Stray Demon |
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| Location | Undead Asylum |
| Health * | NG: 5,250 |
| NG+: 8,242 | |
| Souls * | NG: 20,000 |
| NG+: 40,000 | |
| * Recorded in PATCH 1.05 | |
Stray Demon is a Boss in Dark Souls.
Not to be confused with the Stray Demon, a mini-boss in Dark Souls 3.
Stray Demon Information
A large demon found after returning to the Northern Undead Asylum. This is actually the first demon you see in the game; as you exit your cell at the beginning he can be seen stomping around to your right through the bars in the hallway.
You cannot face him during your initial escape from the Asylum, but upon returning if you walk through the area where you fought the Asylum Demon the floor will break open and you will drop down into the Stray Demon's arena below. This boss, while both optional and challenging to low level characters, is valued because of its guaranteed drop of a Titanite Slab.
Drops
- Titanite Slab
- 20,000 souls
- 1 Humanity
- 1 Homeward Bone
Trivia
- Stray Demon is the conceptual heir of Vanguard Demon.
Attacks
Horizontal Sweep
With a slow wind up, the Stray Demon swings his staff from side to side. This attack does a decent amount of damage, if caught in it and can stagger the player. A well-timed roll in any direction but that which the swing is following through in, should be enough to avoid it. Hugging the demon's under belly will also prevent this, and will cause him to do his Ground Pound move instead.
Exploding Staff Slam
Slamming his staff on the floor, delivers a blast that blows up the area directly in front of him, and a bit on his sides as well. This can be quite easy to doge as he normally uses this after a Ground Pound, in which case you would have probably already gotten away from him enough to minimize this threat. So always be ready to run away or behind him and whittle him down while he's occupied but be careful; if you are directly behind him as this AoE attack goes off, you can actually absorb some damage which is no bueno.
Ground Pound
The Ground Pound move is used when the player is very close to, and/or in front of the Stray Demon. It is characterized by the Demon flying up into the air momentarily then thrusting his weight and hammer down into the ground, either crushing the player or damaging them with area of effect shock-waves. The resulting damage varies, depending on how far the character is from the Demon but ranges a maximum of 10 feet, or roughly a little less than two character's heights. This attack will also track you, including when the Demon is in the air, so continue moving.
Strategy 1 - Melee
It is not possible to summon in the Northern Undead Asylum, so you're on your own. Despite his superficial similarity to the Asylum Demon you defeated to escape the area originally, the Stray Demon has a large amount of health and very powerful attacks. As his location is close to your arrival point, remember to first take a short detour to rest at one of the Asylum bonfires before tackling him, to avoid spawning elsewhere in the likelihood that you die.
After falling down into the Stray Demon's chamber, quickly run around or away from the demon to avoid its attack, and heal the fall damage you just sustained. It is advised to stay behind the demon as much as possible or risk being hit by the demon's AOE magic, which has a large radius. You can block his melee swings without taking any damage. But his red wind attacks will cause damage even if blocked (unless your magic block is really high on your shield) and also often cause a knockdown that usually results in your death.
While circling the Stray Demon, the best time to attack him is from behind after he has performed his blast attack by striking the ground in front of himself with his staff. Steer clear until the blast evaporates, then attack him before lifts his staff again. Do not attack more than twice at the most, and ideally once if you want to get him stuck in a helpful combat loop. Specifically, if you get the pattern down, it is possible to get him stuck in a pattern where he does not move, but rather continues to strike the ground in front of himself and set off his AoE attack each time you attack him in the tail or the same leg from behind.
You can then run forward between each attack and strike the same spot from behind with a single attack, whittling him down fairly safely. A weapon with good reach such as a spear or claymore (R2 thrust attack) will give you a little extra space and time to attack him between each of his blasts.
He may also try to Ground Pound you, but this attack is fairly easy to avoid and if you're quick to run back to him, you can get in a couple hits on him; this is also the best time to cast magic as the process can be long and arduous but it is an easy way of defeating the Stray Demon with little to no damage (excluding the initial fall damage).
- Extremely weak Against Bleed (3 hits of a bandit knife or uchigatana make him bleed taking 10% of his health).
- The Lifehunt Scythe is also incredibly effective - two hits (wielded two handed) cut down a massive chunk of his health, even on NG+.
