Seath the Scaleless

Boss 0018 Seath the Scaleless
Location Duke's Archive and the Crystal Cave
Health * NG: 5,525
NG+: 8,674
Souls * NG: 60,000
NG+: 120,000

* Recorded in PATCH 1.05

­weakness: fire,lightning,primordial crystal

Seath the Scaleless is a Boss in Dark Souls Remastered.

 

Seath the Scaleless Information

Envy and bitterness: words used to describe Seath's betrayal of his own kind; unlike his brethren, Seath was born without the stone scales of the Everlasting Dragons. Seath, with the help of Gravelord Nito, the Witch of Izalith, and Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder, brought his own race to the brink of extinction, with many believing him to be the last of his kind.

As reward for his service, Gwyn granted Seath the title of "Duke" and permission to build a grand archive where he could continue his research into his long-held desire for immortality. This archive would come to be known as "The Duke's Archives". Along with these gifts, Gwyn also bestowed a shard of his Lord Soul upon him.

After much research, Seath finally achieved his goal of immortality through the discovery of the Primordial Crystal. However, the discovery did not come without a price. As the albino dragon delved deeper and deeper into his research, his mind began to fade, and by the time he had achieved his goals, he had descended into madness.

Becoming more and more paranoid, Seath locked himself away in the archives, fearing the other lords would attempt to steal his immortality for themselves. Barricaded within the archives, he sent his Channeler servants far and wide across the land to kidnap fair maidens and the undead for his experiments. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Drops

  • 60,000 Souls
  • Bequeathed Lord Soul Shard
  • Humanity
  • Moonlight Greatsword: Attacking the tip of Seath's larger rear tail (not the smaller side tails) will eventually cut it off, giving the host the sword automatically. Players must attack the tip of the tail and not the base. 

Attacks

Cursed Crystal Breath

Seath breathes a white mist in a circular arc directly in front of him. This mist triggers a mass of crystals to protrude from the floor wherever the mist touched. This can be dangerous as the initial breath deals magic damage on contact, while the follow up crystals build up your curse - this is the case for any crystals that he raises from the ground. A telltale sign that this is about to happen is his head drops slightly to his left. This is an imminent sign of the cursed crystal breath attack, so roll backwards to avoid any form of damage.

The second variation of this attack is the same, but with a larger radius. However, due to the range of it, the signal is more clear and takes a bit longer. Seath throws his head back for a second, then sweeps his head from side to side. When you see his head swing up, bolt away from him, or get behind him.

The final variation on this attackis signalled when, instead of throwing his head completely back, Seath winds it while still facing forward - think of it as preparing to header a ball in soccer - and blows a straight line of white mist. He starts directly below him, and follows through, for quite a large distance. When you see this, just run to the sides.

 

Crystal Explosion

Arguably his most deadly move, when you see Seath curl up, run for the hills. Create as much distance as you can from the white mist that forms around him, as he's about to let out a great explosion directly in front of him. This explosion is then quickly followed up with a mass protrusion of crystals in the white mist area. This attack deals a combination of physical and magic damage, and cannot be blocked. If you get caught in the crystals, raising your shield will reduce the DoT taken.

 

Tail Attack

If you stay around his tails too long, Seath won't stand for it. Instead, he raises his largest tail - which should be the telltale sign for a tail attack - and slam down with all three of his tails all around the area. He can do this a few times, and getting caught will result in your death as it can stunlock the player. Seeing as you probably are trying to get the Moonlight Greatsword, you should see the sign, and since you need to attack the tip of the tail to do so, you can easily get out of range of this attack by rolling back.

Alternatively, he has a second variation on this attack in which after lifting his tail, he still slams it down but only to begin sweeping with all three tails. This is arguably harder to get out of the way of, as the tails are always grounded. Use the same preventative measures as with the other variation.

 

Smackdown

He's had it with you, Seath ain't taking your smack anymore. He raises either hand, and lays down an open-palm smack, dealing seriously physical damage. When the hand is coming down, roll in the direction it's coming from (left or right) while moving away from Seath.

