| Knight Artorias the Abysswalker | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Royal Wood |
| Health * | NG: 3,750 |
| NG+: 5,887 | |
| Souls * | NG: 50,000 |
| NG+: 100,000 | |
| * Recorded in PATCH 1.5 |
|
| weakness: headshot (while charging for buff) |
|
Knight Artorias is a Boss in Dark Souls, encountered just before Oolacile Township in the DLC area, within the Coliseum at the end of Royal Wood. Once a noble knight, Artorias has been corrupted by the Abyss, which is evident in the tattered state of his armor and the dark aura that surrounds him. Despite his corruption, he still wields a greatsword, though it has been weakened by his fall. The knight's movements are wild and frenzied, reflecting his transformation into a berserk beast under the influence of the Abyss.
Knight Artorias the Abysswalker Dark Souls Lore
Knight Artorias was one of the four Knights of Gwyn, the commanding knights of Lord Gwyn's army. Artorias had an unbendable will of steel, which both helped and fed his hatred for servants of the Dark, particularly the Darkwraiths of Kaathe.
Lord Gwyn bequeathed him with a custom-made ring, the Wolf Ring, to assist in his already unmatched ability to wield a greatsword.
When in New Londo Artorias discovered the ability of abysswalking; earning him his title: Artorias the Abysswalker. This allowed him to enter The Abyss, the home of the Darkwraiths and the Four Kings themselves. At some unspecified time in the past, when Oolacile was attacked by the Abyss, Artorias traveled to Oolacile to rescue Princess Dusk of Oolacile.
Defeated by Manus and the Abyss, Artorias sacrificed his great shield to protect his loyal companion, a young Sif, from the myriad Humanity Sprites that littered the deepest reaches of Oolacile. With his left arm shattered following his confrontation with Manus, he had no use for the shield and chose to wield his greatsword in his one good hand. With time, Artorias became fully-corrupted by the Abyss (though, in hunting the corrupted denizens of Oolacile, it is clear he didn't wholly forget his mission). At some point after this, an unknown hero (The Chosen Undead) travelled back to the past and, in the process of relieving Oolacile of its corruption and rescuing Dusk, finally bested Artorias.
In doing so, The Chosen Undead preserved the lost knight's honour. Despite The Chosen Undead's feats, the saviour of Dusk and Oolacile would come to be attributed to Artorias. Rather than being corrupted by the Abyss like the rest of Oolacile, it was believed that he perished while facing the Abyss. Perhaps the only compatriot of Artorias that knew the truth was Sif, who in thanks for his rescue from the Abyss gifted The Chosen Undead Artorias' Cleansing Greatshield.
Dark Souls Knight Artorias Boss Guide & Strategies
Attacks
- Savage Leaping Strike, Artorias howls, then leaps to the player to use him as a sheath for his sword, dealing massive damage. Can be blocked while moving sideways or avoided by rolling forward/to the side when he's about to land. Good moment to hit once.
- Stabbing Charge, Artorias dashes to the player in an attempt to pierce the player. This attack hits twice, unless you manage to avoid it, and while blocked, can take most of your stamina bar away if you don't have a proper shield for it. If blocked, it's a good moment to hit safely on Artorias as he will back off if hit. If hit in the back, he can perform a Slashing Dodge.
- Slashing Dodge, at close range, Artorias can perform a very fast backhand slash at the player, while leaping away at the same time. This attack is very fast, and it one of the main reasons a shield should always be held ready when close to Artorias and not attacking/regaining stamina.
- Light Stab, Artorias will often follow with a light stab after closing up on the player with a previous attack.
- Gliding Slash, Artorias glides a short distance to slash horizontally in front of him. There is another version where Artorias rather slashes downwards after approaching with a disarticulated upperbody motion. Can be blocked or avoided by rolling sideways. May follow with a Light Stab.
- Slashing Combo, Artorias will swing his blade 1-3 times. Commonly followed by 2-hit Hurricane Swing/Light Stab.
- 2-hit Hurricane Swing, Artorias will swing his blade for 720°, hitting the player twice in the process. Can be blocked or dodged. Used when standing near him for a long time/after he does a melee attack.