Strategy 1a - Drake Sword
Although it will be a challenge, you can also beat this foe with a Drake Sword.
- Make sure you fight 2-handed as that will give you more damage output. Considering that you can't block most of its attacks (unless you have a good Magic/Physical shield and high stamina), a shield will prove to be useless.
- Any soul level is possible as the demon will most likely 1-hit you unless you have a large amount of health.
- The 20,000 souls will certainly be welcome to any low soul level character and it may take multiple tries, but if you think you can do it, it is certainly worth the amount of time spent.
Strategy 2 - Pyromancy
This is fairly simple, taking what you can from Strategy 1 and making these specific adjustments:
- Attune the Iron Flesh spell. Once you fall, run up to him and use the spell.
- Hack away with your top weapon.
- Feel free to drink an Estus or two while your stamina is regenerating. He's going nowhere so mobility isn't an issue.
Tips
- Purchase "fall control" and "Magic Shield" from Griggs in firelink. Once above the Stray Demon cast both on your self, and then fall through the floor. The fall control will keep you at full health once landed and magic shield will protect you against his hits if using a shield. If you have saved this boss for later into the game you may already have "strong magic shield" from the Duke's Archives which would be even better. Using the "run straight at him you can use your strongest weapon to begin attacking from behind" tactic, if strong magic shield is applied you can even withstand his AoE attacks for quite a while.
- When you return to the Asylum (as you clearly have if you are facing the Stray Demon) it is possible to obtain the Crest Shield. This shield has high magic resistance and using it will make the red wind/blast attack much less dangerous.
- To safely exit the arena after defeating the boss, walk towards the wall with the iron bars and climb up the ladder situated nearby. You will then be able to roll through the broken bars into the first hallway of the game. Be aware though that if you didn't kill the Black Knight in the starting room (the one you spawn in at the beginning of the game), he might spot you and attack you. That escape ladder will also be inaccessible during the fight while Stray Demon is alive, so plan accordingly.
- If you return to the Asylum only to collect other items, such as the Rusted Iron Ring, Crest Shield, or the Peculiar Doll, you can avoid the Stray Demon by walking around the open area through the vases. If you fall in by accident and are unable to beat him, let him kill you as soon as possible (or warp out); if you die quickly your bloodstain should appear on the floor above near where you fell, rather than down with the Stray Demon.
- For players who have not began as a Thief - and consequently without the Bandit's Knife - the Morning Star can be acquired by rolling off of the elevator shaft that leads to the Undead Church. It can be two handed by all starting classes and will cause bleed regularly enough to kill Stray Demon quickly. Stray's tail can be "chicken" poked for the 300 bleed damage.
- Master Key users can use this to avoid getting the Uchigatana or the Reinforced Club from the Undead Merchant - preventing the Bridge Wyvern from triggering to nest at the bridge and having to fight the Taurus Demon.
- Try battling the boss without locking on. Your movement speed while locked on makes it difficult to get/stay behind the boss, which is crucial for avoiding his attacks.
- Using Vow of Silence prevents his AOE attacks.
Anyone else wish we didn't have to slash at his scaly butt as soon as we drop in? He's got a cool looking face but I don't get any time to look at it because I have to roll behind him and start clappin' his cheeks as soon as the floor drops.
- Anonymous
Just beat this fat thing as a level 37 Thief (no stats above 17; very balanced build). Beat him with high magic defense armor - gargoyle helm, the rest was sorcerer armor except Thief leggings since they had higher magic defense than sorcerer leggings. Put on Havel's ring for fast roll and used Lautrec's ring as well. Started battle with magic weapon applied to my Bandit's Knife +7. Had to dodge swings and run from AOE effect which did hit me a few times but did not kill me instantly. Baited the Ground Pound as much as possible then ran up to slice open his fat belly.over and over. Occasionally sliced legs trying to get back behind him. Bleed damage is noticeable. Did not use Lock-On. Titanite Slab dropped (PS4 Remaster).
- Anonymous
I died as I killed it and didn't receive any drop, is this how it is suppose to work?
