Dark Souls 2 - Skeleton Lord, boss fight, Skeleton Lord's Soul
Use our guide to beat the Skeleton Lord with ease, avoid the worst of the skeleton horde, and then walk away with the Skeleton Lord's Soul.
After finishing off Freja, it's time to get stuck into another boss fight against the intimidating Skeleton Lord. We'll show you how to make it through to this epic showdown with the undead, so that you can walk away with the Skeleton Lord's Soul.
How to find the Skeleton Lord
First things first, make your way to the Undead Lockaway bonfire, located in Huntsman's Copse. Leave the room you find yourself in and go over the rocky bridge on your right. If you've been following our walkthrough from the beginning, you'll have been along this road before, but this time we're heading towards Harvest Valley.
Carry on down this path, killing any of the enemies you encounter along the way, and then take a left at the first fork you come to. Kill any other enemies you find on this section of the path, then grab the item that's lying on the floor in the clearing ahead to get hold of 10 Throwing Knives.
Jump down onto the path below you, or alternatively just head back the way you came and take a left at the fork to get back onto this lower path. Head towards the waterfall, and then carry on down the path that's just to the right of the blocked-off door. Keep walking all the way around until you can see a cave that's over to your left.
Go inside this cave, and then kill all of the skeletons skulking around inside. Grab the trio of Flame Butterflies, then interact with the lever at the very end to join both parts of the cave up. Now head back to the waterfall, go up the stairs that are right underneath it, and then walk through the mist ahead to begin the fight against the Skeleton Lord.
There are a couple of different phases to the fight with the Skeleton Lord. First, you'll have to kill the three big skeletons, and the good news is that they go down pretty easily. Next, you'll have to deal with a massive pack of skeletons that go down just as fast, but represent a bigger threat due to their impressive numbers.
How to kill the Skeleton Lord
The moment you enter the boss fight area, go straight towards the first Skeleton Lord and kill the creature as quickly as you can. If you're fast, you should be able to take it down before the remaining two can get even get started. Now focus on killing one of the other enemies. Just make sure you keep one eye on your last opponent, so you can dart out of the way of any attacks from afar.
As soon as you've killed all three of the Skeleton Lords, make sure you prioritise killing the skeletons on wheels before any of the others. The reason for this is pretty simple: they move fast, and they hit hard. Stay agile, keep moving, and prioritise these particular monsters while keeping an eye on as many of the rest as possible. You can, of course, dodge out of the way of any attacks that come close to landing.
Once these zippier enemies have been defeated, you can turn your attention to the rest of the pack. Don't take them all on at once, instead keep moving at all times so you can take them on in smaller groups. Follow this advice and you'll find the rest of this fight really rather easy.
When the battle's over, simply go through the door that's just to the right of the room's entrance. Keep walking along the corridor on your right, then activate the lever when you come to it to lower the bridge ahead. Go over it, walk through the corridor ahead of you, then climb down the ladder when you reach the end.
Carry on down the path you find yourself on to get to Harvest Valley.
Use the rest of our walkthrough to find out how to unlock gestures in Dark Souls 2