- Somersault Smashing Combo, at medium range, Artorias might do a fast somersault towards the player to heavily smash his sword downward. This smash can be repeated another 2 times, each swing individually tracking the players new position. Dodging/blocking the first attack is vital as each strike will stagger the player/crush the player to the ground, which are very hard to avoid if having higher than 50% Burden. Not recommended to hit after avoiding the first hit since Artorias can do the same counter as the follow-up of Stabbing Charge. Can safely hit if you blocked the 3 somersaults. He slowly regains stance after the last smash. This is one of the few attacks in the game that completely ignores iFrames, meaning that it will damage the player even mid-roll or on the ground if the sword connects with the player. Rolling to the side is the best way to avoid it.
- Oozing Darkness, if standing behind Artorias for too long, he will throw sludge at the player with a backhand swing of his free hand. Medium-ranged, can be blocked or avoided with a back roll.
- One with the Abyss, after losing 1/3 of his HP, Artorias will gather Darkness around him to unleash a violent AoE explosion while giving him a damage buff and a trail of harmless Darkness will float behind him. He can stack the buff if he does it again before it runs out and the explosion has a medium-sized AoE. The explosion can be avoided/blocked and the whole attack can be interrupted by hitting Artorias a certain amount of times while he channels the explosion, causing him to get staggered. The number of times you have to hit him depends on the weapon (3 hits with a Man-Serpent Greatsword or 2 hits with the Avelyn crossbow were enough, for example, but it's very hard to pull it off with Ricard's Rapier). A headshot with a bow will always knock him out of the channeling process, but you've only got enough time to get maybe 2 or 3 tries at it if you're quick. It seems to occur no matter the damage output, since headshots on humanoids always stun. It is better to interrupt the buff as it may be troublesome to deal with Artorias when a buffed Savage Leaping Strike might drain a whole HP bar/stamina bar, even with Havel's Greatshield. While he is channeling this ability the damage he receives is reduced significantly.
Relevant Videos:
Drops
- 25,000 souls if fought with a sunlight warrior or 50.000 souls without (100.000 in NG)
- Soul of Artorias
Trivia
- Artorias possesses most of the attacks of Great Grey Wolf Sif.
- If the player rescues Sif before attacking him in Darkroot Garden, a different cutscene will be played.
- The game's database reveals that Artorias has his own cut dialogue.
- In the ending credits, Artorias' voice is attributed to Freddie A'Brassard.
- Artorias's name is likely derived from Arthur of the King Arthur myth, much like Gwyn's and Gwynevere's.
Strategy
Melee Rolling Strategy
A successful melee rolling strategy against Artorias relies heavily on reading his attack patterns and timing your dodges. Keep a safe distance, about twice his reach, to give yourself enough reaction time, even in melee range.
- Aerial Attacks
When Artorias performs his Somersault Slam, roll to the right as the camera tilts upwards. You'll need to roll three times in quick succession, then capitalize on the opening with one or two attacks depending on your weapon's speed. Avoid attacking after his Steadfast Leap; instead, use this time to heal or create distance.
- Standing Attacks
During his Overhand Smash, roll to the right. While this move leaves Artorias vulnerable for a moment, he often follows up with a Spinning Slash, which is challenging to avoid once it starts. Instead of attacking, use this opportunity to get some distance.
- Charging Attacks
When he uses his Charging Slash, roll backwards to avoid where the attack will land. After dodging, you can usually land one or two hits. For his Heavy Thrust, sidestep by dodging in the opposite direction of his charge. After successfully dodging, take advantage of his long recovery time to land two or three hits.
- Other Attacks
If you're behind Artorias, he might use his Abyss Sludge attack, which does minimal damage but can stun you. If you time it right, you can roll forward through the attack and land a hit before retreating. Once Artorias has lost about a third of his health, he’ll start using his Wrath of the Abyss power-up. If he completes it, his attacks become significantly more damaging, potentially one-shotting you. To prevent this, quickly close the gap and interrupt him with repeated attacks. If you don't deal enough damage in time, he'll unleash an AOE blast that will knock you down. The best strategy is to use a heavy weapon to stagger him out of his power-up or quickly switch to a bow and shoot him in the face to disrupt his concentration.
Heavy Melee
Artorias has 3750 HP and rewards players with 50,000 souls upon defeat. True to his reputation as a master of the greatsword, Artorias is a relentless and aggressive boss, similar to Gwyn in terms of his offensive style. Even in co-op play, battles against him can be lengthy and exhausting due to his unyielding assault and ability to control the pace of the fight.
