Unless you’re new to the Dark Souls franchise you probably know just how punishing it can be and how frustrating the mocking “You Died” game over screen is. Even so, these are the things that make it the most rewarding when you do beat a tough boss.
Every game in the franchise has its share of crazy fun boss fights and Dark Souls 3 is no exception to the rule. We’re here to give you a little competitive edge during the fights by giving you a low down on how the toughest ones operate.
Grab your gear and don’t forget to rest at a bonfire beforehand! Here is a walk-through of the baddest Dark Souls 3 bosses!
1. Nameless King
This fight takes place in Archdragon peak. You’ll find a large bell located in a cloudy void and after you ring it the Nameless King will appear on the back of a stormdrake. Summon at least three friends to take along because he will be completely merciless with his giant swordspear.
This boss is completely optional but it’s worth doing if not just for the fun but also the bragging rights of course.
What You Can Expect
This boss battle is done in 2 parts. in the first part, you’ll fight the drake that the king is actually riding. You’ll want to up your resistance to fire due to the drake’s fire breath and lightning because the King will attack you with it.
Your biggest challenge during the first phase will be when the Drake takes flight and blows fire at you. While it’s in the air, the King will throw lightning bolts at you. Once the King is on his on, he will be a fast melee type boss and really hard to predict.
Battle Strategy
First of all, you want to make sure that you are not locked on during the first section of the fight. If you just simply work best with the lock on active, then lock on to the King rather than the Drake. Attack the drake’s head unless you’re seriously good enough at dodging.
If you use melee attacks the King will attack you with his spear. The Drake will bite you if you get too close but it’s not too damaging. You do want to watch out when it moves behind you because it will use its fire, which will hurt but it also leaves it open for you to get behind its head and attack it while being safe from the flames.
Once the second phase of the battle starts, you can start locking on again. You’ll want to shave his life down slowly by doing more dodging than attacking. If you’re a melee character, you can actually cause him to stagger a little bit. If you’re playing a ranged or magic character you have a bit of an advantage as long as you stay mobile. This fight takes a lot of time and patience and if you rush it, you won’t be successful.
2. Pontiff Sulyvahn
Pontiff Sulyvahn is another one where you will want to be as resistant to fire as possible. It’s not an easy fight and is a huge roadblock for many players of the game.
He also puts you in a false sense of security because as soon as you think you’ve got him, he summons another version of himself.
What to Expect
Pontiff Sulyvahn uses two powerful swords, one of which does heavy fire damage. He usually uses the fire sword in a sweeping motion and uses his other sword which does heavy magic damage to thrust.
During the second half of the fight he summons a ghostly version of himself and if you didn’t think it could get worse you would be wrong. He sprouts wings and will dive at you from above.
Battle Strategy
If he can bring a buddy with him during the second half of the fight then you can too. There is an NPC summon outside that you might want to take advantage of. It’s only fair, right?
During the first part of the fight, you’ll want to make him come to you. Keep your distance so he will rush toward you. This will allow you to easily dodge his attacks and get a few hits in yourself.
This strategy won’t really help you out much during the second phase. You’ll want to be more conservative with your attacks. If you kill the phantom Pontiff it will just come back. Truly, the best strategy for this part is to be sure that you’re decked out in great armor and pray.
3. Dancer of the Boreal Valley
The fun thing about the Dancer of the Boreal Valley fight is that you can trigger it in the first level of the game but you don’t want to unless you hate yourself. Unless you’re an expert, you won’t be able to beat her when you first locate her.
She has two swords one of fire and one of ash that she uses to protect Lothric Castle.
What to Expect
Dancer isn’t as bad as she seems if you keep calm and use the right strategy. Her moves aren’t too fast and they are telegraphed enough where you will be able to avoid them.
In her second phase, she will get a lot faster and it’s during this time that you want to make sure you back off as far as your attacks go.
Battle Strategy
She is weak against lighting and bleed so plan your weapons accordingly. During her first phase, you’re usually fine as long as you stay behind her and attack her right leg. If she goes to do her spinning slash you’ll want to dodge because if the first attack connects, it’s game over.
During the second phase of the fight, you can hide behind pillars to get some distance from her. Keep in mind that she can and will attack you while you’re behind one. It won’t make you invulnerable.
Move around and attack her when you can. If you’re a ranged character use a ranged lightning attack. If you use magic, a lightning spell is also good.
4. Soul of Cinder
You’ve fought your way through the game, put in countless hours, sweat, tears, and possibly a new controller somewhere along the way to reach the end. That’s right, Soul of Cinder is the final boss of Dark Souls 3.
What to Expect
Despite being the final boss of the game, Soul of Cinder actually isn’t too bad if you stay calm. Don’t get us wrong, he does hit hard so if you let your guard down for a minute, you might find yourself on the infamous “You Died” screen.
Soul of Cinder has 2 full health bars, one for each phase so don’t get too excited when you take out a bar. This just means things are about to get a bit harder.
Soul of Cinder has a ton of attacks. He’ll start out with mainly melee ones but then later switch to lightning spears and homing soul masses. After the soul masses, expect lots of fire spells.
Near the end of his first phase, he gains the ability to heal himself. Super annoying. During his second phase, he hits harder but has fewer abilities.
Battle Strategy
The biggest thing to keep in mind is he does hit hard which is why you want to pay heavy attention to your health bar and have a nice collection of Estus Shards with you.
If your character is low in the vigour department, you’ll want to bring a shield to absorb some damage for you otherwise you might be down after one hit. It’s for this reason that you want to be a little conservative with your attacks or at least very careful.
Most of his attacks consist of thrusts that can be easily avoided if you know what you’re doing. During the second phase, he gets a grab attack that will hit you with a 5-hit combo. It will be hard for him to actually hit you with it as long as you keep rolling around.
Strongest Dark Souls 3 Bosses and How to Beat Them
Dark Souls 3 bosses despite being difficult, are fairly fair. If you don’t have the right strategy, you fall. It’s as simple as that.
The basic rule of thumb for this game is to stay calm, don’t get overly excited, and don’t break your controller.
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