 

Summons

The cutscene only triggers when the host player moves into the area. If you have summons with you, give them time to run forward and position themselves near the crystal before you enter the room. Once Seath enters for the first time, he will block off the entrance, leaving you and your summons closer to the crystal.

First Encounter

Meet Seath for the first time after taking the second elevator in the Archives and continuing up an increasingly-crystalized corridor, that ultimately leads up to Seath's fog gate. This is where your 0 deaths attempt comes to an end, as to progress, Seath needs to kill the player. Souls and Humanity will be lost upon death, unless a Ring of Sacrifice/Rare Ring of Sacrifice is worn - we highly recommend to equip one as this next section presents you a couple of challenges that may result in your death. 

Go gently into the night; delaying the inevitable will result in not only your death, but being cursed as well. So make it easy for Seath this time, so you can eventually return, and give him a proper fight.

The player will respawn inside the Archives Tower after being defeated, locked up in a cell in the Archive Tower Prison.

However, if you choose against equipping a Ring of Sacrifice/Rare Ring of Sacrifice and managed to complete the Archive Tower Prison without dying, when you return for your second attempt at Seath, you will find your bloodstain in the boss room.

If you don't have a ring of sacrifice, or if you simply don't wish to die upon discovering him the first time, you can actually leave through the fog gate. But be aware that dying to him in that room is necessary to progress through the The Duke's Archives, so this need to happen at some point.

 

Tips, Notes & Lore

  • Though he was never an immortal, Seath is nonetheless still a dragon, and as a consequence of that greatly susceptible to Lightning Damage.
  • The miracle Great Magic Barrier is very effective against the magic damage dealt by Seath's crystal breath, but it does nothing against Curse buildup
  • After starting the battle, re-enter the room of the first encounter to find a Large Magic Ember and a valuable Soul. The room may contain a hostile, insane Big Hat Logan if you previously saved him from Sen's Fortress and then from the Duke's Archives. You must also have purchased all of his magic spells while he was in near the moving bookcase. After becoming hostile, Big Hat Logan will be naked aside from his hat (the rest of his gear may be obtained from a chest located in the room behind the moving bookcase, where you spoke to him before to purchase spells), suggesting he is attempting to mimic Seath's "scalelessness". If you die to Big Hat Logan in that room, you will actually respawn in your cell in the prison. If that happens, be aware that you still won't be able to warp from the bonfire.
  • The name "Seath" appeared before in Fromsoft's King's Field games.
  • Watch out for the clams before the fight the first time you enter his arena, it is possible for them to enter the arena, push you around during the cutscene causing your starting location to be different, and then fight you during the boss fight. (could not insert a link, it would become a blank space)

Easy Ways to Get the Sword

First method - without armor

  1. Make sure you have no armour. (Or have less than 25% Equip Load)
  2. Approach Seath directly from the front.
  3. Immediately after he begins his melee or vertical crystal breath, make a break for his tail.
  4. Seath's animation can be quite lengthy, giving you a short amount of time to get a hit or two in.
  5. Don't bite off more than you can chew. If you don't think you'll make the strike, or if he begins doing his AoE crystal storm, or if he raises his tail to slam down on you, back away immediately.
    • For optimum maneuverability, lure Seath into the center of the chamber.
    • If you have summoned someone, have them stand in front of Seath, distracting him (while they try to do a minimum of damage). This should keep him distracted long enough for you to cut off his tail. Remember step 5, though, and be careful if Seath starts getting ready to attack with his tail. 

Second method - no need to change your armor

  1. At the start of the fight, run to the crystal, but do not destroy it. Instead, stand right next to it and wait for Seath to come close to you.
  2. Once close enough, Seath will attack you. As soon as you see him attacking, run behind him while evading his attack.
  3. His attack will miss you, but he will break his own crystal, leaving him stun for a few moment. It should give you enough time to get behind him and attack his tail.
  4. Remember to attack the tip of his middle tail. It should only take a few hits to cut the tail. Some stamina regeneration buff, like the Cloranthy Ring or the Grass Crest Shield can be useful.
  5. Once the tail is cut and the sword safely in your possession, kill Seath in any way you like.

