Three Dark Souls Bosses I Randomly Feel Like Talking About

One of the beauties of Dark Souls lies in the bossfights. Each and every bossfight offers completely different experience to each player. Some may find boss X a huge pain in the ass, while others breeze through that very same boss. With that said, I feel like reminiscing my previous encounter with some of the bosses as well as giving out some interesting insights on the fight through this post. I'll be posting this now and then from now on in no particular order, usually on Thursday when I feel like it, until we hit the seventh boss or something.

Let's start with the Capra Demon. Many players seem to be having a bit of a problem with this boss. I guess I'm one of the minority of players who managed to beat him on the first try. The thing is, the Capra Demon bossfight can either be fairly easy or very hard (in an annoying way) depending on your action during the first few seconds of the fight. You see, the demon is accompanied by a pair of rabid dogs that will charge at you as soon as you've entered the fog door leading to the fight ground.

The dogs took me by surprised, but my reflex took over and thanks to that fast and underrated broadsword I was wielding, I took both of them down in less than 10 seconds. This feat is what took me more by surprised because as far as I can remember, when the rabid dogs perished, the Capra Demon hadn't approach me yet. I guess I was lucky enough because the dogs charged at me without waiting for their boss to join them, because had the three of them attacked me simultaneously, my counter-attack on the dogs would most likely be interrupted by their demon master.

The fight was still not a walk in the park, I can assure you that, due to a couple of reasons. One; the fight arena is small and not spacey like most areas. Casters will be having a lot of trouble in this fight unless they're good at dodge-rolling. Two; the Capra Demon has a wide radius of attack, and he hits hard. But his attack intensity does have a downside: he telegraphs well. This is when he's open to counter attack, but you must do it quick because as soon as the demon's back up, he's fast and agile. Melee-focused characters must always keep their shield up and block his attacks and make sure to take some time to recharge lost stamina.

My trick was whenever I ran low on health, I'd climb up the stairs with my focus maintained on the demon. As soon as I was at the top, I sent him barrages of firebombs and offensive spells (soul arrow, fire orbs). When he noticed that I was up there, he would follow me. As soon as he was on top with me, I'd drop down to the ground below (it's just a small drop) and replenished my health while he climbed down the stairs to follow me. Then we'd fight as usual (I'm making it sound as if we're buddies) and when I ran low on health, I retreated up the stairs again. The stair tactic will also work if you're a caster.

I was very nervous the entire time I fought the Capra Demon. He was very unpredictable and fast. I do not know much of his attack patterns because I hadn't had the chance to observe him long enough since I beat him on our first encounter. I imagined that if I let the dogs lived, it would be a much harder fight. Just ask any player who had to deal with the dogs during the Capra Demon fight, they couldn't agree more. He's a reminder that one smart move can make a huge difference in Dark Souls.

Sometimes smart moves don't matter when the odds are stacked against you. Just ask the dynamic duo of Ornstein and Smough, the main bosses of the magnificent city of gods, Anor Londo.

Ah, these assholes.

The bossfight is arguably the hardest battle in the game provided that you fight them all alone. Not only the bossfight is hard, you actually have to fight your way there. This makes the fight seem harder than it really is, but it's not actually any easier either. But this fight should be one of the most memorable one in the game.

Don't ever get cornered.

I'd like to point out that this bossfight has three phases: one phase is pre-fight and two phases are during the actual fight. The first phase or challenge is fighting your way to the fog door leading to the arena. The fog door is guarded by two huge Royal Sentinels and a silver knight wielding a Dragonslayer bow. Fighting these guys is like a mini-boss fight to prepare you for the worse one that lies ahead. You can just dash through them and enter the fog door if you wish, but if you want to summon the Solaire of Astora the Sunlight Knight to back you up during the actual boss fight, it's best for you to eliminate the guards before summoning the knight in order to have him on his highest health at the beginning of the bossfight. When the path to the main boss fight is finally open, make sure you are fully prepared. Remember, you fought your way for this. As for me, I can't deny that it really puts pressure to my back, knowing that every failed attempt will put me back to square one and I will have to fight my way through to get to the bosses again.

