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Dark Souls is one of those titles that has not only become one of those games that you can recognize whether you’re a gamer or not but it’s also become a genre in itself. The Souls-like genre was born from its massive success, and that genre has shown no signs of slowing down any time soon, with Elden Ring about to rewrite the genre once again. But did you know that Dark Souls wasn’t the first of its kind? Nope, it was, in fact, Demon’s Souls that wrote the first chapter in this gaming success story, and while Dark Souls has always been known for its difficulty, Demon’s Souls introduced a whole other world of hurt.
I first experienced Demon’s Souls after beating a couple of games in the Dark Souls series, so I thought I knew what to expect when it came to what the game could throw at me. I was very wrong; Demon’s Souls is a different kind of sadistic, and there were plenty of moments where I just submitted to From Software and said, “you win the game.” While the normal enemies and scenarios they throw at you are challenging enough, the most brutal part of the game was, of course, the bosses. These were the first batch that From Software cooked up, and honestly, they might still be the toughest. Add those to a game world that gets more difficult on purpose every time you die, and you’ve got a recipe for one of gaming’s biggest challenges.
Of course, the Demon’s Souls remake spared no expense redoing everything that made this game so gloriously brutal in the first place, and we’re going to dive into the bosses that made playing through this gorgeous-looking game such a challenging and rewarding journey.
Phalanx
Phalanx gets us started, and he’s pretty much the perfect boss to get you introduced to how tough this game is going to be. He’s essentially a mass of undead soldiers creating a Phalanx defensive formation, and because of that, you are going to have to figure out a way to break these defenses.
Start the fight by throwing the Firebombs at the different parts of the Phalanx as you need to take these soldiers out to reveal the main part of the boss’s body. Body, I suppose, is the wrong word because this is just one massive pile of garbage and the best thing to do is light your weapon on fire and go to town. More soldiers might try to surround you, so heal if needed, but as long as you’ve brought the fire with you, the Phalanx should go down pretty easy.
Tower Knight
Dark Souls fans should be very familiar with this type of boss as the Iron Golem in that game offers a very similar type of fight. Tower knight is equipped with a giant shield and a magical spear and has a small group of archers that can hit you for big damage during the fight if you’re not careful.
If you’re strong enough at this point, you can go right for the Tower Knight and dodge the archers in the background, but they’re going to be a pest, so you might as well deal with them first. Running around the Tower Knight will lead you to some stairs, and each side has archers to take out on it. While you’re doing this, the Tower Knight will be insulted you’re not spending your time with him and start throwing spears at you because of it. You can dodge these by staying behind the walls.
Once you’re done clearing out the archers, now it’s time to dance with the big guy. Head back down and immediately get behind the Tower Knight and start hacking away. While you’re doing this, he will try to stomp on you and also use a shield slam that will cause a massive amount of AOE damage if you stick around, so get ready to dodge and run when you see any of these attacks get started.
The part of this boss we need to get to is the head as that’s his weak point, and to reach that, we have to topple him first. This is done by attacking each of his ankles until the armor breaks, and when this happens, back off so you don’t get crushed by him falling. Once he’s toppled over, you should be able to finish the fight with one round of attacks.
Penetrator
We’ll be facing off against yet another knight-like enemy here, but this one is much faster and much more dangerous. The Penetrator uses a giant spear/sword hybrid that is infused with magic.
This is an intimidating look, but he attacks using mostly one moveset. As soon as he unleashes his initial combo, you will either need to block or back away from him. Once he finishes this first combo, it’s time to attack.
You will want to try and circle behind him to do the most damage while avoiding taking hits of your own, so stay within the range of his attacks as much as you can.
You need to strafe from side to side depending on which angle he’s coming at you from, and in between his swings, you should be able to get off a couple of attacks here and there. His hits will hurt pretty bad, so if you get hit by any of them, call off your assault for a while and get back to full health before diving back in.
This is a fight about patience, and you should be well versed in that by now, so take your time, and the Penetrator will fall.
Old King Allant
You know how in games like Sekiro and Bloodborne, there’s always a “Welcome to the game” kind of boss that tests everything you’ve learned up to that point and prepares you for the difficult journey that lies ahead? Yeah, Old King Allant is just that boss, and he’s known as one of the toughest in all of the Souls games.
