Rheinmetall

@gerrid said:

You have two options really

1. go full tank with Iron Flesh and a big shield and just stand in close, absorbing hits and doing continuous damage. Worth a try.
2. go commando - under 25% equip load so you're nimble. Forget your shield and double hand the ghost blade. Then stay behind him, doing slash damage until he flies up in the air. Do a double roll away, then get behind him once he's down. Then you can go in with either your blade or some of your pyromancy or spells, just stay behind as everyone says, and get the hell out of there when he flies up in the air.

Tip - if you can keep him on the little mound at the centre of the arena, his horizontal slashes will go over your head when you're on ground level.

Thanks! Going melee all the way, holding the blade with both hands sounds interesting. So I will not have to worry for switching the spells.

Hey great guide! I'm pretty much screwed, because I invested very much on intelligence, and neglected endurance and strength. I'm already 60 SL, with limited choices after on. I was thinking that I would be super efficient as a Sorcerer with soul arrows and a sharp knife, like it was the case with the Royalty class in Demon's Souls, but things here are different. I had to learn it with the hard way..

Taurus Demon --> Twin Gargoyles --> Capra Demon --> Butterfly --> Q..something in Blighttown --> Ceaseless Depression --> Gaping Dragon --> one huge dragon in Valley of Drakes --> Hydra --> Great Grey Wolf Sif --> Iron Golem --> Pinwheel... and that was pretty much my last victory in the game. Now I'm stuck for ages at Northern Undead Asylum with that sinister monster Stray Demon...

After reading your prologue, I think this game is right for you. It will test your mentality and your physical endurance to the very limits, but that's what you (and also some of us) like in games like Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, isn't it? Every session of Dark Souls resembles a small battle.

@Freddie_Bert said:

I'd recommend Iron Flesh if you have the Pyromancy Hand. It can be extremely helpful when you just want to get up in a tough boss' face and do some damage, with the drawback of moving extremely slow. You can buy it from the same dude who gives you the Hand. You could also just ignore the Stray Demon, he isn't exactly main story stuff. That's what I ended up doing until near where I beat the game, then I just went back and tried a few times and got him.

Thanks, I haven't thought of that, I have bought Iron Flesh but as you said it makes you slow, which puzzles me for this fight. I will give it a try though. Yeah, I can always skip the Stray demon, but for some reason I have taken it personally to beat it. lol This game is all about "battle for supremacy", and I'm into it, even though I suck for most of the time. lol

@McShank said:

you can change your tactics! It sir, is not to late!!!!! Never change your shield from your shield. Just have your weapon be both catalyst and pyro flame and just go from there. You dont need to pay attention to your life bar as long as you just stay behind it and keep your shield up when he is going to attack as the splash AOE can hurt you otherwise. Spell caster or melee should never be a factor as staying behind something is how you win in this game. Just keep running in a circle around it so it cant just slam down ontop of you. When he is not attacking, cast a spell real quick then shield up till your next oppertunity. The Stray demon is considered a tutorial boss and should be thought of as a boss that will determine if you need to relearn the basics or just stop playing (Not trying to be mean but the boss is really simple if you just follow the basics and staying behind it.) When he floats up and spins around just run back a few steps then run around him with the shield up. chances are you will be hit by his wide swing but your shield should stop all damage.

Hey thanks! I will apply these tactics when I fight it again, when I recuperate that is, because it literally exhausted me. lol I will have always my shield on, no matter what, and on the right hand I'm thinking to keep only one school of magic, either fire, or soul arrows, not both, and in the second slot the ghost blade which does good damage (it needs three consecutive hits to make the demon bleed)

I have lost the count, how many times this beast has killed me. 30, 50, 60... I'm not sure. I find too difficult to switch between the jugged ghost blade and the catalyst, or the shield with the Pyromancy hand during the panic of the battle, and to watch my health bar at the same time, and watch the spells counter, so that I switch to the next spell. lol I'm lv. 60 and rely very much on magic, so there aren't many things I can do now to change my tactics.

I never thought that I would see that kind of video, ever. But then again, man went to the moon, so everything can be done. I like the top comment of that video. Ha ha ha, good one.

I consider myself a veteran in Demon's Souls, yet after four days of non stop playing of Dark Souls, I still haven't figured out how I'm supposed to play this game. I feel totally lost and extremely weak whatever tactics I come up with. Also, no poison cloud for cheap boss wins, no 5.000 souls enemies (Ripper) to easily level up, and the Sorcerer class just doesn't work so well as Royalty. Shards are pretty rare, Humanities are rare, and the overall difficulty has been greatly increased. I see it as a challenge, as I saw Demon's Souls, but the frustration meter has reached red.

Okay I quit, I will not bother to post a comment again, Giant Bomb is even glitchier than Game Spot.