Halflight, Spear of the Church is a quirky boss fight in Dark Souls 3. If you are playing online, you might not even get to face this particular boss. In this article, we will focus on Halflight only. How to defeat the boss? What is he weak to? What strategies can you use to beat it? All will be answered in this ultimate guide to beating Halflight, Spear of the Church in Dark Souls 3.
You will only face off against Halflight, Spear of the Church is the boss if you are offline or if the game is unable to find any players to summon. On the contrary, if you are online and there is a summonable player then you will be pitted against another actual player i.e. PVP fight. Two other NPC Guardians will aid whichever fighter you get.
Let’s take a detailed look at some of the best combat strategies and tips for defeating Halflight, Spear of the Church in Dark Souls 3.
Is Halflight, Spear of the Church Optional?
Halflight, Spear of the Church is not an optional boss. It must be defeated to progress through The Ringed City DLC. Not needed for the base game though.
Strategies for Defeating Halflight, Spear of the Church
Here are some strategies for defeating Halflight, Spear of the Church you can use depending on the build you opted for in Dark Souls 3. Since we cannot account for the tons of players and their builds in a single article, we will only talk about Halflight in this article. If you face off against a player then good luck:
Melee Strategy
Probably the most interesting boss in The Ringed City DLC Halflight, Spear of the Church, will summon players wearing the Spear of the Church covenant item to fight against you. If it doesn’t call anyone or you are playing offline, it will simply summon two AI Phantoms instead.
In the case that it is AI you will be fighting, get behind it as it spawns and start attacking immediately after. You want to try and kill it as quickly as possible before Halflight appears.
If you can’t burn down the phantom quickly enough, proceed to use the pillars of the room to separate the phantom from Halflight and take it down as quickly as you can.
The AI has an aggressive nature which can be used to bait it to attack and remove it from the picture. Just be sure to interrupt it if it goes to heal or the fight can turn tedious rather quickly.
If another player spawns then you are on your own, we can’t help you with that. But when it’s just you and Halflight, dodge the homing missiles as they appear which isn’t too frequent. You want to be very careful anytime he looks like he’s about to quick-draw her katana or else you can die by it if you get combo’d.
You don’t want to be aggressive while he’s doing this, just be patient and wait for him to change style. He staggers easily so light attack (R1) spam when you can. At the half-health mark, he will spawn another phantom so be sure to kill it the same you did the previous one. T
This fight will either be the easiest or hardest of the DLC depending on who is summoned.
Magic/Pyromancy Strategy
Sorcerers and Pyromancers can benefit from the pillars dotted around the arena for recovering FP and moving out of cover to fire spells.
For Sorcerers, Great Heavy Soul Spear and Crystal Soul Spear will work wonderfully. On the other hand, Pyromancers with Great Chaos Fire Orb, Chaos Bed Vestiges, and Black Fire Orbs are extremely potent. GCFO’s lingering lava further deals some tick damage and CBV’s explosion can hit two targets at once.
The strategy is simple. As soon as the first Guardian arrives, rain your spell of choice on him and take him out asap. Defeat him before Halflight appears.
With Halflight, maintaining distance is somewhat easy as she has limited long-ranged attacks. His homing missiles need to be dodged while his katana slash wave is medium-ranged and can be completely avoided provided there is a bit of space between you two.
Keep using the pillars and fire your spells. The boss rolls quite a lot so be sure to bring in a good quantity of Ashen Flasks since you will be missing your shots regularly.
Another Guardian will spawn mid-battle and you should be familiarized with how to deal with it by now. However, take them out as quickly as you can as they will try to heal the boss.
What is Halflight, Spear of the Church Weak To?
Halflight, Spear of the Church, and the Guardians are weak to the following damage types:
- Halflight, Spear of the Church
- Frost
- Lightning
- Guardians
- Fire
- Frost
- Lightning
- Vow of Silence
What is Halflight, Spear of the Church Resistant / Immune to?
Halflight, Spear of the Church, and the Guardians are resistant and immune to the following damage types:
Resistant to:
- Halflight, Spear of the Church
- Bleed
- Poison
- Toxic
- Guardians
- Bleed
- Poison
- Toxic
Immune to:
- Halflight, Spear of the Church
- None
- Guardians
- None
Can You Parry Halflight, Spear of the Church?
Halflight, Spear of the Church can be parried. This boss can also parry your attacks so be careful.
Can You Cheese Halflight, Spear of the Church?
Storyteller’s Staff’s Poison Mist skill is the key to the cheese here. You can use the Pestilent Mist as an alternative but that doesn’t have the same poisoning status effect advantage.
Use both spells if you can. One thing to note here is that it is not a requirement to kill the Guardians to finish the boss fight so target only Halflight. Although they will heal the boss so taking them out will only speed things up.
The strategy is simple, move around the arena and use the pillars to set the poison mist trap for the boss to walk in. Once the boss is poisoned, keep running around the arena using the pillars as cover and watch as his HP deteriorates. Keep applying the poison once it wears off and rinse and repeat.
The boss will go down after some time. Again, the guardians will prolong the fight with their healing so try to poison them or use other methods to kill them for swift results. Using Pestilent Mist around the pillars will chip away at the Guradians’ health.
This boss fight can be one of the most challenging fights if you are facing a veteran player. Otherwise, the normal offline fight against Halflight is relatively easy if you are aware of his patterns and if the Guardians are prioritized. You can even select offline mode for this fight to eliminate the element of surprise altogether.