Artorias switches rapidly between offense and defense, using his speed and dodge-rolls to either break away from attackers or to defend himself. He is particularly adept at targeting injured opponents, pressing his attacks to finish them off before they have a chance to heal. It's crucial to keep moving and not allow him to wind up his attacks. Summoned players should focus on maintaining aggro, keeping Artorias away from the host, especially since his leaping abilities and aggressive tactics make it easy for him to close the distance and surprise a host attempting to cast a spell or drink Estus.
Staying at a close or middle distance while strafing to one side can help you avoid his gliding stabs and somersaults. However, backing off too far may trigger punishing leap attacks or give him time to charge his power-up attack. All of Artorias' attacks can be blocked with a high stability shield, like a Balder Shield +5, making it safer to block rather than attempting to roll through his attacks. His attacks have considerable range and tracking, punishing all but the most perfectly timed evasions.
When Artorias kneels down to start charging his power-up, it's critical to attack him immediately. A strong melee weapon like a greatsword or ultra greatsword wielded two-handed, or the Obsidian Greatsword's two-handed R2 AoE attack, can stagger him out of the animation. Spells can also be effective during this time. If you fail to interrupt him, he will unleash an AoE attack and significantly boost his damage output for a limited time. This can make the fight much more challenging, as he may become too strong to block, depending on the shield used.
In New Game Plus, Artorias' power-up does not last the entire fight, but he may charge again before it wears off. Even when powered up, he remains blockable, though his high leap attack is an exception and should be avoided by walking backward. Keeping your stamina bar above 50% at all times is crucial, as none of his direct attacks should be taken lightly, especially given his fast stance recovery and follow-up speed.
Using a long-ranged weapon, such as the Silver Knight Spear, can make the fight easier. With a spear, you can safely hit him once or twice after he lands his Savage Leaping Strike, Somersault Smashing Combo, or Gliding Slash. Remember to quickly roll backward after each hit. Having around 40 poise can also help, allowing you to withstand one or two of his weaker attacks and one hit of his Somersault Smashing Combo, giving you time to roll away if you miss the timing.
Pyromancy
For an upgraded pyromancer, the fight against Artorias becomes relatively manageable. To prepare, you should have your Pyromancy Flame upgraded to Ascended Max and have acquired the Power Within, Great Chaos Fireball (GCF), and Great Fireball (GF) spells. Additionally, using a 100% physical damage reduction shield with high stability, such as the Caduceus Kite Shield, will provide solid defense. Equip the Crown of Dusk (or other pyro-boosting gear), Cloranthy Ring, and Dark Wood Grain Ring to enhance your stamina regeneration and provide extra invincibility frames during dodges.
At the fog door, cast Power Within to boost your damage. Once inside, bait Artorias into performing his high leap attack. Dodge this with a quick side roll and immediately counter with a Great Chaos Fireball. Repeat this process to whittle down his health. After the first or second GCF, Artorias will often perform a backflip to initiate his buff charge-up. Be vigilant and ready to react quickly. As soon as you see him starting this animation, rush to casting range and hit him with two quick GCFs to stagger him out of the buff.
If you still have any GCFs left, continue using them, but be prepared to switch to Great Fireball if you're running low. Always ensure you have at least two spells queued up to interrupt his buff attempt. This strategy should be enough to defeat Artorias without too much trouble, but keep some additional fireballs on hand just in case you miss a GCF or GF or two.
- If you don't break the buff, don't freak out. Just keep dodging and trying to bait him until it breaks. Though you may not want to cause a second buff before the first wears off due to the stack effect.
- The high leap has the longest recovery time and is easy to bait which makes it the the best chance to attack. Not only for your casting time but also he is very good at dodging projectiles. He can't dodge during the recovery animation.
Dark Souls Knight Artorias Gallery
Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
if you are using a straight sword for this fight when he goes for the buff if you twohand the weapon and run in spamming heavy attacks he will be broken out of it so you won't have to take 3 times as much damage for the rest of the fight and got oneshot by his janky charge hitbox
I feel like Artorias is less of a skill check boss and more of a test of patients only took 4 tryed to get my very 1st kill on him 3 in NG+
- Anonymous
Horrible boss, too fast for ds1 clunky movement, would be a solid 10 in other games like ds3 or elden ring.
- Anonymous
At least bed of chaos doesnt ignore my medium roll,
Unlike this overrated bum.
