The Bell Gargoyles in Dark Souls Remastered are one of the hardest bosses I had to face when I began this sadistic journey. They are an extremely hard boss for so early in the game. Luckily, I’m here to share my experience and make things a tad bit easier for you.
On a side note, there is a nice little cheese to defeating the Bell Gargoyles in Dark Souls Remastered in here too. You’ll thank me for it!
Fighting Bell Gargoyles in Dark Souls Remastered
As you enter the boss’s arena, a cutscene will play and the Bell Gargoyle will come crashing down to fight you.
This boss has a ton of moves that hit pretty hard, and he has a penchant to move/fly around, forcing you to be on your toes at all times. He has a really long weapon with wide swings that will discourage you from standing mid-range.
When you lower his health to 50%, another Bell Gargoyle will join the fray. Both the Bell Gargoyles have similar moveset. The duo will also start using flamethrower attacks after this point.
This attack makes things incredibly hard to manage since the range of the fire covers a wide area and you will have to constantly adjust according to it.
The duo boss fight is already pretty hard, and to top it off, the whole arena has no walls, so you can easily fall to your death if you get too overzealous with your dodging.
Juggling the two is the name of the game here. You need to know what each of the gargoyle is doing for you to adapt your strategy.
Make sure to have proper fire protection gear and an upgraded weapon before facing this boss.
Here are some things to consider when facing the Bell Gargoyles in Dark Souls Remastered:
- You can summon two NPCs for this boss fight; Solaire of Astora and/or Knight Lautrec of Carim. This will make the fight incredibly easy.
- You cannot parry any of the Bell Gargoyles’ attacks.
- Armor and shield with good fire defense stats will save you from getting cooked.
- The boss is weak to Lightning damage. Keep some Gold Pine Resin to buff your weapon and deal extra damage to the boss.
- Fire damage works great against the boss too.
- Keeping some Firebombs on you will come in handy when these guys are busy spewing fire at you. You can lob them from a safer distance.
- Level up your weapon to at least +5 or +6 before you face this boss.
Boss Strategy
Usually, when you first enter this boss fight, there’ll be a cutscene, but if you’re returning to the boss fight, Bell Gargoyle will leap at you and try and smash. It’s hard to see because of the fog so when you first enter the fog gate the second time, assuming you died before, you want to have your shield up and block that attack.
Your goal should be to dispose of the first Bell Gargoyle before the second one makes his appearance. Or, focus on taking out the first one while the other one is active. Taking out one of them will make this fight much more painless.
The best way to do this fight is to get in close to the gargoyle from his shield side so that when he thrusts, it goes past you and when he sweeps, you can get behind him and put some hits in.
It’s always a good idea to keep your shield up when you’re moving in since his sweep attacks will sometimes clip you. Other than his smash Overhead Slams, many of his regular attacks will not deal too much stamina damage so you can easily tank them with the shield.
When he calls the second Bell Gargoyle, things get a bit dicey. When he stops to summon the other gargoyle, it is a good time to really lay into him.
Now they both will start spamming the flamethrower attack. This attack is annoying as hell but gives you the best opening to unleash some punishment.
Move to their sides as soon as they begin to spew fire and exploit the long attack animation to get in some meaningful damage. Of course, you have to be extra aware of the other Bell Gargoyle’s moves.
You need to be very patient with the gargoyle duo. Look for small openings to attack and bail quickly. The constant fire breathes, both of their attacks, and keeping both of them in your vision is a tall order.
It is just a matter of waiting game to spot that perfect opening and deal some damage and get it and keep repeating it till one of them is dead.
Once one is dead, fighting a lone bell gargoyle is quite straightforward.
Moveset
The Bell Gargoyles uses all these attacks and how you must react to each:
| Attack | Description | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Axe Swings | A series of one-handed axe swings. He can chain them into multiple hits. | Put up your shield or get ready to dodge into each of the swing. |
| Two-handed Swings | Holds his axe with two hands, rears up, and unleashes two consecutive axe swings. | Block with shield or dodge into the swings. |
| Poke | Thrusts his axe into you. Extended Reach. | Block or dodge to the sides. |
| Shield Bash | Pulls back his shield and thrusts it forward. | Move to the side. Do not block, it will stun you. |
| Overhead Slam | Block quickly or dodge in the direction of the incoming whip. | Dodge or move to the sides. Blocking is not effective. |
| Tail Whip | A quick horizontal tail swipe. He can use it from both front and back. | Block quickly or dodge into the direction of the incoming whip. |
| Airborne Uppercut | Hovers in the air and performs a delayed uppercut that reaches the ground while staying in the spot. | Back off from the attack’s range as you see him hover. |
| Airborne Tail Whip | Takes flight and quickly thrusts his tail forward. | Block quickly or dodge to the side. |
| Landing Swing | If you are close to him when he lands from his flight, he performs a quick axe swing. | Block or dodge into the swing. |
| Flamethrower (With second Gargoyle only) | Rears his head with fire in his mouth then begins to spew fire in front for a few seconds. | As soon as you see him rear up, quickly move to his side or behind him and start attacking. The attack has a long animation so exploit it. If you can’t close in, put up your shield and start circling out of the fire range. |
| Airborne Flamethrower (With second Gargoyle only) | Flies up, rears his head with fire in his mouth, and starts raining down the fire. He can move forward while doing this attack. | Run behind him as he takes flight and let him do this attack. |
How to Cheese the Bell Gargoyles in Dark Souls Remastered
Dark Souls already has a baked-in cheese for the Bell Gargoyles boss fight if you just follow a few simple steps:
- Free Knight Lautrec from his cell in Undead Parish.
- Return to Firelink Shrine and talk to him. Make sure to exhaust his dialogue.
- Now return to the tower, which leads to the boss fight, and restore your Humanity so you can use the NPC summon signs.
- Knight Lautrec’s summon sign is on the platform right below the boss door and Solaire of Astora’s summon sign is right outside the gate.
- Summon both of them then enter the boss arena.
- Let the boss come to you and leave him to fight your companions.
- Stay back and watch as the Bell Gargoyles disintegrate in mere seconds.
You literally don’t have to fight this boss if you seek out these two OP NPCs. The damage they deal is surprisingly insane. Let them do the dirty work while you sit back and relax.
Rewards for Defeating Bell Gargoyles
Beating the Bell Gargoyles duo in Dark Souls Remastered will net you these rewards:
- 10,000 Souls
- 1x Twin Humanities
- 1x Homeward Bone
- If you cut off the main gargoyle’s tail, he will immediately drop the Gargoyle Tail Axe.
- There is a 3% chance of getting either of the following gear. If this boss doesn’t drop these items, it is a guaranteed drop from the last gargoyle in Anor Londo.
- Gargoyle’s Halberd
- Gargoyle’s Shield
- Gargoyle Helm
Managing the fight against Bell Gargoyles in Dark Souls Remastered is not an easy task but once you do get the hang of it, you will be hardened to face the rest of the horror of this game.