Dark Souls III

Soul of Cinder

The Time To Link The Fire Has Come

The Lords of Cinder have been slain. Their ashes will become the kindling for one massive fire, the time has come to Link the flame. But...honeyed words and a writhing black mass within the body tell us "Play the usurper". An age of fire must begin, but is it the age that the people have wished for? These questions can't be answered until the last incarnation of fire is destroyed. The time has come. Let the age of Hollows begin..........

If you've played through Dark Souls III then you probably saw this coming, hints were dropped multiple times about the direction I was taking the end game. I'll explain a bit more about that later, for now there is the fight.

The Soul of Cinder is fairly tough, I'll admit that I lost the first time round, though I came close to beating him. The Soul of Cinder takes everything that you have learnt and puts it to use against you. He throws spells and combos at you like no man does. Therefore its best if you pay attention to what stance he takes towards the end. The Soul of Cinder is reminiscent of Gwyn in a lot of ways and has many homages to the first Lord of Cinder, including using his sunlight spear (Which you can transpose from the Soul of Cinder).

To be honest for a last boss I felt that this guy didn't pose as much as a challenge as lets say the Moon Presence from Bloodborne, that fight had multiple things to be aware of and while the Soul of Cinder defiantly posses a threat, he isn't really all that tough. Another thing to keep in mind however was that I had help from both Yuria and the shade of londor. With the Soul of Cinder slain we can now link the fire......

I went for the Lord of Hollows ending. I'll be honest here I felt really, really bad about it. Terrible in fact as you had to put an end to so many characters who were mostly innocent. Orbeck, Anri, Horace to name a few and in a wider sense you also betray all those who put their faith in you as a Champion of Ash. This ending left a bitter taste in my mouth, an ending where there is no ending...for anyone. To be hollow is to be without purpose, to be without death. It seems that the Primordial Serpent, Kaath, had his wish granted. An age of Hollows. Londor is great again.

And so began an Age of Hollows, an unceasing world of lifeless beings unknown to death. The gaping hole of the dark sign grew like a blackened sun and all who stood beneath it were plagued by the curse of the undead. What a somber world that would be.....

Dark Souls III

Lorian and Lothric Twin Princes

Lorian, Elder Prince. Lothric, Younger Prince.

Lorian, the Elder prince of Lothric was a powerful warrior. Mighty and to be feared he slew the "demon prince" after which his sword was permanently blackened. Lothric was cursed from a young age and his dutiful brother decided to share the burden of the curse, causing him to become crippled. Seeking to evade their collective duty as Lords of Cinder they fled, wishing to watch the fire fade from far away. However duty is as much a curse as any and we find the twin princes awaiting the Unkindled ready to carry out their duty......

Lorian and Lothric pose a problem for players. Alone Lorain isn't much to worry about (he says having lost to him 5 times) his swings can be anticipated and you can easily avoid his strikes. The only problem is that Lorian teleports everywhere, making locking on to him difficult. Lorain has some moves that can easily devastate an overconfident player and the one sword attack he has, where he creates a pillar of flame/light, is one of the most dangerous moves he has especially after he has teleported away. Lothric joins the fight once you have slain Lorian at this point I am reminded of the fight with Aldrich, casting near constant spells and having devastating attacks. 

Having said all of that when you get to the second portion of the fight it becomes far easier to deal with, attacking Lorain and Lothric from the side can easily end the fight almost as soon as Lothric appears. Summoning Sirris for this was the right call, or at least I think so, more than anything else I needed her for her quest line. Still with the twins defeated we can progress to the last boss.




Lord of Cinder Slain. The time to link the fire has come..................or has it?

Dark Souls III

The Nameless King

King of The Storm

It was said that Gwyn's Firstborn was a god of war. He wielded the power of sunlight and used the same miracles as Gwyn, the sunlight spear. He fought alongside his father against the dragons, however something within the first born changed. He turned against his own kin, abandoned his father and chose to side with the very dragons he had sought to kill. Now a mighty and supremely powerful foe stands before the Unkindled. He rides a mighty Dragon, Uses the power of sunlight, Strikes with the force of a god and will defeat any who trespass in his domain. Gwyn's Firstborn has come. The Nameless King fights. 

The Nameless King is terrifying. His strength is unreal as a single hit can eat nearly half of your health. He throws sunlight spears around like a madman. This guy is tough. I had to farm embers for 3 hours had 65 embers ended up with 45 afterwards. Still the battle is amazing. Fast paced keeping you on your toes and choosing when to tank a hit or flee. My heart was racing by the end of it. That is how you can tell when a boss battle is good, when it gets you in all ways.

The Nameless King definitely is the hardest boss in the game. He deserves all the preparation and discretion you can bring to the fight. There is so much lore and depth to this character especially in relation to Gwyn. 

We're drawing closer to the end now......

Dark Souls III

Ancient Wyvern

A Monolithic Foe, A Relic of A Bygone Age

Atop Arch-dragon peak rests a mighty conquerer. His will to work with dragons rather than against them turned many people against him. None the less the dragons respected the choice he made and now they protect this ancient place in the hopes that they can exist in peace. Unfortunately for them ashes have been caught on the wind and a champion of ash has come to test his might. His first task? Slay a dragon.

