Enemies
From Wikidsouls
Contents |
Normal Enemies
This is a list of enemies and where they appear, any drops they may have and a general strategy for facing them. For specific enemies inside each level, please consult that level's walkthrough.
Boletarian Palace
Assassin
Locations: 1-3, 1-4
Attacks: Wide variety of fast melee attacks and throwing knives.
Strategy: If they are a fair distance away, rather than directly approach at first assassin's tend to fire bolts or throw knives at you whilst invisible so keep your ear out. Otherwise they charge directly towards you and attempt to unleash a flurry of hits, all you need to do is take a step back as they unload their frustration into the air and take a few quick hits between their attacks then take a step back. Really the most devastating thing Assassin's have to offer is getting hit by their spin kick which 100% sends you flying and deals damage. They aren't much of a hassle unless they get the jump on you.
Drops: Clearstone, Secret Throwing Dagger, Higher quality Grass.
Blue Eyes Knight
Locations: 1-1, 1-2
Attacks: Sword and Shield, Two-handed Sword (rare).
Strategy: Blue Knights are all about luring, whether it be with ranged attacks, melee or otherwise. Once they are engaged they put their shield up immediately and generally charge. Blocking takes away huge chunks of your stamina and does not leave open a window for retaliation, so feint an advance (run forward, see them attack and roll back or side step as they run at you to stab) and counter with everything you have. Quickly retreat and repeat. Fighting them in numbers can be tedious but their attacks are slow, so keep your distance before moving in. For characters that use a shield (this applies to Big Shields) all you have to do is simply block, once the blue knight attacks, his guard will be broken, then you can take a slice.
Drops: Grasses, Knight's Shield other misc. items.
Dregling
Locations: 1-1, 1-2
Attacks: Leaping stab, Wild swings, Downward slashes and stabs.
Variations: Most Dreglings carry a weak sword and shield, but some will have a flame buff on the sword, which can be more troublesome.
Strategy: Dreglings as a whole do not have much to offer as an enemy. Up close they are easily avoidable and their attacks don't do much damage, the only place they could possibly be a threat is in numbers of 4 or more otherwise they are total weaklings. Sidestepping, rolling, blocking - anything really works (excluding backsteps if they do a leaping lunge.) against these guys as they are the first foe you encounter. If you have the arrows or MP to waste on them, they stand there like drooling dummies; fire away!
Drops: Crescent Moon Grass, Slave's Shield, Broken Sword.
Fat Official (Axe)
Locations: 1-3, 1-4
Attacks: Flame Toss and Ignite. Boletarian Fat Officials will carry a large axe.
Strategy: Fat Officials tend to take a while to take down and are resistant to many attacks. Avoid their fire by standing around objects or rolling out of the way (you can roll through their fireballs if you time it correctly). They'll use their melee weapons when you are in range of them and leave themselves open to attack after they've swung. However, if you hit them in that window they will not flinch unless knocked down, and may swing again so be sure to retreat when it is appropriate. Otherwise roll through the fire attacks and repeat.
Drops: Higher quality moon grass, Half-Moon Axe.
- Tip: If you are wearing the Official's Hat, they will not attack you.
Hoplite
Locations: 1-1, 1-2
Attacks: At a distance, they throw their giant spear-like weapon at you, and soon regrow another one. Beware of these if they are in groups, because they will bombard you with this attack. Getting close to them results in them thrusting their spear at you.
Strategy: Their rear is extremely vulnerable. Fire spells or fire weapons also work well.
Drops: Shards and Large Shards of Hardstone, Shards and Large Shards of Sharpstone.
Soldier
Locations: 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, Only Crossbowmen in 1-4
Attacks: Axe, Spear, Sword, and Halberd with or without shield. Crossbow, never with shield.
Overall Strategy: Soldier's have two great flaws; they can be easily blocked by a shield creating a huge window for counter-attack, and run if you keep your distance leaving them open for a simple spell or arrow shot. Any of the soldier's can be killed in a single hit if you time your attack when they are beginning theirs. The Soldier only begins to recover quickly from it's attacks 1-3 and up.
Axe: These weapons seem to be clumsy in a soldier's hands, however are much more powerful than any other weapon they use excluding Halberds. Time your attacks right and block appropriately. They also begin to kick your shield once you reach 1-3.
