Dark Souls Boss Guide Part 2 – Carpa Demon, Gaping Dragon, Basilisk

Dark Souls Boss Guide Part 2 – Carpa Demon, Gaping Dragon, Basilisk

Carpa Demon and Attack Dogs
This fight is made challenging by the arena you will find yourself in. It is small making it harder to manuver freely. Second is the speed of the Attack Dogs. Mix that with the slower speed of the Carpa Demon and you have a problem.

Playthrough 1
While the Carpa Demon becomes a standard enemy later, this first time is a difficult fight. The arena and what is in it are what really make the challenge. The Attack Dogs make up very much for the slow speed of the Carpa Demon's attacks making mobility or a lot of endurance paramount to surviving this encounter. For those less durable, it is important to rush up, easiest by rolling, to the stairs and get to the top of them and onto the archway. This narrows down what can hit you and makes it easier to deal with the Attack Dogs first. Once you have dealt with them it becomes a much simpler matter to kill the Carpa Demon. You can snipe it from above using arrows or Plunge attacks or simply engage in melee at that point. If you need to use Firebombs in this fight, start using them immediately upon crossing through the White Light. Lock onto the Carpa Demon and any unfortunate Attack Dog and start throwing them. They can give a slight edge if only because they are thrown and can one hit kill the dogs.

New Game +
You have faced all these enemies before, now many times.  Follow much the same strategy as before, running up the left-side stairs to deal with the dogs if they are giving you trouble, or simply move in to cut them down if you can be fast enough. This so much easier the second time around.

Gaping Dragon
This is a hard fight the first round. While the dragon is slow it is very powerful.

Playthrough 1
If you can, chop off the dragon's tail. This removes one of its attacks and gives you a new weapon, the Dragon King Greataxe. It has a number of attacks and all powerful though slow. If you remove the tail, it takes away the one attack it can adjust if you attempt to get out of the way. In general though it is best to dodge its attacks by running away. All of them are very large making it hard to properly roll away from and they will likely overcome your shield and spill onto your health. The one fast attack it has is its Jump attack but it is still easy to see coming and avoid. One attack you must be on guard for is its corroding ooze attack. It will raise its stomach and expel an ooze that will quickly cover a large portion of the combat area. It rapidly drains the durability of everything equipped so stay out of it!

Once you have removed the tail and close to melee, use a Gold Pine Resin to increase the dealt damage. This will end the fight very quickly. If not, run away and close the distance as appropriate. Stay out of its reach and this fight will be over with only some difficulty.


New Game +
You must maintain either a distant position to launch ranged attack or to its back and sides. Remember that it has the corroding attack which can very quickly drain the durability of your armor and weapons leaving you with nothing to attack or defend with. Lightning attacks will bring this fight to its end quickly.

Basilisk
The Basilisk is not a true boss but what it does is important enough to deserve mention here. It has a number of dangerous attacks and some new status that you will need to worry about. To deal with this hazard it is best to maintain a ranged approach. They are also fast so be wary even with the ranged attack style. It can resolved easily enough just be on guard for its mist breath attack as this inflicts the Cursed condition which wreaks havoc on you.