be ready.
  
• Whatever you do, for the love of Gwynevere don't get stuck in between two or more gargoyles at any point. This is good advice for any gank fight honestly, doing so will probably result in a stunlock and death.
  
• Always try to focus only on taking down one gargoyle at a time.
  
• Stay mobile at all times. The most effective strategy for ganks is to get a few hits in and leave enough stamina for a roll or to run away. Hit and Run. Hit and Run.
  
• The best time to go ham on a gargoyle is when he's channeling his fire breath. They are immobile and vulnerable when doing this. Just remeber to leave some stamina to run from his friends if you have to.
  
• I know this fight is hard, but if I was able to do it my first playthrough completely unprepared for it and on the first try, you can too! Believe!

Sinner's Rise

Lost Sinner

• Lucatiel of Mirrah can be summoned. Her sign is located after the elevator ride. She is only summonable if you talked to her and exhausted dialouge back in The Lost Bastille. She is located in one of the towers being guarded by those scythe wielding enemies. This boss counts towards completing her questline ONLY if she survives.
  
• Sellsword Luet can be summoned as well. His sign is located in one of the upper cells in the run to the boss.
  
• Before even entering the boss arena, go up both sets of stairs before the fog gate. If you discovered the Belfry Luna (a Pharros Lockstone is required to access it), defeated the Belfry Gargoyles, and explored the area after them to find the Bastille Key, then this fight will be much easier, if not, tough luck. The key in Scholar of The First Sin is actually located in the Lost Bastille's Servant Quartes behind some breakable boxes. Thanks to Tek for pointing this out!
  
• Open both doors with the key. This is a good place to use a flame butterly to light the torch without a fire source. You can always carry the torch from the bonfire to the lightable oil, but forgoing a shield to do so is very risky as the run up to the boss can be pretty brutal. DO NOT roll if you're carrying the torch through the water. I'll let you figure out why.
  
• This lighting mechanic will make it possible to target the boss no matter how far away she is. It's possible to target her without the lighting of the oil but you must stay close to her and she is quite mobile.
  
• A good shield that let's you stay mobile with fast rolls is essential. Drangleic shield comes to mind.
  
• Block only if you have the stamina for it, her attacks can drain quite a bit of stamina if your shield isn't very stable. Dodge if you can't block with your current stamina.
  
• She is parryable, but this is not advisable because she will jump away before you can get any hits in.
  
• Stay mobile at all times. Specifically try to circle around her. After dodging or blocking her attacks, get some hits in or heal.
  
• Similar to The Pursuer, backing away from her will prompt a charging attack that can be rolled under. Attack her from the back after dodging.
  
• The most reliable strategy I've found is equipping the Dragleic shield, decent armor, buying and equipping the Redeye ring from Shalquoir in Majula, and summoning Lucatiel. You will essentially become a damage sponge while Lucatiel freely deals damage. Summoning Luet makes this strategy even easier as he is a tanky character that come equipped with a Redeye ring already. Just make sure to draw attention away from Lucatiel once the Sinner starts attacking her.

Huntsman's Copse

Skeleton Lords

• The Spooky Lords are yet another gank boss fight, but a very easy one. Once again, it's 1v3.
  
• Bashful Ray can be summoned. His sign is located in one of the jailhuts in the run to the boss. Creighton the Wanderer may be found locked in a cell with a bonfire inside. The Undead Lockaway key is required to enter. Exhaust dialouge and his sign will be located right outside the boss arena.
  
• I actually recommend NOT summoning either Phantom. Like all other summons, they will reduce your amount of souls for killing the boss, but the important reason is that they may unintentionally make the fight harder (more on this shortly).
  
• Like all undead, The Skellies are weak to fire. Charcoal Pine Resin, firebombs and pyromancy are all useful for extra damage. The Lords themselves can cast pyromancy so fire resistance for yourself is good.
  
• Alluring Skulls will be very helpful in controlling the minions when they show up
  
• The bosses themselves are very easy to defeat, however, everytime one is killed, skeleton minions will take their place. The left Lord spawns large a group of normal skeletons, the middle one spawns will spawn three tough skeleton minions and the right one will spawn two bonewheel skeletons.
  
• I recommend taking one Lord out at the time and defeating his minions before moving on. I also recommend taking them out right to left to be as least overwhelmed as possible.
  
• If you do feel overwhelmed, use the pillars around the arena as crowd control. Circle around said pillars and the minions should fall in line to easily be damaged.
  
• The reason I don't recommend summoning Phantoms is because the Skeleton Lords themselves are so weak, the Phantoms will likely kill all three on their own before you can take out the minions. If all minions are on the field, you may be in trouble.
  

Undead Purgatory

Undead Chariot

• No summoning available for this fight. If you're fast enough, you can actually get Bashful Ray in here from where he's summoned. I recommend summoning him at least to help with the brutal run to the boss itself. He can be dismissed before entering the arena as he's not terribly useful.
  
• This is a very unique boss fight in the game. It's a puzzle boss with two stages.
  
• Equip a good stability shield *cough* Drangleic shield *cough* and whatever you may have that protects against Dark damage AND Bleed damage.
  
• You'll want to have the shield out for the first stage. Feel free to put it away during the second stage to focus on dodging. You can try to block, but each attack is a guaranteed full stamina drain.
  
• For the first stage, you're gonna want to find two Skeleton mages in the doorways scattered around the runway. Kill them both so they stop spawning skeletons. During this time, the Chariot will be making rounds. It will hit anything in the runway including the skeletons.
  
• To avoid getting hit, hide in one of the doorways with your shield up as the skeletons will be attacking during this time. Don't worry about them breaking your guard as long as your shield is stable. The Chariot will eventually make a pass and knock them out for a bit.
  
• If you can't make it to a doorway before the Chariot comes to hit you, you can hug the walls on either side of the runway and time a roll perfectly to avoid the Chariot spike.
  
• Once the two mages are dead, skeletons will spawn no longer. Though, you should still kill any that remain alive. Now you have to find the lever that idiot skeleton pulled in the cutscene. Once you do, pull it, get out of the middle of the runway and laugh as the Chariot crashes.
  
• This is the start of the second phase. You have to fight the horse.
  
• This horse hits extremely hard and all its attacks break shield guards and drain all your stamina. Dodging is the best way to stay alive here.
  
• Stick to either it's left or right side and get hits in through there.
  
• All his attacks are heavily telegraphed and can be dodged with relative ease.
  
• He will sometimes resort to a ranged Dark spell attack during which he can't move or change directions. Use this time to go aggressive or heal.
  
• The best time to attack or heal is right after one of his heavily telegraphed attacks.
  
• Stay away from his back as he will do a backwards kick which is absolutely devasting and can potentially one shot you.

END OF THE FIRST COUPLE OF BOSSES.

I will continue to add more and this guide should be done in a week. Two weeks max. I love the community and would never abondon you guys.

Earthern Peak

Covetous Demon

• No summons available for this fight
  
• This is a very easy fight that I can't give TOO much advice with. Seriously, Jabba the Hutt is a joke
  
• What you want to do is stick to either his left or right side and hack away. He has two attacks where he either rolls to the right or left to hit you. He lifts himself up for this, so be ready to dodge.
  
• His most damaging attack has a long windup that has him lifting his entire body up to slam you. Avoid this attack at all costs because it can one shot if you're low or have very low max vitality.
  
• Ranged players will have a much easier time as they don't need to get close at all.
  
• Avoid standing in front of him. His worst attack involves him chewing you up and spitting you up. This doesn't damage you, but it will de-equip all your items. This attack is dodgeable, but he barely ever uses it.

Mytha, the Baneful Queen

• In case you're wondering, Harvest Valley doesn't have a boss fight.
  
• Before even considering to fight this boss, GO BACK to the second bonfire in Earthern Peak, light a torch and set the windmill's mechanism on fire. This will make the fight much easier as you won't have to fight in a pool of poison.
  