The Ancient Wyvern is an odd case for a boss in Dark Souls as he is so incredibly easy. The route isn't that hard to miss and while the boss could probably be dealt with in a less cheap way, this is the way that most people do it. 

Honestly, there isn't anything else that can be said about this guy. Moving on. 

Dark Souls III

Dragon Slayer Armour

The Dragon Slayer Returns 

Tales were told of the Knights of Gwyn. They were powerful, noble and fiercely loyal to their king. Now an imitation guards the way to the Grand Archives. A wretched reminder of an age gone by and a knight loved by many. What stands before the Unkindled is a hollow imitation of the once proud knight Ornstein. Do him justice and release this paragon from the control of the pilgrim butterfly. 

The Dragon slayer armour is tough, he can tank hits like a badass and has great resistance to lightning, not that you'd be using it because he basically exudes it. Help here is almost recommended I'd say since the Dragon Slayer Armour is incredibly strong, has high poise and can really punish an over aggressive player. The key is finding moments to pull back.

Eygon and Sirris really help during this fight and seeing as I needed them anyway for side quest reasons. With the Dragon Slayer down the way to the grand archives is open.

Side note: Eygon as a character isn't particularly interesting as he mainly sticks around to make sure that you don't hurt Irina of Carim. This makes his appearances in boss fights odd. When you first find Irina you take on the responsibility of looking after her, Eygon originally brought her to Lothric to become a fire keeper but as we know the job is taken already. He stays to keep an eye on her making sure you don't harm her, thats his role. They're a package deal, take one get the other. But as to why he should help you or even does is left up to speculation as he doesn't seem fond of undead based on your first conversation. 

Sirris helps you regardless as long as you don't join Rosaria's finger covenant. She is more interesting as she has her own agenda which you can help her with. Again for more lore I would like elsewhere.

Dark Souls III

Champion Gundyr

A Champion Awakens Too Late

The sky was robbed of light, the bell did not toll and Gundyr arrived too late. An age of Dark had befallen the world. Gundyr was supposed to be a champion of ash, an Unkindled but his duty was forsaken, his future was dark and sightless. Without purpose Gundyr waits. But he doesn't wait long an Unkindled approaches, one who he can test his might against for Gundyr is a champion and a champion deserves a worthy end.....

Yeah. Champion is the right word for this guy. He is god damn quick. Seriously have you seen him!? No? Thats because he's so fucking fast! Ahem. Anyway. Champion Gundyr is a good fight its a straight up test, as with the first fight you have to be careful because so many of his moves chain together so easily. He can devastate you before your even sure you lost. After all this is Gundyr in his prime fighting like a tank and showing you the true strength of the Unkindled.

I had to call for help on this one. I wasn't kidding when I said he was tough. Again like several other bosses Gundyr's backstory is interesting. He failed as a champion of ash and instead now lies in wait for the real champion. 

Champion Gundyr was defeated. The age of Dark continued and Gundyr fell to the abyss. He became a prisoner to it. A prisoner who would stand guard eternally. Waiting for the day when the sun would shine proudly, a bell would be tolled and a champion would rise from their grave. On that day the Champion becomes the Iudex, so that he can bequeath the coiled sword to its chosen ashen sheath........

Dark Souls III

Oceiros, The Consumed King

A Consumed Dragon Guards the Ancient Way

Oceiros was consumed. Consumed by the knowledge of dragons, he tried to become one and succeeded. Now he clings to the last of his line telling the invisible babe not to fear since he is a child of dragons. Clearly he was consumed in more than one way.......

As we progress further into late game material the bosses come to pose a much bigger challenge and I'll be honest, I was completely caught off guard by Oceiros. His lumbering form is not to be taken lightly as his reach is actually quite massive. I barely scrapped a victory together and I consider this boss to be quite a sloppy fight. 

Oceiros is quite an interesting character, lore wise, he is apparently the last king of Lothric who went mad in the grand archives after his search for the moonlight great sword ended in failure. Ironically you can transpose his soul to gain the moonlight great sword. Turns out he found it after all. There is more to be explained here I am sure, unfortunately I am not the person to tell it. I recommend Vaatividya on youtube for your lore insights or similar channels to his. 

Dark Souls III

The Dancer of The Boreal Valley

Twin Blades of Weeping Fire and Darkness

Pontiff Sulyvahn may be gone, but his influence can still be felt. No greater specimen of this than the Dancer of The Boreal Valley who lies in wait in Lothric castle. Forced into exile and forced into becoming a dancer by Sulyvahn, this malformed daughter of royalty waits to take your head.

The dancer is an aggressive and powerful opponent and should not be attempted half heartedly. Then again the best way is to stay as aggressive as she is. Landing a significant number of hits and baiting out the more obvious moves is a good strategy. Like most bosses its good to die here as it gives you the chance to figure out her move set, shortening how much time it will take to beat her.



With the dancer down though that signals the beginning of end game content and even though there is a light at the end of the tunnel we're not quite there yet.