Because Mangiacapra is a beast. 
 
Also, use Iron Flesh. It makes the fight easy.

Try to get the most damaging weapon you can- the Gravelord Greatsword was my personal choice due to the high normal damage, but there are other options out there. Try to get a set with a decent magic resist and a high poise, but I'd advise against making yourself too slow. Just get to them as quickly as you can, two hand your weapon, and proceed to swing with reckless abandon. Their normal sword strikes will rarely do too much damage, but if they do, heal and keep attacking. Think of it as a race to do enough damage to kill a King off before the next can appear, and you'll be set.

@Make_Me_Mad:I hadn't considered the two handed weapon option, I'll give that a shot. I'm having trouble judging the distance on hitting the first King with my spear and seem to end up getting grabbed, by which time the rest of them aren't too far away.

@The_Laughing_Man:Yeah that ghost witch does nowt, I did consider summoning other people but the 2 times I attempted I got invaded. I'm sure I'm just being fucking retarded as everything so far although stressful hasn't exactly been impossible as long as I'm patient.

Basically, ignore defense and evasion and just go hog wild on the first king. Get right up next to him and his sword swings will barely tickle you. The only attacks that will deal damage are the grab and the magic AoE, so just heal after those and go back to spamming your 2-handed attacks on him. The whole fight is just a damage race. If you can kill each king before the next one reaches you, it doesn't get very dangerous.

PS3 or xbox? If I have a character in that range, I'll help. Also if you have a fire weapon or any pyromancy, they're pretty weak to fire. Power Within (from Blightown) got me through them on NG+. Also try using a shield with high magic resist.

Put on the heaviest armor you have, you need to be like a tank for this fight. I went lightening spear with some crazy heavy armor. you just gotta burn each one down as fast as possible

@CJduke said:

Put on the heaviest armor you have, you need to be like a tank for this fight. I went lightening spear with some crazy heavy armor. you just gotta burn each one down as fast as possible

Pretty much this. I wore Havel's gear, grabbed as many estus' as possible then fell into the abyss. There's no for your character to be fluid in the fight so being unable to roll is fine. For the most part I two-handed my weapon and let his attacks hit me(As they decimate your stamina). Summoning more allies increases their total health by ~50% so keep that in mind, and there is a time lapse of about ~30 seconds before another king spawns. Levelled up combustion also does a number on them.

@EToaster said:

Basically, ignore defense and evasion and just go hog wild on the first king. Get right up next to him and his sword swings will barely tickle you. The only attacks that will deal damage are the grab and the magic AoE, so just heal after those and go back to spamming your 2-handed attacks on him. The whole fight is just a damage race. If you can kill each king before the next one reaches you, it doesn't get very dangerous.

Pretty much this. The Four Kings were a complete fucking hassle for me until I realized that defending/blocking was an absolute waste. Held my weapon two-handed (I believe I had Queelag's Furysword at this point) and just wailed on them, only healing when it was absolutely necessary.

Also, try your best to keep your fights one v one if possible. Two kings is bearable, but more than that it can get ridiculously hard. The way I did it though was to keep my shield up at all times, rolling away from any moves that look like grabs, or that purpley-sphere move and to not try anything fancy. Some good old D'

If you've not yet beaten 4kings, heres the easiest, but by no means 'best' method of killing them.

Equip down until you have the highest possible speed available, armour and resistances are worthless in this fight if you stand in the right spot because their blade never hits you. Have the grass crest shield on your back and your hardest hitting weapon 2handed. Do NOT summon the witch, she makes the 4kings have about 3 times as much health and does nothing to help.

Land in the Abyss, charge into the first king, roll left to avoid if they go to lunge or downswing, roll forwards through sideswings until you're right up in his business. Now hack until he dies. The only attacks you need to be aware of are the grab and the explosion, both of which have a glow or aura around the king before he uses it.

The reason being right under the king is best is because he cant hit you with his sword, only his arms. The sword causes the damage that spoils your day, the arm hits for a small chunk and can be healed between kills.

Hope that helps duder

i used my black knight sword+5 and each king took 2, 2 handed swipes all the lords were jokes imo specially the undead one who i killed while in toxic state due to thosse lame baby skeletons

Use Iron Flesh and you can attack them while they are disappearing so keep attacking.

I agree with the posters above ( @Chippy180 and@Chippy180 ) put on your heaviest armor (Havel's if you got it), Havel's ring, two hand your best weapon and go straight at them.

Good luck.