Spear: If you have a shield, the spears are easily blocked and leave them completely open to attack. If you don't have a shield, stay back and wait until they leave themselves open.
Sword: Exactly like Axes only a tiny bit faster, and they begin to kick your shield once you reach 1-3 exposing your guard. Wait for them to swing and then block when they try again for an easy counter, otherwise lure them away so they leave themselves open for ranged attacks.
Halberd: Ridiculously simple, without a shield the only thing Halberd Soldier's have to offer is a long range powerful attack that leaves them wide open. Wait for their attack, roll or block and counter with your own strikes. If you are a Ranged character, simply keep your distance without shields they cannot block your spells or arrows.
Crossbows: The most annoying of the Soldier types if ignored, they do fairly decent damage from an insane range with lightly homing crossbow bolts. Very simple to kill, because they lack a shield and do not even have a melee attack yet they are the largest hassle the Soldier's have to offer.
Special: When a Soldier throws a Firebomb, simply roll towards or block it as the firebomb is about to hit you. The firebomb should miss entirely and he should be open for a attack; if you do not trust the speed the soldier is recovering, roll/block accordingly. Occasionally they will heal (for a small amount) if you leave them alone in battle long enough.
Drops: Grass of varying quality, Firebomb, Turpentine, various basic weapons and ammo.
Red Eyes Knight
Locations: 1-1, 1-3
Attacks: Spear/Sword and Shield, Two-handed Sword (Rare)
Spear and Shield: The key to defeating these Juggernaut's is a shield and enough stamina to deflect their attacks, simply blocking their spear charge or any other spear attack will leave them open to attack just like the Spear Soldier. For ranged attackers, bows are pretty much impossible to kill these guys with. Spells, on the other hand, can be quicker than a few strikes from a blade.
Sword and Shield: Same as Blue Eye Knights, except stronger and a bit smarter. They can guard break you by hitting you with their own shield.
Two-Handed Sword: These guys eradicate shields by attacking swiftly and doing massive amounts of damage, all absorbed into your stamina bar. Beat them down by keeping your distance while they attack then move in for a hit if they charge after you, that or blow them away with ranged attacks. Lacking Shields they can't block your attack, though they sometimes roll.
Drops: High Quality Grasses, Knight's Shield other misc. items.
War Dog
Locations: 1-2, 1-3
Attacks: Leaping bites and simple bites.
Strategy: Make sure you don't aggro too many or you will be overwhelmed and die. Once they are about to leap at you do a backstep and then attack. Don't let your stamina fall too low because you need it to block. You can block their attacks and force them to stagger, then strike.
Drops: None
Stonefang Tunnel
Bearbug
Locations: 2-2
Attacks: Tongue Thrust and Jumping Smash.
Strategy: These creatures come in three sizes, along with a flying variety. Medium and large ones explode on death, so be prepared to run and\or block. The flying variety are more susceptible to physical attacks due to their vulnerable underside being exposed, but in general you want to be using either spells or weapons with magic damage. Bearbugs are relatively slow (particularly the larger ones), so try to circle them and attack at the back or side to avoid their stinger attack. Watch out for their jumping attacks. They can do some heavy damage, but can be blocked. The larger ones actually jump high enough that sometimes you can use the opportunity to run under them and attack them from behind. Soulsucker spell works wonders on them in NG+ (one hit kills and double souls per pop).
Drops: (small) Shards of Dragonstone. (Medium) Shards and chunks of Dragonstone. (Large) All forms of Dragonstone.
Fat Official (Whip)
Locations: 2-1, 2-2
Attacks: Flame Toss and Ignite. Stonefang Fat Officials will wield whips.
Strategy: Fat Officials tend to take a while to take down and are resistant to many attacks. Avoid their fire by standing around objects or rolling out of the way (you can roll through their fireballs if you time it correctly). They'll use their melee weapons when you are in range of them and leave themselves open to attack after they've swung. However, if you hit them in that window they will not flinch unless knocked down, and may swing again so be sure to retreat when it is appropriate. Otherwise roll through the fire attacks and repeat.
Drops: Higher quality moon grass, Half-Moon Axe.
- Tip: If you are wearing the Official's Hat, they will not attack you.
Fire Lizard
Locations: 2-1
Attacks: Leaping strikes.
Strategy: Think of them as Crystal lizards. One to two hit kills and distant ranged attacks are keys for an easy and safe fight.