Smough and Ornstein will come charging and blazing. The Sunlight knight will make this fight much easier, but it's still is a hard fight compared to most that you have been in so far. Being cornered is the last situation you'd want to be in during this fight. Everytime I got stuck into a corner, the duo would savagely gang-raped me. Smough the Sumo attacked my mouth while Ornstein the Cat took my anus. Excuse me, I'm still very pissed. unleash unstopabble barrages of attacks on me. Plus, the camera began to go wild and crazy I couldn't even see my own character. But camera problems like this are always to be expected in all video games in every situation in which you are trapped in a corner. Then again if that wasn't the problem, I won't survive anyway because these guys are very strong even when they're on their own; let alone when both attack you like mad at once.

The trick is to move a lot and always keep your shields up. Smough is too fat to be agile. He's big and easy to see and he likes to attack you directly. But don't be fooled. Just because he's still far away and still catching up to you, doesn't mean it's 100% safe to lower your shield. Because while he is slow, with God's will, Smough can magically teleport to your back -- no, I'm just joking -- Smough can't do that. But Ornstein will. Well, he won't exactly teleport but he lurks around the corner and dashes at you the moment you put your guard down. Ornstein is much smaller than Smough (but still is bigger than you) so it's easy to lose sight of him in the midst of battle. The arena is also not so well-lit, making it easier for him to stalk you like a cat. Always try to separate the two from each other first before going offensive and then follow this with an intelligent pattern of retreat.

The first time I managed to beat one of them, it was Ornstein. Suddenly, as soon as Ornstein fell to the ground, the game cuts into a cutscene of Smough turning into some kind of a charged "oh shit now I'm on my own" emergency mode. He was back to full health and became more powerful but still very slow. I was very close to finishing him before his hammer took away that opportunity from me. Well, it was still my fault anyway because I was too excited to finish him off and charge at him instead of replenishing my health first.

Then after a few fights, I managed to beat Smough first instead. Again, as soon as one of them falls, his surviving brethren will go into his Super Saiyan mode. Apparently, Ornstein loves Smough more than Smough loves him because he'll be extremely pissed if you kill his fat comrade. In other word, Ornstein's second form is deadlier than Smough's. He becomes more aggresive and blocking his attacks won't keep you safe from harm. This is because while you can block all physical damage, his lightning attack will still hurt you. So, make sure you bring a 100% physical resistant shield (for the first phase of the fight) and wear a highly lightning-resistant armor (for the second phase of the fight in which Ornstein survives).

This is getting out of hand.

But the ultimate strategy is, of course, to beat Ornstein first because Smough's second form is easier to handle. But you don't need to burden yourself coming into every fight with the pressure to win. Take your time and survive as long as possible to study their attack patterns. If you fall, come back again and do better. Remember, Dark Souls is all about persistence. But if the fight feels too much to you (for heaven's sake, we'll have to fight our way there, that's an entirely another problem), it is advisable to summon the Sunlight Knight for the actual boss fight. On your second playthrough though, don't.

The accomplishment of beating these two bosses on your own is just too great to let pass.

While we can agree that most bosses in Dark Souls are jackasses that shamelessly stand in our way and hence must be slayed by us, the hero, in pursuit of doing the world a greater good, Priscilla is quite the opposite. In fact, killing her might make you feel like an ass. Priscilla is the guardian of the Painted World of Ariamis and unlike other bosses, she is not hostile when you faced her for the first time. Also, she looks like a barbie doll. You know, the creepy, roundish type, with bulging eyes, or one of those dolls that have a button on their back that when you press it, makes the barbie "talks" in that creepy voice that doesn't sound like that of an innocent child at all.

But she's like an angel in comparison with those annoying bosses like the Hellkite Dragon (damn you, you stubborn little drake). Instead of going all out on you as soon as you enter the fog door, the soft-spoken Priscilla greets you in a sad voice, insisting that you don't belong there and should leave them alone in peace. In fact, she forgives you eventhough you just mindlessly slained killing those creatures that she protects and asks you to leave without punishment (technically she isn't "letting you go" because she never imprisoned or captured you in the first place).

In other words, get the fuck outta my turf.

But instead, as for me, I went behind her, pulled out my strongest weapon and attacked her.

From behind.

While she was not hostile.

Such an asshole of me.

But talking dolls are sinister and dangerous, and so is Priscilla. She's not particularly tough, but she can turn invisible and once she does, you can't lock-on her. Your only clue of her position are her footprints on the snow-covered floor, and they're not even that helpful. She'll start poking you around with her scythe. Other than eating away chunks of your health, this playful act is also very annoying. So you can't see her, then how would you beat her and get the heck out of the twisted painting? One word: throw fireballs everywhere like crazy.

But hell, man. Fighting bosses are fun as hell. I'd do any of them another hundred times if I could.