The Crystal Sage in Dark Souls 3 is an annoying fight with all the teleporting. The fight starts as soon as you enter the arena, so you need to be equipped with the right information before going in. 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 Crystal Sage in Dark Souls 3.
Fighting the Crystal Sage in Dark Souls 3 is all about managing you Stamina. The boss will constantly teleport during the fight, and if you are left without any juice to run, then it can lead to some nasty outcomes. Most of his attacks are ranged spells that you need to dodge proficiently.
If you are having trouble dealing with the Crystal Sage boss in Dark Souls 3 then this guide is going to be perfect for you. We are going to discuss the best strategies and builds for this boss fight.
Is Crystal Sage Optional?
The Crystal Sage is not an optional boss in Dark Souls 3. You have to take it down in order to progress to the Cathedral of the Deep.
Strategies for Defeating Crystal Sage
Here are some strategies for defeating Crystal Sage you can use depending on the build you opted for in Dark Souls 3:
Melee Strategy
Run, Run, and Run! That is all there is to this boss. If you can manage the stamina bar in this fight, you will be good to go. The boss teleports around the arena as soon as you land a few hits on him, so make those swings count.
While rushing to its next location, be sure to bob and weave all the incoming projectile spells he shoots at you.
He takes out his trusty Rapier when you are face-to-face with him. Keeping a Goldilocks distance from him is the right thing to do.
Meaning, staying back enough to not initiate the sword attacks while staying close enough so that his homing spells won’t hit you. Farther-reaching melee weapons like the Halberd is advisable during this fight.
The second phase will trigger multiple clones of him to spawn all over the arena. The first thing you should do is strike the one in the middle.
They disappear with a single hit. Now you can zip around in the arena taking out every clone. You can either use quick running attacks or even opt for Throwing Knives or Bows for more ease.
All this running can leave you vulnerable to attacks if you are not careful with your stamina pool. Killing all the clones is recommended, as they will not attack you with their individual spells, and you will have a bigger opening to pummel the boss.
Utilizing teleportation intervals to buff your weapon with Lightning using the Peine Resin will augment your damage output.
On the flip side, if you are not willing to laboriously vanquish each clone, learn to identify and go for the main boss only. The main boss is the one casting purple magic/spells, the clones use blue magic.
Magic Strategy
Sorcerers will have a hard time with this boss since he is quite resistant to magic damage. You will have to rely on melee weapons for this fight. The only useful spells (and that too at high levels) are the Magic Shield and Crystal Magic Weapon.
Magic Shield should only be cast upon East-West Shield. This will help tank some of the magic damage, enough to help you stay alive. Buff your weapon with the Crystal Magic Weapon before entering the arena so you can deal the most damage right out of the gate.
Keep utilizing the rushing technique so he won’t be able to cast any spells. If he happens to fire a spell or two, use the time in between the teleport to buff your shield using Magic Shield to negate the damage.
In the second phase, and if you have it, use the Homing Crystal Soulmass between teleports. Doing this preemptively will kill one to two clones with ease. Divert your attention only towards the purple magic casting real boss, ignore the clone.
Pyromancy Strategy
Pyromancers can essentially cheese the fight. The boss’s weakness to Fire can be exploited quite effectively. Make sure you have the Sacred Flame spell on you before the fight begins.
As soon as the fight commences, run to the boss and start spamming the said pyromancy spell without any breaks. The spell can infinitely stun-lock the boss and you can easily deplete its health. Just make sure to keep an eye on the magic meter.
Doing this right will even let you skip phase 2 entirely.
What is Crystal Sage Weak To?
The Crystal Sage in Dark Souls 3 is weak to the following damage types:
- Physical
- Lightning
- Dark
- Fire
- Poison
- Toxic
- Frost
What is Crystal Sage Resistant / Immune to?
Crystal Sage is resistant and immune to the following damage types:
Resistant to:
- Magic
Immune to:
- Nothing
Can You Parry Crystal Sage?
The boss generally uses ranged spells, some of which can be parried if you have the right kind of spell-deflecting shield.
At close range, the boss uses a Rapier to fight. This weapon can be parried much more easily than the spells.
Can You Cheese Crystal Sage?
To cheese the Crystal Sage, you are recommended to upgrade your weapons to Large Titanite Shards level. And you should know how to parry and riposte the boss’s Rapier attacks. As a side note, the Rapier attack animation is long and easily recognized.
Chip away the boss’s health to around 60%. The rushing and attacking strategy still applies here. Any lower and it might initiate phase 2, and we don’t want that to happen. Repeat the fight if this happens.
At the 60% HP mark, the boss will teleport to its next location. Run towards him all the while dodging any spell coming your way. When you are near him, he will use a 3-hit rapier combo. This is the combo that needs to be parried.
As soon as you successfully parry the combo, the boss can be riposted taking away a huge chunk of its health. The recovery from falling to the ground will be around 3 seconds so use it to unleash an onslaught of strikes.
With the right mix of damage output and upgrades, the boss will die even before triggering phase 2.
The teleporting around and clones make the fight against Crystal Sage in Dark Souls 3 quite annoying. However, he is a mandatory boss so you will have to suffer through his antics. Luckily, fighting him isn’t that hard and if you follow our recommendations then you will be wearing this crystal around your neck soon.