• Jester Thomas's sign is located outside the hallway leading to Mytha's arena. Bashful Ray and Devotee Scarlett's signs may both be found earlier in Eathern Peak and if you get to the boss fast enough, they will join in as well.
  
• First off, equip or use any poison resistant items or armor you may have. The outer edges of the arena still have poison that will stick to you for a while and heal Mytha if she touches it.
  
• Mytha has a weakness to fire. Charcoal Pine Resin, firebombs, and pyromancy will all deal extra damage.
  
• Mytha will use magic attacks shot from her head and swift but strong melee attacks. Light armor and a good, sturdy shield should be considered.
  
• Her tail can be cut off. This will greatly reduce the range of her tail swipe attack.
  
• She constantly does this circle sweep attack. She does two circle sweeps in a row. Be ready for the second sweep. It may be difficult to dodge, so if you have the stamina for it, block instead.
  
• The best time to heal is after her forward lunge stab move as it takes her a while to recover.

Iron Keep

Smelter Demon

• This boss is completely optional and for good reason. I haven't mentioned which bosses are optional and which aren't, but I will for this one because he is definitely one of the hardest in the game, possibly in the series, at least for me. Feel proud if you best this one.
  
• Lucatiel of Mirrah's sign is present outside the fog gate. It will only be present if you exhausted dialouge with her back in Earthern Peak. She is in the beginning area of Earther Peak, in the same room with poison pots and the poison bite ring.
  
• If you're trying to complete Lucatiel's questline, this may be the worst boss to try to fight together as he will likely kill her.
  
• Fire resistence is absolutely necessary. Around the area leading to the boss there's several pots filled with water that can be broken by rolling into them. Break as many as possible and get to the boss while waterlogged (wet). This will greatly reduce his fire damage.
  
• Obviously, don't use fire based weapons against him.
  
• Flash Sweat is a spell that can be bought from Rosabeth of Melfia in Majula if she has been depetrefied. It stacks with the water logging so consider buying it.
  
• The boss himself is a scumbag. He will power up twice during the fight regardless of how low he is. This is a timed power-up. It is crucial to get as much damage as possible during the first two phases. Having him with relatively high health when he hits phase three is absolutely terrifying.
  
• The best way to deal with his attacks is to stay very close, strafe as he's swinging and dodging only if you're sure the attack will hit you.
  
• At the second phase, he will take a moment to power up, feel free to hit or heal. After this power up, he will deal AOE damage whenever you're close to him. This is why the fire resistence is important. If waterlogged, with some fire resistance on top of that, this AOE will deal very little damage.
  
• At the third phase, any melee attack will deal massive damage that can one shot you if you're fire resistance isn't very high. While powering to this phase, he's vulnerable once again.
  
• At this point, his stabbing lunge attack and his slam attack will both gain a magic attack that is easy to die to as he may or may not cast them. Make sure to run away after his slam attack and be ready for the fire spell after the lunge attack. I've seen the magic after the slam attack actually happen BEFORE the third phase so be aware of it since the beginning of the fight.

Old Iron King

• Manhunter O'Harrah can be summoned from the room with spikes and fire.
  
• I don't recommed this summon because she will probably fall or be knocked off the arena fairly quickly
  
• This boss has one attack where he breathes fire on one side of the ledge where this fight takes place. Fire resistance can reduce the damage taken.
  
• Don't bother blocking here, even with a good shield. His melee attacks are all guaranteed guard breakers and full stamina drainers. Focus on rolling and running.
  
• Dodging his two fisted slam is crucial. He will take forever to recover from it. This is the best time to heal or go ham on his arms.
  
• The most important thing to remember is to avoid the hole in the back of the ledge. This is how most players die. They either fall into it or the boss will push you into it. Try to stay away from his hole completely.

Grave of Saints

Royal Rat Vanguard

• BACK TO THE GANKS
  
• This time, there's around 12 rat minions that continuallly respawn the whole fight.
  
• Sorry about the low quality picture, this guy doesn't get enough love from the community to get a high quality pic.
  
• No summons available.
  
• Bring Poison resistant equipment and items. Poison Moss and Common Fruit are both useful.
  
• After entering the arena, no health bar will be displayed for the boss. What you have to do is kill 10 rat minions.
  
• Use the rat statues for crowd control. The rats can be separated by the statues if you run near them, HOWEVER, you can be trapped between said statues and the rat mob so stay mobile at all times.
  
• AOE spells such as Great Fireballs and Firestorm can kill multiple rats at once.
  
• After killing 10 rats, the Royal Rat Vanguard wil come out. He's a slightly larger rat with a mohawk.
  
• He can be incredibly passive, you can go very agressive on him as long as the rat mob isn't too close.
  
• If the rats start to close in, back off.
  
• If you die, don't feel too bad. This fight is very reliant on the behavior of the Vanguard and his friends. I've had fights where they do almost nothing and some fights where they stay mobile.

Black Gulch

The Rotten

• Before I mention anything about the boss, I will include some advice on how to get to the boss himself because Black Gulch is possibly the most brutal area in the entire series.
  
• Before running to the boss, load up on fire arrows/bolts, firebombs, witching urns, poison resistant items/equipment and fire resistance for the boss himself.
  
• Make sure to have a Fragment Branch of Yore on you beforehand as well.
  
• One strategy is to just run through to the fog gate trying to avoid the poison statues, the pit monsters AND the serpents. This is extremely risky as the posion statues can stunlock, the monsters can grab you and the serpents can knock you off the cliff. To top if off, a guaranteed NPC invasion will occur near the fog gate.
  
• If you want to get through the area safely, use the throwing weapons i mentioned to shatter multiple statues from a distance, use fire arrows/bolts and fire bombs to light the black tar pits on fire to kill the monsters and take your time with the serpents.
  
• There is a hidden bonfire to the right of the boss. You'll need the Branch of Yore to depetrify the hollow and actually gain access to it. This hollow is located on a small path to the right that leads to the bonfire.
  
• NOW FOR THE ACTUAL BOSS
  
• Lone Hunter Schmidt's summon sign is in the room with the two giants.
  
• Lucatiel of Mirrah may be summoned at the second bonfire, but must found in a short tunnel earlier in Black Gulch.
  
• This tunnel is right before the first serpent. Exhaust dialouge to make the sign appear. Defeating this boss while having Lucatiel survive will count towards completing her quest. This is an okay boss to try to defeat with her. Her survival will largely depend on whether she takes damage before entering the arena or how much damage she takes from the flames in the arena.
  
• Fire resistance will be useful, the boss arena has highly damaging flames that will quickly drain your health. Fire resistance will mitigate this damage but not completely make it irrelevant.
  
• Dark resistant equipment and clothing are also important.
  
• The Rotten's main combo is a three hit attack with his cleaver. They are easy enough to dodge and may be blocked at the cost of moderate stamina. He is very vulnerable after these attacks.
  
• His most deadly attack is a grab with his left hand. It must absolutely be dodged because when he picks you up, he may actually drag you through the fire.
  
• His other notable attack is an AOE Dark magic attack that can knock you into the fire. As soon as he begins casting it, back off.

Shaded Woods

Scorpioness Najka

• Manscorpion Tark can be summoned for this fight. You must talk to him and exhaust his dialouge before his sign shows up. To actually be able to talk to him, you must purchase the Ring of Whispers from Sweet Shalquoir in Majula.
  
• Bradley of The Old Guard can be summoned near the boss arena entrance if all Forest Guardians past the Shaded Ruins bonfire have been taken out. Thanks to lordbyron for this info.
  
• Quelaag Najka is weak to lightning and fire.
  
• She will deal Toxic damage, not Poison. That being said, Poison resistant items still help against Toxicity.
  
• Homing Soul Mass can stagger her momentarily if you're using magic.
  
• Try to stick to her right side when attacking.
  
