Dark Souls 3 boss guide - how to defeat every top tier enemy

Dragonslayer Armour 

Lothric Castle is home to many knights, and this one should look very familiar. Our old pal Ornstein is back (sort of) as the Dragonslayer Armour.

Con: the Armour does massive lightning damage with every hit. Pro: it leaves itself open to attacks quite often. Its manoeuvres include a shield charge, plus swipes and slams from its lightning axe. For all of these, your best bet is to stick close to the Armour and dodge to its side or rear – yes, you want to stick close to this horrifying amalgamation of metal and magic. After a successful dodge, you can get in a few strikes of your own. Note: if you stagger the Armour, back off after a few extra blows: he’ll pick himself up by slamming his axe into the ground.

Once you knock its health down to about 50%, the Dragonslayer Armour gains some new attacks. These include a charging, upward slash with the axe and a swiping attack that sends a shockwave toward you. You can roll to the side to avoid the slash, and roll under the shockwave to avoid damage there. The real problem with this second phase comes from the creatures floating in the sky above the arena. They’ll occasionally rain dark fire down on you. When you see this happening, spam that dodge button to keep yourself moving. Note: this attack will also blow the railings off the edges of the arena, so make sure you don’t fall to your death!

The Dragonslayer Armour looks intimidating, and rightly so. But the good news is that you’ll get plenty of attack opportunities when you avoid his own strikes. Be careful and persistent, and you slay “Ornstein” once again.

Jump to Boss:

Iudex Gundyr
Vordt of the Boreal Valley
Curse-Rotted Greatwood (Optional)
Crystal Sage
Abyss Watchers
Deacons of the Deep
High Lord Wolnir
Old Demon King (Optional)
Pontiff Sulyvahn
Yhorm the Giant
Aldrich, Devourer of Gods
Dancer of the Boreal Valley
Oceiros, the Consumed King (Optional)
Champion Gundyr (Optional)
Dragonslayer Armour
Lothric, Younger Prince
Ancient Wyvern (Optional)
Nameless King (Optional)
Soul of Cinder

Iain Wilson
Guides Editor

Iain originally joined Future in 2012 to write guides for CVG, PSM3, and Xbox World, before moving on to join GamesRadar in 2013 as Guides Editor. His words have also appeared in OPM, OXM, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, and SFX. He is better known to many as ‘Mr Trophy’, due to his slightly unhealthy obsession with amassing intangible PlayStation silverware, and he now has over 500 Platinum pots weighing down the shelves of his virtual award cabinet. He does not care for Xbox Achievements.