The Ruin Sentinels is a gank boss fight in Dark Souls 2. These knights are first encountered as a boss in Lost Bastille and later as mini-bosses in Drangleic Castle. You will have a hard time during this fight since these bosses can gang up on you. Luckily, we are here to teach you how to divide and conquer them.
Fighting Ruin Sentinels in Dark Souls 2
The Ruin Sentinels in Dark Souls 2 are three bosses packed into one. These lithe knights are pretty standard humanoid-type enemies; however, their strength in numbers makes this fight incredibly hard to manage.
As you enter the arena, you’ll see three boss health bars; Ruin Sentinel Alessia, Ruin Sentinel Ricce, and Ruin Sentinel Yahim. However, from where you land in the arena, there will be only one Sentinel atop the platform. The rest of the two are on other platforms, slowly making their way towards you.
There is a whole wide open arena underneath the platform where you can fight them more freely but we do not recommend it. Facing all three at the same time is insanely hard so you better take out the first one and then face the other two in the main arena.
All of the Ruin Sentinels are the same with copy-paste moveset, looks, weapon, and shield. Nonetheless, their wide array of attacks, far-reaching strikes, blocking, and the ability to gang up on you do separate this fight from the rest of the knight bosses you face.
Here are some tips and tricks to consider when facing Ruin Sentinels in Darks Souls 2:
- You can perform a drop lunge attack if one of the Sentinels is positioned perfectly beneath your platform. It takes away a huge chunk of health.
- You can parry the attacks of these bosses.
- The Ruin Sentinels are weakest to Lightning damage and Strike weapon types. A Great Hammer coated with lightning will deal the most damage.
- Facing all three Ruin Sentinels is a recipe for disaster. Better to deal with the starting one before engaging the rest.
- Dropping from the initial platform will deal fall damage. Make sure your health is adequate to survive the fall and have some healing items to replenish it before facing the rest of the boss crew.
Boss Strategy
Before we commence the fight, I recommend doing this fight with equip load under 40% and as close to 100 Agility as you can muster for better rolling and faster chugging. It’s certainly doable with less, but you will have a harder time.
When you first enter the arena, stay on this first platform. Here you’ll only have a single Ruin Sentinel to deal with. Take it out in this spot before facing the other two. You have lots of time to kill this first one before anybody else gets involved.
Focus on rolling behind her when she attacks, and then get your damage in. If she falls down, don’t follow her. She’ll jump back up although you need to back off a bit since she comes back swinging. Every attack has a good amount of recovery time which should be capitalized upon.
After the first one dies, stay on the platform. You’ll have a bit of time to heal and calm yourself before the next one arrives. You can also use this time to snipe the other Ruin Sentinels if you have a ranged option. She’ll jump up with a sweep attack so stay closer to that back corner so you don’t get hit by that.
Once the second Sentinel is up top with you, you have a very limited amount of time to damage her before the third one gets there. Do as much damage as you can in this phase. The more you get in, the easier the rest of the fight will be.
As soon as the third sentinel jumps up, you want to bail from that platform. You’ll take some falling damage so heal up ASAP. Running underneath the ledge first should prevent them from falling on top of you.
This is the roughest bit. Your priority is to Identify which Ruin Sentinel you have already damaged and focus on that one. Be very patient, dodge back out of everything, and only attack when there’s a clear opening.
You can bait and dodge their melee attacks, or just keep backing up until she overextends herself. Always keep both of them in your camera so that they don’t smash you unexpectedly.
The spinning attack is the one to watch out for. If you already have some distance you should try to roll to the side of her path. If you’re close, it’s possible to dodge through her with a forward roll to get out of it.
Once you’re down to one sentinel, the hardest part is over. The key here is don’t get greedy, be patient, and stay close. Individually, they’re pretty simple to dodge.
Pyromancers can poison Sentinels using the Poison Mist spell and watch as it eats away their health. Apply the poison and start running around the arena and the fight will be over without any other action required.
Moveset
These are all of Ruin Sentinels’ attacks in Dark Souls 2 and how you must react to them:
| Attack | Description | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| Two-Handed Swing | Holds weapon with two hands, brings it back, and deals a wide horizontal swipe | Back away or dodge into the swing. Can be blocked but ends up stunning you. |
| Swiping Combo | Swings their weapon 4 times diagonally. | Dodge behind the attacker after the first swing and you’ll get enough time to deal some damage while they are locked in the animation. Blocking with a great shield will stun the Sentinel. |
| Poke Swing Combo | He thrust his weapon forward followed by a horizontal swing | Sidestep the thrust and move behind the boss. The follow-up will miss you if you are positioned right, giving you ample time to deal some damage. |
| Overhead Slam | Holds their weapon with two hands, raises it over their head and slams it in front. | Dodge to the side as soon as the slam is about to land. Exploit the long recovery afterward. |
| Shield Throw | When you are at a distance, the boss will throw his shield at you vertically. The boss can’t use the shield to block after this attack. | Dodge to the side or into the shield as it’s about to reach you. |
| Charging Thrust | When you are at a distance, the Sentinel will run at you to deliver a thrust attack at the end. | Dodge to the side as he gets near. Use the long recovery window to lay into him. |
| Jump Slam | The boss crouches and jumps in the air to perform a hammer slam. | Dodge to the side as he is about to land. Exploit the recovery time. |
| Twister | When at a distance, the Sentinel will crouch, put his weapon to their side, and continue to spin 360-degree four times while moving toward you. | Back away to the far end of the arena to exhaust the spins. You can spam dodge through the attack if you are confident. |
Rewards for Defeating Ruin Sentinels
You’ll get these goodies for beating the Ruin Sentinels in Dark Souls 2:
- Ruin Sentinel Soul
- Chance of dropping the Ruin Sentinels’ armor set (only the Drangleic Castle version drops these parts)
- 33,000 Souls
The Ruin Sentinels in Dark Souls 2 gave me a run for my money simply because I faced all three of them at the same time. I failed to identify that you could separate them and easily take them out. Regardless, even divided, these knights are pretty hard-hitting, but your dodging skills would give you an upper edge.