- Anonymous
This Dude doesn't only have a bakery, he has the entire bread/pastry industry back there
- Anonymous
I want to thank this boss because he was the first fun boss for me in a while. I fought him after beating Quelaag I think and it took me like 5 tries but it was still fun. Up to this point the other bosses I either hid from behind a shield (you’d think bloodborne being my first souls would make me used to dodging) or for Quelaag I had the great scythe so I just used r1. But in this fight all his attacks broke right through my shield and did over half my health so I was forced to dodge and get used to his attacks. His health bar was also either very large or I just didn’t do a lot of damage so it took a while and for some reason this made the boss so much more fun. Kinda wish he had a more diverse move set though.
- Anonymous
A really good trick in fighting this guy is always run up to the front of his belly and start slashing. Almost always he'll try to fly up and squash you which is considerably easier to dodge than his smelly AoE attacks.
- Anonymous
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This f***ing boss should f*** itself!!! F***ing spamming its f***ing bulls*** AOEs!!! F*** Fromsoftware!!!
- Anonymous
There is a hole in the fence by the stairs that you can shoot arrows through. However, even though you can see damage numbers you can not kill the stray demon
- Anonymous
don't know if this is consistent or not, but I just beat this guy by doing a jumping heavy slash (forward + r2) into his stomach, which immediately triggers his ground pound attack EVERY time, back up, rinse and repeat. Seems like a bug with the AI.
- Anonymous
The explosion attack apparently damages you in every direction, behind him as well. So I guess you need to just roll back instead of staying behind him.
- Anonymous
He practically bent over for my bandit knife. ez boss ez clap
- Anonymous
Me and the boss killed each other at the same time, I didnt get the titanite slab
- Anonymous
Such a thick ass was tanking my black knight greataxe the titanite slab must be made from demon thicc ass checks.
- Anonymous
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Immediately rolling backward when landing and healing helped. Also just remove all armor to allow for faster rolling to get behind him (assuming you have melee build). Like others have said, stay behind him the entire time if possible.
- Anonymous
seems like lots of people are having trouble but this is a super simple fight considering how small his movepool is... just stay close behind him and you can easily bait the ground pound or the big overhead, both of which are very slow and give you plenty of time to hit him afterwards.
- Anonymous
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shittiest boss fight in the game . Bed of Chaos is better designed than this boss
- Anonymous
There should be a sign on the asylum demons door that says thicc boy ahead
- Anonymous
Lul, bandit knife go shwink...
Came to this prick with my late level Paladin build, he kicked my ass all over the place. Level 25 bandit with starting gear (except for grass shield), dropped him no problem. His AOE is ass, especially when it lingers for that half second longer than it should. Also, he did cheese me once. Was recovering from the fall and he used a horizontal strike before I recovered from the stun.
- Anonymous
the iron flesh Strat doesn't work i did what it said and i have done this around 7 times and hasn't worked there should of been a video to show how to do it
- Anonymous
My god this guy is an *******! I had more trouble with this guy than with a lot of other bosses - if you don’t time your initial fall, roll, run and heal properly you’ve had it! Oh, and make sure you kill Oscar and the black knights before dealing with this particular ball ache!
- Anonymous
Reminder that contrary to the page's explanation, two-handing the Drake Sword won't give you extra damage, because the Drake Sword has no scaling at all.
- Anonymous
So it seems it’s possible to throw stuff through the broken fence from the first corridor by your cell. Is it actually possible to hit this major league butt hole like this, Capra demon style? I ran out of ammo and I couldn’t tell if any damage was being done, I’m guessing probably not?
- Anonymous
Fromsoftware employee: alright so I want the same boss, but! He is holding a staff instead!
- Anonymous
In case anyone cares, I just farted extremely high in hydrogen sulfide!
- Anonymous
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I died while this thing also died and didn't get the slab. Thank you Dark Souls.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
We killed each other at the same time and the last thing I saw was "victory achieved." No slab :'(
- Anonymous
Me on my first playthrough: oh my god my +5 longsword isn't doing anything! Oh no no no
Me on my 10th playthrough: Listen here, demon. For the next 30 minutes it's just me, you, and this stick I found on the ground. May Gwyn have mercy on your soul.
