4577 (KoS)
King of Storms and Nameless King Information
Location
Drops
Combat Information - King of Storm
Combat Information - Nameless King
StrategiesVideo Strategies
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Strategy 1 (Melee)
This boss deals lots of lightning damage in both phases, so any lightning resistant gear or rings are a huge benefit in this fight.
The first phase consists of the Nameless King riding atop his stormdrake, the King of the Storm. This boss requires constant attention to camera angle. It is important to be aware of what both the rider and wyvern are doing at all times. Having the camera locked to one or the other at the wrong time is a recipe for doom. It is advised to keep the wyvern at some distance until you go in for one or two hits then retreat to be able to keep watch on both and time your responses appropriately. The wyvern will sometimes flip behind you, requiring you to adjust to maintain your relative position. The Nameless King will, at times, attempt to hit you with his swordspear. Depending on position, roll or block accordingly, keeping an eye for his two or three hit combos. The stormdrake itself will bite at you and attempt to roast you with its flames. Avoid its attacks and aim for the stormdrake's head, as damage to the legs and body does minimal damage compared to blows directly to the beast's head. Gapps pico vs nano vs mini. A good way to get several hits on its vulnerable spot is when the stormdrake is about to rear it's head for a flame attack, rush towards its body and hit the neck area just below the rider, ensuring that you keep your distance from the fire-spewing head. If the stormdrake flies into the air, it will do one of two things: unleash a fiery breath attack directly beneath it, or circle around you while the Nameless King hurls Lightning Spears at you. If it stays in one spot in the air, move away, avoiding its breath attack, until it lands again. The breath attack hits almost directly below the drake's body, so a good rule of thumb to avoid it is to run in the direction its head was facing when it took off, since from where your character is likely standing, that's the shortest path to safe ground. If it begins to circle you, keep an eye on the Nameless King; his Lightning Spears are intimidating, but can be dodged. Rinse and repeat until the stormdrake is dead, whereupon a cutscene will signal the start of the second phase.
In the second phase of the fight, you will face the Nameless King himself. He is very fast and deadly, so medium to light equipment load is recommended if you plan on roll dodging his attacks. With enough attacks dealt he will be staggered, allowing you to perform a riposte-esque visceral attack not unlike the mechanic in bloodborne. While he stands up from this riposte, he is vulnerable to further attacks for most of his animation. Use this to get extra damage in or to heal up if you need it. The boss itself can be very difficult for a novice (or anyone for that matter) and his movements, while somewhat predictable, are still erratic, so stay on guard until there's a guaranteed opening to attack him. Also, another recommendation would be to equip the Carthus Bloodring and stay on his left side (your right) and continuously roll dodge his attacks until you see an opening to strike. For fast weapons (Straight Swords, Rapiers, etc.) try to get two hits in at most and for larger weapons (Greatswords, Ultra GS, etc.) one at most, two if you're bold enough but it is quite risky.
Be particularly wary of:
Nameless King Easy Kill
For melee users, in conjunction with everything else, below is a playbook of info that will completely trivialize the Nameless King/King of the Storm.
That is all that can be said, really. This will work regardless of most aspects of a build, and whether the player used a summon. However, if somehow this does not work, then this one trick absolutely works in all situations in any game: Think about and separate what you are failing at doing that is causing you to get hit by the King, versus what you can do naturally, without thinking (for example, hitting R1, versus avoiding the downward flame attack), and then make the entire fight about those things, then you will win. If this STILL does not work, use the method again, and continually nest the method so you know exactly what to do. Once you apply this technique of executive functioning, then you are absolutely golden, because then your enemy loses all of the situations where he hits you, and your environment loses that power, too. The player needs to have a nose for obfuscations that are hindering his tactical execution to be able to succeed in skill-based games like Soulsborne games.