Second Encounter

This encounter allows you to enact your revenge on Seath, for the injustice of the first. To do this, you must venture through the Crystal Cave, and find him at the end of the area, past an abundance of invisible walkways, Man-Eater Shells, and Crystal Golems. Unlike most other boss areas, Seath's area will lack a fog gate, the first time you enter from the Crystal Cave which allows the Man-Eater Shells to enter the area making it a tougher fight; however they can be damaged by Seath, and in the event that you do die, the next time you enter the area and every subsequent attempt, a fog gate will be present to block Man-Eater Shells from entering the boss' arena. Past the Man-Eater Shell area, you'll find another spacey area with a number of statues of cursed players standing in low, glowing mist.

Strategy

Make your way across the area to trigger the cinematic that will show Seath the Scaleless make his grand entrance, but not before emphasizing the crystal at the end of the room; this is the Primordial Crystal, his immortality. Destroy it, destroy his immortality. Alternately, if you are entering a second time, you'll be required to run around Seath to reach it, but don't be too worried as it will break on one hit.

Unless you have already been defeated by Seath before, do not break the Primordial Crystal immediately. If he is entering for the first time, wait for him to move forward into the middle of the room, first. If you break it too early, he will spend most of the battle right at the area's entrance, and his tail will clip through the walls. This makes it extremely difficult to acquire the Moonlight Greatsword, and exposes you to much greater risk from his physical or breath attacks when trying to get behind him in close quarters.

  • It is possible to kill Seath without destroying the crystal yourself. If you would like to add insult to injury, wait for Seath to reach you, then circle around to his tail. He'll most likely attempt an attack on you but will destroy his crystal, reversing his immortality and becoming momentarily stunned, which gives you a small window to get free hits on his tail. 

Numerous strategies will be effective against Seath, as he moves slowly and can be target locked from very far away. Ranged weapons, spells, pyromancies, and miracles are all effective, as are melee attacks on his appendages. During your first battle with Seath, it is recommended that you do not rush him, but instead observe him to get a sense of his attack patterns and vulnerabilities. The boss area is quite large and it is usually trivial to stay out of range of his breath attacks until you decide to commit.

Specifically, staying off to either the left or right of Seath will allow the player to take him on quite easily. Just continue to hit his side tails until he lunges down to hit, then roll or block to get away and face his front. When Seath goes for a frontal attack, move to his side again and attack. Repeat these patterns until he is dead.

Melee Strategy

A safe spot for melee fighter is the tip of his left (your right) tail, on his front side. Attacking him there will lock him in a attack pattern that shouldn't hit you. He will either turn on himself trying to face you, in that case, just run back to the tail tip, or he will do his AoE crystal attack that will hit right behind you, but not touch you. Be aware, that the movement of his tail can still push you in the crystals, so some good curse resistance is still adviced, but the actual damage taken will be minimal. Just stay close to the tail tip, and hack away until Seath is down.

This method won't get you the sword though, as we focus on the tail on his leftside, and not his middle tail, but you can follow the second method to get the sword at the beggening of the fight, and then swich to this method once the middle tail is cut.

 

Pyromancers & Mages

Continually circle him while locked on and cast your best fast spells such as: Great Chaos Fireball, and Crystal Soul Spear. It is unlikely he will even hit you, If he does, continue to circle and Heal when behind or beside him. He is very susceptible to spells and pyromancies, and the ability to lock onto him from afar means such spells may be used quite safely.

 

Curses

The Paladin Set, the Dingy Set, and the Antiquated Set, all have high resistance to curse build-up. Holding extra humanity can also greatly increase resistance, however it's up to you to weigh the pros and cons of using this in a high risk area like this. If you have low curse resistance, you may want to equip the Cursebite Ring before the battle. This will help slow the curse if you do happen to get stuck in his crystal field. If you get caught in it, roll out of it ASAP. Finally, if you become stuck in one of Seath's crystal fields, keep your shield up as you try to escape. This seems to reduce damage and possibly curse buildup, and you will see stamina drain as if you are continually blocking damage. 