• Her melee attacks are heavily telegraphed and easy to dodge. They can be blocked with a stable shield at a moderate stamina cost. The Toxic buildup can still break through the shield however.
  
• If you don't avoid her melee, you're looking at a half health chunk.
  
• When she starts channeling spells, start running circles around her as they are very deadly.
  
• When she burrows, immediately find stone floor to stand on because she can't unborrow from under these stone floors. Use this time while she's burrowed to heal, apply Gold Pine Resin, etc.
  
• In order to get the item stuck at the top of the tree in her arena, bait her into attacking the tree. Your reward is a flame butterfly so this may not be worth it honestly.

Doors of Pharros

Royal Rat Authority

• Small disclaimer: This boss is totally optional. He is fought for the right to join the Rat Covenant, but you can also beat the Royal Rat Vanguard for access to the covenant.
  
• I bring this up because this is the boss I died to most in my current run(13 times). This fight can be very difficult depending on enemy RNG.
  
• http://darksouls.wikia.com/wiki/Royal_Rat_Authority. This wiki page lists 6 effective strategies to deal with the rats. I will list the two I've found to be most effective below.
  
• No summoning available. You can't summon players either since this is a PvP oriented area where other players will pull you into their worlds.
  
• Tek noted that the rats are apparently coded as hollows so they will take critical damage from miracles. Non-cleric players can use Holy Water Urns instead.
  
• The rats will deal massive Toxic buildup so any poison resistant may help, but just a bit.
  
• Immediately after you enter, the rats will not aggro. They only aggro once they notice you.
  
• FIRST RAT STRAT : Equip a Halberd. If you have a Black Knight Halberd, equip that instead. Run up the rats to get their attention and start running back towards the entrance. As they're running towards you, they should group up. While still running. let them get in melee range. Once they are, quickly turn around while pressing the attack button. If done correctly, it should hit all of them and kill them if you're using the BKH. A regular Halberd may not be enough if it's not upgraded by quite a bit.
  
• SECOND RAT STRAT : Equip your Pyromancy glove and have Great Fireball attuned. Once again, run to the rats to aggro, run back towards the entrance, turn around when they're bunched up and hit them with the spell. A slightly upgraded glove will one shot them.
  
• YOU HAVE TO DEAL with the rats before the Authority comes down. He will come down exactly 10 seconds after the small ones notice you.
  
• There is absolutely no way to deal with the Authority and the rats at the same time. I'm telling you right now, if you fail to kill the rats you will die.
  
• The Authority himself is very simple. Roll to get under him and slash at his ankles.
  
• He will reposition during the fight so continue to roll under him
  
• Heal only while you're under him.
  
• Blocking is possible, but results in heavy stamina loss.

Brightstone Cove Tseldora

Prowling Magus and Congregation

• GANK FIGHT
  
• Benhart of Jugo can be summoned after you liberate Rosabeth of Melfia back in Majula. Exhaust dialouge with him after you rescue Rosabeth. His summon sign is in one of the tents in the camp near the first bonfire. If you do summon him, he will completely meme on this boss like nothing.
  
• Benhart has a questline just like Lucatiel's. Complete three boss fights with him surviving to complete it.
  
• The hollows are weak to fire damage. Don't use lightning or Dark magic in this fight.
  
• Equip lightning resistant and Dark resistant items and equipment beforehand
  
• When entering the arena, you will see the Magus's health bar and the Congregation's below it.
  
• Both the Magus and the Congregation must be killed to win.
  
• Focus on taking out the three lightning mages around the Magus as their ranged attacks can be super annoying.
  
• After they're down, focus on the Congregation. Use the benches/pews as crowd control and to funnel the mob of hollows.
  
• After they're done, go all out on the Magus. He has one particularily damaging Dark Orb attack that should either be dodged or blocked for moderate stamina drain.
  
• Heal while in between the pews as the hollows will struggle to get to you.
  
• Don't panic at the number of enemies. They are all weak and this fight can be overcome easily.

The Duke's Dear Freja

• If you have a fear of spiders then I feel sorry for you
  
• Ashen Knight Boyd can be summoned from the room right before the boss. Manhunter O'Harrah's sign can be found in the room with all the spiders and Red Phantom.
  
• Freja is weak to lightning and fire.
  
• Heavily consider lighting a torch. This will scare all spider minions in the fight and in the run to the boss.
  
• Freja has two faces. One in front and one in the back. She will only take damage if you hit these faces.
  
• Spider minions will be present this whole time. They will respawn if killed until Freja is downed.
  
• If you are using a torch, the spiders will cower away from you and can be ignored.
  
• Freja's attacks mainly consist of stepping on you and munching you with her mandibles but they are easily dodgeable. Blocking results in total stamina drain.
  
• Her most deadly attack is a laser from her face that makes her vulnerable while she casts it. This laser is a potential one shot so avoid it and go to her other face.
  
• If you beat her, you are officially done with the first half of the game. Congrats!

END OF THE SECOND WAVE OF BOSSES

Thanks for sticking by! Stay tuned as we go over really cool bosses like Looking Glass Knight and Velstadt, The Royal Aegis next!

Drangleic Castle

Twin Dragonriders

• ANOTHER RESKINNED GANK *Insert DJ Khaled Here*
  
• Piligrim Bellclaire's sign is right outside the fog gate.
  
• Like the first Dragonrider, both of these guys are incredibly weak to Strike damage from blunt weapons and to lightning damage.
  
• This isn't a straight up gank like the others. The second Dragonrider will stay perched up on a platform firing heavy hitting arrows. Make sure to stay mobile while fighting the first Dragonrider.
  
• Their melee movesets are totally identical to the first Dragonrider and the other lesser Dragonriders in the game.
  
• The second one will come down to help his buddy once the first one reaches less than half health.
  
• As always, avoid getting stuck betwen the two, use the strategy of hitting and running and always keep both in your view.
  
• Once the first Dragonrider reaches low health, go full out aggressive as the second one starts making his way down. If you got the damage, you can even kill him before the second one comes down
  
• If you don't manage to kill the first one, focus the second one as he has much less health than the initial one you fight.
  
• You can bait the first one to knock his friend down, but this only makes it a melee two on one faster than normal. Only do this if the arrows are seriously annoying you.

King's Passage

Looking Glass Knight

• Welcome to my personal favorite boss in the main questline.
  
• Benhart of Jugo can be summoned outside the fog gate if you exhausted dialouge in the previous bonfire after the Dragonriders.
  
• Load up as much as possible on lightning resistance.
  
• A stable but light shield can be a life saver in this fight
  
• His shield is completely immune to damage and hitting it will only cause you to recoil
  
• The key is to strafe around to his back and damage him there.
  
• All his attacks are heavily telegraphed and can be dodged easily or blocked for heavy stamina loss.
  
• If you see him power up with lightning, either start going behind him to avoid or be ready to dodge it. This attack can hit you on the back end while behind him so take care.
  
• If blocked, the attack will radiate a lightning wave that can be blocked but damage will bleed through anyway.
  
• This wave is a near fatal attack because it will be raining during the fight, thus waterlogging you be weak to lightning. This is why resistances to it are important.
  
• At around half health or so, the Knight will slam his shield down to summon assistance for himself. He will be immobile and vulnerable so this is the best time to go crazy on him.
  
• If the Knight is killed before the summoning is complete, the Phantom will die without being able to do anything. At any point in the fight, if the Knight is killed the summon will die at exactly the same time.
  
• If the summon is completed, try to ignore him and focus on the Knight. Always keep them both in your view.
  
• The most interesting thing about the fight is that the Phantom the LGK summons will either be an NPC or a human player. If any player has left an invasion sign anywhere in Drangleic Castle or King's Gate, odds are they will be summoned to help him. Try to check the immediate areas around the fog gate and last bonfire of Drangleic Castle (the one Benhart is at) if you really don't want a player summoned.

Shrine of Amana

Demon of Song

• Felicia the Brave's sign is located near the Crumbled Ruins bonfire.
  
