Now this is a pretty interesting boss fight, and one that you can’t skip since this boss is a Lord of Cinder and you have to defeat them all to progress the story. The reason this boss fight is so interesting is because it can either be a long and stressful battle or a simple and trivial matter. All depending on your accomplishments so far and your approach.
Probably the easiest way to defeat him is if you have done all the quests related to Siegward of Catarina. If so then you can expect him to appear after a cutscene once you enter the boss room. Either way, if you are still having trouble facing him, you can use the tips below.
Know thy enemy
For starters, it is good to know that he deals fire damage. Although more than most other bosses, it is wiser to avoid his attacks altogether.
Focus on dealing lightning damage. All the other weapons, spells, etc are pretty much useless against him. Unless of course if you are so hardcore you are willing to keep fighting and dodging for a very long time. If you don’t have any means to deal lightning damage, you can find the greatsword Storm Ruler near the throne in the boss room. Just keep in mind that you have to charge your weapon art until the weapon starts glowing, if you want to dish out serious damage.
As for where you can hit him, you have plenty of options with a variety of armor in each one. The legs are very heavily armored, while his arms and torso are good options. Whenever possible go for his head as that spot not only has little to no armor, but it takes some extra damage as well.
Using Storm Ruler
With this weapon, along with Siegward, you will have no issues winning this fight. All you will need to focus on is dodging and aiming for the Giant’s head. The most difficult part of this strategy is actually getting the greatsword in the first place.
You can either wait for the boss to approach you at least half way and then run around him, dodging as necessary, or you can run straight near him and avoid his attacks. Either way, you should try to have enough time to pick up the sword. Don’t try to be brave as his attacks will most likely kill you in one hit if he catches you off guard.
Once you have the sword, charge it up (will take about 5-6 seconds), lock on his head and fire a blast. Hold L2 to charge the attack and R2, will still holding L2 to fire it. Note that you don’t have to fire it right away and the charge does not go away if you dodge. Each ranged blast will eat up all of your stamina and it will need a couple of seconds before it starts regenerating. So you will need to keep a safe distance and have ample room to run afterward.
Take you time, pick your shots and this fight will be over in no time.
I need no swords (Magic approach)
If you want to Gandalf your way out of this one, you will need to have some serious firepower. High intelligence score (around 60 or more), great gear for extra damage (like Sage Ring, Court Sorcerer’s Staff with as high stats as possible, Crown of Dusk, etc).
The idea here is simple enough. You hope that the soul arrows you are firing at him will be strong enough to keep staggering him for extra damage while he is down.
The best way to do it is to focus your fire on his head and keep firing at him when you have a window of opportunity. Usually, right after an attack if you far away enough to cast safely. Once he is weakened, give him all you’ve got and back away once he stands up again.
Keep your distance, fire soul arrows, and repeat until you defeat him. Note that you may not succeed in your first or first few attempts. Although it will be a lot easier once you figure out his pattern of attack and how to time your attacks to them.
As a final note, it is vital to remember that his attacks can usually kill you in one hit. And it is always better to hold your offense and dodge, rather than dying and wasting time and potentially souls.