 

Gallery

seath betrayed his own front1 seath in his throne room laser attack front1 seath in his throne room killer move front1

seath tentacles thrashing front1 seath showdown in the crystal cave front1 seath the dragons were no more front1

Area Bosses
Asylum Demon  ♦  Bell Gargoyle  ♦  Capra Demon  ♦  Centipede Demon  ♦  Crossbreed Priscilla  ♦  Dark Sun Gwyndolin  ♦  Demon Firesage  ♦  Four Kings  ♦  Gaping Dragon  ♦  Great Grey Wolf Sif  ♦  Gwyn Lord of Cinder  ♦  Iron Golem  ♦  Moonlight Butterfly  ♦  Nito  ♦  Ornstein and Smough  ♦  Pinwheel  ♦  Stray Demon  ♦  Taurus Demon  ♦  The Bed of Chaos



Tired of anon posting? Register!
    • Anonymous

      I hit his tail like 15 times and it didn't break, so I just killed him instead since this is the worst zone in the entire game and I didn't want to run back. I am a Faith build though, so the sword doesn't matter.

      • Anonymous

        Very easy to method I used to kill him: he has a far ranged breath attack that he tends to use at a distance, which leaves a safe spot right in front of him; just run out a ways to bait the long distance breath attack, most of the time he will use it (but beware in case he uses the line aoe instead), then run in for a few hits. He'll usually do either the hand slam or the frontal proximal breath attack, just run out again and lather rinse repeat. Only thing to worry about is that he occasionally does the massive scale room wide breath attack, but it's survivable as long as you don't get hit by the initial breath.

        • Anonymous

          Seath fr lost his mind trying to obtain immortality only to get said immortality undone by some random dude and is then killed by said random dude. Maybe instead of focusing on a crystal that can break if someone so much as farted on it, he should’ve gotten actual legs so he isn’t in risk of being neutered if he ever fought someone who could actually fight back. Imagine if instead of sloowwwwwwlllly sliding toward you he galloped towards you, would’ve been terrifying.

          • Anonymous

            This is a fight that's kinda the polar opposite to Gwyndolin. I don't really think that it's very innovative in terms of mechanics; in fact, after you destroy this thing and can damage Seath, the fight is mostly about getting a few hits in, running away to dodge the crystal, and repeating. Even though there isn't much to the fight, there's just something about it I enjoy. Maybe it's the lore behind the fight and the amazing area that precedes it, but I just enjoy beating up this crystal dragon.

            • Anonymous

              Don't follow the absolutely MORONIC advice and stay at the tip of the tail as he will manage to hit you with crystals anyways. Good thing the author played this fight more than once right?

              • Anonymous

                Let's make a scaleless dragon with 3 giant tentacles for a lower body, that curses you. Also you have to run back 6 miles every time you die, because **** you. It's been over a decade and I never realized how much i did not miss ds1. Id rather deal with ds2 any day.

                • Anonymous

                  Seath the dripless covered himself in diamonds to flex on the dragons thus he achieved true swag with the drip crystal.

                  • Anonymous

                    After gywn, he is the most deserving of a horrible death. Gwyn wins because he broke the world in his fear of humans and deserved excactly what happened to him. And what happened to his soul in ds2 and 3? Absolutely deserved to have his soul rung out like an old water fill rag for its power. Douch bag.

                    • Anonymous

                      Lore fact: lots of people think his boss music represents his own insanity but it actually represents how crazy you the player go from running around in a circle for twenty minutes trying to cut off his middle tail

                      • Anonymous

                        what a pushover he is
                        after destroing shiny thing I had no estus and not enough HP to survive single hit in Undead Burg so I thought "lets give it a try but I guess I'm going through caves again"
                        and he turned out to be as easy as going to his left tail to hit him didn't even have to roll couse I was out of rang whole the time
                        no wonder he was sitting in archives becouse he damn sure is not a fighter

                        • Anonymous

                          cutting his tail is easy i dont know what all the fuss is about. just use invisible body since he can still see no matter what people say hes mainly deaf so bait his crystal breath use invisible body before or after the attack it doesnt matter then run around the back of him and he wont tail slam you since he doesnt know where you are then hit the tail at any point past where the tail begins to shorten and BAM... you have your funni magic shamk

                          • Anonymous

                            If you're running a faith build and therefore don't care about getting the moonlight sword, running up and just sunlight blading the **** out of him with your +15 wep of choice will kill him in like 8 hits

                            • Okay, I LOVE how they incorporated dragons stealing maidens into the lore in a super creepy and ****ed up way. Dragons stealing maidens is from stories of knights, wholesome and straight-forward. Dragons bad, knights good, hero rescues maiden. Seath stealing them for experiments is almost more ****ed up just because of the meta narrative.