• The arena will be in knee-deep water, restricting your movement. However, the water will waterlog the boss, so he will take increased damage from lightning.
  
• The boss only takes damage when you hit his exposed skull face. Don't bother hitting him anywhere else.
  
• All his attacks are heavily telegraphed and SHOULD be dodged or backed away from. Using a shield will result in near total stamina loss unless your stamina is really high.
  
• If it looks like he's about grab you, run backwards immediatey. This grab is a guaranteed kill.
  
• Dodging this will result in a long recover time to heal or hit.
  
• If he lifts his entire body, start running around him, but be ready to dodge as well. This move cannot be blocked and tracks you as you move.
  
• Rarely, he will lift his head up and spits moderately damaging water at you. This attack rarely happens in my runs, but be aware it's possible.
  
• He can be suprisingly fast for a large boss so only heal after dodging.
  
• Enjoy this meme because it's honestly the most enjoyable thing about this fight.
  

Undead Crypt

Velstadt, The Royal Aegis

• Second favorite main game boss. Poor guy doesn't get enough love D:
  
• Grave Warden Adgayne may be summoned if you didn't turn him hostile by bringing a torch into his room and exhausting dialouge. If you did make him hostile, then talk to Cromwell the Pardoner in Brightstone Cove Tseldora to absolve your sins.
  
• Devotee Scarlett's sign is located in the room with two Dark Witches.
  
• Remember the Old Knights from Heide's Tower? The big ones? Velstadt is incredibly similar to the ones with hammers, but slightly faster.
  
• Dark magic resistance can help, but very minimally.
  
• His main attacks consist of a double horiztonal swing and an overhead attack. He doesn't track you for either all that much and both of these moves can be parried. Blocking is possible, but results in a near total stamina drain.
  
• He has ♥♥♥♥♥ kick that deals moderate damage. Cannot be parried, but it can be blocked.
  
• Halfway through, he will take exactly seven seconds to ring his bell to buff. Use this time for hits, heals, weapon buffs or spell restoration.
  
• Once buffed, his attacks are one shots unless you're at full health.
  
• He also gains a spell that's a near one shot. He has to take a knee to cast it. When he does, get behind him to avoid it.

Vendrick

• This boss is totally optional. He will only become a boss once you wail on him a bit. I recommend picking up the King's Ring, acquiring some of the Giant Souls and returning at a later time. More on this at the bottom.
  
• No summons available.
  
• Vendrick probably has the highest amount of health and elemental resistances of any boss in the entire series, rivaled only by Ancient Dragon and The Nameless King in Dark Souls 3.
  
• He will decimate your health to zero in only three hits. Two if you're less than at 80 percent HP.
  
• For the most part, his attacks are really slow and should be strafed or dodged, never blocked unless you just can't dodge in time.
  
• Ranged players be warned, he can close the distance very fast and even has a ranged spell he uses if you're far away.
  
• I've never been hit by this spell since he takes FOREVER to cast it and it's slow moving. Don't find out what it can do for yourself, okay?
  
• General strategy to deal with his melee is to dodge and get hits in OR dodge, get under him and slash at his legs. He isn't the Last Giant though. He will reposition quickly and jump away quickly.
  
• This is an endurance fight, meaning you have to budget your stamina and your heals to stay alive.
  
• Only heal after dodging his jumping attack, his spell, or his double horizontal swing.
  
• Now for the Giant Souls. Four are located in the Memories of Giants that you can enter once you have obtained the Ashen Mist Heart from the Ancient Dragon. These memories are located in Forest of The Fallen Giants. The fifth one is obtained from killing the Ancient Dragon. Even with all five, he's incredibly tanky so don't get cocky.

Aldia's Keep

Guardian Dragon

• No summons I'm aware of.
  
• Fire resistance may be of assistance for his flame attack, but only minimally
  
• He is weak to lightning.
  
• You will have faced a Guardian Dragon if you decided to explore the Cathedral of Blue after all.
  
• His moveset and the strategy here is the same. Stay in front of his right leg and hack away there.
  
• He will very slowly lift his legs to stomp you. It's not worth blocking, just move away or roll to avoid it.
  
• His tail swipe can be annoying so stay away from it.
  
• He will occasionally try to bite, but this will never hit.
  
• He will fly away to hit you with fire, so get away from the center of the arena and move to the outer edges. Heal during this time.
  
• You will face several of these guys in the next area so remember these strats for them!

END OF THIRD BOSS WAVE

In the next one, I'll be looking at all end game bosses of the main game. After that, all DLC bosses will be covered (aka some of the best bosses). This is where the difficulty will REALLY start to ramp up so stay tuned.

Dragon Shrine

Ancient Dragon

• No boss is present in the Dragon Aerie
  
• This boss is optional and should only be fought if you really want to make Vendrick's fight easier.
  
• Vengarl of Forossa's summon sign will be in the hallway to the fog gate if you exhausted his dialouge and defeated its headless body located near Manscorpion Tark
  
• Melina the Butcher's sign is at the beginning of the staircase.
  
• I recommend using the Phantoms to at least distract the enemies in the ridiculous run up to the boss
  
• Don't bother with shields or blocking. Every attack is a guaranteed guard break and a full stamina drain.
  
• Dodging must be absolutely on point because every attack will be a one shot if you didn't level vitality by a fair amount. Consider light armor to make this easier.
  
• He can be poisoned, but don't be surprised if it doesn't drain his health much.
  
• The safest place to stay in the fight is in between his left front leg and left hind leg. Hit him in the hind leg and be prepared to dodge his foot stomp.
  
• By far, his worst attack is the flying flame attack. I didn't mention to bring fire resistance because it's pretty futile. What you have to do is run under his tail while he is airborne and stay under it. He will keep moving so track it and when he comes down he will slam into the ground so run when the flames stop.
  
• When he peeks down to his legs, get away from under him. He will spit fire at you shortly after.
  
• Stay away from his tail while he's on the ground because his tail slam will surely kill you in two hits.

Memory of Jeigh

Giant Lord

• Be careful in the run up to the boss. Make sure to take out the giants OR wait for the stone head to take them down. Obviously, this stone head will one shot a small human like you so wait by the ballista or fog gate.
  
• The smaller giants may or may not join in on the boss fight so make sure they're all dead.
  
• Benhart of Jugo's sign is located after entering the memory. It will only show up if you talk to him in Memory of Orro. This will count towards completing his quest if he survives.
  
• Captain Drummond can be summoned if you talked to him in Memory of Vammar. His sign is right next to Benhart's.
  
• This fight is really just a reskinned Last Giant...literally.
  
• His moveset is near identical to Last Giant, as such, stay under him and slash at his ankles.
  
• Don't block, just stay mobile and avoid his stomps.
  
• The main difference between Last Giant and Last Giant from the past is his sword. It's just like the Last Giant's arm though. So just avoid it with rolls or by staying mobile.

Throne of Want (SPOILERS)

Throne Watcher and Throne Defender

• Benhart of Jugo's sign is right outside the fog gate.
  
• Vengarl of Forassa is right outside as well.
  
• Bradley of The Old Guard is outside the fog gate only if these two are being fought at the finale of the game.
  
• Bashful Ray can be brought from the room with the Ruin Sentinel minions.
  
• Piligrim Bellclaire can be summoned from where she's summoned for the Drgaonriders.
  
• Only three Phantoms can be summoned max.
  
• Please note that these two can be fought immediately after acquiring the King's Ring. This will make the finale easier, but Bradley of The Old Guard will not be available for summoning if you do this.
  
• Throne Watcher will use lightning and Throne Defender will use magic. Resistances to those types of damage should be brought.
  
• Stable but light shields should be heavily considered.
  
• They must be brought to zero health at roughly the same time because they can and will revive each other if they can. This will be done indefinitely until both reach zero at the same time.
  
• Focus on the Watcher at first. He's the white-robed one who moves quickly. He has a smaller health pool which will come into play.
  