Drops: Shard of Meltstone, Shard/Chunk Dragonstone (Chunk unconfirmed, may require darker tendencies).
Rock Worm
Locations: 2-2
Attacks: Head Lunge, 360 Head Spin, Lava Spit (For the three worms near Flamelurker, they do an AOE Lava Spit that does a lot more damage and is extremely dangerous).
Strategy: These creatures have two target points, body and head. The easiest way to kill Rock Worms is to target the head and use ranged attacks. You will deal significantly more damage with a successful hit to the head, and as these are stationary creatures, you will be safe if you keep your distance. They can get stunned if enough damage is applied on them per attack and they are not committed to one of their attacks. If you don't mind a bit of damage, an overhand swing with a large or extra-large sword will hit the head while the worm spews lava.
Drops: All forms of Greystone.
Scale Miner
Locations: 2-1, 2-2
Attacks: If they have nothing, they punch. If they have a hammer, they do a downward crush. If they have a Pickaxe, they will either do an overhead slash or a side-to-side combo. If they have a bag, they will swing it at you horizontally.
Strategy: Use weapons with piercing or thrust abilities as their bodies are covered in hard scales that resist normal attacks. Weapons with magical damage are also effective.
Drops: Hardstone, Sharpstone, Spiderstone, Clearstone of various sizes. The miners carrying bags will drop a bundle of ore, but will not respawn on subsequent playthroughs.
War Dog
Locations: 2-1
Attacks: Leaping bites and simple bites.
Strategy: Make sure you don't aggro too many or you will be overwhelmed and die. Once they are about to leap at you do a backstep and then attack. Don't let your stamina fall too low because you need it to block. You can block their attacks and force them to stagger, then strike.
Drops: None.
Tower of Latria
Celebrity Vermin
Locations: 3-2, 3-3
Attacks: Tail Sting, Head Bash, Regurgitate.
Strategy: The larger celebrity vermin split from their tails when they are at half health. Other then that these are easy to kill. The smaller ones do not split and are the same in difficulty. Beware their spitting attacks, they can wear down your equipment. Black Phantom Vermin's spitting attacks can break equipment with a single hit.
Drops: All forms of Mercurystone.
Gargoyle
Locations: 3-2
Attacks: Sword or Crossbow.
Strategy: These guys fly around and pretend to be statues. Often times they will drop from above and try to attack you. The crossbow types can attack from afar. Use ranged attacks to take them down in the air or melee once they land. If you block their attacks they can stagger.
Drops: Hero and Soldier souls of varying quality, Gargoyle Crossbow (rare).
Octopus Man
Locations: 3-1 (regular), 3-2 and 3-3 (black phantom form)
Attacks: Soul Ray, AoE Magic Knock-back Shield, Magic Electric Stun, Critical Skewer.
Strategy: Avoid their electric stun at all costs, as they follow it with grabbing you and skewering you with their tentacles. When far away, they will throw powerful Soul Rays at you. Kill them from a range, or sneak up behind them and back-stab (Thief's Ring helps). Anti-Magic Field negates their attacks and makes them very easy to kill.
Drops: Both kinds of Spice.
Prisoner
Locations: 3-1, 3-2
Attacks: May punch you if ignored for too long. Some Prisoners have knives and hide among other slaves waiting to ambush you.
Strategy: Kill them however you want (go naked, dual wield big shields for example), just do not be distracted by them; there are much more dangerous foes about in the tower of Latria.
Drops: Royal Lotus, Soldier Lotus, Widow Lotus.
Prisoner Horde
Locations: 3-1, 3-2
Attacks: Soul Ray, flailing of many swords.
Strategy: Hide from Soul Ray, fire arrows or spells in between. Getting close will cause many arms to pop out wielding swords and swing wildly (you can die very easily from repeated hits from the flailing weapons). If you are a melee type, spears are the way to go here.
Drops: Shard of Moonlight stone.
Shrine of Storms
Black Skeleton
Locations: 4-1, 4-2 (Black Phantom spawn in pure black world tendency)
Attacks: Regular one-handed slashes, a jumping strike swinging both katanas.