Strategy 1.5 (Easy KotS Melee)
Using a two-handed Lightning Lothric Knight Greatsword +9, It is possible to kill the King of the Storm in just four hits, allowing you to more easily practice the much more difficult Nameless King fight, as well as save much of your estus for it. Landing two fully charged heavy attacks to his head will stagger him and allow you to riposte him. As he recovers from the riposte you will have just enough time to land a running light attack to his head, finishing him off. The best time to land fully charged heavy attacks is during the King of the Storm's grounded fire breath attack and right after the Nameless King's lightning slam attack after dodge rolling toward him. However, due to the Nameless King's high lightning defense the Lothric Knight Greatsword does very poorly against him and it is therefore recommended to have a different weapon to switch out to during the second phase of the fight.
Strategy 2 (Sorcerer)
This is one of the easiest bosses for sorcerers, since the dragon (phase 1) is highly vulnerable to magic damage, and the Nameless King itself (phase 2) not resistant to magic. Considering that this is endgame and assuming you have endgame stats and build (60 INT, Court Sorcerer's Staff +10, all the shiny sorcerer-rings, etc.), this boss is a walk in the park.
Phase 1: Stay out of the dragons range, lock on his head, fire Crystal Soul Spear's until he's dead. Should be around 4 Spears to kill him. Phase 2: Basically do the same, but this time with the Nameless King. A little bit more tricky, since the King is more aggressive. But he has not so great range, so dodging him and getting out of the melee-zone should be no problem here. Since the Nameless King has pretty much one damage type here (Lightning), you could consider equipping the Thunder Stoneplate Ring if you have problems with your health. Strategy 2 (Magic / Ranged)
Keeping away from the boss but able to lock onto him is key here. In the first phase learn to dodge his lightning spears and follow up air to ground attack. Lock onto HIM not his little pet's head, when you're rolling to dodge his landing attack. Aim to complete your roll to the side of, or under the dragons base of the neck. Lock onto his head and stay underneath and fire away. He may take flight sooner rather than later but at any time if you hear the audio cue (dragon scream) start to run away before he breathes his fire attack onto the ground. If you are lucky enough to keep him at range and the boss is only doing his flying attack straight at you, upon completion of his animation the dragons head will be motionless for a brief period and wide open for you to open fire.
In the second phase, just STAY AWAY and keep shooting. Run sideways as soon as you see him raise his dragonslayer swordspear to do the shockwave attacks because it is wide and difficult to outmaneuver. Early bird stays damage free here. I used a greatshield in my Melee completion and I was able to tank his shockwave attacks, so equip a great shield if you'd like to do less evading. The purpose of ranged combat is to pick him apart from a safe distance. There is a distance where he will be wide open for attacks as he slowly walks after you. Circle him to keep him at a range you are able to lock on and shoot. Watch the background. There are two buildings you need to keep an eye on. If you don't see one of them in the background while you are back-walking, you know you are headed towards the narrow edge of the map and may need to run to the side to re-center and get him back to a shooting range. If you feel he is too close, just watch for his telegraphed wind up attack and roll through it and keep rolling away as he recovers and you'll be back to sniping him to death. Good luck! and have fun.
Alternative Magic Phase 1 Strategy
If your build has a mixture of Intelligence and Faith (like a Pyromancer), the sorcery Dark Edge is extremely powerful in the first phase of the fight. Keep your target on the dragon's head as opposed to the rider and take advantage of the many possible openings. The possible openings for casting include after the aerial-to-ground strike (don't confuse this with the standing ground strike), after or during the fire breath (dodge roll to your right through the flames and get in close before casting), after the electric ground strike and after a second sideswipe. Unsafe times to cast would be after it leaps over you to land on your opposite side, after it lands from the aerial lightning spear->stab combo, after it lands from the aerial fire breath, after one standing ground strike (as this can combo into sideswipes) or after one sideswipe (as a return side swipe may follow). Don't get greedy and keep an eye out for the safe openings. With around 3 solid strikes to the head of the dragon, you can trigger the stagger animation and land another free blow.
Strategy 3 (Bow and Heavy Weapon in KoS, Light Weapon+Buffs in NK)
As soon as you enter the boss arena run forward for a while but not too close to the place where boss lands (half a stamina bar). This way boss won't attack you immediately and you have time to use your bow and try to hit the head of King of Storms. After boss flies behind you, change to your heavy hitting weapon and always go for the head.