                              • Anonymous

                                If you’ve already cut his tail or don’t care about getting it, one easy way to kill him is genuinely standing directly in front of him. Practically all of his attacks will go right past you and if your weapon is upgraded it shouldn’t take very long to kill him

                                • Anonymous

                                  I think 90% of the times Ive died to this mf its been because I tried to get his sword and he kept spinning and spamming that stupid tentacle slam attack. Hes pretty easy if you arent worried about the sword though

                                  • Anonymous

                                    Fitting for a dragon so spiteful and envious of his kin's immortality that he would betray them and help their enemies drive them to near extinction to have a name that rhymes with "seethe".

                                    • Anonymous

                                      Probably my favorite boss in terms of design. His upper body is cool especially his wings and his crystal attacks just look nice.

                                      • Anonymous

                                        F*** this boss to death!!! Can’t do any f***ing damage to him!!! F*** this game, f*** Fromsoftware, and F*** MIYAZAKI!!!!!!!

                                        • Anonymous

                                          One very easy way to take out his tail is with Great Combustion and an fairly upgraded Pyromancy Flame. It's a very quick cast so if you can lure Seath towards his crystal, dash around to the end of his central tail once he's starting the attack that will break the crystal, you can get a cast or two off. It only took me one cast to sever the tail with a newly Ascended Pyromancy Flame. I'd upgraded the original flame to 15 and had it ascended, but had not upgraded it further yet. There is a chance you may be able to sever the tail in one cast without upgrading that far.

                                          • Anonymous

                                            He's had it with you, Seath ain't taking your smack anymore. He raises either hand, and lays down an open-palm smack, dealing seriously physical damage. When the hand is coming down, roll in the direction it's coming from (left or right) while moving away from Seath.

                                            • Anonymous

                                              Here is an very easy way to beat this boss:

                                              Equip Blood Shield and Cursebite Ring.
                                              Velkas Mask is also very good in addition to block the curse.


                                              And here comes my golden tip:
                                              Choose additionally "flesh of iron".

                                              If you are not a pyromancer, dont worry:
                                              You dont have to invest any skill points, as it is a very basic spell with 0 int and 0 fth.

                                              Yes, It will make you move very very slow.
                                              You almost cant walk. But it has no impact on your fighting capabilities.
                                              It neutralizes 80% from all the damage points by Seath crystal slashes.
                                              Also, you keep your poisture ... you wont be knocked of your feet.


                                              Here ist how you do it:
                                              In the beginning, destroy his protecting crystal, wait for him to come closer.
                                              Then just run and put yourself directly in front of him.
                                              Then cast the spell *flesh of iron" and start contniously hitting him.

                                              Dont worry at all about being cursed. It just doesnt bulid up enough to hurt you.
                                              You also dont take any damage by Seath physical attacks.

                                              Just stand there right in front of him, fully protected, and keep hitting him.
                                              Use a flask when your healt is going down to half, just stand still, start hiting again.


                                              The fight just took 25 seconds.
                                              This is bullet proof - for not a single moment there was any chance to be killed.
                                              I used 2 times the flask only.
                                              I was so surprised, as this is my very first run.

                                              • Anonymous

                                                Should have let you damage him in the first encounter. I swear with my pyro build I could have killed him there.

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  Fairly easily brought down by pyromancy. Just stay behind him and watch out for tail attacks (a lot of running in circles if going solo). It was much harder for me to get the tail cut off than to kill him. Can throw on the Dingy Set for curse resist. Also recommend running through the crystal cave area to save spells/flasks.

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    Not sure if/how you could replicate this, but I got him into the middle of the room, got behind him, and then ran away to get some distance. He then started endlessly doing his tail flail attack. No moving, no turning even, just throwing a hissy fit (felt very in character for him). I'm running a faith build, so I just sat back and pelted him with lightning while he squirmed and it was done in a few seconds.

