The final boss of the main game in Dark Souls 3 is the culmination of the lives and combat experience of many powerful beings throughout the trilogy's tenebrous tales and deep lore. The Soul of Cinder possesses traits of Lord Gwyn from the first game in the series as well as many that the players themselves have displayed in all 3 games.
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Battling this boss will span 2 full phases and 5 different boss movesets that will truly put the player's skills to the test. The first phase consists of 4 different tactics, each dominated by one of the main offensive stats: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Faith respectively. After the player drops the Soul of Cinder's health bar down to nothing, they will enter phase 2 and gain the 'Great Lord' moveset that is extremely reminiscent of a certain end-game boss from a previous title (cue the 'Plin Plin Plon's).
The Soul of Cinder possesses quite diverse movesets that the player must learn to defend from as well as launch counterattacks against in the small openings after each strike or spell. Here are all of them from phase 1 and how to deal with each.
- Attacks by using a straight sword capable of slash and thrust damage
- Use 1-on-1 dueling tactics that one would use in PvP
- Wearing heavy armor, like Havel's Set, can be helpful as such gear possesses particularly great defense against slash and thurst damage
- Cannot be parried or backstabbed, just like every other moveset the Soul of Cinder possesses
- Attacks using a curved sword that only deals slash damage
- Use 1-on-1 PvP dueling tactics here as well
- Can parry the player, so don't spam attacks
- Can do backflips and other evasive maneuvers to get in and out of combat range; let the boss come to you instead of chasing them down
- Dodge-roll left or right as it approaches
- Stay out of the cloud that is produced in front of the boss
- Nothing can be done to prevent this buff, prepare for the boss to deal more damage with each attack for 30 seconds
- Fast and hard to see coming, if they do anything with the arm not holding the curved sword, get away from their front
- Casts the Farron Hail sorcery
- Stay close to the boss and roll when needed
- Since each soulmass begins approaching individually, it is awkward to time dodging them, so it may be worth equipping a medium or light shield with high magic damage reduction and block them as they come
- Stay close to the boss' sides to easily avoid this mid-range spell
- Stay close to the boss' sides for this one as well, for this long-range spell is easy to see coming and avoid if one is right next to the Soul of Cinder
- Tricky to dodge as its wide horizontal slash has a huge hitbox, but can be evaded by staying close and rolling behind the boss
- Attacks using a spear that only deals thrust damage
- Stay very close, as the spear is too long to hurt players who are nearly standing on the Soul of Cinder's toes
- This will heal about 30% of the boss' health, so try to interrupt them the moment you see the Soul of Cinder kneeling by attacking with everything you have
- The boss will tense up before unleashing this powerful shockwave, so try to roll away as fast as possible if the Soul of Cinder stops moving while standing
After one has fully depleted the Soul of Cinder's health bar, get back, for they will then enter phase 2 in a fiery explosion and their health will be fully restored. Many of the attacks that the boss will now use are very similar to Lord Gwyn's moveset from the first Dark Souls game, therefore players who have experience with this end-game boss will be at an advantage here. Though, parrying is sadly not an option against the Soul of Cinder, so don't bother trying. Here are the boss's phase 2 attacks and how to defend against them:
- 5-Strike combo
- When the boss stands upright without moving, get as far away as possible, for this string of slashes has a huge range and will end in an AoE blast of fire
- Keep an eye on the boss's offhand, as they will sometimes reach out to grab the player and then cast an explosive spell while holding them that will deal a lot of damage; roll away to avoid this
- Similar to the one used by players wielding a greatsword, but launches the boss higher and farther; roll towards the Soul of Cinder when they are in the air to pass under them and find their back for an easy couple of hits as they land and readjust
- Annoying and hard to see coming, try to constantly be circling the boss to avoid getting hit by this stamina-draining stun move
- Hurls a bolt of lightning at the player which must be dodged at the last second to avoid damage
- Launches a Sunlight Spear into the sky, which explodes into many smaller bolts that chase the player with excellent homing which the player must also dodge at the last second to fully evade
- Throws a huge bolt of lightning down at point-blank range that causes an electric explosion with a smaller radius than one expects; can be dodged by rolling away or even behind the boss
What exact weapon the Ashen One uses does not matter a great deal as long as it is not a fire, bleed, or poison armament, as the Soul of Cinder is resistant or immune to these. It is recommended to use a lightning or dark weapon since the boss is weak to those elements in both phases and all movesets.
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A faster weapon would be better, as this game's final boss has quite a lot of poise and can't really be bullied by greatweapons easily, therefore only perform 1 or 2 hits at a time and focus on evading attacks more than launching them.
Spellcasters will have a tougher time, as the Soul of Cinder is quite aggressive while using a melee moveset and can easily out-shoot players with the ranged movesets. As pyromancies are out of the question, players should use either sorceries, miracles, or dark spells; the latter 2 being the most effective. Select spells that have low cost and can be cast quickly, for evasion is of utmost importance in this boss fight.