When the second part of the fight starts, change to your light weapon (rapier or anything with high dps) and use Carthus Beacon pyromancy (consecutive hits boost damage). Blackhawk rescue mission 2. Also have the Pontiff's Right Eye ring (consecutive hits gives a dmg buff) and any other buffs you can. Nameless King is very tanky and has high health but if you can do good damage and fast you get two riposte opportunities which make this fight much easier. However you have to be very good at rolling and in stamina control. Still, usually do not attack more than once or twice if you have a good opening. Boss usually does 2-3 hit combos so after the second attack wait a while and take the opening little late just be sure he won't attack the third time.
Strategy Four - Faith with Lightning and Dark Blade
The King of Storm is weak to lightning. A high faith character (60) can annihilate the King of the Storm with Sunglight Spear or Lightning Arrow using the upgraded talisman or chime of their choice. Yorksha's Chime will provide the best buff, while Canvas Talisman will also provide an excellent buff and the unfaltering prayer weapon art.
Hurling the Spears or shooting the arrows at the King of Storm will end him very quickly. As noted elsewhere, a max Lothric Knight Great Sword on a faith strength character with a buff can kill him in four heavy attack hits with the riposte.
For the Nameless King, human pine resin or dark blade on a fast weapon will break him down quickly, particularly if you have the blindfold mask. Melee characters can rely on this as well, as I used the human pine resin on grave warden twin blades. However, at 60 faith with the sunlight straight sword on NG, this will hammer him. The Crucifix of the Mad King will also be rewarding if you have your timing down.
Attacks
Lore Theories
Notes
Trivia
Gallery
Tips and tricks to help you get through the hardest boss fight in Dark Souls 3
Alright, we're just going to say off the bat that the title of this guide is a bit misleading, because there is no guaranteed way to beat the Nameless King. His attacks have a huge hit box, whilst the hit box around him is tiny given how erratically he moves in the later stages of the fight. We can help you prepare and tell you want to expect, but honestly, this fight mostly depends on how well you can learn his attack patterns and time your own movements accordingly. This guy is worse than Pontiff Sulyvahn and Aldrich put together. Luckily he's totally optional, so you don't actually have to do this one.
1. The Approach
To find the Nameless King's boss fight you need to start from the Great Belfry bonfire and run back along the corridor. On the right is a large bell, which is probably why this area is called the Great Belfry. In front of the bell is a lever; pulling it triggers a cutscene and a sudden storm. When the cutscene clears you're exactly where you were, but everything is rainy and windy and there are a lot of dark clouds in front of you. You can drop down and walk on these, under the bell and straight into the boss fog door (which does at least look like it fits in the surrounding aesthetic this time).
The Nameless King deals lightning damage, so anything that will increase your resistance to that is going to help you out. The Nameless King himself is weak to fire, but the King of Storms is resistant to it. Dark will also work fairly well. You'll also be moving a lot, so any buffs to stamina you can squeeze in are useful as well. If you're a melee build you can try a very strong shield, but be aware that his attacks will drain a huge amount of your stamina. A weapon with a longer reach will probably be helpful, especially in the early part of the fight, but don't go for anything too slow.
2. The Nameless King's first phase
When you start the fight the health bar says you're up against the King of Storms, which actually refers to the big bird thing the Nameless King is riding. For this first phase it's actually better to stay close to the King of Storms, since it's his ranged attacks that do the most damage and are harder to avoid.
In terms of attacks to avoid you should be looking out for the Nameless King charging his swordspear with lightning, which telegraphs his intention to chuck aforesaid lighting at you (relatively easy to avoid), and the King of Storms' firebreath. When he breathes fire at ground level it's actually a convenient time to get hits in. If he flies up slowly, using a couple of wing beats, and stays in an upright hovering position, he's about to breathe fire from above. In this instance you need to run in a straight line directly away from his head. The fire has a long range on it and will track after you, so dodging to the side or running towards him won't help. If you can, fight without the automatic lock on, because it will help you to keep tabs on what both the enemies are up to.