Strategy: HIGHLY DEADLY ENEMY. Wields two swords and may roll at you. Remember to block, or use a good shield that has high resistance against physical damage. His first attack will probably be to lunge at you, slashing both swords in an extremely wide and damaging attack. It is possible to run or roll past him just as he starts this move, leaving him wide open for any attack. Soul Remains also work well in distracting so you can get behind for a back-stab. For ranged players, it is advised to use hit and run tactics. (Use arrows to lure him out and then hide, attack after he turns around and heads back, run and hide again, repeat until dead).
Drops: Uchigatana, Soul Remains, Late Moon Grass, all forms of Bladestone
- Tip: Blunt Weapons work excellent against Skeletons.
Giant Slug
Locations: 4-2
Attacks: Leaping Lunge. Regurgitation (ranged projectile).
Strategy: Easy to kill; just slash away at them. Make sure they do not hit you because they are quite strong (and usually come in packs).
Drops: Sticky White Stuff, Shard/Chunk/Pure Suckerstone.
Golden Skeleton
Locations: 4-1, 4-2
Attacks: Side to side swings (combo included). Overhead Guard Breaker.
Strategy: Resistant to Physical damage. Magic damage does the trick, even though they can halve all damage taken by guarding with their 2-handed cleaver. Dodge their attacks and combo them or just kill them from the range.
Drops: Soul Remains, Shard/Chunk of Bladestone.
- Tip: Blunt Weapons work excellent against Skeletons.
Grim Reaper
Locations: 4-2
Attacks: Swings scythe, Dead Finger, One-Hit KO.
Strategy: Killing in one hit may sound nasty, but they are fairly weak. They don't have a lot of health or defense, and get stunned from being hit. If you can keep enough distance, ranged attacks are the safer bet. However, if you can't stay out of sight, it's often safer to rush him and lay on the attacks before he can hit you.
Drops: Darkmoonstone shards and chunks, War Scythe
Special: Grim Reapers spawn Shadow Men until killed. Killing him will kill all Shadow Men in the area and give you souls for each one. However, Shadow Women will not die.
Hawk
Locations: 4-1
Attacks: None.
Strategy: Shoot them with arrows, or magic if your good with accuracy. Make sure that you kill them when they will fall on solid ground where you can pick up the drops.
Drops: White Arrows.
Shadow Man
Locations: 4-2
Attacks: Light blue ones attack you with their "fists". Purple ones shoot laser beams in a sweeping motion. Both make warbling noise when moving and attacking and are semi-transparent.
Strategy: Kill the Reaper, doing so will kill all Shadow Men in his area. When you have to kill Shadow Men, avoid the light blue ones swings and attack before and afterwords, as they have a slow swing. Purple ones will fire a sweeping beam when you enter range. This goes through most pillars and rocks, so try to kill before it can fire or bring up a magic blocking shield.
Drops: None.
Shadow Woman
Locations: 4-2
Attacks: High damage attack straight out of invisibility. Capable of inflicting a Backstab attack.
Strategy: Listen for female giggling, when you hear it, one or more of these are in the area. They are invulnerable while invisible. Roll and keep your shield up until they show themselves to avoid their high damage attack. Kill them before they go back to being invisible.
Drops: None.
Silver Skeleton
Locations: 4-1, 4-2
Attacks: (Sword) Rolling Slash. Normal Swing (2nd hit in combo takes some time after first swing), charged up stab, and charged up guard breaker (overhead swing). The ones with the bow fire holy arrows, dealing magic damage.
Strategy: Guard the rolling slash if possible. Then guard their normal swings while dodging their charged attacks. If you block their normal swing they will stagger, then you can go offensive. If you have good timing you can slash them out of the roll (dodge). For the bow users just rush them or return fire with arrows. Blunt weapons work well against skeletons.
Drops: (Sword)- Shard of Bladestone, Soul Remains, Shotel. (Bow)- Compound Short Bow, Holy Arrows, Soul Remains.
- Tip: Blunt Weapons work excellent against Skeletons.
Storm Beasts
Locations: 4-1, 4-2, 4-3
Attacks: Impaling Spear Projectile
Strategy: Shoot them (arrows or magic). They move in a circular route and will attack if you are close enough. You can take advantage of their predictable movement to attack from a distance by precision shooting arrows. They will rear up and cry when about to attack, giving you a chance to either dodge or fire off a quick arrow or spell.
Drops: All forms of Cloudstone.
