NG+ Boss Notes

Here there be NG+

    Okay, I'm going to use this one post for all my NG+ boss musings. Some battles are exactly the same as the first playthrough, so those will be super simple. No need to retread old posts. I'm not keeping count of deaths, and I'm not going to rate difficulty like the first time around. This will be reserved for my general thoughts on how the battles differ from the first playthrough, and how, if it all, they were tougher. So check back here regularly, it will be updated a lot throughout the next two-or-so weeks. So, without further adieu, here we go! Finally, I'm not fighting every boss. I can tell you right now, unless I have a change of heart (I won't), I won't be fighting: Royal Rat Authority, Darklurker, or Vendrick. I might try Ancient Dragon with the Gyrm shield, just to see if I can cheese him. Otherwise, everyone else will be included.

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The Last Giant-

    This one was identical to the first battle. Just stay near his ankles, slash away, and make sure you avoid his stomping. Nothing new here. 

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The Pursuer-

    Again, this battle is the same as the first. He'll still fun as hell to fight, even if you can beat him in one or two attempts. I almost killed him the first time you see him, in that building with the firebomb throwing guy. I made a dumb mistake and got killed. It's supremely satisfying to kill him, deftly rolling from all his attacks, and not getting hit yourself. I will say, one thing I didn't notice on my first playthrough is the completely fucked hitbox of his blue-sword-curse attack. He stabs his sword forward, but if you're on either side, even if you aren't in the path of the sword, you'll get hit. Very annoying. He also has a dark attack I've only seen him use ONCE. If you're far away, he'll shoot  six or seven dark orbs at you. I've never seen him use this before, and it killed me because he caught me off guard. 

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Dragonrider-

    This battle was actually NG++ because of the bonfire ascetic I used in my initial playthrough. As you'll all remember, I had to summon a phantom to help me kill the Dragonrider on my very first playthrough. Well, I went through on my ascetic-ed Heide's Tower Of Flame to fight this guy proper. I beat his jabroni ass so easily. It was pathetic, really. WHY did I ever need help? Anyway, I just rolled from his attacks, and cut him down with my longsword. Simple. For my NG++ run, I actually summoned help again. But, I was grinding those Sunlight Medals (going for the Platinum trophy!), so I summoned a SunBro for that. This guy is super easy, enough said. 

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Skeleton Lords-

    I distinctly remember this being one of the easiest battles on my first playthrough. While it is still easy now, it's actually a little crazy and tense. Firstly, I spent a good 90-or-so minutes just co-oping this boss as part of the SunBro covenant (I honestly don't remember the name. Heirs of the Sun right?). It was amazingly fun. In fact, one of the most fun things I've done in this game. Some of those battles got hectic, and they kept me on the edge of my seat even. Especially when, instead of killing one Lord at a time, then dealing with the resulting normal skeletons, the clowns I was helping would just kill all three, then have like 15 normal skeletons ganging up on us. I died once, and a world master died once, during my co-op session. As for my own battle against them, it wasn't hard, but, again, I was much more cautious than I was the first time around. I thought this battle kinda sucked the first time through, but I've come to appreciate it more now.

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 Covetous Demon-

    This boss is just as easy as the first time. He killed me once, but I don't even remember how. Nothing new to add here, just watch out for that double-roll over move!

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Mytha, the Baneful Queen-

    Well, this one was certainly interesting, and quite a bit different than my initial playthrough. As we all know, you have to burn that windmill to drain the poison pool from Mytha's room. Except, apparently sometimes there's a bug where you burn the windmill...and it doesn't drain the posion. And there's nothing you can do about it, except man up and beat her in the poison. I basically did that. Two new aspects with the poison: first, you'll be constantly poisoned, and constantly losing health. Secondly, the poison heals her, so her health is always slowing returning. If you can hit her enough, this isn't a huge deal. But it's tough to constantly be on her, because you have to worry about your always-draining health, and you have to dodge her attacks (which I had a HELL of a hard time doing for some reason. It was partly due to being SO focused and concerned about the poison. It was partly due to it being very late at night). I got fed up with trying (died at least ten times), so I decided to just summon Jester Thomas, an NPC right outside her room. He's proficient with pyromancies, and he aggroed her enough for me to kill her easily. I could have probably taken her out myself, but I was tired and sick of dealing with her. I must note, if it wasn't for the poison, this battle would still be easy, and I would have probably killed her my first try.

