Current Events > I've failed many attempts at beating the Four Kings of New Londo.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or maybe it just feels like "many" since it's such a pain to get back to them.

And I haven't had time to properly register their moves to the point where I can reliably last against them.

I have like two Dark Hands from trawling the path multiple times. Only one Slab, though.

Keep hitting them as they fade out you can still do damage to them.

Dark wood grain ring Iframes roll their attacks and mash R1

such a shitty boss, IMO.

also, having to give up a ring slot to fight them is lame.

Acquire mace, let the bonking begin

I gave up on fighting this one fair. Full Havel's + Iron Flesh + Magic Weapon my way through that every time, even up to NG+++.

R1masher posted...

Dark wood grain ring

Missed out on that one.

They're not a good boss tbh. It's just a DPS check, the easy way to deal with it is when you get to the drop put on the heaviest armor you have with the highest poise and highest magic defense (Havel is typically recommended, but the stone guardian set under the stairs in Darkroot near Alvina work too) and the strongest weapon you have, then just run up and poise+heal tank through it and keep swinging on them during their death animation.

It's absolutely brainless.

At this point? Works for me.

Yeah if you didn't get the Havel's gear yet just use it and a strong weapon to face tank.

4 Kings is cool thematically but as a fight is really wack

Even without Havel's armor, I still don't bother trying to dodge their attacks. Just run directly up and start wailing on them. They do like no damage when you're right next to them.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

Even without Havel's armor, I still don't bother trying to dodge their attacks. Just run directly up and start wailing on them. They do like no damage when you're right next to them.

Oh yeah, this is true. IIRC the hitbox close to them is the handle or arm hitbox and it does less than the blade hitbox.

Havel is just there to let you mash uninterrupted for most of it, the magic damage reduction is just icing. Depending on how upgraded your flasks are and how much max HP you have you might need an upgraded bonfire to have enough.

I'm just gonna have to put up with fatty roll I guess. :)))

I have wondered why I go through so many fights in this game expecting to roll a lot when I'm mostly taking it to my shield.

(It's because I really hate fat roll it makes me sad)

CyricZ posted...

I'm just gonna have to put up with fatty roll I guess. :)))

I have wondered why I go through so many fights in this game expecting to roll a lot when I'm mostly taking it to my shield.

(It's because I really hate fat roll it makes me sad)

The quintessential first playthrough build is fully naked fast roll with a giant ass weapon + pyromancy glove

Don't even roll. Literally just sprint and mash R1 and heal when you're within their kill range.

Blocking is OP in all of them, it's just that DS2 onward really want you to be using greatshields to actually block tank. But in DS1 poise tanking is insane for the first playthrough, which is why it's been nerfed so much in each game afterwards.

Never had much trouble against them with a +10 uchigatana and a greatshield. Getting back to them is a bit annoying but you can rush past everything once you know the route.

I remember them being easy with magic. I don't remember if you can get hexes from the DLC at that point but they're OP

Put fire on your weapon and swing for the fences. There isn't much to it other than that.

I have like two Dark Hands from trawling the path multiple times. Only one Slab, though.

last time i went farming for slabs i ended up with 23 dark hands.

are you playing online and are you on PC? there's a player going around ruining saves at the moment.

If you do it bad enough, you can end up fighting Five Kings.

evilpresident posted...

If you do it bad enough, you can end up fighting Five Kings.

True. You can also fight less than Four Kings. Because the boss health bar is just one King health multiplied by 4. But you can attack them while they're in their death animation so if you do a bunch of damage to them while they're dying you can win the fight early.

The whole thing is pretty jank. But New Londo is probably one of the more rushed together areas of the game so not surprising.

Worst hit boxes in all of FROM soft games. I always felt like I just got lucky when I beat them.

Wait, you kill all the dark wraiths on the way there?

DodogamaRayBrst posted...

Wait, you kill all the dark wraiths on the way there?

Some runs I trust myself to get through on running, some I don't.

This is the latter.

That's...

Oh man.

Honestly it's not that hard and y'know... farming is nice there.

I got myself a Jagged Ghost Blade so I can pop the ghosts showing up.

using a dark hand as a shield is a good way to deal with their magic. 80% is nothing to sneeze at.

CyricZ posted...

Some runs I trust myself to get through on running, some I don't.

This is the latter.

I did it the hard way too on my first playthrough. One of these might help in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbRxY0zm7KM
or this one, which I what I do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdgZ-Wm0FZo

Well got it in one.

Thanks team. :)

CyricZ posted...

Well got it in one.

Thanks team. :)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c4648eaf.jpg

Literally all you have to do is go full Havel and walk up to them. They have a hard enough time killing you at level 1.

HighSeraph posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c4648eaf.jpg

Sammy Greiner, aka Success Kid, is 18 now. :P

https://www.demilked.com/people-from-memes-today/
.

IIRC, I beat the four kings *unassisted* on my first attempt with an upgraded Mace and Heater Shield.

HighSeraph posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c4648eaf.jpg

Ok that is perfect!

andri_g posted...

Sammy Greiner, aka Success Kid, is 18 now. :P

https://www.demilked.com/people-from-memes-today/
.

Ok now I feel old.

Stack poise. Mash R1. Heal as needed.

CyricZ posted...

Well got it in one.

Thanks team. :)

Hell yeah

hey cyric

*huggles*

KajeI posted...

They're not a good boss tbh. It's just a DPS check, the easy way to deal with it is when you get to the drop put on the heaviest armor you have with the highest poise and highest magic defense (Havel is typically recommended, but the stone guardian set under the stairs in Darkroot near Alvina work too) and the strongest weapon you have, then just run up and poise+heal tank through it and keep swinging on them during their death animation.

It's absolutely brainless.

This is how I did it at low SL. You don't even need to dodge.

low SL

there are only two types of players that bother with beating the four kings at low sl and i don't think cyric is an invader.

also this 'only one slab though' bullshit. ridiculously lucky.

So I may have died to Artorias like 20 times but I'm fine with it because he's a great boss fight.

All right, Dark Souls 1 complete. My third Souls game.

I didn't kill Priscilla or Gwyndolin, so technically "missed" those boss fights.

Mistere_Man posted...

Ok now I feel old.

Fun fact: "Success Kid" wasn't the original caption. The original was "I Hate Sandcastles" after he took a swipe out of a sandcastle--that's why his raised fist is full of sand.

On the upside, his negative experience with sand could have turned out a lot worse than it did. :P

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/bf488b03.jpg

CyricZ posted...

All right, Dark Souls 1 complete. My third Souls game.

which ones have you beaten?

besides this, I'm assuming Elden Ring?

That's about the point of DS1 that I wanna check out and play something else

Baron_Ox posted...

which ones have you beaten?

besides this, I'm assuming Elden Ring?

Yep, first was Elden Ring, second was Bloodborne.

Next up is Demon's Souls!

nice.

original or remake?

I like both, but some purists believe something was lost with the latter.

CyricZ posted...

All right, Dark Souls 1 complete. My third Souls game.

I didn't kill Priscilla or Gwyndolin, so technically "missed" those boss fights.

Then you didnt finish! Get back in there and take those two to pound town!

Leave fluffy tail waifu alone, she's harmless.

Raycon posted...

I gave up on fighting this one fair. Full Havel's + Iron Flesh + Magic Weapon my way through that every time, even up to NG+++.

this is the way. Ive done it this way for years lmao

CyricZ posted...

All right, Dark Souls 1 complete. My third Souls game.

I didn't kill Priscilla or Gwyndolin, so technically "missed" those boss fights.

Played ds1 regularly for like 10 years before I even found about the second one.