( I believe the witch can't be summoned unless you summoned her previously for Moonlight Butterfly. Also Iron Flesh was patched and isn't as useful now?)

Enjoy it while it lasts, if you thought they were hard on NG, you're in for a world of hurt in NG+. Hardest boss in NG+ is them.

I just used my best heavy armor and my best two-handed weapon and just went in. If you have the Rite to kindle your fire further, that would be helpful.

Question is it still possible to help other players in coop within the same area if you have already killed the area boss? Cause nobody seems to summon me when ever I leave my summon sign in there.

I have made a bunch of characters (yet have only finished the game with 1 of them so far) and Four Kings is always the battle I'm looking least forward to. I've beat them maybe 4 times now and it hasn't gotten any less bothersome only slightly easier, good thing though of when I do beat them I feel like the rest of the game will be cake.

@VanderSEXXX: Yeah beating the boss doesn't affect your ability to be summoned by people who have not yet killed it. You're probably just unlucky or are in the wrong level range.

Run right in front on him 2 handed and hit him with all you got til your stamina is drained.
Use the green grass at the start to help regain stamina faster.
The 4 king sword swing seem to do minimal damage when you close to him, just keep on attacking and don't bother with dodging.

Yeah apparently if you stand real close to him only his arms hit you and not the sword. The arms do minimal damage whereas you really take a bath on those sword hits, especially in NG+.

Yeah, the golden rule of Dark Souls: Stick close to the boss since they're most deadly at a distance holds true to the four kings. I think that this boss fight requires a little bit more of an offensive tactic because if you lollygag too long you'll get messed up by the other kings.

Honestly I found that once I just decided to stop playing it cautiously on that boss battle I did muuuuch better. I tried twice to summon people but that area before the boss is the absolute worst but ended up doing okay alone after spending 30 minutes trying to find a summon sign.

general rule of dark souls: if it didn't work the first five times, it probably won't work the next twenty times

I'm about to head in to New Londo Ruins for the first time, later today. Is there anything I particularly need to know before venturing out (have already stocked up on some curses).

I'm hoping to be done with my first playthrough in a day or two. (still have the Four Kings, Centipede, Bed of Chaos and last boss to go).

Edit - Nvm, the ruins were very easy to get through.

Wait, wait...summoning people makes bosses stronger? It didn't seem that way with any other fights, but I can believe it with the Four Kings. I tried solo and failed, but I had him below 1/4th of his life. I tried summoning two guys (well, they could be girls, IDK) in to help, and all of us wailing on the first king did practically nothing. We were swarmed and killed in short order. Not even 1/4th of his life was taken away. And we were all following the two-handed wailing strategy.

Without a doubt it's the least fun I've had so far. At least Biggy Smalls was tough but FUN. You had two very distinct foes with separate styles of attack. You found the opportunity where they were both paused, and you took that moment to attack. The epic music helped, I'll admit.

Here, it's just the same unimaginative (yes, Dark Souls can be unimaginative...see Blighttown, Valley of Defilement 2.0) enemy cloned.

Congrats on beating them. I am currently getting raped in half by them in NG+...

Took me a couple of attempts to beat them.

You just need to as close up in their grill as possible, and pray they don't use their magic wail attack too often. The first time I tried using Iron flesh, but it actually became a hindrance, since I couldn't move in on the next target fast enough without being devastated by their powerful ranged attacks.

Queelag Sword +5, Havel's armour and Ring of F&P helped also.

I'll be facing them again soon on NG+ ; ;

I've no idea why I didn't find them nearly as hard as other people seem to, but I found that Havel's shield and armour came in real handy with blocking their attacks, so long as you don't take too long with getting in their face when you get the chance.

I tried to kill these bosses maybe 5-10 times using the advice on wikis about loading up with high-poise armor and periodically casting Iron Flesh. I got ruled every time. Finally I decided to skip that and just play like I normally play, jumping around to dodge attacks and two-handing, and I got them on my third try after two close calls. I much prefer avoiding getting hit at all over slowing myself down and taking a pounding. Don't forget to eat some Green Blossom, put Grass Crest Shield on your back, and enchant your weapon with Charcoal Resin first.

I went the Havel's Armor/"Who the fuck needs speed?" route. I summoned in a phantom and we just wailed on them, damage be damned. We won pretty easily. While that method makes the quartet easy as cheese cake, I still think they are the least fun boss to fight. There is just nothing interesting going on. I am continuing on to the Duke's Archives, and it sure is nice to be playing a fun Dark Souls again.