How to beat Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Old Iron King boss

With the recent release of From Software’s second Dark Souls 2 DLC, players are being pitched against a tough old boss towards the end of Crown of the Old Iron King. Challenging scenarios are nothing new to fans of the Dark Souls series, in fact the difficulty is one of its defining features. The stamina and perseverance needed to complete the original Dark Souls 2 and its first DLC Crown of the Sunken King will need to remain strong in Crown of the Old Iron King, particularly as you approach the Fume Knight. Yet, don’t feel totally exasperated at the end of Crown of the Old Iron King, you will get there and you’ll have a whole month to recover before the third Dark Souls 2 DLC releases in September. PlayStation and Xbox users everywhere must understand this is no time to be bold and brave, instead take the well-intended advice at hand to make your Crown of the Old Iron King experience fruitful as well as successful.

Before approaching the Fume Knight in Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Old Iron King, you really should deal with the nearby Ashen Idols. It will make your battle so much simpler, but you needn’t worry about it being a quick and easy at all. If you leave the Ashen Idols intact the Fume Knight can use them to recover health mid-battle. That’s a disadvantage that no one wants to face. The number of idols you can take care of is relatively limited, you’ll need to search for the items if you’ve already emptied your supply. If they’re too scarce to find, or you become impatient, you could approach the Fume Knight once two of the idols are terminated. That way you can still use the space in half of the battle arena, but be sure to not draw the Fume Knight towards the fully functioning idols.

To initiate your fight with the Fume Knight, head towards the sword in the center of the area. Very quickly you’ll realize that the Fume Knight wields a rapier and an ultra greatsword in this first section of the battle. Players may find they need to block the mighty attacks, but this must be done with caution. Blocking will consume a large proportion of your stamina, so recover when possible and use this ability sparingly. If you can dodge the Fume Knight’s attacks that is much more advantageous than blocking, particularly as the fight progresses. The Fume Knight often uses the rapier twice and then switches to the greatsword for either one or two further attacks; the latter takes a little while, allowing you time to prepare your next move.

Once you’ve knocked down the Fume Knight’s health to the 50-60% region, the second stage of the battle will initiate. The Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Old Iron King boss will discard his rapier and boost his greatsword with devastating affect – for you. If you mastered your dodging sequences before, the adaption to this progression will be much easier than if you were relying on blocking. Attempting to block any of the greatsword attacks will now wipe out almost all of your stamina with a single blow. In his upgraded state, the Fume Knight will use an additional two special moves against you. The first is a forward sweep that you’ll need to keep well away from, but the second is the attack you need to worry about. The Fume Knight will plunge his sword into the ground, which initiates an explosion and fires magic orbs.

Two methods have been suggested to deal with the Fume Knight’s second special move. You should either stay close to the boss, exercising careful and accurate rolling to avoid the balls, or you can acquire more room to move by backing off. In either scenario, you seriously don’t want to get caught by one of the orbs, it would be very detrimental to your chances of winning. The slow animations of this Dark Souls 2 boss will allow you a moment to plan your reaction to his upcoming attack. This boss fight will be a slow one as you chip away at the Fume Knight’s health, but as infuriating as that may be, it is the surest way to finally defeat him and the Crown of the Old Iron King Dark Souls 2 DLC.

Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Old Iron King is now available on PS3, PC and Xbox 360 consoles for your enjoyment, or destruction.

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