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Demon’s Souls is where it all began. Many consider the game to be a rough draft for From Software’s later masterpiece, Dark Souls, though there are a handful of players, like myself, who feel more drawn to the tragic kingdom of Boletaria than the interconnected labyrinth of worlds that make up Lordran. The journey of Demon’s Souls is more straightforward than Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but that doesn’t mean its bosses are any less vicious or difficult.
This list includes all the mandatory boss fights and most of the optional ones. If you’re looking for some tips on how to conquer the monsters of Demon’s Souls, and whether or not you should summon a fellow player to help out, this is where you want to be.
Be warned, adventurer: spoilers on all boss battles ahead.
Javy Gwaltney devotes his time to writing about these videogame things when he isn’t teaching or cobbling together a novel. You can follow the trail of pizza crumbs to his Twitter or his website.
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1. The Phalanx
The Phalanx is probably the easiest boss in any Souls game. A giant blob comprised of slime warriors surrounding a glowing core, the fight explains itself for anyone who's ever played a Zelda game. Kill the minions the Phalanx throws at you, circle around and stab the core. Repeat this until Blobo is dead. Firebombs will also speed things up but as long as you're patient this fight will be an easy one.
Summon? N/A
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2. Maiden Astraea/Garl Vinland
Astraea is guarded by a tough knight named Garl. However, this fight is pretty simple unless you just want to be a badass about it and go toe to toe with Garl. If that's not the case, just stand back and fire arrows at the Maiden until she's dead. Garl will not fight you once she's gone.
Summon? No.
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3. Blue Dragon
Blue Dragon is a cheap bastard, a monster that hounds you throughout a level only to end up hanging over a doorway you need to get through, spewing flames at anyone who dares get near. How do you beat him? By being just as cheap. First you need to summon Biorr, an NPC you hopefully rescued earlier, and let the silly fellow run in as bait. Then, while the dragon is roasting Biorr alive, you run past, get under the doorway and unload all your arrows into the dragon's face. If you position yourself right, the fire can't reach you. Just be sure to bring a lot of arrows.
Summon? Yes, Biorr.
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4. Dragon God
Bad news: if you live through the tutorial of the game, the Dragon God kills you anyway. Good news: revenge is surprisingly easy. Your goal here is to clear a path to the ballista by knocking out the rubble that's in your way. Learn the god's simple attack patterns and attack the rubble when he's recovering his stamina. When you reach the ballista, interact with it to send a massive bolt flying into the Dragon God. Do this for both ballistas and you'll finally be able to attack the wounded dragon up close. Be on the lookout for his fire breath but by this point the fight is all but done. Just don't let yourself get Oberyned by being a cocky twit.
Summon? N/A
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5. Fool's Idol
If there's one rule you should really take to heart in Demon's Souls, it's this: always have arrows. Even if you're playing a melee class. The Fool's Idol isn't impervious to these attacks, but it's hard to hit her without a ranged weapon. Instead, it's better to fire arrows at her when you have a chance. The Idol also uses clones to try and fool you but locking on to one of them will reveal whether or not it's her or her clone. If a health bar appears for one of them, it's a clone. Once you've figured this out, the fight is pretty simple.
Summon? No.
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6. Leechmonger
The Leechmonger can regenerate its health, which is bit irksome, but it's also one of the easiest bosses to beat. You start high above the monster and if you use auto lock, you can arrow him to death from afar. While you do this the monster will shoot gross, venomous balls at you that deal damage but it won't regenerate its health either while doing that attack. So stock up on arrows and healing items and fire away.
Summon? Not really necessary but it is amusing to have two archers skewer this nasty little boss.
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7. Tower Knight
Tower Knight is one of the first bosses you fight in Demon's Souls. He's massive and also pretty easy once you understand how to beat him. There's a lot of misdirection going on here, though. An entire staircase runs along the back wall of the area filled with archers and, after you kill them, the layout suggests you should pick off the Tower Knight from afar. That's not the case. You actually need to get close and have at his ankles until he kneels down, allowing you to attack his head for high damage. Just don't let him fall on you.
Summon? No.
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8. Storm King
The Storm King fight isn't difficult as much as it is a slog. On the upside you get a rad sword that shoots out deadly gusts of wind. Your goal here is to take out the Storm King's minions when they fly down to attack and then when the big monster himself shows up, roll behind him and get as many swings in as you can before takes off. After he flies away more minions come after you. The fight goes on like this until you've killed the king. The only trouble here is that the sword's attacks are hard to direct and you might find yourself missing the King during your window to attack him, so just keep swinging until you get it right. Fall into a pattern with the (not particularly bright) minions that lets you kill them without taking a damage and you'll be fine.
Summon? No.
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9. Old Hero
The Old Hero is a giant, blind warrior you have to fight in a hallway filled with columns. The Old Hero does massive damage but he's also slow and can only track you by your attacks. So the strategy here is to wait until he randomly attacks a spot, roll in, swing a few times, and roll out. It's tempting to go at him hard but really, you just want to attack once, maybe twice, and then get out of there. Both poison and fire can speed this battle up.
Summon? Yes, if you want to make this fight super easy and confuse the boss.
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10. Dirty Colossus
There's always a boss in a Souls game that seems explicitly designed to test your dodging reflexes, a fight that drags on forever with you chipping off bits of a boss' health bar. In Demon's Souls, that's Dirty Colossus. The Colossus has a combination of powerful swings and wide area attacks. You really just have to figure out his pattern and attack right after he's taken a swing. Fire will also make this dull, frustrating encounter easier.
Summon? Yes, if you can.