Valley of Defilement
Depraved One
Locations: 5-1, 5-2, 5-3
Attacks: Dagger Depraved One - Standard Swipes, Overhead Guard Breaker, Push-and-slash combo (breaks your guard). Burning Spear Depraved One - Standard Pokes, Double Stab. Glowing Depraved One (Shaman) - Can release Poison Cloud.
Strategy: Dagger Depraved Ones do standard swipes and one over head attack that may knock your shield back. They can also push you off edges if you're not careful. Spear Depraved Ones use standard stabs which can make them go off balance if blocked.
Drops: Grasses, Black Turpentine, Stone of Ephemeral Eyes (Rare)
Filthy One
Locations: 5-3, in the pool of plague at the bottom of the area.
Attacks: Slow, close range pokes. There are a lot more of them than it appears, as they hide under water. They will quickly surround you if you rush in without care.
Strategy: Attack with a melee weapon of a good range, preferably large swords or other big weapons. Step into the pool and step back out quickly, making them pop out of the mud. Then smack them. Repeat as necessary. Ranged attacks are effective, but the Filthy Ones' tendency to disappear into the water makes them difficult to hit, turning it into a ranged game of whack a mole.
Drops: Stone of Ephemeral Eyes.
Giant Depraved One
Locations: 5-1, 5-2
Attacks: Overhead Smash, Right to left swing.
Strategy: This guys cannot be stunned or knocked down. Wait for them to attack then go in a hit it a few times (depending on speed of weapon). Getting hit may either take a chunk of your health or kill you, as all their attacks do major damage.
Drops: Stone of Ephemeral Eyes, Great Club.
Giant Slug
Locations: 5-2
Attacks: Leaping Lunge. Regurgitation (ranged projectile).
Strategy: Easy to kill; just slash away at them. Make sure they do not hit you because they are quite strong (and usually come in packs).
Drops: All forms of Suckerstone.
Giant Mosquito
Locations: 5-2
Attacks: Blood Spray Projectile (can induce poison). "Bloodsucker" (attaches to you and sucks the blood from you, doing damage and becoming bigger and stronger, though less mobile).
Strategy: Projectiles kill these "suckers" easy. You can try and hit them with a weapon, but the range must be sufficient and the attack must be able to reach them.
Drops: Shards and chunks of Marrowstone.
Giant Tick
Locations: 5-1
Attacks: Poison cloud when "popped". Can bite after being "popped."
Strategy: Hit them from afar to pop them and hit them again once they become smaller. You can also poke them with your shield raised with a Rapier, Spear, or Dagger to block the poison and still hit it up close. Best method is to kill them in one hit.
Drops: All forms of Marrowstone.
Jellyfish
Locations: 5-2
Attacks: Physical damage using tentacles.
Strategy: They are somewhat nonreactive to you at a distance and they move very slow in the poison mud. But they do attack when you get close enough. Their HP is low so they are easy to kill.
Drops: Royal Lotus, Soldier Lotus, Widow Lotus.
Plague Rat
Locations: 5-1
Attacks: Very Quick Bites.
Strategy: Anything can kill them, but as they are very small and low to the ground they can be hard to hit with some weapons. They are very weak, but their numbers can overwhelm you if you are not careful. They can inflict Plague on you, so be careful. Attacking with a Large Shield or range attacks are recommended.
Tips: Be careful while using high AoE magics like God´s Wrath or Flamestorm to deal with those rats, since doing so might result in the accidently death of the Dirty Woman that is just above of the rats, this will lower your Character Tendency.
Drops: Shard of Archstone, Crescent Moon Grass.
Mini Bosses
Red Flying Dragon
Locations: 1-1, 1-2
Attacks: Fire breath
Strategy:
1-1 Dragon Roost: This dragon, along with the blue dragon, are guarding multiple treasures which are towards the end of the 1-1 map. There are several ways of avoiding the Red Dragon's wrath and gain these rewards. If you are able to bring the Red Dragon's hp to 25%, he will fly off and you will no longer try to use flame breath on you. However, if you enter this area with white world tendency (+75% or higher), both dragons will leave, allowing you to pick up the treasures easily. You can also wait and return after killing the dragons later in world 1.
