High Lord Wolnir is a giant skeleton boss in Dark Souls 3. It very much depends on your luck how this fight turns out. How to defeat the boss? What he is weak to? What strategies can you use to beat it? All will be answered in this ultimate guide to beating High Lord Wolnir in Dark Souls 3.
The fight against High Lord Wolnir can go either way; easy peasy or hard as hell. His bracelets are his weak points, so concentrate on them. Things get harder if he starts using his sword or starts summoning skeleton soldiers to aid him. It is not a guarantee that he uses either of these, making the fight very unpredictable.
Let’s take a look at some of the best strategies and fighting styles to use against High Lord Wolnir in Dark Souls 3.
Is High Lord Wolnir Optional?
High Lord Wonir is not an optional boss in Dark Souls 3. He has to be taken down to further explore Irithyll of the Boreal Valley.
Strategies for Defeating High Lord Wolnir
Here are some strategies for defeating High Lord Wolnir you can use depending on the build you opted for in Dark Souls 3:
Melee Strategy
You can defeat this boss by attacking anywhere but his bracelets are his weak points. Each bracelet will take away 1/3 of his health when destroyed so focus your attacks on them.
His right-hand bracelet is the harder of the two to destroy. He keeps it close to his chest that spews out a dark cloud that can easily kill you so be careful when attacking it. Go straight toward this arm and use your most upgraded weapon (preferably one that the damage type he is weak to). Two handing the weapon will dish out the most damage. Go to town on this bracelet till it’s shattered.
Your next target is the left-hand bracelet and gradually start destroying the rest as well. Just keep your eyes on the prize and try to destroy them as quickly as you can. Nothing should divert you from doing so.
Depending on the number of bracelets destroyed, he will start summoning different types of skeleton warriors. You shouldn’t worry about them since his attacks will most likely kill them all. Just be wary of the ones getting dangerously close to you. If you are fast enough at killing Lord Wolnir, this whole skeleton spawning phase can be avoided.
His dark cloud breath attack is going to be troublesome for most players. It deals insane damage and can make quick work of you. When you see him raise his head up, either run to the back of the room or, ideally, look for the sweet spot between his head and ribs.
This spot will completely negate the cloud from reaching you, whereas sometimes, his breath attack reaches the back of the room.
Another problematic situation is when he takes out his sword. Dodging the attacks is easier as you can roll underneath them. However, he does an AOE attack when he is about to put the sword away, which is nigh impossible to avoid.
When you see him about to slam the sword into the ground, equip a 100% physical damage reduction shield to refuse any damage from the AOE.
Magic Strategy
Sorcerers can begin with any of the bracelets they want. Either go up close and deal damage using the Farron Flashsword/Soul Greatsword or use Heavy/Great Soul Arrow from some distance. At any rate, watch out for his counterattacks by rolling back. Once he is done and his hands are firmly on the ground. continue to rain down punishment.
As mentioned before, be careful of the spawning skeletons that might pose some threat to you otherwise, the boss will end up killing them. Also, the breath attack should keep you on your toes.
Simply use the combination of close-up and range attacks or whichever you prefer to destroy the bracelets, and you will be good to go.
The White Dragon Breath spell will make things incredibly trivial. Move to the right side of the arena and lock on to the boss in a way that his hand with the bracelet is on the ground and in the middle of the target and you.
Firing two of these spells will be enough to destroy the bracelets. Do this for the rest of the bracelets, and this fight will be a walk in the park.
Pyromancy Strategy
As with the rest of the strategies, your legwork remains relatively the same. Pyromancers should opt for Great Chaos Fire Orb with Pyromancy Rings:
- Great Swamp Ring
- Witch’s Ring
- Fire Clutch Ring
The spells blast damage, and the lava it spews will make short work of any of the bracelets. You should, however, take care of the right-hand bracelet first as it moves around the most. Stick to the left side of the room to focus on the aforementioned hand.
The Chaos Orb will also kill most of the skeletons with its AOE. Just be careful of the breath attack and his sword, and keep using the spell to destroy the bracelets, and you will be good to go.
What is High Lord Wolnir Weak To?
High Lord Wolnir is weak to the following damage types:
- Strike Damage
- Blessed Weapons
- Farron Greatsword
- Wolf Knight’s Greatsword
- His Bracelets are his weak points
What is High Lord Wolnir Resistant / Immune to?
High Lord Wolnir is resistant and immune to the following damage types:
Resistant to:
- Dark
- Poison
- Toxic
Immune to:
- Frost
- Bleed
Can You Parry High Lord Wolnir?
You cannot parry this boss.
Can You Cheese High Lord Wolnir?
The Pestilent Mist spell will finish this fight without the boss even waking up. Go into the arena and walk to his left hand and start firing the spell. Do not attack him with anything else, or else he’ll wake up. If you did things right, the fight will be over in just 5 Pestilent Mist uses.
The same cheesing strategy can be applied to the Storyteller’s Staff. Using the staff’s weapon art the same way without waking up, the boss will poison him and kill him without having to directly fight him. Carry as many Ashen Estus Falsk as you can and respec enough to wield the staff if need be.
Keep using the weapon art as it wears off, and watch as his health dwindles away. Restore your FP with the staff as and when required.
In either of these strategies, just do not attack him directly or go close to his face, or else he’ll wake up, rendering these strats useless.
As you can see, High Lord Wolnir can be hard or easy, depending on how you approach the fight. He can be effortlessly cheesed or becomes a menace if fought head-on. Even fighting him normally is erratic since only some of his attacks are actually dangerous.