When the fight starts, hang back a bit and study his movements. He’s a lot faster than he looks, so don’t hesitate to run away if he’s approaching you quickly. He has a dash attack that is signaled by raising his sword above his head, a jumping attack, and his favorite, a Soulsucker grab attack that not only does a ton of damage but it also steals a Soul Level from you, which has not been a thing until this point in the game. He’s also got several melee attacks that hit rather hard as well and can hit you from afar with air magic.
Now that you know his bag of tricks, how do you go about taking him down? The key to victory here is waiting him out. You want to stay out of range of his melee attacks as much as possible and block his magic when you get too far. After each of his furious attacks, there will be a small period where he composes himself, and that’s when you need to strike.
During the dash and jumping attacks, strafe to the side when you see the attack start, and you should be able to dodge it pretty easily. The quick combos are tougher to avoid, but a good shield should take the brunt of the attack.
When you widdle him down towards the end of his health bar, he will ready a magical explosion attack that can kill you in one hit, so when a giant cloud starts growing around him, run away and heal.
With some perseverance, patience, and smart resource management, you’ll eventually take down Old King Allant, but trust me on this one, you’re going to die a few times before victory here, so just stick with it.
Armor Spider
It’s a Souls game, so you know you’re going to fight a spider at some point. That’s just how these games go, and here, the Spider is covered in armor. After Old King Allant, though, we shouldn’t be scared of anything the game can throw at us for a while.
When you start the fight, the boss will be waiting for you in its lair, and along your path to it, Armor Spider will be shooting webs and fireballs at you. The web is particularly annoying because you will be unable to roll if it hits you, and that means that fireball coming down the pipe will hit you right in the face. You can block both of these attacks with a flame-resistant shield, so keep that in mind if your dodge game isn’t up to par.
Once you get to the main lair, you will just have to dodge these fireballs and webs up close, and after each one, dash in and strike before dipping out and dodging again. Armor Spider has a few melee attacks that you need to watch out for up close, so when it starts using these, try to dodge around to the side and attack its tail. While you’re doing this, Armor Spider will make a slam attack that can do a ton of damage, so be ready to either block or run away when this happens.
The biggest attack you need to watch for is the Flame Vomit attack that causes a huge amount of fire damage. If you have healing grass on you, you will be able to survive the fire damage here by just blocking with a shield, or you can run back to the entrance and dodge it completely. After this attack, Armor Spider has nothing left to offer, so use the above strategy and finish it off. Next.
Flamelurker
The Flamelurker is a huge pain because it’s almost impossible to figure out what this boss is going to do at any given moment.
When the fight starts, you will want to observe him for a moment. See if you can find a pattern in his attacks and once you’ve got that pattern down, start looking for openings. He can be attacked from behind, but he can damage you there with a backstep, so don’t rely on this area for too long. He’s also got some quick swiping attacks and a huge ground slam that can kill you outright if you’re not careful.
You need a fire-resistant shield here as all of Flamelurker’s attacks deal out some type of fire damage. As a melee user, you need to stay out of range of his melee attacks while also being able to rush in and get your hits before he retaliates.
It’s a war of attrition against Flamelurker, but careful item management and the opportunistic offense should lead you to victory here.
Dragon God
This is one of the most unique bosses in the game as it’s more of a trick boss that you can’t fight the Dragon God directly. Instead, you are going to be using massive ballistas to damage them that are located on each side of the room.
That’s easier said than done, though, as the Dragon God is a gargantuan-sized boss, and his attacks are extremely powerful and can often kill you in one or two hits. The key to the fight is not letting him see you. You can achieve this by hiding behind pillars and waiting till his attention goes elsewhere, and when that happens, you need to take a break for the ballistas.
At the start of the fight, you need the Dragon God to help you out by destroying the pillars in front of you. Once he does that, right to the right and starts clearing out the rubble that is blocking your path. Keep note of where the Dragon God is looking, and make sure to take cover behind the walls when he turns your way. Once distracted, start running and try to get to the first ballista. If you’re too slow here, the Dragon God will block your path forward with his claw and likely kill you in the process, so ditch a shield here and run with a two-handed weapon and light armor to get the most speed possible.
Once you reach the ballista, fire it and after the short scene plays out, head down the staircase behind you. Start clearing the path here of debris while taking note of where the Dragon God is looking and find the pillars whenever he looks your way to avoid his strikes. After he’s looking away, get rid of the final piles of rubble and make a break for that 2nd ballista. This will knock the Dragon God out, and you can head all the way downstairs to find it stunned on the ground. Here you need to wail away as fast as you can as the Dragon God still has a flame breath attack and can hit you with its head if you’re not fast enough.