- Anonymous
Artorias isn't an unfair boss, it's a skill check, that's why he is the best boss of the game, i only died or got hit because of mistake and nothing more. In the end it's a fair boss fight that ask you to use everything you learned in the game. His difficult but fair
- Anonymous
This was honestly such a fun fight. It was interesting fighting an enemy that was pretty fast in this game for once, all things considered. RIP my man. You will be missed, Artorias.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I've decided to beat the game with low level character (not SL1 run but with starting amounts of HP, Stamina etc. - so basically I'm dead after taking 1 or 2 hits). And what I can say this fight is pure RNG roller coaster. Sometimes Artorias spam his chained combo almost all the time without giving you time to breath and sometimes he just walks around casually, doing single attacks and circling you.
I think that's main problem with DS1 bosses - bad AI. They don't have something like stamina bar or ability re-use timer but completely randomly chosen action instead. So if you're unlucky they'll spam their most dangerous and aggressive attacks constantly and if you're lucky they will circle around you for half of the fight.
So my advice for anyone trying to beat Artorias with low level character. Be patient and prepare to repeat fight dozens of times. Eventually he will choose more passive style.
- Anonymous
Skill issues, all over the shop... You'll be one of them, sooner or later..
- Anonymous
When you are walking into his attacks with heavy armor instead of dodging or shielding, and then complaining about taking too much poise damage and hp damage, it'd do well for you to remember that just because poise is GOOD in DS1 doesn't mean you only have to hold the walk button
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
complaining about this boss is weird imo. It isn't like it deals 50% of your health with just his normal attacks, as long as you're wearing ANY armor at all you can basically facetank some attacks. I do think his flip attack can be BS because it can chain into itself like 4 times, but it is one of his easiest attacks to dodge anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Anonymous
easily the best boss in the game, everyone complaining is bad
- Anonymous
This is first tough boss of this game. Also can be frustrating.
- Anonymous
Comments saying he's too fast forgot that they could just use heavy armor, shields, or lightrolling with good timing. I swear to god some people will try to approach this boss with medium rolls, and conveniently forget (like 70% through the game) that medium rolls kinda suck ass in ds1. Of course, the boss isn't perfect, as he has some janky hitboxes, and is VERY different from the other bosses, because he has more than 3 attacks. But the people saying this boss is broken or overtuned for this game are just wrong imo.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Overrated mess.
Gwyn and the dlc bosses are too fast for the game.
- Anonymous
Not the best fight in the game because of his thrusting attack hitbox sometimes hits you twice and sometimes it hits you once. Also he can sometimes just spam the lion's claw front flip attack 3 or 4 times in a row after hitting you once with it and you just are stun locked until he decides to stops and is very RNG based. Sometimes he will hit you once and then back off or stop, other times he will do the front flip Guts attack 3 times in a row and your dead.
- Anonymous
worst thing about this fight is its distance from the nearest bonfire
- Anonymous
Took me an hour to beat him,it was fun and hard but mostly because the PC attack speed is so slow compared to him. I used DGM+10 initially,switching to MSGS+10 make it much easier. That split second i used to gauge whether he will continue a combo really hamper DGM chance to get a hit. I can't really play aggressive unless abusing poise. Admittedly,i didn't know i can stop his buff so it might be easier if i take the free 2-3 swing with a heavy hitter like DGM
- Anonymous
just use havel's set and two hand black knight halberd, ez kill
- Anonymous
"Perhaps the only compatriot of Artorias that knew the truth was Sif"
This is just wrong. Ciaran clearly found Artorias' corpse so the news must have reached at the very least Gwyn and the other knights
- Anonymous
Feels like a DS3 boss.
He is 60 fps, but my character is 30 fps.
- Anonymous
“Whatever thou art, stay away.”
“Soon, I will be consumed.”
“By them, by the Dark.”
"I beg of thee, the spread of the Abyss… must be stopped."
-Artorias's cut dialogue. Why they didn't include this, I have NO IDEA.
- Anonymous
stunning him during the powerup trivializes the fight, wish it was just a phase 2 lol
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
One of my favourite fights in the game, visit him, die, or quit out, get fall control and your equip load to between 25-29% and meme roll down the unactivated elevator, claw your way out of the chasm of the abyss and through Oolacile township until you reach Artorias's arena, go up the stairs to the right and shoot him through the gaps with arrows. Sif always deserved better than that daft chump.