• As with all gank fights, hit and run and try to keep your shield up.
  
• Get the Watcher as low as possible. Preferably with only a few hits left to kill him.
  
• He will lightning buff at roughly 50 percent health. Go completely defensive avoiding both foes until this buff wears off. It greatly increases damage.
  
• After getting Watcher low, focus on Defender. Get him low as well. He magic buffs at also roughly 50 percent health. He will also lose his shield.
  
• Once again, wait until after this buff wears off to not get 2-3 one shot.
  
• Bring the Defender down first. This will be easier because he will be lacking a shield.
  
• When the already low Watcher starts to revive him, go HAM. This is a surefire way to ensure they go down at the same time and will make it so that you don't have to deal with both of their buffs.
  
• Heal while they buff or while they're away from you. Be warned, the Watcher can quickly close the distance.

Nashandra

• BIG SPOILER

  if you reveal the boss's name.
  
• The Phantoms you summoned from the previous fight will stay for this one.
  
• Yes, this fight will occur immediately after Throne Watcher and Defender if you didn't enter the arena earlier to take them on. If you are low on Estus or just simply aren't ready for it, pop a Homeward Bone when you can.
  
• I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but you need as much Curse resistance as possible. It is absolutely crucial.
  
• This boss will summon four Curse inducing balls that when stood in the middle of, will curse you and drain your health in the blink of an eye.
  
• Ring of Binding and Ring of Life +2 will mitigate this health loss greatly but budgeting your heals is still required.
  
• The Curse balls can be destroyed with melee hits or ranged hits.
  
• The boss will either attack you with a three hit melee combo up close.These slashes can either be vertical or horizontal slashes.
  
• The third slash will always be delayed more than the others.
  
• These are easy enough to dodge, but can be blocked for moderate stamina. They will also increase Curse build up.
  
• At range, this boss will use a laser. This can be dodged by rolling or moving close to the boss or out of its range entirely. Whatever the case, it deals devastating damage so make sure to avoid it.
  
• Another spell this boss uses is an AOE. It's casting animation is identical to the laser. If Dark magic envolpes the boss's body, back off because its point of origin is its body.
  
• The balls will respawn eventually if destroyed.
  
• A heavily upgraded pyromancy glove will decimate its health in around 9 casts with a Great Fireball. This number varies by how much the glove is upgraded. This is a safe strat from range.
  
• And finally there is a glitch that basically nullifies this fight completely. If you throw a Holy Water Urn at precisely where the boss spawns before it spawns, the boss will spawn immobile and without Curse balls.

Scrolling down to the next boss image will likely spoil who/what it is. So here's a random image of Leona and Solaire for filler. Praise the sun!

By Arlequinne

Aldia, Scholar of The First Sin

• Previously summmoned Phantoms will join in if they're still alive, though they're probably gonna be pretty low on health at this point...
  
• Yes, this is potentially the third boss fight in a row for you if you saved the Throne Watcher and Defender fight for the finale.
  
• If you feel overwhelmed, it's perfectly acceptable to *bone* out of this fight and return later. All the previous Phantoms can be resummoned.
  
• Fire resistance is of mixed usage here. It will help with one of Aldia's ranged attacks, but the other ranged attack chunks too much health to be of any use.
  
• For the most part, he is a stationary boss, stay away from his flame shield when it's up and hit him when it's down.
  
• He will always perform two random attacks before teleporting away from his current position.
  
• His first main attack has him punching vines into the ground, these vines then pop up from the floor and roughly try to track you as you try to run from them. I say roughly because they seem to just target the area you are standing on randomly. Running with a shield up is a good idea. It only moderately chunks stamina if blocked.
  
• His second main attack is really easy to avoid. This time, he simply puts vines into the ground and red spots mark where they'll spring up from. They always spring up near him.
  
• Once they do he's pretty much vulnerable to attacks and you're open to heal.
  
• The real danger are his ranged attacks.
  
• The first one has him spawning multiple fireballs that he will successively shoot at you. They track you quite a bit so just run circles around him to avoid.
  
• If he's too close to the edge of the arena, just run in one big circle in an open area of the arena.
  
• His second ranged attack is a huge fireball that will one shot you if not defended against.
  
• He charges this attack for a LONG time, enough for some Estus sippin',
  
• This attack should be run away from AFTER he launches it because it can track you quite a bit for such a large spell.
  
• Even then, the AOE is massive so try to run it while it's still in air, but before it gets too close.
  
• It can be blocked with a strong shield at the cost of half your health (if it's at 100 percent) and a total stamina drain. Shield break should go without mentioning.
  
• The only other thing to watch out for is his teleportation. Get away from the spot he's teleporting to because he comes in with an AOE blast that can knock you off the arena or chunk a massive amount of health. Don't bother blocking, just run.

END OF FOURTH BOSS WAVE

There's still one last non-DLC boss left in the main game. But he's somewhat of a 'secret' or hidden boss that requires certain requisites to be met before he appears in-game. I was gonna include him with the last ones in this last wave, but I think his difficulty and nature of being "secret" will make him fit in just right with the DLC bosses. Yes, these last 10 are the hardest in the game, Mr. Secret Boss included.

Dark Chasm of Old

Darklurker

• Made another guide specific to this area. Check it out here http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=889310178
  
• This is it, the last boss we're covering from vanilla Dark Souls 2.
  
• This is considered by many (myself included) to be THE hardest of the non-DLC bosses, with perhaps Ancient Dragon being the only other real contender for that title. You have to know what you're getting yourself into here.
  
• He will become available to fight once all three Dark Chasm of Old areas have been cleared, with you being transported to his arena after lighting the third one.
  
• These become available only to Piligrims of Dark covenant players.
  
• In order to join said covenant, Darkdiver Grandhal must be met under one of two collapsable wooden planks near the third bonfire in Shaded Woods, in the giant's room reached by jumping off the cliff to a ledge below near the second bonfire in Black Gulch, and a cave below one of the openable doors in the room with Ruin Sentinels and stone enemies coming, near the first bonfire of Drangleic Castle.
  
• Once joined, the three locations where you met will become entrances to the three Dark Chasm of Old areas. These areas are cleared once all Phantoms are defeated and beacons within them lit with a torch
  
• Once these areas are available to be cleared, they can be cleared in any order. I recommend clearing the Shaded Woods one last as it's easy to get to and also has the least amount of Phantoms.
  
• No summons available.
  
• Darklurker has resistances to fire, magic and Dark so don't bother with any of those damage types.
  
• He is weak to lighting however.
  
• Despite using a sword on occasion, Darklurker actually deals no physical damage at all. Come into this fight with as much fire, magic and Dark defense as possible.
  
• If you are using a shield, make sure it's one with very high stability and elemental resistances. I recommend the Rebel's Greatshield as an example. Keep the shield up at all times and have a Chloranthy ring for rapid stamina regen.
  
• If you are not using a shield, your dodges better be ON POINT.
  
• The very best weapon you can use against this boss is the hex Profound Still. It will prevent him from using spells for 30 seconds and will relegate him to using his sword.
  
• His sword attack has a very large delay. Dodge only when it's about to hit
  
• If he raises his arms upwards and a large black orb apears above him, get ready to dodge the incoming magic attack. He will send a ball into the portal and anothor portal in the arena will spawn to launch it. Make note of where this second portal spawns.
  
• If he leans backwards, an incoming AOE explosion will emit from his body. Get away from him immediately because this deals tremendous damage.
  
• If he begins floating upwards, he will cast a laser that will also wreck your health HARD. Run under the laser to avoid it.
  
• At 60 percent health, he will begin splitting in half to make a copy of himself. Don't heal, instead get as much damage as possible because he and his copy will be damaged.
  
• In addition, he can be staggered, but your window to do so is about three seconds.
  
