Dark Souls

[Gusington]

Ugh...

[Hiimori]

I play Dark Souls on XBox (I just killed Ornstein and Smough in Anor Londor and now I'm deep in the demon ruins).

If you have problems with the bosses in Dark Souls, you are usually using wrong tactics. In this game, it's almost never about combat / attack strength / level when you face a boss, but about finding the right tactic / trick to hurt and defeat him.

Sure, the stronger you are and the more you level up, the easier the ways to the bosses become (because you won't be held up by annoying skeletons or dragons any more). But in contrast to a "traditional" RPG, where you return to a strong boss when you did some power-leveling and grinding, in Dark Souls you need to find out the weak spot of the enemy. If you are too weak to face them, you will usually not be able to reach them at all, so if you discover a boss, you are in the theoretical position to kill him.

You have to find out the right strategy (weak points, special attack types (plunge attack, ranged or melee, certain elemental types, immunities). Some enemies can be killed with weird tactics, for example by hiding behind a pillar and slowly poisoning the boss while he walks around searching for you, which could take half an hour but will work.

Another very important feature in boss fights is the online feature. I beat the most difficult bosses at a quite low level by summoning strong players to help me out. If you are in human form, you will most certainly discover summoning signs next to the fog doors which lead to the bosses. It depends on the time of day, and sometimes you may wait for several minutes, but many players are willing to help you out with a boss and leave their sign next to a fog door if they are in the area. I do. Even better: summon two other players and let them do the hard work while you keep your distance by using ranged or magic attacks. Next to many bosses there are also NPC summoning spots where you can summon NPCs for help. They are usually also very helpful and absorb damage meant for you.

For the first Asylum demon, you simply have to drop on his head while pressing the plunge attack button just at the right moment. Then run back up the stairs and repeat. It takes only very few attempts to kill him, he is actually quite easy, but don't fight him directly, you don't stand a chance.

If you mean the next boss, the Taurus demon (you can find him on a bridge in the open), it's just as Great Ajax said - lure the demon to you, climb up the tower (watch out because there are skeleton archers up there), then plunge attack on his head. You could use a potion or buff which strenghtens your attack, but it usually takes only 3 plunges to kill him. Just don't attack him directly and watch out when you climb back the ladder up to the tower, because he will try to stomp on you.

Just don't give up - Dark Souls is a very rewarding gameplay experience! No situation or boss is unfair or frustrating; there is always a way to kill a boss, you just have to think out of the box (meaning: out of the box of "normal" RPGs).

[Gusington]

That is a very helpful post Sir, thank you.

[Great Ajax]

I got frustrated in the sewers trying to finish off the dragon.  I would use my mortality to try to get some help at the final boss but I kept getting intercepted by invaders before I could get to the end boss to try and find some help.  I did kill one of those bastards though.

Trey