- Anonymous
One of my favorite fights in the game, honestly. Even though I started the Souls series with this game many years ago, it's been a few years since I've played it, and once you're used to the faster enemy movements in games like Elden Ring and Sekiro, returning to Dark Souls initially feels significantly easier, so much so that I don't think I even got close to dying on any of the other bosses, except for Bed of Chaos predictably making me grind my teeth on a few attempts. However, I was pleasantly surprised to fight Artorias again and see how much on your toes this fight keeps you when it comes to both defensively dodging his fast swings and offensively staying on top of him enough to keep him from buffing. Anyone with a tanky build is probably going to find this fight somewhat trivial, sure, but, as a Faith build, compared to a lot of other bosses in the latter half of the game, Artorias is a nice change of pace that I'll always have fond memories of fighting.
- Anonymous
It is weak to lightning damage. zweihander lightning +5 made the fight easier, heavy attack staggers him and interrupts the buff charge
- Anonymous
There's nothing wrong with the moveset of this boss, but I don't think it's a particularly good fight (although it does still manage to be one of the better boss fights in this game). My biggest problem is that his actual moves are fairly easy to avoid and the entire fight is either incredibly easy if you stop him from buffing or is an unfun struggle to avoid getting OHKOed by his hyper fast attacks. For me, the fight swings too much between the extremes of being too easy or hard in a way that's not interesting or fun.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
bro i just read this guy lore he accomplished nothing why is he so praised bruh
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Artorias: -rose up the ranks of the military to the point where he became one of the knights of Gwyn
-risked his life to venture into the abyss by himself
-left a protective spell around Sif
-despite falling to the abyss, he still lives on through legends and has an entire fanbase trying to be him
-fights with his non-dominant hand and still destroys a **** ton of Chosen Undead with his skill
Guts: -couldn't even save his girlfriend from getting banged
-relies on armor and brute force for his strength
-will probably never die because merch has to get sold somehow
- Anonymous
Does Artorias have any fire resistance?
I was using Quelaag's Fury sword and they only seemed to be taking the physical damage while completely resisting the additional fire damage it deals.
In the 1st phase - roll - hit - roll - hit (sometimes twice) and repeat. In changing phase drink potion or throw a fireball at the boss. In 2nd phase keep ur shield up and roll to the right (!) till it ends. When he jumps at u from afar - run forward (sometimes also roll forward in the last seconds).
- Anonymous
Artorias the abyss walker, a legend who able to walk in the abyss without being consume by it darkness, "art" + "notorious", famous of mastering the art in himself, because of his existence "Artorias", I was able to talk among it without being consumed.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Black Knight Halberd also deals very high damage to him. I ve test it.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Mooom this weird looking dirty man is screaming at meee!
Also kinda ironic that his own shield (the one made from Sif's soul) makes the fight with him a piece of cake.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
got him on my 5thish try while only taking damage once. partly due to his stupid ai decided to go for a buff when his hp dropped to %30 which allowed me to quickly finish the fight
- Anonymous
As much as I love the interaction of being able to prevent his buffs through staggering him, I kind of wish his buffs weren't able to be cancelled and were permanent. Love the boss, he's my second fav after Kalameet, just wish he had that extra bite to make turtling not as rewarding against him.
- Anonymous
poise is so unironically broken that I can just sit there and buff while he does three consecutive slam attacks.
- Anonymous
Just some additional info about Artorias and King Arthur's connection
In japanese version Artorias's name is Artorius. And Artorius is one of the historical figures who potentially was the basis for King Arthur (Lucius Artorius Castus). Also in his earlier version, Arthur is not a king but "a peerless warrior who functioned as the monster-hunting protector of Britain from all internal and external threats. Some of these are human threats, such as the Saxons he fights in the Historia Brittonum, but the majority are supernatural, including giant cat-monsters, destructive divine boars, dragons, dogheads, giants, and witches" (the quote is from Wikipedia).
- Anonymous
Won against O&S first try, then lost 15 times to Artorias. I either got worse, or people have a completely different strategy than me.
Faith build btw
- Anonymous
Just beat Gwyn for the first time -- and can now say for sure Artorias was my favorite fight (just barely ahead of O&S) in the game. Going reverse Elden Ring > DS 3 > DS 1 gives such an interesting perspective to see how they evolved the mechanics... and wish I had would have known about Artorias while experiencing Farron Keep and the Abysswatchers. Guess a good reason to NG+ w/ DS3 next. Was really hoping Gwyn would be this much fun, but alas was not... Artorias, thanks for being the path for so many later great Soulsborne fights.