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Executioner's Chariot-

    I decided I wanted to fight this guy earlier on, instead of being almost halfway through the game. The result? Eh, he still wasn't that hard. The skeletons were a little more annoying this time around (I killed all three mages this time though!), and the horses (after you crash the chariot with the gate) were much more of a pain, but all told, I only died three or four times.  The run-up to the boss is more difficult, as it was before. I'm sure you all remember how much I bitched about it, and how I was killed at the fog gate several times because I chose to run past all the enemies, and they follow you relentlessly up to the fog. Well, running past them all this time is not possible. For starters, four of the leather-clad guys are red phantoms (and they added another dual-moon sickle red phantom too), and there is also a red phantom in front of the fog gate that DOES NOT DISAPPEAR after you kill him. Luckily it only took a few tries, because fighting through them all gets tiresome.

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Old Iron King-

    I purposely tried to take a different path this time as opposed to the first playthrough. So here we are, at the Iron Keep. Tried (and failed. Ugh, I'll get to that soon enough) taking down Smelter Demon for a bit, but needed a change of pace, so I killed the King here. He was just as easy as before. Not much to say. I died once. However, I did realized there is a GODDAMN BONFIRE RIGHT NEXT TO HIM! In that final small square room (with all the fire and the spikes on the wall), before you get to the outside area, there is a ladder that leads to a bonfire. So, thanks anonymous player that left a message about there being a ladder and bonfire close by!

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Ruin Sentinels-

    Welp, this boss is still a huge pain in the ass. I did manage to beat them on my own (something I failed to do on NG), but it took close to (if not at least) a dozen attempts. This is also one of a very small handful of bosses that I still need a shield for. For whatever reason, I cannot consistently roll from their attacks. I had to soak up the damage with the shield, then get one or two hits in when I had a chance. This was a long battle that involved much patience. And frustration. I tried using Great Magic Weapon (a sorcery! I respec'd several times to land on this current build, with an absurd 18 intelligence) before the battle, to take out the first Sentinel, Yahim. By the time I killed it, my buff was basically gone for the fight with the other two. I didn't have the time to use it again. I also tried killing Yahim regularly, then buffing with GMW before I jumped down to fight the two. Eventually, I just went with killing Yahim as fast as possible (so, GMW) and focusing on slowly, methodically taking the other two down. The attempt before I finally killed them, I had the final two down to less than probably 20% health each, and my damn shield (durability was only 20) was about to break! So, in my extreme haste in trying to be able to equip a different one, I got killed. Of course after that, I equipped two shields. I was very happy to take these assholes out finally.

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Smelter Demon-

    At first, I thought I'd beat this bastard on my second attempt. I got him down to probably 20% health, and I was feeling good. Then I died, and the damn wheels just came off. I then had at least ten more failed attempts. Some were good (but none as good as that second attempt), some were bad, and some wer atrociously bad. I was getting beyond frustrated. I was going at him with my drakekeeper +10 sword (which has effectively replaced my longsword for now), two-handing, just rolling from his attacks. Exactly the way I played the encounter on my first playthrough. I was using my newly accquired Great Magic Weapon, and doing decent enough damage. When he went full-on fire berskerker, I just couldn't persevere. So, I pussed out, and in the name of getting a trophy, I summoned Lucatiel of Mirrah. Killed Smelter on my first try with her help. She didn't attack much, and drew just enough aggro to give me breathers when needed. She survived it (blah blah, she was way harder to keep alive pre-patch, I know. Trust me, I see it enough online), so, only two more boss battles with her. I started a new character (pure sorceries, baby!) when I beat NG with this character, and I was going to get the Lucatiel and Banhart trophies with her (since she wouldn't have to deal with NG+ difficutly), but I really just had no more patience with Smelter, so I decided I'll get those (at least Lucatiel) on this character. 

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Belgry Gargoyles-

    Boy, oh boy. I thought this was going to be a flashback to my first playthrough. I actually thought it was going to go worse, if that's possible. But I ended up beating them on probably my sixth attempt. Maybe seven at the most. Much better than 21. It went similarly to the first time: slowly chipping away the health of one; strafing; keeping my shield up (another battle I CANNOT do without a shield); and healing often. I even whipped out the avelyn, which was moderately helpful (although I didn't use it nearly as much as I thought I would. It just leaves you SO OPEN after you use it). Very happy to have these clowns dealt with. I believe Lost Sinner will be next, and that'll be a NG+ kinda battle. Hopefully Lucatiel is up for it!

