Dual Dragonriders

An old friend brings a friend

     Even though I thought the first Dragonrider battle, back in Heide's Tower Of Flame, wasn't that great, I actually enjoyed this one. I thought it would be much more difficult than it was, though. With that said, it was still fun. Maybe one of my favorites, from a pure enjoyment angle. After speaking with queen Nashandra, the fog gate to these two is right around the corner.

First Dragonrider at the beginning of the battle

    Step in, and you find yourself inside a smallish room, lined with what looks like piles of gold, and adorned with either eagle or gargoyle statues (probably the latter). It's all very ornate, as it should be, since it's in a castle and all. There are two Dragonrider health bars, but you only see one actual Dragonrider. He looks exactly the same as the other from so long ago. Same move-set too. The second 'Rider is perched up in the corner, on top of a pillar-kind-of thing, shooting at you with large arrows. It sounds super annoying, but I actually enjoyed having to dodge both the halberd attacks of the first, and the arrow attacks of the second. My strategy to start was to lock-on to the first guy, two hand my longsword, and dodge his attacks. I also tried to not have my back to the arrow-shooting guy. His arrows hurt, but they aren't devastating. Still, could disrupt you enough to get killed by the 'Rider on the floor.

Two Dragonriders attacking! Yikes!

    Either when enough time has passed, or the first guy takes so much damage (not sure which one it is), the arrow guy hops down to join the fight like a man. He's also got a big shield and halberd, but he has black armor, instead of red. Dodging both these guys, and getting in careful hits, is tricky, but rewarding. I felt pretty good about beating them both with just well-timed dodges and careful sword attacks. These guys aren't too tough, really. Like many battles, you gotta pay attention, have good timing, and know when to attack. If you can bait them both into attacking at the same time, then you have a shot at one, or both, of them for a second or so, while they recover from their attacks.

Finally, the last bow Dragonrider getting whupped

    Not a whole lot more strategy than what I said up there. Going in, I thought this battle might be much tougher, but really, it wasn't. I imagine with a powerful magic user it's even easier, because you can probably take out the arrow guy quickly, then you're just left with the regular one. Despite all that, I still enjoyed it. No real reason to, but I found it more enjoyable than some of the other battles.

Times I died: 1
Difficulty: 3/10
Rating: 5/10

Up next, we'll leave the Castle and go to an early area to fight a boss I thought appeared much later. Whoopsy!

Dragonrider

The first of many knight-bosses

    As previously mentioned, it's tough to say who the true second boss is. Dragonrider was my second, but he could have been the third or fourth for other people (I've read online that people were fighting The Pursuer shortly after beating Last Giant. I didn't fight Pursuer until like 10 hours in). At any rate, this was my number two, and eh, he was okay. But he did give me some damn problems, for whatever reason.
    He's located in Heide's Tower Of Flame, and to get to him, you have to battle at least six giant, hulking knights. Some of them have a large sword and a shield, while a couple just two-hand a sword. They aren't too tough, because they are predictable and slow, but they can hit hard. The Dragonrider is basically a tougher version of these guys, which is disappointing. He certainly looks different, and again, he's harder, but he's essentially just a big fat knight. He's boring to look at, also. He carries a large, halbred-looking thing (whether it IS a halbred, or just a giant axe with a tip on the end for thrusting attacks, [but isn't that basically a halbred?] I’m not sure) and a large shield.
    As I said, I had a tough time, and I ended up summoning in someone to help me. I wish I had just persevered and had patience, because I absolutely could have taken this guy down by myself. I think I didn't want to get hung up on a boss so early on, and my impatience to see what lies ahead made me summon. Also, I learned via reading (I try like the dickens not to read much about this game, I want to go in blind and figure things out myself, but I'm SO OBSESSED it's so very difficult for me NOT to read. I’m not even looking things up, I just genuinely enjoy reading about the game: other peoples’ experiences and difficulties, etc) that this battle can be more difficult if you don't pull a few levers through the path to him (these are only revealed if you kill those aforementioned giant knights). Pulling the levers raises additional parts of Dragonrider's arena to make it bigger, with more space to move around. If you don't get these levers, his arena is smaller, with a much bigger opportunity to fall to your death. But at any rate I never experienced this.
    My strategy was to block (with my not-100%-physical-reduction-shield, no less) his attacks, and counter when I had a moment to. He isn't fast, but he can attack you unexpectedly if you're close. He can also destroy your stamina, so be careful of that. I summoned someone to help, so this battle really was a piece of cake. With two people, his attention gets split, and one person always has an opportunity to attack, or heal if needed. Also of note, now that Estus Flasks take longer to consume, they can be difficult to use in the heat of a boss battle. Not so with Mr. Rider here, he's slow enough where you can run to the other side of the arena and use one. Still, stay on your toes.
    Overall, this guy is only decent. He's boring to look at, and ultimately not much of a challenge (despite my bitching out of any kind of challenge, which I won't do in NG+, even though I hear NG+ is waaaaay scarier than in the previous games). But hey, only the second boss of what, 35 or so?

Times I died (this is approx because I stupidly didn't keep track): 6
Difficulty: 5.5/10
Overall rating: 5/10

Next, we have someone who may like to, let's say, pursue you...
*tee hee*  

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BOSS SOUL DESCRIPTION: "...who faithfully served King Vendrick; Long ago, the dragonriders mounted wyrms, and were feared on the battlefield for their unparalleled strength." 

 

Dragonrider Bow

Dragonrider Bow: "Bow wielded by the Dragonrider, King Vendrick's personal guard. Merely drawing this bow requires inhuman strength, but each shot has deadly potential; Demands great skill of its wielder, and thus served to test the worthiness of those who aspired to join the Dragonriders."

Dragonrider Halberd

Dragonrider Halberd: "Demands great skill of its wielder, and thus served to test the worthiness of those who aspire to join the Dragonriders."

Dragonrider Twinblade

 Dragonrider Twinblade: ""The Watcher has stood by the throne for ages. Will his wait be worth the while?"