So I'm halfway through my NG+ trying to get all the achievements and I've hit a massive stumbling block: the Four Kings.

I've got the Lordvessel but I haven't placed it on the shrine place because I need the achievement for joining the darkstalker covenent, which is why I'm going after the Four Kings now, around soul level 120 I think. Been using a build with Ring of Grace and Favor and Dark Wood Grain Ring, divine Zweihander, black knight armour set but with mask of the child, but because you have to wear the artorias ring for the fight, I took off the ring of grace and favour (I have a spare) and had to use channellers armour set instead of black knight set. I just can't do it. I've tried it on my own (lasted about a minute), with 1 summoned dude (we killed one of them, then got destroyed), with 2 summoned dudes (tried this twice, got destroyed) whatever, I just can't do it.

In my NG I hated this fight as well, but I managed it eventually, using Quelaag's furysword and Iron Flesh to resist the sword attacks.

I was thinking about making a detour into the demon ruins to get the large flame ember so I could make a +10 fire falchion, but I don't know if that would be better or worse really. I suppose I wouldn't be losing anything because I need to get that achievement too.

Anyway, what I wanted to ask was does anyone have any tips or anything? I've read several bits of advice but no one talks very specifically about NG+ so I don't know how much I need to change my strategy. The biggest problem seems to just be dps and killing them before all four mob you.

Also, does anyone know what exactly the requirements are for Darkstalker Kaathe to appear? I've read that I can't talk to Frampt once I have the Lordvessel, but can I just drop into the hole he's poking out of, place the lordvessel, then warp out? Will Kaathe still appear?

But, I suppose the biggest question is - should I just not bother? Would I be better off just doing the regular ass route (start probably with Nito, then Seath, then Bed of Chaos, then Four Kings) and using a different toon to get the Darkstalker Covenant.?

Any help would be greatly appreciated - I absolutely bloody hate this fight!

Those goddam Four Kings.

In terms of just generally strategy, I've been told that you're best bet is to remove as much weight as you can, and try to stay behind a King at all times. Maybe by double handing whichever weapon you choose (though, I may suggest a Dark Knight Halbred if you have one) and constantly swinging you can keep it down to only one, or maybe two kings, at a time. Roll out the way a lot regardless, simply because they have some bullshit close-range OHKO attacks. I don't think it's worth using magic for this fight, simply because a lack of time, but I'm biased against magic anyway.

I'm not sure about Kaathe, but I'm sure there's some pretty lengthy FAQ out there considering it's tied to an achievement. I do know that you can drop down the hole that Frampt pops out of, and you'll land at the Lord Vessel.

Sorry for not being so specific, but that's just my two cents.

Yeah, they're a bitch. Might want to consider dumping the divine zwei for a lightning +5 one. Also, chaos washing pole +5 works wonders for me

And yeah, might as well go practically nude. They hit you and you're mostly dead anyway so just drop the armor and focus on speed. Kiting it around to the left and taking out that king as fast as you can

@thomasnash: To get to Kaath you need to have have NOT placed the lordvessel beforehand it doesnt matter if you dropped down the hole and then teleported out without placing it.

Contrary to what people are saying going nude has never worked for me. I wear some good ass armor, two hand my most damaging weapon, get in close and wail away. If you're close to them you only get hit by the hilt of their sword which does a lot less damage. This fight is a race against the clock so tanking their damage and doing as much as you can while only healing when you have to. If you can take a king down quick enough you'll have a small window to breathe before the next one spawns. This strategy has gotten me up to NG+++++ so I think it'll work.

Oh yeah, if you drain the lifebar of one and keep hitting that dying king you will still do damage to the overall health bar that they share. So keep going for it until you see you're not doing anymore damage.

NG+ 4 Kings is probably the hardest fight in the game.

You need to beat four kings before ever talking to Frampt or placing the Lord Vessel.

Four Kings was easily the hardest fight in NG+. My level was higher I think. I couldn't beat them so I spent time soul farming in Anor Londo. In the end I summoned 2/3 other players to help me. Do some attacks but make sure to keep drinking estus flasks to keep their health up. I couldn't imagine beating it without other players. You really need to kill the Kings as they come as you can easily get overwhelmed, and that kind of damage output just isn't possible when soloing from my experience.

@thomasnash: I was about level 115 to 120 when I beat it last week. I beat Four Kings on my first try in the first play through and it took maybe 15 tries in NG+. My strategy involved having the highest defence I could get. I normally wear Black Iron chest plate with Smoughs leggings, helm and gloves. I had to up the chest plate to Havel's armour so my Poise was high enough to heal while getting attacked. As soon as you fall down the hole but before the king has appeared cast magic barrier or great magic barrier so that the magic attacks don't do so much damage. You might need to recast between kings spawning. Get close and wail on him. Usually if I think I'm close enough then I need to get a few steps closer. Two hand your weapon. I was using a Black Knight Halberd +5 and only once did I face more than one king at a time. I still wear the Ring of Favour because I need the extra equip load. If you need to up your equip load then maybe try Havel's ring.

I beat the four kings with a Lightning Claymore and full elite knights armor with the ring of favor and protection on. I was also around level 120 I think. I had one guy with me doing a little bit of damage but I did most of the damage on my own.