• For some reason, his fire resistances seem to go down during this split so Flame Swathe, Great Fireball and Chaos Storm will deal massive damage to him and his copy. They will also stagger him.
  
• The copy has the same exact moveset. It doesn't matter which you focus because they share the same health bar.
  
• DO NOT get in between both. This leads to a quick stunlock and death from his melee.
  
• Their other ranged attacks aren't too notable. They're easily dodged with good timing and don't track. They do have a bit of delay though.
  
• A unique strat I've found is to load up on bolts for a crosswbow and throwing knives. Fire them at him while keeping distance to avoid his melee and keep attention of his attacks. If you have a shield, keep it up the whole time. That means no two-handing the crossbow.
  
• Best heal window is while they're both casting their spells. Be ready to dodge whatever they're throwing though!.
  
• One last thing, once his health bar reaches zero, be ready to dodge any spells he may have been casting because they can go off despite the fact the health bar has reached zero.

Brume Tower

Fume Knight

• Right from hardest main game boss to THE hardest boss in the entire game.
  
• I'm not joking, this guy famously has a 93% failure rate and is often considered by a lot of the community as easily one of the hardest in the entire series.
  
• Carhillion of the Fold and Steelheart Ellie are available for summoning BUT DO NOT SUMMON THEM. The entire reason I bring them up is to tell you to not summon them. They both do pitiful damage and die quickly. Oh, and each Phantom summoned will increase his health by 100%. You don't want a 300% health Fume Knight do you?
  
• If you want to summon someone, make sure it's a player.
  
• He deals fire and Dark damage on top of his already high physical damage. Plan accordingly.
  
• He has very high Dark, magic, and fire resist, along with moderate lightning resist. He is immune to Poison.
  
• Despite the resistance, lightning buffed weapons can do slightly more damage as long as their physical damage is high.
  
• After you first enter Brume Tower, you will come across six smelter wedges which can be used to destroy Ashen Idols scattered around Brume Tower. Keep at least four of these wedges for when you get to Fume Knight's arena.
  
• Once you do, there are four Ashen Idols around the outside of the arena. Destroy them with the wedges before you go in. If you don't, they will heal him whenever he gets low.
  
• Once you enter the arena, Fumey won't immediately spawn, he only does so once you approach the sword in the middle of the arena. Any buffs applied while in the arena will last a little longer than ones applied outside.
  
• The reason Fume Knight is so hard is because of his hard hitting damage and ability to seemlessly chain together combos, which themselves often come with significant delay.
  
• Shield users be warned. The damage and speed of his attacks is often enough to break guard and drain all your stamina. If you're going to use a shield, make sure it's something with very high stability such as Gyrm Greatshield or Rebel's Greatshield. They will also help against his fire buff.
  
• A Chloranthy ring will be invaluable for stamina regeneration if you go in with a shield.
  
• His most decieving attack is a four-hit combo with the first three hits coming fast, but the last one is a hit from the ultra greatsword on his left hand. This last hit has an incredibly long delay, don't feel safe until after he swings.
  
• The direction in which he swings with this fourth slash will either be left-to-right or right-to-left depending on where you're positioned relative to him.
  
• Healing should be done immediately after this fourth slash animation is complete.
  
• Once he reaches 50% health, he will throw his right-hand sword away and two-hand the greatsword, which gains fire and Dark damage. This phase is easier in my opinion, but should not be underestimated as nearly every melee hit will chunk ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ near all of your HP and may even one shot you if you don't pump many points into vitality when leveling up.
  
• If he slams the greatsword into the ground, avoid the AOE and either run as far as possible from him or get ready to roll over the incoming fireballs. Highly skilled players may run in between the balls to get some hits in. If you ran away instead, take the time to heal once the fireballs have finished traveling.
  
• Funnily enough, these fireballs can be parried with spell resistant shields.
  
• If he lifts his sword with one hand slowly, you better be ready to roll under his next attack. It's a deceptively slow swing that will come from your left to your right. If you get behind him, make sure you're slightly to the his right as the swing is ending because it's a 270 degree swing that may hit you if you're too far back left or too far back right.
  
• If you're having trouble with the first phase too much, you may consider coming into the fight wearing Velstadt's helmet. If you do, he will be triggered, buff immediately and throw away the second sword. ONLY do this if the dual sword combo is too much for you to block or roll effectively and you're willing to deal with the second phase right from the start.

Iron Passage

Blue Smelter Demon

• Yes, he's back
  
• Steel-willed Lorrie and Drifter Swordsman's signs are available after the bonfire. I recommend summoning them to at least get through the Iron Passage alive. They will be busy distracting all the enemies so they probably won't even be able to enter the boss arena.
  
• Instead of dealing fire damage, he deals magic damage.
  
• Just as fire resistance is vital to the original Smelter Demon, magic resistance is vital in this fight. Come into it with as much as you can get.
  
• His moveset is identical to the Smelter Demon in Iron Keep, but that's the only similarity.
  
• The main difference between the two is how they changed the speed, timing and delay of his attacks.
  
• He will freely switch up the speed, timing and delay of his attacks, sometimes in the middle of a combo so don't fall into the trap of overconfidence by thinking this is just a reskinned Smelter Demon. He will punish this overconfidence greatly.
  
• Always make sure to stay strafing and dodge as the attack is about to hit you, not during the windup.
  
• Just as with the OG demon, attack while he's buffing and be aware that his forward lunge gains a ranged followup and his slam gains an AOE either in third phase or, rarely, in second phase.

Memory of the Old Iron King

Sir Alonne

• Quick sidenote, if you are doing this DLC early, you need the Ashen Mist Heart from the main game to access this area.
  
• Steel-willed Lorrie and Drifter Swordsman can both be summoned for this fight. Their signs are at the beginning of the memory.
  
• Magic resist should be brought because he has ranged spells.
  
• A stable shield is good, but be aware that his speed and some of his hard hitting attacks will drain quite a bit of stamina.
  
• He has a specific kicking attack that he will perform if you constantly block. This will drain a lot of stamina.
  
• When he jumps back, try not to be behind him because this jump comes with a slash attack.
  
• He has another deceptive attack where he will jump back, but do a heavily damaging stab attack that drains a lot of stamina.
  
• If he starts charging while you're close, be ready to dodge because the incoming attack is a grab that will also buff his sword if it connects. May not be blocked.
  
• If you are at distance, he may begin buffing his sword with magic and will send a horizontal ranged slash that may be rolled under or blocked for moderate stamina drain.
  
• You can try to bait his charged melee attack by walking backwards, away from him.
  
• He will pause, charge and hit with some delay so roll right before he hits you. Dodging this attack opens up the best healing window possible.
  
• This attack isn't as easy to bait as Lost Sinner or The Pursuer's charge attacks though.
  
• If he suddenly changes his stance/way he holds his sword, DO NOT attack while he's in this stance because it will result in a guaranteed parry and riposte. Be patient and wait for him to get out of this stance because the riposte is his most damaging attack.
  
• If you manage to beat him in under three minutes without taking damage you get a special death animation for him for your troubles.

Cave of the Dead

Afflicted Graverobber, Ancient Soldier Varg and Cerah The Old Explorer

• Rapacious Andre and Ruined Alfis are both available for this fight as soon as you enter Cave of the Dead. I recommend summoning them to distract the ridiculous amount of enemies in the Cave itself. Like with Iron Passage, they probably won't even make to the boss arena itself.
  
• Come in with Bleed resistant equipment and consumables.
  
• They are all devasted by being poisoned, but this may be hard to do without the Poison Mist spell to hit multiple of them. Trying to poison them with Throwing Knives or Poison Arrows/Bolts is hugely risky because it limits your mobility.
  
• A high stability (but light) shield and Chloranthy ring can be invaluable in helping you survive the beginning of this fight.
  
• The arena is very spacious and has two levels, use this as crowd control because the main strategy here is the same as every gank: Hit and Run. Except, you have to be faster than usual.
  