- Anonymous
The AI is so ****ing broken it's hilarious, just R2 him with the Zweihander from behind, step back 10 feet, let him do his AOE, then repeat for the easiest kill in the game
- Anonymous
This boss has a really cool attack when your at a distance, it leaps towards you with a staff slam that hits ridiculously hard and covers one end of the arena to the other. It gave me more of a thrill during the fight and if it was more like this I would love the boss but staying behind it is too efficient to change tactics without putting yourself at a disadvantage. Still a good fight IMO it has the amount of HP and damage an enemy of its size should and the magic is a nice addition!
- Anonymous
the Titanite Slab drop is most certainly NOT "guaranteed".
I just killed this guy (PS4 remaster version) and it did not drop a Titanite Slab.
- Anonymous
Had to pause at this boss recently as my level 6 sorcerer dealt pitiful damage but I had planned to return to the asylum as soon as I could for the crest shield and being a stubborn undead I want to kill the boss while I’m there
- Anonymous
Fought and killed it at soul level 30... it just feels like a chore at that point.
- Anonymous
Why does "titanite slab" on this page link to "upgrades" instead of the item Titanite Slab?
- Anonymous
His horizontal swings and jumping attack do not have an AOE blast.
- Anonymous
When you drop down, don't try healing immediately. Just back away from him to avoid the AOE, heal and then approach.
- Anonymous
Got him on first try, but we died at the same exact time and didn’t get a slab when I went back for my souls. Did get the 20,000 souls, though.
- Anonymous
That AOE attack is not/no longer for his ground slam. Happened when he swung to the side for me.
- Anonymous
Battle strategy for one handed users: 1. Kill the wounded knight who gave you the estus flask. He's hollow now. He has a "Crest Shield" which has 100% phys block and ridiculously high magic def (80%) 2. Grab a spear or a longer weapon (makes battle easier), a straight sword will do 3. Prepare for fight. Maybe kindle the bonfire for more estus flask uses. Things to keep in mind for fight: - Asylum demon's blasts are MAGIC DMG. Use high magic resist gear. - Stay close to the demon and circle around. If you stay in front you WILL get cornered and blasted with his huge red magic mist. - His magic blast has a MUCH shorter reach in the back, maybe 3-4 feet. You have to attack him in the back and circle around back. - If you circle behind him he will just keep spamming his AOE blast attack (which doesn't reach far behind his back) - Keep your shield up to BLOCK his magic with the "Crest Shield" you got from the estus flask guy (or have another high MAGDEF shield) It will mitigate the damage by a LOT - You have to stay close to him somewhat or circling around him will take too long and he'll bring his weapon down on you (he doesn't miss; this attack has damn near perfect tracking, you HAVE to dodge or you will get hit) 4. Profit
- Anonymous
Equip Ring of Fog+Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring. As soon you fall through the ground immediatly roll away off him to the right or left corner. Stay behind the pillars with your back against the wall and out of its aggro range and use some dung pies on him. You will need up to 5 of them to make him poisoned and it will reduce his health to 20% in 5 minutes. Repeat and he will die. I used this in the remastered version
- Anonymous
That little nook / cranny right behind him is a great area for players to be close to him and just out of reach of his butt slams (will still get AoE damage from staff explosions but at least you get some cover and can attack his legs and heal if you fast enough)
- Anonymous
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Part of the deal gwyn made with Izalith, probably a guard of the damned bound to slay the jailed hollows, who keep gettin up for they are immortal, but once the fire gets rekindled those everlasting hollows are made mortal again.
- Anonymous
he is VERY weak to bleeding every 2 hits from bandits knife will proc
- Anonymous
I beat him with the circle around strategy, he only spam 2 attacks when I behind him so it's easy to dogge. the problem is when I fight him, I only do like 40 damage per hit so it took like 15 min to beat him
- Anonymous
You can poison him with dung pies and nearly kill him with them alone. When you fall down quickly roll away so you don´t aggro him and throw some at him and wait till he is nearly dead if you have problems.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
It took me SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long to kill the Stray Demon
- Anonymous
Extremely easy mid game, 40 Dex with +10 Uchigatana dual wield makes short work of him, around 10 or so hits. Have a good stability shield (Silver shield) and soak up the AoE, switch to 2h and hack away three times for the bleed at his nutsack from the back. If he starts to fly, roll away and get ready for free hits, If he doesn't, switch to shield and get ready to soak another AoE and estus.