- One such strategy, which Royalty is especially handy for, is to hug the right wall and slowly creep forward until the dragon begins to use it's flame breath. Watch it's area of effect and creep in close enough that you can fire Soul Arrow at it. This requires timing as the spell is especially slow. The best time to fire varies depending on where you stand, but generally once the dragon's head goes from its right to its left, if your closer, you'll want to fire after, if your further, you'll want to fire during the swing left (Generally speaking, fire when it's head is down). Once you got a rhythm down, each hit should take about 20 points of the dragon's health. It will take some practice to get the timing down, be patient. At about 30%, the dragon can increase it's flame breath radius (verified as I was out of range, but it's range increased at low health). I was still able to find a safe spot to stand. Cling Ring and Fragrant Ring are a must for this strategy. Once the dragon has had enough, it will fly away and you've only the blue dragon's tail to deal with. This can be done at any level.
1-1 Bridge: This dragon will also appear along a bridge past the Dragon Roost. Along the bridge are a number of soldiers, and the Red Dragon will fly along the bridge spraying fire, much like it does in 1-2, killing the soldiers and you if you are not careful. This instance, however, the dragon is to be taken as an environmental hazard. You can attack it with arrows, but it will fly away at half health, leaving you to start all over again in 1-2. The dragon does not appear here again after completing 1-1, as such it is recommended that you do not attempt to attack the dragon in this instance. You can if you wish to cross the bridge in safety and have the extra arrows, but there is no real benefit to attacking the Red Dragon at this point.
1-2 Bridge: Make your way to the top of the first tower in 1-2. Form here you can easily shoot the Red Dragon with arrows, while at the same time being completely safe from it's attacks. Depending on your equipment and level, it may take from between 150 and 200 arrows to kill the dragon. It can be poisoned as well, however success rates vary. The fastest and most conservative way of killing the dragon is to use 'Hyper Mode' (Good Bow in main-hand, Morion Blade in Offhand and Clever Rat's Ring equipped) and keep your HP under 30%. This will increase your attack power dramatically, more than doubling it, and allow you to kill the dragon in much less time.
Drops: Small Flame Scale Demon's Soul
Blue Flying Dragon
Locations: 1-1, 1-4
Attacks: Tail Swipe, Flame Breath
Strategy: You fight this dragon in two stages. The first is along a narrow bridge, and then later at the top of a staircase. If you come with plenty of arrows, it's a simple matter of keeping your distance and slowly wearing down its health. It is recommended you stay near the doorway and use a bow with precision aiming. Aiming for the head while its breathing fire at you will deal the most damage as that's its closest point to you. After dealing enough damage at the first location it will retreat to the second. On the staircase you'll notice one statue at the top to the right that has not been broken. If you can get behind that statue without perishing in the dragon's fire attack, you can target the head and safely attack with ranged attacks while being safe from his flame. Alternatively, you can hide in the doorway behind it and target it's head from there. This will take a fair amount of arrows, but you can use the same Hyper Mode trick mentioned in the Red Flying Dragon.
Drops: Large Flame Scale Demon's Soul
Vanguard
Locations: Tutorial, Stage 4-1
Attacks: Horizontal Slash (sometimes links to a quicker, opposite horizontal slash). Butt Stomp (Flies into the air and then falls)
Strategy:
Tutorial - Unequip all of your armor because you need to be able to run as fast as possible. Run directly to him then dodge right as he is about to attack behind him. Try not to use lock in this fight (you won't really need to because hes so fat) because it will restrict your movement. Attack him after he commits to any of his swings and after the butt stomp. Make sure to always be behind him and circle him to dodge most of his strikes. He can kill you in one hit so be careful.
4-1 - Stand on the wall with the Black Skeleton Archers. After defeating them, just fire at will with your bow at the Vanguard until he is defeated. He can not, and will not attack or move towards you if you are on the wall. You can find he Compound Long Bow here, so you can use it. Drops: Grey Demon's Soul
Primeval Demon
Locations: Special: There is one Primeval Demon per world and it will only appear in Pure Black World Tendency. Once a Primeval Demon is killed that one will not appear again until a later play-through.
Attacks: Nothing
Strategy: Primeval Demons are fairly weak, will not attack, and do not move. You can take them out however you like. The drop rate of Colorless Demons Souls is fairly high, but not 100%, so you may wish to use a Large Sword of Searching to improve your odds.
Drops: Colorless Demon Soul
Nameless Black Phantoms
Note: All nameless black phantoms have a chance of dropping the Black Eye Stone or a Stone of Ephemeral Eyes. Neither of these are guaranteed, however. This is on top of whatever specific drops they have.