When you're able to attack you need to go in for the head and neck of the King of Storms. Doing enough damage to his head directly will stagger him, allowing you to get a nice riposte in. Being up close will leave you more vulnerable to the Nameless King whacking you with his swordspear but because it's a long weapon the angle is often too tight for him to get a proper hit in.
The first phase isn't too bad, and if that was all there was to the boss fight you'd be laughing.
But that's not all there is to the boss fight.
3. The Namless King's second phase
Once you've taken out the King of Storms you get an unskippable cutscene, and you're now facing the Nameless King himself. At this stage, if you're at range, he'll start using some attacks that send a wall of cloud at you. They have a large hitbox to them, so can be tough to avoid. In terms of his melee attacks you're looking at a lot of wide sweeps from either side and slams with his swordspear. He sweeps back and forth across the map a lot as well - think Iudex Gundyr, but way faster.
For this phase you just need to keep moving and get those hits in when you can. Buff your weapon for fire or dark damage or use pyromancies if they're part of your build. The most regular opening for attack you get is when the Nameless King leaps into the air and prepares his swordspear for a charge. Keep moving while he's up there and then, when he slams down towards you, roll under the attack, spin, and use his recovery period to attack. If he ever prepares to charge at you from the ground, with his swordspear at hip height, dodge back or to the side; rolling forwards will spear you right on the end of it.
You can get another brief opening after an attack combo he pulls: two horizontal swings of his swordspear, side to side, and then a forwards thrust with it, after which he pauses briefly. For ranged players keep your distance and run immediately sideways when you see him raising his swordspear for the ranged shockwave cloud attacks. Play cautiously to get your hits until you've worn him down to half health.
4. The Nameless King's third phase
Bonus final phase! For this phase the Nameless King will add some pretty devastating lightning attacks into his repertoire. For one he charges his swordspear with lightning and then raises it to the sky. This calls down lightning to wherever you're standing, so it's about getting your dodge timing down.The second new attack sees him call a bolt of lightning into his own hand, and then slam it into the ground. Back off when you see him telegraphing this, because it deals area of effect lightning damage. The final one is probably the worst: he'll charge his swordspear and then slam it into the ground in front of him, which is a big hit on its own, but a beat after it lands some residual lightning will blast out in lines from the point he hit. If in doubt, whenever his swordspear starts charging then back yourself up.
Aside from that he has the same open points as before. For melee players you can maintain more control over your stamina by rolling accurately and using the shield block only when you can see your roll won't outrange the attack. This puts you in a better position to attack quickly when you get the chance.
It sounds simple written down. But no messing. This fight is the worst. Just don't do it. Don't bother. Walk away. It's optional. You don't need to subject yourself to it.
Buy the official Dark Souls 3 Guide now.
King of Storms and Nameless King Information
Location
Drops
Combat Information - King of Storm
Combat Information - Nameless King
StrategiesVideo Strategies
Only Youtube Partners can place videos. Embeds from FL channel only - please add your link below if you're a partner
Strategy 1 (Melee)
This boss deals lots of lightning damage in both phases, so any lightning resistant gear or rings are a huge benefit in this fight.
The first phase consists of the Nameless King riding atop his stormdrake, the King of the Storm. This boss requires constant attention to camera angle. It is important to be aware of what both the rider and wyvern are doing at all times. Having the camera locked to one or the other at the wrong time is a recipe for doom. It is advised to keep the wyvern at some distance until you go in for one or two hits then retreat to be able to keep watch on both and time your responses appropriately. The wyvern will sometimes flip behind you, requiring you to adjust to maintain your relative position. The Nameless King will, at times, attempt to hit you with his swordspear. Depending on position, roll or block accordingly, keeping an eye for his two or three hit combos. The stormdrake itself will bite at you and attempt to roast you with its flames. Avoid its attacks and aim for the stormdrake's head, as damage to the legs and body does minimal damage compared to blows directly to the beast's head. A good way to get several hits on its vulnerable spot is when the stormdrake is about to rear it's head for a flame attack, rush towards its body and hit the neck area just below the rider, ensuring that you keep your distance from the fire-spewing head. If the stormdrake flies into the air, it will do one of two things: unleash a fiery breath attack directly beneath it, or circle around you while the Nameless King hurls Lightning Spears at you. If it stays in one spot in the air, move away, avoiding its breath attack, until it lands again. The breath attack hits almost directly below the drake's body, so a good rule of thumb to avoid it is to run in the direction its head was facing when it took off, since from where your character is likely standing, that's the shortest path to safe ground. If it begins to circle you, keep an eye on the Nameless King; his Lightning Spears are intimidating, but can be dodged. Rinse and repeat until the stormdrake is dead, whereupon a cutscene will signal the start of the second phase.