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      Put on the Bloodshield, Cursebite Ring, and whatever curse resistant armor you have that allows you to fast/midroll (In my case, Paladin set) and you can turn this guy into a wet fart with minimal effort.

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        Fighting seath can be very annoying, but my usual strat helps a ton. I usually go full havel’s for curse resist, equipping the cursebite ring. Then I usually get a lightning weapon, usually zweihander but anything works. Get the crystal out of the way, hug his stomach, and go crazy. The havel’s set and cursebite ring should allow you to kill him before he curses you, if your weapon is strong enough. Having a purging stone is pretty nice too. If anyone is going for the moonlight GS, there’s a nice video on yt that I’ll summarize, but all credit goes to that guy. Firstly, make sure to have great combustion and a strong enough pyromancy flame. Then, use the tactic above to make him break his own crystal. Run around and 1-2 combustion’s usually shred his tail instantly.

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          For those having trouble getting the moonlight great sword, the trick is to wait near the crystal - do not destroy it. Wait for him to get close and start an attack animation, and IMMEDIATELY begin running around him. He should destroy the crystal and stun himself. You should have plenty of time to hack off the tail before he recovers.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            They forgot to put in that you can actually "Leave through the fog gate" on the first encounter, this is for delaying your death, and doing something with the souls/humanity you could have in your person

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              Coverment Name: Scaleless
                                                              Leader: Seath the Scaleless
                                                              Item: Magic Crystals get from defeating anyone who harms Seath or a 45% chance of pillaging it from crystal golems.
                                                              Equipment: Scaleless Katana Scaleless Set. Magic Crystals 70: Scaleless Greatsword
                                                              Negative effects: Defense lowered

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                Seath is not too bad. He dies fairly quickly and most of his attacks are slow.
                                                                Getting the Moonlight Greatsword, on the other hand, is absolute bull****.

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  i dont know how you guys defeat this man but ive died atleast 30 times to him with a +5 zweihander and havels armor set

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    For those struggling with cursed status don't be afraid of pumping a few humanity before fighting. Greatly reduced risk of being cursed.

                                                                    And first fight (where you can kill him) went exceedingly easy with some upgraded pyromancies.

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      hands down worst boss in the game. Probably the only straight up unfair boss I've encountered. And contrary to popular belief: Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring doesn't do ****. He can still easily see you and wont stop turning until you're right in front of him. Always like me some undodgeable attacks :DD

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        hands down worst boss in the game. Probably the only straight up unfair boss I've encountered. And contrary to popular belief: Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring doesn't do ****. He can still easily see you and wont stop turning until you're right in front of him. Always like me some undodgeable attacks :DD

                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                          the fact this i hesitate to to call dragon could be Pricilla's dad is horrifically disturbing i feel sorry for Pricilla's mother damn rough childhood

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            Fun story. On my first playthrough, the most dangerous attack he had was his crystal field. Not because of damage, but because I was playing at less then 30fps and didn't know how to go offline. The moment the crystals shattered, I lagged so hard it booted me to the title screen. It happened like, 5 times. This lead me to using the weirdest strategy I've ever had to use. Turing the camera around. That way it didn't render the particles. Genuinely the most memorable boss fight because of that.

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              Cursed fool is partially stuck in the wall and he cant move. I can cheese the sh.t out of him but cutting his tail is a torture since only its tip works and that part is in the wall most of the time.

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                Only time fextralife has given me bad/incomplete info. Equipped a ring of sacrifice, like this page said, and still lost all my souls. Always always always equip a RARE ring of sacrifice. You can still get cursed even after dying.

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  for some reason, his crystal explosion is too big to be avoided, even if seath is on the other side of the arena, he still manages to hit me with it

                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                    This man is insane cause how are you supposed to read those books that are blocked by the stairs in the prison area. Cause they are actually built in front of them.

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      If you want to make sure you cut his tail without killing him first, don't break his protection crystal. You can still cut the tail while he is invincible, I just did it by accident on New Game + because I forgot to break his crystal.

                                                                                    Load more
                                                                                    ⇈ ⇈