Boletaria
Stonefang Tunnels
To fight the Black Phantoms in the Stonefang Tunnels you have to beat the Armored Spider first. Once 2-2 is unlocked take the left path, be careful about the exploding carts. (running straight past the carts will keep you safe.) Once you pass the carts, there will be a Fat Royal waiting at the ending of the tunnel just before the elevator. Kill the Fat Royal and take the elevator down. Once you turn the wheel and the elevator starts going down stay facing the wheel. At the bottom you have two choices. Go forward which is where you would find Patches or turn around and go into the dark cave/tunnel. Half way though that Cave are 2 Barbarian Black Phantoms with Great Clubs. If you continue to the end of the tunnel, there are about 4 - 6 Crystal Geckos.
Strategy: It is possible to lure them into following you back to the elevator and turn the wheel to go back up before they reach you. If neither of them make it on the elevator, they will fall down the hole and kill themselves, but you will miss out on any drops they may have.
Tower of Latria
Shrine of Storms
A Black Phantom guards the door leading out of the hole Patches "persuades" you to look in. He wields duel Uchigatanas.
Strategy: An easy Black Phantom, he is susceptible to long range attacks, though he has a tendency to roll a lot. Weapons with fire element or buff will cause a short stun animation, leaving him open to constant attacks.
Valley of Defilement
In the first section of 5-2, if you leave the lit path around the point where you reach the large island with the Giant Depraved One (just before the first fog), and head to the left, you'll find a black phantom wandering the swamp. This phantom carries a Meat Cleaver, which in combination with the terrain, makes it one of the toughest phantoms in the game. The swamp prevents you from rolling and severely slows your movements while the phantom is unaffected, so it is recommended that you draw her to one of the small islands in the area if you intend to melee. The cleaver is a very heavy weapon and can knock you down. In addition it deals magic damage, so unless you have a dark silver shield, you will take damage if you block her attacks. As such, in melee you either need to be prepared to eat the damage, or use the limited solid ground to maneuver. Alternatively, you can attack from a distance and use standard hit-and-run tactics, however with reduced speed and lack of cover, this may be difficult. It is important to note, however that this phantom is entirely optional and can easily be avoided.
Black Phantom NPCs
Note: All NPC Black Phantoms are the same as you in terms of control and actions. They dodge when they are in danger and attack when they are in range and hold their shields up to prevent a lot of damage. All NPCs have stamina, so it is possible to drain their stamina, but it is usually very hard. To fight most NPC Black Phantoms World Tendency must be PURE BLACK ! not all though.
Ostrava, of Boletaria
Location: 1.4, Right after Blue Dragon and before the elevator on the narrow pathway. Any World Tendency.
Noticeable Equipment: Rune Sword, Rune Shield, Flute Set.
Strategy: He is basically a knight who likes to roll. Beware of his Rune Sword because it does mostly magical damage. He acts as a regular black phantom, stabbing and slashing when he gets in range. Sometimes he will have his shield up, so deal with him accordingly. He is, in a sense, an easy Black Phantom NPC.
Drops: Rune Sword, Rune Shield.
Executioner Miralda
Location: 1.1, located in an area through a previously close gate on the left in 1-1 on the first bridge. Requires either Pure White or Pure Black World Tendency.
Noticeable Equipment: Guillotine Axe, Binded Set.
Strategy: She hides inside the building at the top of the Execution Grounds. You will likely not be able to see her hiding spot, so backpedal outside immediately as you enter the building. Use the relatively open area outside to stay on the move. Her attacks are quite powerful, especially when she decides to wield her axe with two hands, but they are fairly slow and she does not carry a shield. You may want to come in light and use her slow attack speed to roll out of the way and attack from the side or rear before she can wind up for another attack. Otherwise, go in with a strong shield with high guard break and try to strafe her. Even with a good shield you are going to want to avoid as many hits as possible, so keep moving.
Drops:
Pure Black WT - Guillotine Axe
Pure White WT (Not a Black Phantom. Physical Form) - Binded Armor set, and Masters Ring
Scirvir, The Wanderer
Location: 2.2, in an opening in the "shortcut" to the boss. Very noticeable.
Noticeable Equipment: A Short Sword (maybe Kris Blade), Talisman of Beasts.
