Knight Artorias Guide

Knight Artorias

Perhaps the most anticipated new boss in the DLC, Knight Artorias lives up to his legend on the battlefield.  Throughout Dark Souls, tales of Artorias circulate in item descriptions, character dialogue, and even in a major boss fight.  Having the chance to finally face against the mythic knight stands as one of the highest points of the game.  Hyper-aggressive and utterly relentless, Artorias punishes those who let down their guard even for a second.  Nonetheless, once the timing of his attacks is known, this fight becomes much easier. 

Recommended Gear

  • Light-Medium Armor (Dodging is a must for this fight)
  • A Fast Weapon (Zweihander is not recommended)
  • Shield with Decent Stability
  • Some sort of ranged weapon (Magic, Crossbow etc.)

Move Set

  1. Air Somersault Slam - Fast, powerful move that he can chain into two or three hit sequences while tracking your movement.
  2. Dash Thrust - Fast, heavily damaging, ranged move where Artorias glides across the entire arena.
  3. Leaping Downward Stab - Heavily Damaging, distant attack that spans the whole arena
  4. Abyss Buff - A vortex of Abyssal energy surrounds Artorias buffing his damage and defense that explodes for heavy damage at the end.
  5. Gliding Slash Combo - A medium-ranged, medium damage horizontal slash that Artorias can combo into a upward cut..
  6. Abyssal Slime Toss - After landing a hit on Artorias, he sometimes tosses slime around him for light damage and a stagger. 
  7. Spinning Sword Slash - A heavily damaging spinning attack similar to Sif's devastating spin move that can strike twice in rapid succession.
  8. Heavy Downward Slam - A slow, heavy damage blow that strikes from overhead.

Strategy 

This fight is all about dodging.  Learning the timing of his attacks and knowing how long it will take from the beginning of his attack animations to their actual contact is essential to victory.  Use your shield to simply learn these patterns for the first part of the fight and heal when necessary.  Then practice dodging against them.  The Air Somersault Slam and the Dash Thrust are particularly hairy to dodge because they track your character meaning if you dodge too early, Artorias will still connect and deal heavy damage.  The key is to dodge right before the moment of contact not as soon as he starts his animation.  Eventually, once most of his  move set is learned, go on the offensive.  Great moments to counter attack include: Right after his Leaping Downward Stab when he's pulling his sword out of the ground; After the third Air Somersault Slam; and using a ranged attack when he starts up his Abyss Buff.  Also, if ranged damage isn't your specialty, you can go and wail on Artorias during the Abyss Buff but make sure you get away before his final explosion detonates.  As usual, with Dark Souls bosses, get in one or two hits and then get out.  Don't get greedy or Artorias will slaughter you in two or three hits.  

Notes

I'd like to give a shout out to two of the greatest Dark Souls vids on Youtube for their awesome vids: Gamefront's Mitch and James and EpicNameBro.  Thanks for making all your great videos.  

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