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The Lost Sinner-

    I feel dirty about this one. Like, really dirty. I summoned Lucatiel to help (although mostly to continue her questline). I have read about this battle on NG+. I've heard it's one of the hardest battles in Souls history. Yikes. Well, Lucatiel and I stepped through the fog (after dicking around in Sinner's Rise for WAAAAY too long), saw that familiar cutscene, and...properly served the Sinner her shit on a silver plate. First try, destroyed her. The fabled red pyromancy phantoms that get summoned in halfway through the battle (or when her health is at 50% I believe) were no match for me. I took each out in three swings, I think, while Lucatiel kept the Sinner busy. Once the phantoms were dealt with, Lucatiel and I whaled on Sinner, and had her killed soon after. I could see the difficulty if you don't have some help, and I plan on killing her myself on my NG++ run. Until then...

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 Flexile Sentry-

    Another battle that I cheesed hardcore, and I feel bad about it. Again, I summoned my girl Lucatiel (my final summon of her), and we wrecked ol' Flexy's shit (you thought I forgot about that nickname?). Even the two assassins that are in the room were dispatched easily enough. This battle was a bit tougher than Sinner, even with Lucatiel. Still killed ol' Flexy on the first try. Again, on my NG++ run, I'll kill him proper. I still love this boss design though. 

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 Scorpioness Najka-

    Nothing new about this battle, although I will say it gave me some problems, and I died my first attempt. I found myself constantly scrambling, and I had to use lots of Estus. Overall, a bit tough, but not nearly as tough (or annoying) as the damn lion soldiers leading up to her.

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Prowler Magus & Congregation-

    I summoned Benhart of Jugo for this battle (again, trying to complete his questline for the trophy), and I plan on bonfire ascetic-ing and fighting with Benhart again. I actually died on this battle. I was beside myself. The battle I had ruthlessly mocked on the first playthrough, I now die on? Yuck. Those damn white-robed sorcerers (or whatever the hell they are) killed me with lightning the first time.Otherwise, it's still super simple. Kill the white-robed guys, kill Magus, kill the rest of the congregation. Bam! Also, this battle was already NG++ because I used an ascetic at the end of my first playthrough, to kill these idiots to get some last-second souls, I believe.

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The Duke's Dear Freja-

    Now we head into the portion of NG+ where I had far more trouble on easier bosses than I did on my first playthrough. Freja took me at least seven attempts, which I know was less than the first time. Those damn spiders, which I had said were no problem at all, well, they were a big fucking problem this time. Seriously, why are they so damn powerful? Each one could legitimately two-hit me. Huh? In comparison, at full health, I could withstand probably four of those laser beam attacks from Freja and still be alive (although, when he (or she? Is Freja a girl?) stomps with his (her?) legs, that killed me in one hit, having probably 90% of my health). Anyway, the spiders were the huge annoyance here. Otherwise I just baited Freja into the laser attack, then ran up and smashed away at the other head. Also, I briefly switched up weapons, to a Curved Dragon Greatsword +3, which deals great damage, even one-handed (and is fairly quick for a greatsword), but still was just too slow. I may have settled on the Mastodon Greatsword (currently +7). Once I get it to +10, it should output crazy damage. Two handed swings fairly fast, and in wide arcs. Also, forgot to mention, on NG+ and beyond, after you go through the encampment, and past the part with the falling boulders, Freja shows up to attack, outside the doors to the spider caves. I think this is very cool, and it just adds to the truly "new game" that NG+ is.

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Royal Rat Vanguard-

    This battle is just as easy as the first time. There's not a whole lot to add. I actually killed the Vanguard with three Flame Swathes. Simple stuff

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The Rotten-

    My god, what a pain in the ass this battle was. I distinctly remember this battle being pretty easy. Welp, I died at least eight times. He only killed me with ONE move: he has two overhead cleaver swings, and one is very slow and telegraphed (easy to dodge from), and the other is fast. I could never dodge it. Worse still, he follows it up with a second quick slam, then either a final third one, or a wide swing. For whatever reason, I could not predict that attack and roll from it, and he caught with me it time and time again. I finally took him down (using that Curved Dragon Greatsword, with Flame Weapon), and boy, was I happy to do it.