• Remember to never get stuck in between the two melees because it will surely result in a quick stunlock and death.
  
• If you take damage while they're all alive, the best time to heal is while you're away from the Graverobber and Varg, but while Cerah is prepping another arrow.
  
• Cerah is the one with bow and Estoc. You'll need to take him out first because his arrows are incredibly annoying, deal big damage and stagger you into getting stunlocked to death by the other two. Just run from the other two, go immediately for Cerah and try to take him out quick.
  
• He pulls out an Estoc when in melee range so make sure to put up your shield if you have one and hit him when you can while making sure the other two aren't too close by.
  
• If you can't take him out on your first Hit and Run, keep running around the arena and coming back to hit him whilst running from the other two. He shouldn't take too long to take out since he has the lowest defense and armor.
  
• After taking out Cerah, focus on Afflicted Graverobber, the one with the Alva set and two swords. Don't bother with Varg because he is the tankiest and will begin healing with an Estus Flask below half health.
  
• Try to use the rocks and pillars around the arena to separate the two, this may be difficult because they tend to stick togther.
  
• If they aren't being isolated enough, you should continue with the Hit and Run strategy. Get some hits in on her, leave enough stamina for a sprint and start running when Varg gets too close. You're essentially gonna be kiting them throughout the entire fight.
  
• Graverobber herself can easily stunlock you so be wary and choose your hits carefully.
  
• After kiting the Graverobber to death, you finally have a fairly straightforward NPC duel with Varg.
  
• Don't underestimate him though. He hits very hard and spends most of the fight blocking with his greatshield, so consider a guard break to open him up to damage.
  
• After reaching 50% HP, he will try to heal with an Estus Flask, use the chance to stunlock him for free damage. An Estoc or Rapier will excel at this.

END OF FIFTH WAVE OF BOSSES

The next wave will consist of the five final bosses available in the game so stay tuned.

Dragon's Rest

Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon

• Transcendent Edde and Abbess Feeva can be summoned for this fight. Their signs are opposite the bonfire before the fog fate.
  
• Fire resistance and Poison resistance are important to counter Sinh's toxic flames. Poison Moss will be especially helpful.
  
• When he's grounded, you're going to want to go to either his right or left and attack his side or hind legs. Attacking him from the front will expose you to his head slams and claw sweeps.
  
• Try to stay close to him while he's grounded. Being somewhat far from him will prompt him to perform one of three attacks.
  
• The first one will have him spitting flames at you in a straightline. Unless you have a very stable shield with fire resistance and lots of stamina, don't block it and just strafe to avoid it.
  
• The second attack has him breathing flames from his left to right. Run under him or to his side to avoid. He will always complete the channel of this attack even if you get close so just attack or heal.
  
• The third attack is a melee charge that will hit you for some big damage. If you are near his front feet at the end of this attack, he will follow up with a slam from his body. Don't bother blocking just strafe or roll.
  
• Don't spend too much time at once near his hind legs. If you see him raise his head slightly, he's going to hit you and anything behind his tail with fire.
  
• His most dangerous attack is a tail whip that he spins all of his body to hit you with. He will spin three times hitting you all three times. The best place to be is under him to avoid it.
  
• At some points in the fight, he will start flying and will try to hit you with flame attacks. Don't bother trying to hit him with ranged attacks while airborne. He is too fast to hit consistently. Focus on dodging his flame attacks at this point.
  
• His most common attack is a drive-by with flames that will cover a generous portion of the arena. Stay mobile and keep running during this attack.
  
• If he hovers over you, he will spit a fireball with some generous AOE that lingers for a bit after it lands. Immediately after this attack, he will try to land on you for damage. Make sure to run before he does this. If you manage to avoid being used as a landing pad, feel free to heal because he will recover long enough for an Estus sip or some attacks if you're up for it.

Elana, the Squalid Queen

• What a *certain* final boss's fight should've been like.
  
• Steelheart Ellie and Benhart of Jugo can both be summoned for this fight. Ellie's sign is right before the fog gate while Benhart's is behind some pillars a little futher away from it.
  
• Apparently, this fight won't count towards Benhart's personal quest completion.
  
• Fire, bleed and Dark (especially Dark) resistances are very crucial to surviving this fight.
  
• Alluring Skulls can be very useful in this fight, so have some equipped.
  
• If you're bringing a shield, make it high stability with the above mentioned resistances.
  
• Elana will attack with a variety of ranged spells if you're far from her and with her relatively easy to dodge axe if you're close to her.
  
• Her melee attacks are near identical to SPOILER Nashandra's. Mostly vertical and horizontal slashes that come in combos of three. These attacks can be blocked for moderate to high stamina drain.
  
• Her ranged attacks include basic Dark Orbs, Dark Hails and Affinity, but also include highly damaging AOEs like Flame Swathe, Chaos Storm and Dark Storm. ALWAYS pay attention to what she's casting and be ready to strafe, roll or run as appropriate.
  
• She also tends to teleport behind you and follow up with a quick strike. This attack is usually easy to avoid unless you have extra opposition to deal with...
  
• Yes, Elana tends to summon help for herself, often distracting you from her attacks. If she starts teleporting, be ready for the attack from behind.
  
• She will either summon some golden skeletons which really don't differ at all from normal skeletons or golden Manhunter pigs which also don't differ from the standard models except in color. You can use the Alluring Skulls to distract the skeletons.
  
• If she summons the above enemies, it's best to kill them as soon as they appear to refocus on Elana.
  
• The REAL threat/difficulty of this fight is that she can summon golden Velstadt. Yes that's right she can summon Velstadt.
  
• This version of him has the same exact moveset as the boss fight Velstadt, but has less health. All of his attacks will still do massive damage and drain almost all your stamina if blocked so stay mobile.
  
• Getting in between them will lead to a stunlock and death so stay mobile this entire fight. This is especially hard to avoid because of Elana's tendancy to teleport behind you so it may actually be best to play without locking on to control the camera better and keep them in your view.
  
• Ranged users may have an easier time, but be aware that Elana will still be trying to hit you with her spells.

Frozen Eleum Loyce

Aava, The King's Pet

• Steelheart Ellie's sign is right before the fog gate. Masterless Glencour's sign is near the first bonfire.
  
• When arriving in Frozen Eleum Loyce, at the first bonfire you will be presented with a path going left and a path going right. GO RIGHT and find the Eye of the Priestess on a glowing altar. If you don't find it, be ready to fight Aava while she's invisble and untargetable.
  
• Bring a good amount of magic resistance. If you bring a shield, make sure it also has magic resist and is very high stability.
  
• Aava has slight weaknesses to fire and Dark damage.
  
• Aava is a very fast and hard hitting opponent. All her melee attacks will drain large amounts of stamina if blocked.
  
• What you want to do is roll under her and attack her hind legs after dodging her forward melee attacks.
  
• Never heal while she's far away. She will close the distance very quickly with a leaping bite attack that will deal massive damage if it connects. Only heal when you roll under her after dodging her attacks.
  
• Her two successive slashes are very quick and must be rolled under to dodge effectively. Rolling to the side will result in a hit as the hitbox of those attacks cover anything in a large area in front of her.
  
• If she begins to growl and curl up, get away from her as she is casting a magic AOE attack that will hit anything near her. She will perform this attack if you stay near her too long at once.
  
• If she begins to curl and grow while she's away from you, she will begin casting her homing spell attack. To avoid if efffectively, run to either the left or right (depending on what while give you more distance) until the spell is over.
  
• If you're behind her, make sure to watch out for her backwards leap because the area she lands on will be damaged.
  
• If she hesitates for a moment, she may be readying a 180 degree attack that will surely result in a guard break and full stamina drain if blocked. Roll backwards to dodge it.

Frigid Outskirts

Lud & Zallen, The King's Pets

• Vengarl of Forassa and Abbess Feeva are both available for summoning. Their signs are near the statues.
  
