LogFAQs > #951582991

10 - Darkeater Midir (DS3 - The Ringed City)


"Perhaps thou'st beheld the lone dragon that inhabiteth this city? Midir is his name, and the Archdragons are his forebears. He once railed against the dark, but was by dark afflicted. Now here, returned, he remaineth, to watch over the sleeping Princess, true to the old accord... and yet, I would have thee put the dragon to rest, afore the dark consumeth him, and his vows are forgot."
...

For those most intrepid of explorers, hidden away in an underground cavern accessible only behind an illusory wall in the trilogy's final DLC lies what is by far, bar none, the best dragon boss fight Souls has to offer. Darkeater Midir is a badass, and the mere chance to duke it out with him is a rewarding secret to discover all of its own. Having been tasked with keeping the darkness of man at bay for untold eons, Midir has begun to fall to the darkness himself. If his dark hue was not enough of a clue, perhaps his explosive dark lasers will clue you in.

As an encounter, Midir certainly provides quite the hearty challenge, with devastating melee, a ton of mobility, regular fire, the explosive dark abilities, and a massive health pool to boot. If fighting dragons or other huge monsters is your personal favorite kind of Dark Souls encounter, then I couldn't blame you for having Midir as high as #1 on your own list. However, what holds him at #9 for me is just that -- I had heard people discuss Midir for years as possibly the toughest boss in all of Dark Souls, and after mentally bracing myself for the ultimate showdown, I did personally find that Midir was still ultimately "just a dragon." The hardest dragon in the trilogy and the best designed? 100%. Still, you can deal with him by sticking near his head, rolling on his bite/swipe patterns, and punishing him during what is actually some extremely generous downtime if you aren't being too greedy. The hardest thing to get down for me was recognizing when he was about to breathe straight down and getting out of the way in a timely manner, which is a familiar tried and true mechanic from Kalameet, Sinh, and even the Ancient Dragon. Once that clicked, it was mostly just an endurance test. He's certainly not easy, but coming in expecting the fight of my life only to beat him within 4-5 tries was just a bit of a letdown.

All that being said, that factor is simply my own personal experience as I rank my favorite bosses in all of Souls. The list is not strictly objective, and the big guy is still an easy top ten even by my own subjective experience. That Godzilla attack where he breathes the straight line out and then in an arc, leaving an explosion on about a second delay, is a REALLY cool attack both from a gameplay and a spectacle standpoint. If anything, I wish he had a couple more attacks that utilized that concept, because that's the part that stuck with me most.

When it comes to the absolute tip-top tier, I may personally prefer nimbler fights than dragons provide (check the names remaining on the list for all the evidence you need), but as dragons go? Darkeater Midir reigns supreme.

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-Shred