Hawkeye Gough | Dark Souls Wiki

Hawkeye Gough

Hawkeye Gough is a Character and Merchant in Dark Souls and Dark Souls Remastered.

Hawkeye Gough Information

Hawkeye Gough was once one of the four knights of Gwyn and leader of the Greatarchers and Dragonslayers, but now is blinded and locked up, without purpose. He passes the time by philosophically musing while making archtree Carvings, filling them with his voice, which is released when broken.  He is the original bearer of the Hawk Ring, and the one intended to wear it.

Location

• Right after Artorias the Abysswalker, stairs opposite the Battle of Stoicism Gazebo.
• Need the Crest Key to unlock the door to his area.  The key is found in a Mimic in the building with many Bloatheads and the Bloathead Sorceress in the rafters encountered before the elevator shortcut.  The room with the mimic can be accessed by rolling from the walkway overseeing the main chamber with the five Bloatheads into the lit room with one Bloathead in it.  The mimic should be next to the Bloathead.

Details

• Helps the player with defeating the Black Dragon Kalameet.
  • After the player went at least once to Kalameet's area (no need to die or fight him), he will ask the player if he is having trouble and needs help. Answering yes both times will result in a cutscene in which Gough takes down Kalameet with his bow. Answering No in either will result in him not helping the player. If you answered No by mistake, and want his help, you can make him ask the question again by reloading the game or leaving the area and returning, then talking to him, and selecting the option "Talk" from the dialogue menu.
  • If Gough does not shoot him down, Kalameet can only be killed with ranged weapons, from within the boss area.
  • Once Kalameet is grounded, his status is changed to area boss, and the Royal Woods area is once again open for multiplayer.
• Gives Gough's Greatbow as a gift after defeating the dragon.
• If you wish to acquire his bow without defeating Kalameet, you can kill Gough and he will drop it among his set. If you kill Gough after he gifts his bow you, only his set will be dropped.
• Gough is one of the most conveniently accessible merchants in the game, being less then a minute walk from the Oolacile Township bonfire, with no enemies in between, and selling the universally useful Homeward Bones, Prism Stones, Titanite, Large Titanite, and Green Titanite at reduced rates.  His armor set, obtained by killing him, is therefore often rarely seen.

Fighting Gough

Due to being blind, the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring keeps him from hearing you. When attacked, he'll know where you are for 2-3 attacks then idles by looking around for you. Once his HP is at half, his attack count goes from 2-3 to 3-7. HIGHLY recommended that Gough is fought using a great shield, fast weapons , and fast rolling.

• I.E. Balder side sword with 20 DEX unbuffed can kill him if you have the patience.

Another way to easily dispose of Gough is to equip the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring and pelt him with Dung Pies to turn him toxic. With the ring, he won't hear you throwing them, and since they do no actual damage, hitting him with them does not count as an attack and as such he will not attack you, simply standing there as you pelt him with dung. Upon turning toxic, he will know where you are and attack; if you avoid him he will lose you again, walk to the side of the arena opposite the ladder, and stand there while the toxin kills him. It will take 3 or 4 full toxin effects to finish him, but you can kill him easily with this strategy if you have about 30 Dung Pies and some patience.  Fortunately, Gough sells Dung Pies at a very low price.

Gough's Attacks

• Fist smash
• Ground swipe
• Full body slam (Takes up 80% of the area; greatsword SOMETIMES blocks the attack. VERY high chance that this attack will kill you)
• Elbow drop (Takes up 50% of the area; can be blocked and dodged by rolling to the side)

Recommended equipment

• Any greatshield
• Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring
• Light or no armor
• Fast weapons (Katana, Straight swords, Curved swords)

Shop

Icon & Name	Use	Price
Items
Dung Pie	Inflicts toxin	200
Homeward Bone	Return to last bonfire rested at	300
Prism Stone	Pathmarker	10
Hello Carving	Archtree carving: "Hello"	5
Thank you Carving	Archtree carving: "Thank you"	5
Ore
Titanite Shard	Strengthen regular weapon to +5	800
Large Titanite Shard	Strengthen regular weapon to +10; Raw weapons to +5	3,800
Green Titanite Shard	Strengthen Magic, Divine and Fire Weapons to +5	4,800
Ammunition
Gough's Great Arrow	Can only be used with Greatbows	650

Drops

• 20,000 souls
• Gough's Armor set
• Gough's Greatbow (unless he already gave it as a gift)

Trivia

• Hawkeye Gough and the Giant Blacksmith seem to know each other. Gough refers to him, questioning if he is still hammering away, and the Blacksmith owns a chest with the Hawk Ring in it. They are also both Giants, but is not clear how they are related.
• As described in the item description of his armor, the medallion that adorns it was given to him by Gwyn himself, and it and the dragonbone pauldrons are symbols of the highest honor, likely as a result of Gough's abilities as a dragonslayer.  His armor is made of material similar to that worn by the silver knights, according to the description.  It may be that this hue of the armor was the original color of the armor worn by the Black Knights, whose armor was burned black by the kindled flame.
• Gough was likely blinded by the tree resin that packs the eyes of his helmet, put there by those "that dismissed Gough as a brutish giant," likely the Oolacile townspeople that imprisoned him.  These and similar sentiments towards giants would continue in Dark Souls II and III, ultimately leading to the apparent enslavement of their entire race.
• The description of the Pharis Hat refers to Gough as one of the four knights of Gwyn, and is used as the benchmark to compare Pharis's skills as a bowman, implying Gough was skilled indeed.
• Gough, like Ornstein in Dark Souls and Ludwig in Bloodborne, is likely named after a famous artist, in this case, most likely the similarly spiritual and mutilated painter, Vincent Van Gogh.  However, unlike the easily traceable connections between Ornstein and the musician Leo Ornstein, and between the Moonlight worshipping Ludwig and Ludwig Von Beethoven, the origins of Gough's name are more muddled, as there is likewise John Gough, the blind artist and natural philosopher, and no less than three famous Goughs in British military history who recieved The Victoria Cross, the highest military honor, two of which were renowned for their excellent marksmanship.  It is impossible to properly determine which, if any, is the correct origin of the name without direct consultation with the developers, as there is precedent for FromSoft taking names from the arts, philosophies, and even British history, with relatively little consistency between and even within individual games.
• Within Japanese culture, the act of repeatedly carving statues from woodblock is associated with the Buddistic pursuit of enlightenment, with a lengthy history of Buddist artisan-pracitioners known as Busshi that were known to repeatedly carve identical religious statues from wood as a form of meditation, as it represented a simple elegant pursuit of perfection and mastery and allowed a form of removed concentration.  This cultural association is likely why Gough is depicted repeatedly carving faces from archtree.  A similar figure is encountered in the Fromsoft game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, namely the inventor of the arm given to Sekiro at the start of the game.