In the second phase of the fight, you will face the Nameless King himself. He is very fast and deadly, so medium to light equipment load is recommended if you plan on roll dodging his attacks. With enough attacks dealt he will be staggered, allowing you to perform a riposte-esque visceral attack not unlike the mechanic in bloodborne. While he stands up from this riposte, he is vulnerable to further attacks for most of his animation. Use this to get extra damage in or to heal up if you need it. The boss itself can be very difficult for a novice (or anyone for that matter) and his movements, while somewhat predictable, are still erratic, so stay on guard until there's a guaranteed opening to attack him. Also, another recommendation would be to equip the Carthus Bloodring and stay on his left side (your right) and continuously roll dodge his attacks until you see an opening to strike. For fast weapons (Straight Swords, Rapiers, etc.) try to get two hits in at most and for larger weapons (Greatswords, Ultra GS, etc.) one at most, two if you're bold enough but it is quite risky.
Be particularly wary of:
For melee users, in conjunction with everything else, below is a playbook of info that will completely trivialize the Nameless King/King of the Storm.
That is all that can be said, really. This will work regardless of most aspects of a build, and whether the player used a summon. However, if somehow this does not work, then this one trick absolutely works in all situations in any game: Think about and separate what you are failing at doing that is causing you to get hit by the King, versus what you can do naturally, without thinking (for example, hitting R1, versus avoiding the downward flame attack), and then make the entire fight about those things, then you will win. If this STILL does not work, use the method again, and continually nest the method so you know exactly what to do. Once you apply this technique of executive functioning, then you are absolutely golden, because then your enemy loses all of the situations where he hits you, and your environment loses that power, too. The player needs to have a nose for obfuscations that are hindering his tactical execution to be able to succeed in skill-based games like Soulsborne games.
Strategy 1.5 (Easy KotS Melee)
Using a two-handed Lightning Lothric Knight Greatsword +9, It is possible to kill the King of the Storm in just four hits, allowing you to more easily practice the much more difficult Nameless King fight, as well as save much of your estus for it. Landing two fully charged heavy attacks to his head will stagger him and allow you to riposte him. As he recovers from the riposte you will have just enough time to land a running light attack to his head, finishing him off. The best time to land fully charged heavy attacks is during the King of the Storm's grounded fire breath attack and right after the Nameless King's lightning slam attack after dodge rolling toward him. However, due to the Nameless King's high lightning defense the Lothric Knight Greatsword does very poorly against him and it is therefore recommended to have a different weapon to switch out to during the second phase of the fight.
Strategy 2 (Sorcerer)
This is one of the easiest bosses for sorcerers, since the dragon (phase 1) is highly vulnerable to magic damage, and the Nameless King itself (phase 2) not resistant to magic. Considering that this is endgame and assuming you have endgame stats and build (60 INT, Court Sorcerer's Staff +10, all the shiny sorcerer-rings, etc.), this boss is a walk in the park.
Phase 1: Stay out of the dragons range, lock on his head, fire Crystal Soul Spear's until he's dead. Should be around 4 Spears to kill him. Phase 2: Basically do the same, but this time with the Nameless King. A little bit more tricky, since the King is more aggressive. But he has not so great range, so dodging him and getting out of the melee-zone should be no problem here. Since the Nameless King has pretty much one damage type here (Lightning), you could consider equipping the Thunder Stoneplate Ring if you have problems with your health. Strategy 2 (Magic / Ranged)
Keeping away from the boss but able to lock onto him is key here. In the first phase learn to dodge his lightning spears and follow up air to ground attack. Lock onto HIM not his little pet's head, when you're rolling to dodge his landing attack. Aim to complete your roll to the side of, or under the dragons base of the neck. Lock onto his head and stay underneath and fire away. He may take flight sooner rather than later but at any time if you hear the audio cue (dragon scream) start to run away before he breathes his fire attack onto the ground. If you are lucky enough to keep him at range and the boss is only doing his flying attack straight at you, upon completion of his animation the dragons head will be motionless for a brief period and wide open for you to open fire.