What you should do is get as close to one as possible, go two-hand then just swing away. If you're very close to one only one attack will be able to totally hit you and they have maybe another one that can partially hit you. Run/roll away when you see him start his area attack then dash right back in and continue swinging. Heal when necessary but the goal is to kill each one as fast as possible before another one decides to join in. I was able to beat the four kings (actually killed 5) after about 3 tries doing it this way.

Of course I may be forgetting something since I platinum'd that gave back in February.

Hmm. Nothing particularly different to what I was doing then.

I fully upgraded a falchion to fire +10 to see if I could be doing more dps, and I did a little better that way, but I couldn't tell whether I was doing more damage or just playing better than with the Zweihander. Also seemed to do ok with combustion and iron flesh. Dunno really, It's tempting to just get that achievement with another toon and and go off and do the other 3 bosses first, but I'm SL 130 so clearly I should be able to do it if you guys were doing it at 110-120. I might grind in demon ruins for a few points in endurance and vitality and just experiment with some other weapons, see what can do the most damage really.

But yeah, playing better seems to be the main thing I need to do...

Did it earlier tonight, thank god!

I farmed Capra demons in the Demon Ruins for a while, and put my summon sign down so I could break the tedium by helping people with the Firesage demon every so often. Bumped my endurance up to 40 which was enough to wear Black Knight armour +5 and Wood grain ring - best of both worlds if you ask me! I went with melee pyromancer tactics - iron flesh, combustion, high poise and occasional healing. It worked OK, but in all honesty the thing that did it was asking for help from a couple of people who I'd co-oped the firesage demon with. Both getting way higher dps than I could, we never had two kings on screen at once. I just feel guilty that when I tried to return the favour I was less than useless!

Anyway, Now I'm about level 140 and going to fight Seath. Duke's Archives feels a bit easy compared to in NG now...

Yeah darkwraith was my last one. I did think about using another character, sure, but the thought of starting from scratch wasn't all that appealing...

four kings was easy. two hand, crystal magic weapon, and a +14 uchigatana. 40 dex, 38 int.

run up to him and wail away. the closer you are, the less damage you will take (except the grab, avoid that).

what everyone is saying is pretty much correct. think of this battle as purely a race against time. get as much defense as possible and keep a high poise. great magic barrier worked wonders for me. i also used the crystal ring shield to block their long distance spell. two hand your weapon. heal when needed; maybe try and recast gmb in between king summoning. i would avoid summoning other players as most people tend to let you tank while they cast from afar. the problem with this is that it gives the kings about a 50% health boost. it might work if all three players ganged up on each king together, but most phantoms don't do that. i would also say to avoid summoning beatrice. she is slow to cast and if the kings get to far away from her she will stop fighting and just stand still.

Divine isn't that great compared to your other options (elemental, normal with buffs). I went down that path and I wasn't doing enough damage, so I made a new character. Highly recommend looking into crystal magic weapon or sunlight blade (int and faith respectively) with a +15 normal weapon. A claymore would be good if you are doing strength, if you are doing dex look into the balder side sword or one of the curved blade weapons.

The Four Kings are hard?

I just run right up to one, stand in front of him, and hit him. If you get close enough to them, their sword hits are weak as fuck.

Other than that, I literally have no advice for ya.

put on Smough's(sp) armor, and tank it spank it. Use flask when you empty out your stamina. Use iron skin if you don't have Smough's armor, just note that you can't use those 2 thing together.

I fought him for like 3 hours dodging everything attack, and I can barely kill the 1st king.

I can't say for absolute certain, because I did this way back before the 1.04 patch (Which I believe was the one that rebalanced a ton of stuff?). But as I recall I was around 110 and had pretty decent vitality. Wore the ring of favor and protection and artorias' ring and a full set of Havel's armor. I think I had a +4 lightning zweihander at the time, but obviously +5 is preferable. Not sure how much they nerfed lightning either. Like some others have been saying, basically just stay as close as possible and keep swinging. Avoid the grab if possible, but using estus at the right times is more important in this case. If you're wearing Havel's set you'll obviously be overencumbered, but if you just sprint straight at each one as they appear it shouldn't matter. In my case, I think I was able to kill them fast enough to never have more than one on screen at once, expect for maybe the last two.

@cyraxible said:

Contrary to what people are saying going nude has never worked for me. I wear some good ass armor, two hand my most damaging weapon, get in close and wail away. If you're close to them you only get hit by the hilt of their sword which does a lot less damage. This fight is a race against the clock so tanking their damage and doing as much as you can while only healing when you have to. If you can take a king down quick enough you'll have a small window to breathe before the next one spawns. This strategy has gotten me up to NG+++++ so I think it'll work.

Oh yeah, if you drain the lifebar of one and keep hitting that dying king you will still do damage to the overall health bar that they share. So keep going for it until you see you're not doing anymore damage.

NG+ 4 Kings is probably the hardest fight in the game.

This guy knows what he is saying though I don't agree about that final line. Four Kings (more accurately called "5-6 Kings" or "3 Kings if you Hit like a Truck") is a DPS contest plain and simple. Either you kill them extremely fast, or they kill you. The end. The longer the fight lasts the more your odds of success go down.