The Demon Prince is the last of their kind and the champion of all demons in Dark Souls 3. According to the lore found on weapons and items, the Demon Prince once dueled Prince Lorian, though lost to the regal warrior and retreated below the earth, where the player one day finds them if they travel to The Ringed City.
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Fighting this powerful fiery fiend can be quite challenging, as phase 1 involves fighting two strong and fast foes simultaneously where the Ashen One will have to slay both. Phase 2 is arguably more difficult, despite only having one enemy to deal with, for the Demon Prince rises from the merged remains of the previous two that were fought with their combined might. Even with the many challenges in this chaotic and lengthy battle, there are a few tactics that can give gamers a few advantages over the final demons of the now collapsing and converging worlds.
Both the Demon from Below and the Demon in Pain are weak to slash damage as well as very susceptible to bleed, making a Katana one of the best weapon choices to use against them, particularly for a Dexterity build. The innate slash damage and bleed effect on all Katanas makes them great at dealing damage, though the movesets of most of them are also ideal for the hit and run tactics required in the 1st phase. It is recommended to use the free camera instead of locking on, as both demons are large enough targets that aiming melee attacks at them should not be an issue and the added ocular freedom allows one to keep eyes on both threats a great deal easier. The bleed build-up should help a lot in taking chunks out of both demons' health bars on occasion, though there are some more specific tactics that can make the 1st phase go by even quicker.
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Since these two demonic adversaries are also weak to dark damage, one Katana, in particular, stands out as immensely deadly: the Frayed Blade. Transposed from the Soul of Darkeater Midir, it can be quite difficult in itself to acquire, though, since it deals slash and dark damage in addition to having a bleed effect, it is almost tailor-made to slay the Demon from Below and the Demon in Pain. Its Hold skill activates a unique effect where the player can send out waves of dark energy with light attacks and a chain of severe slashes with strong attacks, all of which devastate the twin demons. Just be sure to bring lots of Repair Powder, as the Frayed Blade only has 20 durability.
Some things that players should pay closer attention to in regards to the enemies' attack patterns are when they begin to glow. When a demon lights up, it means that they are about to start unleashing some deadlier attacks in a more aggressive way. If one sees this happening, keep an eye on the brighter demon, though this would be a key time to attack the one that isn't glowing as the darker one will be mostly using ranged attacks and less deadly claw swipes. After taking out both demons in phase 1, the Demon Prince will spawn. Despite no longer being weak to slash or dark damage in this form, they are still very susceptible to bleed build-up, so one's Katana offensive should still be useful here. Like when fighting the Demon from Below and the Demon in Pain, use hit and run tactics, though make sure to lock on the camera to the burning fiend in this phase as it will be easier to track their jumping and flying attacks.
One of the most renowned traits of the black knight weapons is their 20% bonus damage against all true demons, meaning that any of the 4 main weapons in this group can be great against the last demons of the Dark Souls 3 world. Even the lesser-mentioned 5th weapon, the Black Knight Shield, can be a boon in this fight for its 100% physical damage reduction and 85% fire damage reduction. Which black knight weapon one should use depends on whether one is rocking a Dexterity, Quality, or Strength build. For a Dexterity build, it is recommended to use the Black Knight Glaive; for a Quality build, the Black Knight Sword is ideal; and for Strength builds, players should utilize the Black Knight Greatsword or the Black Knight Greataxe. The latter being arguably the most devastating since it possesses the highest damage potential out of the lot as well as a particularly fierce combo.
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Not only do the Black Knight weapons deal bonus damage to demons but they also possess greater poise health than most other armaments in addition to unleashing greater poise damage onto foes. This is very lore-friendly as the black knights were very well known for taking on the chaos demons, and winning, despite the huge differences in size. The vertical two-handed light and strong attacks of the Black Knight Greataxe are incredibly useful in hitting all 3 demons in the head, which can stagger them and open these foes up to ripostes remarkably easily. Furthermore, this greataxe's weapon skill, Warcry, unlocks a unique strong attack combo that possesses hyper armor and unleashes a chain of powerful slashes in much quicker succession than anyone expects.
For Intelligence builds who specialize in sorceries, Pestilent Mist is the ideal choice for tackling tough bosses, as it is especially deadly against foes with huge HP stats. After being cast, anything that touches this baleful cloud of vapor will take damage that is proportionate to this max health, meaning that those with bigger HP stats will take more damage. Furthermore, bigger foes enter the mist's area of effect much more often, meaning that the Demon Prince, and the two that form them, are easy targets.
As for Faith builds, it is recommended to try out the dark miracle Dorhys' Gnawing, as it provides the highest single-hit bleed build-up in the game (210 on a sole hit). This makes it ideal for causing the Demon Prince to bleed out, though, its dark damage is also super-helpful, particularly in phase 1.