Strategy: He wields all kinda of magic (Fire Spray, Ignite, Fireball, Second Chance, Recovery) and uses them well. His magic stat is insane and in NG+ can kill you in one Fireball (Fire Spray does about 200+ damage per hit). Sometimes he will get up and personal and slash you with his short sword, which still does a lot of damage. Use knockdown tactics and combo strikes to take him down. Remember to dodge all of his magic. If you dodge long enough he will eventually run out of MP, this may take a while however.
If you keep directly in front of him at point-blank range at all times and don't let him get away from you, you can kill him through repeated riposting his very predictable sword attacks. Depending on your weapon, this can take 4 or more ripostes in a row even with an upgraded dagger. Once his health becomes critical, he will continue to spam his full heal spell in an attempt to stay in the fight. Using a dagger even with no endurance, your swings are fast enough to constantly interrupt his casts and chip away at his remaining health until he dies.
Drops: Talisman of Beasts
Lord Rydell
Location: 3.1, located outside of his cell on the 2nd floor (east).
Noticeable Equipment: Phosphorescent Pole, Dull Rat's Ring.
Strategy: Try not to get caught in a combo from his pole, it does a lot of damage coming from him. Knockdown tactics, range, and magic can make him "sleep" again.
Drops: Phosphorescent Pole
Satsuki
Location: 4.1, Right at the beginning near the first Silver Skeleton. Notices you right as you enter into the Shrine of Storms (first Archstone) without any hiding effect equipped.
Noticeable Equipment: Uchigatana
Strategy: He is very fast and very strong. One slash from his Uchigatana and you could be resurrecting for another slashing. Try and get combos off at him or keep him knocked down. Magic can actually do some good against him, but should be used in discretion because all black phantoms can dodge. He can also fully heal himself with grass.
Drops: Hiltless
Selen Vinland
Location: 5.2, Where she usually is in the marsh after the first fog gate, on a small island to the right with a candle on it. Since she is a black phantom she is easy to notice.
Noticeable Equipment: Dull Gold Set, Blind.
Strategy: She is not restricted by the poison mud like you are, so try and not face her head to head. She can cast heals when her HP is low and Anti-Magic Field if you do decide to cast magic. The best way for you to kill her is to sneak up behind her (you can get close enough to backstab her with max hiding effect and her not noticing at all) and backstab her and kill her as quickly as possible. Blind passes through shields, so knockdown and two-handing should be priorities. The fastest and BEST way to kill her (if you don't want tendency changes, for your character), use Soul Sucker. It is possible for you to get close enough to suck the life out of her and since she is not a boss she dies in one hit. You also get double souls for it.
Drops: Blind
Garl Vinland
Location: 5.3, On the last ramp leading to the plague marsh, standing.
Noticeable Equipment: Dark Silver Set, Dark Silver Shield, Brand.
Strategy: Same as the original Garl Vinland, except he stronger and he ripostes more, and doesn't cast any miracles. Bait him to attack, dodge, and counter. Rinse and Repeat.
Drops: Brand, Crest of Vinland.
Bosses: A Broad View
Stuff to know before fighting Bosses:
How Soul and Body form weigh in on Boss Fights
There are several differences between Soul and Body Form:
1) In Soul form, HP is decreased.
2) In Soul Form your character makes no movement noise (walking, rolling, running etc.)
3) More damage can be done in Soul Form with white character tendency.
No matter your form, Boss behavior does not change.
Ultimately, how difficult each boss fight is for your character is dependent on your equipment (Weapons and Armor), your spells (Magic and Miracles), your tactics (Head-On Assault, Hit and Run, etc) and your skill (How well you can avoid being hit/ How well you can block).
A Note on Blue Phantoms and Boss Fights
The more phantoms you have aiding your in your boss fight (max is 2, any more than 2 is a glitch), the more HP the boss will have. This means nothing, however, if your Blue Phantoms are decent damage dealers and stay alive for the duration of the battle.
A Note for New Players
When you defeat each boss, it would be in your best interest to not consume its soul if it is your first time playing through the game. Each Boss Soul can be used to make useful weapons or spells. See the Magic section on the sidebar for more information.
Credit: All of the above was taken from my own original contributions to the Demon's Soul English Wiki made through my account: Atreides.
Specific Boss Strategies for each Archstone area can be found in the Walkthrough & Strategy section on the sidebar.
