While stumbling around in the Shrine of Storms Archstone, you will face the Old Hero, a story boss in Demon’s Souls. If you notice, he is blind, but this does not stop him from putting you down for good. There is one item that will make this fight extremely easy.
It is a very cool fight that we will go over in this article. There isn’t that much to this boss, but the runback for this boss is one of the most annoying in the game.
If you do not plan on getting whopped by a blind monster, then here are some tips on how to defeat this boss.
Fighting Old Hero
Slaying this blind monster will not be a walk in the park. The agility and raw power this monster carries surely make up for the lack of sight. You need to be really quiet if you want to go unnoticed, but every time you attack, he will know where you are and will come leaping.
You can put together your own strategy to take the Old Hero down, but here are a couple of things to ease things a little bit:
- Use Thief’s Ring during the battle, and you can enhance your stealth abilities. You no longer have to slow walk, you can run without being noticed.
- The boss is weak against poison, so bring something to make him suffer.
- Ranged attacks might seem like a good idea, but once he takes notice of your location, he will come faster than he has ever before.
- Even if he is unaware of your location, he can randomly swing his curved sword in any direction, and if you are nearby, you can get hit.
- He will use his offhand to feel the area close to him, and if you somehow get touched, he will launch an instant attack on that location, so you better get out of there quickly.
Moveset
The Old Hero in Demon’s Souls possesses a rather simplistic moveset. He is a warrior so his attacks have that knight touch to them. With that said, here is what you should be looking out for:
- Slashes: Being a knight, he will perform basic slashes in different directions. This could be an upward slash or a sideways swipe. This attack varies from time to time.
- Reaction: These attacks can be blocked with a shield, or if you don’t want to risk it, then simply dodge roll in any direction.
- Sword Smash: A downward sword smash on the ground, crushing you beneath it.
- Reaction: Don’t block or parry this one as this is much more powerful. Simply roll to the side to avoid it.
- Jump Smash: This attack comes mostly when there is a bigger gap between you and the boss. It is a combination of a jump followed by a sword smash on the ground.
- Reaction: Since he will kneel a bit before jumping, that will be your cue to dodge roll to the side.
- Sword Kneel: Once you whittle down its health below 50%, he will get down on one knee and use the energy in his sword to perform an AoE attack.
- Reaction: The power building up in going to be visible prior to the attack so you can get out of the way or maintain a distance when you notice it.
Strategy
I cannot stress the importance of Thief’s Ring enough for this battle. If you can get your hands on it, please do because this fight will be many times easier if you have it. The fight is not impossible if you don’t have but who hates an easy boss fight?
Ranged
Old Hero is going to be an easy target if you are using ranged attacks like spells. There are only a few things you need to keep in mind. As soon as the fight starts, attack it once or twice, and after that, you need to change your location.
Even if you are attacking from a distance, he will instantly figure out the direction of the attack and come leaping at you. The key is to attack once or twice, then move to another spot and wait until he has lost track of you again.
If you stay near the sidelines of the arena, you will have an easier time avoiding attacks from the Old Hero. You can quickly bring down his health if you persistently attack and then run away. It is a rinse and repeat strategy, but this will work without any doubts.
Melee
Things might be a tad bit harder for a melee build. Once the fight starts, let the initial aggression die out and creep behind the boss. Start attacking with everything you have, and after two or three strikes, max, run away as fast as you can.
The swinging slash comes out of nowhere and will hit you hard. Instead of taking a risk, you can easily land a couple of hits and maintain a safe distance until you can go back again. Repeat the process until the Old Hero no more stands.
How to Cheese Old Hero
You can kill the Old Hero without having to do much through the fight. You are going to need the Poison Cloud magic spell for this strat to work. Since the boss is weak against poison this will work pretty well.
What you need to do as soon as the fight starts is through poison cloud onto the boss and quietly walk to the side, behind a pillar. The poison will whittle down its health slowly while you can watch it suffer from the sidelines.
Once the effect of the spell wears out, throw another one and slowly walk away to another safe spot. Rinse and repeat the process. All you have to do is stand there and watch this blind boss meet a painful end.
Rewards For Defeating Old Hero
You will receive the following rewards for putting the Old Hero out of its misery in Demon’s Souls:
- x1 Hero Demon’s Soul
- x33750 Souls
- +45% White World Tendency
This was all for the Old Hero boss guide. You can check out GV for more content like this if you want our help slaying some more bosses in Demon’s Souls.