Dark Souls 2: Ancient Dragon How to defeat a boss

Ancient Dragon is an optional boss and the fight with him can be very demanding due to his powerful fire attacks. He is kind of a Guardian Dragon in XXL version. You have to hit him 3-5 times to begin the fight. Killing him doesn't count as a sin.

Attacks:

• Bite - the enemy attacks with his mouth
• Ground Stomp - the dragon lifts one of his paws and brings it down attempting to crush the player; deals a little AoE damage as well
• Breath of Fire - the opponent breathes fire in a large cone in front of him
• Rain of Fire - flies up into the air an breathes fire at the ground beneath him; the fire covers most of the arena
• Self Immolation - when you're in front of the dragon, a little underneath him, he will breathe fire at his underbelly, trying to kill you.

Strategy:

This boss fight is very demanding. It requires a lot of experience, reflex and patience. A little luck might be useful as well. There are two different ways to prepare yourself to the fight. One of them is to take off your whole armor to speed up regeneration of stamina. Practically every one of the boss's attack will kill you right away, even if you're wearing your armor, so there's no point in wearing anything besides rings and weapon. The second option is to stack as much fire resistance as you can, preferably around 600-900. It is quite difficult to achieve and requires a lot of items and a few spells, but you will be able to survive some of the fire attacks. Also prepare a lot of spells, arrows and a few good weapons, as the fight may last for quite a while. The dragon has a lot of health and bringing it down requires patience and dealing rather high damage.

Cast all the available buffs and use the items that you need, and then approach the dragon. Hit him a few times until the health bar appears and run close to his left hind leg. Place yourself on the left side of it and begin the proper fight. Attack 2-3 times, not more, and always in that particular place. Don't attempt to attack other parts of the dragon, eve if you have the chance. You can only try to do it analogically with the right leg. When the opponent raises the paw that you're currently attacking, make two rolls away from it. After the stomp, go back to attack the paw. If the dragon starts to move his wings, stop hitting him immediately and go underneath him, watching his tail. When he raises, run towards the end of his tail to avoid the fire breath. Watch out not to stand under on of his legs when he lands. Return to the same paw and continue. Observe the moves of the dragon closely and perform dodges on time and you should manage to win the fight.

Rewards:

• 120,000 souls/240,000 souls (NG+)
• Soul of a Giant
• Petrified Dragon Bone
• Ashen Mist Heart (if you don't talk to him before the fight)

Dark Souls II

March 11, 2014

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