- Anonymous
this boss has kicked my butt so much but i love it
and i thank firexixa for the help
- Anonymous
Not THAT tough, but this dude is a test of reflexes. Feels like a DS3 boss.
- Anonymous
Beat him first try. No, nobody invites me to parties; Why do you ask?
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
he is not really hard , all you have to do is bait his mid -long range attacks (like his dash and jump attack) hit him run away and redo the process , if you hit him where he had his broken arm he will not touch you with his fast spin attack , you can go lightweight and use the Dark Wood Grain Ring if you have trouble to run way from him
- Anonymous
Didn´t Artorias get the ability to traverse the abyss by receivning the ring from a primordial serpent (most likely Kingseeker Frampt)?
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
With 40 STA and +11 Tower Shield, he could never even get close to push my stamina to the bottom.
I just held up the shield and wait for him to empty his attack-stamina during his attacks. Then hit him.
Then just wait again. I took him out first try. I didn't even notice that his buff made a difference. I thought he was bugged or something.
The only attack that actually emptied my stamina bar - but did no damage after that - was the high jump and dive down attack. But after that, he has no follow up, then he's empy on his attack-stamina. That attack can also be quite easily avoided by walking in the direction of him when he starts the attack. Then his dive attack misses, and he landed behind me, and I could get 1 hit on him for free.
- Anonymous
Coming back to this game, I found it a little jarring that 3 2h light attacks from quelaag's furysword could stagger him out of his buff animation. I always remember him tanking nearly everything only for the explosion to knock me onto my ass.
- Anonymous
I fight Artorias again after finishing Elden ring several times, now he feels much easier, must be because I've got much more experience now. His charging Abyss can be interrupted with 3 light attack of 2H gargoyle axe. I also prefer to stay close to him while holding up grass crest shield. His movements are kinda intimidating but it's quite clearly telegraphed. As long as you keep cool and calm, rolling to the side or almost directly at him is best to avoid and counterattack him. Hope this help.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Overrated af boss both in gameplay and fanfare. Beat him 1st try on my first character on str build blindly, then less than 5 tries on my low SL sorcerer chara to get Dark Bead early. His attacks are simple and easy to read and dodge. I was hyped for this boss cuz ppl were praising this fight so much but O and S is a much more fun boss fight.
Also why is he so popular lmao he's just a crazed dog you need to put down cuz he lost to Manus, and has no impact to the story at all.
- Anonymous
People complain about all the Artorias references in 3, but then 1 hits you with this sh*t
- Anonymous
Wait you were supposed to interrupt his buff? I just steered clear of him when he did that because I assumed there was an AoE involved.
- Anonymous
Honestly my favourite boss in the whole series because it has no bullsh**,no small area,no annoying camera,no dogs,no dou,no lava,no ranged attack,no cheese strategy,no glitch. Just you,him and the soil you go 6 meters through with his somersaults. Quite fair if you ask me
- Anonymous
I fought artorias yesterday, throwing daggers also works to interrupt his abyss power up
- Anonymous
This is probably my favorite fight in the game so far. I never really got frustrated or mad, and i knew exactly how i ****ed up when i did. Then beating him finally was soooo satisfying, i felt so accomplished. Learning his moveset felt really intuitive, nothing felt BS or OP, his stunlock move doesn't even do a whole lot of damage if he does decide to stunlock you (unless he's buffed) and his buff can easily be stopped if you hit him hard and fast enough. Really really good fight, the first time in this game when I felt the boss was a real CHALLENGE and didn't have any janky bullshit it could abuse. Just you, him, and an empty arena fighting it out. Really ****in fun.
- Anonymous
Also - only heal when he buffs. Most bosses let you back off and sneak one in, he and Gwyn are really the only two that absolutely will not allow it except for very specific windows.
- Anonymous
This is a serious “don’t get greedy” fight. You lose when you try to hit him and he’s not affording you a window. I tanked his slashes with a high stability shield but never countered as they are unpredictable in number. Tank his lunge, hit him back after. Roll his big jump attack, counter after that. The somersault he can string together up to three in a row - you can hit after, but if you guess wrong after one or two and he does it again, it’s gonna hurt.