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Dual Dragonriders-

    Well, this battle was way harder than it had any right to be. It was also a case of frustration taking over, so I'd take dumb risks and I just got careless. I used the same strategy as before, but for some reason (perhaps they were offended at how easy I found them on NG?), they put up quite a fight.

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Looking Glass Knight-

    This battle was highly annoying because Benhart is a complete moron. I know the AI for computer-controlled summons is normally pretty bad, but god, Benhart takes the idiot cake. I summoned him because I needed one more boss battle with him kept alive to get the trophy for inheriting his equipment (update: got both his and Lucatiel's trophy!). Without him, this battle can be tough, but really it isn't too bad. Trying to keep this bastard alive was not easy. He doesn't block or dodge, at all. I don't know if it's possible for AI summons to dodge or block, but he just stood in front of Looking Glass Knight, ABSORBING damage like it was his day job. I suppose it sort of was. I had to get that Red Eye Ring (which looks super badass, by the way) which puts enemy focus on you, so that I could keep Benhart alive. Otherwise, the battle was pretty easy once I did this. 

 

 

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Demon of Song-

    Simple. I actually re-read my blog post on this guy, to remember my exact strategy. I used it, and whooped him on my first try. Thanks me! This blog is already paying off!

 

 

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 Velstadt, the Royal Aegis-

    I'm not going to lie, by this point, I was just sort of rushing to get through the rest of the game, so I could get onto NG++, so I could REALLY rush through that, to get to Wellager in Drangliec castle, so I could buy a few spells and get my platinum trophy. Between that, my huge backlog of games (which will be featured on this very blog!), and my need to put this game down and give it a rest for a bit, I decided I'd just kinda fly through the rest of it. With that in mind, I summoned help for this battle. This guy is still a bastard, and I would have spent a long time on him if I went at it by myself.

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Guardian Dragon-

    He's still a giant puss.

 

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Giant Lord-

    This battle is still simple. I had an easier time with it this time around. I really find this one of the most underwhelming bosses in the game. He has great lore attached to him, but otherwise, how BLAH!

 

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Throne Watcher & Throne Defender-

    Oi freaking vey. God, what a giant pain in the ass these guys are. I was dreading having to fight these guys basically as soon as I opened the Shrine of Winter. I didn't spend as many deaths on them, but I still summoned help. I summoned Benhart (the big galoot!) and Head of Vengarl again. They drew both of their aggro, and actually dealt decent damage, as I just slammed them with my Mastodon Greatsword +10 (imbued with flame weapon. My favorite pyromancy). I did start the battle with a nice chaos storm, which did pretty good damage to both the Watcher and Defender (even though I took some damage). 

 

 

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Nashandra- 

    This one was decidedly easier than the first playthrough, mainly because I had a good strategy (I again referred back to this very blog to refresh my memory!). I beat her my second try, I believe. One amazing factoid I hadn't realized until I saw it written somewhere on the Giantbomb Dark Souls II forum (or an articale on IGN, honestly can't remember which) is that, if you get the cut scene of Nashandra right after killing the Throne defenders (I don't think you get this if you kill the Throne defenders before you have the giant's kinship), Nashandra enters through a fog gate .Like you're her final boss she has to fight, to finish her own quest. Which both slightly validates my thoughts on Nashandra manipulating you, and blows my freaking mind. I find this so incredibly awesome, all I can do is use cliches and boring adjectives to describe it.

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    Well, that's it folks. That's all I can really write about the bosses of this game. Sorry the last few updates have seemed rushed. Here's what's upcoming, as far as Dark Souls II is concerned. I hope to have a "stats" post (number of times I died, things like that) up tonight, or this weekend. Beyond that, I'm going to make an ultimate ranking of all the 70+ bosses throughout the three games and DLC. That should be up this upcoming week. After that, I think I can close the book on DSII. I plan on playing through some of my backlog of games over the summer, starting with some SNES. I'll go into more detail in a later post, but it won't focus solely on boss battles. Let's face it, not every game has such nuanced, detailed, spectacular boss battles as the Souls games. So, hopefully you'll continue to join me in my video game endeavors. Thanks all!