- Anonymous
Forgot to mention ALL STAFF MOVEMENTS result in an inescapable AOE blast of high damage
- Anonymous
I keep dying to him spamming an AOE attack that covers the whole arena, it’s the attack where he smacks his club against the wall and it summons a giant AOE. It’s unavoidable and if he does it multiple times in a row you’re just dead.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I've managed to break the floor without falling down and decided to try sniping him, but he doesn't seem to be taking any damage. I'm assuming that's he invulnerable until you fall down there. Can anyone confirm this?
- Anonymous
Your best option is to wait until you have access to Havel's set. Use that along with a decent weapon and the Crest Shield. FaP and your ring of choice (Chloranthy ring was mine). If you can cast Fall Control, do so before you drop down. Otherwise, get ready to run and heal when you can. Get behind him and lock on, making sure to only attack when he's facing away from you. Avoid two-handing so you don't get knocked down with the blasts.
- Anonymous
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i only beat this boss because he got stuck on a coin, some finely aged cheese
- Anonymous
I must be doing something wrong, because I spent a ton of hours soul harvesting building up my levels and I can't beat this turd lol... I have stripped my armor to move faster, the best weapon I have is a Black knight Sword +3 and a Black knight GS, the GS is too heavy to get in multiple swings, im at like level 120 , strength 43 , dexterity 30, resistance 17, Vitality is I believe 45, and Endurance at 40, I have tryed single hand weapons with fire to know avail.. I tryed great souls arrows.. WTH!!!! lol
- Anonymous
Does anyone know how to get it to stop spamming the Exploding Staff slam? That's the only attack it uses and it one shots me no matter how far away I am. Covers the whole arena. Glitch?
- Anonymous
Vow of Silence: Doesn't work. He still spams his bull*****magic aoe. Ring of Fog and Sumbering Dragon Ring: Does not work, he chases you down spam-swinging his stupid all arena-encompassing axe. This stupid so called boss along with the hellkite wyvern are utter bull*****
- Anonymous
I realised healing took too much attention, so I embraced low health: Zweihander + Crest Shield + Red Tearstone Ring. I have enough health to survive fall and one Exploding Slam with no armor on. Keep jumping under his legs when he starts charging the explosive slam. Stay back there grinding heavy attacks, he will eventually try to turn around and ground slam, step away and when he stands jump under his leg and repeat. If you get damaged once by the Exploding Slam, you will barely survive, but each attack will deal twice as much damage
- Anonymous
all i do just chillin behind his ass and wait for him to blow the explosion then hit him then he doing the same attack over2 and over again
- Anonymous
All this asshole does in my game is spam the explosion. He doesn't slam his staff of anything beforehand. Just explosion, explosion, explosion. And it hits me no matter what angle I seem to be at, wether in front behond or to the sides. What the hell?
- Anonymous
I've seen this in different systems but there's an odd glowing r ing that above the demon any idea what it's for or is?
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
This critter must love getting slammed in its doo-doo hole, given how often it pounds its shaft on the ground.
- Anonymous
one move not listed which he's just OHKO'd me with three times in a row with is a simple overhead slam without an explosion. ive been caught by the mid shaft of his weapon as i try to roll through what i assumed was the sideways swipe magic explosion and each time my health bar just instantly vanishes
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If you're doing the lifehunt scythe it does make him a complete joke, but do consider putting on the bloodbite ring or have a bloodred moss on hand as the scythe makes you bleed too.
- Anonymous
Holy*****,this boss os 1000% easier to beat after i read this guide
- Anonymous
Wow i've died like 10 times then came here for the guide... After that i completed it without getting 1 hit. (NOT JOKING)
- Anonymous
It is possible to roll off the area where it falls so you dint fall into the boss battle and then you can see him from above currentaly working on shoot him full of arrows soent almost 200 so far on him
- Anonymous
"Master-Key users can use this to avoid getting the Uchigatana or the Reinforced Club from the Undead Merchant -preventing the Red Dragon from triggering to nest at the bridge and having to fight the Taurus Demon."What does it do to Stray Demon, or acquiring the Morning Star?
- Anonymous
Played DS1 long ago. but have to xbox controller left... ned one. but to expenive.. *****Hello from 2016 :(
fought this guy for almost 30 minutes with a +5 caestus almost fell asleep
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