In the second phase, just STAY AWAY and keep shooting. Run sideways as soon as you see him raise his dragonslayer swordspear to do the shockwave attacks because it is wide and difficult to outmaneuver. Early bird stays damage free here. I used a greatshield in my Melee completion and I was able to tank his shockwave attacks, so equip a great shield if you'd like to do less evading. The purpose of ranged combat is to pick him apart from a safe distance. There is a distance where he will be wide open for attacks as he slowly walks after you. Circle him to keep him at a range you are able to lock on and shoot. Watch the background. There are two buildings you need to keep an eye on. If you don't see one of them in the background while you are back-walking, you know you are headed towards the narrow edge of the map and may need to run to the side to re-center and get him back to a shooting range. If you feel he is too close, just watch for his telegraphed wind up attack and roll through it and keep rolling away as he recovers and you'll be back to sniping him to death. Good luck! and have fun.
Alternative Magic Phase 1 Strategy
If your build has a mixture of Intelligence and Faith (like a Pyromancer), the sorcery Dark Edge is extremely powerful in the first phase of the fight. Keep your target on the dragon's head as opposed to the rider and take advantage of the many possible openings. The possible openings for casting include after the aerial-to-ground strike (don't confuse this with the standing ground strike), after or during the fire breath (dodge roll to your right through the flames and get in close before casting), after the electric ground strike and after a second sideswipe. Unsafe times to cast would be after it leaps over you to land on your opposite side, after it lands from the aerial lightning spear->stab combo, after it lands from the aerial fire breath, after one standing ground strike (as this can combo into sideswipes) or after one sideswipe (as a return side swipe may follow). Don't get greedy and keep an eye out for the safe openings. With around 3 solid strikes to the head of the dragon, you can trigger the stagger animation and land another free blow.
Strategy 3 (Bow and Heavy Weapon in KoS, Light Weapon+Buffs in NK)
As soon as you enter the boss arena run forward for a while but not too close to the place where boss lands (half a stamina bar). This way boss won't attack you immediately and you have time to use your bow and try to hit the head of King of Storms. After boss flies behind you, change to your heavy hitting weapon and always go for the head.
When the second part of the fight starts, change to your light weapon (rapier or anything with high dps) and use Carthus Beacon pyromancy (consecutive hits boost damage). Also have the Pontiff's Right Eye ring (consecutive hits gives a dmg buff) and any other buffs you can. Nameless King is very tanky and has high health but if you can do good damage and fast you get two riposte opportunities which make this fight much easier. However you have to be very good at rolling and in stamina control. Still, usually do not attack more than once or twice if you have a good opening. Boss usually does 2-3 hit combos so after the second attack wait a while and take the opening little late just be sure he won't attack the third time.
Strategy Four - Faith with Lightning and Dark Blade
The King of Storm is weak to lightning. A high faith character (60) can annihilate the King of the Storm with Sunglight Spear or Lightning Arrow using the upgraded talisman or chime of their choice. Yorksha's Chime will provide the best buff, while Canvas Talisman will also provide an excellent buff and the unfaltering prayer weapon art.
Hurling the Spears or shooting the arrows at the King of Storm will end him very quickly. As noted elsewhere, a max Lothric Knight Great Sword on a faith strength character with a buff can kill him in four heavy attack hits with the riposte.
For the Nameless King, human pine resin or dark blade on a fast weapon will break him down quickly, particularly if you have the blindfold mask. Melee characters can rely on this as well, as I used the human pine resin on grave warden twin blades. However, at 60 faith with the sunlight straight sword on NG, this will hammer him. The Crucifix of the Mad King will also be rewarding if you have your timing down.
Attacks
Lore Theories
Notes
Trivia
Gallery
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