This boss will likely take a few tries, but if you emphasize your speed here and be perceptive, you should be able to solve this puzzle of a boss fight.
Fools Idol
Here’s where From Software loves to toy with you. If you try fighting this boss straight up, it is impossible to beat. She takes no damage and will kill you quite easily as you pointlessly hack away. The reason is that there is an enemy that is making her immortal and to kill her, we need to kill them.
To find them, go to the boss door and head back down the long staircase and go left. Then enter the tower and go all the way to the top. Leave the tower at the top and follow the wall until you get to a small room, and it’s there you’ll find the enemy keeping the Fool’s Idol alive. Kill them, and the spell of invulnerability will be broken.
Now it’s time to take on the Fool’s Idol. When you enter the room, there will be a bunch of enemies standing between you and the boss, and you need to take these guys out before getting to her. They’re basic enemies, so they should be no trouble at this point, but you need to be mindful of her magic attacks that will come at you while you fight her minions.
When you get to her, attack as much as you can, and eventually, she will teleport away. Once she does that, she will reappear with a bunch of clones of herself and litter the ground with traps that can paralyze you if you get near them. Take note of where these traps areas they’ll disappear after a few seconds, so you’ll need to remember where they were. Head to the edges of the room if you can, as the least amount of traps is here, and then get to attacking these clones.
The key here is to figure out which one is real while dodging the spells of the others. The clones all die in one hit, so ranged characters can figure this out quickly by launching arrows or spells at the various clones. Once you find the real one, wail away with your strongest attacks. If you’re strong enough at this point, you can end the fight here, but if not, repeat the same process one more time, and you should have victory.
Maneater
Maneater presents another interesting fight because the key to victory is keeping yourself from falling off the ledge. The reason is that Maneater’s goal here is to launch you off the bridge you’re standing on with its various quick and powerful attacks. That means you need to stick to the middle, no matter what the position of Maneater is in.
He can deal a ton of damage, but it’s better than being killed in one hit, so be prepared to tank a lot of damage while manning the middle of the bridge. This is a tricky fight because you want to avoid standing in front of Maneater, as this is where most of his attacks hit.
Instead, sidestep his attacks or try and stick to the sides of him at all times and get in a few quick attacks from time to time. You might be able to stagger him this way, and that will open him open for big damage.
Keep to the middle and takedown Maneater bit by bit, and eventually, he will dash off the bridge and start flying around while shooting magic at you. If you’re a ranged attacker, keep firing away here, but if not, just dodge until he returns.
Near the end of his health bar, he will spawn in a second Maneater, so kill the first quickly and then do the same process with the second Maneater, and you will be able to win this one pretty easily.
Old Monk
The Old Monk is another fascinating boss because if you’re playing online, there is a chance that this boss will just be another player. If that’s the case, the below strategy won’t work, and you’ll just have to hope you’re a good enough PVP player at this point to take them down.
If it’s not another player, you’ll recognize right away that the Old Monk fights very similar to you. Come into this one with a great shield, and you’ll have a much easier time dodging his quick claw attacks and slam attacks. If you block these attacks, you will stagger him, and then you can circle to backstab him for massive damage and attack him a few more times as he’s getting up from your backstab.
This may seem easy, but if you wander outside the immediate vicinity of his attacks, he was launching a Soul Arrow at you that can do massive damage, so if that happens, either block or roll away. Throughout the fight, the Old Monk will cast a Homing Soul Arrow at you, so whether you’re close to him or far away, you’ll need to either block or dodge these every so often.
Be patient here and pull off another backstab or two using the method above, and you should find victory soon enough.
Adjudicator
This boss is pretty horrifying to look at, but luckily, his bark is much worse than its bite. This boss fight takes place over three floors, and when the fight starts, you’ll be on the first while he is under you on the first.
If you’re a ranged user, run quickly to the second floor and aim for the bird on its head, as this is the weak point. You can deal a ton of damage here; just be sure to dodge out of the way of his tongue-whip attacks and massive cleaver strikes. Keep doing this, and the boss will fall in no time. You can use Firebombs, spells, or arrows here, all will do plenty well, and you’ll take this boss down in no time.
Being this close to him means you need to dodge his attacks here, and all of these are incredibly slow and incredibly strong, so keep your shield up, and you should take him down eventually.