He buffs himself three times during the fight, so mistakes are survivable early, but if you try to sneak one extra hit in late because you almost have him, you’re going to die, no matter how much health you have. Keep composure, wait him out.
- Anonymous
Just take a washing pole and it is as easy as an asylum demon fight
- Anonymous
I’ve flown through most bosses so far (Ornstein & Smough took a few tries, the rest one or two), but Artorias is my first roadblock. This MF’er does Elden Ring’s Lionsclaw to you!
- Anonymous
I think I died over a dozen times before I remembered how to two-hand my Balder Side Sword. Really helped against interupting Artorias' power up. Now I just have to pull off the same **** against Manus, Kalameet, and finally Gywn, with miracles mind you, then do the DLC again using my Pyromancer and Sorcerer. Should be fun.
- Anonymous
This boss took me 30 minutes worth of attempts, making him the 2nd longest boss fight encounter i've ever had. Just me, no buffs, a +10 Longsword, Silver Knight armor set and mid rolls. Pretty fun boss fight if it weren't for the anxiety of getting hit while i get to the arena.
- Anonymous
I rushed through my very first NG through completion without touching the DLC. Gave it a go on NG+1 and boy Artorias gave me a good drubbing the first moment I stepped through the fog wall. Took me I think around 30 tries with the winning attempt both of us left with a sliver of hp. Mix-and-match armor for fast roll, +15 zweihander and grass crest shield with a power within buff for the start of the fight. Overall I really enjoyed this fight. 10/10 for a satisfying win
- Anonymous
honestly this fight kinda blows. its cool if you try to tank it since youll both be trading hits, but actually dodging his attacks means you have to wait for the few attacks where he cant instantly punish you for hitting him. a step in the right direction in boss design though that probably lead to bloodborne/ds3s combat.
- Anonymous
Does he have a damage type he is less resistant to? Nothing does good damage against him.
- Anonymous
This boss teaches you to ACTUALLY dodge and is your introduction to 1v1 PvP. If you can't beat Artorias, don't even bother going online. It also means you're a casul, lol.
- Anonymous
Well actually one of my shortest battles. After few attempts of blocking I realized that my shield (blood 4+) is trash, and put on a pyro flame with chaos storm on it, just for fun. Cast it immediately after leap, roll, hope he doesn t interrupt me. And then voila! Poor fella impaling-charged straight through the pillars, receiving BOTH pillar and lava damage, losing 5/6 of hp. Few hits finished him off. Also a viable strategy lol
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Why the f*** does this f***er’s flips stun lock me to death!!! F*** this overrated DLC!!!
- Anonymous
I didn't have any problem with him in NG but when tried to do NG (Remastered Edition) he was real pain in the ass. Finally found (for me it worked, of course it's only subjective) answer for him: 1) best melee weapon against: UGS sword (I choosed Zweihander) - Zweihander stunned him after 2 hits and usually after being stunned he went on distance which gave me chance to use estus 2) I removed my Havel set (because finally, when he goes very agressive in later part of fight armor gives us almost nothing) and choosed to have fast rolls. Fast rolls were everything cause evading his attacks is key for win and middle rolls were just too slow. Tried all favourite weapons but Zweihander with stunning ability after 2 hits was absolutely best. Very fine boss and great fight. For me one of the best in all DS series (for me was little similiar to my favourite Sir Alonne).
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
its easy to kill him only problem is that the estus animation takes too long
- Anonymous
My only issue is when he chains the slam attack it stun locks and can easily one shot you and you can’t escape it if you get caught by one it’s over if he decides to chain them
- Anonymous
So. Fun fact, Tranquil Walk of Peace doesn't work on him. Another fun fact, the casting animation for TWoP ducks under his sweeps and I got it off without a scratch
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
One of my favourite bosses in all Soulsborne games. Dynamic, fast-paced, fun, but fair. No gimmicks here.
Not quite among the hardest in the series, but likely tricky for most.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
The first time I fought him was in NG+. I was wielding Black Knight Sword and Silver Knight Shield. I wasn't good enough at that time so I defended most of his attacks and I made use of fireballs to burn the major part of his HP. I died a lot, 50% of his attacks were that chainned flip attacks, he drank my stamina like a russian kid drinks vodka. No pride, I just killed him and suffered even more later. Bad memories.
4
+10
-1