• I recommend summoning them to at least get through the Frigid Outskirts because the area is super troll. You'll see why when you get there.
  
• As with Aava, a high stability shield and magic resist can be life savers.
  
• Both Lud and Zallen have the exact same moveset of Aava (hurrah for reskinned ganks) with one exception.
  
• The exception is when either of them reaches roughly a third of their health, they will begin channeling a spell that heals them steadily over time and buffs their damage. At this point, their attacks are near one shots. Take the time it takes for them to channel this spell to get free hits in.
  
• The same general strategy with Aava applies here, roll under to dodge their swipes and bites and attack the hind legs or heal if you have to.
  
• Be warned, the hitbox of their swipe attacks is so busted that being under one doesn't mean you're safe from the other's attacks.
  
• At first, you'll fight Lud solo. Zallen will join in once Lud reaches a third of health and begins channeling the buff/healing spell. It will take him a bit to get to you, so if you have the damage, unleash the beast all over Lud. It is possible to kill Lud enitrely before he has a chance to buff, making the fight a fair one on one again.
  
• If they're both alive and both begin channeling the homing spell attack, I don't have much advice on how to deal with it. Either run around them if you have enough stamina or if you're lucky, go behind both if they're facing one direction.

The Old Chaos

Burnt Ivory King

• This is it! We've reached the end.
  
• In case the cover image wasn't hint enough, this is my favorite boss fight in the game and one of the best in the series, in my opinion.
  
• Before even making it to the fog gate, make sure to have talked to Alsanna and agree to help her calm the winds. She will shatter the ice that makes a lot of items and areas in the DLC unobtainable or unexplorable. After that, fully explore the area and find and free three Eleum Loyce Knights that will be of immense usage in the fight.
  
• And by "immense usage" I mean they're practically a requirement. In the arena, you will see three portals that will spawn a certain amount of Charred Loyce Knights that you have defeat in order for the King himself to show up. The Eleum Loyce Knights will help you with them and will sacrifice themselves to seal off the portals spawning the Charred Loyce Knights. If you don't have at least three knights with you (you always have one by default if you don't get the other three) then the portals while continue to spawn Charred Loyce Knights, making the fight near impossible to win.
  
• Lucatiel of Mirrah and Twiggy Shei's signs are both in the immediate vicinity before the fog gate. Their signs only show up if you have rescued and least one Eleum Loyce Knight.
  
• Lucatiel's sign will appear even if you have already completed her questline in the main game.
  
• Bring some magic resistance.
  
• The King and the enemy knights have very high fire resistance, so don't bother with fire buffs or pyromancy.
  
• Lighting is fairly effective against the Charred Loyce Knights and the King himself.
  
• After dropping into The Old Chaos, the Charred Loyce Knights will begin to spawn, take your time to kill them, there is no rush. Killing them too quickly may make the Eleum Loyce Knights seal the portals after the Ivory King himself shows up, resulting in portals still being open when he shows up.
  
• Help out your knight buddies if they're getting too overwhelmed or at least distract the enemy knight away from them. If your knight buddies die, they will not be able to seal the portals(duh).
  
• You may want to leave one portal and one ally knight alive for when the king shows up though. This isn't entirely in your control so don't be discouraged if you can't.
  
• The reason you may want to do the above is because if you lure the King near the portal as the Eleum Loyce Knight seals it, it will instantly kill the King. A knight glowing blue indicates he is on his way to seal it.
  
• To be honest though, who would want to do what I just said? The King deserves an honorable death!
  
• If you want to fight the King, be on your toes the entire time, he is very quick and agile.
  
• Periodically throughout the fight, the King will take some time to buff his sword with magic. Making it deal increased damage and giving it much wider range. He is vulnerable while buffing so either damage him or heal. Don't waste these windows of opportunity.
  
• Once his sword is buffed, he may slam it into the ground. A magic AOE attack will follow shortly after so get away from him.
  
• If he charges for a second, be ready to roll UNDER his incoming attack. This attack only occurs while his sword is buffed. DO NOT roll to either side because the range of the buffed sword will likely result in a hit. Failure to dodge will result in massive damage. This attack can be baited by being away from the King like Lost Sinner and The Pursuer's charging attacks, but like Sir Alonne, it's not quite as guaranteed to happen. He may just run up to you to close the distance.
  
• If he lunges forward with a slash, dodge it because it is unblockable and unparryable.
  
• He often follows up the last attack with a 360 degree jump and landing slash attack. Getting hit by these two strikes while his sword is buffed is a likely death.

Thanks!

To cap off, I would like to thank my friends [30] Lawliet, Lozen and warren for getting me back into the Souls series and for giving my guide more visibility as well as giving me feedback on the guide itself.

Making guides is fun so I will continue to make more. I've just completed a Dark Pilgrims guide and hope to make a guide to Boss Weapons and how they compliment certain builds.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=889310178

I also thank anyone and everyone who comments on the guide, rates it and reads it. I will continue to edit the guide for any errors, new info, etc.

[<™[-=> Cookiez <=-]™>]

Aldia's Keep is WRONG. You can summon Luet.

[karma]

great guide!

[Kirohar]

I love this guide! Haven't actually used it, but I just love seeing all these bosses cataloged like this!

[FoxOfTwilight]

Basicly all I did was try to stay behind him, when he jumped away from me I would run to get to where im back behind him or I walked as I blocked his attacks while trying to get behind him.

[FoxOfTwilight]

I just fought Vendrick for the first time ever, and i found something out that i think should be shared for at least people who use melee.... before I say much I just wanna say that these are the gear i brought in with me and ACTUALLY used (aka i'm ignoring the stuff i didn't use):

Fire Broadsword +10
Poison Broadsword +10
Black Witch's Staff
Great Magic Weapon
Havel's Greatshield +5
Havel's Helm +5
Havel's Armor +5
Havel's Gauntlets +5
Havel's Leggings +5
Chloranthy Ring +2
Ring of Steel Protection +1
Ring of Blades +1
Baneful Bird Ring

My comment seems to be too much for one so i'll just split it in 2 I guess.

[FoxOfTwilight]

I know there was probrally plenty of better gear to use but meh. The way I ended up defeating Vendrick is litterly a simple thing that i think is way easier than dodging everything and getting a hit in.
All I did was stay behind him as much as I could while blocking (i had high poise and stamina so it took all 3 of his hits to stagger me out of shielding) waiting for him to swing his sword either down or across before I hit him 2-3 times.
I noticed a pattern with his attacks if he doesn't jump away from you as you stay behind him, if you are on his more on his left he will do a downward swing but if you are more on his right he will do a sideways swing.

[FoxOfTwilight]

For the Guardian Dragon boss you are able to take Sellsword Luet with you into the arena. I just tested it since I saw that you don't know if you could take any into it. The only issue i had with it is that it kept flying or jumping onto the sides of the bars, which forced me to use my bow/crossbow.

[ckretur]

Cool! Btw, for Smelter Demon + Ancient Dragon, this build Should make you invincible to dragon's breath and SDemon's third stage.

Pharros Mask+10
Chaos Robe/Black Witch Robe +10
Penal Cuffs?+10
Chaos Pants?+10
Dispelling Ring+1
Flame Quartz Ring+3
Dragon Tooth x2
Flash Sweat
Pyromancy Flame+10/Dark Pyromancy Flame+10 +$$$Int+Fth

Your Intelligence and faith, are the big fire def changer; in total, the difference between all int + fth is more than the FQRing+3...

[nightbanekaizer]

I had no idea the blue Smetler Demon was magic, not fire. No wonder my magic build was so weak against it. Guess I'd best prepare a dark hex build to try against him.
Thanks for the guide. I might read it again if me and a couple buddies struggle again. Their both newbies so this will be of great assistance.

[Fancy My Nancy ❤]

I mentioned how Phantoms reduce souls gained and increase boss defense in the intro. I only mentioned it again for Fume Knight because it's the boss I most commonly see people failing at with multiple summons.