Old Hero
The Old Hero is blind, so that means if you have something like the Thief Ring, which makes it tougher for enemies to see you, he will have an awfully tough time tracking you down.
With the Thief Ring, this fight is a cakewalk. The Old Hero will slowly move around, reaching out with his hand and blindly swinging his sword. Take this time to get behind him and start attacking. His attacks are strong, but they’re wild and easily dodged. He has a slam attack that does a good amount of damage, but it’s signaled by energy building up in him and when that happens, just run away.
Stick to the back of him, and the Old Hero will prove no match for your skills at this point in the game.
Storm King
The Storm King is tricky because it involves a lot of flying enemies. Regardless of whether you are a melee or ranged user, you should have some spells and bows at this point in the game, and you need to use them at the start to clear out the flying enemies that appear as they can do some big damage early on via magic spears.
After you take them down, the Storm King enters the arena, and he’ll start by launching a ton of magic spears at you. Do not block these; just dodge if you can, as they can pierce just about any shield.
Melee users have a much tougher time here. You need to run towards the end of the arena, where you’ll find a huge sword in the ground. Take this sword, equip it, and use heavy attacks to shoot blasts of air at the Storm King.
Make sure you’re dodging now and then as the Storm King is relentless in his assault. You can also retreat to the small house in the back of the arena and attack him as he flies overhead. This will protect you from most of his attacks and give you plenty of opportunities to hit him as well.
Keep to this strategy, and you’ll take this boss down in no time.
Leechmonger
The Leechmonger is a mass of leeches that come together for some reason. It will launch ranged attacks at you to start the fight, and it can also heal. At the start of the fight, imbue your weapon with some Fire Resin if you have it, or get out your magic or Firebombs. This boss is very weak to fire and magic, so either one of those will do a world of good here.
Leechmonger is tough up close, but its attacks are slow and not that powerful; you just need to be wary of its slam attack as that can do a ton of damage. Dodge away from its slow attacks and then rush in to do some damage. Firebombs are amazing here as they can quickly take down the boss’s health pool. They will also help in stopping the healing the boss will be doing in between your attacks.
The Leechmonger is incredibly slow and not that tough, so just be patient and use magic and fire attacks, and you’ll beat this shockingly easy boss.
Dirty Colossus
Another slow boss, Dirty Colossus, is also pretty weak to fire, so you know what to do when that’s the case.
He can fire damaging insects out of his arm cannon, but they’re pretty easy to dodge. The Dirty Colossus is slow, so you can pretty much wail on him from afar or try to get up close and stick to the back of him. Fire damage will destroy this boss just as bad as it did the Leechmonger, too, so keep those items hands.
He has some damaging slam attacks and can make a huge insect explosion attack for big damage, but these are well telegraphed, so you’ll be able to see them coming a mile away.
Maiden Astraea
This is the final boss of the game and, strangely, one of the easiest ones. You will be fighting an undead knight who is protecting Astraea, so you’re going to be using the strategy you had for the Old Monk to win this battle.
When the fight starts, walk along the thin path on the left wall, taking care not to fall into the swamp below. You’ll eventually get to the back of the arena where the knight awaits. He’s got a big mace and shield and has some magic attacks as well.
The key here is getting behind him. His attacks will rip through any shield you’ve got, so constantly strafe until you can get directly behind him and backstab him. You can attack him while he rises too, and this is the easiest way to defeat him.
You need to watch for some AOE attacks like his God’s Wrath spell, but really, a couple of backstabs will end this fight awfully fast.
After the knight falls, go up to Maiden Astraea and talk to her, she will hand you the Demon Soul and die, ending the battle and the game.
FAQ
Question: Is Demon’s Souls multiplayer?
Answer: Yes, you can play with friends and against others in Demon’s Souls, but there is no separate mode for it, and it needs to be accessed through the main game.
Question: Is Demon’s Souls the hardest Souls game?
Answer: The way the game is set up is particularly cruel as dying can make the game harder if it happens too many times, so in that way, yes, Demon’s Souls is the hardest Souls game.
Question: Is the remake of Demon’s Souls the same game as the original?
Answer: More or less, yes, it’s almost a step-for-step remake of the original with some updated combat mechanics that make things flow a little more smoothly.
Conclusion
Demon’s Souls is one of the tougher games in the lengthy Souls-like lexicon and if you want to see what the first batch of bosses looked like in the world’s first Souls game, take a dive, and hopefully, this guide will help you along the way.
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